you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring

I wasn't sure what to write about until I looked on our blog and read the post about the Mayan calander. I thought I would write about an event in europe that is indirectly connected to the region where the maya lived. this week I am writing about the spanish inquisition.
In the 1470's the catholics rulers of spain united under ferdinand and isabella. by 1492 they had conquered the last of the muslim kingdoms in spain. this unification of spain was also the reason columbus was sponsored by spain. After ferdinand ad isabella drove out the moors, they decided to make spain unified by religion as well as politics. the result was the exile of all jews and muslims who would not convert to catholicism.
the goal of the inqusitions was to eliminate heretics by forcing them to renounce their heresy or by burning them at the stake as an example. eventually the inqusitons of europe began to harass jews. in spain the jews and muslims had suposedly all left or converted, so in spain the job of the inqusition was to find heretics and those conversos (Converts) who still secretly practiced their old religion. through a wide variety of tourtures the inqusitors forced confessions out of their prisoners, many were executed by burning at the stake. The inqusiton was harsh and lasted over a decade with the support of the spanish monarchy, the ruthlessness of the inqusiton was a powerful tool for the rulers of spain over their subjects and solidified control over the conquered areas. the inquisition was so bloody in fact that the church actually tried to intervene. for more information click here and here