... ensuring that they remained loyal to the Catholic faith. Many historians believe that it was used ruthlessly and relentlessly throughout Charles's V reign. The conventional view is that the continued persecution of minority groups and innocent people, combined with the introduction of the Index and limpeiza de sangré, created a police state where few personal and social freedoms remained. There are however, certain revisionists such as Kamen who believe that the impact of the inquisition has always been exaggerated. His belief is that during Charles's reign the inquisition had very little effect on the daily life of the Spanish people. The Inquisition was first introduced in Spain during the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. At this time Spain was unlike any other country in Europe. Spanish nationalism was minimal as there was an uneasy coexistence of three religions, Catholicism, Judaism and Islam(1). This coexistence was known as covivencia. Foreign powers ...

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