DON'T HATE ON THE INQUISITION, says Thomas Madden. A good piece. Money graph:

Amazingly, before 1530 the Spanish Inquisition was widely hailed as the best run, most humane court in Europe. There are actually records of convicts in Spain purposely blaspheming so that they could be transferred to the prisons of the Spanish Inquisition.

Of course, it's all just nasty Romish propaganda, so feel free to ignore.