examination of the Spanish Inquisition reveals it to be none of the things it is alleged to be, but to be in fact the most just tribunal of its time.

The very word “Inquisition” (which actually comes from the verb "to inquire') conjures up morbid notions of torture, lynch mobs, and oppressive totalitarian men in brown robes carrying out sadistic punishments for no proven cause. This is the image taught and depicted as an apodictic truth by mainstream society. Modern scholars, and a recent BBC expose, have found the truth to be quite to the contrary.

One must first realize why the Spanish Inquisition was founded. At the time (late 15th century), Spain was under attack by, believe it or not, Turkish Muslims set on their own jihad – as it turns out the Iberian Peninsula was also infringing on Muslim Holy Ground. False conversions to Christianity to avoid suspicion were common – producing converts who would later clandestinely aid their invading cohorts. The uprooting of these bogus conversions in an attempt to halt the invading Turks was the initial aim of the Spanish Inquisition.
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. In contrast, as the BBC points out: in the 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition, only between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed, while at the same time the rest of Europe burnt 150,000 women for witchcraft alone.

Some of the information used by the BBC came from the annals of the Catholic Church, which kept in-depth internal records of each case. Since these were internal, and hence secret (until recently), their veracity is held in high regard, as forgery would gain nothing.

Historians who support the Black Legend interpretation claim that the Black Legend was a consequence of propaganda campaigns.

Some of the most damning support for the legend comes directly from Spaniards:

In 1552, the Dominican friar Bartolome de las Casas published "Short Account of the Destruction of the West Indies" (Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias), an exaggerated account of the excesses happening during colonization of Hispaniola, in which he argued against the enslaving of American Indians, proposing that African Negroes be carried instead. The book was extensively used by the Dutch during their independence war from Spain. In this way, some Dutch and English Protestants would have directed their hatred of Catholicism specifically at the Spanish, because Spain was the most important Catholic country of the period and waged wars against them (Spanish Armada, Dutch Independence War).

Antonio Pérez was a minister to the King of Spain. After falling in disgrace, he fleed to Europe where he published libels against the Spanish Monarchy.

The imprisonment and subsequent death of Don Carlos by his parent Philip II of Spain added to the legend. This event inspired an opera.

Also, the pope Alexander VI has become almost a mythical character, and countless legends and traditions are attached to his name.

In addition, the other European colonial powers, rivals of Spain, envied the Spanish Empire, the first in the history to include territories in all the inhabited continents, and the most powerful throughout the 16th and the 17th century.

This legend stemmed from a variety of sources, and by the early 18th century most of Europe had applied this stereotype to the Spaniards.