Black Legend of the Spanish Inquisition

The Black Legend of the Spanish Inquisition is the hypothesis of the existence of a series of myths and fabrications about the Spanish Inquisition used as propaganda against the Spanish Empire in a time of strong military, commercial and political rivalry between European powers, starting in the 16th century. According to its advocates, Protestant propaganda depicted inquisitions of Catholic monarchs as the epitome of human barbarity with fantastic scenes of torture, witch hunting, and evil friars.

Source: Wikipedia — Black Legend of the Spanish Inquisition (CC BY-SA 4.0)