a new surge of nationalism being fueled by anti-Catholic propaganda centered on a series of books and pamphlets that detailed the horror of the "Spanish Inquisition". Peters writes, "An image of Spain circulated through late 16th-century Europe, borne by means of political and religious propaganda that blackened the characters of Spaniards and their ruler to such an extent that Spain became the symbol of all forces of repression, brutality, religious and political intolerance, and intellectual and artistic backwardness for the next four centuries. Spaniards ... have termed this process and the image that resulted from it as 'The Black Legend', "la leyenda negra". Henry Kamen has criticized the concept, "Persistent employment of the [Black Legend] label for ideological ends in order to rebut any criticism of Spain's imperial record has made it both unsuitable to use and inaccurate. In any case many of Spain's actions ... were all too real and no "legend"." "At all times, imperial nations tend to suffer ... in the arena of public opinion, and Spain was no exception, becoming the first victim of a long tradition of polemic that picked on the Inquisition as the most salient point of attack." The Enlightenment and Art By the 17th century, "The Inquisition" provided political and philosophical thinkers with an ideal symbol of religious intolerance. These philosophers and politicians passionately denounced "The Inquisition," citing it as the cause for all the political and economic failures in countries where "Inquisitions" were held. From these debates on toleration, "The Inquisition" was presented by French philosophes as the worst of any religious evil to ever come out of Europe.Additionally, writers, artists, and sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries used "The Inquisition" as one of their main inspirations, retaliating against "The Inquisition's" suppression of creativity, literature, and art. These artistic images have arguably become some of the most long-lasting and effective perpetuators of "The Inquisition" myth. See also Inquisition Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Execution by burning List of Grand Inquisitors of Spain Historical revisionism History of the Jews in Spain Medieval Inquisition Mexican Inquisition Peruvian Inquisition Portuguese Inquisition Roman Inquisition Spanish Inquisition Histoire de l'Inquisition en France Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros Notes References Sources and Further reading Catholic Dossier, special issue on "The Inquisition", vol. 2, no. 6 (Nov–Dec 1996). Carroll, Anne W. "The Inquisition", in Christ the King: Lord of History, pp. 207–211. Rockford Illinois: Tan Books