legends and myths which, between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries, established the perceived character of inquisitorial tribunals and influenced all ensuing efforts to recover their historical reality". "The [assembled] myth was originally devised to serve variously the political purposes of a number of early modern political regimes, as well as Protestant Reformers, proponents of religious and civil toleration, philosophical enemies of the civil power of organized religions, and progressive modernists..." It was the relatively limited persecution of Protestants, mostly by the inquisitions in Spain and Italy, that provoked the first image of "The Inquisition" as the most violent and suppressive vehicle of the Church against Protestantism. Later, philosophical critics of religious persecution and the Catholic Church only furthered this image during the Enlightenment. Catholic opposition to the Spanish Inquisition "...an early major source of anti-Inquisition propaganda happened to be Catholic in origin. With the outstanding exception of the Holy Roman Empire, every significant Catholic state in Europe, including France, was at some time hostile to Spain." Contemporary political scientist Niccolò Machiavelli (in The Prince) suggested that King Ferdinand of Spain (who originated the Spanish Inquisition) used religion to his political and financial advantage. Italians under Spanish rule repeatedly revolted against the imposition of a Spanish Inquisition (such as revolts in Naples in 1547). Unpaid Spanish and Germanic mercenaries of the King of Spain (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) sacked Rome ten years after Luther posted his theses, besieging the Pope and ending Rome's pre-eminence in the Renaissance. Italian diplomats expressed a low opinion of the Spanish and their Inquisition. Internal criticism of Spanish policies in the Americas was cited by foes of the Inquisition. "A Protestant Vision..." "When the printing press first began to form public opinion ... the most diligent victims of the Inquisition happened to be supporters of the Reformation, and they set about convincing Europe that Spain's intentions ... were now directed against Christian truth and liberty." The Inquisition was characterized by clerical organization and support of the inquisitions in Spain and Italy, their "united" success in suppressing Protestant doctrines, and the fear of The Inquisition being initiated elsewhere. "Propaganda along these lines proved to be strikingly effective in the context of the political conflicts of the time, and there were always refugees from persecution to lend substance to the story." "As a Protestant vision of Christian history took shape in the 16th century, the contemporary