He never ate meat. He slept on a bare board.
Nothing touched his flesh but a sheet of rough cloth.
Incorruptible honesty. Executive efficiency.
A strict disciplinarian twice as strict with himself.
“In these troubled times diabolical men have assaulted the church,
inflicting grievous wounds upon her.
Puffed up with ambition, they rend our unity.
We must oppose them with the invincible weapons of faith.”

Torquemada. The grand inquisitor. The savior of Spain.
Sent by god to punish...

Them! Those heretics. Those infidels. They are evil.
Them! Those heathen Jews, who deny the virgin and killed the Christ.
Them! Those faithless Christians who betray the church and spread false doctrine.
Them! Servants of Satan, who bring God’s wrath upon us all.

They are the cause of our suffering. They have brought us pain.
We must cleanse the church and the land and make all holy again.

“Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God
that conflicts with church dogma must be burned without pity.” – Pope Innocent III

Endless questions. Endless submission.
One false word and the pain would begin.
Throats and rectums torn apart from the inside.
Bones splintered and ripped out of joint.

Will you sign your confession or shall we take you to the rack?

Confess! I am not guilty. Confess! I have done nothing wrong.
Stretched ten inches and still he fights.
Confess! I am no heretic. Confess! I believe as you do.
Burn a cross into his flesh.
Confess! I am not guilty. Confess! I have done nothing wrong.
With red hot pincers tear out his tongue.
Confess! I will not. Confess! I am a servant of god.
Pull out his intestines before his eyes.

By the grace of god he has confessed his sin.
When he burns for his crime his soul will go to heaven.

“It is not possible for a man’s happiness to be in this life.
We must all endure the pain, and put our faith in Jesus Christ.” – St. Thomas Aquinas