In Spain, the Inquisition was royal rather than papal. If we would understand the part played by this remarkable tribunal, it must be remembered that Spain took seven centuries to conquer its independence against the Moors and the Jews. These latter, while feigning a readiness to be converted, none the less maintained their antipathy for the Christian religion and their hatred of the Christians. Thus, when Ferdinand and Isabella had the whole of Spain under their authority, they considered it necessary to establish religious unity, in order to preserve national unity, and the Moors and Jews were ordered to quit the country or abjure their creeds (Figs. 332 and 333). The two sovereigns, who looked at the question in a political light, had established in their dominions a special Inquisition placed under their immediate control. The popes protested at once against the pretension of the Catholic monarchs to themselves superintend the Inquisition, and, on the tribunal being formed, Pope Sixtus IV. recalled his legate from the Spanish Court, which latter in turn withdrew its ambassador from Rome. A reconciliation, however, was effected, and a bull legalising the Spanish Inquisition was granted; but Pope Sixtus IV. soon regretted what he had done when he came to know of its excesses. The Spanish sovereigns, upon the other hand, did all they could to prevent the appeals made by condemned heretics from being heard at the Court of Rome, while the popes were obliged to employ stratagem in order to protect the penitent heretics from the merciless severity of the Inquisition. Llorente tells us that on many occasions a great number of heretics received secret absolution by order of the pope, but he further adds that these papal amnesties were not always approved of by the Spanish government. Leo X. actually excommunicated the Inquisitors of Toledo, and Charles V., when he became emperor, pretended to lean in favour of the Lutheran reform in order to prevent Leo from interfering any further with the Spanish Inquisition. This Inquisition was assisted by three corporate bodies, namely, the Holy Hermandad, the Cruciata, and the Militia of Christ. [Illustration: Fig. 333.--Interior of the Ancient Mosque at Cordova, now a Catholic Cathedral; built in the Eighth Century by Abderhaman I., and altered for Catholic worship after the conversion of the Moors; it is one of the largest and most splendid monuments of Moorish architecture.] The Holy Hermandad (a corruption of the Latin word _germanitas_, confraternity) was at first an association of police officers employed in the protection of the streets and highways. Originally established in the three royal residences of Toledo, Cuidad-Real, and Talavera, it eventually became a military force, whose chief mission was to put into execution the orders of the Inquisition.