The fault lies within the Inquisition zealotry
Everything exists in the context of the politics, society and economics of its time. That context is the culmination up to that moment of millions of decisions that had been made from time immemorial before then. No individual event or action can legitimately be evaluated or criticized except in the context of the time the decision was made, or the event happened. If we stand in judgement from our vantage and from the prospective of our morality then we put ourselves in the role of God deciding what was right or wrong or moral when we can’t see the laws, rules, morality of those who made the actions. People today view Christopher Columbus, as an example, as some horrible monster. But had it not been for him and others like him we likely would be living in a vastly different and poorer world. In his time, he was a hero. And, indeed, until recent times his accomplishments were acknowledged as crucial...then, woke happened.
Did a lot of very bad stuff that hurt millions of people happen in the past? Definitely. But you don’t have to go very far to find the equivalent happening today. Just flip through the news.