Maybe you are unfamiliar with a piece of history known as the Inquisition.
the destruction of the Catholic church in England, her churches, monastaries, libraries and citizens makes the inquisition just another bad period....the inquisition was justified in the minds of those people because they felt that they were the last line of defense of Christianity as the hoardes of revolutionists began to develop.
then, of course there were the Salem witch trials.....oh well!!!