Though the Holy Office was no myth, it has been greatly mythologised and has been credited with a power and malevolence which it never possessed. Its early years were its worst, when its main targets were Jews (most of them lapsed) and Torquemada (part Jewish himself) led its fiery zeal. It was not, in fact, strictly a Church tribunal, since it was set up by Ferdinand and Isabella whose basic target was religious unity in Spain just as Henry VIII enforced his religious solution on England. Contrary to general belief, it was never involved in the Netherlands and Protestants came low on its agenda. This scholarly study clears much of the air, but the historical myth is so entrenched - particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries - that it will probably continue as before.