Facts in Protest

A guillotine consists of a heavy blade that drops from a height to slide between grooved posts and sever whatever lies between the posts. It was introduced in France in 1789 to serve as a form of capital punishment, and it is most associated with the French Reign of Terror (1793–1794) during the French Revolution.

While the Spanish Inquisition is possibly the most well-known example, in general an inquisition refers to an organization that mercilessly enforces Catholic orthodoxy by repressing rights, censoring books, and suppressing what they called “heresies.” Such heresies frequently targeted women and minority groups within the countries where inquisitions occurred. For example, during the Spanish Inquisition, Spanish women were limited to the following roles: nun, housewife, and mother. Other roles were considered a defilement of Spanish culture.