As a matter of fact the Inquisition as a process of keeping the Faith pure (and for making people toe the line) was not all that widely used in the Americas. If I remember correctly, there was only one Indian actually put to death under its stipulations--death without blood = at the stake!
If you ever get to watch the movie Name of the Rose with Sean Connery (Book by Humberto Eco), you get a feel for the process. Also the book Montayou (sp?) about the Albigensian Heresy and the Inquisition in late 13th Century France is interesting reading.
Of course, during the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance the "Santo Oficio" was used to coerce, nudge, or outright force obedience to an institution that was more and more interested in temporal matters rather than spiritual matters. If you read Barbara Tuchman's history of the 14th Century you will get a good idea of what went on.
All told, I think you really have to look at the institution, the times and the Church and realize that it was a time of deep superstition, iron-clad tradition and fear of absolutely anything approaching free thinking. No maps, no roads, not much future beyond the very immediate vicinity of where you were born.
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales he talks of the Wife of Bath that visited the Holy Land a number of times, an incredible feat in the 14th Century...Most people never ventured more than 20 kilometers from their birthplace, and most places had no names...just imagine trying to get back to "that place near the big oak tree that belongs to Sir Gerhart! A truly scary time those Middle Ages..
There can be no doubt that the Inquisition was a terrible institution, used initially to correct errors in doctrine, but also used for more dirty ends.
Always interesting. Here on the island of Hispa?ola, it was practically non-existent. You can consult works by Fernando P?rez Memen on this.
After all, there were so few people here, there was not that much of a Church, either....and so, few possibilities to cross dogmatical swords with a prelate....maybe had something to do with the lifestyle of the times.
HB