Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was a liberal Catholic priest, who questioned several elements of church doctrine, such as the requirement of priests to be celibate and the acknowledgement of a virgin birth of Jesus, during the period of the Spanish Inquisition. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla ran against the colonial norm by having a mistress and by reading various banned revolutionary writings and books, such as those written by Thomas Jefferson. The Spanish seized Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s library and revoked his right to preach. In 1810, when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was about to be arrested again he called for a revolution in a frantic speech, that began an armed uprising against the Spanish Colonial rule.