Pedro Berruguete. Pedro Berruguete (c 1450 &ndash 1504 was a Spanish painter his art is regarded as a transitional style between gothic and Renaissance. Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fé (around 1495^[1]).

The Medieval Inquisition is a series of Inquisitions (Roman Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief It was in response to large popular movements throughout Europe considered apostate or heretical to Christianity, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy. Heresy, as a blanket term describes a practice or belief that is labeled as unorthodox Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures These were the first inquisition movements of many that would follow.

The Medieval Inquisitions were in response to growing religious movements, in particular the Cathars first noted in the 1140s and the Waldensians starting around 1170, in southern France and northern Italy. General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Individual "Heretics", for example Peter of Bruis, had often challenged the Church. Peter of Bruys (also known as Pierre De Bruys or Peter de Bruis; fl However, the Cathars were the first mass heretical organization in the second millennium that posed a serious threat to the authority of the Church.

History

All big medieval inquisitions were decentralized. Authority rested with local officials based on guidelines from the Holy See, but there was no central top-down authority running the inquisitions, as would be the case in post-medieval inquisitions. Thus there were many different types of inquisitions depending on the location and methods; historians have generally classified them into the episcopal inquisition and the papal inquisition.

The first medieval inquisition, the episcopal inquisition, was established in the year 1184 by a papal bull entitled Ad abolendam, "For the purpose of doing away with. A Papal bull is a particular type of Letters patent or charter issued by a Pope. Ad abolendam ("On abolition" or "Towards abolishing" was the November 1184 Decretal and bull of Pope Lucius III, written " The inquisition was in response to the growing Catharist heresy in southern France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. It is called "episcopal" because it was administered by local bishops, which in Latin is episcopus. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight The episcopal inquisition was not very effective for many reasons. The bishops often did not reside in their dioceses, living in far-off cities such as Rome and rarely, if ever, visiting. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. When they did visit, bishops were busy and had many other responsibilities. Also, the procedures used in this inquisition were not effective. For example, according to the Ad abolendam, it was required to reveal the name of the accuser to the accused, and this would often lead to the revenge killing of the accuser before the trial.

In the 1230s, Pope Gregory IX^[2] responded to the failures of the episcopal inquisition with a series of papal bulls which became the papal inquisition. Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was Pope from March 19, 1227 to August The papal inquisition was staffed by professionals, trained specifically for the job. Individuals were chosen from different orders and secular clergy, but primarily they came from the Dominican Order. The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is The Dominicans were favored for their history of anti-heresy, education, and skill in debate. As mendicants, they were accustomed to travel and not interested in personal gain. The term mendicant (Latin mendicans, begging refers to Begging or relying on charitable donations and is most widely used for religious followers or Unlike the haphazard episcopal methods, the papal inquisition was thorough and systematic, keeping detailed records. Some of the most useful documents from the Middle Ages involving first-person speech by medieval peasants come from papal inquisition records.

In northern Europe the Inquisition was considerably more benign: in the Scandinavian countries it had hardly any impact (although northern Europe had its own institutions such as the "witchhunt"). "Witch trial" redirects here For the song by Rush, see Fear series. The Inquisition was never instituted in England, but Christopher Columbus carried it with him to the New World. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. It existed in the kingdom of Aragon during this period, but not elsewhere in the Iberian peninsula. Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain.

Inquisition procedure

The papal inquisition developed a number of procedures to discover and prosecute heretics.

Investigation

When a papal inquisition arrived at a town it had a set of procedures and rules to identify likely heretics. First, the townspeople would be gathered in a public place. Although attendance was voluntary, those who failed to show would automatically be suspect, so most would come. The inquisitors would provide an opportunity for anyone to step forward and denounce themselves in exchange for easy punishment. As part of this bargain they would need to inform on other heretics. In addition, the inquisitors could simply force people to be interrogated. Once information had been gathered, an inquisitorial trial could begin.

Trial

The inquisitorial trial generally favored the prosecution (the Church). The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the Common law Adversarial system, or the civil law The accused was expected to self-incriminate and did not have the right to face and question the accuser. It was acceptable to take testimony from criminals, persons of bad reputation, excommunicated people, and convicted heretics. Blood relationship did not exempt one from the duty to testify against the accused. The inquisitor could keep a defendant in prison for years before the trial to obtain new information.

Despite the seeming unfairness of the procedures, the inquisitors did provide some rights to the defendant. A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics At the beginning of the trial, defendants were invited to name those who had "mortal hatred" against them. If the accusers were among those named, the defendant was set free and the charges dismissed; the accusers would face life imprisonment. This option was meant to keep the inquisition from becoming involved in local grudges. A confession under torture was not admissible in court, although the inquisitor could threaten the accused with torture during the proceedings.

Torture

Torture was used after 1252. On May 15, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull entitled Ad exstirpanda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi was Pope from June 28, 1243 to December 7, 1254. A Papal bull is a particular type of Letters patent or charter issued by a Pope. Ad extirpanda (named for its Latin Incipit) was a Papal bull, promulgated on May 15 1252 by Pope Innocent IV, which explicitly authorized Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden. Also, torture could be performed only once. However, it was common practice to consider a second torture session to be a "continuation" of the first. People were also tortured by getting hung by their wrists, and have weights hung by their ankles.

Punishment

Among the possible punishments were a long pilgrimage for first offenders, wearing a yellow cross for life, confiscation of property, banishment, public recantation, or long-term imprisonment. Burning at the stake was only for the most serious cases, including repeat offenders and unrepentant heretics. Execution was done not by the Church, which was forbidden to kill, but by secular officials. The accused could have all of his property confiscated, and in many cases, accusers may have been motivated by a desire to take the property of the accused.

The inquisitors generally preferred not to hand over heretics to the secular arm for execution if they could persuade the heretic to repent. It was in the inquisitors' interest to be perceived as merciful, and they generally preferred to keep defendants alive in hopes of obtaining confessions. For example, Bernard Gui, a famous inquisitor working in the area of Toulouse (in modern France), executed 42 people out of over 900 guilty verdicts in fifteen years of office. Bernard Gui (1261 or 1262 &ndash 30 December 1331) also known as Bernardo Gui or Bernardus Guidonis, was an inquisitor of the Toulouse ( pronounced in standard French, and in the local accent ( Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced) is a city in southwest Execution was to admit defeat, that the Church was unable to save a soul from heresy, which was the goal of the inquisition.

Legacy

The inquisitions in combination with the brutal Albigensian Crusade were fairly successful in eliminating mass heresy. The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209&ndash1229 was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar When they started, the heretical sects were quite strong and growing, but by the 14th century the Waldensians had been driven underground and the Cathars had been slaughtered en masse or forced to recant.

See also

• Goa Inquisition
• Spanish Inquisition
• Roman Inquisition
• Nicolau Aymerich

References

1. ^ *Page of the painting at Prado Museum. The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia The Spanish Inquisition started and was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile to maintain The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF ( Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, Nicholas Eymerich ( Catalan: Nicolau Aymerich; c 1320 - 4 January, 1399) was a Roman Catholic theologian The Museo del Prado is a Museum and Art gallery located in Madrid, the capital of Spain.
2. ^ A History of the Inquisition

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: "Inquisition"
• Catholic Answers: "The Inquisition"