Inquisition

Long ago, there were special church courts.

These courts were called the Inquisition.

They looked for people with different ideas. These people were often treated unfairly.

In some places, the courts used force. They wanted people to tell the truth. This made many people afraid.

Some courts were in Spain and Portugal. They were also in other lands.

Later, many of these courts were closed. People worked to make things better.

The Inquisition was a set of church courts.

These courts were used by the Catholic Church. They looked for people with different religious ideas. These people were called heretics.

In the 12th century, these courts began in France. They looked for groups like the Cathars.

Later, the courts grew in many places. There were courts in Spain and Portugal.

They even reached places in the Americas.

These courts used a new way to hold trials. They wanted to find the truth through inquiry. Sometimes, the courts used violence or torture. They did this to make people confess. This made many people feel afraid.

If a person was found guilty, they faced big punishments. The church would hand them to local leaders. In some places, this meant the person would die. Many historians study these old records today. They learn about the people who lived through it. Most of these courts closed in the early 1800s.

The Inquisition was a special type of court used by the Catholic Church.

These courts were meant to find and judge people with different religious beliefs. People who held these different views were called heretics. The word inquisition comes from a Latin word meaning inquiry or inquest. It was a way for judges to investigate and try cases. This was a very important part of how the church kept order.

These courts worked differently than older ways of holding trials. In the past, people used trials by ordeal, like combat or fire. The inquisitorial process was a newer way based on Roman law. It used an inquiry to look for facts and evidence. Judges would investigate to see if someone had broken church rules. To convict someone for a major crime, they needed two witnesses. This rule often made judges want to get a confession.

This system started in the 12th century in the Kingdom of France.

Early courts looked for groups like the Cathars and the Waldensians. By the 1250s, members of the Dominican Order were often chosen as judges. Later, the courts spread to many other places in Europe. There were famous inquisitions in Spain and Portugal. They also set up courts in places like Mexico and Peru.

In Spain and Portugal, the courts often focused on specific groups of people. They looked at New Christians, also called Conversos, who had changed their religion. They also watched the Marranos and the Moriscos. The courts were very large and reached far into the empires. In 1542, a new governing group was made in Rome. This group helped manage the work of the Inquisition. Historians use old records to study these many cases today.

If a person was found guilty, they faced very serious consequences. The church would hand the person over to local leaders. This was called the "secular arm." Local leaders would then decide on a punishment based on their laws. In some places, this meant the person was burned to death. These punishments were often meant to scare others into following the rules. Most of these courts closed in the early 1800s. Today, the church still has a group for religious doctrine.

An inquisition was a specific judicial procedure used by the Catholic Church.

Ecclesiastical judges, or church officials, used this process to initiate and investigate cases. The primary goal was to combat heresy, which is holding religious beliefs that disagree with the Church. It was also used to address apostasy, blasphemy, and witchcraft. While the term is often used for various regional tribunals, it originally described a formal legal method of inquiry. This system allowed the Church to maintain order and religious unity across its territories.

The mechanism of the inquisition was based on the Latin word "inquisitio," meaning inquiry or inquest.

This was a major change from older, more arbitrary trial methods. In the early Middle Ages, people used trials by ordeal, such as combat or fire, to decide guilt. The inquisition replaced these with a system rooted in Roman law. In this new process, judges investigated facts to build a case. For major crimes, the law required the testimony of at least two witnesses. Because circumstantial evidence alone was often not enough for a conviction, judges frequently sought a confession. To obtain these confessions, the courts sometimes used the threat or application of torture.

There were several distinct stages and types of inquisition throughout history. The Medieval Inquisition began in the 12th-century Kingdom of France.

These early courts focused on groups like the Cathars and the Waldensians. By the 1250s, the Dominican Order became the primary source for choosing inquisitors. As the system grew, it expanded into the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. These later versions were much larger and reached into global empires. They established courts in places like Mexico, Peru, and Goa. In the Papal States, the process was known specifically as the Roman Inquisition.

History shows how the scope of these courts changed over time. The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation caused the inquisition to grow significantly. In 1542, the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition was created to govern these efforts.

In Spain and Portugal, the courts often targeted specific groups of people. They investigated "New Christians" known as Conversos, who had converted from Judaism. They also monitored Marranos and Moriscos. These were people who had been forced to convert to Catholicism. The courts suspected they might secretly maintain their original religious practices.

The significance of the inquisition is seen in the massive scale of its records.

Historians have studied these archives to understand the numbers involved. For example, records from the Spanish Inquisition list 44,674 cases. Of those, 826 resulted in executions in person, and 778 were carried out in effigy. An effigy is a straw dummy used to represent the person being punished. Other estimates suggest there were about 2,000 executions across all Spanish tribunals before 1530. These numbers show how deeply the system reached into society.

When a person was found guilty of "unrepentant" heresy, the process moved to a final stage. The inquisition did not carry out the final death sentences itself. Instead, the court handed the convicted person over to the "secular arm." This term refers to the local government or civil authorities.

The secular arm would then apply the punishment required by local law. In many regions, persistent heresy was treated as sedition, or rebellion against the state. This often resulted in the person being burned to death. These punishments were intended to serve as an example to others. They were meant to create fear and prevent others from committing similar acts.

Today, the inquisition is studied as a complex part of legal and religious history. Most ecclesiastical inquisition courts were abolished in the early 19th century. This happened following the Napoleonic Wars and the wars of independence in the Americas. However, the papal institution in Rome survived through various changes. It is now part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Modern historians continue to debate the exact nature of the inquisition. Some argue the scale of violence is often exaggerated in popular myths. Others maintain that the use of force and false accusations was a central part of the system.