Inquisition

File:Inquisition2.jpg

Representation of an Auto de fe, (1475).
The painting is inaccurate: even though burning at the stake occurred in some cases, it never took place during this religious ritual.

The term Inquisition (Latin: Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis Sanctum Officium) refers broadly to a number of historical movements orchestrated by the Pope and aimed at securing Papal religious and financial authority in Europe through the conversion, and sometimes persecution, of alleged heretics. There were four major movements, starting with the Medieval Inquisition in 1184 and ending with the Spanish Inquisition in 1834.

Origin

The Inquisition was an institution within the Roman Catholic Church, charged with the eradication of heresy through peaceful conversion, but also sometimes by violent coercion.

Heresy (from the Greek verb for, "to choose") is a natural obstacle to total control by a monarch or regligious leader. If enough "heretics" decide to think for themselves, the absolute authority of the Crown and the Pope is threatened. Rome modeled some of its early witch-hunting on the Jerusalem Council alleged to have convened in Chapter 15 of the New Testament's Acts. Many groups suffered persecution by Papal inquisitions in the years that followed. In the subsequent centuries there were Arius and his followers Arians and Manicheans; in the Middle Ages there were the Jews the Cathari and Waldenses; and in the Renaissance there were the Hussites, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Rosicrucians. Efforts to suppress heresies were initially ad hoc, but in the Middle Ages a permanent structure came into being to combat heresies. Roman Catholicism deemed it poper to convert, sometimes by violent means, people who maintained divergent opinions from their king and/or their Pope. Clergy men often carried out the torture and the killings although sometimes eager citizens were allowed to contribute, a role of great prestige especially in Spain.

History

There were four Inquisitions; in chronological order, they were the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Portuguese Inquisition and the Roman Inquisition. One would however be incorrect to presume that these were totally unrelated to each other and that the inquisition was limited to these discrete events.

Medieval Inquisition

Main article: Medieval Inquisition

The first of the Medieval Inquisitions is called the Episcopal Inquisition and was established in the year 1184 by a papal bull, an official letter from the Pope, entitled Ad abolendam; "For the purpose of doing away with". The Inquisition was in response to the growing Catharist heresy in southern France. It is called the "episcopal" because it was administered by local bishops, which in Greek is episcopos. The Episcopal Inquisition was not very effective for many reasons (see Medieval Inquisition).

The Papal Inquisition in the 1230s was in response to the failures of the Episcopal Inquisition and was staffed by professionals, trained specifically for the job as decreed by the Pope. Individuals were chosen from different orders and secular clergy, but primarily they came from the Dominican Order who had a number of traits that made them suitable (see Medieval Inquisition).

Spanish Inquisition

Main article: Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition was decreed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1478 in Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. It was a joint effort between the monarch and the Pope, with Ferdinand playing an unusually enthusiastic role. Nevertheless, it never could have been as effective as it was had it not been for the Inquisitor General appointed by Rome. In the history of the Catholic Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition was especially brutal and continues to enjoy infamy as an historical accident wherein hate under religion's cloak turned once timid Catholic clergymen into professional murderers, although that image remains controversial to this day. The would-be trial or auto de fe still stands out as one of justice's greatest historical mockeries. The auto da fe would subsequently be employed in certain Spanish colonies such as Peru Peruvian Inquisition during the Viceroyalty of Peru and Mexico Mexican Inquisition, which continued in the Americas until Mexican Independence. The Inquisition was not officially abolished until 1834.

Roman Inquisition

Main article: Roman Inquisition

Pope Paul III established, in 1542, a permanent congregation staffed with cardinals and other officials, whose task it was to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines. This body, the Congregation of the Holy Office, now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, part of the Roman Curia, became the supervisory body of local Inquisitions. The Pope appoints one of the cardinals to preside over the meetings. There are usually ten other cardinals on the Congregation, as well as a prelate and two assistants all chosen from the Dominican Order. The Holy Office also has an international group of consultants, experienced scholars of theology and canon law, who advise it on specific questions. In 1616 these consultants gave their assessment of the propositions that the Sun is immobile and at the center of the universe and that the Earth moves around it, judging both to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy," and the first to be "formally heretical" and the second "at least erroneous in faith" in theology. This assessment led to Copernicus's De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium to be placed on the Index of Forbidden Books, until revised and Galileo Galilei to be admonished about his Copernicanism. It was this same body in 1633 that tried Galileo, condemned him for a "grave suspicion of heresy", and banned all his works.

Not all prosecutions of alleged heretics, atheists and other deviations from the Catholic faith were prosecuted by the Inquisition. In some countries, such as France under the ancien régime, atheists and blasphemers could be prosecuted by civilian courts, with the possible penalty of death.

Portuguese Inquisition

Main article: Portuguese Inquisition

The Portuguese Inquisition was established in Portugal in 1536 by the King of Portugal, João III, as a Portuguese analogue of the more famous Spanish Inquisition

Other uses of the word "Inquisition"

Even though the last Inquisition (The Spanish Inquisition) ended in 1834 almost 200 years ago, the word "Inquisition" remains a part of modern vocabulary; even those with no interest in European history associate it with negative meanings.[1] Because of the negative images associated with the Inquisition, the term has taken on a pejorative usage, and is often used to express disapproval, and is often used in a non-neutral manner, and not as a neutral historical descriptor.

Some Christian fundamentalist authors like Jack Chick and Alberto Rivera believe the Nazi Holocaust was an Inquisition against the Jews undertaken by Hitler at the behest of the Pope.

In modern American politics, United States Senate investigations are often called "Inquisitions" as a means of expressing disapproval of the investigators. For example some people call the Second Red Scare an inquisition.

Robert Anton Wilson's book The New Inquisition (ISBN 1561840025) is critical of the application of the Scientific Method in the 20th century.

Emperor Qian Long's literary inquisition in Qing dynasty China.

Derivative works

The Inquisitions have been the subject of many cultural works. Some include:

The Spanish Inquisition was the subject of a classic Monty Python sketch ("Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!").
The short story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Pit and the Pendulum was set during the Spanish Inquisition.
A body known as the Inquisition exists in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Mel Brooks's 1981 film The History of the World, Part I contains a musical number about the Spanish Inquisition.
In Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, the Omnian church has a Quisition, with sub-sections Inquisition and Exquisition.
In J.K. Rowling's 2003 book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Dolores Umbridge sets up an Inquisition at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with herself as the High Inquisitor.
The "Dark Ages" setting in the World of Darkness (WoD) fantasy universe makes heavy use of the Inquisition as that particular setting takes place during the early 13th century.
The computer game "Lionheart:Legacy of the Crusader" made by the late Black Isle Studios uses the Spanish Inquisition as a key plot for the storyline and development of the game.

External links

References

Edward M. Peters, Inquisition. (University of California Press, 1989). ISBN 0520066308
- A brief, balanced inquiry, with an especially good section on the 'Myth of the Inquisition' (see The Inquisition Myth). This is particularly valuable because much of the history available in English of the Inquisition was written in the 19th century by Protestants interested in documenting the dangers of Catholicism or Catholic apologists demonstrating that the Inquisition had been an entirely reasonable judicial body without flaws.
Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. (Yale University Press, 1999). ISBN 0300078803
- This revised edition of his 1965 original contributes to the understanding of the Spanish Inquisition in its local context.
Cecil & Irene Roth, A history of the Marranos, Sepher-Hermon Press, 1974.
Simon Whitechapel, Flesh Inferno: Atrocities of Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition (Creation Books, 2003). ISBN 1840681055
William Thomas Walsh, Characters of the Inquisition (TAN Books, 1997). ISBN 0895553260
- Favorable treatment of inquisitors.
Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 40 vols. St. Louis,
B.Herder 1898 - [2]
- Additional Sources supporting Edward Peters and Henry Kamen
Parker, Geoffrey “Some Recent Work on the Inquisition in Spain and Italy” Journal of Modern History 54:3 1982
Given, James B Inquisition and Medieval Society New York, Cornell University Press, 2001