Inquisition

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==Prominent Inquisition Victims==
 
==Prominent Inquisition Victims==
  
'''Giordano Bruno''' (1548-1600): Scholar and philosopher, best known for his groundbreaking theories that the universe is infinite and may contain other inhabited worlds. Having a history of getting on the wrong side of ecclesiastical authorities, Bruno led a itinerant life, living and teaching in both Italy, England, Germany and Bohemia. Eventually, he returned to Italy where he was arrested by the Roman Inquisition and executed for heresy.
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'''Giordano Bruno''' (1548-1600): Scholar and philosopher, best known for his groundbreaking theories that the universe is infinite and may contain other inhabited worlds. Having a history of getting on the wrong side of ecclesiastical authorities, Bruno led an itinerant life, living and teaching in Italy, England, Germany and Bohemia. Eventually, he returned to Italy where he was arrested by the Roman Inquisition and executed for heresy.
  
 
Bruno is often presented as a martyr for science and humanism. These people tend to forget that Bruno was also an occultist, who believed that all matter is intelligent, and that his execution probably had more to do with his views on the transubstantiation than on planets.{{fact}}
 
Bruno is often presented as a martyr for science and humanism. These people tend to forget that Bruno was also an occultist, who believed that all matter is intelligent, and that his execution probably had more to do with his views on the transubstantiation than on planets.{{fact}}
  
'''Menocchio''' (1532-1599): Also known as '''Domenico Scandella'''. Miller in the Friuli region, northern Italy. Was accused of heresy by the Roman Inquisition on several occasions and eventually burned at the stake after relapsing. In 1976, he gained fame probably beyond his wildest dreams when prominent microhistorian Carlo Ginzburg made him the central character of his famous study ''The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller''.  
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'''Menocchio''' (1532-1599): Also known as '''Domenico Scandella''', he was a miller in the Friuli region of northern Italy. He was accused of heresy by the Roman Inquisition on several occasions and eventually burned at the stake after relapsing. In 1976, he gained fame probably beyond his wildest dreams when prominent microhistorian Carlo Ginzburg made him the central character of his famous study ''The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller''.
 
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==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 22:16, 22 July 2007

The Inquisition is typically used to refer collectively to a number of different institutions set up by the Roman Catholic Church to combat heresy. Chronologically, these include the following:

  • Episcopal Inquisition (1184-c. 1230)
  • Papal Inquisition (c. 1230-late 14th century)
  • Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834)
  • Congregation of the Holy Office, or Roman Inquisition (ca. 1588-1965)
  • Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1965-present)


Contents

Medieval Inquisition

Although Catholic bishops have always been expected to work against heresy within their dioceses, the late 12th century saw the appearance of several wide-spread heresy movements in southern and western Europe, particularly the Cathars and the Waldensians. This led to the establishment of the so-called Episcopal Inqusition, which directed the bishops of southern France in particular to focus and combine their efforts towards suppressing these movements.

Since the bishops generally had better things to do with their time, this initiative was massively inefficient, and in the 1230s, it was replaced with Papal Inquisition, which consisted of a network of specifically appointed and trained inquisitors, often drawn from the Dominican order.

The Inquisition Myth

Contrary to what popular imagination, typically fueled by a number of otherwise excellent books and movies,[1] would attempt to teach us, the various Inquisitions have rarely been secret organizations made up of nefarious clergymen hell-bent on sending as many innocent free-thinkers as humanly possible to the pyre.

The primary objective of the Inquisition was not the extermination of heretics as such, but rather to ensure the unity of the faith. In the medieval world view, proper belief was an absolute prerequisite for salvation, and heresy could lure people away from the true faith, creating an opening for the Devil. This made it essential to remove heresy as soon as possible, so as to not put any souls in unnecessary danger.

This approach may seem intolerant to modern mentalities, but in the view of at least two historians,[2] it seems more productive to try to understand the motivations and world view of these people, rather than simply condemn them for not living up to modern standards.

By contemporary legal standards, it should be noted that the Inquisition took great pains to ensure that the persons being brought before it had actually done what they were accused of. Since accusations often came from other people in the local community, the Inquisition was well aware that there could often be motives like personal gain or revenge involved, and as a consequence, accused persons were extensively interrogated. Torture was employed, but confessions made under torture was not sufficient as evidence. Further, all proceedings were written down verbatim and preserved.[3]

If a person was found to be guilty of heresy, he or she would be encouraged to recant and required to do penance as with any other sin. Penances would often include public recantations, pilgrimages, or being forced to wear special types of clothing or emblems for a period of time. Corporeal or capital punishment was rarely used, and usually only in the case of relapsi (those who had previously recanted, but were found guilty of heresy again at a later date), or for those who had actively encouraged others to commit heresy.

Surviving Inquisition protocols show that, for example, the inquisitor Bernard Gui executed 42 out of 900 suspects interrogated between 1307 and 1323, while his contemporary Jacques Fournier executed 5 out of 587 suspects between 1318 and 1325.[4] This was, however, in the later stages of the medieval Inquisition, when the Cathars in particular had lost much of their former strength.


Spanish Inquisition

Nobody expects the Spa... oh, bugger!


Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith

Everybody should expect the CDF, on the other hand.

They can see you.


Prominent Inquisition Victims

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600): Scholar and philosopher, best known for his groundbreaking theories that the universe is infinite and may contain other inhabited worlds. Having a history of getting on the wrong side of ecclesiastical authorities, Bruno led an itinerant life, living and teaching in Italy, England, Germany and Bohemia. Eventually, he returned to Italy where he was arrested by the Roman Inquisition and executed for heresy.

Bruno is often presented as a martyr for science and humanism. These people tend to forget that Bruno was also an occultist, who believed that all matter is intelligent, and that his execution probably had more to do with his views on the transubstantiation than on planets.[citation needed]

Menocchio (1532-1599): Also known as Domenico Scandella, he was a miller in the Friuli region of northern Italy. He was accused of heresy by the Roman Inquisition on several occasions and eventually burned at the stake after relapsing. In 1976, he gained fame probably beyond his wildest dreams when prominent microhistorian Carlo Ginzburg made him the central character of his famous study The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller.

See Also

Heresy and Heretics

McCarthyism


Notes

  1. Voltaire's Candide comes to mind
  2. Marc Bloch and User:AKjeldsen.
  3. Incidentally also creating a magnificent corpus of source material for later historians.
  4. See for example the Fournier Register, compiled by the 14th century inquisitor Jacques Fournier: Duvernoy, J. (ed.): Le Registre de Jacques Fournier, évêque de Pamiers (1318-1325) (Toulouse, 1965). Also Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel: Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324 (1982)


Bibliography

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More

Goat
  • Duvernoy, J. (ed.): Le Registre de Jacques Fournier, évêque de Pamiers (1318-1325) (Toulouse, 1965)
  • Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel: Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324 (?, 1982)
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