"The organization of the Inquisition was simple, yet effective. It did not care to impress the minds of men with magnificence, but rather to paralyze them with terror."1
Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition of Middle Ages, vol 1, (first edition 1888) [New York: Harbor Press, 1955 ] p. 369
"One of their teachers in the thirteenth century, copied by Bernard Gui in the fourteenth, argues: 'The object of the Inquisition is the destruction of heresy. Heresy cannot be destroyed unless heretics are destroyed: heretics cannot be destroyed unless their defenders and fautors are destroyed, and this is effected in two ways, viz., when they are converted to the true Catholic faith, or when, on being abandoned to the secular arm, they are corporally burned.' "2
Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition of Middle Ages, vol 1, (first edition 1888) [New York: Harbor Press, 1955 ] p. 535
Henry Charles Lea completes volume 1 of his History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages with the following: "On secular jurisprudence the example of the Inquisition worked even more deplorably. It came at a time when the old order of things was giving way to the new -- when the ancient customs of the barbarians, the ordeal, the wager of law, the wer-gild, were growing obsolete in the increasing intelligence of the age, when a new system was springing into life under the revived study of the Roman law, and when the administration of justice by the local feudal lord was becoming swallowed up in the widening jurisdiction of the crown. The whole judicial system of the European monarchies was undergoing reconstruction, and the happiness of future generations depended on the character of the new institutions. That in this reorganization the worst features of the imperial jurisprudence -- the use of torture and the inquisitorial process -- should be eagerly, nay, almost exclusively, adopted, should be divested of the safeguards which in Rome restricted their abuse, should be exaggerated in all their evil tendencies, and should, for five centuries, become the prominent characteristic of the criminal jurisprudence of Europe, may safely be ascribed to the fact that they received the sanction of the Church. Thus recommended, they penetrated everywhere along with the Inquisition; while most of the nations to whom the Holy Office was unknown maintained their ancestral customs, developing into various forms of criminal practice, harsh enough, indeed, to modern eyes, but wholly divested of the more hideous atrocities which characterized the habitual investigation into crime in other regions.
Of all the curses which the Inquisition brought in its train this, perhaps, was the greatest -- that, until the closing years of the eighteenth century, throughout the greater part of Europe, the inquisitorial process, as developed for the destruction of heresy, became the customary method of dealing with all who were under accusation; that the accused was treated as one having no rights, whose guilt was assumed in advance, and from whom confession was to be extorted by guile and force. Even witnesses were treated in the same fashion; and the prisoner who acknowledged guilt under torture was tortured again to obtain information about any other evil-doers of whom he perchance might have knowledge. So, also, the crime of "suspicion" was imported from the Inquisition into ordinary practice, and the accused who could not be convicted of the crime laid to his door could be punished for being suspected of it, not with the penalty legally provided for the offense, but with some other, at the fancy and discretion of the judge. It would be impossible to compute the amount of misery and wrong, inflicted on the defenseless up to the present century, which may be directly traced to the arbitrary and unrestricted methods introduced by the Inquisition and adopted by the jurists who fashioned the criminal jurisprudence of the Continent. It was a system which might well seem the invention of demons, and was fitly characterized by Sir John Fortescue as the Road to Hell." 3
Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition of Middle Ages, vol 1, (first edition 1888) [New York: Harbor Press, 1955 ] p. 559-561
"Since the establishment of the holy office, there has scarcely been any man celebrated for his learning, who has not been prosecuted as a heretic."4
Juan Antonio Llorente, A Critical History of the Inquisition of Spain (first edition by John Lilburne, 1823, an abridged English translation of a 4-volume French edition published in Paris in 1817-1818) [Williamstown, Mass: John Lilburne Company, 1967] p. 279
This series grew out of research I was doing on the references used by the nineteenth-century historian of women, suffragist, and social reformer, Matilda Joslyn Gage. This series on the Inquisition uses almost exclusively works that Gage was known to have used, were written by individuals that Gage is known to have extensively referenced, or were written before or during her productive years.
Introduction
As the old saying goes, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." By the eleventh century, the Roman Catholic church reigned supreme over many states in Europe. As with all other powerful institutions, the church wielded so much power that it attracted to its ranks people who wanted to exercise power, corrupting both the church and the state in the process. As Lea remarks, "The authority lodged in the hands of the inquisitors was so arbitrary and irresponsible that even with the purest intentions it could not but be unpopular, while to the unworthy it afforded unlimited opportunity for oppression and the gratification of the basest passions."5
The five hundred year long Inquisition had two distinct phases. The first phase, which grew out of the campaign by 12th century monarchs and popes to rid Christendom of heresy, was officially instituted by the Pope in about 1216 to combat the Cathars and Waldensians in the south of France, Languedoc, and neighboring areas (northern Italy). The Pope commissioned Dominic de Guzman to gather and train an ecclesiastical force to seek out heresy and eradicate it from Christendom. This seeking out of heresy was a new phenomenon; for the first time, the church actively undertook to discover and eliminate heresy from Christendom6.
The second phase was instituted in Spain near the end of the Reconquest (Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain, fell to their Catholic majesties in 1492) to drive the Jews and Moslems from Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was eventually extended to include the Spanish colonies -- Latin America, especially Peru and Mexico, the Philippines, even cities in India. Later victims included the Conversos (Jews who converted to Christianity rather than leave Spain), the Moriscos (Moslems who converted to Christianity rather than leave Spain), and Protestants. Using the time-tested techniques of fire and sword, in the second half of the sixteenth century, as part of the Catholic CounterReformation, the Inquisition was instituted in northern Europe to deal with the Protestant Reformation. The bulk of the witch trials came from Protestant lands (northern Europe, England, Scotland) under the guidance of both Catholic and Protestant churches.
Although the Roman Catholic church was the only truly international organization existing in Europe between the thirteenth through the eighteenth centuries and although the techniques of the Inquisition were used throughout Christendom, various geographical areas of Europe experienced the Inquisition differently. For example, in Languedoc, the Inquisition of the thirteenth century was particularly vicious while the Inquisition did not make it to England until the early fifteenth century as part of the Catholic church's attempt to deal with the Lollards. Consequently, although the legal systems of most countries in Christendom eventually reflected the dictates of the Pope, the timing of the Inquisition and, to a lesser extent, the severity of the Inquisitorial process, varied from country to country.
The Inquisition profoundly influenced the course of European history: torture entered the civil legal code through ecclesiastical law, commerce was retarded until civil contracts could be enforced; the arts, literature, and the other branches of human endeavor which became known as the humanities stagnated; and, of course, the untold sufferings perpetrated on generations of human beings for the slightest offense inhibited development and communications. King and commoner alike were subject to the desires of the Pope; no one was high-born enough to escape the power of the Pope; no one was low-born enough to escape the watchful eye of the local parish priest. Once brought to the attention of the Inquisition, no individual could escape its grasp. According to Henry Charles Lea, "Human wickedness and folly have erected, in the world's history, more violent despotisms, but never one more cruel, more benumbing, more all-pervading."7
In this overview, I will present
Philosophy of law in the middle ages
The Inquisition
Story of Raymond VI of Toulouse
Inquisition I (witch trials were a small part of Inq I)
Biographical infomation on Gage's sources: Henry Charles Lea, WEH Lecky, Juan Llorente, Theodore Dwight, James Froude, and other sources
End Notes
Most Americans are familiar with the history of the early Christian church: the story of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, the spread of his life's story and his teachings by his disciples and his apostles, and the periodic anti-Christian persecutions under early emperors. By the early fourth century, Constantine the Great (about AD 274-337), Roman emperor (306-37), eliminated anti-Christian laws, and, eventually, made Christianity the state church. He called a church council, the first ecumenical council, in 325 at Nicaea to determine the creed of orthodox Christianity9. For the next five centuries, the church would be subservient to the state - one Emperor and one King after another exercised his authority to appoint bishops and cardinals, to review and approve all ecclesiastical laws and teachings, to administer the affairs of the church, and to demand and obtain obedience from ecclesiastical authorities. Although the church constantly tested the resolve of secular authorities, it was not until the middle of the ninth century that the church first became a force as powerful as the state, then became the master over the state.
Following the Nicean Council, Christians began persecuting Pagan and non-orthodox Christians alike. The story of Hypatia of Alexandria is representative of the anti-Pagan policies of the new state church.
Born about 355 AD to the renowned mathematician, Theon, in the fourth century, Hypatia, a renowned pagan mathematician and philosopher in her own right, died a most gruesome death in 415. According to Hypatia's modern biographer, Maria Dzieska, Hypatia's biographer in antiquity, Socrates Scholasticusm, wrote that "everyone who wanted to study philosophy flocked to her from all directions."10 Her closest, most loyal students later held either high imperial or ecclesiastical, Christian or Pagan, posts. At the same time, agents of imperial power arriving in Alexandria became her close acquaintances.11 As Dzieska writes, "Moving in high government circles, surrounded by imperial and town dignitaries and by wealthy, well-born, and influential students, Hypatia must have had some voice in town affairs and have influenced political and social life in Alexandria.12" After leaving her school, her students dispersed throughout the Roman empire, carrying her influence as far as Constantinople, Syria, and Cyrene.13 Hypatia was truly a powerful figure throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
Cyril, who would become Hypatia's nemesis, was bishop of the Alexandrian Christian church. Although our contemporary Church historians and ecclesiastics express profound respect for Cyril, in his own time, his contemporaries described him as impetuous and power-hungry, as one who aroused strong opposition in Egypt.14 Wanting to consolidate his power and to increase his influence in public affairs, Cyril began by eliminating the competition, his fellow Christians. Ostensibly to purify the faith by eliminating those groups who held unorthodox beliefs, he began his crusade with the Novatians; he expelled them from the city, closed their churches, confiscated their liturgical objects, and deprived their bishop of all rights. After subjugating the Novatians, he turned against the Jews15 Only then was he ready to attack the influential and honored Hypatia and her school.
Feted and honored by the rich and powerful of the city, Hypatia's reputation was not as strong among the masses of the people. Hypatia herself, her influential friends, and her students remained apart from the concerns of the populace at large and when the pagan temples were ransacked by Christians in anti-pagan religious riots, Hypatia once again stood aloof16.Looking for a weakness to exploit to successfully attack Hypatia, who was under the protection of the rich and powerful of the city, Cryil began a smear campaign accusing Hypatia of being a witch who practiced black magic, at the time one, of the most horrendous accusations which could be leveled against some one17. Continuing his campaign of falsehoods, lies, and slander, Cyril finally managed to damage Hypatia's reputation sufficiently to move against her. Some question exists as to how much Cyril knew about the events which were to transpire and what role he had in bringing them about. We do know that he lead the campaign to defame her character and that he most certainly did not act according to the principles of the Christian moral order18. During an anti-pagan riot which was instigated by Cyril's men, Hypatia was pulled from her chariot, dragged into a Christian church, and cut to shreds with broken tiles by men in Cyril's employment19.
The techniques used against Hypatia outlined above would be used successfully for centuries - divide the opposition and conquer each faction separately. If an opponent is too powerful to attack directly, defame his character using any falsehood imaginable and continue using lies, slander, and falsehoods until his reputation is destroyed. Rouse a mob to fury against the victim, then, hiding in the mob violence, deliver the coup-de-gras. Just as neither Christian nor non-Christian was spared in Cyril's quest for power neither Christian nor non-Christian would be spared in the church's quest for power. Cyril showed no mercy to the innocent and the uninvolved; likewise, the church would show no mercy to its intended victims and would not respect the neutrality of the uninvolved. Only those who were actively engaged in supporting Cyril's party were safe; likewise, only those who actively supported the church in its quest for power would be safe when the church was at the zenith of its power.
In the ninth century, the church began to consolidate its power over the state through the forged False Decretals and Donation of Constantine, and by its divide and conquer policy of pitting one king against another. In the anarchy of the late ninth and tenth centuries, the church rose to power as the Roman Empire gave way to feudalism. As the church acquired more and more power, it attracted those who were interested in wielding power; the most ruthless and unscrupulous rose to the highest ranks of the church. Between the eleventh century and the thirteenth centuries, the time at which the church was at the zenith of its power, the church was widely acknowledged to be corrupt: simony and indulgences were popular methods of raising money to build the great cathedrals, the ostensibly celibate clergy openly kept wives and mistresses, and priests and prelates, at best, ignored their flocks. As the disrepute of the church grew and as the people hungered for spiritual solace in a hostile world, competing religions, the Waldenses and the Cathars sent their missionaries throughout Europe to minister to the spiritual needs of the common folk and heresy took root.
Meanwhile, the church had only one goal: to be the undisputed master of all of Christendom. As the papacy in Rome became aware of the success of the unorthodox religions, the church determined to eliminate their competition. For a few years, the church sent trained ecclesiastics throughout Christendom to try to win back the hearts and minds of the people. Without reforming the system in which the corrupt clergy thrived and without permanently ministering to the spiritual needs of the flock, the church's efforts for a peaceful victory over the unorthodox was destined to fail. Yet, the church would tolerate no failure - it turned to the time-test techniques of fire and sword to acquire the obedience of the flock which it could neither win through admiration nor earn through reason.
End Notes
Theodore Dwight, The Roman Republic of 1849: With Accounts of The Inquisition, and The Siege of Rome, and Biographical Sketches with Original Portraits [New York: R. Van Dien, 1851]
Maria Dzieska, Hypatia of Alexandria [Harvard University Press, 1995]
James Anthony Froude, Short Studies on Great Subjects [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905]
Henry Charles Lea, Torture, Ordeal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval Law (1870) [New York: Barnes and Noble, 1996]
Henry Charles Lea, History of Sacerdotal Celibacy (1867) [City Not Given: University Books, 1966]
Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition of Middle Ages, vol 1, (1888) [New York: Harbor Press, 1955 ]
Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition of Middle Ages, vol 2, (1888) [New York: Harbor Press, 1955 ]
Henry Charles Lea, Studies in Church History: The Rise of the Temporal Power, Benefit of Clergy, Excommunication, The Early Church and Slavery (1869) [Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea's Sons & Co., 1883]
William Edward Hartpole Lecky, History of Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe 1879, on-line edition
Juan Antonio Llorente, A Critical History of the Inquisition of Spain [Williamstown, Mass: John Lilburne Company, 1967] (First edition by John Lilburne, 1823, an abridged English translation of a 4-volume French edition published in Paris, where Llorente had fled into exile, in 1817-1818. Immediately after publication, translations of the French edition were published in English, German, and Italian. A 10-volume Spanish translation was published in 1822.)
Uta Ranke-Heinemann, Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality, and the Catholic Church, Doubleday 1990
Works by Llorente, Lea, and other authors are available on the CD ROM The Un-Holy Inquisition at Bank of Wisdom for $30.