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The medieval Inquisition was the institution of the medieval Church dedicated to the investigation and suppression of heresy. The Inquisition was established in the early thirteenth century, in response to the failure of the Albigensian Crusade to eliminate the Cathar heresy and the failure of the episcopal courts to deal effectively with the heretical movements of the period. The Inquisition was staffed by members of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, and it developed a sophisticated legal procedure that shaped the persecution of heresy in Europe for centuries.
The standard English-language treatment is Bernard Hamilton, “The Medieval Inquisition” (Hambledon, 1981). The bull Excommunicamus of Gregory IX (1231) is the primary founding document, with the edition in H. Denifle (ed.), Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis (1889–97).
The Background to the Inquisition
The background to the Inquisition is rooted in the rise of the heretical movements of the twelfth century and in the failure of the existing institutions to deal with them. The Cathar heresy of southern France and northern Italy was a serious challenge to the institutional Church, and the Albigensian Crusade of 1209–1229 had failed to eliminate it. The Waldensian heresy of southern France and the Alpine valleys was another challenge, and the episcopal courts — the ordinary tribunals of the Church for the trial of heresy — were often unable to deal effectively with the heretics in their dioceses.
The papacy responded to the failure of the existing institutions by developing a new institution — the papal Inquisition — that was staffed by professional inquisitors and that had the power to investigate, try, and punish heresy in any diocese. The papal Inquisition was established by Pope Gregory IX in 1231, with the bull Excommunicamus, and it was staffed by Dominican and Franciscan friars who had the theological training to identify doctrinal errors and the pastoral skills to win back the erring.
The Dominican Inquisitors
The Dominican Order was founded in the early thirteenth century in part to combat the Cathar heresy, and the Dominican friars were ideally suited to serve as inquisitors. The Dominicans were trained in theology and philosophy in the great universities of Europe — Paris, Bologna, Oxford — and they had the intellectual skills to engage with the heretics in debate and to identify the subtle errors of the heretical doctrines. The Dominicans were also trained in preaching and pastoral care, and they had the pastoral skills to win back the erring and to reconcile the penitent with the Church.
The Franciscan Order was also involved in the Inquisition, and the Franciscan friars served as inquisitors in several regions of Europe. The Franciscan theologians — St. Bonaventure, Blessed John Duns Scotus, and others — made major contributions to the theological defense of orthodoxy and to the pastoral treatment of heretics. The Franciscan and Dominican inquisitors worked closely together in the persecution of heresy, and the two orders dominated the Inquisition in most parts of Europe.
The Procedures of the Inquisition
The Inquisition developed a sophisticated legal procedure for the investigation, trial, and punishment of heresy. The procedure included the following elements: the denunciation of the suspected heretic by a member of the community; the investigation of the denunciation by the inquisitor; the arrest and imprisonment of the suspected heretic; the interrogation of the suspected heretic; the trial of the suspected heretic by the inquisitor and a panel of consultors; the sentence of the inquisitor; the imposition of the penalty; and the appeal of the sentence to the pope or to the papal legate.
The procedure was designed to protect the rights of the accused and to ensure that the inquisitor acted fairly and impartially. The accused was entitled to a defense attorney (in the later medieval period), to present witnesses in his favor, and to appeal the sentence to a higher authority. The inquisitor was required to follow the procedure strictly, and any deviation from the procedure could be grounds for appeal. The Inquisition was notorious for the use of torture to extract confessions, but the use of torture was regulated by the procedure and was subject to strict limits.
The penalty for heresy varied according to the seriousness of the offense and the cooperation of the heretic. The penitent heretic who confessed his sins and sought reconciliation with the Church was required to perform a penance — prayers, fasts, pilgrimages, almsgiving — and to wear a badge of infamy for a specified period. The obstinate heretic who refused to confess his sins was excommunicated and handed over to the secular authorities for punishment. The secular authorities were generally willing to inflict the death penalty on the obstinate heretic, and the Inquisition developed a formula — relinquishment to the secular arm — that allowed the inquisitor to deny responsibility for the death penalty while ensuring that it was inflicted.
The Geographic Scope of the Inquisition
The Inquisition operated in several regions of medieval Europe, and the scope of the Inquisition varied according to the region and the period. The Inquisition was most active in the regions where the Cathar and Waldensian heresies were strongest — southern France, northern Italy, and the Alpine valleys — but it also operated in Spain, Germany, the Low Countries, and other parts of Europe.
The Inquisition in southern France was staffed by Dominicans and based in Toulouse and Carcassonne, and it was particularly active in the suppression of Cathar and Waldensian heresy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Inquisition in northern Italy was staffed by Dominicans and based in Milan and other cities, and it was active in the suppression of Cathar and Waldensian heresy in the Lombard region. The Inquisition in Spain — established in 1478 — was a royal institution that was infamous for its persecution of conversos and moriscos, but it developed later than the medieval Inquisition and is sometimes distinguished from it.
The Legacy of the Medieval Inquisition
The legacy of the medieval Inquisition is complex and controversial. The Inquisition was effective in suppressing the Cathar and Waldensian heresies in medieval Europe, but it was also brutal and intolerant, and it inflicted enormous suffering on the individuals and communities it targeted. The Inquisition was a major expression of the medieval Church’s claim to supreme authority in matters of faith and morality, and it reflected the intolerance of the medieval religious world.
The Inquisition was also a major producer of records, and the inquisitorial registers — the records of the trials, confessions, and sentences of the Inquisition — are major sources for the history of medieval heresy and of the medieval Church. The records of the Toulouse Inquisition, edited by Jean Duvernoy and others, are a major source for the history of the Cathar movement. The records of the Italian Inquisition, edited by Andrea Erba and others, are major sources for the history of the medieval heresies in northern Italy.
The Inquisition continued to operate in the early modern period, and the Spanish Inquisition in particular continued to operate until 1834. The Inquisition developed a complex legal procedure that influenced the development of legal procedure in Europe, and the Inquisition’s records are a major source for the study of medieval and early modern social and religious history. The Inquisition is a major subject of historical debate, and it remains a powerful symbol of the dangers of religious intolerance and persecution.
Sources
Principal sources used in this article:
- R. I. Moore, The War on Heresy (Profile, 2012).
Further reading:
- Malcolm Barber, The Cathars (Longman, 2000).
For a recent single-volume synthesis with full scholarly apparatus, see the relevant chapter of Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 2014).