Inquisition

The Inquisition was a set of Catholic Church institutions that investigated and judged heresy, using procedures that varied by place and period.

Inquisitorial procedure: A legal process in which an authority investigates alleged offenses and gathers evidence rather than relying only on opposing parties. Inquisitors initiated inquiries and questioned suspects under this procedural model.
Medieval Inquisition: Church tribunals established from the thirteenth century to investigate heresy in medieval Europe. It was the earliest sustained institutional form of the Inquisition.
Spanish Inquisition: A tribunal system established by the Spanish monarchy in 1478 to investigate religious conformity. It became the most famous institution associated with the name Inquisition.
Spanish Inquisition Black Legend: A body of polemical accounts portraying Spanish rule and the Inquisition as exceptionally cruel and intolerant. It helped turn the Spanish Inquisition into a generalized symbol of religious persecution.
Heresy: Belief or teaching judged to contradict the doctrines of a religious tradition. Alleged heresy was the principal offense investigated by these institutions.
Pope Gregory IX: The pope from 1227 to 1241 who strengthened papal authority over heresy investigations. His measures helped establish permanent papal inquisitorial tribunals.
Roman Inquisition: A papal tribunal system founded in 1542 to combat heresy, especially in Catholic territories. It was a separate institution, not simply a continuation of the Spanish system.
Roman law: The legal tradition derived from ancient Roman law and developed in European civil-law systems. Its procedures differed from the church jurisdiction that authorized inquisitorial investigations.
Torture in the Inquisition: The use of judicial torture by some inquisitorial tribunals under regulated, changing rules. Torture could be authorized to obtain testimony, though its use varied across tribunals.
Fourth Lateran Council: A church council held in 1215 that imposed reforms and required action against heresy. Its decrees helped prepare the institutional framework later used by inquisitors.

Linked from 22 pages