The Inquisition

Church authority and the punishment of religious dissent are the subjects of E. Vacandard's historical study. The Inquisition traces ideas about suppressing heresy from early Christianity through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Its chapters bring together imperial legislation, canon law, theological arguments and the growth of ecclesiastical tribunals. Vacandard writes from a Catholic perspective, but his preface insists that an honest account must face troubling evidence and judge the institution on moral and historical grounds.

The discussion gives particular attention to the relationship between Church and State. In the account of tribunal practice, prayers, pilgrimages, fines and imprisonment appear alongside the transfer of cases to secular authorities. A passage from Bernard Gui sets out the qualities expected of an inquisitor, including care in weighing evidence and resistance to bribery. Readers interested in religious history can examine how legal procedures, claims of spiritual responsibility and severe penalties were explained and debated.