A Brief History Of The Inquisitions

Another way people try to equate terrorism perpetrated in the name of allah with Christianity, is to bring up the Inquisitions, particularly to bash the Catholic Church. To me, it's like comparing apples to fighter jets. The only real similarity that I can find is that religion and government were one and the same.

There were three major Catholic Inquisitions; the Medieval, the Spanish, and the Roman Inquisitions

Beginning around 1184, the Medieval Inquistion was the Church's response to the heretical movements sweeping through Europe, particularly Catharism and Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy. Bernard Gui, perhaps the most notorious inquisitor of the time, tried 930 people, of whom 42 were executed. Jacques Fornier, another famous inquisitor, tried 114 cases. Five were executed. Using known numbers, scholars have estimated that approximately 2,000 people died during the Medieval Inquisition between 1184 to 1400 AD. Jewish historian Steven Katz remarked on the Medieval Inquisition that "in its entirety, the thirteenth and fourteenth century Inquisition put very few people to death and sent few people to prison; 90 percent of its sentences were canonical penances."

The Spanish Inquisition, reluctantly authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478 AD under pressure from King Ferdinand of Aragon. Lasting about 350 years, it saw approximately 125,00 people investigated, which led to the executions of perhaps 2,250 people (1.8%). Most of those deaths occurred during the first fifteen years of the Inquisition's 350 history. At first, investigations centered around charges against Jewish and muslim converts to Christianity of secretly practicing their old religions. Acting under the control of the kings, its early excesses were soundly condemned by Popes Sixtus IV, Leo X, Paul III, and Paul IV. Of the 13,000 tried in the Portugal of the 16^th and early 17^th centuries, roughly 5.7% were condemned to die. News reports published at the time, however, make no mention if those sentenced to die were actually meant to be in effigy (an image or dummy burned in place of the actual person). Nineteen Spanish tribunals, between 1540-1700 AD, tried 50,000, executing 775 people, and executing 700 more in effigy. At its peak from 1478-1530 AD, scholars have found that about 1,500-2,000 people were found guilty. Meticulous records kept after that point detail all “guilty” sentences which amounted to 775 executions. When the full 200 years of the Inquisition was all said and done, less than 1% of the population had any contact with it, and most people outside of the major cities even knew of its existence. The Inquisition wasn't even applied to Jews and Muslims, unless they were baptized into Christianity

The last of the major Catholic Inquisitions was the Roman Inquisition. Begun in 1542, when Pope Paul III established the Holy Office as the final court of appeal in trials of heresy and served as an important part of the so-called “Counter-Reformation.” Although tightly controlled by strict procedural rules, the Roman Inquisition was made infamous by the trial of Galileo.

The Church has apologized for the Inquisitions, in the words of Pope John Paul II: 

“The institution of the Inquisition has been abolished...the children of the Church cannot but return with a spirit of repentance to "the acquiescence given, especially in certain centuries, to intolerance and even the use of violence in the service of the truth".

This spirit of repentance, it is clear, entails a firm determination to seek in the future ways to bear witness to the truth that are in keeping with the Gospel."

The prayer I addressed to God on that occasion contains the reasons for a request for forgiveness that can also be applied to the tragedies associated with the Inquisition, as well as to the injuries to memory that result from it:

'Lord, God of all men and women, in certain periods of history, Christians have at times given in to [forms of] intolerance and have not been faithful to the great commandment of love, sullying in this way the face of the Church, your Spouse. Have mercy on your sinful children and accept our resolve to seek and promote truth in the gentleness of charity, in the firm knowledge that truth can prevail only in virtue of truth itself. We ask this through Christ Our Lord.'”
(Prayer for Forgiveness, Day of Pardon, 12 March, II; ORE, 22 March 2000)

Add the numbers and we find that the entire Inquisition of 500 years caused about 6000 deaths. These atrocities are completely inexcusable, but compared to the 3,998 killed in jihadist attacks just in JANUARY 2015, they're also statistically negligible. Even the more commonly accepted estimate of approx. 30,000 killed in the Inquisitions, when spread over 5 centuries is still statistically very low, against 3,998 spread over 31 DAYS.

When viewed in the context (there's that word again) of history, they're not really the same, are they? ~ Hunter