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The Inquisition
papal from 1231; Spanish 1478–1834· Event· Church, doctrine & the world
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Church courts for finding and trying heretics, from papal inquisitors in 1231 to the later Spanish, Portuguese and Roman Inquisitions.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
From 1231 Pope Gregory IX appointed inquisitors, mostly Dominican and Franciscan friars, to root out heresies such as the Cathars of southern France. Torture was allowed from 1252. Most of those convicted received penances; the unrepentant were handed to secular rulers for burning. The Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834), run by the crown with papal approval, targeted Jewish and Muslim converts suspected of secret practice. The Roman Inquisition (1542) pursued Protestants and later tried Galileo.
Why it matters
It became a lasting symbol of religious coercion and shaped how Europe policed belief. Pope John Paul II apologized for its abuses in 2000.
Sources and history
Vast trial records survive; the Vatican opened its Inquisition archive to scholars in 1998. Historians estimate the Spanish Inquisition executed roughly 3,000 to 5,000 people over three centuries; estimates vary.
Questions and debates
Its severity is debated: older Protestant accounts inflated death tolls, while some revisionists may understate the fear it created among converts and dissenters.
Connections (3)
▸The papacy: the popes and medieval Christendom established The InquisitionHistorical record
The connection
Pope Gregory IX began commissioning inquisitors in 1231, mostly Dominican friars answerable to Rome, to combat heresy. Innocent IV allowed torture in 1252. Sixtus IV approved the Spanish Inquisition in 1478, and Paul III created the Roman Inquisition in 1542, ancestor of today's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When and where
Southern France and Italy from 1231; Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella from 1478; Rome from 1542.
Historical evidence
The founding papal bulls survive, including Ad extirpanda (1252) and Licet ab initio (1542).
Questions and debates
How much control popes had is debated: the Spanish Inquisition answered to the crown, and popes sometimes protested its methods.
▸The Inquisition was revived against the spread of The Protestant ReformationHistorical record
The connection
To stop Protestant ideas spreading in Italy, Pope Paul III founded the Roman Inquisition in 1542, run by a committee of cardinals. It tried suspected Protestants, enforced the Index of Prohibited Books (1559), and later tried Galileo. The Spanish Inquisition also hunted 'Lutherans' in Spain.
When and where
Rome, bull Licet ab initio, July 21, 1542; trials of Protestant circles in Seville and Valladolid, 1559.
Historical evidence
The founding bull, trial records and successive editions of the Index survive; the Vatican opened the archive to scholars in 1998.
Questions and debates
Historians debate how much the Inquisition, compared with politics and Catholic renewal, kept Protestantism out of Italy and Spain.
▸The Inquisition conducted Galileo's trial: the Church and the new scienceHistorical record
The connection
The Roman Inquisition (Holy Office), set up in 1542 to fight Protestant heresy, judged matters of doctrine. Its advisers declared Copernicus's Sun-centered idea 'formally heretical' in 1616. In 1633 its cardinals tried Galileo for breaking the 1616 order, questioned him under threat of torture and made him kneel and abjure; seven of the ten judges signed the sentence.
When and where
Rome, at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, April–June 1633; Galileo was 69 and in poor health.
Historical evidence
The Inquisition's trial file, including the sentence and Galileo's signed abjuration, is preserved in the Vatican Apostolic Archive (formerly the 'Secret Archive').
Questions and debates
Whether a disputed, unsigned 1616 record ordering Galileo not to 'teach in any way' the Copernican view was genuine or irregular is still debated.