Historical Overview of the Inquisition
In the early Middle Ages, the Roman Church had consolidated its power. The so called heretics became their foremost enemy. Heresy was taken as a crime since it deliberately denied the truth of the Catholic faith (“Historical Overview of the Inquisition,” p. 1). There was a Christian unity pervading at that time and the Church leaders and the ordinary people alike united against the heretics, whom they considered as a threat to society (p. 1). With the popularity and spread of heresy during the 11th and 12th centuries, Pope Gregory IX instituted the papal inquisition in 1231. During this inquisition, the heretics ...
