The Inquisition The Inquisition was an effort to find and execute heretics in Europe, beginning around 1230 and lasting until 1860. It had four phases: the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Portuguese Inquisition, and the Roman Inquisition, each of which was overseen by different inquisitors with varying motivations. However, the goals of each were the same: to rid Europe of members of Christian sects whose religious beliefs and practices were in opposition to those of the Catholic Church and its laws.
Medieval Inquisition—1230s onward
HERETIC: noun 1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church. 2. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
• Includes the Episcopal and Papal Inquisitions. Two groups that were major focuses of the Medieval (Random House Dictionary) Inquisition were the Cathars, a group in southern France whose faith included a belief that the Catholic Church was morally, spiritually, and politically corrupt, and the Waldensians in southern France and Northern Italy, who used their own interpretations of scriptures rather than the interpretations officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church.
Spanish Inquisition—1478-1834 • Operated under the royal jurisdiction of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Spanish Inquisition primarily targeted converts from other religions such as Judaism and Islam (who were suspected to have continued practicing their old religions), and later expanded to target Protestants.
Portuguese Inquisition—1536-1821 • Primarily targeted Sephardic Jews forced to convert to Catholicism.
Roman Inquisition—1542-1860 • Began when Pope Paul III established the Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition to serve as a permanent council tasked with maintaining the faith and keeping down false doctrines. The Roman Inquisition includes the 1633 trial of Galileo Galilei, which was held in response to Galileo’s belief that Earth revolved around the sun, thus disputing the Church’s biblical understanding that Earth was the center of the universe, with heaven above and hell below. 18