An inquisitor was an

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

(usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires" ( Latin ''inquirere'' < ''quaerere'', 'to seek'). Inquisitors sought out the social networks that people used to spread heresy. There were accounts where the Inquisition could not tell who was a heretic or devout, and they were killed anyway. One of these accounts was

Arnaud Amalric Arnaud Amalric ( la, Arnoldus Amalricus; died 1225) was a Cistercian abbot who played a prominent role in the Albigensian Crusade. It is reported that prior to the massacre of Béziers, Amalric, when asked how to distinguish Cathars from Catholi ...

at the storming of

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

. The abbot was recorded as saying “Kill them. For God knows who are his.” This brought up concern about the role the Inquisition was playing and whether or not it was a truly righteous cause. The role of the Inquisitor was further questioned by " The Grand Inquisitor", a work of satire by author Dostoyevsky. In this prose poem, Christ came back to earth and was imprisoned by the Grand Inquisitor. The Grand Inquisitor argued that Christ could not be free because his work would directly oppose the church, because free will was a burden to humanity. Dostoyevsky ends the poem by saying that the Roman Empire secretly followed the work of Satan instead of Christ, due to Satan allowing the best form of order for Humankind. In this story, the Roman Empire used religion as a way to control the average population. This made the Inquisition out to be a war on ideology and free will, as opposed to a suppression of heresy.

Prominent inquisitors

Some of the better-known inquisitors throughout history include: * Peter of Verona (also known as Saint Peter Martyr), whose canonization was the fastest in history * Pedro de Arbués * Nicolau Aymerich author of '' Directorium Inquisitorum'' * Stephen of Bourbon * Arnaut Catalan * Fabio Chigi (later

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

) * Diego Deza * Bernard Gui * Heinrich Institoris, author of '' Malleus Maleficarum'' *

Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

Konrad von Marburg Konrad von Marburg (sometimes anglicised as Conrad of Marburg) (1180 – 30 July 1233) was a medieval German priest and nobleman. Life Konrad's early life is not well known, he may be of aristocratic descent, and he was described by contempor ...

* Sebastien Michaelis *

Giovanni Pietro Carafa Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

(later Pope Paul IV) * Jacob Sprenger, purported co-author of '' Malleus Maleficarum'' * Tomás de Torquemada *

Martín García Ceniceros Martín García Ceniceros (''also Martín García Gómez de Ceniceros'')(died Oct 1632) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Inquisitor of Canarias, Valencia, Cartagena, and Valladolid. He was appointed and briefly served as Bishop Elec ...

* Hentenius (1540s-1566)

References

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Prominent inquisitors

See also

References