An inquisitor was an official (usually with

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

or investigative functions) in an

inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

– an organization or program intended to eliminate

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

and other things contrary to the

doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief syste ...

or teachings of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''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 at the storming of Béziers. 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 "The Grand Inquisitor" is a story within a story (called a poem by its fictional author, but not in verse) contained within Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel ''The Brothers Karamazov.'' It is recited by the character Ivan Karamazov, who questions his ...

", a work of satire by author

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

. 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 The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

secretly followed the work of Satan instead of Christ, due to Satan allowing the best form of order for Humankind. In this story, the

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 Peter of Verona (1205 – April 6, 1252), also known as Saint Peter Martyr and Saint Peter of Verona, was a 13th-century Italian Catholic priest. He was a Dominican friar and a celebrated preacher. He served as Inquisitor in Lombardy, was kille ...

(also known as Saint Peter Martyr), whose canonization was the fastest in history *

Pedro de Arbués Pedro de Arbués, also known as ''Peter of Arbués'' (c. 1441 – 17 September 1485) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed Augustinian canon. He served as an official of the Spanish Inquisition until he was assassinated in the La ...

Nicolau Aymerich Nicholas Eymerich ( ca, Nicolau Eimeric) (Girona, ''c.'' 1316 – Girona, 4 January 1399) was a Roman Catholic theologian in Medieval Spain and Inquisitor General of the Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon in the later half of the 14th century. He ...

author of ''

Directorium Inquisitorum The ''Directorium Inquisitorum'' is Nicholas Eymerich's most prominent and enduring work, written in Latin and consisting of approximately 800 pages, which he had composed as early as 1376. Eymerich had written an earlier treatise on sorcery, perh ...

'' *

Stephen of Bourbon Stephen of Bourbon (French: ''Étienne de Bourbon''; Latin: ''Stephanus de Borbone''; 1180 – 1261) was a preacher of the Dominican Order, author of the largest collection of preaching ''exempla'' of the thirteenth century, a historian of medieva ...

Arnaut Catalan Arnaut Catalan ( fl. 1219–1253) was a troubadour active in the Languedoc, Catalonia, and Castile. He left behind five '' cansos'', three ''tensos'', and one religious song. Arnaut's origins are disputed. Most Catalan scholars, such as Milà ...

Fabio Chigi 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, and ...

(later Pope Alexander VII) *

Diego Deza Diego de Deza y Tavera (1444 – 9 June 1523) was a theologian and inquisitor of Spain. He was one of the more notable figures in the Spanish Inquisition, and succeeded Tomás de Torquemada to the post of Grand Inquisitor. Early life Deza was ...

Bernard Gui Bernard Gui (), also known as Bernardo Gui or Bernardus Guidonis (c. 1261/62 – 30 December 1331), was a Dominican friar, Bishop of Lodève, and a papal inquisitor during the later stages of the Medieval Inquisition. Due to his fictionali ...

Heinrich Institoris Heinrich Kramer ( 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1487), which describes witchcraft and endorses ...

, author of ''

Malleus Maleficarum The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise on witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinized name ''Henricus Institor'') and first ...

'' *

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 contemporar ...

* Sebastien Michaelis * Giovanni Pietro Carafa (later

Pope Paul IV 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 pa ...

) *

Jacob Sprenger Jacob Sprenger (also James, 1436/1438 – 6 December 1495) was a Dominican inquisitor and theologian principally known for his association with a well-known guide for witch-hunters from 1486, ''Malleus Maleficarum''. He was born in Rheinfelden, ...

, purported co-author of ''

'' *

Tomás de Torquemada Tomás de Torquemada (14 October 1420 – 16 September 1498), also anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Castilian Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office (otherwise known as the Spanish Inquisition). ...

* Martín García Ceniceros *

Hentenius Hentenius (John Henten, born 1499 at Nalinnes, now in Belgium; died 10 October 1566, at Leuven) was a Flemish Dominican Biblical exegete. He is well known for his edition of the Vulgate in 1547. Life When quite young he took the vows of rel ...

(1540s-1566)

References

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Prominent inquisitors

See also

References