''Ad extirpanda'' ("To eradicate"; named for its

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

) was a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

promulgated on Wednesday, May 15, 1252 by

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

which authorized under defined circumstances the use of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

by the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

as a tool for interrogation.

Context

The bull was issued in the wake of the murder of the papal inquisitor of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, St. Peter of Verona, who was killed by a conspiracy of

Cathar Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

sympathizers on 6 April 1252. It was addressed to the heads of state or rulers, ministers and citizens established in the states and districts of Lombardy, Riviera Romagnola, and Marchia Tarvisina in the Venetia. Judicial torture had become a common practice in the 11th and 12th centuries, following the rediscovery of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

. By 1252, it was regarded as an established method by secular tribunals.

Content

The bull argued that as heretics are "murderers of souls as well as robbers of God’s

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

and of the Christian faith", they are "to be coerced—as are thieves and bandits—into confessing their errors and accusing others, although one must stop short of danger to life or limb." The following parameters were placed on the use of torture by the state: *that it did not cause loss of life or limb (''citra membri diminutionem et mortis periculum'') *that the Inquisitor deemed the evidence against the accused to be virtually certain. The bull conceded to the State a third portion of the property to be confiscated from convicted heretics, another third to the officials who handled the cases, and another third "deposited in some secure place to be kept by the aforesaid Diocesan bishop and inquisitors, and spent as they shall think fit to promote the faith and extirpate heretics". The State in return assumed the burden of carrying out the penalty. The secular authorities were obliged to do so, under pain of excommunication and interdiction. Some of the measures prescribed were hardly in accordance with any reasonable rule of the law. The houses of the heretics and some of their supporters were to be razed to the ground. The relevant portion of the bull read: "Those convicted of heresy by the aforesaid Diocesan Bishop, surrogate or inquisitors, shall be taken in shackles to the head of state or ruler or his special representative, instantly, or at least within five days, and the latter shall apply the regulations promulgated against such persons." The 1199 bull '' Vergentis in senium'' by

Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

already declared heresy a crime of ''lèse-majesté'', so deserving the death penalty.

References

{{reflist

External links

Ad Extirpanda
English translation 1252 works 13th-century papal bulls Documents of Pope Innocent IV Inquisition Torture