What is the church investigation in the fight against heretics?

The main threat to the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages was heretics - apostates who questioned the teachings of the Pope, the interpretation of the Gospel and the sanctity of the clergy. They carried their ideas to the people, causing widespread unrest and outbreaks of uprisings everywhere. During this period, the church investigation in the struggle against heretics became one of the main tools for eliminating dissenters.

Brief description of the period

The Middle Ages are a period of blossoming and unprecedented power of the church. At the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, the Pope was Innocent III. He proclaimed himself a viceroy of Christ on earth and, being an educated, clever and clever diplomat, with all his strength helped to strengthen the positions of his throne.

He made a church investigation against heretics above the secular (royal) court, organized the Fourth Crusade, skillfully used the Franciscan order of mendicant monks and the Order of St. Dominic, which were very popular among the common people and the dexterity of Innocent III strengthened the authority of the church.

Later, the church investigation in the struggle against heretics (the Inquisition) began to be used to eliminate enlightened, scientists and simply disliked persons. Children with deviations in physical development were declared the children of Satan, beautiful women - witches, sorcerers and midwives were accused of collusion with the devil. All of them also became victims of the Inquisition.

Who are heretics?

The Church divided all people into classes. The higher estate was declared the clergy, the middle - the king and the nobility, the lowest - the people. The work of the upper class is to protect the soul of the layman from sin, begging God for forgiveness of all those who live on earth. The nobility had to protect the king and the clergy from an external enemy, and the task of the people was to feed and maintain both.

In the sermons the clergymen called upon all to humility and meekness, taught "to know their place" and not to resist the will of the Most High, not to collect wealth on the earth, caring more for the salvation of the soul. Nevertheless, they themselves concentrated in their hands huge wealth, put on expensive clothes and surrounded themselves with comfort. Neither was the nobility in poverty. The people were bent in misery. Such polarity could not but cause disturbances. There were those who loudly condemned the duplicity of "God's servants", expressed doubts about their teachings and holiness. This greatly undermined the authority of the Pope.

Such bold dissidents were declared apostates, heretics (carrying heresy, insulting the Holy Teaching). The real struggle between the Catholic Church and heretics began. Ferociously destroyed not only the apostates themselves, but also their families, tearing down the potential threat.

How was the church investigation conducted in the struggle against the heretics?

The basis of this struggle was punitive measures. The dissidents were declared as apostates (heretics), they were thrown into prisons, kept under inhuman conditions, subjected to terrible torture, and finally sentenced to a terrible execution - burning alive at the stake.

As a rule, the church minister was in one person and the prosecutor, and the investigator, and the judge. While carrying out a church investigation in the struggle against heretics, the charges were mainly based on denunciations, most of which were received again under torture. In 99 cases out of 100, those who got into the torture chambers of the Inquisition did not get out alive. Their property was confiscated and divided mainly between the church and the king. Some part was given to a local nobleman, from whose volost a heretic was born.

Consequences of the Inquisition

There are documents confirming that for several centuries, while the struggle of the church with the heretics continued, 12 million Europeans were destroyed.