Inquisition

The Inquisition (Latin: Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis Sanctum Officium) was an office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with suppressing heresy. Its actions and interactions with local governments are the subjects of considerable historical inquiry.

Origin

The Inquisition was a permanent institution in the Catholic Church charged with the eradication of heresies. After Constantine the Great eased the Christians from their onus by issuing the Edict of Milan which sought to make the Roman Empire religiously neutral, and taking initiative to the first ecumenical conference in 325, known as the First Council of Nicea, effecting the local administrative structures of the diverse Christian cults and churches within the Roman Empire to be gathered in an hierarchic organisation situated in Rome, The Vatican. This caused the subordination of the diverse churches in the catholic ecumenic fold (cf. The Purpose of the Roman Curia). The organisational structure was inspired by the dominant Roman imperial hierarchy. Already at the first ecumenic council it was a major controversy. The Arian Controversy is named after the presbyter Arius who lost the controversy. Those who failed to follow the Nicene Creed were proclaimed heretics. The Western Roman Empire was thus able to focus on dealing with heresy, and those whose beliefs or practices deviated sufficiently from the orthodoxy of the councils now became the objects of efforts to bring them into the fold.

Related Topics:
Constantine the Great - Edict of Milan - First Council of Nicea - Roman Empire - Roman Curia - The Arian Controversy - Arius - Nicene Creed - Western Roman Empire

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Heresies (from Greek haeresis, sect, school of belief) were a problem for the Church from the beginning. Acts 15 recounts the convening of a council in Jerusalem to deal with the heresy of the Judaizers, who had contended with the Jerusalem faction in Asia and especially Galatia. In the subsequent centuries there were the Arians and Manicheans; in the Middle Ages there were the Cathari and Waldenses; and in the Renaissance there were the Hussites, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Rosicrucians. Efforts to suppress heresies were initially ad hoc, but in the Middle Ages a permanent structure came into being to combat heresies. Beginning in the 12th century, Church Councils required secular rulers to prosecute heretics.

Related Topics:
Acts - Council in Jerusalem - Judaizers - Asia - Galatia - Arians - Manicheans - Middle Ages - Cathari - Renaissance - Hussites - Lutherans - Calvinists - Rosicrucians - Ad hoc - 12th century

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