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, everywhere causing unrest and outbreaks of rebellion. During this period, a church investigation in the fight against heretics became one of the main tools for eliminating dissenters.
Brief description of the period
The Middle Ages - the heyday and unprecedented power of the church. At the turn of the XII-XIII centuries, Pope was Innocent III. He proclaimed himself the vicegerent of Christ on earth and, being an educated, clever, and clever diplomat, he did everything he could to strengthen his throne.
He made a church investigation in the fight 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 cleverness of Innocent III strengthened the authority of the church.
Later, the church investigation in the fight against heretics (the Inquisition) began to be used to eliminate enlightened, scholars, and simply objectionable people. Children with disabilities in physical development were declared the children of Satan, beautiful women - witches, healers and midwives were accused of conspiring with the devil. All of them also became victims of the Inquisition.
What are heretics?
The church divided all people into estates. The clergy was declared the upper class, the king and the nobility the middle, and the people the lowest. The matter of the upper class is to protect the soul of the laity from sin, to extort from God the forgiveness of all who live on earth. The nobility was supposed to protect the king and the clergy from an external enemy, and the task of the people was to feed and support those and others.
At the sermons, the clergy called on everyone to humility and meekness, taught them to “know their place” and not oppose the will of the Almighty, not to collect wealth on earth, more concerned about saving the soul. Nevertheless, they themselves concentrated huge wealth in their hands, put on expensive clothes and surrounded themselves with comfort. The nobility was not in poverty either. The people were bent in poverty. Such polarity could not but cause disturbances. There were those who loudly condemned the duplicity of "God's servants", expressed doubts about their disciples and holiness. This greatly undermined the authority of the Pope.
Such bold dissenters were declared apostates, heretics (carried heresy, insulted the Holy Doctrine). The real struggle of the Catholic Church with heretics began. Fiercely destroyed not only the apostates themselves, but also their families, uprooting the potential threat.
How was the church investigation in the fight against heretics?
The basis of this fight was punitive measures. Dissenters were declared apostates (heretics), they were thrown into prisons, kept in inhuman conditions, subjected to terrible torture, in the end, they were sentenced to terrible execution - burning alive at the stake.
As a rule, a church minister was in one person a prosecutor, an investigator, and a judge. When conducting a church investigation into the fight against heretics, the accusation was mainly based on denunciations, most of which were obtained again under torture. In 99 cases out of 100, those who fell into the dungeons of the Inquisition did not leave alive. Their property was confiscated and divided mainly between the church and the king. Some part went to the local nobleman from whose parish was a heretic.
Consequences of the Inquisition
There are documents confirming that for several centuries, while the church continued to struggle with heretics, 12 million inhabitants of Europe were destroyed.