Roman Inquisition
Encyclopedia
The Roman Inquisition was a system of tribunal
s developed by the Holy See
during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes related to heresy
, including Protestantism
, sorcery
, immorality, blasphemy
, Judaizing and witchcraft
, as well for censorship
of printed literature. The tribunals covered most of the Italian peninsula
as well as Malta
and also existed in isolated pockets of papal jurisdiction in other parts of Europe
, including Avignon
, in France
.
The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, later to be renamed the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office (1908), and currently called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1965), was one of the original 15 congregation
s of the Roman Curia
created by Pope Sixtus V
in 1588, presided over the activity of the local tribunals. While the Roman Inquisition was originally designed to combat the spread of Protestantism in Italy, the institution outlived its original purpose, and the system of tribunals lasted until the mid 18th century, when the Italian states began to suppress the local inquisitions, effectively eliminating the power of the church to prosecute heretical crimes.
The pope
appointed one cardinal
to preside over the meetings. There were usually ten other cardinals who were members of the Congregation, as well as a prelate
and two assistants all chosen from the Dominican Order
. The Holy Office also had an international group of consultants
, experienced scholars of theology
and canon law
, who advised it on specific questions. In 1616 these consultants gave their assessment of the propositions that the Sun
is immobile and at the center of the universe and that the Earth
moves around it, judging both to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy," and the first to be "formally heretical" and the second "at least erroneous in faith" in theology.
This assessment led to Copernicus's
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
to be placed on the Index of Forbidden Books
, until revised and Galileo Galilei
to be admonished about his heliocentrism
. It was this same body in 1633 that tried Galileo, and found him "vehemently suspected of heresy " and banned Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
Among the subjects of this Inquisition
were Francesco Patrizi
, Giordano Bruno
, Tommaso Campanella
, Girolamo Cardano, Cesare Cremonini
, and Galileo Galilei
. Of these, only Bruno was executed; Galileo died under house arrest
, and Campanella was imprisoned for twenty-seven years. The miller Domenico Scandella
was also burned at the stake]] on the orders of Pope Clement VIII
in 1599 for his belief that God was created from chaos.
The Inquisition also concerned itself with the Benandanti
in the Friuli
region, but considered them a lesser danger than the Reformation
and only handed out light sentences.
The Inquisition in Malta (1561 to 1798) is generally considered to have been gentler than the Spanish Inquisition
.
Italian historian Andrea Del Col estimates that out of 51,000 — 75,000 cases judged by Inquisition in Italy after 1542 around 1250 ended with death sentence.
The last notable action of the Roman Inquisition occurred in 1858, in Bologna
, when Inquisition agents legally removed a 6-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortara
, from his family. The local inquisitor had learned that the boy was secretly baptised by his nursemaid. Pope Pius IX raised the boy as a Catholic in Rome.
The boy's father, Momolo Mortara, spent years seeking help in all quarters, including internationally, to try to reclaim his son. The case received international attention and fueled the anti-papal sentiments that helped the Italian nationalism
movement and culminated in the 1870 Capture of Rome
.
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....
s developed by the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes related to heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
, including Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, sorcery
Maleficium (sorcery)
Maleficium is a Latin term meaning "wrongdoing" or "mischief" and is used to describe malevolent, dangerous, or harmful magic, "evildoing" or "malevolent sorcery"...
, immorality, blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
, Judaizing and witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, as well for censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of printed literature. The tribunals covered most of the Italian peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
as well as Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and also existed in isolated pockets of papal jurisdiction in other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, including Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, later to be renamed the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office (1908), and currently called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1965), was one of the original 15 congregation
Congregation (Roman Curia)
A congregation is a type of dicastery of the Roman Curia, the central administrative organism of the Catholic Church....
s of the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
created by Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
in 1588, presided over the activity of the local tribunals. While the Roman Inquisition was originally designed to combat the spread of Protestantism in Italy, the institution outlived its original purpose, and the system of tribunals lasted until the mid 18th century, when the Italian states began to suppress the local inquisitions, effectively eliminating the power of the church to prosecute heretical crimes.
The pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
appointed one cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
to preside over the meetings. There were usually ten other cardinals who were members of the Congregation, as well as a prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
and two assistants all chosen from the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
. The Holy Office also had an international group of consultants
Consultor
A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e. a counselor.In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions:*in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by a department...
, experienced scholars of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, who advised it on specific questions. In 1616 these consultants gave their assessment of the propositions that the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
is immobile and at the center of the universe and that the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
moves around it, judging both to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy," and the first to be "formally heretical" and the second "at least erroneous in faith" in theology.
This assessment led to Copernicus's
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
to be placed on the Index of Forbidden Books
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
, until revised and Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
to be admonished about his heliocentrism
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
. It was this same body in 1633 that tried Galileo, and found him "vehemently suspected of heresy " and banned Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
Among the subjects of this Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
were Francesco Patrizi
Francesco Patrizi
Franciscus Patricius was a philosopher and scientist from the Republic of Venice. He was known as a defender of Platonism and an opponent of Aristotelianism...
, Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
, Tommaso Campanella
Tommaso Campanella
Tommaso Campanella OP , baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet.-Biography:...
, Girolamo Cardano, Cesare Cremonini
Cesare Cremonini (philosopher)
Cesare Cremonini, sometimes Cesare Cremonino , was an Italian professor of natural philosophy, working rationalism and Aristotelian materialism inside scholasticism...
, and Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
. Of these, only Bruno was executed; Galileo died under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, and Campanella was imprisoned for twenty-seven years. The miller Domenico Scandella
Menocchio
Menocchio, also known as Domenico Scandella, was a Friulian miller born in 1532 in the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone...
was also burned at the stake]] on the orders of Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...
in 1599 for his belief that God was created from chaos.
The Inquisition also concerned itself with the Benandanti
Benandanti
The Benandanti were an agrarian fertility cult in the Friuli district of Northern Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries. Between 1575 and 1675, the Benandanti were tried as heretics or witches under the Roman Inquisition, and their beliefs assimilated to Satanism...
in the Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
region, but considered them a lesser danger than the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and only handed out light sentences.
The Inquisition in Malta (1561 to 1798) is generally considered to have been gentler than the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
.
Italian historian Andrea Del Col estimates that out of 51,000 — 75,000 cases judged by Inquisition in Italy after 1542 around 1250 ended with death sentence.
The last notable action of the Roman Inquisition occurred in 1858, in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, when Inquisition agents legally removed a 6-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortara
Edgardo Mortara
Edgardo Levi Mortara was a Roman Catholic priest who was born and raised Jewish. Fr. Mortara became the center of an international controversy when he was removed from his Jewish parents by authorities of the Papal States and raised as a Catholic...
, from his family. The local inquisitor had learned that the boy was secretly baptised by his nursemaid. Pope Pius IX raised the boy as a Catholic in Rome.
The boy's father, Momolo Mortara, spent years seeking help in all quarters, including internationally, to try to reclaim his son. The case received international attention and fueled the anti-papal sentiments that helped the Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Italians or of Italian culture. It claims that Italians are the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic descendants of the ancient Romans who inhabited the Italian Peninsula for centuries. The origins of Italian nationalism have been traced to the...
movement and culminated in the 1870 Capture of Rome
Capture of Rome
The Capture of Rome was the final event of the long process of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento, which finally unified the Italian peninsula under King Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy...
.
See also
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithCongregation for the Doctrine of the FaithThe Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
, current name of the former Inquisition - Medieval InquisitionMedieval InquisitionThe Medieval Inquisition is a series of Inquisitions from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition and later the Papal Inquisition...
- Hague tribunal
- InquisitionInquisitionThe Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
- Counter-ReformationCounter-ReformationThe Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
- Protestant ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
- Pomponio AlgerioPomponio AlgerioPomponio Algerio was a civil law student at the University of Padua whose radical theological beliefs attracted the attention of the Roman Inquisition. At his trial, he wore his academic hat and gown to remind the tribunal that, as a student, he had the right to freely express his ideas...
, attracted attention of the Inquisition and finally executed by civil authorities - Sébastien BourdonSébastien BourdonSébastien Bourdon was a French painter and engraver. His chef d'œuvre is The Crucifixion of St. Peter made for the cathedral of Notre Dame....
(1616–1671), a French Protestant painter forced to flee Italy - Diego de EnzinasDiego de EnzinasDiego de Enzinas , or Jacobus Dryander, Protestant scholar of Spanish origin, active in the Low Countries and Rome, executed by the Roman Inquisition....
, Protestant burnt to the stake in 1547 - Francesco BarberiniFrancesco BarberiniFrancesco Barberini may refer to:*Francesco Barberini , Cardinal-nephew of Pope Urban VIII from 1623*Francesco Barberini , Cardinal from 1690...
(1597–1679), secretary of the Inquisition 1633-79 - Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740), secretary of the Inquisition 1726-40
- Tommaso CrudeliTommaso CrudeliTommaso Baldasarre Crudeli was a Florentine free thinker who was imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition. Because of his membership of a Masonic lodge, he is often celebrated as a martyr for Freemasonry even though he died four years after his imprisonment.-Chronology:* 1702-12-21 Born at Poppi *...
, freemason imprisoned by the Inquisition - Cornelio Da MontalcinoCornelio Da MontalcinoCornelio Da Montalcino was a Franciscan friar who had embraced Judaism, and was burned alive on the Campo dei Fiori in Rome, Italy, in 1554....
, (a Franciscan friar who had embraced Judaism, and was burned alive on the Campo dei Fiori) - Ecclesia non novit sanguinem