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| Martin Luther, a target for the Inquisition |
A dark period for Christianity?
In a period where accusations of heresy and witchcraft were rampant, the Western Churches (Catholic) started a series of trials in 1184 to combat such claims. Their punishments include imprisonment, banishment and execution. The last execution was carried out in Spain in 1826. This series of actions is called the Inquisition.
This is often raised as a sore legacy of Christianity but is the story really as simple as that?
Law and Order
Regardless of whatever you think of it now, we must remember that the Inquisition was set up as the first attempt at a universal legal system to investigate heresy (Hannam, 2010). Before the Inquisition, a victim could be convicted based on the accuser's reputation. In other words, if a noble accused a peasant of committing theft, the peasant would be found guilty.
The Inquisition (introduced by the Catholic Church) set up the requirement of evidence (in the form of witnesses) in the persecution of a alleged heretic. Furthermore, it provided the accused some level of defence as he/she could name people who had "mortal hatred) for him/her, and this would dismiss the accusations.
In addition, while torture was used, execution (by handing heretics over to secular authorities) was often avoided by the Catholic as it was seen as a failure to convert.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
A modern person may ask, "why was fighting heresy so important?" Unlike religious disagreements in developed countries now, we must remember that heresy was often associated with rebellions and disorder.
Let's clear the air
Let me state some things clearly before I conclude:
1) I am not justifying the violence or punishment that happened during the Inquisition.
2) Fatalities did happen during the Inquisition, sometimes to innocent people.
3) Sometimes proper procedures are not carried out during the Inquisition.
But if we think about, are our modern secular courts perfect? While we must remain appalled for the wrongly sentenced, we also must recognise the Catholic Church for initiating a system to protect the innocent accused.
References
Hannam, J (2010) God's Philosophers
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