God's Jury by Cullen Murphy

God's Jury by Cullen Murphy is not a mystery, but it is a fascenating look at the inquistion over time.  The subtitle, The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World, makes the reader think hard about the world we live in today versus that of a millenia ago.  How different are we?  Will man make it to the next level of enlightenment as a people?  [It was pointed out to me today we have made advances in humanitarian areas.  Sending aid in the form of money, medicines and food to areas of the globe where they are needed.  Transportation is significantly better and faster these days!]

In General:

To start with there were three inquisitions.  The first was in the 13th century; the second, the infamous Spanish Inquisition, in the 15th century; and finally, followed closely by the Roman Inquisition in the 16th centry.  "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely," from The Price by Miachiavelli. There were approximately 2,000 people burned at the stake.  Furthermore, the Black Death decimated 1/3 of Spain's population during the second inquisition.  Enough death already???  I guess not.

The First Inquisition - The Cathars - Church Mandated - 13th Century:

The two interrogation and/or torture manuals were written in the 13th century and used throughout all three inquisitions.  Some forms of torture outlined therein are still used today.  Examples are cited in the text.  Gui wrote, Conduct of the Inquisition Into Heretical Depravity and Eymerich wrote, Directorium Inquisitorium, which was more widely used.  The former was referenced in Umberto Eco's book, In The Name of the Rose.  This fact also made me think that man has still remained unchanged over this time.

In the 13th century, the world was becoming more modernized.  There were universities in Paris and Bologna.  New ideas were being spread by academics and permeating throughout society.  This just so happened in the case of the Cathars of Southern France.  They did not believe in the same tenents as the Roman Catholic Church at the time.  Pope Innocent III issued the Albegensian Crusade in 1208 to 1229 to put an end to the Cathars and their divergent beliefs.

The Second Inquisition - The Spanish Inquisition - Secular - 15th Century:
Lasted 350 years, but started Feb 6, 1481 in Sevilla as the city was beset by plague.  Conversos, people who converted from Judaism to Christianity (sometimes under duress), were persecuted for reverting back to Jewish ways.  (Moors, referred to as Moriscos, who converted to Christianity were also persecuted for the same reasons.)  At that time in history, Conversos held influential positions in the community in finance, government service and as professors.  There were many Jews in Spain, estimated at 2% of Iberia's population who were well educated and wealthy.  (Many other European countries expelled the Jews from their borders much earlier on.  England in 1290 and France in 1306.)

The same type of torture techniques were used from the first inquisition.  They relied on the same codes of cannon law too; but had better record keeping as time progressed.  The statue of El Cid today stands on ground were Jews, Muslims and later Protestants were burned at the stake.

There were systematic book burnings and/or censorship going on during the Spanish Inquisition.  Unlike earlier inquisitions, the objection was not only religious beliefs, but purity of blood.  The state was the sponsor of this inquisition, versus the church for the others.  Ferdinand and Isabella took the authority away from the church in a series of power plays.  Pope Sixtus need Spain's support against the Turks in 1478 and relinquished the control of the inquisition to El Rey y La Reina.  It seems religion and political power are intricately bound together...

The Spanish Inquisition is not complete without mention of Tomas de Torquemada the Inquisitor General of all Spain.  He controlled the burnings, the censorship and the information flow at the time.  Many people worked for the inquisition during this time.  It is estimated that 1 in every 42 people supported the inquisition.  This gave them relief from taxation and the ability to bear arms.

The Third Inquisition - The Roman Inquisition - Church Mandated - 16th Century:
The Roman inquisition started in 1542 under Pope Paul III.  This inquisition is run by the church, not by the government.  It is centralized and bureaucratic.  The inquisitors answer to a committee of Cardinals overseen by an Inquisitor General with permanent offices in the Vatican complex.

There is an index of forbidden books as the Gutenburg Printing Press is in full production and books are being mass produced.  It's about the flow of information.  If the Vatican controls that they control everything.  They are not the only source of ideas flowing out there.  An archive is started at the Vatican to store the information.  There are records now.  There is an Inquisitors Palace.  There are archives in Bologna and Modena, Naples and Venice.  

I only read up through Chapter 4 in this book, but would recommend it highly.  It is clearly written and easy to read.  The later chapters go into a comparison of the inquisition to modern day events and journalism.  I found the concept of information is king, especially to the Roman Catholic Church and/or related monarchies quite interesting.  The Jews, Moors and Protestants challenged the RC Church and since the church had the information and the power they were able to persecute the people.  Also, with all the plagues running around europe at that time, you would think enough death?  Evidently not.  Very interesting read.