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The Inquisition is〔(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith )〕 a group of institutions within the judicial system of the Roman Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. It started in 12th-century France to combat religious sectarianism, in particular the Cathars and the Waldensians. Other groups which were investigated later include the Spiritual Franciscans, the Husites (followers of Jan Hus) and Beguines. Beginning in the 1250s, inquisitors were generally chosen from members of the Dominican Order, to replace the earlier practice of using local clergy as judges.〔Peters, Edward. "Inquisition", p. 54.〕 The term Medieval Inquisition covers these courts up through the 14th century. In the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the concept and scope of the Inquisition was significantly expanded in response to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Its geographic scope was expanded to other European countries,〔 resulting in the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. Those two kingdoms in particular operated inquisitorial courts throughout their respective empires (Spanish and Portuguese) in the Americas (resulting in the Peruvian Inquisition and Mexican Inquisition), Asia, and Africa. One particular focus of the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions was the issue of Jewish anusim and Muslim converts to Catholicism, partly because these minority groups were more numerous in Spain and Portugal than in many other parts of Europe, and partly because they were often considered suspect due to the assumption that they had secretly reverted to their previous religions. Except within the Papal States, the institution of the Inquisition was abolished in the early 19th century, after the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and after the Spanish American wars of independence in the Americas. The institution survived as part of the Roman Curia, but in 1904 was given the new name of "Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office". In 1965 it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. ==Definition and purpose== The term ''Inquisition'' comes from Medieval Latin "inquisitio", which referred to any court process that was based on Roman law, which had gradually come back into usage in the late medieval period.〔Peters, Edwards. "Inquisition", p. 12〕 Today, the English term "Inquisition" can apply to any one of several institutions which worked against heretics (or other offenders against canon law) within the judicial system of the Roman Catholic Church. Although the term ''Inquisition'' is usually applied to ecclesiastical courts of the Catholic Church, nonetheless it has several different usages:〔(Medieval Sourcebook: Inquisition - Introduction )〕 * an ecclesiastical tribunal, * the institution of the Catholic Church for combating heresy, * a number of historical expurgation movements against heresy (orchestrated by the Catholic Church or a Catholic state), or * the trial of an individual accused of heresy. Generally, the Inquisition was concerned only with the heretical behaviour of Catholic adherents or converts and did not concern itself with those outside that religion such as Jews or Muslims.〔Salomon, H. P. and Sassoon, I. S. D., in Saraiva, Antonio Jose. ''The Marrano Factory. The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians, 1536-1765'' (Brill, 2001), Introduction pp. XXX.〕 When a suspect was convicted of unrepentant heresy, the inquisitorial tribunal was required by law to hand the person over to the secular authorities for final sentencing, at which point a magistrate would determine the penalty, which was usually burning at the stake although the penalty varied based on local law.〔Peters writes: "When faced with a convicted heretic who refused to recant, or who relapsed into heresy, the inquisitors were to turn him over to the temporal authorities - the "secular arm" - for ''animadversio debita'', the punishment decreed by local law, usually burning to death." (Peters, Edwards. "Inquisition", p. 67.)〕 The laws were inclusive of proscriptions against certain religious crimes (heresy, etc.), and the punishments included death by burning, although imprisonment for life or banishment would usually be used. Thus the inquisitors generally knew what would be the fate of anyone so remanded, and cannot be considered to have divorced the means of determining guilt from its effects. The 1578 handbook for inquisitors spelled out the purpose of inquisitorial penalties: ''... quoniam punitio non refertur primo & per se in correctionem & bonum eius qui punitur, sed in bonum publicum ut alij terreantur, & a malis committendis avocentur.'' Translation from the Latin: "... for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit."〔''Directorium Inquisitorum'', edition of 1578, Book 3, pg. 137, column 1. Online in the (Cornell University Collection ); retrieved 2008-05-16.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Inquisition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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