0 a period of asking questions in a detailed and unfriendly way:
1 in the past, an official organization in the Roman Catholic Church whose purpose was to find and punish people who opposed its beliefs
2 a detailed questioning, esp. of someone’s beliefs
They are engaged within definite forms of discourse having the character of investigation, diagnosis, inquisition, confession, or judgment.
In contrast to the inquisitions of the 1230s numbers burnt decreased rapidly.
The acquisition of their own prisons was an important point in the history of the inquisition.
Both are symbolised by the painstaking transcription in an appendix of a large part of the inquisition trial on which the book is based.
Inquisition studies, as those who have ventured into them know very well, continue to be a minefield.
Inquisition documents are rare for the first decade of its existence.
Studies of the inquisition have tended to look at the period when it had become a recognisable institution in the years after 1250.
Most of the inquisition penances contained an element of financial punishment.
