Heresy Of The Conspiracy Theorists
(Conspiracy Nation, 05/27/07) – A look back at the infamous Inquisition shows parallels between then and the looming inquisition here in the United States. (For background, see “ACLU Craps Out”, http://www.shout.net/~bigred/ACLU.html)
It used to be said, “History repeats itself.” That concept has been outlawed by the gleaming literati, despite ancient wisdom saying that “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Edward Burman, in The Inquisition: Hammer Of Heresy (New York: Metro Books, 1984), clears up various misconceptions regarding the persecution, by Rome, of tens of thousands of “heretics.” His balanced overview is the main source relied upon for what follows.
Due to the Crusades, ideas from the East flowed into Europe. An increase of “heresies” from about 1150 A.D. caused the papacy to devise a “protective response and means of repression.” Cautious, tentative measures culminated eventually in the ecclesiastical tribunal known as the Inquisition.
But there could be no “heresy” unless a definite orthodox Catholic doctrine had first been established. The Summa Contra Gentiles and the Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas, were the outcome of the Church's response to the outburst of “heresy.”
The papacy had become the zenith of a centralized, law-providing bureaucracy, due to a series of “lawyer-popes.” The “heresies” were the “conspiracy theories” of their time. They were a reaction against the oppressive power of the centralized Roman bureaucracy. A legalistic machinery, the Office of the Faith (i.e., the Inquisition), began to concentrate on the problem of “heresy.”
A shift from reluctant tolerance of “heresy” (conspiracy theories) to persecution of same occurred between 1163 and 1184 A.D. “Righteous persecution” of “heretics” began to be advocated. Pope Lucius III's Bull Ad Abolendam of 1184 A.D. ordered Bishops to “make inquisition” for “heresy.” After Jerusalem fell to the “infidels” in 1187 A.D., “enemies within” the empire of Christendom found themselves “in the crosshairs.” (See “Free Speech 'In The Crosshairs'” to understand this concept of being “in the crosshairs.” http://www.shout.net/~bigred/Crosshairs.html)
The Inquisition did not arrive all at once. It blew hot and cold for awhile. This period was marked by sporadic outbreaks of extreme violence (hysterical lynch mobbing of Don Imus) followed by periods of relative calm and inactivity.
“Heresy” also intermeshed with purely secular rebellion. In Italy, the work of the Inquisition was from the start complicated by political considerations.
On May 15, 1252, the most terrible of all Bulls (Patriot Acts) in the history of the Inquisition was issued. The Bull, Ad Extirpanda (“to extirpate”), prescribed the extirpation of “heresy” as the chief duty of the State. Ad Extirpanda effectively established a police state in Italy and is notable for having introduced the use of torture (judicium seculare) into inquisitorial procedure. The provisions of Ad Extirpanda were given “theological respectability” by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica.
The accumulation of vast archives (Internet archives such as Google) throughout Europe made it virtually impossible to escape once a person had entered its records.
Citizens were encouraged to inform (delatio) on their neighbors. Those who revealed to the inquisitors the presence of “heretics” in their area could be rewarded with up to three years of indulgences (i.e., three years less time spent in “Purgatory”). The concept of delation was important. It was not enough for those accused to confess, but the “heretic” had to inform against his “heretical” colleagues.
Methods Of Torture
The Ordeal Of Water. The prisoner forced to swallow large amounts of water. A funnel was often used.
The Ordeal Of Fire. The prisoner tied and placed near a large fire. Fat or grease applied to his feet. His feet then fried before the fire.
The Strappado. The prisoner hoisted by his wrists about six feet above the floor and left hanging there.
The Wheel. The prisoner tied to a large cartwheel then beaten with clubs.
The Rack. At each end, the prisoner's ankles and wrists were attached. The rack was gradually tightened causing the victim's body to stretch to the breaking point.
The Stivaletto. A boot-type torture. Pressure exerted on the legs, sometimes causing splintering or crushing of bones.
Over time, the term “heretic” became a catch-all used against anyone considered “abnormal.” The Inquisition began to pursue so-called “witches.” In France, the famous case of Joan of Arc, accused of being a witch, involved “the prosecutor's infernal labyrinth of words.” The more she spoke, the more her persecutors could twist what she had said. Joan eventually was excommunicated (outlawed) and then burned to death “as quickly as was decently possible on the same morning,” May 30, 1431. But in 1455, a re-trial vindicated the dead Joan of Arc. That re-trial “almost degenerated into a riot in support of Joan of Arc.” Her memory was completely rehabilitated, and she was eventually declared a Saint in 1920. The persecution of Joan of Arc and her rehabilitation is described as “the death blow of the Inquisition in France.”
In Spain, doubts about the sincerity of conversos – Jews who had ostensibly converted to Christianity to avoid deportation – prompted a renewed Inquisition. Again the lawyer's “infernal labyrinth of words” was brought to bear. At trial, according to one account, “Everything is read distorted and contorted – with so many obscurities and circumlocutions and with the wording so vague, as to seem the language of any creature other than a rational being.” Again, much of the power of the Spanish Inquisition derived from an accumulation of archived material. Strangely, many persons began to denounce themselves, as if a general sense of vague guilt was prevalent.
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