WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Inquisition was a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy throughout Europe and the Americas.

Detailed explanation-2: -The most common punishments were penitential pilgrimages, the wearing of yellow crosses on clothing (which was feared because it led to ostracism), and imprisonment. The inquisition employed two kinds of prisons, both staffed by laymen.

Detailed explanation-3: -Medieval inquisition trials were held secretly, to ascertain if an accused person was a heretic or not. Once a person was accused, they were detained for at least a few months, regardless of whether they were a heretic or innocent. Although it seems like chaotic cruelty, the system had order and rules.

Detailed explanation-4: -Later in the Middle Ages (in the 14th Century), burning at the stake became the most common method of putting to death those accused of witchcraft or heresy (which at this time meant believing or teaching religious ideas other than those of the Catholic Church).

Detailed explanation-5: -The full name of the Inquisition was the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Latin: Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide) of the Catholic Church.