Who is the inquisitor? How did the word appear?

From ancient to modern meaning, every word goes its winding path. In some cases, it loses its meaning, in others it acquires a completely different meaning. Consider the concept of "inquisitor" in the article. The meaning of the word has not changed with the centuries, but only expanded the original meaning.

Origin of the word

Many concepts of our time are rooted in the Latin language. The same story happened with the word "inquisitor". This is who, what this person does, you can learn from a literal translation of the term into Russian. The Latin word inquisitio means "investigation", "inquiry". Therefore, the answer to the question, who is the inquisitor, will sound that this is an inquirer, an investigator, and sometimes a judge. The simple Latin word became a formidable force, which terrified the inhabitants of medieval Europe.

Who is the Inquisitor?

The appearance of the Inquisition dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. Until that time, no one knew who the inquisitor was and did not know that faith must be defended in rather terrible ways. At the end of the 12th century, the growth of various oppositional Christian movements began, which questioned certain dogmas of the church, and at the same time reduced the influence of the papacy on the minds of Catholics. This trend could not but worry Catholics, because they were challenged not by the poor pagans of the past, but by representatives of well-known and wealthy families.

One of the streams of Christianity was called Albigenses. Qatar represented a serious threat to the power of Rome. It was for the fight against them that the first courts of faith were established.

Initially, the role of the inquisitor was reduced to an inquiry. Representatives of the inquisition units were sent to various localities, where they asked a lot of questions about the sentiments prevailing in the given territory. It is clear that such a collection of information opened up ample opportunities for unethical denunciation.

All the suspects in dissent led to the bishop to execute the court and pass sentence. But the execution of the verdicts was already entrusted to the secular authorities. Often the condemned have not been executed because of a timely escape to another province.

Such a frivolous attitude towards heresy forced the church to take extreme measures. Since the XIII century, crimes against faith have been considered one of the gravest, and those who were found guilty, awaited a terrible death - burning at the stake. About who the inquisitor was, they learned everything, because the decrees of the papacy allowed even children to be executed even from the age of seven. Even the grave did not save us from the verdict. The bodies of the dead are often excavated, and then burned at the stake.

Inquisitors and Witches

The last hotbed of dissent was suppressed in Languedoc. In this province in the south of France was accused of heresy and executed simultaneously more than two hundred people. Officially, the church won, whole institutes of the inquisitors were looking for new victims. They are women and girls, caught in witchcraft.

To identify witches and force them to confessions, there was a special book called "The Hammer of Witches". A special role was assigned to the investigators. The notion of who such an inquisitor was changed a little - now so called witch hunters and sorcerers. It is because of the diligence of the inquisitors that many women were subjected to terrible agonies and ended their days at the stake.

The modern meaning of the word

About who the inquisitor is, our contemporaries learn from books or films. The topic of inquisition in fantasy and science fiction was widely spread. The ancient duties of the zealots of faith, of course, could change in part, but sometimes the inquisitors in the author's fantasies perform absolutely uncharacteristic functions, for example, they take part in battles.

It should be understood that the Inquisition is part of the secret church police, and in its sense it was far from secular power. Therefore, the Inquisitors could not take an active part in the fighting. For the faith of Christ, absolutely other representatives of the church fought, for example, knights of warrants.

Thanks to the influence of the media, new meanings of the word "inquisitor" appeared. Its synonyms in the modern Russian language - the executioner, the aspid, the buckler, sometimes the inquisitive agent. Less often the inquisitor is a judge who brings severe and unfair sentences.