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The History of the Medieval Inquisition
How church inquisitions arose in the later Middle Ages, who ran them, what powers they had and what they could not do, without the usual myths.
Faith and Health
Inquisition and Heresy
How medieval church courts pursued heresy, and what the records really show.
The Inquisition: A Dark Period of Medieval Persecution
Who medieval inquisitors targeted, how suspects were treated, and where historians disagree about the scale of the persecution, minus the sensational myths.
The Inquisition: A History of Persecution
Follow a typical medieval inquisition case from accusation to sentence and see what inquisitors, notaries and local authorities each did along the way.
The Inquisition: A Medieval Institution of Persecution
How the medieval Inquisition worked as an institution: its legal procedure, the records it kept, and its relationship to bishops and secular rulers.
The Inquisition: A Tool of Medieval Persecution
The penalties medieval inquisitors could impose, from penances to prison and handover to secular courts, and how rulers used the process for political aims.
The Rise of the Inquisition: A Medieval Institution for Heresy and Witchcraft
How inquisitors moved from heresy toward witchcraft accusations, and why the large European witch persecutions came mostly after the Middle Ages.
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Monasteries and Orders Monks, monasteries and the military religious orders. Medicine and Healing Doctors, herbs, theories and beliefs about illness and magic. Philosophy and Theology How medieval thinkers joined faith and reason. The Black Death The plague of the 1300s and its effects on society. Saints and Mystics Holy men and women, visionaries and a martyr. Theologians and Reformers Thinkers who shaped and challenged Church teaching. The Church and Its Power How the medieval church was organized and how it used its influence. Afterlife and Purgatory What people believed about death, heaven, hell and purgatory. Sin, Salvation and Virtue Medieval ideas about sin, salvation, providence and the virtues. Jews in Medieval Europe Jewish communities, scholarship, restrictions and expulsions. Pilgrimage, Relics and Shrines Holy journeys, saints bones and the shrines that drew travelers.