The purpose of the various inquisitions was not to seek the death of heretics. Such an assertion is, at best, erroneous. The purpose of an inquisitional body was ti inquire as to the faith of an individual. If that individual was not a Christian, e.g. Jew or Muslim, the inquisitional bodies had no jurisdiction. If the person claimed to be a Christian, yet clung to certain serious heresies, then attempts to bring the person to conversion were made.
In some circumstances, torture was used. However there were strict limits. Torture could only be used during the entire lifetime of a person. This single episode of torture could only last 15 minutes. Even then, torture was frowned upon by the Holy See and many inquisitors who used this were later prosecuted by the Church for excesses. Some of them, such as Torquemada, spent the rest of their life in prison for their excesses. A few others were themselves excommunicated for their unrepentant cruelty.
It is estimated that throughout all of Europe with all the various inquisitional bodies over the course for more than 400 years, fewer than 35,000 people were subjected to torture by inqusitional bodies.
During this same period, **civil **authorities in many coutries regularly tortured at least ten times that number.
Regrettably, inquisitional bodies did recommend that civil authoities execute some people. The inquisitional courts did not have the right to actually sentence someone to death nor the ability to carry out such a sentence. It has been estimated by several reliable sources that between 3,500 anf 5,000 people were executed by inquisitional bodies over the course of more than 400 years. Primarilly by the Spanish and Albigensian/Catharii/French Inquisitions. It should be noted that the number executed during the nearly 350 of the Spanish inquisition is approximately the same as the number of Catholic martyred in England during the reigns of just two monarchs, Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. Also, it was these two from whom we get much of the popular history of the Inquisition.
The Spanish Inquisition did have it’s excesses. But nothing like what popular media leads people to believe. These excesses came about because the Spanish crown hijacked the Inquisition and began using it as a political tool.
The popular, but erroneous belief that the Spanish inquisition killed tens or hundreds of thousands of people dates back the reigns the King Henry VIII and his second daughter, Queen Elizabeth. They were at war with Spain and the Catholic Church; they needed to vilify their enemies in the eyes of the English people. On the contrary, the inquisition kept meticulous records. These records were opened a number of years ago and have been scrutinized by historians. Many of these historians, several decidedly secular, have concluded, based on these and other non-Church records, that the popular history of the inquisitions cannot be reconciled with what really happened.
It should be noted that the Italian inquisition neither tortured nor executed anyone since it’s founding. Furthermore, as one previous poster correctly pointed out, the Italian Inquisition has been transformed when it was brought into the Roman Curia proper and is now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
