Who was tried by the Inquisitorial courts?

[dominikus28]

I have heard that during the inquisition(s), only Catholics were tried, because non-Catholics (muslims, Jews) were not under the jurisdiction of the Church because they weren’t Catholic. I also heard, as an extension of this, that no protestant was ever tried by the inquisition because Protestantism is not Catholicism and thus not under the jurisdiction of the Church. Is this true?

The opposite side of the story is that many Jews and non-Catholics were persecuted.

How was one under the jurisdiction of the church? I mean, you a person was an atheist, were they tried under inquisition? Protestant? I understand that the inquisition’s goal was to root out heresy, and you can only be a heretic if you accept the authority of the Church but reject its teachings - for example, you acknowledge the Catholic Church as the true church, but you reject its teachings on the nature of Christ. If you don’t recognize that the Catholic Church is the true church, as with protestantism, you were not tried.
This makes sense to me, because someone who claims to be Catholic but reject Church teaching can lead other Catholics to heresy, but if they are not Catholic, they are a separate religion and thus not guilty of any deception.

 

[Geremia]

I have heard that during the inquisition(s), only Catholics were tried, because non-Catholics (muslims, Jews) were not under the jurisdiction of the Church because they weren’t Catholic. I also heard, as an extension of this, that no protestant was ever tried by the inquisition because Protestantism is not Catholicism and thus not under the jurisdiction of the Church. Is this true?

If they excommunicated themselves by their very act of schism, why would the Inquisition need to try them if they are already guilty?

The opposite side of the story is that many Jews and non-Catholics were persecuted.

How was one under the jurisdiction of the church? I mean, you a person was an atheist, were they tried under inquisition? Protestant? I understand that the inquisition’s goal was to root out heresy, and you can only be a heretic if you accept the authority of the Church but reject its teachings - for example, you acknowledge the Catholic Church as the true church, but you reject its teachings on the nature of Christ. If you don’t recognize that the Catholic Church is the true church, as with protestantism, you were not tried.
This makes sense to me, because someone who claims to be Catholic but reject Church teaching can lead other Catholics to heresy, but if they are not Catholic, they are a separate religion and thus not guilty of any deception.

Yes, if they’re already outside the Church, they’re already effectively excommunicated.

 

[PiousTemplar]

Yes, the Inquisition only had jurisdiction over professed Catholics. The Inquisition was by the way, implemented in spain to trial the ‘catholics’ who practiced heresy or other religious beliefs in secret. Protestants I believe did not fit under this criteria, however I could be wrong as some protestantism is almost too close to Catholicism.

 

[manualman]

You have to understand the context of history. In earlier eras it was common for the STATE to proclaim an official religion and require its adherents to belong. In such circumstances, the STATE may well have oppressed and punished heretics, Jews and Muslims without the approval of the Church. But state sanctions were not, technically, the “inquisition”.

Biased history aside, the facts are that accused people of the day in virtually ANY country desperately preferred to be tried by the Inquisition rather than the local government’s system of criminal justice.

Texas executes more people per year than the Inquisition ever did. (NOBODY expects the State of Texas! apologies to Monty Python)

 

[ChristIsTheWay]

The opposite side of the story is that many Jews and non-Catholics were persecuted.

There were many Jewish converts to Catholicism. They, as Catholics, were subject to the jurisdiction of the Church and to the Inquisition. As far as I know, only Catholics were subject to the authority of the Inquisition.

Here is an article that discusses the Spanish Inquisition: insidecatholic.com/feature/the-truth-about-the-spanish-inquisition.html

The above article is written by Thomas Madden, an actual historian so I am hoping it is fairly accurate.

There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about this topic. I am not sure what all the facts are. It does seem, though, that many popular ideas about the Inquisition are inaccurate and and exaggerated.