HUAS27002 - What was the Inquisition in the Middle Ages?

Course Description

From Edgar Allen Poe's Pit and the Pendulum to the McCarthy Subcommittee on Un-American Activities, the concept of the inquisition has permeated our political perspectives and language. But what exactly was the historical inquisition? What did it aim to do, how and why? In the 20th century, mainstream academic historians have studied extensive records left by inquisitions and have made surprising and counter-intuitive discoveries about what we call 'The Inquisition.' This course will distinguish the different inquisitions (episcopal, papal, and Spanish), their different methods and theories, and how they interacted with secular authorities from the middle ages and into modernity?