Vacandard traces how the Church’s attitude to heretics changed from the age of persecution, when the Fathers rejected force, through the revival of Manichaean sects and the Cathar heresy, to the founding of the Inquisition, its procedure, penances and punishments, and the theological arguments made to justify it.
A candid Catholic scholar’s study, still useful for anyone weighing the history of the Inquisition. Download the free EPUB.