异端裁判所(Inquisition)

亦译宗教法庭。中世纪和近代初期天主教的司法机关，用以镇压异端和巫术和法道。为因应清洁派和韦尔多派等异端的散布，教宗格列高利九世於1231年设立。异端嫌疑犯被逮捕後，受宗教法庭审判；1252年教宗英诺森四世批准用刑以使犯人忏悔告解。量刑范围从祷告禁食到监禁；被认定为异端分子的人如拒绝改变信仰，就要转交世俗司法当局判处死刑。中世纪异端裁判所主要是在义大利北部和法国南部活动。1478年西克斯图斯四世设立西班牙异端裁判所，办案极为严酷。教宗後来曾尝试限制裁判所的权力，但因西班牙国王拒绝放弃而失败。宗教公判大会是一项宣布判决的公开仪式，後成为一精心计画的庆祝会，大法官托尔克马达曾以火刑烧死近2,000名异端分子。西班牙异端裁判所还传至殖民地墨西哥、秘鲁和西西里（1517），以及尼德兰（1522），直到19世纪初期才在西班牙受到取缔。

English version：

Inquisition

In medieval and early modern times, a Roman Catholic judicial insititution established to combat heresy and witchcraft. It was instituted by Gregory IX in 1231 in response to the spread of heresies such as those of the Cathari and Waldenses. Suspected heretics were arrested, interrogated by inquisitors, and tried; the use of torture to obtain confessions was authorized by Innocent IV in 1252. Penalties ranged from prayer and fasting to imprisonment; convicted heretics who refused to recant could be executed by secular authorities. The papal Inquisition of the Middle Ages functioned most widely in northern Italy and southern France. The Spanish Inquisition was authorized by Sixtus IV in 1478; the pope later tried to limit its powers, but it was successfully defended by the Spanish crown. The auto-da-fé, the public ceremony at which sentences were pronounced, became an elaborate celebration, and the grand inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada was responsible for burning about 2,000 heretics at the stake. The Spanish Inquisition was also introduced in colonies such as Mexico and Peru as well as in Sicily (1517) and the Netherlands (1522), and it was not entirely suppressed in Spain until the early 19th century.