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The spread of opposition to the Papacy by the Albigenses and Waldenses in France, gave rise to the Inquisition in the beginning of the 13th century. Lord Acton one of the most learned of English Roman Catholics wrote: "The Inquisition is peculiarly the weapon and peculiarly the work of the Popes. It stands out from all those things in which they co-operated, followed or assented as the distinctive feature of papal Rome. In was set up, renewed and perfected by a long series of acts emanating from the supreme authority in the Church. No other institution, no doctrine no ceremony is so distinctly the individual creation of the Papacy, except the dispensing power. It is the principal thing with which the Papacy is identified and by which it must be judged. The principle of the Inquisition is the Pope's sovereign power over life and death. Whosoever disobeys him should be tried and tortured and burnt.

The office of the inquisition first began with brutal crusades the first of which consisted of an army of 500,000 amongst whom were archbishops, bishops, abbots and clergy. Afterwards a more vicious policy of accusation was adopted.

The first step towards the punishment of the accused was a denunciation by a third party., whether right or wrong. Anonymous information was always accepted and the accused never knew his accusers. After this came imprisonment and few ever hoped to see their friends, if once arrested. When the accused was brought before the judges his property was instantly seized and only a small percentage was returned should he be considered not guilty. If found guilty his property became the Inquisition's. The prisoner was generally obliged to repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer and any inaccuracy was accepted as additional evidence against him. After three such audiences, in which every advantage was taken of the nervousness or weakness of the prisoner, the charges were formally made and then came the torture.

This torture was inhuman. If the accused acknowledged altogether his guilt he was tortured to confess more - or if he acknowledged it in part he was tortured to admit all - or if he denied completely he was tortured that he might admit some, In every case he could not escape.

The following tortures and cruelties were used:

1. THE PULLEY

This was generally the first torture. Divested of all his clothes, except his drawers, the victim had his hands tied behind his back whilst a heavy weight was fastened to his feet. A rope was then passed through a pulley on the

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ceiling and then firmly attached to his wrists. At a given signal the wretched victim was suddenly hoisted up to a considerable height by the rope attached to his wrists, where he was left to dangle and receive either whippings or brandings. The torture was completed when he was allowed to suddenly fall and stop within a few inches from the ground, the jerk of which caused agony and dislocation of the joints.

2. THE CHAFING DISH

The accused was secured in the stocks so that he could not move and then a chafing dish with burning coals was then so placed that the fire might affect the soles of his feet - the most sensitive part of the body. To increase combustion his feet were rubbed with an inflammable oil.

3. THE RACK

This was to tear the arms from people's sockets and to cause a rope to cut into the tender parts of the body.

4. THE PENDULUM

The English translation of Lorrents' work states that "on the abolition of the Holy Office by the Cortes in Madrid 1820, a prison was found who was to have undergone death by the pendulum, which was usually inflicted as follows - The condemned was fastened in a grove upon a table on his back. Suspended above him was the pendulum, the edge of which was sharp and it was so constructed as to become longer every moment. The wretch saw this implement of destruction swinging to and fro above him, and every moment the keen edge approaching nearer and nearer, at length it cut the skin of his nose and gradually cut until life was extinct." P. 396 Hist. of inquisition 1850