the Holy office

The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition was part of a 500 year plan of the Catholic church for global spiritual domination, as the sole distributor of Christianity and eternal life. Competition was fierce for the life after death market with heresies of every persuasion, including Islam, Judaism and Satan's special little helpers, the Protestants.

The Inquisition was less concerned with leading individuals back into the fold than in creating a climate of terror where people would be afraid to sin. Using force to get a confession was forbidden, so victims were tortured in one room and then led into another to confess to the inquisitors.

Among the holy tools were the brodequin, to crush legs and smash bones until the marrow spurted out; metal boots into which boiling water or molten lead was poured and lard, which was applied to the feet before roasting them over a fire.

Once accused, the victims' possessions were seized. When they were found guilty, those assets accrued to the Church and their families were billed for the costs of the torture. Even the dead could be accused of heresy- their bones would be exhumed, burnt and the property of their heirs confiscated. Naturally, this encouraged the wealthy to offer substantial bribes a priori to avoid to prosecution.

Fear made the Inquisition famous, but it was their genius in developing new revenues made it an institution - one that would inspire imitators from Moscow to Mexico and Cambodia to Iran, for centuries to come...

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