God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World

by Cullen Murphy

  13. [>] cited the Inquisition in his summation: Robert H. Jackson, “Summation for the Prosecution,” International Military Tribunal, July 26, 1946. Robert H. Jackson, “Summation for the Prosecution,” International Military Tribunal, July 26, 1946.

  the Grand Inquisitor delivers a scathing indictment: Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 248–262.

  14. [>] He heard nothing for nearly twenty years: The details of this episode are recounted in a letter to the author from Carlo Ginzburg, February 25, 2001.

  15. [>] “Naturally,” said a Vatican official: Anne Jacobson Schutte, “Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio: The Opening of the Roman Inquisition’s Central Archive,” Perspectives, American Historical Association, May 1999.

  “We know all the sins of the Church”: Alessandra Stanley, “Vatican Is Investigating the Inquisition, in Secret,” New York Times, October 31, 1998.

  [>] by two conclaves of Inquisition scholars: The account, here and elsewhere, of the conferences that marked the opening of the archives is based on conversations with people who attended, among them John Tedeschi, Eamon Duffy, and William Monter. The account, here and elsewhere, of the conferences that marked the opening of the archives is based on conversations with people who attended, among them John Tedeschi, Eamon Duffy, and William Monter.

  [>] John Paul asked the historians: “Vatican Prepares Apology for Inquisition,” Agence France Presse, November 1, 1998.

  [>] deeds done by the followers of the Church: Francis A. Sullivan, “The Papal Apology,” America, April 8, 2000.

  17. [>] Doubt occupies an oddly exalted status: J. B. Nugent, “Doubt,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, pp. 883–884.

  [>] a placard over the doorway: Chadwick, Catholicism and History, p. 135.

  18. [>] Greene’s work came under intense Vatican scrutiny: Peter Godman, “Graham Greene’s Vatican Dossier,” Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2001.

  [>] I came across two polished wooden boxes: Images of the card catalogues are presented in Cifres and Pizzo, Rari e Preziosi, pp. 142–145.

  [>] the very document that abolished the Index: “Abolizione dell’Indice dei libri prohibiti,” L’Osservatore Romano, June 15, 1966.

  [>] Cardinal Ratzinger . . . raised an eyebrow: Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Don’t Count Pope Among Harry Potter Fans,” New York Times, July 16, 2003.

  19. [>] “Very well, Potter”: Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, p. 631.

  [>] “an eye that never slumbered”: Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II, p. 362.

  20. [>] “the real scandal isn’t what’s illegal . . .”: Edwin Diamond, “The Kinsley Report,” New York Magazine, August 4, 1986.

  [>] presented with a copy of his confession: Harry Fiss, “The Interpreter,” New York Times Magazine, May 2, 1999.

  22. [>] adopted as his motto: “Religion: The Cardinal’s Setback,” Time, November 23, 1962.

  [>] an influential study: Moore, Formation of a Persecuting Society. Moore argues that the persecution of a variety of groups in medieval Europe reflected a systemic social outlook.

  23. [>] “the very fabric of reality”: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 214.

  23a Franciscan inquisitor once confided: James B. Given, “The Inquisitors of Languedoc and the Medieval Technology of Power,” American Historical Review, vol. 24, no. 2 (April 1989), pp. 336–359.

  [>]“We persecuted the seeds of evil”: Dietrich von Niem, On Schism, quoted in Peters, Inquisition, p. 303.

  2. A Stake in the Ground

  25. [>] “scuttling about in hiding like crabs”: Pope Gregory IX, from the decretal Ille humani generis, in Peters, Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, pp. 196–198.

  [>] “You, so and so”: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 176.

  26. like other dualists, the Cathars believed: The general account here of Cathar beliefs and the Albigensian Crusade is drawn from a number of sources, notably Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, pp. viii–xi; Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, pp. 89–208; Peters, Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, pp. 103–107. Full-length recent accounts of the crusade include Weiss, The Yellow Cross, and O’Shea, The Perfect Heresy. Specific references are cited accordingly.

  27. Their name may come from the Greek: O’Shea, The Perfect Heresy, p. 270. The derivation of the name remains a matter of some debate.

  [>] The most zealous adherents . . . Ordinary Cathars: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, pp. viii–xi; Costen, The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade, p. 76.

  28. [>] the romantic quest continues to animate: See, for instance, The Treasure of Montségur, by Sophy Burnham (HarperCollins, 2002), and The Judas Apocalypse, by Dan McNeil (Publish Press, 2008). See, for instance, The Treasure of Montségur, by Sophy Burnham (HarperCollins, 2002), and The Judas Apocalypse, by Dan McNeil (Publish Press, 2008).

  29. [>] Specific moments, recorded by the inquisitors: Oldenbourg, Massacre at Montségur, pp. 356–364.

  [>] “crushed the head of the dragon”: Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 2, p. 43.

  30. [>] “lower than God but higher than man”: Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State, 1050–1300, p. 128.

  31. [>] “They gave the finger”: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 9.

  [>] Several years later, Pope Lucius III: Peters, Inquisition, p. 47.

  [>] “Forward, then, most valiant soldiers of Christ!”: Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, p. 152.

  [>] as the geographer David Harvey once noted: The point is made in Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity. Quoted in Cullen Murphy, “Feudal Gestures,” Atlantic Monthly, October 2003.

  pronounced an anathema against his enemies: “Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: The Path of Doom,” Arabic-language video released on August 27, 2009. Transcript available at www.nefafoundation.org.

  32. [>] in a public statement soon after the 9/11 attacks: Manuel Perez-Rivas, “Bush Vows to Rid World of ‘Evil-doers,’” CNN.com, September 16, 2001.

  [>] painted the words: Jeff Sharlet, “Jesus Killed Mohammed,” Harper’s, May 2009.

  [>] recounted a prayer session: Robert D. Kaplan, “Five Days in Fallujah,” Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2004.

  [>] made reference to a Muslim warlord: “U.S. Is ‘Battling Satan,’ Says General,” BBC News, October 17, 2003; William M. Arkin, “The Pentagon Unleashes a Holy Warrior,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2003.

  ended a speech . . . with these words: Ricardo Sanchez, “Military Reporters and Editors Luncheon Address,” Washington, D.C., October 12, 2007.

  33. [>] you’ll frequently come across this injunction: The T-shirts are available online from many retailers, including the California-based company Special Forces Gear (http://www.specialforces.com/store/customer/home.php).

  [>] first attributed to a papal legate: Sumption, The Albigensian Crusade, p. 93; O’Shea, The Perfect Heresy, p. 85.

  [>] a hundred men from the nearby town of Bram: O’Shea, The Perfect Heresy, p. 106; Pegg, A Most Holy War, pp. 100, 109; Sumption, The Albigensian Crusade, pp. 111, 128–129.

  34. [>] The inquisitorial process had a long history: The general account here of the origins and conduct of the inquisitio is drawn from a number of sources, including Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, pp. 399–429; Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, pp. 5–22; Peters, Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, pp. 189–215; Peters, Inquisition, pp. 12–67; and Baldini and Spruitt, Catholic Church and Modern Science, pp. 34–38. Other specific references are cited accordingly.

  did not need to wait for someone to file a complaint: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 22.

  35. [>] Traveling light . . . set about conducting trials: Peters, Inquisition, pp. 58–59.

  [>] inquisitors in the Lauragais region: Pegg, The Corruption of Angels, p. 3.

  36. [>] a man named Arnaud Sicre: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 286.

  [>] medieval words for som
e distances: Hackett, World Eras, vol. 4, Medieval Europe, pp. 126–128.

  [>] Politically the continent was fractured: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 16–17.

  37. [>] local folkways of yesteryear were very much alive: See, for instance, Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic. Also Jacques Le Goff, “Culture clericale et traditions folkloriques dans la civilization merovingienne,” Annales 22 (1967), pp. 780–791.

  [>] his beliefs regarding the dead: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 348.

  [>] “feelings of alienation” and “expanded curiosity”: Edward Peters, “Notes Toward an Archeology of Boredom,” Social Research vol. 42, no. 3 (1975), pp. 493–511.

  38. [>] The papal chanceries become busier and busier: Blouin, ed., Vatican Archives, p. xviii.

  [>] a trial in Venice, held at the Basilica of San Marco: John'T. Noonan, “Gratian Slept Here: The Changing Identity of the Father of the Systematic Study of Canon Law,” Traditio 35 (1979): 145–172.

  39. [>] the parable of the wedding banquet: Gospel According to Luke, 14:23.

  [>] an injunction to deal with heresy by brute force: Garry Wills, “Augustine’s Hippo: Power Relations (410–417), Arion, vol. 7, no. 1 (Spring–Summer 1999), pp. 98–119.

  [>] At the Council of Tarragona: John H. Arnold, “Lollard Trials and Inquisitorial Discourse,” in Given-Wilson, ed., Fourteenth Century England II, p. 83.

  [>] standards of what is acceptable are gradually eroded: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Defining Deviancy Down,” American Spectator, vol. 62, no. 1 (Winter 1993), pp. 17–30.

  40. [>] pamphlet prepared by the U.S. Army: “How to Spot a Communist,” U.S. First Army, 1955. (http://www.niu.edu/~rfeurer/labor/How%20to%20Spot%20a%20Communist.pdf.) The Pentagon withdrew the pamphlet after the American Civil Liberties Union objected to its content.

  [>] interrogated at Philadelphia International Airport: “Lawsuit Claims Pomona College Student Was Detained by TSA over Arabic Flashcards,” Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2010.

  41. [>] some 75 million pages of records: Mary Williams Walsh, “Who Owns the Nazi Paper Trail?” Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1994.

  [>] the first generation of IBM punch-card systems: The story is told at length in Black, IBM and the Holocaust.

  [>] To give some idea of the scale: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 25.

  consider a household item . . . the desk dictionary: Paul Luna, “Not Just Another Pretty Face: The Contribution of Typography to Lexicography,” Dictionary Design, February 18, 2009.

  42. [>] to prove his claim to the overlordship of Scotland: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 34.

  inquisitors were more practical and inventive . . . easy cross-referencing: The revolution in the technology of documentation is considered at length in Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, pp. 25–51.

  43. [>] Bonet was caught in a lie. . . . “tedious frequency”: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 39.

  instruction manuals . . . conduct interrogations: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 46. Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 46.

  44. [>] Eco continues, describing the inquisitor’s bearing: Eco, The Name of the Rose, pp. 369– 370.

  rose rapidly . . . burned in public: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 8.

  45. [>] Over a period of fifteen years: James Given, “A Medieval Inquisitor at Work,” in Cohn and Epstein, eds., Portraits of Medieval and Renaissance Living, pp. 207–232.

  [>] which now resides in the British Library: M.A.E. Nickson, “Locke and the Inquisition of Toulouse,” British Museum Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 3/4 (Autumn 1972), pp. 83–92.

  [>] It begins with a list . . . Then come the details: British Library, Add. MS. 4697.

  [>] Some of the accused . . . more than forty of the living: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 69.

  [>] An itemized accounting of expenses: Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, p. 553.

  46. [>] This sort of moral delicacy . . . During the past decade: “Fact Sheet: Extraordinary Rendition,” American Civil Liberties Union, December 6, 2005.

  [>] a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar: Jane Mayer, “Outsourcing Torture,” The New Yorker, February 14, 2005. See also Stephen Grey, “The Agonizing Truth About CIA Renditions,” Salon, November 5, 2007.

  [>] A throng would gather: Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, pp. 391–393.

  47. [>] Gui’s most productive day: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 75.

  [>] Gui was a prodigious writer: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 14.

  [>] Out of this decree grew a modest confession industry: Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society, p. 45.

  [>] The notion of a “slippery slope”: Mario Rizzo and Glen Whitman, “The Camel’s Nose Is in the Tent: Rules, Theories and Slippery Slopes,” UCLA Law Review vol. 51, no. 2 (2003), pp. 539–592. See also Eugene Volokh and David Newman, “In Defense of the Slippery Slope,” Legal Affairs, March–April 2003.

  48. [>] One English essayist recalls: Charles Moore, “The Spectator’s Notes,” Spectator, February 19, 2011.

  The Dominicans preached everywhere . . . As one historian concludes: M. Michele Mulcahey, “Summae Inquisitorum and the Art of Disputation: How the Early Dominican Order Trained Its Inquisitors,” in Praedicatores, Inquisitores, Acts of the 1st International Seminar on the Dominicans and the Inquisition, 2002, pp. 145–156.

  49. [>] its members came to be known: Edward Peters, “Quoniam abundavit iniquitas: Dominicans as Inquisitors, Inquisitors as Dominicans,” Catholic Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 1 (2005), pp. 105–121.

  [>] “just as all diseases”: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 31.

  [>] “It must be noted”: Gui, The Inquisitor’s Guide, p. 71.

  50. [>] granted wide latitude to inquisitors: Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, pp. 424–429.

  Half a millennium later: Joseph Abrams, “Despite Reports, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Not Waterboarded 183 Times,” Fox News, April 28, 2009.

  [>] current and historical interrogation practices: Educing Information, Intelligence Science Board, National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C., 2006.

  51. [>] It warns interrogators: FM 2-22.3. Human Intelligence Collector Operations, Department of the Army, 2006, section 9-6.

  he might sit with a large stack of documents: Morellet, Abrege du Manuel des Inquisiteurs, pp. 100–101.

  [>] “file and dossier approach”: FM 2-22.3, section 8–15.

  Another technique suggested by Eymerich: Morellet, Manuel des Inquisiteurs, p. 99.

  52. [>] when the interrogator senses the source is vulnerable: FM 2-22.3 section 8-17.

  [>] Another way to break the impasse: Morellet, Manuel des Inquisiteurs, p. 102.

  [>] “rapid-fire interrogation”: FM 2-22.3, section 8-16.

  Eymerich writes a script: Morellet, Manuel des Inquisiteurs, p. 101.

  53. [>] the “emotional-futility” approach: FM 2-22.3, section 8-13, 8-14.

  [>] torture techniques developed very early: Guilaine and Zammit, The Origins of War, pp. 56–60.

  [>] “Torture him, how?”: Aristophanes, The Frogs, lines 624–628.

  [>] Mexican drug cartel: Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees, CNN, March 26, 2009.

  54. [>] Torture had been used . . . clear and definitive end point: Peters, Torture, pp. 40–46.

  56. laid down more rules than civil magistrates did: This was true for the Medieval, Spanish, and Roman Inquisitions. See, for instance, Peters, Inquisition, p. 92; Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition, p. 172; and Pérez, The Spanish Inquisition, pp. 146–147.

  if inquisitors absolved one another: Peters, Torture, p. 236.

  “mature and careful deliberation”: Lea, History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, vol. 1, p. 424.

  [>] “intensely moral places”: Michael Ignatieff, “The Truth About Torture,” New Republic, December 9, 1985.


  57. [>] “I’d cut down every law”: Bolt, A Man For All Seasons, p. 66.

  The landscape of Montaillou: Weiss, The Yellow Cross, pp. 21–23.

  58. [>] The inquisitor was Jacques Fournier: The particulars of the investigation and the history of Fournier’s Register are concisely laid out in Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, pp. vii–xvii.

  [>] Bernard Gui showed up to watch: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. xiii.

  59. [>] “rock star” . . . compared his youthful looks: Cantor, Inventing the Middle Ages, p. 165.

  60. [>] the fingernails of the dead: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 31.

  [>] a night of passion: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 159.

  [>] a pithily nihilistic philosopher: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 171.

  61. [>] In Lent, toward vespers: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, pp. 8–9.

  [>] Ms. Lewinsky called Ms. Currie: Starr, The Starr Report, p. 126.

  62. [>] Straight away I made love: Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, p. 167.

  [>] At the White House: Starr, The Starr Report, pp. 66–68.

  [>] When Pierre Clergue: Le Roy Ladurie, Montallou, p. 173.

  [>] She also showed him an email: Starr, The Starr Report, p. 108.

  64. [>] Papal inquisitors were involved: Read, The Templars, pp. 265–266.

  [>] “according to ecclesiastical constitutions”: Read, The Templars, p. 290; Barber, The Trial of the Templars, p. 198.

  3. Queen of Torments

  65. [>] The most ardent defenders of justice: Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition, p. 163.

  [>] “I wish to interrogate him!”: Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, p. 745.

  [>] In Leonard Bernstein’s version: Candide (1956), lyrics by Richard Wilbur and John Latouche.(1956), lyrics by Richard Wilbur and John Latouche.

  66. [>] the final justice of God: Maureen Flynn, “Mimesis of the Last Judgment: The Spanish Auto de Fe,” Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 22, no. 2 (1991), pp. 281–297.

  [>] The living prisoners wore: Anderson, Daily Life During the Spanish Inquisition, pp. 73–74. Anderson, Daily Life During the Spanish Inquisition, pp. 73–74.