INQUISITION

The title given to a court armed with; extensive criminal authority in various European countries; is especially instituted to inquire into offences against the established religion. The first of these tribunals of faith was tl a* established in the south of France after the conquest of th Albigeios in the 13th century. They were established i a Spain in the middle of the same century, not without nine! opposition on the part of the bishops and secular clergy, whr in Castile, long maintained their exclusive spiritual jurisdii tion. In 1840, the supreme general inquisition was founde [s. 618]