In the Middle Ages, Catholic was the dominant religion in Europe. Being the dominant religion, the leaders of the Church had a desire to stomp out any other religion for in their eyes and minds – anyone not 100% Catholic or a believer in the true faith was a heretic. On a normal day it is hard to look into someone’s mind and consider their soul if they were not a true believer. The solution to this problem was to devise an organization which reported to the Pope called the Inquisition and similar to all large organizations, there were policies and procedures for the Inquisitors to go into a community to find out if the faithful were true believers. the Inquisitor could also here confessions and give punishment for those with the wrong thoughts. The book The Inquisition of the Middle Ages – its Organization and Operations by Henry Charles Lea published by Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, UK, 1963 focuses on how the Inquisition worked.

The Inquisition lasted over 300 years, which means both the Church hierarchy and those that followed the religion were supporters of the method. In some ways, the job of the Inquisitor was similar to that of a criminal attorney – trying to determine the innocence or guilty of those that come before him (the Catholic Church only employed male priests). At the time the Catholic Church had the resources of the Country (the police) on its side Unlike a court, the defendant had no one to help them, for if a person helped someone that was accused, the inquisitor would see that person as guilty and go through the process with him. There may had been good reasons to go after the other religions, the Catholic Church had set the rules and those are the lessons to be taught. They had decided what was important and what was left out of the teachings and about the person of Jesus. Even today, over 2,000 years after Christ, we still know very little about Jesus and we live in a more connected world than ever before. You can imagine what it was like in the Middle Ages with 90% of the population not being able to read and write and most people living in rural villages. The Inquisitors come into town in a large coach surrounded by guards, through the grapevine most know they are in town and maybe why?

The Inquisitors were trained in asking questions that went along this line:

I: Do you believe in the one God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost?

A: I believe      (good answer)

I: Do you believe the bread and wine in the mass performed by the priests to be changed into the body and blood of Christ by divine virtue?

A: Ought I not to believe this?      (problem answer)

I: I did not ask you if you ought to believe, but do you believe?

A: I believe whatever you and other good doctors order me believe.

The Inquisitor was looking for the simple answer, never the complex. 99% of the time their training and education was much greater than the general public and they were suppose to report back results. The questioning could take hours and if the answers took longer, confinement in jails for a month or torture were regularly used. In the end, a sentence was given – sometimes to wear a X on your shirt or coat; sometimes it was jail and for a few burning at the stake.

Linking into dividend paying stocks, the Inquisition started off as reasonably good policy for similar to the Catholic Church there are trademarks which must be protected. Many people copy others it is not necessarily a bad thing to go after them. It can hurt profit margins but it is understandable if your company has a great idea, your competition will likely have something similar to it in the near future in order to stay competitive. The danger of the Inquisition was it was after a undefinable end – the minds of its people and their souls afterwards. Since no one knew what was the end result, all kinds of methods were developed over the years and there was remarkably few checks and balances at the senior level. The Inquisitors reported directly to the Pope, which Priest is going to challenge the Pope? Very few. As you research the companies you invest in, who says NO or this is wrong or I do not support and will not give my vote to it?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.