''Ad extirpanda'' ("To eradicate"; named for its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
incipit
The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it b ...
) was a
papal bull promulgated on Wednesday, May 15, 1252 by
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
which authorized in limited and defined circumstances the use of
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...
by the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
as a tool for interrogation.
[Bishop, J (2006)]
Aquinas on Torture
''New Blackfriars'', 87:229.
Context
The bull was issued in the wake of the murder of the papal inquisitor of Lombardy,
St. Peter of Verona, who was killed by a conspiracy of
Cathar
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
sympathizers on 6 April 1252. It was addressed to the heads of state or rulers, ministers and citizens established in the states and districts of Lombardy, Riviera di Romagnola (in
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
), and Marchia Tervisina in the Veneto. Judicial torture had become a common practice in the 11th and 12th centuries, following the rediscovery of
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...
. By 1252, it was regarded as an established method by secular tribunals.
[
]
Content
The bull argued that as heretics are "murderers of souls as well as robbers of God’s sacraments and of the Christian faith", they are "to be coerced—as are thieves and bandits—into confessing their errors and accusing others, although one must stop short of danger to life or limb." The following parameters were placed on the use of torture:podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
or chief magistrate of the city shall take them at once, and shall, within five days at the most, execute the laws made against them."[Kline, Austin.]
Chronology of Medieval Christianity
" ''About.com''.
References
{{reflist
External links
Ad Extirpanda
English translation
1252 works
13th-century papal bulls
Documents of Pope Innocent IV
Inquisition
Torture