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* Always. A factor in deciding to read a book or not? Sometimes. *

“For two years Conrad combed the cities and countryside of Germany searching out the Waldensians with unabated pleasure. He enlisted Dominicans and Franciscans to assist in his endeavor, which they did without reservation. But Conrad did not waste his time with cumbersome trials, moving ahead...

Among other things, I’m a retired adjunct theology professor who has taught church history; not a denier of church history. I’ve quoted standard works on church history on the forum for four years now. (You know that is true. So do many other members.) I’ve probably quoted more church history...

“One of the earliest inquisitors, Conrad, already had an impressive resume after suppressing the Cathars in Innocent III’s Albigensian Crusade apearly in the thirteenth century. He had gained notoriety for the bloody massacres that occurred under his leadership. A few years later Gregory IX...

“Thus, when Gregory IX assumed the pontifical throne, he was able to build on a grand heritage. A passionate Catholic who viewed himself as a pastor, he dedicated himself to the destruction of splinter groups who divorced themselves from the Holy Mother Church. Only two years after assuming the...

“Although Thomas Torquemada is most closely associated with the Inquisitions, the movement commenced more than two centuries before the Grand Inquisitor’s name became synonymous with the era. The true father of the movement was, without question, Pope Gregory IX (Ugolino de Segni, 1227-1241)...

“… the Crusade programs were intended to remove sects as a group, not as individuals. Like a conventional army in guerilla-style warfare, they were ill-prepared to handle individual threats. As one author pointed out, ‘The crusade ... was a very blunt instrument, capable of dealing with heretics...

“When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.” - Edmund Burke