Chapter 3012 The ghost in the distance (seventeen)

The Inquisition was not the first in Spain, nor was its original intention to implement religious and social terror. The word "inquisition" simply means "official, judicial trial." In this context, the Inquisition refers to the Roman Catholic Church's trial of possible heresy.

However, at this time the Inquisition had no intention, and in fact did not have the right to physically mutilate the suspects under trial. The standard punishment for heresy was humiliating penance, such as being forced to make a pilgrimage to a holy site, or having a "cross" sewn into a robe. As long as the punished correct their sins and do the proper self-punishment, the shame will be washed away and they will be accepted into the church again. Only in rare cases, when heretics refused to admit their mistakes, or continued to persevere in their heresy, were they brought before the secular government for justice and punishment.

Bernardo Gui was a Dominican monk and Inquisitor. From 1307 to 1324, as many as 1,000 heretics were judged by him. He also recorded his working methods and experience in detail, and assembled a 394-page masterpiece "The Conduct of Inquiry Concerning Heretical Depravity" (The Conduct of Inquiry Concerning Heretical Depravity) ). The book has 5 chapters in total, the first 3 chapters discuss procedural issues, such as the procedure for interrogating suspects and how to organize a court. Chapter 4 is a cliché about how papal bulls define the powers of the Inquisition. The final chapter details what constitutes heresy—at least in his view. One of the most interesting things about this early church bestseller is how it taught the Inquisitors how to interrogate suspected heretics. As is the tactic of well-known lawyers in modern society, never allow the witnesses to take the initiative. The questions asked should be as outlandish and trap-laden as possible, and a careless answer could label innocent people heretics.

The key in this process is to make the witnesses confused and lose their judgment, such as the "Spanish chair" is just an auxiliary, thus setting the tone of the Inquisition.

By 1401, 70 years after the disbandment of the Knights Templar, an international inquisition began to take shape, and torture and divine judgment were widely used.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the suppression, they encourage the public to cooperate with the authorities to report and expose suspicious elements among neighbors, friends, and family members. Once accused, the procedure is constant, no matter how outlandish the evidence may seem, it is scrutinized by the inquisitor to decide whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant an arrest. In order to protect whistleblowers from public condemnation, their names, like other proceedings in the Tribunal, are always kept secret.

When arrest warrants are issued, a mob of inquisitors, priests and heavily armed soldiers rushes to the suspect's home—often late at night. If the suspect resists arrest, then they tie him up firmly and when the suspect is locked in the dungeon of the Inquisition, their property is confiscated. The official version of this is that the property is used to pay for their imprisonment and trial. expenses incurred during the period.

Fearful of torture, accused persons are of course willing to confess, but in most cases they do not know why they are being charged, so it is impossible to confess or defend themselves. After the initial trial, the suspect was dragged into the basement, which was heavily enclosed with black curtains. At the other end of the room sat an inquisitor, an inspector, and a secretary behind a table. There is also a torturer in a black robe with only two eyes exposed. Standing beside him are many terrifying instruments of torture. These people all knew a fact, but the prisoners didn't know it at all, that is, the subsequent torture would be divided into five different stages. First, the suspect was verbally intimidated and informed that he would be tortured. Second, show him the instruments of torture. Third, blindfold the suspect. Fourth, torture. Give him one more chance to confess. If at this point he still maintains his innocence, repeat steps 4 and 5 indefinitely until he or she confesses, or dies. This procedure applies to all people regardless of age, gender, or social status. The choice of the type and method of torture is completely random, and the only determining factors are the emotions of the judges and inspectors, as well as the available torture facilities. In the absence of elaborate instruments of torture, Inquisitors are more than happy to resort to their ancient spares—the whip and the long rope. A Portuguese scribe records how common flogging was in the Inquisition.

Before 1535, Spain was considered a backcountry in the eyes of Europeans. Although the news that Columbus discovered the New World spread throughout the "world" and brought back a large amount of gold and silver from the Andean civilization, the income generated still could not balance the expenditure of the voyage.

Although Pope Sicostus IV agreed to the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, he has been busy with the infighting of the Holy See and has no time to manage what happened in the Spanish Inquisition.

But no matter how far away, some news inevitably reached the ears of the Pope, so the Pope wrote to Ferdinand, asking him to rectify the Inquisition, "Many sincere and devout Christians, because of being attacked by enemies, opponents, The false accusations of slaves and other inferiors, in the absence of any investigation, are imprisoned in secular prisons, tortured and condemned like a staunch heretic, and they are stripped of their property and delivered into the hands of secular authorities Put to death, which poisoned their souls, and set a pernicious example to the public, which aroused the disgust and indignation of the majority".

Most of Spain's public officials are urban civilians, even farmers. The French Bourbon dynasty that once ruled Spain is very clear about this.

After their social status rose, they would often claim to be descendants of a nobleman, and the king would hand over public affairs and judicial affairs to these scribes who were between nobles and commoners.

That's when their old enemies better hope they're too busy working or envious of other people's work to forget they even exist. Don't hope that you can escape from Spain, because the punishment and pursuit of the Inquisition is not limited to Spain, it is international, even if you go to the New World, you may be hunted down.

We can imagine a poor student who, along with a large group of people of similar origin, fills the University of Barcelona, ​​waiting to "make it big." During the waiting process, he was in a bad mood, not only because the waiting process was too long, but also because people kept "jumping in line" halfway through, and he was assigned to his ideal position.

But he has to wait because it's his only way out. At that time, the economic situation in Spain was very bad. Unemployment had become a national misery. Young people of working age could not find any jobs, and once engaged in manual labor, it meant loss of status. Workers are still regarded as an honorable profession, and some outstanding workers will be promoted to become knights.

Finally, it was his turn. Although the old people were unwilling to leave, but in that era, due to the limitation of medical level and the threat of infectious diseases that could break out at any time, people were generally young. But in this larger team, he is at the end of the team. If he wants to go up, he has to keep working hard, so that he will forget the "enemies" in the past.

If he desires more power for revenge, that's another story.

Even if the poor student entered the ranks not for ambition and revenge, but simply for the comfortable life of the priest, that would be problematic.

There was no Inquisition in New England; the witches were tried in Salem by secular courts. In fact, there is a well-known "Habeas Corpus Act" in British law. At any time, a "highest priority" writ can be obtained in the king's territory, and this writ replaces all procedures. There are many cases in the file, all because of this writ of habeas corpus, the interrogation of the prisoner was terminated.

In order to eat a steak that didn't exist, Cypher decided to betray Murphys and others, return to the matrix, and live the life he wanted.

Ignorance, he said, is a bliss.

In fact, he could have chosen the blue pill, but unfortunately he didn't want to be so ignorant at the time, or he didn't want to enjoy the blessings of ignorance.

No wonder he's on the movie poster as one of the "foursome," even though he looks like a regular crew member, not as much as the pilot.

He is indeed unusual. When others saw that the agents were about to run away, he actually ate face to face with the agents, and some people played the harp in the restaurant.

This is called being alive, and the "real world" is more like a nightmare.

The end of the world, and the post-apocalyptic world? Don't you think that looks like a ridiculous joke?

He chose to do the smart thing because he's a smart guy, unlike Neo's dumbass who refuses to cooperate.

As for "right" or not, who cares? He was just tired of drinking "porridge" and wanted to eat steak, that's all, and he still has the privilege over ordinary people. Although it feels good to break through the rules of the matrix and "fly", after careful balance, he found that this is the most important thing. It's what he really wants, and everything in the restaurant is real.

What's out there? Nothing, even hope, might as well go back.