Inquisições. Uma proposta relacional e comparativa

This article intends to present a new historiographical reading of the inquisitorial phenomenon. Starting with a discussion of the historiographical and terminological considerations developed since the final decades of the twentieth century, we propose to address: the “medieval” character of the office of the inquisitio; the role played by the Papacy in the creation of this juridical institution and its later use in a “universalist” perspective; the development of modern inquisitorial systems and their relations and interactions. This will allow us to focus on analyzing the impact of the Inquisition(s) on the different societies of the Ancien Regime, from the European states to their colonial territories, including the complex relationships between the three inquisitorial systems. We stress the importance of integrated investigation of the various social frameworks, but also of the power groups that formed under the auspices of the institution and with attention to the varying degrees of relations as well as perceptions generated by the inquisitorial machine within societies.