Pope Gregory IX formalizes the Inquisition

1231

By the bull Excommunicamus, Gregory entrusted the hunt for heretics to Dominican friars answerable directly to Rome rather than local bishops. The standardized procedures of inquisitorial interrogation, secrecy, and record-keeping took shape in the tribunals of southern France. The friars' meticulous archives, preserving verbatim testimony from thousands of suspects, are now among the richest sources for medieval social history.