“A History of the Inquisitions: Dominicans, Franciscans, Politics and Finances”

After the failure of the bishops’ inquisitions, the Popes used two new monastic orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, to combat heresy. But secular rulers quickly learned that they could use the inquisitions to destroy their political enemies and confiscate their wealth, while churchmen used the inquisitions to exterminate pesky “poverty movements.” A lecture by Dr. W. J. Neidinger.