The Inquisition Gets Medieval

The following is a chapter from the book Money, Sex, Power & Faith.

“NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!… Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms.” – Monty Python

Europe used money a lot, and from the fall of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance, they didn’t use it very well. Although debtor’s prisons had been implemented throughout the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece, it was England that seemed to perfect them, or at least make them more notorious.

The idea was that once a person had racked up a large enough debt and was unable to pay, he would be locked up until he could pay it off, and he would be charged room and board. Sometimes, families of the debtors would be able to scrape up enough money to pay off the debts and get him out. Sometimes, wives and children of indebted fathers couldn’t keep up the family business and fell into poverty. And sometimes, the wives and children just got thrown in prison with the husbands as one big, miserable family.

Like the society of the time, with its common castes of royalty, nobility, and peasants, debtor’s prisons had different classes as well. If you ran in wealthy circles and had merely overextended yourself, chances are good that you’d still get some…