The inquisition is the name of the system of church courts that used secret testimony and torture to root out heresy and force non-Catholics to convert to Catholicism.
The Inquisition was an investigative institution established within the government system of the Catholic Church to root out public heresy committed by baptized Christians. The Inquisition begun formally in the 12th-century and its primary function is to probe and expose Christians and church leaders that refused to accept the church’s principle or beliefs.