The inquisitorial process leading up to and including the abjuration of heresy by the suspect – which was the usual but not invariable conclusion of an inquisition inquiry – is examined in this chapter. For our purposes here the process up to abjuration can be broken down into three stages. First there was the detection of heretics. Most heretics operated in secret and the inquisition had to adopt a variety of techniques to locate them and bring them into custody. Second there was the interrogation of suspect heretics, usually carried out while they remained in custody. We have a number of records of these interrogations, the most famous being those carried out by Jacques Fournier as bishop of Pamiers. The procedure was that a record of what the suspect had said under questioning was produced – in Latin – after each interrogation and agreed with the suspect. These records, together with testimony by other witnesses, were the evidence which was considered when sentencing a suspect. They were retained by the inquisition as part of its records, not only for what they contained about the suspect but also for what they contained about others who might come under investigation. Interrogations were wide ranging and the inquisitors were often as interested in the activities of other people as in the suspect. One important issue which will be considered under the interrogation process is the use of torture.

The conclusion of the process, the third stage, was the securing of an abjuration of heresy by the suspect, or the establishment that he was a pertinacious heretic unwilling to abjure, or the conclusion that there was no heresy. At that point the part of the process considered in this chapter was concluded. After the abjuration the heretic was liable to sentencing, which might well take place at a sermo generalis but could also take place privately. Sentencing could range from less harsh penances such as wearing crosses and pilgrimages, to indefinite detention and ‘release to the secular arm’, the code for burning. Burning was carried out by the secular power, not the Church.

Detection and interrogation are an area which has been of particular interest to recent historians writing from a number of different perspectives.