What was the Inquisition?

The Inquisition refers to the branch of the Catholic Church's judicial branch that attempted to combat heresy. It began in 12th century France and expanded rapidly in both scope and geography in the Late Middle Ages as a result of the Protestant Reformation. During this era, the Inquisition spread to different European countries, Asia, the Americas, and Africa, and began persecuting witchcraft. The Spanish Inquisition, which began following violent antisemitic pogroms in Spain, forced thousands of Jewish people to convert to Christianity. The method of forced baptism was still considered voluntary conversion by the church, which banned under penalty of death conversion back to Judaism. The Inquisition was abolished in the 19th century as a result of wars for independence in former Spanish colonies, and the last person persecuted by the Inquisition was a man killed for teaching Deism in 1834.