Henry Charles Lea was one of the first American historians to use what would later be termed comparative and anthropological approaches to history. Under his pen, the study of the medieval ordeal becomes a study in cultural history.

Reprinted here from the fourth revised edition of 1892, the book begins by tracing the role of the ordeal in non-Western and ancient societies, showing the mental world to which it belongs: a limited trust in the public order and purely human methods of inquiry, and a larger faith in divine intervention and immanent justice. The work then describes the...

A very well researched history of the rise of the inquisition in the Middle Ages. Lea asks the questions about where the church started this infamous group and what reasons they had for condemning so many innocent people. The started trials and the evidences brought forth in these initial proceedings are presented as well for us to always remember what horrors some people lived through.

Henry Lea once again unfolds the history of the infamous inquisition as he lays out their rise and influence in different countries across Europe. Using detailed accounts, this book shows how the inquisition used the people around them to infiltrate and route supposed witchcraft in their areas.

This volume focuses on the specialized operations that the insidious inquisition carried out. Whether it was routing political heresy or else dealing with a local witch coven, the inquisition was within all areas of society. No one was safe from their wrath.