Watercolor, charcoal and plaster on paper

The Inquisition is easily seen as an elaborate extortion racket. The property of the accused was instantly confiscated after the arrest, which was a prime weapon against heresy, and the popes publicly praised it. Italy in the 14th century made its inquisitors amazingly rich. Confiscation took place before conviction, and the accused had to pay for their own food during imprisonment. Pope Gregory XI noted too many prisoners were starving before they could be burned at the stake, so the church bent it’s own rules regarding people helping heretics to avoid the cost of feeding them, and asked the faithful for charity.

-- Walker, Barbara G., The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1983. Pages 439-440.