ABSTRACT
This chapter picks up from the previous one, with the aim of showing how the origins of the Roman Inquisition in the early modern era marked its physiognomy, procedures, and objectives. In particular, the chapter focuses on the procedural modalities employed by the Holy Office, and the concrete and bureaucratic functioning of the inquisitorial machine. Without this knowledge there is the risk of misunderstanding exactly what took place in the Bruno trial or of misconstruing the dynamics and the fundamental passages. The chapter also highlights the issue of the wide discretion given to judges of the faith in the context of canon law and the trial procedures of the era, arguing against the tendency, which still prevails today, of equating inquisitorial tribunals with ordinary criminal courts. Without grasping the specificities of the justice of the faith it is impossible to understand its historical importance and the dynamics of individual trials, including Bruno’s.
