Psychological Inquisitor Jacques Fournier

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Psychological Inquisitor Jacques Fournier Through the course of an inquisition an inquisitor depends on three major tools available, which are information, interview, and interrogation. The information is transformed into intelligence to identify, locate, and apprehend heretics. However, the significance of the interview and interrogation cannot be discarded, as it plays a major role in an inquisition. When an individual is interrogated, he or she is under psychological pressure, whether real or perceived and a premier inquisitor would have more of a psychological advantage than the heretic in question. Interrogation is an art. Few master it. Interrogation can be surmised as a type of psychological warfare between inquisitor and suspect, and no one perfected this art as much as French inquisitor Jacques Fournier in the early fourteenth century during the Inquisition in France. Only when an inquisitor, such as Fournier, has the prowess to overpower a suspect psychologically, will the inquisitor be successful in obtaining information or confession, which is not possible otherwise. In 1308 the Inquisition had swooped down and arrested every soul over the age of thirteen in the secluded mountain village of Montaillou, France. These accused heretics were questioned vehemently and “various pressures” were applied to ensure a “confession” (Ladurie xv). However, the zeal of the inquisitors failed to gather any useful information and most of the prisoners were released and nothing more was heard of the matter until Fournier arrived in 1317. Fournier was determined to “know the truth” about the heretical goings on in Montaillou and by all accounts, he was a vigilant, detailed, and tenacious inquisitor who picked up on discrepancies, posed penetrating questions, and sought to “save souls” (Ladurie xv). For eight years Fournier devoted an extraordinary amount of his
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