It must be clear that even when the presiding judge was a fair-minded, conscientious man, not too fanatical, the chances of effective defence were small. And the prosecution was exceedingly strong. If preliminary inducements, the subtleties of the interrogatory, the absence of means of defence, all proved insufficient to produce the desired confession, it was possible severely to shake the _moral_ of the defendant by subjecting his case to prolonged delay, which was calculated to impose a great strain upon the nerves. Except in rare instances time was no consideration to the Inquisition. Its invincible patience was one of the most terrible of its weapons. It was willing relentlessly to wait, not merely weeks and months, but years and many years. It was quite common for an interval of anything up to ten years to elapse between the date of the first interrogatory and that of the final condemnation. The period might be considerably longer. We hear of a man, first brought to trial in 1301, being sentenced to death in 1319.[400] This slow torture of suspense was generally endured in prison, where the recalcitrant would probably receive frequent visits from the inquisitor or his assistants, who would instruct him and exhort him to make confession. If simple incarceration proved insufficient to overcome the victim’s fortitude, great additional hardships could be introduced—insufficiency of food, comfort, rest. Finally, the most celebrated weapon which the Inquisition possessed for procuring confession was torture itself. Torture had been known to both Roman and barbarian law, being used even for such minor offences as theft.[401] On the other hand, according to all the best authorities, it was strange to Canon law. It did indeed recognize flogging, but only as a punishment or penance. Gratian laid it down categorically that torture was not to be used as a means of extorting confession. It was not until after the condemnation of the ordeal by the Lateran Council of 1215 that the Church sanctioned its use for this purpose. In the bull, _Ad extirpanda_, published in 1252 by Innocent IV, the employment of torture was not merely permitted, but enjoined.[402] The rule was thereby laid down, that any sort of torment short of mutilation was to be utilized in order to obtain confessions and information. But the actual infliction of the torture was to be carried out by the secular arm. The idea of the clergy’s personally superintending the infliction of cruelty was very properly repugnant.