After the conversion of Constantine, when the religion of Christ was recognised as that of the State, the secular arm at once placed itself at the service of the Church to uphold the unity of the faith; but the civil power, instead of limiting itself to seconding the ecclesiastical authority in the repression of offences against the dogma as laid down by the councils, sought to obtain a sovereign influence in all the trials relating to religious matters, and hence arose deplorable abuses. The Italian Inquisition, under the immediate direction of the popes, made its appearance in the fifth century: Pope St. Leo, after having ordered a juridical inquiry to be held concerning the Manicheans who had taken refuge in Rome, stated, “What has been done is not enough; the Inquisition must continue not only as an inducement for the devout to hold fast by their faith, but in order that those who have been led astray may be converted from their errors.” The primitive and real object of the Inquisition was to discover errors in doctrine, to stop them from being propagated, and to endeavour to enlighten and to win back those who had been perverted by the apostles of error. [Illustration: Fig. 330.--Martyrdom of SS. Savin and Cyprian, their flesh being torn out with iron hooks.--Fresco in the Church of St. Savin, Vienne (Eleventh Century).--After the Drawings of M. Gérard-Séguin.] In the twelfth century Pope Lucius III., with a view of checking the progress of the Manicheans, who reappeared under the names of Catharists, Patarenes, the Poor of Lyons, &c., ordered “through the council of bishops, at the demand of the emperor (of Germany) and the lords of his court, that every bishop should visit the districts of his diocese which were suspected of containing heretics once or twice a year.” They were to be denounced by every one, so that the bishop might summon them before him, make them renounce their heresies, or inflict upon them the punishment awarded by canonical law. Thus we see that religious error was regarded as a breach of public order, and that the princes looked upon the heretics as rebels or conspirators. This was in keeping with the ideas of the Middle Ages, when the whole social system reposed upon the Catholic faith. We must in fairness admit that, if the Inquisition of Rome was the earliest, and the only one which outlasted the Middle Ages, it was also the most moderate, for it alone never ordered capital punishment.