The accused was asked if he had enemies, and if he knew their motives for hating him. He was also permitted to declare that he suspected any particular person of wishing to ruin him. In either case the proof was admitted, and the inquisitor considered it in passing judgment. The inquisitor sometimes asked the accused if he knew certain persons; these individuals were the accusers and witnesses; if he replied in the negative, he could not afterwards challenge them as enemies: in the course of time, every one concluded that these persons were the accuser and the witnesses, and the custom was abandoned. The accused person was also permitted to appeal to the Pope, who rejected or admitted his appeal, according to the rules of justice. There was no regular proceeding before the Inquisition, and the judges did not fix a time to establish the proof of the facts. After the replies and defence of the accused, the inquisitor and the bishop of the diocese, or their delegates, proceeded to pass sentence without any other formalities. If the accused denied the charges, although he was convicted or strongly suspected, he was tortured, to force him to confess his crime; or if it was thought that there was no necessity for it, the judges proceeded to pass the final sentence. If the crime imputed to the accused was not proved, he was acquitted, and a copy of the declaration given to him, but the name of his accuser was not communicated. If he had been calumniated, he was obliged to clear himself publicly by the canonical method, in the town where it had taken place; he afterwards abjured all heresy, and received the absolution _ad cautelam_[2] for all the censures which he had incurred. In order to proportion the punishment to the suspicion, it was divided into three degrees, named _slight_, _serious_, and _violent_. The person who was declared to be suspected, though in the least degree, was called upon to renounce all heresies, and particularly that of which he was suspected. If he consented, he was reconciled, and was subjected to punishments and penances; if he refused, he was excommunicated; and if he did not demand absolution, or promise to abjure after the space of one year, he was considered as an obstinate heretic, and proceeded against as such. If the accused was a _formal_ heretic, willing to abjure, and not guilty of having relapsed, he was reconciled with penances.