The inquisition was dependent on the help of the ‘secular arm’ (that is, the non-religious authorities, the king of France and his officials and the king of Aragon and his officials) and the rest of the Church (the religious authorities apart from the inquisition) to carry out its functions. Indeed the inquisition can best be understood as a part of the wider machinery of government, albeit it enjoyed considerable, but never complete, autonomy. Gui's Practica and Eymerich's Directorium can be used, together with other sources, to understand the precise position of the inquisitor in local power structures and how the inquisition worked through and with the ‘secular arm’ and other religious bodies. Inquisitors' companions (socius, socii in Latin) also shed some interesting light on this area; they are discussed first in this chapter, then the secular arm and finally the rest of the Church.

Inquisitors' Companions

Inquisitors employed staff and technical experts who supported them in their day-to-day activities. In so far as the staff faithfully carried out the inquisitors' instructions they are perhaps not important to understanding the inquisitors' relationships with others. But there are two particular roles which are of interest to this chapter. First, the role of the inquisitor's companion, or socius, as it is described in the Directorium illustrates Eymerich's inquisitorial ambitions; and second, notaries, particularly as discussed in the Practica, demonstrate the problematic pattern of relationships through which inquisitors had to operate. Notaries are examined more fully below, in conjunction with iurisperiti (legal experts), who were not members of the inquisitor's staff but who also raised problems for inquisitors.

An inquisitor had a socius or companion who would help in all matters, including spiritual matters, and in the inquisitor's inquisitorial duties, and who was very much a part of the inquisitor's familia (household). There is no mention of socii in the Practica, but in the Directorium Eymerich refers to the inquisitor and his socius as a single unit. How important the socius was to Eymerich is apparent from his actions. In 1373, during Eymerich's time as inquisitor in Aragon, Gregory XI gave inquisitors the right to bring their socius to Rome without the need to seek permission of their order's superior, thus reversing a previous decision of 1344. At much the same time (1372) Eymerich was freed from reporting to his superiors within the Dominican Order and allowed to report directly to the pope.