inquisitor

An inquisitor was an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires" (from the Latin inquirere). There are also archaic female forms of the word. Inquisitrix was found to be used in the early 1800s and its predecessor inquisitress was found to be used in the early 1700s. In some cases, inquisitors sought out the social networks that people used to spread heresy. There were multiple national inquisitions with different approaches and targets.