Inquisitorial Directory
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The Inquisitorial Directory is Casanares' national intelligence agency. It is a remnant of the Inquisition Tribunals established by the colonial authorities in Alba-Laettana in the 15th century. (See The Spanish Inquisition)
- Motto: "Mí Fé Es Mí Escudo, Mí Furia Es Mí Espada" (My faith is my shield, My fury is my sword).
- Logo:
Logo of the Inquisitorial Directory
Contents |
History
The Inquisitorial Directory is a direct remnant of the Spanish system of ecclesiastical proscription. The first such directory was fist established in 1402 upon the arrival of colonial forces in Alba-Laettana; the systems of religious prosecution lasted in this form until independence in 1816 when there were 312 directories scattered throughout the Virceroyalty of the Atlantic.
The directories were run independently by Roman Catholic Orders who were not accountable to the colonial authorities of Spain and each directory was served by an administrator known a an inquisitor who acted in the name of the Pope and used inquisitorial procedures that were legal at the time.
These judged heresy alone, using local authorities to establish tribunals and prosecute heretics. The Inquisition allowed the church to react when it felt threatened by what it perceived as the schism of the protestant reformation and the rise of pagan religions in Alba-Laettana.
This practice angered the Spanish colonial authorities and tensions were often high every time the directories sent complaints to the Holy See to be dealt with by the Pope himself. In spite of the friction, the directories always received the blessings of the Spanish Crown and outlived monarchs for centuries.
The Role of Inquisitors
Inquisitors were highly effective officials who targeted those who had converted from Judaism, Islam or Paganism but who were suspected of secretly practicing their old rites, as well as others holding or acting on religious views contrary to Catholicism. Anyone who spoke against the Inquisition could fall under suspicion.
Inquisitors promoted the burning of non-Catholic literature, especially the Popol Vuh and the Laettan Rite. Inquisitors are generally denounced by historians for their use of torture, anonymous denunciation, and handing over convicted heretics to the directories for punishment, little of this can be described as unusual for the times.
The Reforms
During the War of Independence, many directories cooperated with the Republican armies using their methods of advanced espionage, information gathering, questioning, deception and assassination. Their centuries' old experience helped the rebel generals to obtain information on the military strategies of the Royalist armies as well as their numbers.
When independence was declared in 1816, the newly established Military Junta reorganised the Catholic Orders that controlled the directories and ordered them to adopt strict secularism. Major reforms included the centralisation of the directories into smaller but more effective intelligence divisions and the post of Grand Inquisitor was established. One major aspect of the Directory was to offer its services to foreign clients for a fee, often voluntary, the idea was to allow the directory to gain as much experience in its newly discovered trade of espionage.
Known for its efficiency and success rate the Inquisition Directory became a source of revenue and continued to be of great use to the Junta and to elected governments for decades, with documented involvement in historical events such the Latin American Wars of Independence, The War of Triple Alliance, The American Civil War, The Argentina-Brazil War, The Belgian Revolution, The Mexican-American War, The Revolutions of 1848, The Crimean War, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War and the Second Boer War.
The Directory's active involvement in international conflicts earned it the nickname of "The Great Subversive" among its clients abroad and its masters at home.
With an extensive record, the Directory also fell victim to foreign forces, leading to the assassination of its network of inquisitors around the world, often at the hands of those who employed them, one famous security leak caused the assassination of Grand Inquisitor Alberto de Torquemada in 1871, killed in France at the request of Napoleon III during a visit to secure a deal. The Inquisitor's death lead the organisation to go underground and since then it continued to appoint its Grand Inquisitors secretly without the involvement of the Casanarian government, this means that the Inquisitorial Directory is independent, yet accountable to the government and the people of Casanares.
The Modern Directory
The modern Inquisitorial Directory is tasked with the Three Pillars of Duty, which include:
- Safeguarding the legal framework of the Second Republic (maintaining the re-unification the territory of Casanares and the territory of Alba-Laettana, protecting the legal union of Casanares and Alba-Laettana and protecting the republican form of government, protecting the Crown of Alba Laettana and preventing the Crown from jeopardising the republican form of government.) The Directory is therefore the only legal entity allowed to try the head of the House of Laettá, should he or she try to impose the crown as a constitutional form of government.
- Protecting Casanares and Alba-Laettana from external and internal threats through the Secret Services known as the Discaterium, as such, directory "inquisitors" or spies will present themselves as "officials of the Discaterium at the Service of the Inquisitorial Directory of the Republic", their official badges bear the logo of the Discaterium and not that of the ID.
- Offering services to just causes, or "Causa Justa". This is the most controversial aspect of the directory because it can offer services for a fee to any government, insurgency, army and even corporations so long as these do not break the first two Pillars of Duty. The constant stream of revenue means that the directory is almost self-funded and any government budget destined to the intelligence services is exclusively used to develop new technologies, techniques and forms of espionage. The research is conducted under strict secrecy and only few government officials are allowed to inspect them.
The directory's very nature means that it is always active somewhere in the world, undertaking operations often not in the interests of Casanares and recruiting inquisitors of any nationality and creed.
The appointment of the Grand Inquisitors continues to be a secret affair and the name of this high official is only revealed to the elected President of the Republic, the Casanarean constitution is very permissive in this respect and contains only one article loosely referring to the structure and the existence of the Inquisitorial Directory.
The Inquisitorial Directory has never revealed the location of its headquarters or of its offices and is often the subject of conspiracy theorists around the world. One such theory is that a phonebox located at the junction of "Avenida Inquisición" "Calle Torquemada" is where the directory's clients place their requests to be considered by the directories Grand Inquisitor. The Directory has never pronounced itself on the matter, however the phone box has become an unlikely tourist attraction in Santa Eufrasia and no records exist of its installation.