tey were bad .

Who is a large variety of heretics and witches etc or at least alleged to be so. They were people that had been accused of heresy but a curious trick was to declare almost an armistice where you could come along and almost confess and be shown leniency. However you would also have to reveal accomplices etc so there was an never ending stream of accusations. Most of which it should be said were unfounded. The specific heresies are too varied to list here! But basically anyone breaching catholic law. It was to homogenise and weaken opposition to both church and states.

Heretics, because of heresy: 1) "Inquisition (capitalised I) is broadly used in reference to the judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. It can mean an ecclesiastical tribunal or institution of the Roman Catholic Church for combating or suppressing heresy, a number of historical expurgation movements against heresy (orchestrated by the Roman Catholic Church) or the trial of an individual accused of heresy." "Historians distinguish between four different manifestations of the Inquisition: the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Portuguese Inquisition and the Roman Inquisition. Because of its objective, combating heresy, the Inquisition had jurisdiction only over baptized members of the Church (which, however, encompassed the vast majority of the population). Non-Christians could still be tried for blasphemy by secular courts. Also, most of the witch trials were held by secular courts." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition 2) "Heresy is a "theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Roman Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. By extension, heresy is an opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc., at variance with those generally accepted as authoritative."" Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy 3) Here the example of medieval inquisition: "- Inquisition procedure The papal inquisition developed a number of procedures to discover and prosecute heretics. - Investigation When a papal inquisition arrived at a town it had a set of procedures and rules to identify likely heretics. First, the townspeople would be gathered in a public place. Although attendance was voluntary, those who failed to show would automatically be suspect, so most would come. The inquisitors would provide an opportunity for anyone to step forward and denounce themselves in exchange for easy punishment. As part of this bargain they would need to inform on other heretics. In addition, the inquisitors could simply force people to be interrogated. Once information had been gathered, an inquisitorial trial could begin. - Trial The inquisitorial trial generally favored the prosecution (the Church). The accused was expected to self-incriminate and did not have the right to face and question the accuser. It was acceptable to take testimony from criminals, persons of bad reputation, excommunicated people, and convicted heretics. Blood relationship did not exempt one from the duty to testify against the accused. The inquisitor could keep a defendant in prison for years before the trial to obtain new information. Despite the seeming unfairness of the procedures, the inquisitors did provide some rights to the defendant. At the beginning of the trial, defendants were invited to name those who had "mortal hatred" against them. If the accusers were among those named, the defendant was set free and the charges dismissed; the accusers would face life imprisonment. This option was meant to keep the inquisition from becoming involved in local grudges. A confession under torture was not admissible in court, although the inquisitor could threaten the accused with torture during the proceedings. - Torture Torture was used after 1252. On May 15, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull entitled Ad exstirpanda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden. Also, torture could be performed only once. However, it was common practice to consider a second torture session to be a "continuation" of the first. - Punishment Among the possible punishments were a long pilgrimage for first offenders, wearing a yellow cross for life, confiscation of property, banishment, public recantation, or long-term imprisonment. Burning at the stake was only for the most serious cases, including repeat offenders and unrepentant heretics. Execution was done not by the Church, which was forbidden to kill, but by secular officials. The accused could have all of his property confiscated, and in many cases, accusers may have been motivated by a desire to take the property of the accused. The inquisitors generally preferred not to hand over heretics to the secular arm for execution if they could persuade the heretic to repent. It was in the inquisitors' interest to be perceived as merciful, and they generally preferred to keep defendants alive in hopes of obtaining confessions. For example, Bernard Gui, a famous inquisitor working in the area of Toulouse (in modern France), executed 42 people out of over 900 guilty verdicts in fifteen years of office. Execution was to admit defeat, that the Church was unable to save a soul from heresy, which was the goal of the inquisition." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Inquisition_procedure

I think it was medieval Spain