In a message dated 18.11.2001 11:59:29 PM, cowan@MERCURY.CCIL.ORG writes:
>> A "bootless inquisition"?! What the heck is that?!
>
>"Bootless" = pointless, fruitless. So a "bootless inquisition" is a question
>session that doesn't get any answers. It's used in a more famous line
>from
>_Julius Caesar_: "And doth not Brutus bootless [= to no purpose] kneel
>[as well as the other conspirators, who are pretending to petition Caesar]?"
>
The "Boot" was a torture tool of the Inquistion.... it twisted and tore
the foot it was placed upon.