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diff --git a/39458-8.txt b/39458-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffccaf0 --- /dev/null +++ b/39458-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,23972 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of The Inquisition of The Middle +Ages; volume II, by Henry Charles Lea + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II + +Author: Henry Charles Lea + +Release Date: April 16, 2012 [EBook #39458] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION 2/3 *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Chuck Greif and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net); produced from images of the +Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr + + + + + + + + + +Typographical errors were corrected (See note the end of the etext). The +spelling of names of people or places has not been corrected or +normalized. (note of etext transcriber.) + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION + +VOL. II + + + + +A HISTORY OF + +THE INQUISITION + +OF + +THE MIDDLE AGES. + +BY + +HENRY CHARLES LEA, + +AUTHOR OF + +"AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SACERDOTAL CELIBACY," "SUPERSTITION AND +FORCE," "STUDIES IN CHURCH HISTORY." + +_IN THREE VOLUMES_. + +VOL. II + +NEW YORK: + +HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. + +1901 + +Copyright, 1887, by HARPER & BROTHERS + +_All rights reserved._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + +BOOK II.--THE INQUISITION IN THE SEVERAL LANDS OF CHRISTENDOM. + + +CHAPTER I.--LANGUEDOC. + + Page +Obstacles to Establishing the Inquisition 1 + +Progress and Zeal of the Dominicans 6 + +First Appointment of Inquisitors.--Tentative Proceedings 8 + +Popular Resistance 12 + +Position of Count Raymond 14 + +Troubles at Toulouse.--Expulsion of the Inquisition 16 + +Its Return and Increasing Vigor 21 + +Suspended from 1238 to 1241 24 + +Condition of the Country.--Rising of Trencavel 25 + +Connection between Religion and State-craft 26 + +Pierre Cella's Activity in 1241-1242 30 + +Heretic Stronghold of Montségur 34 + +Massacre of Avignonet.--Its Unfortunate Influence 35 + +Count Raymond's Last Effort.--Triumph of the Inquisition 38 + +Raymond Reconciled to the Church 40 + +Fall of Montségur.--Heresy Defenceless 42 + +Increased Activity of the Inquisition 44 + +Raymond's Persecuting Energy.--His Death 46 + +Desperation of the Heretics.--Intercourse with Lombardy 49 + +Supremacy of Inquisition.--It Attacks the Count of Foix 52 + +Death of Alphonse and Jeanne in 1273 56 + +Rise of the Royal Power.--Appeals to the King 57 + +Popular Discontent.--Troubles at Carcassonne 58 + +Philippe le Bel Intervenes.--His Fluctuating Policy 62 + +Renewed Troubles at Carcassonne.--Submission in 1299 67 + +Prosecutions at Albi, 1299-1300 71 + +Inquisitorial Frauds.--Case of Castel Fabri 72 + +Frère Bernard Délicieux 75 + +Renewed Troubles.--Philippe Sends Jean de Pequigny 77 + +Philippe Tries to Reform the Inquisition 79 + +Troubles at Albi.--Conflict between Church and State 82 + +Philippe Visits Languedoc.--His Plan of Reform 86 + +Despair at Carcassonne.--Treasonable Projects 88 + +Appeal to Clement V.--Investigation 92 + +Abuses Recognized.--Reforms of Council of Vienne 94 + +Election of John XXII. 98 + +The Inquisition Triumphs.--Fate of Bernard Délicieux 99 + +Recrudescence of Heresy.--Pierre Autier 104 + +Bernard Gui Extirpates Catharism 107 + +Case of Limoux Noir 108 + +Results of the Triumph of the Inquisition 109 + +Political Effects of Confiscation 110 + + +CHAPTER II.--FRANCE. + +Inquisition Introduced in 1233 by Frère Robert le Bugre 113 + +Opposed by the Prelates.--Encouraged by St. Louis 115 + +Robert's Insane Massacres and Punishment 116 + +Inquisition Organized.--Its Activity in 1248 117 + +Slender Records of its Proceedings 120 + +Paris _Auto de fé_ in 1310.--Marguerite la Porete 123 + +Gradual Decadence.--Case of Hugues Aubriot 125 + +The Parlement Assumes Superior Jurisdiction 130 + +The University of Paris Supplants the Inquisition 135 + +Moribund Activity during the Fifteenth Century 138 + +Attempt to Resuscitate it in 1451 140 + +It Falls into utter Discredit 144 + +The French Waldenses.--Their Number and Organization 145 + + Intermittent Persecution.--Their Doctrines 147 + + François Borel and Gregory XI. 152 + + Renewed Persecutions in 1432 and 1441 157 + + Protected by Louis XI.--Humiliation of the Inquisition 158 + + Alternations of Toleration and Persecution 159 + + +CHAPTER III.--THE SPANISH PENINSULA. + +ARAGON.--Unimportance of Heresy there 162 + + Episcopal and Lay Inquisition Tried in 1233 163 + + Papal Inquisition Introduced.--Navarre Included 165 + + Delay in Organization 167 + + Greater Vigor in the Fourteenth Century 169 + + Dispute over the Blood of Christ 171 + + Nicolas Eymerich 174 + + Separation of Majorca and Valencia 177 + + Decline of Inquisition 178 + + Resuscitation under Ferdinand the Catholic 179 + +CASTILE.--Inquisition not Introduced there 180 + + Cathari in Leon 181 + + Independent Legislation of Alonso the Wise 183 + + Persecution for Heresy Unknown 184 + + Case of Pedro of Osma in 1479 187 + +PORTUGAL.--No Effective Inquisition there 188 + + +CHAPTER IV.--ITALY. + +Political Conditions Favoring Heresy 191 + +Prevalence of Unconcealed Catharism 192 + +Development of the Waldenses 194 + +Popular Indifference to the Church 196 + +Gregory XI. Undertakes to Suppress Heresy 199 + +Gradual Development of Inquisition 201 + +Rolando da Cremona 202 + +Giovanni Schio da Vicenza 203 + +St. Peter Martyr 207 + +He Provokes Civil War in Florence 210 + +Death of Frederic II. in 1250.--Chief Obstacle Removed 213 + +Assassination of St. Peter Martyr.--Use Made of it 214 + +Rainerio Saccone 218 + +Triumph of the Papacy.--Organization of the Inquisition 220 + +Heresy Protected by Ezzelin and Uberto 223 + +Ezzelin Prosecuted as a Heretic.--His Death 224 + +Uberto Pallavicino 228 + +The Angevine Conquest of Naples Revolutionizes Italy 231 + +Triumph of Persecution 233 + +Sporadic Popular Opposition 237 + +Secret Strength of Heresy.--Case of Armanno Pongilupo 239 + +Power of the Inquisition.--Papal Interference 242 + +Naples.--Toleration Under Normans and Hohenstaufens 244 + + The Inquisition Under the Angevines 245 + +Sicily 248 + +Venice.--Its Independence 249 + + Inquisition Introduced in 1288, under State Supervision 251 + +Decadence of Inquisition in Fourteenth Century 253 + +Disappearance of the Cathari.--Persistence of the Waldenses 254 + +Remnants of Catharism in Corsica and Piedmont 255 + +Persecution of the Waldenses of Piedmont 259 + +Decline of the Lombard Inquisition 269 + +Venice.--Subjection of Inquisition to the State 273 + +Tuscany.--Increasing Insubordination.--Case of Piero di Aquila 275 + + Continued Troubles in Florence 280 + + Tommasino da Foligno 281 + +Decline of Inquisition in Central Italy 282 + +The Two Sicilies.--Inquisition Subordinate to the State 284 + + +CHAPTER V.--THE SLAVIC CATHARI. + +Efforts of Innocent III. and Honorius III. East of the Adriatic 290 + +The Mendicant Orders Undertake the Task 293 + +Bloody Crusades from Hungary 294 + +Revival of Catharism 298 + +Endeavors of Boniface VIII. and John XXII. 299 + +Fruitlessness of the Work 301 + +Reign of Stephen Tvrtko 303 + +Catharism the State Religion 305 + +Advance of the Turks 306 + +Confusion Aggravated by Persecution 307 + +The Cathari Aid the Turkish Conquest 313 + +Disappearance of Catharism 314 + + +CHAPTER VI.--GERMANY. + +Persecution of Strassburg Waldenses in 1212 316 + +Spread of Waldensianism in Germany 318 + +Mystic Pantheism.--The Amaurians and Ortlibenses 319 + +Brethren of the Free Spirit or Beghards.--Luciferans 323 + +Conrad of Marburg.--His Character and Career 325 + +Gregory XI. Vainly Stimulates him to Persecution 329 + +Gregory Commissions the Dominicans as Inquisitors 333 + +The Luciferan Heresy 334 + +Conrad's Methods and Massacres 336 + +Antagonism of the Prelates 338 + +Assembly of Mainz.--Conrad's Defeat and Murder 340 + +Persecution Ceases.--The German Church Antagonistic to Rome 342 + +The Reaction Keeps the Inquisition out of Germany 346 + +Waldenses and Inquisition in Passau 347 + +Growth of Heresy.--Virtual Toleration 348 + +The Beguines, Beghards, and Lollards 350 + +The Brethren of the Free Spirit 354 + +Tendency to Mysticism.--Master Eckart 358 + +John of Rysbroek, Gerard Groot, and the Brethren of the Common Life 360 + +John Tauler and the Friends of God 362 + +Persecution of the Brethren of the Free Spirit 367 + +Antagonism between Louis of Bavaria and the Papacy 377 + +Subservience of Charles IV.--The Black Death 378 + +Gregarious Enthusiasm.--The Flagellants 380 + +Clement VI. Condemns Them.--They Become Heretics 383 + +Attempts to Introduce the Inquisition.--Successful in 1369 385 + +Persecution of Flagellants and Beghards.--The Dancing Mania 390 + +Beghards and Beguines Protected by the Prelates 394 + +Speedy Decline of the Inquisition 395 + +The Waldenses.--Their Extension and Persecution 396 + +Renewed Persecution of the Beghards 401 + +William of Hilderniss, and the Men of Intelligence 405 + +The Flagellants.--The Brethren of the Cross 406 + +Triumph of the Beghards at Constance 409 + +Renewed Persecution 411 + +Hussitism in Germany.--Coalescence with Waldenses 414 + +Gregory of Heimburg 417 + +Hans of Niklaushausen 418 + +John von Ruchrath of Wesel 420 + +Decay of the Inquisition.--John Reuchlin 423 + +Its Impotence in the Case of Luther 425 + + +CHAPTER VII.--BOHEMIA. + +Independence of Bohemian Church.--Waldensianism 427 + +Inquisition Introduced in 1257.--Revived by John XXII. 428 + +Growth of Waldensianism.--John of Pirna 430 + +Conditions Favoring the Growth of Heresy.--Episcopal Inquisition 433 + +The Precursors of Huss 436 + +Wickliff and Wickliffitism 438 + +John Huss Becomes the Leader of Reform 444 + +Progress of the Revolution.--Rupture with Rome 445 + +Convocation of the Council of Constance 453 + +Motives Impelling Huss's Presence 455 + +His Reception and Treatment 457 + +His Arrest.--Question of the Safe-conduct 460 + +Communion in both Elements 471 + +The Trial of Huss.--Illustration of the Inquisitorial Process 473 + +Exceptional Audiences Allowed to Huss 484 + +Extraordinary Efforts to Procure Recantation 486 + +The Inevitable Condemnation and Burning 490 + +Indignation in Bohemia 494 + +Jerome of Prague.--His Trial and Execution 495 + + +CHAPTER VIII.--THE HUSSITES. + +Inquisitorial Methods Attempted in Bohemia 506 + +Increasing Antagonism.--Fruitless Threats of Force 508 + +Parties Form Themselves.--Calixtins and Taborites 511 + +Sigismund Succeeds to the Throne.--Failure of Negotiations 514 + +Crusade Preached in 1420.--Its Repulse 516 + +Religious Extravagance.--Pikardi, Chiliasts 517 + +The Four Articles of the Calixtins 519 + +Creed of the Taborites 522 + +Failure of Repeated Crusades.--The Hussites Retaliate 525 + +Efforts to Reform the Church.--Council of Siena 527 + +Council of Basle.--Negotiation with the Hussites a Necessity 530 + +The Four Articles the Basis.--Accepted as the "Compactata" 533 + +The Taborites Crushed at Lipan 535 + +Difficulties Caused by Rokyzana's Ambition 536 + +Insincere Peace.--Sigismund's Reactionary Reign and Death 538 + +The Calixtins Secure Control under George Podiebrad 541 + +Rome Disavows the Compactata.--Giacomo della Marca in Hungary 542 + +The Use of the Cup the Only Distinction.--Capistrano Sent as +Inquisitor 545 + +His Projected Hussite Crusade Impeded by the Capture of +Constantinople 551 + +Efforts to Resist the Turks.--Death of Capistrano at Belgrade 552 + +Steady Estrangement of Bohemia.--Negotiations and Attacks 555 + +The Compactata Maintained in Spite of Rome 559 + +The Bohemian Brethren Arise from the Remains of the Taborites 561 + +Their Union with the Waldenses 564 + +Their Growth and Constancy under Persecution 566 + +APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS 569 + + + + +THE INQUISITION. + +BOOK II. + +THE INQUISITION IN THE SEVERAL LANDS OF CHRISTENDOM. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +LANGUEDOC. + + +The men who laid the foundations of the Inquisition in Languedoc had +before them an apparently hopeless task. The whole organization and +procedure of the institution were to be developed as experience might +dictate and without precedents for guidance. Their uncertain and +undefined powers were to be exercised under peculiar difficulties. +Heresy was everywhere and all-pervading. An unknown but certainly large +portion of the population was addicted to Catharism or Waldensianism, +while even the orthodox could not, for the most part, be relied upon for +sympathy or aid. Practical toleration had existed for so many +generations, and so many families had heretic members, that the +population at large was yet to be educated in the holy horror of +doctrinal aberrations. National feeling, moreover, and the memory of +common wrongs suffered during twenty years of bitter contest with +invading soldiers of the Cross, during which Catholic and Catharan had +stood side by side in defence of the fatherland, had created the +strongest bonds of sympathy between the different sects. In the cities +the magistrates were, if not heretics, inclined to toleration and +jealous of their municipal rights and liberties. Throughout the country +many powerful nobles were avowedly or secretly heretics, and Raymond of +Toulouse himself was regarded as little better than a heretic. The +Inquisition was the symbol of a hated foreign domination which could +look for no cordial support from any of these classes. It was welcomed, +indeed, by such Frenchmen as had succeeded in planting themselves in the +land, but they were scattered, and were themselves the objects of +detestation to their neighbors. The popular feeling is voiced by the +Troubadours, who delight in expressing contempt for the French and +hostility to the friars and their methods. As Guillem de Montanagout +says: "Now have the clerks become inquisitors and condemn men at their +pleasure. I have naught against the inquests if they would but condemn +errors with soft words, lead the wanderers back to the faith without +wrath, and allow the penitent to find mercy." The bolder Pierre +Cardinal describes the Dominicans as disputing after dinner over the +quality of their wines: "They have created a court of judgment, and +whoever attacks them they declare to be a Waldensian; they seek to +penetrate into the secrets of all men, so as to render themselves +dreaded."[1] + +The lands which Raymond had succeeded in retaining were, moreover, +drained by the enormous sums exacted of him in the pacification. To +enable him to meet these demands he was authorized to levy taxes on the +subjects of the Church, in spite of their immunities, and this and the +other expedients requisite for the discharge of his engagements could +not fail to excite widespread discontent with the settlement and +hostility to all that represented it. That it was hard to extort these +payments from a population exhausted by twenty years of war is manifest +when, in 1231, two years after the treaty, the Abbey of Citeaux had not +as yet received any part of the two thousand marks which were its share +of the plunder, and it was forced to agree to a settlement under which +Raymond promised to pay in annual instalments of two hundred marks, +giving as security his revenues from the manor of Marmande.[2] + +The Inquisition, it is true, was at first warmly greeted by the Church, +but the Church had grown so discredited during the events of the past +half-century that its influence was less than in any other spot in +Christendom. Even in Aragon the Council of Tarragona, in 1238, felt +itself compelled to decree excommunication against those who composed or +applauded lampoons against the clergy. The abuse of the interdict had +grown to such proportions that Innocent IV., in 1243, and again in 1245, +was obliged to forbid its employment throughout southern France, in all +places suspected of heresy, because it afforded to heretics so manifold +an occasion of asserting that it was used for private interests, and not +for the salvation of souls. During the troubles which followed after the +crusade of Louis VIII. the bishops had taken advantage of the confusion +to seize many lands to which they had no claim, and this involved them +in endless quarrels with the royal fisc in the territories which fell to +the king, while in those which remained to Raymond, the pious St. Louis +was forced to interfere to obtain for him a restoration of what they +obstinately refused to surrender. The Church itself was so deeply +tainted with heresy that the faithful were scandalized at seeing the +practical immunity enjoyed by heretical clerks, owing to the difficulty +of assembling a sufficient number of bishops to officiate at their +degradation, and Gregory IX. felt it necessary, in 1233, to decree that +in such cases a single bishop, with some of his abbots, should have +power to deprive them of holy orders and deliver them to the secular arm +to be burned--a provision which he subsequently embodied in the canon +law. Innocent IV., moreover, in 1245, felt called upon to order his +legate in Languedoc to see that no one suspected of heresy was elected +or consecrated as bishop. On the other hand, priests who were zealous in +aiding the Inquisition sometimes found that the enmities thus excited +rendered it impossible for them to reside in their parishes, as occurred +in the case of Guillem Pierre, a priest of Narbonne, in 1246, who on +this account was allowed to employ a vicar and to hold a plurality of +benefices. About the same time Innocent IV. felt obliged to express his +surprise that the prelates disobeyed his repeated commands to assist the +Inquisition; he has trustworthy information that they neglect to do so, +and he threatens them roundly with his displeasure unless they manifest +greater zeal. Bernard Gui, indeed, speaks of the bishops who favored +Count Raymond as among the craftiest and most dangerous enemies of the +inquisitors. The natural antagonism between the Mendicants and the +secular clergy was, moreover, increased by the pretension of the +inquisitors to supervise the priesthood and see that they performed +their neglected duty in all that pertained to the extension of the +faith. That under such circumstances the Dominicans employed in the +pious work should suffer constant molestation scarce needs the +explanation given by the pope that it was through the influence of the +Arch Enemy.[3] + +Another serious impediment to the operations of the Inquisition lay in +the absence of places of detention for those accused and of prisons for +those condemned. We have already seen how the bishops shirked their duty +in providing jails for the multitudes of prisoners until St. Louis was +obliged to step in and construct them, and during this prolonged +interval the sentences of the inquisitors show, in the number of +contumacious absentees after a preliminary hearing, how impossible it +often was to retain hold of heretics who had been arrested.[4] + +To undertake, in such an environment, the apparently hopeless task of +suppressing heresy required men of exceptional character, and they were +not wanting. Repulsive as their acts must seem to us, we cannot refuse +to them the tribute due to their fearless fanaticism. No labor was too +arduous for their unflagging zeal, no danger too great for their +unshrinking courage. Regarding themselves as elected to perform God's +work, they set about it with a sublime self-confidence which lifted them +above the weakness of humanity. As the mouthpiece of God, the mendicant +friar, who lived on charity, spoke to prince and people with all the +awful authority of the Church, and exacted obedience or punished +contumacy unhesitatingly and absolutely. Such men as Pierre Cella, +Guillem Arnaud, Arnaud Catala, Ferrer the Catalan, Pons de Saint-Gilles, +Pons de l'Esparre, and Bernard de Caux, bearded prince and prelate, were +as ready to endure as merciless to inflict, were veritable Maccabees in +the internecine strife with heresy, and yet were kind and pitiful to the +miserable and overflowing with tears in their prayers and discourses. +They were the culminating development of the influences which produced +the Church Militant of the Middle Ages, and in their hands the +Inquisition was the most effective instrument whereby it maintained its +supremacy. A secondary result was the complete subjugation of the South +to the King of Paris, and its unification with the rest of France. + +If the faithful had imagined that the Treaty of 1229 had ended the +contest with heresy they were quickly undeceived. The blood-money for +the capture of heretics, promised by Count Raymond, was indeed paid when +earned, for the Inquisition undertook to see that this was done, but the +earning of it was dangerous. Nobles and burghers alike protected and +defended the proscribed class, and those who hunted them were slain +without mercy when occasion offered. The heretics continued as numerous +as ever, and we have already seen the fruitless efforts put forth by the +Cardinal Legate Romano and the Council of Toulouse. Even the university +which Raymond bound himself to establish in Toulouse for the propagation +of the faith, though it subsequently performed its work, was at first a +failure. Learned theologians were brought from Paris to fill its chairs, +but their scholastic subtleties were laughed at by the mocking Southrons +as absurd novelties, and the heretics were bold enough to contend with +them in debate. After a few years Raymond neglected to continue the +stipends, and for a time the university was suspended.[5] + +The most encouraging feature of the situation, one, indeed, full of +promise, was the steady progress of the Dominican Order. It had outgrown +the modest Church of St. Romano, bestowed upon it by Bishop Foulques; +and in 1230 the piety of a prominent burgher of Toulouse, Pons de +Capdenier, provided for it more commodious quarters in an extensive +garden, situated partly in the city and partly in the suburbs. The +inmates of the convent, some forty in number, were always ready to +furnish champions of the Cross, whose ardent zeal shrank from neither +toil nor peril; and when, in 1232, the fanatic Bishop Foulques died and +was succeeded by the yet more fiery fanatic, the Dominican Provincial +Raymond du Fauga, the Order was fully prepared to enter upon the +exterminating war with heresy which was to last for a hundred years.[6] + +The eager zeal of the friars did not wait to be armed with the organized +authorization of inquisitorial powers. Their leading duty was to combat +heresy, and their assaults on it were unintermitting. In 1231 a friar, +in a sermon, declared that Toulouse was full of heretics, who held their +assemblies there and disseminated their errors without hindrance. +Already the magistrates seem to have looked askance on these pious +efforts, for this assertion was made the occasion of a decided attempt +at repression. The consuls of the city met and summoned before them, in +the capitole, or town-hall, the prior, Pierre d'Alais. There they +roundly scolded and threatened him, declaring that it was false to +assert the existence of heresy in the town, and forbidding such +utterances for the future. Trivial as was the occurrence, it has +interest as the commencement of the ill-will between the authorities of +Toulouse and the Inquisition, and as illustrating the sense of municipal +pride and independence still cherished in the cities of the South. It +required but a few years' struggle to trammel the civic liberties which +had held their own against feudalism, but which could not stand against +the subtler despotism of the Church.[7] + +Even thus early Dominican ardor refused to be thus restrained. Master +Roland of Cremona, noted as the first Dominican licentiate of the +University of Paris, who had been brought to Toulouse to teach theology +in the infant University, was scandalized when he heard of the insolent +language of the consuls, and exclaimed that it was only a fresh +incentive to preach against heresy more bitterly than ever. He set the +example in this, and was eagerly followed by many of the brethren. He +soon, too, had an opportunity of proving the falsity of the consuls' +disclaimer. It transpired that Jean Pierre Donat, a canon of the ancient +Church of Saint Sernin, who had recently died and been buried in the +cloister, had been secretly hereticated on his death-bed. Without +authority, and apparently without legal investigation, Master Roland +assembled some friars and clerks, exhumed the body from the cloister, +dragged it through the streets, and publicly burned it. Soon afterwards +he heard of the death of a prominent Waldensian minister named Galvan. +After stirring up popular passion in a sermon, he marched at the head of +a motley mob to the house where the heretic had died and levelled it to +the ground; then proceeding to the Cemetery of Villeneuve, where the +body was interred, he dug it up and dragged it through the city, +accompanied by an immense procession, to the public place of execution +beyond the walls, where it was solemnly burned.[8] + +All this was volunteer persecution. The episcopal court was as yet the +only tribunal having power to act in such matters, and it, as we have +seen, could only authorize the secular arm to do its duty in the final +execution. Yet the episcopal court seems to have been in no way invoked +in these proceedings, and no protest is recorded as having been uttered +against such irregular enforcements of the law by the mob. There was, in +fact, no organization for the steady repression of heresy. Bishop +Raymond appears to have satisfied himself with an occasional raid +against heretics outside of the city, and to have allowed those within +it virtual immunity under the protection of the consuls, though he had, +in virtue of his office, all the powers requisite for the purpose, and +the machinery for their effective use could have readily been developed. +No permanent results were to be expected from fitful bursts of zeal, and +the suppression of heresy might well seem to be as far off as ever. + +Urgent as was evidently the need of some organized body devoted +exclusively to persecution, the appointment of the first inquisitors, +in 1233, seems not to have been regarded as possessing any special +significance. It was merely an experiment, from which no great results +were anticipated. Frère Guillem Pelisson, who shared in the labors and +perils of the nascent Inquisition, and who enthusiastically chronicled +them, evidently does not consider it as an innovation worthy of +particular attention. It was so natural an evolution from the +interaction of the forces and materials of the period, and its future +importance was so little suspected, that he passes over its founding as +an incident of less moment than the succession to the Priory of +Toulouse. "Frère Pons de Saint Gilles," he says, "was made Prior of +Toulouse, who bore himself manfully and effectively for the faith +against the heretics, together with Frère Pierre Cella of Toulouse and +Frère Guillem Arnaud of Montpellier, whom the lord pope made inquisitors +against the heretics in the dioceses of Toulouse and Cahors. Also, the +Legate Archbishop of Vienne made Frère Arnaud Catala, who was then of +the Convent of Toulouse, inquisitor against the heretics." Thus +colorless is the only contemporary account of the establishment of the +Holy Office.[9] + +How little the functions of these new officials were at first understood +is manifested by an occurrence, which is also highly suggestive of the +tension of public feeling. In a quarrel between two citizens, one of +them, Bernard Peitevin, called the other, Bernard de Solier, a heretic. +This was a dangerous reputation to have, and the offended man summoned +his antagonist before the consuls. The heretical party, we are told, had +obtained the upper hand in Toulouse, and the magistrates were all either +sympathizers with or believers in heresy. Bernard Peitevin was condemned +to exile for a term of years, to pay a fine both to the complainant and +to the city, and to swear publicly in the town-hall that he had lied, +and that de Solier was a good Catholic. The sentence was a trifle +vindictive, and Peitevin sought counsel of the Dominicans, who +recommended him to appeal to the bishop. Episcopal jurisdiction in such +a matter was perhaps doubtful, but Raymond du Fauga entertained the +appeal. A few years later, if any cognizance had been taken of the case +it would have been by the Inquisition, but now the inquisitors, Pierre +Cella and Guillem Arnaud, appeared as advocates of the appellant in the +bishop's court, and so clearly proved de Solier's heresy that the +miserable wretch fled to Lombardy.[10] + +Similar indefiniteness of procedure is visible in the next attempt. The +inquisitors, Pierre and Guillem, began to make an inquest through the +city, and cited numerous suspects, all of whom found defenders among the +chief citizens. The hearings took place before them, but seem as yet to +have been in public. One of the accused, named Jean Teisseire, asserted +himself to be a good Catholic because he had no scruples in maintaining +marital relations with his wife, in eating flesh, and in lying and +swearing, and he warned the crowd that they were liable to the same +charge, and that it would be wiser for them to make common cause than to +abandon him. When he was condemned, and the viguier, the official +representative of the count, was about to conduct him to the stake, so +threatening a clamor arose that the prisoner was hurried to the bishop's +prison, still proclaiming his orthodoxy. Intense excitement pervaded the +city, and menaces were freely uttered to destroy the Dominican convent +and to stone all the friars, who were accused of persecuting the +innocent. While in prison Teisseire pretended to fall mortally sick, and +asked for the sacraments; but when the bailli of Lavaur brought to +Toulouse some perfected heretics and delivered them to the bishop, +Teisseire allowed himself to be hereticated by them in prison, and grew +so ardent in the faith under their exhortations that when they were +taken out for examination he accompanied them, declaring that he would +share their fate. The bishop assembled the magistrates and many +citizens, in whose presence he examined the prisoners. They were all +condemned, including Teisseire, who obstinately refused to recant, and +no further opposition was offered when they were all duly burned.[11] + +Here we see the inquisitorial jurisdiction completely subordinate to +that of the bishop, but when the inquisitors soon afterwards left +Toulouse to hold inquests elsewhere they acted with full independence. +At Cahors we hear nothing of the Bishop of Querci taking part in the +proceedings under which they condemned a number of the dead, exhuming +and burning their bodies, and inspiring such fear that a prominent +believer, Raymond de Broleas, fled to Rome. At Moissac they condemned +Jean du Gard, who fled to Montségur, and they cited a certain Folquet, +who, in terror, entered the convent of Belleperche as a Cistercian monk, +and, finding that this was of no avail, finally fled to Lombardy. +Meanwhile Frère Arnaud Catala and our chronicler, Guillem Pelisson, +descended upon Albi, where they penanced a dozen citizens by ordering +them to Palestine, and in conjunction with another inquisitor, Guillem +de Lombers, burned two heretics, Pierre de Puechperdut and Pierre +Bomassipio.[12] + +The absence of the inquisitors from Toulouse made no difference in the +good work, for their duties were assumed by their prior, Pons de +Saint-Gilles. Under what authority he acted is not stated, but we find +him, in conjunction with another friar, trying and condemning a certain +Arnaud Sancier, who was burned, in spite of his protests to the last +that he was a good Catholic, causing great agitation in the city, but no +tumultuous uprising.[13] + +The terror which Pelisson boasts that these proceedings spread through +the land was probably owing not only to the evidence they afforded of an +organized system of persecution, but also to their introduction of a +much more effective method of prosecution than had heretofore been +known. The "heretic," so called, was the perfected teacher who +disdained to deny his faith, and his burning was accepted by all as a +matter of course, as also was that of the "credens," or believer, who +was defiantly contumacious and persisted in admitting and adhering to +his creed. Hitherto, however, the believer who professed orthodoxy seems +generally to have escaped, in the imperfection of the judicial means of +proving his guilt. The friars, trained in the subtleties of disputation +and learned in both civil and canon law, were specially fitted for the +detection of this particularly dangerous secret misbelief, and their +persistence in worrying their victims to the death was well calculated +to spread alarm, not only among the guilty, but among the innocent. + +How reasonable were the fears inspired by the speedy informality of the +justice accorded to the heretic is well illustrated by a case occurring +in 1234. When the canonization of St. Dominic was announced in Toulouse +it was celebrated in a solemn mass performed by Bishop Raymond in the +Dominican convent. St. Dominic, however, desired to mark the occasion +with some more edifying manifestation of his peculiar functions, and +caused word to be brought to the bishop, as the latter was leaving the +church for the refectory to partake of a meal, that a woman had just +been hereticated in a house hard by, in the Rue de l'Olmet sec. The +bishop, with the prior and some others, hurried thither. It was the +house of Peitavin Borsier, the general messenger of the heretics of +Toulouse, whose mother-in-law lay dying of fever. So sudden was the +entrance of the intruders that the woman's friends could only tell her +"the bishop is coming," and she, who expected a visit from the heretic +bishop, was easily led on by Raymond to make a full declaration of her +heresy and to pledge herself to be steadfast in it. Then, revealing +himself, he ordered her to recant, and, on her refusal, he summoned the +viguier, condemned her as a heretic, and had the satisfaction of seeing +the dying creature carried off on her bed and burned at the place of +execution. Borsier and his colleague, Bernard Aldric of Drémil, were +captured, and betrayed many of their friends; and then Raymond and the +friars returned to their neglected dinner, giving thanks to God and to +St. Dominic for so signal a manifestation in favor of the faith.[14] + +The ferocious exultation with which these extra-judicial horrors were +perpetrated is well reflected in a poem of the period by Isarn, the +Dominican Prior of Villemier. He represents himself as disputing with +Sicard de Figueras, a Catharan bishop, and each of his theological +arguments is clinched with a threat-- + + "E' s'aquest no vols creyre vec te 'l foc aizinat + Que art tos companhos, + Aras vuelh que m'respondas en un mot o en dos, + Si cauziras et foc o remanras ab nos." + +"If you will not believe this, look at that raging fire which is +consuming your comrades. Now I wish you to reply to me in one word or +two, for you will burn in the fire or join us." Or again, "If you do +not confess at once, the flames are already lighted; your name is +proclaimed throughout the city with the blast of trumpets, and the +people are gathering to see you burn." In this terrible poem, Isarn +only turned into verse what he felt in his own heart, and what he saw +passing under his eyes almost daily.[15] + +As the holy work assumed shape and its prospects of results grew more +encouraging, the zeal of the hunters of men increased, while the fear +and hatred of the hunted became more threatening. On both sides passion +was fanned into flame. Already, in 1233, two Dominicans, sent to Cordes +to seek out heretics, had been slain by the terrified citizens. At Albi +the people, excited by the burning of the two heretics already referred +to, rose, June 14, 1234, when Arnaud Catala ordered the episcopal bailli +to dig up the bones of a heretic woman named Beissera whom he had +condemned. The bailli sent back word that he dared not do it. Arnaud +left the episcopal synod in which he was sitting, coolly went to the +cemetery, himself gave the first strokes of the mattock, and then, +ordering the officials to proceed with the work, returned to the synod. +The officials quickly rushed after him, saying that they had been +ejected from the burial-ground by the mob. Arnaud returned and found it +occupied by a crowd of howling sons of Belial, who quickly closed in on +him, striking him in the face and pummelling him on all sides, with +shouts of "Kill him! he has no right to live!" Some endeavored to drag +him into the shops hard by to slay him; others wished to throw him into +the river Tarn, but he was rescued and taken back to the synod, followed +by a mass of men fiercely shouting for his death. The whole city, +indeed, seemed to be of one mind, and many of the principal burghers +were leaders of the tumult. It is satisfactory to learn that, although +Arnaud mercifully withdrew the excommunication which he launched at the +rebellious city, his successor, Frère Ferrer, wrought the judgment of +God upon the guilty, imprisoning many of them and burning others.[16] + +In Narbonne disturbances arose even more serious, although special +inquisitors had not yet been sent there. In March, 1234, the Dominican +prior, François Ferrer, undertook a volunteer inquisition and threw in +prison a citizen named Raymond d'Argens. Fifteen years previous the +artisans of the suburb had organized a confederation for mutual support +called the Amistance, and this body arose as one man and forcibly +rescued the prisoner. The archbishop, Pierre Amiel, and the viscount, +Aimery of Narbonne, undertook to rearrest him, but found his house +guarded by the Amistance, which rushed upon their followers with shouts +of "Kill! kill!" and drove them away after a brief skirmish, in which +the prior was badly handled. The archbishop had recourse to +excommunication and interdict, but to little purpose, for the Amistance +seized his domains and drove him from the city. Both sides sought +allies. Gregory IX. appealed to King Jayme of Aragon, while a complaint +from the consuls of Narbonne to those of Nimes looks as though they were +endeavoring to effect a confederation of the cities against the +Inquisition, of whose arbitrary and illegal methods of procedure they +give abundant details. A kind of truce was patched up in October, but +the troubles recommenced when the prior, in obedience to an order from +his provincial, undertook a fresh inquisition, and made a number of +arrests. In December a suspension was obtained by the citizens appealing +to the pope, the king, and the legate, but in 1235 the people rose +against the Dominicans, drove them from the city, sacked their convent, +and destroyed all the records of the proceedings against heresy. +Archbishop Pierre had cunningly separated the city from the suburb, +about equal in population, by confining the inquisition to the latter, +and this bore fruit in his securing the armed support of the former. The +suburb placed itself under the protection of Count Raymond, who, nothing +loath to aggravate the trouble, came there and gave to the people as +leaders Olivier de Termes and Guiraud de Niort, two notorious defenders +of heretics. A bloody civil war broke out between the two sections, +which lasted until April, 1237, when a truce for a year was agreed upon. +In the following August the Count of Toulouse and the Seneschal of +Carcassonne were called in as arbitrators, and in March, 1238, a peace +was concluded. That the Church triumphed is shown by the conditions +which imposed upon some of the participators in the troubles a year's +service in Palestine or against the Moors of Spain.[17] + +In Toulouse, the centre both of heresy and persecution, in spite of +mutterings and menaces, open opposition to the Inquisition was postponed +longer than elsewhere. Although Count Raymond is constantly represented +by the Church party as the chief opponent of the Holy Office, it was +probably his influence that succeeded in staving off so long the +inevitable rupture. Hard experience from childhood could scarce have +rendered him a fervent Catholic, yet that experience had shown him that +the favor and protection of the Church were indispensable if he would +retain the remnant of territory and power that had been left to him. He +could not as yet be at heart a persecutor of heresy, yet he could not +afford to antagonize the Church. It was important for him to retain the +love and good-will of his subjects and to prevent the desolation of his +cities and lordships, but it was yet more important for him to escape +the stigma of favoring heresy, and to avoid calling down upon his head a +renewal of the storm in which he had been so nearly wrecked. Few princes +have had a more difficult part to play, with dangers besetting him on +every side, and if he earned the reputation of a trimmer without +religious convictions, that reputation and his retention of his position +till his death are perhaps the best proof of the fundamental wisdom +which guided his necessarily tortuous course. Pierre Cardinal, the +Troubadour, describes him as defending himself from the assaults of the +worst of men, as fearing neither the Frenchman nor the ecclesiastic, and +as humble only with the good.[18] + +He was always at odds with his prelates. Intricate questions with regard +to the temporalities were a constant source of quarrel, and he lived +under a perpetual reduplication of excommunications, for he had been so +long under the ban of the Church that no bishop hesitated for a moment +in anathematizing him. Then, one of the conditions of the treaty of 1229 +had been that within two years he should proceed to Palestine and wage +war there with the infidel for five years. The two years had passed away +without his performing the vow; the state of the country at no time +seemed to render so prolonged an absence safe, and for years a leading +object of his policy was to obtain a postponement of his crusade or +immunity for the non-observance of his vow. Moreover, from the date of +the peace of Paris until the end of his life he earnestly and vainly +endeavored to obtain from Rome permission for the sepulture of his +father's body. These complications crippled him in multitudinous ways +and exposed him to immense disadvantage in his fencing with the +hierarchy. + +As early as 1230 he was taxed by the legate with inobservance of the +conditions of the peace, and was forced to promise amendment of his +ways. In 1232 we see Gregory IX. imperiously ordering him to be +energetic in the duty of persecution, and, possibly in obedience to +this, during the same year, we find him personally accompanying Bishop +Raymond of Toulouse in a nocturnal expedition among the mountains, which +was rewarded with the capture of nineteen perfected heretics, male and +female, including one of their most important leaders, Pagan, Seigneur +de Bécède, whose castle we saw captured in 1227. All these expiated +their errors at the stake. Yet not long afterwards the Bishop of +Tournay, as papal legate, assembled the prelates of Languedoc and +formally cited Raymond before King Louis to answer for his slackness in +carrying out the provisions of the treaty. The result of this was the +drawing up of severe enactments against heretics, which he was obliged +to promulgate in February, 1234. In spite of this, and of a letter from +Gregory to the bishops ordering them no longer to excommunicate him so +freely as before, he was visited within a twelvemonth with two fresh +excommunications, for purely temporal causes. Then came fresh urgency +from the pope for the extirpation of heresy, with which Raymond +doubtless made a show of compliance, as his heart was bent on obtaining +from Rome a restoration of the Marquisate of Provence. In this he was +strongly backed by King Louis, whose brother Alfonse was to be Raymond's +heir, and towards the close of the year he sought an interview with +Gregory and succeeded in effecting it. His reconciliation with the +papacy appeared to be complete. His military reputation stood high, and +Gregory made use of his visit to confide to him the leadership of the +papal troops in a campaign against the rebellious citizens of Rome, who +had expelled the head of the Church from their city. Though he did not +succeed in restoring the pope, they parted on the best of terms, and he +returned to Toulouse as a favored son of the Church, ready on all points +to obey her behests.[19] + +There he found matters rapidly approaching a crisis which tested to the +utmost his skill in temporizing. Passions on both sides were rising to +an uncontrollable point. At Easter, 1235, the promise of grace for +voluntary confession brought forward such crowds of penitent heretics +that the Dominicans were insufficient to take their testimony, and were +obliged to call in the aid of the Franciscans and of all the parish +priests of the city. Encouraged by this, the prior, Pons de +Saint-Gilles, commenced to seize those who had not come forward +spontaneously. Among these was a certain Arnaud Dominique, who, to save +his life, promised to betray eleven heretics residing in a house at +Cassers. This he fulfilled, though four of them escaped through the aid +of the neighboring peasants, and he was set at liberty. The +long-suffering of the heretics, however, was at last exhausted, and +shortly afterwards he was murdered in his bed at Aigrefeuille by the +friends of those whom he had thus sacrificed. Still more significant of +the dangerous tension of popular feeling was a mob which, under the +guidance of two leading citizens, forcibly rescued Pierre-Guillem Delort +from the hands of the viguier and of the Abbot of Saint-Sernin, who had +arrested him and were conveying him to prison. The situation was +becoming unbearable, and soon the ceremony of dragging through the +streets and burning the bodies of some dead heretics aroused an +agitation so general and so menacing that Count Raymond was sent for in +hopes that his interposition might avert the most deplorable +consequences. Thus far, although perhaps somewhat lacking in alacrity of +persecution, no serious charges could be laid against him. His +officials, his baillis and viguiers, had responded to all appeals of the +inquisitors and had lent the aid of the secular arm in seizing heretics, +in burning them, and in confiscating their property. Yet when he came to +Toulouse and begged the inquisitors to suspend for a time the vigor of +their operations he was not listened to. Then he turned to the papal +legate, Jean, Archbishop of Vienne, complaining specially of Pierre +Cella, whom he considered to be inspired with personal enmity to +himself, and whom he regarded as the chief author of the troubles. His +request that Cella's operations should be confined to Querci was +granted. That inquisitor was sent to Cahors, where, with the assistance +of Pons Delmont and Guillem Pelisson he vigorously traversed the land +and forced multitudes to confess their guilt.[20] + +This expedient was of no avail. Persecution continued as aggressive as +ever, and popular indignation steadily rose. The inevitable crisis soon +came which should determine whether the Inquisition should sink into +insignificance, as had been the case with so many previous efforts, or +whether it should triumph over all opposition and become the dominating +power in the land. + +Guillem Arnaud was in no way abashed by the banishment of his colleague. +Returning from a brief absence at Carcassonne, of which more anon, he +summoned for trial as believers twelve of the leading citizens of +Toulouse, one of them a consul. They refused to appear, and threatened +him with violence unless he should desist. On his persisting, word was +sent him, with the assent of Count Raymond, that he must either leave +the city or abandon his functions as inquisitor. He took council with +his Dominican brethren, when it was unanimously agreed that he should +proceed manfully in his duty. The consuls then ejected him by force from +the city; he was accompanied to the bridge over the Garonne by all the +friars, and as he departed the consuls recorded a protest to the effect +that if he would desist from the inquisition he could remain; otherwise, +in the name of the count and in their own, they ordered him to leave the +city. He went to Carcassonne, whence he ordered the Prior of +Saint-Étienne and the parish priests to repeat the citations to the +parties already summoned. This order was bravely obeyed in spite of +threats, when the consuls sent for the prior and priests, and after +keeping them in the town-hall part of a night, expelled them from the +town, and publicly proclaimed that any one daring to repeat the +citations should be put to death, and that any one obeying the summons +of an inquisitor should answer for it in body and goods. Another +proclamation followed, in which the name of Count Raymond was used, +prohibiting that any one should give or sell anything to the bishop, the +Dominicans, or the canons of Saint-Étienne. This forced the bishop to +leave the city, as we are told that no one dared even to bake a loaf of +bread for him, and the populace, moreover, invaded his house, beat his +clerks, and stole his horses. The Dominicans fared better, for they had +friends hardy enough to supply them with necessaries, and when the +consuls posted guards around their house, still bread and cheese and +other food was thrown over their walls in spite of the arrest of some of +those engaged in it. Their principal suffering was from lack of water, +which had to be brought from the Garonne, and as this source of supply +was cut off, they were unable to boil their vegetables. For three weeks +they thus exultingly endured their martyrdom in a holy cause. Matters +became more serious when the indomitable Guillem Arnaud sent from +Carcassonne a letter to the prior saying, that as no one dared to cite +the contumacious citizens, he was forced to order two of the friars to +summon them to appear before him personally in Carcassonne to answer for +their faith, and that two others must accompany them as witnesses. +Tolling the convent bell, the prior assembled the brethren, and said to +them with a joyful countenance: "Brethren, rejoice, for I must send +four of you through martyrdom to the throne of the Most High. Such are +the commands of our brother, Guillem the inquisitor, and whoever obeys +them will be slain on the spot, as threatened by the consuls. Let those +who are ready to die for Christ ask pardon." With a common impulse the +whole body cast themselves on the ground, which was the Dominican form +of asking pardon, and the prior selected four, Raymond de Foix, Jean de +Saint-Michel, Gui de Navarre, and Guillem Pelisson. These intrepidly +performed their duty, even penetrating when necessary into the +bed-chambers of the accused. Only in one house were they ill-treated, +and even there, when the sons of the person cited drew knives upon them, +the bystanders interfered. + +There was evidently nothing to be done with men who thus courted +martyrdom. To gratify them would be suicidal, and the consuls decided to +expel them. On being informed of this the prior distributed among trusty +friends the books and sacred vessels and vestments of the convent. The +next day (Nov. 5 or 6, 1235) the friars, after mass, sat down to their +simple meal, during which the consuls came with a great crowd and +threatened to break in the door. The friars marched in procession to +their church, where they took their seats, and when the consuls entered +and commanded them to depart they refused. Then each was seized and +violently led forth, two of them who threw themselves on the ground near +the door being picked up by the hands and feet and carried out. Thus +they were accompanied through the town, but not otherwise maltreated, +and they turned the affair into a procession, marching two by two and +singing Te Deum and Salve Regina. At first they went to a farm belonging +to the church of Saint-Étienne, but the consuls posted guards to see +that nothing was furnished to them, and the next day the prior +distributed them among the convents of the province. That the whole +affair enlisted for them the sympathies of the faithful was shown by two +persons of consideration joining them and entering the Order while it +was going on.[21] + +It is significant of the position which Guillem Arnaud's steadfastness +had already won for his office that to him was conceded the vindication +of this series of outrages on the immunity of the Church. Bishop Raymond +had joined him in Carcassonne without anathematizing the authors of his +exile, but now the anathema promptly went forth, November 10, 1235, +uttered by the inquisitor with the names of the Bishops of Toulouse and +Carcassonne appended as assenting witnesses. It was confined to the +consuls, but Count Raymond was not allowed to escape the responsibility. +The excommunication was sent to the Franciscans of Toulouse for +publication, and when they obeyed they too were expelled, in no gentle +fashion, and the rebellious city was virtually left without +ecclesiastics. Further excommunications followed, now including the +count, and Prior Pons de Saint-Gilles hastened to Italy to pour the +story of his woes into the sympathizing ears of the pope and the sacred +college. Gregory assailed the count as the chief offender. A minatory +brief of April 28, 1236, addressed to him, is couched in the severest +language. He is held responsible for the audacious acts of the consuls; +he is significantly reminded of the unperformed vow of the crusade; not +only has he failed to extirpate heresy according to his pledges, but he +is a manifest fautor and protector of heretics; his favorites and +officers are suspect of heresy; he protects those who have been +condemned; his lands are a place of refuge for those flying from +persecution elsewhere, so that heresy is daily spreading and conversions +from Catholicism are frequent, while zealous churchmen seeking to +restrain them are slain and abused with impunity. All this he is +peremptorily ordered to correct and to sail with his knights to the Holy +Land in the "general passage" of the following March. It scarcely +needed the reminder, which the pope did not spare him, of the labors +which the Church and its Crusaders had undergone to purge his lands of +heresy. He had too keen a recollection of the abyss from which he had +escaped to risk another plunge. He had gone as far as he dared in the +effort to protect his subjects, and it were manifest folly to draw upon +his head and theirs another inroad of the marauders whom the pope with a +word could let loose upon him to earn salvation with the sword.[22] + +The epistle to Raymond was accompanied with one to the legate, +instructing him to compel the count to make amends and perform the +crusade. To Frederic II. he wrote forbidding him to call on Raymond for +feudal services, as the count was under excommunication and virtually a +heretic, to which the emperor replied, reasonably enough, that, so long +as Raymond enjoyed possession of fiefs held under the empire, +excommunication should not confer on him the advantage of release from +their burdens. King Louis was also appealed to and was urged to hasten +the marriage between his brother Alfonse and Raymond's daughter Jeanne. +With the spectre of all Europe in arms looming up before him Raymond +could do nothing but yield. When, therefore, the legate summoned him to +meet the inquisitors at Carcassonne he meekly went there and conferred +with them and the bishops. The conference ended with his promise to +return the bishop and friars and clergy to Toulouse, and this promise he +kept. The friars were duly reinstated September 4, after ten months of +exile. That Guillem Arnaud returned with them is a matter of course.[23] + +Pierre Cella was still restricted to his diocese of Querci, and as +Guillem required a colleague, a concession was made to popular feeling +by the legate in appointing a Franciscan, it being imagined that the +comparative mildness of that Order might serve to modify the hatred felt +towards the Dominicans. The post was conferred on the provincial +minister, Jean de Notoyra, but his other duties were too engrossing, and +he substituted Frère Étienne de Saint-Thibery, who had the reputation of +being a modest and courteous man. If hopes were entertained that thus +the severity of the Inquisition would be tempered, they were +disappointed. The two men worked cordially together, with a single +purpose and perfect unanimity.[24] + +Guillem Arnaud's activity was untiring. During his exile in Carcassonne +he occupied himself with the trial of the Seigneur de Niort, whom he +sentenced in February or March, 1236.[25] In the early months of 1237 we +hear of him in Querci, co-operating with Pierre Cella in harrying the +heretics of Montauban. During his absence there occurred a crowning +mercy in Toulouse, which threw the heretics into a spasm of terror and +contributed greatly to their destruction. Raymond Gros, who had been a +perfected heretic for more than twenty years, one of the most loved and +trusted leaders of the sect, was suddenly converted. Tradition relates +that a quarter of a century before he had been seized and consigned to +the stake, when the prophetic spirit of St. Dominic, foreseeing that he +would return to the Church and perform shining service in the cause of +God, rescued him from the flames. On April 2, without heralding, he +presented himself at the Dominican convent, humbly begged to be received +into the Church, and promised to do whatever should be required of him. +With the eagerness of an impassioned convert he proceeded to reveal all +that lifelong intercourse with the Cathari had brought to his knowledge. +So full were his recollections that several days were required to write +down all the names and facts that crowded to his lips. The lists were +long and embraced prominent nobles and citizens, confirming suspicion in +many cases, and revealing heresy in other quarters where it was wholly +unlooked for. + +Guillem Arnaud hurried back from Montauban to take full advantage of +this act of Providence. The heretics were stunned. None of them dared to +deny the truth of the accusations made by Raymond Gros. Many fled, some +of whose names reappear in the massacre of Avignonet and the final +catastrophe of Montségur. Many recanted and furnished further +revelations. Long lists were made out of those who had been hereticated +on their death-beds, and multitudes of corpses were exhumed and burned, +with the resultant harvest of confiscations. It is difficult to +exaggerate the severity of the blow thus received by heresy. Toulouse +was its headquarters. Here were the nobles and knights, the consuls and +rich burghers who had thus far defied scrutiny and had protected their +less fortunate comrades. Now scattered and persecuted, forced to recant, +or burned, the power of the secret organization was broken irrevocably. +We can well appreciate the pious exultation of the chronicler as he +winds up his account of the consternation and destruction thus visited +upon the heretical community--"Their names are not written in the Book +of Life, but their bodies here were burned and their souls are tortured +in hell!" A single sentence of February 19, 1238, in which more than +twenty penitents were consigned _en masse_ to perpetual imprisonment, +shows the extent of the harvest and the haste of the harvesters.[26] + +The Inquisition thus had overcome the popular horror which its +proceedings had excited; it had braved the shock and triumphed over the +opposition of the secular authorities, and had planted itself firmly in +the soil. After the harvest had been gathered in Toulouse it was evident +to the indefatigable activity of the inquisitors that they could best +perform their functions by riding circuit and holding assizes in all the +towns subject to their jurisdiction, and this was represented as a +concession to avert the complaints of those who deemed it a hardship to +be summoned to distant places. Their incessant labors began to tell. +Heretics were leaving the lands of Raymond at last and seeking a refuge +elsewhere. Possibly some of them found it in the domains which had +fallen to the crown, for in this year we find Gregory scolding the royal +officials for their slackness of zeal in executing sentences against +powerful heretics. Elsewhere, however, there was no rest for them. In +Provence this year Pons de l'Esparre made himself conspicuous for the +energy and effectiveness with which he confounded the enemies of the +faith; while Montpellier, alarmed at the influx of heretics and their +success in propagating their errors, appealed to Gregory to favor them +with some assistance that should effectively resist the rising tide, and +Gregory at once ordered his legate Jean de Vienne to go thither and take +the necessary measures.[27] + +The progress of the Inquisition, however, was not destined to be +uninterrupted. Count Raymond, apparently reckless of the numerous +excommunications under which he lay, so far from sailing for Palestine +in March, had seized Marseilles, which was in rebellion against its +suzerain, the Count of Provence. This aroused anew the indignation of +Gregory, not only because of its interference with the war against the +Saracens in Spain and the Holy Land, but because of the immunity which +heretics would enjoy during the quarrel of the Christian princes. He +peremptorily ordered Raymond to desist from his enterprise on +Marseilles, and to perform his Crusader's vow. An appeal was made to +King Louis and Queen Blanche, whose intervention procured for Raymond +not only a postponement of the crusade for another year, but an order to +the legate empowering him to grant the count's request to take the +Inquisition entirely out of the hands of the Dominicans, if, on +investigation, he should find justification for Raymond's assertion that +they were actuated by hatred towards himself. Fresh troubles had arisen +at Toulouse. July 24, 1237, the inquisitors had again excommunicated the +viguier and consuls, because they had not arrested and burned Alaman de +Roaix and some other heretics, condemned _in absentia_, and Raymond was +resolved, if possible, to relieve himself and his subjects from the +cruel oppression to which they were exposed.[28] + +In this his efforts were crowned with most unlooked-for success. May 13, +1238, he obtained a suspension for three months of all inquisitorial +proceedings, during which time his envoys sent to Gregory were to be +heard. They seem to have used most persuasive arguments, for Gregory +wrote to the Bishop of Toulouse to continue the suspension until the new +legate, the Cardinal-bishop of Palestrina, should examine into the +complaints against the Dominicans and consider the advisability of +granting Raymond's request that the business of persecution should be +confined, as formerly, to the bishops. Raymond's crusade was also +reduced to three years, to be performed voluntarily, provided he would +give to King Louis sufficient security that he would sail the following +year: by performing this, and making amends for the wrongs inflicted on +the Church, he was to earn absolution from his numerous +excommunications.[29] + +The temporary suspension was unexpectedly prolonged, for, owing to +hostilities with Frederic II., the cardinal-legate's departure was +postponed for a year. When at least he came, in 1239, he brought special +orders to the inquisitors to obey his commands. What investigation he +made and what were his conclusions we have no means of knowing, but this +at least is certain, that until late in 1241 the Inquisition was +effectually muzzled. No traces remain of its activity during these +years, and Catholic and Catharan alike could draw a freer breath, +relieved of apprehension from its ever-present supervision and the +seemingly superhuman energy of the friars.[30] + +We can readily conjecture the reasons which impelled its reinstatement. +Doubtless the bishops were as negligent as of old, and looked after +their temporalities to the exclusion of their duties in preserving the +purity of the faith. Doubtless, too, the heretics, encouraged by virtual +toleration, grew bolder, and cherished hopes of a return to the good old +times, when, secure under their native princes, they could safely defy +distant Paris and yet more distant Rome. The condition of the country +was, in fact, by no means reassuring, especially in the regions which +had become domains of the crown. The land was full of knights and barons +who were more or less openly heretics, and who knew not when the blow +might fall on them; of seigneurs who had been proscribed for heresy; of +enforced converts who secretly longed to avow their hidden faith, and to +regain their confiscated lands; of penitents burning to throw off the +crosses imposed on them, and to avenge the humiliations which they had +endured. Refugees, _faidits_, and heretic teachers were wandering +through the mountains, dwelling in caverns and in the recesses of the +forests. Scarce a family but had some kinsman to avenge, who had fallen +in the field or had perished at the stake. The lack of prisons and the +parsimony of the prelates had prevented a general resort to +imprisonment, and the burnings had not been numerous enough to notably +reduce the numbers of those who were of necessity bitterly opposed to +the existing order. Suddenly, in 1240, an insurrection appeared, headed +by Trencavel, son of that Viscount of Béziers whom we have seen +entrapped by Simon de Montfort and dying opportunely in his hands, not +without suspicion of poison. He brought with him from Catalonia troops +of proscribed knights and gentlemen, and was greeted enthusiastically by +the vassals and subjects of his house. Count Raymond, his cousin, held +aloof; but his ambiguous conduct showed plainly that he was prepared to +act on either side as success or defeat might render advisable. At first +the rising seemed to prosper. Trencavel laid siege to his ancestral town +of Carcassonne, and the spirit of his followers was shown when, on the +surrender of the suburb, they slaughtered in cold blood thirty +ecclesiastics who had received solemn assurance of free egress to +Narbonne.[31] + +It required but a small force of royal troops under Jean de Beaumont to +crush the insurrection as quickly as it had arisen, and to inflict a +vengeance which virtually annihilated the _petite noblesse_ of the +region; but, nevertheless, the lesson which it taught was not to be +neglected. The civil order, as now established in the south of France, +evidently rested in the religious order, and the maintenance of this +required hands more vigorous and watchful than those of the self-seeking +prelates. A great assembly of the Cathari held in 1241, on the bank of +the Larneta, under the presidency of Aymeri de Collet, heretic Bishop of +Albi, showed how bold they had become, and how confidently they looked +to the future. Church and State both could see now, if not before, that +the Inquisition was a necessary factor in securing to both the +advantages gained in the crusades.[32] + +Gregory IX., the founder of the Inquisition, died August 22, 1241. It is +probable that, before his death, he had put an end to the suspension of +the Inquisition and slipped the hounds from the leash, for his immediate +successor, Celestin IV., enjoyed a pontificate of but nineteen +days--from September 20 to October 8--and then followed an interregnum +until the election of Innocent IV., June 28, 1243, so that for nearly +two years the papal throne was practically vacant. Raymond's policy, +for the moment, had leaned towards gratifying the papacy, for he desired +from Gregory not only the removal of his four excommunications and +forbearance in the matter of the crusade, but also a dispensation to +enable him to carry out a contract of marriage into which he entered +with Sanche, daughter and heiress of the Count of Provence, not +foreseeing that Queen Blanche would juggle him in this, and, by securing +the brilliant match for her son Charles, found the House of +Anjou-Provence, and win for the royal family another large portion of +the South. Full of these projects, which promised so well for the +rehabilitation of his power, he signed, April 18, 1241, with Jayme I. of +Aragon, a treaty of alliance for the defence of the Holy See and the +Catholic faith, and against the heretics. Under such influences he was +not likely to oppose the renewal of active persecution. Besides, he had +been compromised in Trencavel's insurrection; he had been summoned to +answer for his conduct before King Louis, when, on March 14, he had been +forced to take an oath to banish from his lands the _faidits_ and +enemies of the king, and to capture without delay the castle of +Montségur, the last refuge of heresy.[33] + +The case of the Seigneurs de Niort, powerful nobles of Fenouillèdes, who +had taken part in Trencavel's insurrection, is interesting from the +light which it throws upon the connection between the religion and the +politics of the time, the difficulties which the Inquisition experienced +in dealing with stubborn heresy and patriotism, and the damage inflicted +on the heretic cause by the abortive revolt. The three brothers--Guillem +Guiraud, Bernard Otho, and Guiraud Bernard--with their mother, +Esclarmonde, had long been a quarry which both the inquisitors and the +royal seneschal of Carcassonne had been eager to capture. Guillem had +earned the reputation of a valiant knight in the wars of the crusades, +and the brothers had managed to hold their castles and their power +through all the vicissitudes of the time. In the general inquisition +made by Cardinal Romano in 1229 they were described as among the chief +leaders of the heretics, and the Council of Toulouse, at the same time, +denounced two of them as enemies of the faith, and declared them +excommunicate if they did not submit within fifteen days. In 1233 we +hear of their having, not long before, laid waste with fire and sword +the territories of Pierre Amiel, Archbishop of Narbonne, and they had +assailed and wounded him while on his way to the Holy See, an exploit +which led Gregory IX. to order the archbishop, in conjunction with the +Bishop of Toulouse, to proceed against them energetically, while at the +same time he invoked the secular arm by a pressing command to Count +Raymond. It was probably under this authority that Bishop Raymond du +Fauga and the Provost of Toulouse held an inquest on them, in which was +taken the testimony of Pierre Amiel and of one hundred and seven other +witnesses. The evidence was conflicting. The archbishop swore at great +length as to the misdeeds of his enemies. They were all heretics. At one +time they kept in their Castle of Dourne no less than thirty perfected +heretics, and they had procured the assassination of André Chaulet, +Seneschal of Carcassonne, because he had endeavored to obtain evidence +against them. Other witnesses were equally emphatic. Bernard Otho on one +occasion had silenced a priest in his own church, and had replaced him +in the pulpit with a heretic, who had preached to the congregation. On +the other hand, there were not wanting witnesses who boldly defended +them. The preceptor of the Hospital at Puységur swore to the orthodoxy +of Bernard Otho, and declared that what he had done for the faith and +for peace had caused the death of a thousand heretics. A priest swore to +having seen him assist in capturing heretics, and an archdeacon declared +that he would not have remained in the land but for the army which +Bernard raised after the death of the late king, adding that he believed +the prosecution arose rather from hate than from charity. Nothing came +of this attempt, and in 1234 we meet with Bernard Otho as a witness to a +transaction between the royal Seneschal of Carcassonne and the Monastery +of Alet; but when the Inquisition was established it was promptly +brought to bear on the nobles who persisted in maintaining their feudal +independence in spite of the fact that their immediate suzerain was now +the king. In 1235 Guillem Arnaud, the inquisitor, while in Carcassonne, +with the Archdeacon of Carcassonne as assistant, cited the three +brothers and their mother to answer before him. Bernard Otho and Guillem +obeyed the summons, but would confess nothing. Then the seneschal seized +them; under compulsion Guillem made confession ample to warrant the +inquisitor in sentencing him to perpetual prison (March 2, 1236), while +Bernard, remaining obdurate, was condemned as a contumacious heretic +(February 13, 1236), and the seneschal made preparations to burn him. +Guiraud and his mother, Esclarmonde, were further condemned, March 2, +for contumacious absence. Guiraud, however, who had wisely kept at +large, began to fortify his castles and make warlike demonstrations so +formidable that the Frenchmen scattered through the land took alarm. The +Maréchal de la Foi, Levis of Mirepoix, stood firm, but the rest so +worked upon the seneschal that the brothers were released, and the +inquisitors had only the barren satisfaction of condemning the whole +family on paper--a disappointment alleviated, it is true, by gathering +for the stake a rich harvest of less formidable heretics, both clerks +and laymen. Equally vain was an effort made two years later by the +inquisitors to compel Count Raymond to carry out their sentence by +confiscating the lands of the contumacious nobles, but the failure of +Trencavel's revolt forced them to sue for peace. Bernard Otho was again +brought before the Inquisition, and Guillem de Niort made submission for +himself and brothers, surrendering their castles to the king on +condition that he would procure their reconciliation with the Church, +and that of their mother, nephews, and allies, and, failing to +accomplish this by the next Pentecost, that he would restore their +castles and grant them a month of truce to put themselves in defence. +King Louis ratified the treaty in January, 1241, but refused, when the +time came, to restore the castles, only agreeing to pay over the +revenues on consideration that the brothers should reside outside of +Fenouillèdes. Guillem died in 1256, when Louis kept both castles and +revenues, under pretext that the treaty had been a personal one with +Guillem. The new order of things by this time had become so firmly +established that no further resistance was to be dreaded. The extinction +of this powerful family is a typical example of the manner in which the +independence of the local seigneurie was gradually broken down by means +of the Inquisition, and the authority of crown and Church was extended +over the land.[34] + +Under the reaction consequent upon Trencavel's failure, and emboldened +by the ruin of the local protectors of the people, the inquisitors +returned to their work with sharpened zeal and redoubled energy. Chance +has preserved for us a record of sentences pronounced by Pierre Cella, +during a circuit of a few months in Querci, from Advent, 1241, to +Ascension, 1242, which affords us a singularly instructive insight into +one phase of inquisitorial operations. We have seen that, when an +inquisitor visited a town, he proclaimed a "time of grace," during +which those who voluntarily came forward and confessed were spared the +harsher punishments of prison, confiscation, or the stake, and that the +Inquisition found this expedient exceedingly fruitful, not only in the +number of penitents which it brought in, but in the testimony which was +gathered concerning the more contumacious. The record in question +consists of cases of this kind, and its crowded calendar justifies the +esteem in which the method was held.[35] + +Summarized, the record shows-- + + In Gourdon 219 sentences pronounced in Advent, 1241. + In Montcucq 84 " " " Lent, 1242. + In Sauveterre 5. + In Belcayre 7. + In Montauban 254 sentences pronounced in week before Ascension + (May 21-28, 1242). + In Moissac 99 " " " week of Ascension + (May 28-June 5, 1242). + In Montpezat 22 " " " Lent, 1242. + In Montaut 23 " " " " " + In Castelnau 11 " " " " " + --- + Total 724 + +Of these penitents four hundred and twenty-seven were ordered to make +the distant pilgrimage to Compostella, in the northwestern corner of +Spain--some four hundred or five hundred miles of mountainous roads. One +hundred and eight were sent to Canterbury, this pilgrimage, in all but +three or four cases, being superimposed on that to Compostella. Only two +penitents were required to visit Rome, but seventy-nine were ordered to +serve in the crusades for terms varying from one to eight years. + +The first thing that impresses one in considering this record is the +extraordinary speed with which the work was done. The whole was +despatched in six months, and there is no evidence that the labor was +continuous--in fact, it could not have been so, for the inquisitor had +to move from place to place, to grant the necessary delays, and must +have been frequently interrupted to gather in the results of testimony +which implicated recusants. With what reckless lack of consideration the +penances were imposed is shown by the two hundred and nineteen penitents +of Gourdon, whose confessions were taken down and whose sentences were +pronounced within the four weeks of Advent; and even this is outstripped +by the two hundred and fifty-two of Montauban, despatched in the week +before Ascension, at the rate of forty-two for each working-day. In +several cases two culprits are included in the same sentence. + +Even more significant than this, however, are the enormous numbers--two +hundred and nineteen for a small town like Gourdon and eighty-four for +Montcucq. The number of these who were really heretics, both Catharan +and Waldensian, is large, and shows how thoroughly the population was +interpenetrated with heresy. Even more, however, were good Catholics +whose cases prove how amicably the various sects associated together, +and how impossible it was for the most orthodox to avoid the association +with heretics which rendered him liable to punishment. This friendly +intercourse is peculiarly notable in the case of a priest who confessed +to having gone to some heretics in a vineyard, where he read in their +books and ate pears with them. He was rudely reminded of his +indiscretion by being suspended from his functions, sent to Compostella +and thence to Rome, with letters from the inquisitors which doubtless +were not for his benefit, for apparently they felt unable to decide what +ought to be done for an offence so enormous. Even the smallest +derelictions of this sort were rigorously penanced. A citizen of +Sauveterre had seen three heretics entering the house of a sick man, and +heard that they had hereticated him, but knew nothing of his own +knowledge, yet he was subjected to the disgrace of a penitential +pilgrimage to Puy. Another, of Belcayre, had carried a message between +two heretics, and was sent to Puy, St. Gilles, and Compostella. A +physician of Montauban had bound up the arm of a heretic and was +subjected to the same three pilgrimages, and the same penance was +inflicted on a woman who had simply eaten at a table with heretics. The +same was prescribed in several cases of boatmen who had ignorantly +transported heretics, without recognizing them until the voyage was +under way or finished. A woman who had eaten and drunk with another +woman who she heard was a heretic was sentenced to the pilgrimages of +Puy and St. Gilles, and the same penance was ordered for a man who had +once seen heretics, and for a woman who had consulted a Waldensian about +her sick son. The Waldenses had great reputation as skilful leeches, and +two men who had called them in for their wives and children were +penanced with the pilgrimages of Puy, St. Gilles, and Compostella. A man +who had seen heretics two or three times, and had already purchased +reconciliation by a gift to a monastery, was sent on a long series of +pilgrimages, embracing both Compostella and Canterbury, besides wearing +the yellow cross for a year. Another was sent to Compostella because he +had once been thrown into company with heretics in a boat, although he +had left them on hearing their heresies; and yet another because, when a +boy, he had spent part of a day and night with heretics. One who had +seen heretics when he was twelve years old was sent to Puy; while a +woman who had seen them in her father's house was obliged to go to Puy +and St. Gilles. A man who had seen two heretics leaving a place which he +had rented was sent to Compostella, and another who had allowed his +Waldensian mother to visit him and had given her an ell of cloth was +forced to expiate it with pilgrimages to Puy, St. Gilles, and +Compostella.[36] The list might be prolonged almost indefinitely, but +these cases will suffice to show the character of the offence and the +nature of the grace proffered for voluntary confession. There is no +pretence that any of these particular culprits themselves were not +wholly orthodox, but the people were to be taught that the toleration +which had existed for generations was at an end; that the neighborly +intercourse which had established itself between Catholic and Catharan +and Waldensian was in itself a sin; that the heretic was to be tracked +and captured like a wild beast, or at least to be shunned like a leper. + +When such was the measure meted out to spontaneous penitents within the +time of grace, with harsher measures in reserve for those subsequently +detected, we can easily imagine the feelings inspired by the Inquisition +in the whole population, without distinction of creed, and the terror +common to all when the rumor spread that the inquisitors were coming. +Scarce any one but was conscious of some act--perhaps of neighborly +charity--that rendered him a criminal to the awful fanaticism of Pierre +Cella or Guillem Arnaud. The heretics themselves would look to be +imprisoned for life, with confiscation, or to be burned, or sent to +Constantinople to support the tottering Latin Empire; while the +Catholics were likely to fare little better on the distant pilgrimages +to which they were sentenced, even though they were spared the sterner +punishments or the humiliation of the saffron cross. Such a visit would +bring, even to the faithful, the desolation of a pestilence. The +inquisitors would pass calmly on, leaving a neighborhood well-nigh +depopulated--fathers and mothers despatched to distant shrines for +months or years, leaving dependent families to starve, or harvests +ungathered to be the prey of the first-comer, all the relations of a +life, hard enough at the best, disturbed and broken up. Even such a +record as that of Pierre Cella's sentences rendered within the time of +grace shows but a portion of the work. A year or two later we find the +Council of Narbonne beseeching the inquisitors to delay rendering +sentences of incarceration, because the numbers of those flocking in for +reconciliation after the expiration of the term of grace were so great +that it would be impossible to raise funds for their maintenance, or to +find stones enough, even in that mountainous land, to build prisons to +contain them.[37] That a whole vicinage, when it had timely notice, +should bind itself in a league to defeat the purpose of the inquisitors, +as at Castelnaudary, must have been a frequent experience; that, sooner +or later, despair should bring about a catastrophe like that of +Avignonet was inevitable. + + * * * * * + +Montségur for years had been the Mount Tabor of the Cathari--the place +of refuge in which, as its name implies, they could feel secure when +safety could be hoped for nowhere else. It had been destroyed, but early +in the century Raymond de Péreille had rebuilt it, and for forty years +he held it as an asylum for heretics, whom he defended to the utmost of +his ability. In 1232 the Catharan bishops Tento of Agen and Guillabert +de Castres of Toulouse, with a number of ministers, foreseeing, in the +daily increasing pressure of persecution, the necessity of some +stronghold which should serve as an asylum, arranged with Raymond that +he should receive and shelter all fugitives of the sect and guard the +common treasure to be deposited there. His castle, situated in the +territories of the marshals of Mirepoix, had never opened its gates to +the Frenchmen. Its almost inaccessible peak had been sedulously +strengthened with all that military experience could suggest or earnest +devotion could execute. Ever since the persecutions of the Inquisition +commenced we hear of those who fled to Montségur when they found the +inquisitor's hand descending upon them. Dispossessed knights, _faidits_ +of all kinds, brought their swords to its defence; Catharan bishops and +ministers sought it when hard pressed, or made it a resting-place in +their arduous and dangerous mission-work. Raymond de Péreille himself +sought its shelter when, compromised by the revelations of Raymond Gros, +he fled from Toulouse, in 1237, with his wife Corba; the devotion of his +race to heresy being further proved by the fate of his daughter +Esclarmonde, who perished for her faith at the stake, and by the +Catharan episcopate of his brother Arnaud Roger. Such a stronghold in +the hands of desperate men, fired with the fiercest fanaticism, was a +menace to the stability of the new order in the State; to the Church it +was an accursed spot whence heresy might at any moment burst forth to +overspread the land again. Its destruction had long been the desire of +all good Catholics, and Raymond's pledge to King Louis, March 14, 1241, +to capture it had been one of the conditions on which his suspicious +relations with Trencavel had been condoned. In fact, he made some show +of besieging it during the same year, but success would have been most +damaging to the plans which he was nursing, and his efforts can scarce +have been more than a cover for military preparations destined to a far +different object. The French army, after the suppression of the rising, +also laid siege to Montségur, but were unable to effect its +reduction.[38] + +On Ascension night, 1242, while Pierre Cella was tranquilly winding up +his work at Montauban, the world was startled with the news that a +holocaust of the terrible inquisitors had been made at Avignonet, a +little town about twelve leagues from Toulouse. The stern Guillem Arnaud +and the courteous Étienne de Saint-Thibery were making, like their +colleague Pierre Cella, a circuit through the district subjected to +their mercy. Some of their sentences which have been preserved show that +in November, 1241, they were laboring at Lavaur and at Saint-Paul de +Caujoux, and in the spring of 1242 they came to Avignonet.[39] Raymond +d'Alfaro was its bailli for the count, who was his uncle through his +mother, Guillemetta, a natural daughter of Raymond VI. When he heard +that the inquisitors and their assistants were coming he lost no time in +preparing for their destruction. A swift messenger was despatched to the +heretics of Montségur, and in answer to his summons Pierre Roger of +Mirepoix, with a number of knights and their retainers, started at once. +They halted in the forest of Gaiac, near Avignonet, where food was +brought them, and they were joined by about thirty armed men of the +vicinage, who waited with them till after nightfall. Had this plot +failed, d'Alfaro had arranged another for an ambuscade on the road to +Castelnaudary, and the fact that so extensive a conspiracy could be +organized on the spot, without finding a traitor to betray it, shows how +general was the hate that had been earned by the cruel work of the +Inquisition. Not less significant is the fact that on their return to +Montségur the murderers were hospitably entertained at the Château de +Saint-Félix by a priest who was cognizant of their bloody deed. + +The victims came unsuspectingly to the trap. There were eleven in all. +The two inquisitors, with two Dominican friars, and one Franciscan, the +Benedictine Prior of Avignonet, Raymond de Costiran, Archdeacon of +Lezat, a former troubadour, of whose verses only a single obscene song +remains, a clerk of the archdeacon, a notary, and two apparitors--in all +a court fully furnished for the despatch of business. They were +hospitably received and housed in the castle of the count, where on the +morrow they were to open their dread tribunal for the trembling +inhabitants. When darkness came a selected band of twelve, armed with +axes, left the forest and stole cautiously to a postern of the castle, +where they were met by Golairan, a comrade of d'Alfaro, who assured +himself that all was right, and returned to see what the inquisitors +were doing. Coming back, he reported that they were drinking; but a +second visit, after an interval, brought the welcome news that they were +going to bed. As though apprehensive of danger, they had remained +together in the great hall, and had barricaded the door. The gate was +opened, the men of Montségur were admitted and were joined by d'Alfaro, +armed with a mace, and twenty-five men of Avignonet, and the fact that +an esquire in the service of the inquisitors was with him indicates that +there was treachery at work. The hall-door was quickly broken down, the +wild band of assassins rushed in, and, after despatching their victims, +there was a fierce chorus of gratified vengeance, each man boasting of +his share in the bloody deed--d'Alfaro especially, who shouted "_Va be, +esta be_," and claimed that his mace had done its full duty in the +murderous work. Its crushing of Guillem Arnaud's skull had deprived +Pierre Roger de Mirepoix, the second in command at Montségur, of the +drinking-cup which he had demanded as his reward for the assistance +furnished. The plunder of the victims was eagerly shared between the +assassins--their horses, books, garments--even to their scapulars. When +the news reached Rome, the College of Cardinals made haste to express +their belief that the victims had become blessed martyrs of Jesus +Christ, and one of the first acts of Innocent IV., after his +installation in June, 1243, was to repeat this declaration; but they +never were canonized, in spite of frequent requests to the Holy See, and +of the numerous miracles which attested their sanctity in the popular +cult, until, in 1866, Pius IX. gave them tardy recognition.[40] + +Like the murder of the legate Pierre de Castelnau, in 1208, the massacre +of Avignonet was a fatal error. Its violation of the traditional +sanctity of the ecclesiastic sent a thrill of horror even among those +who had small sympathy with the cruelty of the Inquisition, while the +deliberateness of its planning and its unsparing ferocity gave color to +the belief that heresy was only to be extirpated by force. Sympathy, +indeed, for a time might well change sides, for the massacre was +practically unavenged. Frère Ferrer, the Inquisitor of Carcassonne, made +due inquest into the affair, and after the capture of Montségur, in +1244, some of the participants confessed all the details, but the real +culprits escaped. Count Raymond, it is true, when he had leisure from +pressing business, hanged a few of the underlings, but we find Raymond +d'Alfaro, in 1247, promoted to be Viguier of Toulouse, and representing +his master in the proceedings with regard to the burial of the old +count, and, finally, he was one of the nine witnesses to Raymond's last +will. Another ringleader, Guillem du Mas-Saintes-Puelles, is recorded as +taking the oath of allegiance to Count Alfonse, in 1249, after the death +of Raymond. Guillem's participation in the murders has special interest, +as showing the antagonism created by the violence of the Inquisition, +for in 1233, as Bailli of Lavaur, he had dutifully seized a number of +heretics and carried them to Toulouse, where they were promptly +burned.[41] + +The massacre of Avignonet came at a time peculiarly unfortunate for +Count Raymond, who was nursing comprehensive and far-reaching plans, +then ripe for execution, for the rehabilitation of his house and the +independence of his land. He could not escape the responsibility for the +catastrophe which public opinion everywhere attached to him. Although +he had recently, on March 14, solemnly sworn to persecute heresy with +his whole strength when, apparently sick unto death, he had sought +absolution at the hands of the episcopal official of Agen, yet he was +known to be hostile to the Dominicans as inquisitors, and had bitterly +opposed the restoration of their functions. On May 1, just four weeks +before the event, he had made a solemn declaration in the presence of +numerous prelates and nobles to the effect that he had appealed to Rome +against the commission of Dominican inquisitors by the provincial in his +territories, and that he intended to prosecute that appeal. He protested +that he earnestly desired the eradication of heresy, and urged the +bishops to exercise energetically their ordinary power to that end, +promising his full support to them and the execution of the law both as +to confiscation and the death-penalty. He would even accept the friars +as inquisitors provided they acted independently of their Orders, and +not under the authority of their provincials. One of his baillis even +threatened, in the church of Moissac, seizure of person and property for +all who should submit to the penalties imposed by the inquisitors, as +they were not authorized by the count to administer justice. Such being +his position, it was inevitable that he should be regarded as an +accomplice in the murders, and that the cause which he represented +should suffer greatly in the revulsion of public feeling which it +occasioned.[42] + +Raymond had been busy in effecting a widespread alliance which should +wring from the House of Capet its conquests of the last quarter of a +century. He had been joined by the Kings of England, Castile, and +Aragon, and the Count de la Marche, and everything bid fair for his +reconquest of his old domains. The massacre of Avignonet was a most +untoward precursor of the revolt which burst forth immediately +afterwards. It shook the fidelity of some of his vassals, who withdrew +their support; and, to counteract its impression, he felt obliged to +convert his sham siege of Montségur into an active one, thus employing +troops which he could ill spare. Yet the rising, for a while, promised +success, and Raymond even reassumed his old title of Duke of Narbonne. +King Louis, however, was equal to the occasion, and allowed the allies +no time to concentrate their forces. His victories over the English and +Gascons at Taillebourg and Saintes, July 19 and 23, deprived Raymond of +all hope of assistance from that quarter. Pestilence forced the +withdrawal of the main army of Louis, but a force under the veteran +Imbert de Beaujeu operated actively against Raymond, who, without help +from his allies and deserted by many of his vassals, was obliged to lay +down his arms, December 22. When suing for peace he pledged himself to +extirpate heresy and to punish the assassins of Avignonet with an +effusiveness which shows the importance attached to these conditions. +The sagacity and moderation of King Louis granted him easy terms, but +one of the stipulations of settlement was that every male inhabitant +over the age of fifteen should take an oath to assist the Church against +heresy, and the king against Raymond, in case of another revolt. Thus +the purity of the faith and the supremacy of the foreign domination were +once again recognized as inseparably allied.[43] + +The triumph of both had been secured. This ended the last serious effort +of the South to recover its independence. Henceforth, under the treaty +of Paris, it was to pass irrevocably into the hands of the stranger, and +the Inquisition was to have unrestricted opportunity to enforce +conformity in religion. It was in vain that Raymond again, at the +Council of Béziers, April 20, 1243, summoned the bishops of his +dominions--those of Toulouse, Agen, Cahors, Albi, and Rodez--urging them +personally or through proper deputies, whether Cistercians, Dominicans, +or Franciscans, to make diligent inquisition after heresy, and pledged +the assistance of the secular arm for its extirpation. It was equally in +vain that, immediately on the accession of Innocent IV., in June, a +deputation of Dominicans, frightened by the warning of Avignonet, +earnestly alleged many reasons why the dangerous burden should be lifted +from their shoulders. The pope peremptorily refused, and ordered them to +continue their holy labors, even at the risk of martyrdom.[44] + +Despite this single exhibition of hesitation and weakness, the Order was +not lacking in men whose eager fanaticism rendered them fully prepared +to accept the perilous post. The peril, indeed, was apparent rather than +real--it had passed away in the revulsion which followed the useless +bloodshed of Avignonet and the failure of Raymond's rebellion. There was +a rising tide in favor of orthodoxy. A confraternity organized in +October, 1243, by Durand, Bishop of Albi, is probably only the +expression of what was going on in many places. Organized under the +protection of St. Cecilia, the members of the association pledged +themselves not only to mutual protection, but to aid the bishop to +execute justice on heretics, Vaudois and their fautors, and to defend +inquisitors as they would their own bodies. Any member suspected of +heresy was to be incontinently ejected, and a reward of a silver mark +was offered for every heretic captured and delivered to the association. +The new pope had, moreover, spoken in no uncertain tone. His refusal to +relieve the Dominicans was accompanied with a peremptory command to all +the prelates of the region to extend favor, assistance, and protection +to the inquisitors in their toils and tribulations. Any slackness in +this was freely threatened with the papal vengeance, while favor was +significantly promised as the reward of zeal. The Dominicans were urged +to fresh exertion to overcome the threatened recrudescence of heresy. A +new legate, Zoen, Bishop-elect of Avignon, was also despatched to +Languedoc, with instructions to act vigorously. His predecessor had been +complained of by the inquisitors for having, in spite of their +remonstrances, released many of their prisoners and remitted penances +indiscriminately. All such acts of misplaced mercy were pronounced void, +and Zoen was ordered to reimpose all such penalties without appeal.[45] + +Still more menacing to the heretic cause was the reconciliation at last +effected between Raymond and the papacy. In September, 1243, the count +visited Italy, where he had an interview with Frederic II. in Apulia, +and with Innocent in Rome. For ten years he had been under +excommunication, and had carried on an unavailing struggle. He could no +longer cherish illusions, and was doubtless ready to give whatever +assurances might be required of him. On the other hand, the new pope was +free from the predispositions which the long strife had engendered in +Gregory IX. There seems to have been little difficulty in reaching an +understanding, to which the good offices of Louis IX. powerfully +contributed. December 2, Raymond was released from his various +excommunications; January 1, 1244, the absolution was announced to King +Louis and the prelates of the kingdom, who were ordered to publish it in +all the churches, and January 7 the Legate Zoen was instructed to treat +him with fatherly affection and not permit him to be molested. In all +this absolution had only been given _ad cautelam_, or provisionally, for +a special excommunication had been decreed against him as a fautor of +heretics, after the massacre of Avignonet, by the inquisitors Ferrer and +Guillem Raymond. Against this he had made a special appeal to the Holy +See in April, 1243, and a special bull of May 16, 1244, was required for +its abrogation. No conditions seem to have been imposed respecting the +long-deferred crusade, and thenceforth Raymond lived in perfect harmony +with the Holy See. Indeed, he was the recipient of many favors. A bull +of March 18, 1244, granted him the privilege that for five years he +should not be forced by apostolic letters to answer in judgment outside +of his own dominions; another of April 27, 1245, took him, his family, +and lands under the special protection of St. Peter and the papacy; and +yet another of May 12, 1245, provided that no delegate of the Apostolic +See should have power to utter excommunication or any other sentence +against him without a special mandate. Besides this, one of April 21, +1245, imposed some limitations on the power of inquisitors, limitations +which they seem never to have observed. Raymond was fairly won over. He +had evidently resolved to accommodate himself to the necessities of the +time, and the heretic had nothing further to hope or the inquisitor to +fear from him. The preparation for increased and systematic vigor of +operations is seen in the elaborate provisions, so often referred to +above, of the Council of Narbonne, held at this period.[46] + +Yet so long as heresy retained the stronghold of Montségur as a refuge +and rallying-point its secret and powerful organization could not be +broken. The capture of that den of outlaws was a necessity of the first +order, and as soon as the confusion of the rebellion of 1242 had +subsided it was undertaken as a crusade, not by Raymond, but by the +Archbishop of Narbonne, the Bishop of Albi, the Seneschal of +Carcassonne, and some nobles, either led by zeal or by the hope of +salvation. The heretics, on their side, were not idle. Some baillis of +Count Raymond sent them Bertrand de la Bacalairia, a skilful maker of +military engines, to aid them in the defence, who made no scruple in +affirming that he came with the assent of the count, and from every side +money, provisions, arms, and munitions of war were poured into the +stronghold. In the spring of 1243 the siege began, prosecuted with +indefatigable ardor by the besiegers, and resisted with desperate +resolution by the besieged. As in the old combats at Toulouse, the women +assisted their warriors, and the venerable Catharan bishop, Bertrand +Martin, animated their devoted courage with promises of eternal bliss. +It is significant of the public temper that sympathizers in the +besiegers' camp permitted tolerably free communication between the +besieged and their friends, and gave them warning of the plans of +attack. Even the treasure which had been stored up in Montségur was +conveyed away safely through the investing lines, about Christmas, 1243, +to Pons Arnaud de Châteauverdun in the Savartès. Secret relations were +maintained with Count Raymond, and the besieged were buoyed up with +promises that if they would hold out until Easter, 1244, he would march +to their relief with forces supplied by the Emperor Frederic II. It was +all in vain. The siege dragged on its weary length for nearly a year, +till, on the night of March 1, 1244, guided by some shepherds who +betrayed their fellow-countrymen, by almost inaccessible paths among the +cliffs, the crusaders surprised and carried one of the outworks. The +castle was no longer tenable. A brief parley ensued, and the garrison +agreed to surrender at dawn, delivering up to the archbishop all the +perfected heretics among them, on condition that the lives of the rest +should be spared. Although a few were let down from the walls with ropes +and thus escaped, the capitulation was carried out, and the archbishop's +shrift was short. At the foot of the mountain-peak an enclosure of +stakes was formed, piled high with wood, and set on fire. The Perfect +were asked to renounce their faith, and on their refusal were cast into +the flames. Thus perished two hundred and five men and women. The +conquerors might well write exultingly to the pope, "We have crushed +the head of the dragon!"[47] + +Although the lives of the rest of the captives were guaranteed, they +were utilized to the utmost. For months the inquisitors Ferrer and P. +Durant devoted themselves to the examinations to secure evidence against +heretics far and near, dead and alive. From the aged Raymond de Péreille +to a child ten years of age, they were forced, under repeated +interrogatories, to recall every case of adoration and heretication that +they could remember, and page after page was covered with interminable +lists of names of those present at sermons and _consolamenta_ through a +period extending back to thirty or forty years before, and embracing the +whole land as far as Catalonia. Even those who had brought victual to +Montségur and sold it were carefully looked after and set down. It can +readily be conceived what an accession was made to the terrible records +of the Inquisition, and how valuable was the insight obtained into the +ramifications of heresy throughout the land during more than a +generation--what digging up of bones would follow with confiscation of +estates, and with what unerring certainty the inquisitors would be able +to seize their victims and confound their denials. We can only guess at +the means by which this information was extracted from the prisoners. +Torture had not yet been introduced; life had been promised, and +perpetual imprisonment was inevitable for such pronounced heretics; and +when we see Raymond de Péreille himself, who had endured unflinchingly +the vicissitudes of the crusades, and had bravely held out to the last, +ransacking his memory to betray all whom he had ever seen adore a +minister, we can imagine the horrors of the two months' preliminary +captivity which had so broken his spirit as to bring him to this depth +of degradation. Even a perfected heretic, Arnaud de Bretos, captured +while flying to Lombardy, was induced to reveal the names of all who had +given him shelter and attended his ministrations during his missionary +wanderings.[48] + +Henceforth the Cathari could hope only in God. All chance of resistance +was over. One by one their supports had broken, and there was only left +the passive resistance of martyrdom. The Inquisition could track and +seize its victims at leisure, and king and count could follow with +decrees of confiscation which were gradually to transfer the lands of +the South to orthodox and loyal subjects. The strongest testimony that +can be given to the living earnestness of the Catharan faith is to be +found in the prolongation of this struggle yet through three hopeless +generations. It is no wonder, however, if the immediate effect of these +crowding events was to fill the heretics with despair. In the poem of +Isarn de Villemur, written about this period, the heretic, Sicard de +Figueras is represented as saying that their best and most trusted +friends are turning against them and betraying them. How many believers +at this juncture abandoned their religion, even at the cost of lifelong +imprisonment, we have no means of accurately estimating, but the number +must have been enormous, to judge from the request, already alluded to, +of the Council of Narbonne about this time to the inquisitors to +postpone their sentences in view of the impossibility of building +prisons sufficient to contain the crowds who hurried in to accuse +themselves and seek reconciliation, after the expiration of the time of +grace, which Innocent IV., in December, 1243, had ordered to be +designated afresh.[49] + +Yet, in a population so thoroughly leavened with heresy, these thousands +of voluntary penitents still left an ample field of activity for the +zeal of the inquisitors. Each one who confessed was bound to give the +names of all whom he had seen engaged in heretical acts, and of all who +had been hereticated on the death-bed. Innumerable clews were thus +obtained to bring to trial those who failed to accuse themselves, and to +exhume and burn the bones of those who were beyond the ability to +recant. For the next few years the life of the inquisitors was a busy +one. The stunned populations no longer offered resistance, and grew used +to the despair of the penitents sentenced to perpetual prison, the +dragging of decomposed corpses through the streets, and the horror of +the Tophets where the victims passed through temporal to eternal flame. +Still there is a slight indication that the service was not wholly +without danger from the goadings of vengeance or the courage of despair, +when the Council of Béziers, in 1246, ordering travelling inquests, +makes exception in the cases when it may not be safe for the inquisitors +to personally visit the places where the inquisition should be held; and +Innocent IV., in 1247, authorizes the inquisitors to cite the accused to +come to them, in view of the perils arising from the ambushes of +heretics.[50] + +The fearless and indefatigable men who now performed the functions of +inquisitor in Languedoc can rarely have taken advantage of this +concession to weakness. Bernard de Caux, who so well earned the title of +the hammer of heretics, was at this time the leading spirit of the +Inquisition of Toulouse, after a term of service in Montpellier and +Agen, and he had for colleague a kindred spirit in Jean de Saint-Pierre. +Together they made a thorough inquest over the whole province, passing +the population through a sieve with a completeness which must have left +few guilty consciences unexamined. There is extant a fragmentary record +of this inquest, covering the years 1245 and 1246, during which no less +than six hundred places were investigated, embracing about one half of +Languedoc. The magnitude of the work thus undertaken, and the incredible +energy with which it was pushed, is seen in the enormous number of +interrogatories recorded in petty towns. Thus at Avignonet there are two +hundred and thirty; at Fanjoux, one hundred; at Mas-Saintes-Puelles, +four hundred and twenty. M. Molinier, to whom we are indebted for an +account of this interesting document, has not made an accurate count of +the whole number of cases, but estimates that the total cannot fall far +short of eight thousand to ten thousand. When we consider what all this +involved in the duty of examination and comparison we may well feel +wonder at the superhuman energy of these founders of the Inquisition; +but we may also assume, as with the sentences of Pierre Cella, that the +fate of the victims who were sifted out of this mass of testimony must +have been passed upon with no proper or conscientious scrutiny. At +least, however, they must have escaped the long and torturing delays +customary in the later and more leisurely stages of the Inquisition. +With such a record before us it is not easy to understand the complaint +of the bishops of Languedoc, in 1245, that the Inquisition was too +merciful, that heresy was increasing, and that the inquisitors ought to +be urged to greater exertions. It was possibly in consequence of the +lack of harmony thus revealed between the episcopate and the Inquisition +that Innocent, in April of the same year, ordered the Inquisitors of +Languedoc to proceed as usual in cases of manifest heresy, and in those +involving slight punishment, while he directed them to suspend +proceedings in matters requiring imprisonment, crosses, long +pilgrimages, and confiscation until definite rules should be laid down +in the Council of Lyons, which he was about to open. These questions, +however, were settled in that of Béziers, which met in 1246, and issued +a new code of procedure.[51] + +In all this Count Raymond, now thoroughly fitted in the Catholic groove, +was an earnest participant. As his stormy life drew to its close, +harmony with the Church was too great an element of comfort and +prosperity for him to hesitate in purchasing it with the blood of a few +of his subjects, whom, indeed, he could scarce have saved had he so +willed. He gave conspicuous evidence of his hatred of heresy. In 1247 he +ordered his officials to compel the attendance of the inhabitants at the +sermons of the friars in all towns and villages through which they +passed, and in 1249, at Berlaiges, near Agen, he coldly ordered the +burning of eighty believers who had confessed their errors in his +presence--a piece of cruelty far transcending that habitual with the +inquisitors. About the same time King Jayme of Aragon effected a change +in the Inquisition in the territories of Narbonne. Possibly this may +have had some connection with the murder by the citizens of two +officials of the Inquisition and the destruction of its records, giving +endless trouble in the effort to reconstruct the lists of sentences and +the invaluable accumulation of evidence against suspects. Be this as it +may, Innocent IV., at the request of the king, forbade the archbishop +and inquisitors from further proceedings against heresy, and then +empowered the Dominican Provincial of Spain and Raymond of Pennaforte to +appoint new ones for the French possessions of Aragon.[52] + +When St. Louis undertook his disastrous crusade to Damietta he was +unwilling to leave behind him so dangerous a vassal as Raymond. The vow +of service to Palestine had long since been remitted by Innocent IV., +but the count was open to persuasion, and the bribes offered show at +once the importance attached to his presence with the host and to his +absence from home. The king promised him twenty thousand to thirty +thousand livres for his expenses and the restitution of the duchy of +Narbonne on his return. The pope agreed to pay him two thousand marks on +his arrival beyond seas, and that he should have during his absence all +the proceeds of the redemption of vows and all legacies bequeathed to +the crusade. The prohibition of imposing penitential crusades on +converted heretics was also suspended for his benefit, while the other +long pilgrimages customarily employed as penances were not to be +enjoined while he was in service. Stimulated by these dazzling rewards, +he assumed the cross in earnest, and his ardor for the purity of the +faith grew stronger. Even the tireless activity of Bernard de Caux was +insufficient to satisfy him. While that incomparable persecutor was +devoting all his energies to working up the results of his tremendous +inquests, Raymond, early in 1248, complained to Innocent that the +Inquisition was neglecting its duty; that heretics, both living and +dead, remained uncondemned; that others from abroad were coming into his +own and neighboring territories and spreading their pestilence, so that +the land which had been well-nigh purified was again filled with +heresy.[53] + +Death spared Raymond the misfortunes of the ill-starred Egyptian +crusade. When his preparations were almost complete he was seized with +mortal illness and died, September 27, 1249, with his latest breath +ordering his heirs to restore the sums which he had received for the +expedition, and to send fifty knights to serve in Palestine for a year. +That his death was generally regretted by his subjects we can readily +believe. Not only was it the extinction of the great house which had +bravely held its own from Carlovingian times, but the people felt that +the last barrier between them and the hated Frenchmen was removed. The +heiress Jeanne had been educated at the royal court, and was French in +all but birth. Moreover, she seems to have been a nonentity whose +influence is imperceptible, and the sceptre of the South passed into the +hands of Alphonse of Poitiers, an avaricious and politic prince, whose +zeal for orthodoxy was greatly stimulated by the profitable +confiscations resulting from persecution. Raymond had required repeated +urging to induce him to employ this dreaded penalty with the needful +severity. No such watchfulness was necessary in the case of Alphonse. +When the rich heritage fell in, he and his wife were with his brother, +King Louis, in Egypt, but the vigilant regent, Queen Blanche, promptly +took possession in their name, and on their return, in 1251, they +personally received the homage of their subjects. By a legal subtlety +Alphonse evaded the payment of the pious legacies of Raymond's will, and +compounded for it by leaving, on his departure for the North, a large +sum to provide for the expenses of the Inquisition, and to furnish wood +for the execution of its sentences. Not long afterwards we find him +urging his bishops to render more efficient support to the labors of the +inquisitors; in his chancery there was a regular formula of a commission +for inquisitors, to be sent to Rome for the papal signature; and +throughout his twenty years of reign he pursued the same policy without +deviation. The urgency with which, in December, 1268, he wrote to Pons +de Poyet and Étienne de Gátine, stimulating them to redoubled activity +in clearing his dominions of heretics, was wholly superfluous, but it is +characteristic of the line of action which he carried out consistently +to the end.[54] + +The fate of Languedoc was now irrevocably sealed. Hitherto there had +been hopes that perhaps Raymond's inconstancy might lead him to retrace +the steps of the last few years. Moreover, his subjects had shared in +the desire, manifested in his repeated marriage projects, that he should +have an heir to inherit the lands not pledged in succession to his +daughter. He was but in his fifty-first year, and the expectation was +not unreasonable that his line might be perpetuated and the southern +nationality be preserved. All this was now seen to be a delusion, and +the most sanguine Catharan could look forward to nothing but a life of +concealment ending in prison or fire. Yet the heretic Church stubbornly +held its own, though with greatly diminished numbers. Many of its +members fled to Lombardy, where, even after the death of Frederic II., +the civic troubles and the policy of local despots, such as Ezzelin da +Romano, afforded some shelter from the Inquisition. Yet many remained +and pursued their wandering missions among the faithful, perpetually +tracked by inquisitorial spies, but rarely betrayed. These humble and +forgotten men, hopelessly braving hardship, toil, and peril in what they +deemed the cause of God, were true martyrs, and their steadfast heroism +shows how little relation the truth of a religion bears to the +self-devotion of its followers. Rainerio Saccone, the converted +Catharan, who had the best means of ascertaining the facts, computes, +about this time, that there were in Lombardy one hundred and fifty +"perfected" refugees from France, while the churches of Toulouse, +Carcassonne, and Albi, including that of Agen, then nearly destroyed, +numbered two hundred more. These figures would indicate that a very +considerable congregation of believers still existed in spite of the +systematic and ruthless proscription of the past twenty years. Their +earnestness was kept alive, not only by the occasional and dearly-prized +visits of the travelling ministers, but by the frequent intercourse +which was maintained with Lombardy. Until the disappearance of the sect +on this side of the Alps, there is, in the confessions of penitents, +perpetual allusion to these pilgrimages back and forth, which kept up +the relations between the refugees and those left at home. Thus, in +1254, Guillem Fournier, in an interrogatory before the Inquisition of +Toulouse, relates that he started for Italy with five companions, +including two women. His first resting-place was at Coni, where he met +many heretics; then at Pavia, where he was hereticated by Raymond +Mercier, former deacon of Toulouse. At Cremona he lived for a year with +Vivien, the much-loved Bishop of Toulouse, with whom he found a number +of noble refugees. At Pisa he stayed for eight months; at Piacenza he +again met Vivien, and he finally returned to Languedoc with messages +from the refugees to their friends at home. In 1300, at Albi, Étienne +Mascot confesses that he had been sent to Lombardy by Master Raymond +Calverie to bring back Raymond André, or some other perfected heretic. +At Genoa he met Bertrand Fabri, who had been sent on the same errand by +Guillem Golfier. They proceeded together and met other old +acquaintances, now refugees, who conducted them to a spot where, in a +wood, were several houses of refuge for heretics. The lord of the place +gave them a Lombard, Guglielmo Pagani, who returned with them. In 1309 +Guillem Falquet confessed at Toulouse to having been four times to Como, +and even to Sicily, organizing the Church. He was caught while visiting +a sick believer, and condemned to imprisonment in chains, but managed to +escape in 1313. At the same time was sentenced Raymond de Verdun, who +had likewise been four times to Lombardy.[55] + +The proscribed heretics, thus nursing their faith in secret, gave the +inquisitors ample occupation. As their ranks were thinned by persecution +and flight, and as their skill in concealment increased with experience, +there could no longer be the immense harvests of penitents reaped by +Pierre Gella and Bernard de Caux, but there were enough to reward the +energies of the friars and to tax the adroitness of their spies. The +organization of the Inquisition, moreover, was gradually perfected. In +1254 the Council of Albi carefully revised the regulations concerning +it. Fixed tribunals were established, and the limitations of the +inquisitorial districts were strictly defined. For Provence and the +territories east of the Rhone, Marseilles was the headquarters, +eventually confided to the Franciscans. The rest of the infected regions +were left to the Dominicans, with tribunals at Toulouse, Carcassonne, +and Narbonne; and, from such fragmentary documents as have reached us, +at this time the Inquisition at Carcassonne rivalled that of Toulouse in +energy and effectiveness. For a while safety was sought by heretics in +northern France, but the increasing vigor of the Inquisition established +there drove the unfortunate refugees back, and in 1255 a bull of +Alexander IV. authorized the Provincial of Paris and his inquisitors to +pursue the fugitives in the territories of the Count of Toulouse. At the +same time the special functions of the inquisitors were jealously +guarded against all encroachments. We have seen how, in its early days, +it was subjected to the control of papal legates, but now that it was +firmly established and thoroughly organized it was held independent; and +when the legate Zoen, Bishop of Avignon, in 1257, endeavored, in virtue +of his legatine authority, which fourteen years before had been so +absolute, to perform inquisitorial work, he was rudely reminded by +Alexander IV. that he could do so if he pleased in his own diocese, but +that outside of it he must not interfere with the Inquisition. To this +period is also to be ascribed the complete subjection of all secular +officials to the behests of the inquisitors. The piety of St. Louis and +the greed of Alphonse of Poitiers and Charles of Anjou rivalled each +other in placing all the powers of the State at the disposal of the Holy +Office, and in providing for its expenses. It was virtually supreme in +the land, and, as we have seen, it was a law unto itself.[56] + +The last shadow of open resistance was dissipated in the year 1255. +After the fall of Montségur the proscribed and disinherited knights, +the _faidits_, and the heretics had sought to establish among the +mountains some stronghold where they could feel safe for a moment. +Driven from one retreat after another, they finally took possession of +the castle of Quéribus, in the Pyrenees of Fenouillèdes. In the early +spring of 1255 this last refuge was besieged by Pierre d'Auteuil, the +royal Seneschal of Carcassonne. The defence was stubborn. May 5 the +seneschal appealed to the bishops sitting in council at Béziers to give +him assistance, as they had done so energetically at Montségur. The +reply of the prelates was commendably cautious. They were not bound, +they said, to render military service to the king, and when they had +joined his armies it had been by command of a legate or of their +primate, the Archbishop of Narbonne. Nevertheless, as common report +described Quéribus as a receptacle of heretics, thieves, and robbers, +and its reduction was a good work for the faith and for peace, they +would each one, without derogating from his rights, furnish such +assistance as seemed to him fitting. It may be assumed from this that +the seneschal had to do the work unaided; in fact, he complained to the +king that the prelates rather impeded than assisted him, but by August +the place was in his hands, and nothing remained for the outlaws but the +forest and the caverns. In that savage region the dense undergrowth +afforded many a hiding-place, and an attempt was made to cut away the +briers and thorns which served as shelter for ruined noble and hunted +Catharan. The work was undertaken by a certain Bernard, who thence +acquired the name of Espinasser or thorn-cutter. Popular hatred has +preserved his remembrance, and expresses its sentiment in a myth which +gibbets him in the moon.[57] + +With the land at its feet, the Inquisition, in the plenitude of its +power, had no hesitation in attacking the loftiest nobles, for all men +were on a level in the eyes of the Most High, and the Holy Office was +the avenger of God. The most powerful vassal of the houses of Toulouse +and Aragon was the Count of Foix, whose extensive territories on both +sides of the Pyrenees rendered him almost independent in his mountain +fastnesses. Count Roger Bernard II., known as the Great, had been one of +the bravest and most obstinate defenders of the land, and, after the +pacification of 1229, Raymond had been obliged to threaten him with war +to force him to submit. His memory was proudly treasured in the land as +"_Rogier Bernat lo pros et sens dengun reproche_." His family was +deeply tinctured with heresy. His wife and one of his sisters were +Waldenses, another sister was a Catharan, and the monk of Vaux-Cernay +describes him as an enemy of God and a cruel persecutor of the Church. +Yet, when he yielded in 1229, although he does not seem to have +energetically fulfilled his oath to persecute heresy in his domains, for +in 1233 we hear of his holding a personal conference at Aix with the +heretic bishop Bertrand Martin, he was in other respects a loyal subject +and faithful son of the Church. In 1237 he counselled his son, then +Vizconde de Castelbo in Aragon, to allow the Inquisition in his lands, +which resulted in the condemnation of many heretics, although Ponce, +Bishop of Urgel, his personal enemy, had refused to relieve him of +excommunication as a fautor of heresy until 1240, when he submitted to +the conditions imposed, abjured heresy, and was reconciled. At his +death, in 1241, he left liberal bequests to the Church, and especially +to his ancestral Cistercian Abbey of Bolbonne, in which he died in +monkish habit, after duly receiving the sacraments. His son, Roger IV., +gave the _coup de grâce_ to the rising of 1242, by placing himself under +the immediate sovereignty of the crown, and defeating Raymond after the +victories of St. Louis had driven back the English and Gascons. He had +some troubles with the Inquisition, but a bull of Innocent IV., in 1248, +eulogizes his devotion to the Holy See, and rewards him with the power +to release from the saffron crosses six penitents of his choice; and in +1261 he issued an edict commanding the enforcement of the rule that no +office within his domains should be held by any one condemned to wear +crosses, any one suspected of heresy, or the son of any one similarly +defamed.[58] + +All this would seem to give ample guarantee of the orthodoxy and loyalty +of the House of Foix, but the Inquisition could not condone its ancient +patriotism and tolerance. Besides, if Roger Bernard the Great could be +convicted of heresy, the confiscation of the broad inheritance would +effect a great political object and afford ample spoils for all +concerned. Twenty-two years after his death, therefore, in 1263, +proceedings were commenced against his memory. A faithful servitor of +the old count still survived, Raymond Bernard de Flascan, bailli of +Mazères, who had attended his lord day and night during his last +sickness. If he could be brought to swear that he had seen heretication +performed on the death-bed, the desirable object would be attained. +Frère Pons, the Inquisitor of Carcassonne, came to Mazères, found the +old man an unsatisfactory witness, and threw him into a dungeon. +Suffering under a severe strangury, he was starved and tormented with +all the cruel ingenuity of the Inquisition, and interrogated at +intervals, without his resolution giving way. This was continued for +thirty-two days, when Pons resolved to carry him back to Carcassonne, +where possibly the appliances for bringing refractory witnesses to terms +were more efficacious. Before the journey, which he expected to be his +last, the faithful bailli was given a day's respite at the Abbey of +Bolbonne, which he utilized by executing a notarial instrument, November +26, 1263, attested by two abbots and a number of monks, in which he +recited the trials already endured, solemnly declared that he had never +seen the old count do anything contrary to the faith of Rome, but that +he had died as a good Catholic, and that if, under the severe torture to +which he expected to be subjected, human weakness should lead him to +assert anything else, he would be a liar and a traitor, and no credence +should be given to his words. It would be difficult to conceive of a +more damning revelation of inquisitorial methods; yet fifty years later, +when those methods had been perfected, all concerned in the preparation +of the instrument, whether as notary or witnesses, would have been +prosecuted as impeders of the Inquisition, to be severely punished as +fautors of heresy.[59] + +What became of the poor wretch does not appear. Doubtless he perished in +the terrible Mura of Carcassonne under the combination of disease, +torture, and starvation. His judicial murder, however, was gratuitous, +for the old count's memory remained uncondemned. Yet Roger Bernard +III., despite the papal favor and the proofs he had given of adhesion to +the new order of things, was a perpetual target for inquisitorial +malice. When lying in mortal illness at Mazères, in December, 1264, he +received from Étienne de Gâtine, then Inquisitor of Narbonne, an +imperious order, with threats of prosecution in case of failure, to +capture and deliver up his bailli of Foix, Pierre André, who was suspect +of heresy and had fled on being cited to appear. The count dared only in +reply to express surprise that no notice had been given him that his +bailli was wanted, adding that he had issued orders for his arrest, and +would have personally joined in the pursuit had not sickness rendered +him incapable. At the same time he requested "Apostoli," and appealed +to the pope, to whom he retailed his grievances. The inquisitors, he +said, had never ceased persecuting him; at the head of armed forces they +were in the habit of devastating his lands under pretext of searching +for heretics, and they would bring in their train and under their +protection his special enemies, until his territories were nearly ruined +and his jurisdiction set at naught. He, therefore, placed himself and +his dominions under the protection of the Holy See. He probably escaped +further personal troubles, for he died two months later, in February, +1265, like his father, in the Cistercian habit, and in the Abbey of +Bolbonne; but in 1292 his memory was assailed before Bertrand de +Clermont, Inquisitor of Carcassonne. The effort was fruitless, for in +1297 Bertrand gave to his son, Roger Bernard IV., a declaration that the +accusation had been disproved, and that neither he nor his father should +suffer in person or property in consequence of it.[60] + +When such were the persecutions to which the greatest were exposed it is +easy to understand the tyranny exercised over the whole land by the +irresponsible power of the inquisitors. No one was so loftily placed as +to be beyond their reach, no one so humble as to escape their spies. +When once they had cause of enmity with a man there was no further peace +for him. The only appeal from them was to the pope, and not only was +Rome distant, but the avenue to it lay, as we have seen, in their own +hands. Human wickedness and folly have erected, in the world's history, +more violent despotisms, but never one more cruel, more benumbing, or +more all-pervading. + +For the next twenty years there is little worthy of special note in the +operations of the Inquisition of Languedoc. It pursued its work +continuously with occasional outbursts of energy. Étienne de Gâtine, and +Pons de Poyet, who presided over its tribunals for many years, were no +sluggards, and the period from 1373 to 1375 rewarded their industry with +an abundant harvest. Though heretics naturally grew scarcer with the +unintermitting pursuit of so many years, there was still the exhaustless +catalogue of the dead, whose exhumation furnished an impressive +spectacle for the mob, while their confiscations were welcome to the +pious princes, and contributed largely to the change of ownership of +land which was a political consummation so desirable. Yet heresy with +incredible stubbornness maintained itself, though its concealment grew +ever more difficult, and Italy grew less safe as a refuge and less +prolific as a source of inspiration.[61] + +In 1271 Alphonse and Jeanne, who had accompanied St. Louis in his +unlucky crusade to Tunis, died without issue, during the homeward +journey. The line of Raymond was thus extinct, and the land passed +irrevocably to the crown. Philippe le Hardi took possession even of the +territories which Jeanne had endeavored, as was her right, to alienate +by will, and though he surrendered the Agenois to Henry III., he +succeeded in retaining Querci. No opposition was made to the change of +masters. When, October 8, 1271, Guillaume de Cobardon, royal Seneschal +of Carcassonne, issued his orders regulating the new _régime_, one of +the first things thought of was the confiscations. All castles and +villages which had been forfeited for heresy were taken into the king's +hand, without prejudice to the right of those to whom they might belong, +thus throwing the burden of proof upon all claimants, and cutting out +assigns under alienations. In 1272 Philippe paid a visit to his new +territories; it was designed to be peaceful, but some violences +committed by Roger Bernard IV. of Foix caused him to come at the head of +an army, with which he easily overcame the resistance of the count, +occupied his lands, and threw him into a dungeon. Released in 1273, the +count in 1276 rendered such assistance in the invasion of Navarre that +Philippe took him into favor and restored his castles, on his renouncing +all allegiance to Aragon. Thus the last show of independence in the +South was broken down, and the monarchy was securely planted on its +ruins.[62] + +This consolidation of the south of France under the kings of Paris was +not without compensating advantages. The monarch was rapidly acquiring a +centralized power, which was very different from the overlordship of a +feudal suzerain. The study of the Roman law was beginning to bear fruit +in the State as well as in the Church, and the imperial theories of +absolutism as inherent in kingship were gradually altering all the old +relations. The king's court was expanding into the Parlement, and was +training a school of subtle and resolute civil lawyers who lost no +opportunity of extending the royal jurisdiction, and of legislating for +the whole land in the guise of rendering judgments. In the appeals which +came ever more thickly crowding into the Parlement from every quarter, +the mailed baron found himself hopelessly entangled in the legal +intricacies which were robbing him of his seignorial rights almost +without his knowledge; and the Ordonnances, or general laws, which +emanated from the throne, were constantly encroaching on old privileges, +weakening local jurisdictions, and giving to the whole country a body of +jurisprudence in which the crown combined both the legislative and the +executive functions. If it thus was enabled to oppress, it was likewise +stronger to defend, while the immense extension of the royal domains +since the beginning of the century gave it the physical ability to +enforce its growing prerogatives. + +It was impossible that this metamorphosis in the national institutions +could be effected without greatly modifying the relations between Church +and State. Thus even the saintliness of Louis IX. did not prevent him +from defending himself and his subjects from ecclesiastical domination +in a spirit very different from that which any French monarch had +ventured to exhibit since the days of Charlemagne. The change became +still more manifest under his grandson, Philippe le Bel. Though but +seventeen years of age when he succeeded to the throne in 1286, his rare +ability and vigorous temper soon led him to assert the royal power in +incisive fashion. He recognized, within the boundaries of his kingdom, +no superior, secular or spiritual. Had he entertained any scruples of +conscience, his legal counsellors could easily remove them. To such men +as Pierre Flotte and Guillaume de Nogaret the true position of the +Church was that of subjection to the State, as it had been under the +successors of Constantine, and in their eyes Boniface VIII. was to their +master scarce more than Pope Vigilius had been to Justinian. Few among +the revenges of time are more satisfying than the catastrophe of Anagni, +in 1303, when Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna laid hands on the vicegerent +of God, and Boniface passionately replied to Nogaret's reproaches, "I +can patiently endure to be condemned and deposed by a Patarin"--for +Nogaret was born at St. Felix de Caraman, and his ancestors were said to +have been burned as Cathari. If this be true he must have been more than +human if he did not feel special gratification when, at command of his +master, he appeared before Clement V. with a formal accusation of heresy +against Boniface, and demanded that the dead pope's bones be dug up and +burned. The citizens of Toulouse recognized him as an avenger of their +wrongs when they placed his bust in the gallery of their illustrious men +in the Hôtel-de-ville.[63] + +It was to the royal power, thus rising to supremacy, that the people +instinctively turned for relief from the inquisitorial tyranny which was +becoming insupportable. The authority lodged in the hands of the +inquisitor was so arbitrary and irresponsible that even with the purest +intentions it could not but be unpopular, while to the unworthy it +afforded unlimited opportunity for oppression and the gratification of +the basest passions. Dangerous as was any manifestation of discontent, +the people of Albi and Carcassonne, reduced to despair by the cruelty of +the inquisitors, Jean Galande and Jean Vigoureux, mustered courage, and +in 1280 presented their complaints to Philippe le Hardi. It was +difficult to sustain their charges with specific proofs, and after a +brief investigation their reiterated requests for relief were dismissed +as frivolous. In the agitation against the Inquisition thus commenced, +it must be borne in mind that heretics had little to do. By this time +they were completely cowed and were quite satisfied if they could enjoy +their faith in secret. The opposition arose from good Catholics, the +magistrates of cities and substantial burghers, who saw the prosperity +of the land withering under the deadly grasp of the Holy Office, and who +felt that no man was safe whose wealth might arouse cupidity or whose +independence might provoke revenge. The introduction of the use of +torture impressed the popular imagination with special horror, and it +was widely believed that confessions were habitually extorted by +insufferable torment from rich men whose faith was unblemished. The +cruel provisions which brought confiscation on the descendants of +heretics, moreover, were peculiarly hard to endure, for ruin impended +over every one against whom the inquisitor might see fit to produce from +his records evidence of ancestral heresy. It was against these records +that the next attempt was directed. Foiled in their appeal to the +throne, the consuls of Carcassonne and some of its prominent +ecclesiastics, in 1283 or 1284, formed a conspiracy to destroy the books +of the Inquisition containing the confessions and depositions. How far +this was organized it would be difficult now to say. The statements of +the witnesses conflict so hopelessly on material points, even as to +dates, that there is little dependence to be placed on them. They were +evidently extracted under torture, and if they are credible the consuls +of the city and the archdeacon, Sanche Morlana, the episcopal Ordinary, +Guillem Brunet, other episcopal officials and many of the secular clergy +were not only implicated in the plot, but were heretics in full +affiliation with the Cathari. Whether true or false they show that there +was the sharpest antagonism between the Inquisition and the local +Church. The whole has an air of unreality which renders one doubtful +about accepting any portion, but there must have been some foundation +for the story. According to the evidence Bernard Garric, who had been a +perfected heretic and a _filius major_, but had been converted and was +now a familiar of the Inquisition, was selected as the instrument. He +was approached, and after some bargaining he agreed to deliver the +books for two hundred livres Tournois, for the payment of which the +consuls went security. How the attempt failed and how it was discovered +does not appear, but probably Bernard at the first overtures confided +the plot to his superiors and led on the conspirators to their ruin.[64] + +The whole community was now at the mercy of the Inquisition, and it was +not disposed to be lenient in its triumph. While the trials were yet +going on, the citizens made a fresh appeal to Pierre Chalus, the royal +chancellor, who was passing through Toulouse on a mission from the court +of Paris to that of Aragon. This was easily disposed of, for on +September 13, 1285, the inquisitors triumphantly brought before him +Bernard Garric to repeat the confession made a week previous. He had +thoroughly learned his lesson, and the only conclusion which the royal +representative could reach was that Carcassonne was a hopeless nest of +heretics, deserving the severest measures of repression. As a last +resort recourse was had to Honorius IV., but the only result was a brief +from him to the inquisitors expressing his grief that the people of +Carcassonne should be impeding the Inquisition with all their strength, +and ordering the punishment of the recalcitrants irrespective of their +station, order, or condition, an expression which shows that the +opposition had not arisen from heretics.[65] + +In reply to these complaints the inquisitors could urge with some truth +that heresy, though hidden, was still busy. Although heretic seigneurs +and nobles had been by this time well-nigh destroyed and their lands had +passed to others, there was still infection among the bourgeoisie of the +cities and the peasantry. It is one of the noteworthy features of +Catharism, moreover, that at no time during its existence were lacking +earnest and devoted ministers, who took their lives in their hands and +wandered around in secret among the faithful, administering spiritual +comfort and instruction, making converts where they could, exhorting the +young and hereticating the old. In toil and hardship and peril they +pursued their work, gliding by night from one place of concealment to +another, and their self-devotion was rivalled by that of their +disciples. Few more touching narratives can be conceived than those +which could be constructed from the artless confessions extorted from +the peasant-folk who fell into the hands of the inquisitors--the humble +alms which they gave, pieces of bread, fish, scraps of cloth, or small +coins, the hiding-places which they constructed in their cabins, the +guidance given by night through places of danger, and, more than all, +the steadfast fidelity which refused to betray their pastors when the +inquisitor suddenly appeared and offered the alternative of free pardon +or the dungeon and confiscation. The self-devotion of the minister was +well matched with the quiet heroism of the believer. To this fidelity +and the complete network of secret organization which extended over the +land may be attributed the marvellously long exemption which many of +these ministers enjoyed in their proselyting missions. Two of the most +prominent of them at this period, Raymond Delboc and Raymond Godayl, or +Didier, had already, in 1276, been condemned by the Inquisition of +Carcassonne as perfected heretics and fugitives, but they kept at their +work until the explosion of 1300, incessantly active, with the +inquisitors always in pursuit but unable to overtake them. Guillem Pagès +is another whose name constantly recurs in the confessions of +heretications during an almost equally long period. The inquisitors +might well urge that their utmost efforts were needed, but their methods +were such that even the best intentions would not have saved the +innocent from suffering with the guilty.[66] + +The secretly guilty were quite sufficiently influential, and the +innocent sufficiently apprehensive, to keep up the agitation which had +been commenced, and at last it began to bear fruit. A new inquisitor of +Carcassonne, Nicholas d'Abbeville, was quite as cruel and arbitrary as +his predecessors, and when the people prepared an appeal to the king he +promptly threw into jail the notary who drew up the paper. In their +desperation they disregarded this warning; a deputation was sent to the +court, and this time they were listened to. May 13, 1291, Philippe +addressed a letter to his Seneschal of Carcassonne reciting the injuries +inflicted by the Inquisition on the innocent through the newly-invented +system of torture, by means of which the living and the dead were +fraudulently convicted and the whole land scandalized and rendered +desolate. The royal officials were therefore ordered no longer to obey +the commands of the inquisitors in making arrests, unless the accused be +a confessed heretic or persons worthy of faith vouch for his being +publicly defamed for heresy. A month later he reiterated these orders +even more precisely, and announced his intention of sending deputies to +Languedoc armed with full authority to make permanent provision in the +matter. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of these +manifestoes as marking a new era in the relations between the temporal +and spiritual authorities. For far less than this all the chivalry and +scum of Europe had been promised salvation if they would drive Raymond +of Toulouse from his inheritance.[67] + +It was probably to break in some degree the force of this unheard-of +interference with inquisitorial supremacy that in September, 1292, +Guillem de Saint-Seine, Inquisitor of Carcassonne, ordered all the +parish priests in his district for three weeks on Sundays and +feast-days to denounce as excommunicate all who should impede the +business of the Inquisition and all notaries who should wickedly draw up +revocations of confessions for heretics. This could not effect much, nor +was anything accomplished by a Parlement held April 14, 1293, at +Montpellier, by the royal chamberlain, Alphonse de Ronceyrac, of all the +royal officials and inquisitors of Toulouse and Carcassonne to reform +the abuses of all jurisdictions.[68] + +Shortly after this, in September, 1293, Philippe went a step further and +threw his ægis over the unfortunate Jew. Although Jews as a class were +not liable to persecution by the Inquisition, still, if after being once +converted they reverted to Judaism, or if they proselyted among +Christians to obtain converts, or if they were themselves converts from +Christianity, they were heretics in the eyes of the Church, they fell +under inquisitorial jurisdiction, and were liable to be abandoned to the +secular arm. All these classes were a source of endless trouble to the +Church, especially the "neophytes" or converted Jews, for feigned +conversions were frequent, either for worldly advantage or to escape the +incessant persecution visited upon the unlucky children of Israel.[69] +The bull _Turbato corde_, ordering the inquisitors to be active and +vigilant in prosecuting all who were guilty of these offences, issued in +1268 by Clement IV., was reissued by successive popes with a pertinacity +showing the importance attached to it, and when we see Frère Bertrand de +la Roche, in 1274, officially described as inquisitor in Provence +against heretics and wicked Christians who embrace Judaism, and Frère +Guillaume d'Auxerre, in 1285, qualified as "Inquisitor of Heretics and +Apostate Jews in France," it is evident that these cases formed a large +portion of inquisitorial business. As the Jews were peculiarly +defenceless, this jurisdiction gave wide opportunity for abuse and +extortion which was doubtless turned fully to account. Philippe owed +them protection, for in 1291 he had deprived them of their own judges +and ordered them to plead in the royal courts, and now he proceeded to +protect them in the most emphatic manner. To Simon Brisetête, Seneschal +of Carcassonne, he sent a copy of the bull _Turbato corde_, with +instructions that while this was to be implicitly obeyed, no Jew was to +be arrested for any cause not specified therein, and, if there was any +doubt, the matter was to be referred to the royal council. He further +enclosed an Ordonnance directing that no Jew in France was to be +arrested on the requisition of any person or friar of any Order, no +matter what his office might be, without notifying the seneschal or +bailli, who was to decide whether the case was sufficiently clear to be +acted upon without reference to the royal council. Simon Brisetête +thereupon ordered all officials to defend the Jews, not to allow any +exactions to be imposed on them whereby their ability to pay their taxes +might be impaired, and not to arrest them at the mandate of any one +without informing him of the cause. It would not have been easy to limit +more skilfully the inquisitorial power to oppress a despised class.[70] + +Philippe had thus intervened in the most decided manner, and the +oppressed populations of Languedoc might reasonably hope for permanent +relief, but his subsequent policy belied their hopes. It vacillated in a +manner which is only partially explicable by the shifting political +exigencies of the times so far as we can penetrate them. In this same +year, 1293, the Seneschal of Carcassonne is found instructing Aimeric, +the Viscount of Narbonne, to execute royal letters ordering aid to be +rendered to the inquisitors there. This may have been a mere local +matter, and Philippe, for a while at least, adhered to his position. +Towards the end of 1295 there was issued an Ordonnance of the royal +court, applicable to the whole kingdom, forbidding the arrest of any one +on the demand of a friar of any Order, no matter what his position might +be, unless the seneschal or bailli of the jurisdiction was satisfied +that the arrest should be made, and the person asking it showed a +commission from the pope. This was sent to all the royal officials with +strict injunctions to obey it, although, if the accused were likely to +fly, he might be detained, but not surrendered until the decision of the +court could be had. Moreover, if any persons were then in durance +contrary to the provisions of the Ordonnance, they were to be set at +liberty. Even this did not effect its object sufficiently, and a few +months later, in 1296, Philippe complained to his Seneschal of +Carcassonne of the numbers who were arrested by the royal officers, and +confined in the royal prisons on insufficient grounds, causing scandal +and the heavy infliction of infamy on the innocent. To prevent this +arrests were forbidden except in cases of such violent presumption of +heresy that they could not be postponed, and the officials were +instructed, when called upon by the inquisitors, to make such excuses as +they could. These orders were obeyed, for when, about this time, +Foulques de Saint-Georges, Vice-inquisitor of Carcassonne, ordered the +arrest of sundry suspects by Adam de Marolles, the deputy seneschal, the +latter referred the matter to his principal, Henri de Elisia, who, after +consultation with Robert d'Artois, lieutenant of the king in Languedoc +and Gascony, refused the demand.[71] + +No previous sovereign had ventured thus to trammel the Inquisition. +These regulations, in fact, rendered it virtually powerless, for it had +no organization of its own; even its prisons were the king's and might +be withdrawn at any time, and it depended wholly upon the secular arm +for physical force. In some places, as at Albi, it might rely upon +episcopal assistance, but elsewhere it could do nothing of itself. +Philippe had, moreover, been careful not to excite the ill-will of his +bishops, for his Ordonnances and instructions alluded simply to the +friars, thus excluding the Inquisition from royal aid without +specifically naming it. His quarrel with Boniface VIII. was now +beginning. Between January, 1296, and February, 1297, appeared the +celebrated bulls _Clericis laicos_, _Ineffabilis amoris_, _Excitat nos_, +and _Exiit a te_, whose arrogant encroachments on the secular power +aroused him to resistance, and this doubtless gave a sharper zest to his +desire to diminish in his dominions the authority of so purely papal an +institution as the Inquisition. So shrewd a prince could readily see its +effectiveness as an instrument of papal aggression, for the Church could +make what definition it pleased of heresy; and Boniface did not hesitate +to give him fair warning, when, in October, 1297, he ordered the +Inquisitor of Carcassonne to proceed against certain officials of +Béziers who had rendered themselves in the papal eyes suspect of heresy +because they remained under excommunication, incurred for imposing taxes +on the clergy, boasting that food had not lost its savor to them nor +sleep its sweetness, and who, moreover, dared with polluted lips to +revile the Holy See itself. Under such an extension of jurisdiction +Philippe himself might not be safe, and it is no wonder that tentative +efforts made in 1296 and 1297 to find some method of reconciling the +recent royal Ordonnances with the time-honored absolutism of the +Inquisition proved failures.[72] + +Meanwhile, the exigencies of Italian politics caused Boniface suddenly +to retrace his steps. His quarrel with the Cardinals Giacomo and Pietro +Colonna rendered it advisable to propitiate Philippe. In May, 1297, he +assented to a tithe conceded to the king by his bishops, and in the bull +_Noveritis_ (July, 1297) he exempted France from the operation of the +_Clericis laicos_, while in _Licet per speciales_ (July, 1298) he +withdrew his arrogant pretension imperatively to prolong the armistice +between France and England. A truce was thus patched up with Philippe, +who hastened to manifest his good-will to the Holy See by abandoning his +subjects again to the inquisitors. In the Liber Sextus of the Decretals, +published by Boniface March 3, 1298, the pope included, with customary +imperiousness, a canon commanding the absolute obedience of all secular +officials to the orders of inquisitors under penalty of excommunication, +which if endured for a year carried with it condemnation for heresy. +This was his answer to the French monarch's insubordinate legislation, +and Philippe at the moment was not inclined to contest the matter. In +September he meekly enclosed the canon to his officials with +instructions to obey it in every point, arresting and imprisoning all +whom inquisitors or bishops might designate, and punishing all whom they +might condemn. A letter of Frère Arnaud Jean, Inquisitor of Pamiers, +dated March 2, of the same year, assuring the Jews that they need dread +no novel measures of severity, would seem to indicate that the royal +protection had been previously withdrawn from them. The good +understanding between king and pope lasted until 1300, when the quarrel +broke out afresh with greater acrimony than ever. In December of that +year the provisions of _Clericis laicos_ were renewed by the bull _Nuper +ex rationalibus_, followed by the short one, of which the authenticity +is disputed, _Scire te volumus_, asserting Philippe's subjection in +temporal affairs and calling forth his celebrated rejoinder, _Sciat tua +maxima fatuitas_. The strife continued with increasing violence till the +seizure of Boniface at Anagni, September 8, 1303, and his death in the +following month.[73] + +Under this varying policy the fate of the people of Languedoc was hard. +Nicholas d'Abbeville, the Inquisitor of Carcassonne, was a man of +inflexible severity, arrogantly bent on pushing his prerogatives to the +utmost. He had an assistant worthy of him in Foulques de Saint-Georges, +the Prior of the Convent of Albi, which was under his jurisdiction. He +had virtually another assistant in the bishop, Bernard de Castanet, who +delighted to act as inquisitor, impelled alike by fanaticism and by +greed, for, as we have seen, the bishops of Albi, by a special +transaction with St. Louis, enjoyed a half of the confiscations. Prior +to his elevation in 1276 Bernard had been auditor of the papal camera, +which shows him to have been an accomplished legist, and he was also a +patron of art and literature, but he was ever in trouble with his +people. Already, in 1277, he had succeeded in so exasperating them that +his palace was swept by a howling mob, and he barely escaped with his +life. In 1282 he commenced the erection of the cathedral of St. Cecilia, +a gigantic building, half church, half fortress, which swallowed +enormous sums, and stimulated his hatred of heresy by supplying a pious +use for the estates of heretics.[74] + +To such men the protection granted to his subjects by Philippe was most +distasteful, and not without reason. Heretics naturally took advantage +of the restrictions imposed on the Inquisition and redoubled their +activity. It might seem, indeed, to them that the day of supremacy of +the Church was past, and that the rising independence of the secular +power might usher in an era of comparative toleration, in which their +persecuted religion would at length find its oft-deferred opportunity of +converting mankind--a dream in which they indulged to the last. More +demonstrative, if not more earnest, was the feeling which the royal +policy aroused in Carcassonne. The Ordonnances had not only crippled the +Inquisition, but had shown the disfavor with which it was regarded by +the king, and in 1295 some of the leading citizens, who had been +compromised in the trials of 1285, found no difficulty in arousing the +people to open resistance. For a while they controlled the city, and +inflicted no little injury on the Dominicans, and on all who ventured to +support them. Nicholas d'Abbeville was driven from the pulpit when +preaching, pelted with stones and pursued with drawn swords, and the +judges of the royal court on one occasion were glad to escape with their +lives, while the friars were beaten and insulted when they appeared in +public and were practically segregated as excommunicates. Bernard Gui, +an eye-witness, naturally attributes this to the influence of heresy, +but it is impossible for us now to conjecture how much may have been due +to religious antagonism, and how much to the natural reaction among the +orthodox against the intolerable oppression of the inquisitorial +methods.[75] + +For some years the Inquisition of Carcassonne was suspended. As soon as +secular support was withdrawn public opinion was too strong, and it +succumbed. This lasted until the truce between king and pope again +placed the royal power at the disposal of the inquisitors. In their +despair the citizens then sent envoys to Boniface VIII., with Aimeric +Castel at their head, supported by a number of Franciscans. Boniface +listened to their complaints and proposed to depute the Bishop of +Vicenza as commissioner to examine and report, but the papal +referendary, afterwards Cardinal of S. Sabina, required a bribe of ten +thousand florins as a preliminary. It was promised him, but Aimeric, +having secured the good offices of Pierre Flotte and the Duke of +Burgundy, thought he could obtain his purpose for less, and refused to +pay it. When Boniface heard of the refusal he angrily exclaimed, "We +know in whom they trust, but by God all the kings in Christendom shall +not save the people of Carcassonne from being burned, and specially the +father of that Aimeric Castel!" The negotiation fell through, and +Nicholas d'Abbeville had his triumph. A large portion of the citizens +were wearied with the disturbances, and were impatient under the +excommunication which rested on the community. The prosperity of the +town was declining, and there were not wanting those who predicted its +ruin. The hopelessness of further resistance was apparent, and matters +being thus ripe for a settlement, a solemn assembly was held, April 27, +1299, when the civic magistrates met the inquisitor in the presence of +the Bishops of Albi and Béziers, Bertrand de Clermont, Inquisitor of +Toulouse, the royal officials, sundry abbots and other notables. +Nicholas dictated his own terms for the absolution asked at his hands, +nor were they seemingly harsh. Those who were manifest heretics, or +specially defamed, or convicted by legal proof must take their chance. +The rest were to be penanced as the bishops and the Abbot of Fontfroide +might advise, excluding confiscation and personal or humiliating +penalties. All this was reasonable enough from an ecclesiastical point +of view, but so deep-seated was the distrust, or so strong the heretical +influence, that the people asked twenty-four hours for consideration, +and on reassembling the next day refused the terms. Six months passed, +their helplessness and isolation each day becoming more apparent, until, +October 8, they reassembled, and the consuls asked for absolution in the +name of the community. Nicholas was not severe. The penance imposed on +the town was the building of a chapel in honor of St. Louis, which was +accomplished in the year 1300 at the cost of ninety livres Tournois. The +consuls, in the name of the community, secretly abjured heresy. Twelve +of the most guilty citizens were reserved for special penances, viz., +four of the old consuls, four councillors, two advocates, and two +notaries. Of these the fate was doubtless deplorable. Chance has +preserved to us the sentence passed on one of the authors of the +troubles, Guillem Garric, by which we find that he rotted in the +horrible dungeon of Carcassonne for twenty-two years before he was +brought forward for judgment in 1321, when in consideration of his long +confinement he was given the choice between the crusade and exile, and +the crushed old man fell on his knees and gave thanks to Jesus Christ +and to the inquisitors for the mercy vouchsafed him. Some years later +intense excitement was created when Frère Bernard Délicieux obtained +sight of the agreement, and discovered that the consuls had been +represented in it as confessing that the whole community had given aid +to manifest heretics, that they had abjured in the name of all, and thus +that all citizens were incapacitated for office and were exposed to the +penalties of relapse in case of further trouble. This excited the people +to such a point that the inquisitor, Geoffroi d'Ablis, was obliged to +issue a solemn declaration, August 10, 1303, disclaiming any intention +of thus taking advantage of the settlement; and notwithstanding this, +when King Philippe came to Carcassonne in 1305 the agreement was +pronounced fraudulent, the seneschal Gui Caprier was dismissed for +having affixed his seal to it, and confessed that he had been bribed to +do so by Nicholas d'Abbeville with a thousand livres Tournois.[76] + +Encouraged by the crippling and suspension of the Inquisition, the +Catharan propaganda had been at work with renewed vigor. In 1299 the +Council of Béziers sounded the alarm by announcing that perfected +heretics had made their appearance in the land, and ordering close +search made after them. At Albi, Bishop Bernard was, as usual, at +variance with his flock, who were pleading against him in the royal +court to preserve their jurisdiction. The occasion was opportune. He +called to his assistance the inquisitors Nicholas d'Abbeville and +Bertrand de Clermont, and towards the close of the year 1299 the town +was startled by the arrest of twenty-five of the wealthiest and most +respected citizens, whose regular attendance at mass and observance of +all religious duties had rendered them above suspicion. The trials were +pushed with unusual celerity, and, from the manner in which those who at +first denied were speedily brought to confession and to revealing the +names of their associates, there was doubtless good ground for the +popular belief that torture was ruthlessly and unsparingly used; in +fact, allusions to it in the final sentence of Guillem Calverie, one of +the victims, leave no doubt on the subject. Abjuration saved them from +the stake, but the sentence of perpetual imprisonment in chains was a +doubtful mercy for those who were sentenced, while a number were kept +interminably in jail awaiting judgment.[77] + +The whole country was ripe for revolt. The revival of Philippe's quarrel +with Boniface soon gave assurance that help might be expected from the +throne; but if this should fail there would be scant hesitation on the +part of desperate men in looking for some other sovereign who would lend +an ear to their complaints. The arrest and trial for treason of the +Bishop of Pamiers, in 1301, shows us what was then the undercurrent of +popular feeling in Languedoc, where the Frenchman was still a hated +stranger, the king a foreign despot, and the people discontented and +ready to shift their allegiance to either England or Aragon whenever +they could see their advantage in it. The fragile tenure with which the +land was still held by the Kings of Paris must be kept in view if we +would understand Philippe's shifting policy.[78] + +The prosecutions of Albi caused general terror, for the victims were +universally thought to be good Catholics, selected for spoliation on +account of their wealth. The conviction was widespread that such +inquisitors as Jean de Faugoux, Guillem de Mulceone, Jean de +Saint-Seine, Jean Galande, Nicholas d'Abbeville, and Foulques de +Saint-Georges had long had no scruple in obtaining, by threats and +torture, such testimony as they might desire against any one whom they +might wish to ruin, and that their records were falsified, and filled +with fictitious entries for that purpose. Some years before, Frère Jean +Martin, a Dominican, had invoked the interposition of Pierre de +Montbrun, Archbishop of Narbonne (died 1286), to put a stop to this +iniquity. Some investigation was made, and the truth of the charges was +established. The dead were found to be the special prey of these +vultures, who had prepared their frauds in advance. Even the fierce +orthodoxy of the Maréchaux de la Foi could not save Gui de Levis of +Mirepoix from this posthumous attack; and, when Gautier de Montbrun, +Bishop of Carcassonne, died, they produced from their records proof that +he had adored heretics and had been hereticated on his death-bed. In +this latter case, fortunately, the archbishop happened to know that one +of the witnesses, Jourdain Ferrolh, had been absent at the time when, by +his alleged testimony, he had seen the act of adoration. Frère Jean +Martin urged the archbishop to destroy all the records and cause the +Dominicans to be deprived of their functions, and the prelate made some +attempt at Rome to effect this, contenting himself meanwhile with +issuing some regulations and sequestrating some of the books. It was +probably during this flurry that the Inquisitors of Carcassonne and +Toulouse, Nicholas d'Abbeville and Pierre de Mulceone, hearing that they +were likely to be convicted of fraud, retired with their records to the +safe retreat of Prouille and busied themselves in making a transcript, +with the compromising entries omitted, which they ingeniously bound in +the covers stripped from the old volumes.[79] + +About this time occurred a case which confirms the popular belief in +inquisitorial iniquity, and which had results of vastly greater +importance than its promoters anticipated. When the disappointed +Boniface VIII. swore that he would cause the burning of Aimeric Castel's +father, he uttered no idle threat. Nicholas d'Abbeville, a fitting +instrument, was at hand, and to him he privately gave the necessary +verbal instructions. Castel Fabri, the father, had been a citizen of +Carcassonne distinguished for piety and benevolence no less than for +wealth. A friend of the Franciscan Order, after duly receiving the +sacraments, he had died, in 1278, in the hands of its friars, six of +whom kept watch in the sick-room until his death, and he had been buried +in the Franciscan cemetery. We have seen in the case of the Count of +Foix how easily all these precautions could be brushed aside, and +Nicholas found no difficulty in discovering or making the evidence he +required.[80] Suddenly, in 1300, the people of Carcassonne were startled +by a notice, read in all the parish churches, summoning those wishing to +defend the memory of Castel Fabri to appear before the Inquisition on a +day named, as the deceased was proved to have been hereticated on his +death-bed. The moment was well chosen, as Aimeric Castel, the son, was +absent. The Franciscans, for whom the accused had doubtless provided +liberally in his will, felt themselves called upon to assume his +defence. Hastily consulting, they determined to send their lector, +Bernard de Liegossi, or Délicieux, to the General Chapter then +assembling at Marseilles, for instructions, as, in the chronic +antagonism between the Mendicants, the matter seemed to be regarded as +an assault on the Order. The wife of Aimeric Castel provided for the +expenses of the journey, and Bernard returned with instructions from the +provincial to defend the memory of the deceased, while Eléazar de +Clermont, the syndic of the convent, was deputed by the Guardian of +Narbonne to co-operate with him. Meanwhile Nicholas had proceeded to +condemnation, and when, July 4, 1300, Bernard and Eléazar presented +themselves to offer the testimony of the friars who had watched the +dying man, Nicholas received them standing, refused to listen to them, +and on their urging their evidence left the room in the most +contemptuous manner. In the afternoon they returned to ask for a +certificate of their offer and its refusal, but found the door of the +Inquisition closed, and could not effect an entrance. + +The next step was to take an appeal to the Holy See and ask for +"Apostoli," but this was no easy matter. So general was the terror +inspired by Nicholas that the doctor of decretals, Jean de Penne, to +whom they applied to draw the paper, refused unless his name should be +kept inviolably secret, and nineteen years afterwards Bernard when on +trial refused to reveal it until compelled to do so. To obtain a notary +to authenticate the appeal was still harder. All those in Carcassonne +absolutely refused, and it was found necessary to bring one from a +distance, so that it was not until July 16 that the document was ready +for service. How seriously, indeed, all parties regarded what should +have been a very simple business is shown by the winding-up of the +appeal, which places, until the case is decided, not only the body of +Castel Fabri, but the appellants and the whole Franciscan convent, under +the protection of the Holy See. When they went to serve the instrument +on Nicholas the doors, as before, were found closed and entrance could +not be effected. It was therefore read in the street and left tacked on +the door, to be taken down and treasured and brought forward in evidence +against Bernard in 1319. We have no further records of the case, but +that the appeal was ineffectual is visible in the fact that in 1322-3 +the accounts of Arnaud Assalit show that the royal treasury was still +receiving an income from the confiscated estates of Castel Fabri; while +in 1329 the still unsatisfied vengeance of the Inquisition ordered the +bones of his wife Rixende to be exhumed.[81] + +The case of Castel Fabri might have passed unnoticed, like thousands of +others, had it not chanced to bring into collision with the Inquisition +the lector of the convent of Carcassonne. Bernard Délicieux was no +ordinary man, in fact a contemporary assures us that in the whole +Franciscan Order there were few who were his equals. Entering the Order +about 1284, his position of lector or teacher shows the esteem felt for +his learning, for the Mendicants were ever careful in selecting those to +whom they confided such functions; and, moreover, we find him in +relations with the leading minds of the age, such as Raymond Lully and +Arnaldo de Vilanova. His eloquence made him much in request as preacher; +his persuasiveness enabled him to control those with whom he came in +contact, while his enthusiastic ardor prompted him to make any +sacrifices necessary to a cause which had once enlisted his sympathies. +He was no latitudinarian or time-server, for when the split came in his +own Order he embraced, to his ruin, the side of the Spiritual +Franciscans, with the same disregard of self as he had manifested in his +dealings with the Inquisition. He was no admirer of toleration, for he +devoutly wished the extermination of heresy, but experience and +observation had convinced him that in Dominican hands the Inquisition +was merely an instrument of oppression and extortion, and he imagined +that by transferring it to the Franciscans its usefulness would be +preserved while its evils would be removed. Boniface VIII., as we have +seen, about this time replaced the Franciscan inquisitors of Padua and +Vicenza with Dominicans for the purpose of repressing similar evils, and +in the jealousy and antagonism between the two orders the converse +operation might seem worth attempting in Languedoc. In the hope of +alleviating the sufferings of the people, Bernard devoted himself to the +cause for years, incurring obloquy, persecution, and ingratitude. Those +whom he sought to serve allowed him to sell his books in their service, +and to cripple himself with debt, while the enmities which he excited +hounded him relentlessly to the death. Yet in the struggle he had the +sympathies of his own Order which everywhere throughout Languedoc +manifested itself the enemy of the Dominican Inquisition. Already, in +1291, Franciscans in Carcassonne had endeavored to intervene in cases of +heresy, and had been sharply reproved by Philippe le Bel at the instance +of the Inquisitor Guillaume de Saint-Seine. In 1298 they had supported +the appeal of the men of Carcassonne to Boniface VIII., and throughout +the whole of Bernard's agitation the Franciscan convents are seen to be +rallying-points of the opposition. It is there that Bernard preaches his +fiery sermons; it is there that meetings are held to plan resistance. +During the troubles in Carcassonne Foulques de Saint-Georges went with +twenty-five men to the Franciscan convent to cite the opponents of the +Inquisition. The friars would not admit them, but tolled the bell and an +angry crowd assembled, while those inside the convent assailed them with +stones and quarrels, and they were glad to escape with their lives.[82] + +Vainly the inquisitors complained to the Franciscan prelates of Bernard +as an impeder of the Holy Office. The form of a trial would be gone +through, and the offender would be furnished with letters attesting his +innocence. The Dominicans asserted that Franciscan zeal was solely +caused by jealousy; the Franciscans retorted that their friends were the +special objects of inquisitorial persecution. King Philippe's confessor +was a Dominican, Queen Joanna's a Franciscan, and the two courtly friars +took part, for and against the Inquisition, with a zeal which rendered +them important factors in the struggle. The undying hostility between +the two Orders always led them to opposite sides in every question of +dogma or practice, and this was one which afforded the amplest scope to +bitterness.[83] + +The _coup-de-main_ executed on the so-called heretics of Albi, in +December, 1299, and the early months of 1300, had excited consternation +too general for the matter to be passed over. King Philippe's quarrel +with Boniface was breaking out afresh, and he might not be averse to +making his subjects feel that they had a protector in the throne. With +the advice of his council an investigation was ordered, and confided to +the Bishops of Béziers and Maguelonne, but the inquisitors arrogantly +and persistently refused to allow the secrets of their office to be +invaded. This was not calculated to remove popular disquiet, and in 1301 +Philippe sent to Languedoc two officials armed with supreme powers, +under the name of Reformers. As the royal authority extended and +established itself, special deputies for the investigation and +correction of abuses were frequently despatched to the provinces. In the +present case those who came to Languedoc perhaps had for their chief +business the arrest of the Bishop of Pamiers, accused of treasonable +practices, but the colorable pretext for their mission was the +correction of inquisitorial abuses. One of them, Jean de Pequigny, +Vidame of Amiens, was a man of high character for probity and sagacity; +the other was Richard Nepveu, Archdeacon of Lisieux, of whom we hear +little in the following years, except that he quietly slipped into the +vacant episcopate of Béziers. He must have done his duty to some extent, +however, for Bernard Gui tells us that he died in 1309 of leprosy, as a +judgment of God for his hostility to the Inquisition.[84] + +The Reformers established themselves at Toulouse, where Foulques de +Saint-Georges had been inquisitor since Michaelmas, 1300, and speedily +gathered much damaging testimony against him, for he was accused not +only of unduly torturing persons for purposes of extortion, but of +gratifying his lusts by arresting women whose virtue he failed otherwise +to overcome. Thither flocked representatives of Albi, with the wives and +children of the prisoners, beseeching and imploring the representatives +of the king for justice, and promising revelations if they would issue +letters of safety to those who would give information--for the terror +inspired by the Inquisition was such that no one dared to testify +concerning it unless he was assured of protection against its vengeance. +The Bishop of Albi came also to justify himself, and on his return to +his episcopal seat he was welcomed with a manifestation of the feeling +entertained for him by his flock, whom the coming of the Reformers +encouraged in the expression or their sentiments. When his approach was +announced a crowd of men and women rushed forth from the gates to meet +him with shouts of "Death, death, death to the traitor!" It may +perhaps be doubted whether, as reported, he bore the threats and insults +with patience akin to that of Christ, ordering his followers to keep +their weapons down; certain it is that he was roughly handled, and had +difficulty in safely reaching his palace. A conspiracy was formed to +burn the palace, in order, during the confusion, to liberate the +prisoners, but the hearts of the conspirators failed them and the +project was abandoned. Even more menacing was the action of a number of +the chief citizens, who bound themselves by a notarial instrument to +prosecute him and Nicholas d'Abbeville in the king's court. As a +consequence, the bishop's temporalities were sequestrated, and +eventually the enormous fine of twenty thousand livres stripped him of a +portion of his ill-gotten gains for the benefit of the king, who was +bitterly reproached by Bernard Délicieux for thus preferring money to +justice. Bernard de Castanet retained his uneasy seat until 1308, when, +seeing under Clement V. no prospect of better times, he procured a +transfer to the quieter see of Puy. One of the earliest signs of the +revulsion under John XXII. was his advancement, in December, 1316, to +the Cardinalate of Porto, which he held for only eight months, his death +occurring in August, 1317.[85] + +The Reformers, meanwhile, had sent for Bernard Délicieux, who was then +quietly performing his duties as lector in the convent of Narbonne. He +must already have made himself conspicuous in the affair of Castel +Fabri, and was evidently regarded as a desirable ally in the impending +struggle. According to his own story he advised Pequigny to let the +Inquisition alone, as experience had shown that effort was useless; but +on being called again to Toulouse on some business connected with the +Priory of la Daurade, and having to visit Paris in connection with the +will of Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, it was arranged, at Pequigny's +suggestion, that he should accompany a deputation which the citizens of +Albi were sending to the king to invoke his active intervention. The +court was at Senlis, whither they repaired, and there came also Pequigny +to justify himself, and Frère Foulques with several Dominicans, eager to +establish the innocence of the Inquisition.[86] + +The battle was fought out before the king. Bernard urged the suspension +of the inquisitors during an investigation, or that the Dominicans +should be permanently declared ineligible while awaiting final action by +the Holy See. Supported by Frère Guillaume, the king's Dominican +confessor, Foulques preferred charges against Pequigny, but could +furnish no proofs. Pequigny retorted with accusations against Foulques, +and a commission, consisting of the Archbishop of Narbonne and the +Constable of France, was appointed to hear both sides. After due +deliberation, it reported in favor of Pequigny, and the king took the +unheard-of step of removing the inquisitor. He at first requested this +of the Dominican Provincial of Paris, who possessed the power to do so, +but that official called together a chapter, which contented itself with +appointing an adjunct, and ordering Foulques to retain office till the +middle of the following Lent, in order to complete the trials which he +had already commenced. This gave Philippe great offence, which he +expressed in the most outspoken terms in letters to his chaplain and to +the Bishop of Toulouse, whom he bitterly reproached for advising +acceptance of the terms. He did not content himself with words, for +simultaneously, December 8, 1301, he wrote to the bishop, the Inquisitor +of Toulouse, and the seneschals of Toulouse and Albi, stating that the +imploring cries of his subjects, including prelates and ecclesiastics, +counts, barons, and other distinguished men, convinced him that Foulques +was guilty of the charges preferred against him, including crimes +abhorrent to the human mind. He afflicted the people with numerous +exactions and oppressions; he was accustomed to commence proceedings +with torture inconceivable and incredible, and thus compel confession +from those whom he suspected, and when this failed he suborned witnesses +to testify falsely. His detestable excesses had created such general +terror that a rising of the people was to be apprehended unless some +speedy remedy was had. Some further unavailing opposition was made to +Foulques's removal, but not much was gained by the appointment of his +successor, Guillaume de Morières, who had previously succeeded him in +the Priory of Albi. Foulques was gratified with the important Priory of +Avignon, and when he subsequently died in poverty at Lyons he was +regarded by his Order almost in the light of a martyr.[87] + +Philippe had not contented himself with getting rid of Foulques, but had +endeavored to introduce reforms which are interesting not only as a +manifestation of the royal supremacy which he assumed, but also as the +model of all subsequent endeavors to curb the abuses of the Inquisition. +It was natural that this should take the shape of reviving the episcopal +power which had become so completely suppressed. Firstly, the prison +which the crown had built on its own land in Toulouse for the use of the +Inquisition was to be placed under the charge of some one selected by +both bishop and inquisitor, and in case of their disagreement by the +royal seneschal. The inquisitor was deprived of the power of arbitrary +arrest. He was obliged to consult the bishop, and when they could not +agree the question was to be decided by a majority vote in an assemblage +consisting of certain officials of the cathedral and of the Franciscan +and Dominican convents. Arrests were only to be made by the seneschal, +after these preliminaries had been observed, except in case of foreign +heretics who might escape. The question of bail was to be settled in the +same way as that of arrest. In no case was either bishop or inquisitor +entitled to obedience when acting individually, for, as the king +declared, "We cannot endure that the life and death of our subjects +shall be abandoned to the discretion of a single individual, who, even +if not actuated by cupidity, may be insufficiently informed." +Inadequate as these reforms eventually proved, they had an excellent +temporary effect. For a time the Inquisition was paralyzed, and arrests +which had been taking place every week were suddenly brought to an end, +for during 1302 these provisions were embodied in a general Ordonnance, +and the legislation of 1293 protecting the Jews was repeated. At the +same time Philippe was careful to manifest due solicitude for the +suppression of heresy, for he published anew the severe edict of St. +Louis; and on the appointment of Guillaume de Morières to the +Inquisition of Toulouse he wrote to the seneschal instructing him to +place the royal prisons at the inquisitor's disposal, to pay him the +customary stipend, and to aid him in every way until further orders.[88] + +While the new regulations may have promised relief elsewhere, they gave +little comfort at Albi, the inquisitorial proceedings of whose bishop +had given rise to the whole disturbance. Its citizens were still +languishing in the prison of the Inquisition of Carcassonne, and a +numerous deputation of both sexes was sent to the king, accompanied by +two Franciscans, Jean Hector and Bertrand de Villedelle. Again Bernard +Délicieux was present, having this time been opportunely chosen to +represent the Order on a summons from Philippe for consultation on the +subject of his quarrel with Pope Boniface. They all followed the king to +Pierrefonds and then to Compiègne. He gave them fair words, promised a +speedy visit to Languedoc, when he would settle matters, and consoled +them with a donation of one thousand livres, which he could well afford +to do, for the confiscated estates of the prisoners were in his hands, +and were never released.[89] + +All this, of course, gave little satisfaction; nor were the people +placated by the removal of Nicholas d'Abbeville, for he was succeeded in +the Inquisition of Carcassonne by Geoffroi d'Ablis, who was as +energetic and unsparing as his predecessor, and who brought royal +letters, dated January 1, 1303, ordering all officials to render him the +customary obedience. Popular excitement grew more and more threatening, +and as Albi had no local inquisitors of its own, being within the +jurisdiction of the tribunal of Carcassonne, the discontent vented +itself on the Dominicans, who were regarded as the representatives of +the hated tribunal. On the first Sunday in Advent, December 2, 1302, +when the friars went as usual to preach in the churches they were +violently ejected and assailed with cries of "Death to the traitors!" +and deemed themselves at length fortunate in being able to regain their +convent. This state of things continued for several years, during which +they scarce dared to show themselves in the streets, and were never +secure from insult. All alms and burial-fees were withdrawn, and the +people refused even to attend mass in their church. The names of Dominic +and Peter Martyr were erased from the crucifix at the principal gate of +the town, and were replaced with those of Pequigny and Nepveu, and of +two citizens who were leaders in the disturbances--Arnaud Garsia and +Pierre Probi of Castres.[90] + +The prisoners of Albi were still as far as ever from liberation, and +Bernard Délicieux urged Pequigny to come to Carcassonne and consider +their case on the spot. In the summer of 1303 he did so, and was met by +a large number of the people of Albi, men and women, praying him to +liberate them. While he was investigating the subject he came upon the +instrument of pacification between Nicholas d'Abbeville and the consuls +of Carcassonne in 1299. This was communicated to the people by Frère +Bernard in a fiery sermon, and a knowledge of its conditions aroused +them almost to frenzy. Riots ensued in which the houses of some of the +old consuls and of those who were regarded as friends of the Inquisition +were destroyed; the Dominican church was assailed, its windows broken, +the statues in its porch overthrown, and the friars maltreated. To +violate the prisons of the Inquisition was so serious a matter that +Pequigny seems to have wished the backing of an enraged populace before +he would venture on the step: and when he resolved upon it he +anticipated resistance so confidently that with his privity Bernard +assembled fourscore men, with skilled mechanics, in the Franciscan +convent, ready to break open the jails in case of necessity. Their +services were not needed. Geoffroi d'Ablis yielded, and in August, 1303, +Pequigny removed the prisoners of Albi. He did not discharge them, +however, but merely transferred them to the royal prisons, and refused +to carry them to the king as Bernard advised. Possibly their treatment +for a while may have been gentler, but they derived no permanent +advantage from the movement. The grasp of the Inquisition was +unrelaxing. It obtained possession of them again, and we shall see that +it held them to the last.[91] + +Meanwhile advantage was taken of the access obtained to them to procure +from them statements of the tortures which they had endured, and lists +were made of the names of those whom they had been forced to accuse as +heretics. These were circulated throughout the land and excited general +alarm, the Franciscans being especially active in giving them publicity. +On the other hand, the inquisitor Geoffroi d'Ablis was equal to the +emergency. He cited Pequigny to appear and stand trial for impeding the +Inquisition, and on his refusal excommunicated him, September 29; and as +soon as word could be carried to Paris he was published as excommunicate +by the Dominicans there. This audacious act brought all parties to a +sense of the nature of the conflict which had sprung up between Church +and State. The consuls and people of Albi addressed to the queen an +earnest petition beseeching her to prevail upon the king not to abandon +them by withdrawing the Reformers, who had already done so much good and +on whom depended their last hope. A fruitless effort also was made to +prevent the publication of the excommunication. At Castres, October 13, +Jean Ricoles, stipendiary priest of the Church of St. Mary, published it +from the pulpit, as he was bound to do, and was promptly arrested by the +deputy of the royal viguier of Albi and carried to the Franciscan +convent, where he was threatened and maltreated, and the friars used +every effort to persuade him to withdraw it. This in itself was a grave +violation of clerical immunity, and it was soon recognized that such +proceedings were worse than useless. Pequigny's authority was paralyzed +until the excommunication should be removed, and this could only be done +by the man who had uttered it, or by the pope himself.[92] + +The prospect of relief was darkened by the election, October 21, of +Benedict XI., himself a Dominican and necessarily pre-disposed in favor +of the Inquisition. Special exertions evidently were required unless all +that had been gained was to be lost, and, at the best, litigation in the +Roman court was a costly business. Pequigny had appealed to the pope, +and, October 29, he wrote from Paris to the cities of Languedoc asking +for their aid in the persecution which he had brought upon himself in +their cause. Bernard Délicieux promptly busied himself to obtain the +required assistance. By his exertions the three cities of Carcassonne, +Albi, and Cordes entered into an alliance and pledged themselves to +furnish the sum of three thousand livres, one half by Carcassonne and +the rest by the other two, and to continue in the same proportions as +long as the affair should last. After Pequigny's death they renewed +their obligation to his oldest son Renaud; but as the matter was much +protracted, they grew tired, and Bernard, who had raised some of the +money on his own responsibility, was left with heavy obligations, of +which he vainly sought restitution at the hands of the ungrateful +cities.[93] + +The quarrel was thus for a time transferred to Rome. Pequigny went to +Italy with envoys from the king and from Carcassonne and Albi to plead +his cause, and was opposed by Guillaume de Morières, the Inquisitor of +Toulouse, sent thither to manage the case against him. Benedict was not +slow in showing on which side his sympathies lay. At Perugia, while the +pope was conducting the solemnities of Pentecost, May 17, 1304, Pequigny +ventured to enter the church. Benedict saw him, and, pointing to him, +said to his marshal, P. de Brayda, "Turn out that Patarin!" an order +which the marshal zealously obeyed. The significance of the incident was +not small, and after the death of both Benedict and Pequigny, Geoffroi +d'Ablis caused a notarial instrument recounting it to be drawn up and +duly authenticated as one of the documents of the process. The climate +of Italy was very unhealthy for Transmontanes. Morières died at Perugia, +and Pequigny followed him at Abruzzo, September 29, 1304, the +anniversary of his excommunication. Having remained for a year under the +ban for impeding the Inquisition, he was legally a heretic, and his +burial in consecrated ground is only to be explained by the death of +Benedict a short time before. Geoffroi d'Ablis demanded that his bones +be exhumed and burned, while Pequigny's sons carried on the appeal for +the rehabilitation of his memory. The matter dragged on till Clement V. +referred it to a commission of three cardinals. These gave a patient +hearing to both sides, who argued the matter exhaustively, and submitted +all the necessary documents and papers. At last, July 23, 1308, they +rendered their decision to the effect that the sentence of +excommunication had been unjust and iniquitous, and that its revocation +should be published in all places where it had been announced. Geoffroi +fruitlessly endeavored to appeal from this, which was the most complete +justification possible of all that had been said and done against the +Inquisition, emphasized by Clement's cutting refusal to listen to his +statements--"It is false: the land never wished to rebel, but was in +evil case in consequence of the doings of the Inquisition," while a +cardinal told him that for fifty years the people had been goaded to +resistance by the excesses of his predecessors, and that when a +corrective was applied they only added evil to evil.[94] + +Benedict XI. had given other proofs of partisanship. It is true that in +answer to the complaints of the oppressed people he appointed a +commission of cardinals to investigate the matter, but there is no trace +of their labors, which were probably cut short by his death, July 7, +1304. No commissioners of his selection would have been likely to report +adversely to the Inquisition, for he manifested his prejudgment by +ordering the Minister of Aquitaine, under pain of forfeiture of office +and future disability, to arrest Frère Bernard without warning and send +him under sufficient guard to the papal court, as a fautor of heretics +and presumably a heretic. The leading citizens of Albi, including G. de +Pesenches the viguier and Gaillard Étienne the royal judge, who had +sought to aid Pequigny, were also involved in the papal condemnation. +The Minister of Aquitaine intrusted to Frère Jean Rigaud the execution +of the arrest, which he duly performed, June, 1304, in the convent of +Carcassonne, adding an excommunication when Bernard, encouraged by the +active sympathy of the people, delayed in obeying the papal summons. He +never went, and it is a curious illustration of Franciscan tendencies to +see that the minister absolved him from the excommunication, and that +the provincial chapter of his Order at Albi decided that he had done all +that was requisite, though perhaps Benedict's death in July had relieved +them from fears as to the immediate consequences of their contumacy.[95] + +Meanwhile Philippe le Bel had at last fulfilled his promise to visit in +person his southern provinces and rectify on the spot the wrongs of +which his subjects had so long complained. He was expecting a favorable +termination to his negotiation with Benedict for the removal of the +excommunications launched by Boniface VIII. against himself and his +subjects and chief agents, a result which he obtained May 13, 1304, with +exception of the censure inflicted on Guillaume de Nogaret and Sciarra +Colonna. When, therefore, he reached Toulouse on Christmas Day, 1303, he +was not disposed to excite unnecessarily Benedict's prejudices. From +Albi and Carcassonne multitudes flocked to him with cries for redress +and protection, and Pequigny spoke eloquently in their behalf. The +inquisitors were represented by Guillem Pierre, the Dominican +provincial, while Bernard Délicieux was foremost in the debate. It was +on this occasion that he made his celebrated assertion that St. Peter +and St. Paul would be convicted of heresy if tried with inquisitorial +methods, and when the scandalized Bishop of Auxerre tartly reproved him, +he stoutly maintained the truth of what he had said. Friar Nicholas, the +king's Dominican confessor, was suspected of exercising undue influence +in favor of the Inquisition, and Bernard endeavored to discredit him by +accusing him of betraying to the Flemings all the secrets of the royal +council. Geoffroi d'Ablis, the Inquisitor of Carcassonne, moreover, was +ingratiating himself with Philippe at the moment by skilful negotiations +to bring about a reconciliation with Rome.[96] + +Philippe patiently heard both sides, and recorded his conclusions in an +edict of January 13, 1304, which was in the nature of a compromise. It +recited that the king had come to Languedoc for the purpose of pacifying +the country excited by the action of the Inquisition, and had had +prolonged consultation on the subject with all who were entitled to +express an opinion. The result thus reached was that the prisoners of +the Inquisition should be visited by royal deputies in company with +inquisitors; the prisons were to be safe, but not punitive. In the case +of prisoners not yet sentenced the trials were to be carried to +conclusion under the conjoined supervision of the bishops and +inquisitors, and this co-operation was to be observed in the future, +except at Albi, where the bishop, being suspected, was to be replaced by +Arnaud Novelli, the Cistercian Abbot of Fontfroide. The royal officials +were strictly ordered to aid in every way the inquisitors and episcopal +ordinaries when called upon, and to protect from injury and violence the +Dominicans, their churches and houses.[97] + +At Albi the change had the wished-for effect. No more heretics were +found and no further prosecutions were required. Yet the refusal of the +king to entertain any project of reform other than his previous one of +curbing the Inquisition with an illusory episcopal supervision was a +grievous disappointment. Men naturally argued that if the Dominicans had +done right they ought not to be insulted by the proposed episcopal +co-operation; and if they had done wrong they ought to be replaced. If +any change was called for, the projected one was insufficient. So many +hopes had been built upon the royal presence in the land, that the +result caused universal dismay, which was not relieved by Philippe's +subsequent action. When he visited Carcassonne he was urged to see the +unfortunate captives whose persecution had been the prominent cause of +the troubles, but he refused, and sent his brother Louis to look at +them. Worse than all, the citizens had designed to propitiate him and +demonstrate their loyalty by offering him some elaborate silver vessels. +These were yet in the hands of the gold-smiths of Montpellier when the +royal party came to Carcassonne, so they were sent after him to Béziers, +where the presentation was made, a portion to him and the rest to the +queen. She accepted the offering, but he not only rejected it, but, when +he learned what the queen had done, forced her to return the present. +This threw the consuls of Carcassonne into despair. Offerings of this +kind from municipalities to the sovereign were so customary and their +gracious acceptance so much a matter of course, that refusal in this +instance seemed to argue some most unfavorable intentions on the part of +the king, which was not unlikely, seeing that Elias Patrice, the leading +citizen of Carcassonne, had plainly told him when there that if he did +not render them speedy justice against the Inquisition they would be +forced to seek another lord, and when Philippe ordered him from his +presence the citizens obeyed Patrice's command to remove the decorations +from the streets. Imagining that he had been won over by the Dominicans +and that his protection would be withdrawn, the prospect of being +abandoned to the mercy of the Inquisition seemed so terrible that they +wildly declared that if they could not find another lord to protect them +they would burn the town and with the inhabitants seek some place of +refuge. In consultation with Frère Bernard it was hastily determined to +offer their allegiance to Ferrand, son of the King of Majorca. + +The younger branch of the House of Aragon, which drew its title from the +Balearic Isles, held the remnants of the old French possessions of the +Catalans, including Montpellier and Perpignan. It had old claims to +much of the land, and its rule might well be hailed by the people as +much more welcome than the foreign domination to which they had been +unwillingly subjected. Had the whole region agreed to transfer its +allegiance, its reduction might have cost Philippe a doubtful struggle, +embarrassed as he was with the chronic disaffection of the Flemings. +When, however, the project was broached to the men of Albi, they refused +peremptorily to embark in it, and there can be no stronger proof of the +desperation of the Carcassais than their resolution to persist in it +single-handed. Ferrand and his father were at Montpellier entertaining +the French court, which they accompanied to Nîmes. He eagerly listened +to the overtures, and asked Frère Bernard to come to him at Perpignan. +Bernard went thither with a letter of credence from the consuls, which +he prudently destroyed on the road. The King of Majorca, when he heard +of the offer, chastened his son's ambition by boxing his ears and +pulling him around by the hair, and he ingratiated himself with his +powerful neighbor by communicating the plot to Philippe.[98] + +Although there could have been no real danger from so crazy a project, +the relation of the southern provinces to the crown were too strained +for the king not to exact a vengeance which should prove a warning. A +court was assembled at Carcassonne which sat through the summer of 1305 +and made free use of torture in its investigations. Albi, which had +taken no part in the plot, escaped an investigation by a bribe of one +thousand livres to the seneschal, Jean d'Alnet, but the damage inflicted +on the Franciscan convent shows that the Dominicans were keen to make +reprisals for what they had suffered. The town of Limoux had been +concerned in the affair; it was fined and disfranchised, and forty of +its citizens were hanged. As for Carcassonne, all of its eight consuls, +with Elias Patrice at their head, and seven other citizens were hanged +in their official robes, the city was deprived of self-government and +subjected to the enormous fine of sixty thousand livres, a sentence from +which it vainly appealed to the Parlement. As Bernard Gui observes with +savage exultation, those who had croaked like ravens against the +Dominicans were exposed to the ravens. Aimeric Castel, who had sought in +this way to obtain redress for the wrong done to his father's memory and +estate, escaped by flight, but was captured and long lay a prisoner, +finally making his peace with a heavy ransom, and a harvest of fines was +gathered into the royal exchequer from all who could be accused of +privity. As for Frère Bernard, he received early intelligence from Frère +Durand, the queen's confessor, of the discovery of the plot, when he +boldly headed a delegation of citizens of Albi who went to Paris to +protest their innocence. There Durand informed them that Albi was not +implicated, when they returned, leaving Bernard. At the request of the +king, Clement V. had him arrested and carried to Lyons, whence he was +taken by the papal court to Bordeaux; and when it went to Poitiers he +was confined in the convent of St. Junian of Limoges. In May, 1307, at +the instance of Clement, Philippe issued letters of amnesty to all +concerned, and remitted to Carcassonne the portion of its fine not yet +paid, and in Lent, 1308, Bernard was allowed to come to Poitiers. On the +king's arrival there he boldly complained to him of his arrest and of +the punishment which had involved the innocent with the guilty. As he +still had no license to leave the papal court, he accompanied it to +Avignon, and was at length discharged with the royal assent--the heavy +bribes paid to three cardinals by his friends of Albi having perhaps +something to do with his immunity. He returned to Toulouse, and we hear +of no further activity on his part. His narrow escape probably sobered +his restless enthusiasm, and as the reform of the Inquisition seemed to +have been taken resolutely in hand by Clement V. he might well persuade +himself that there was no further call for self-sacrifice.[99] + +The death of Benedict XI., in July, 1304, had given fresh hopes to the +sufferers from the Inquisition. There was an interregnum of nearly a +year before the election of his successor, Clement V., June 5, 1305. +During this period a petition to the College of Cardinals was presented +by seventeen of the religious bodies of the Albigeois, including the +canons of the cathedral of Albi, those of the church of St. Salvi, the +convent of Gaillac, etc., imploring in the most pressing terms the +Sacred College to intervene and avert the fearful dangers threatening +the community. The land, they declare, is Catholic, the people are +faithful, cherishing the religion of Rome in their hearts, and +professing it with their lips. Yet so fierce are the dissensions between +them and the inquisitors, that they are aroused to wrath and are eager +to put to the sword those whom they have learned to regard as enemies. +Doubtless the inquisitors had taken advantage of the revulsion +consequent upon the fruitless treason of Carcassonne and of the altered +attitude of the king. Philippe thenceforth interfered no further, save +to urge his representatives to renewed vigilance in enforcing the laws +against heretics and the disabilities inflicted upon their descendants. +It was not only the treason of Carcassonne which indisposed him to +interfere; from 1307 onward he needed the indispensable aid of the +Inquisition to carry out his designs against the Templars, and he could +afford neither to antagonize it nor to limit its powers.[100] + +The Sacred College, monopolized by electioneering intrigues, paid no +heed to the imploring prayer of the Albigensian clergy, but when the +year's turmoil was ended by the triumph of the French party in the +election of Clement V. the hopes raised by the death of his predecessor +might reasonably seem destined to fruition. Bertrand de Goth, +Cardinal-Archbishop of Bordeaux, was a Gascon by birth, and, though an +English subject, was doubtless more familiar than the Italians with the +miseries and needs of Languedoc. His transfer of the papacy to French +soil was also of good augury. Hardly had the news of his election +reached Albi, when Frère Bernard was busy in organizing a mission to +represent to him in the name of the city the necessity of relief, and +when he visited Toulouse the wives of the prisoners, still languishing +in confinement, were taken thither to make their woes emphatically +known. Hardly had he been consecrated at Lyons when these complaints +poured in and were substantiated by two Dominicans, Bertrand Blanc and +François Aimeric, who were as emphatic as the representatives of Albi in +their denunciations of inquisitorial methods and abuses. Geoffroi +d'Ablis hurried thither from Carcassonne to defend himself in such haste +that he left no one to take his place, and was obliged to send from +Lyons, September 29, 1305, a commission to Jean de Faugoux and Gerald de +Blumac to act in his stead. In this paper his fiery fanaticism breathes +forth in his denunciations of the horrid beasts, the cruel beasts, who +are ravaging the vineyard of the Lord, and who are to be tracked to +their dens and extirpated with unsparing rigor.[101] + +His efforts to justify the Inquisition were unavailing, more especially, +perhaps, because the people of Albi bribed Cardinal Raymond de Goth, the +pope's nephew, with two thousand livres Tournois, the Cardinal of Santa +Croce with as much, and the Cardinal Pier Colonna with five hundred. +March 13, 1306, Clement commissioned two cardinals, Pierre of San Vitale +(afterwards of Palestrina) and Berenger of SS. Nereo and Achille +(afterwards of Frascati), who were about to pass through Languedoc on a +mission, to investigate and make such temporary changes as they should +find necessary. The people of Carcassonne, Albi, and Cordes had offered +to prove that good Catholics were forced to confess heresy through the +stress of torture and the horrors of the prisons, and further that the +records of the Inquisition were altered and falsified. Until the +investigation was completed, the inquisitors were not to consign to +strict prison or to inflict torture on any one except in conjunction +with the diocesan, and in the place of the Bishop of Albi the Abbot of +Fontfroide was subrogated. + +On April 16, 1306, the cardinals held a public session at Carcassonne in +presence of all the notables of the place. The consuls of Carcassonne +and the delegates of Albi preferred their complaints and were supported +by the two Dominicans, Blanc and Aimeric, who had appeared before the +pope. On the other hand, Geoffroi d'Ablis and the deputy of the Bishop +of Albi defended themselves and complained of the popular riots and the +ill-treatment to which they had been exposed. After hearing both sides +the cardinals adjourned further proceedings until January 25, at +Bordeaux, where Carcassonne, Albi, and Cordes were each to send four +procurators to conduct the matter. As this office was a most dangerous +one, the cardinals gave security to them against the Inquisition during +the performance of their duty. This was no idle precaution, and Aimeric +Castel, one of the representatives of Carcassonne, found himself in such +danger that in September, 1308, he was obliged to procure from Clement a +special bull forbidding the inquisitors to assail him until the +termination of the affair. Even greater danger impended over any +witnesses called upon to prove the falsification of records, as they +were bound to silence under oaths which exposed them to the stake as +relapsed heretics in case they revealed their evidence, and the +cardinals were asked to absolve them from these oaths.[102] + +If there were any further formal proceedings in this matter, which thus +assumed the shape of a litigation between the people and the +Inquisition, they have not reached us. Yet the cardinals, before +continuing their journey, took some steps which showed that they were +convinced of the truth of the accusations. They visited the prison of +Carcassonne, and caused the prisoners, forty in number, of whom three +were women, to be brought before them. Some of these were sick, others +worn with age, and all tearfully complaining of the horrors of their +lot, the insufficiency of food and bedding, and the cruelty of their +keepers. The cardinals were moved to dismiss all the jailers and +attendants except the chief, and to put the prison under the control of +the Bishop of Carcassonne. It is significant that the oath imposed on +the new officials bound them never to speak to a prisoner except in the +presence of an associate, and not to steal any of the food destined for +those under their charge. One of the cardinals visited the prison of the +Bishop of Albi, where he found the jailers well spoken of, but was +shocked with the condition of the prisoners. Many of them were in chains +and all in narrow, dark cells, where some of them had been confined for +five years or more without being yet condemned. He ordered all chains +removed, that light should be introduced in the cells, and that new and +less inhuman ones should be built within a month. As regards general +amelioration in inquisitorial proceedings, the only regulation which +they issued was a confirmation of Philippe's expedient, requiring the +co-operation of the diocesan with the inquisitor, and this was withdrawn +by Clement, August 12, 1308, in an apologetic bull declaring that the +cardinals had exceeded his intentions.[103] + +The existence of the evils complained of was thus admitted, but the +Church shrank from applying a remedy, and, after the struggle of years, +relief was as illusory as ever. Even with regard to the crying and +inexcusable abuse of the detention of prisoners in these fearful +dungeons for long years without conviction or sentence, Clement found +himself powerless to effect reform in the most flagrant cases. The +inquisitors had in their archives a bull of Innocent IV. authorizing +them to defer indefinitely passing sentence when they deemed that delay +was in the interest of the faith, and of this they took full advantage. +Of the captives seized by the Bishop of Albi in 1299, many were still +unsentenced when the Cardinal of San Vitale examined his prisons. This +visit passed away without result. Five years afterwards, in 1310, +Clement wrote to the Bishop of Albi and Geoffroi d'Ablis that the +citizens of Albi, whom he names, had repeatedly appealed to him, after +more than eight years of imprisonment, to have their trials completed +either to condemnation or absolution. He therefore orders the trials +proceeded with at once and the results submitted for confirmation to the +Cardinals of Palestrina and Frascati, his former commissioners. Bertrand +de Bordes, Bishop of Albi, and Geoffroi d'Ablis contemptuously +disregarded this command, because some of the prisoners named in it had +died before its date, whence they argued that the papal letter had been +surreptitiously obtained. When this contumacy reached the ears of +Clement, some year or two later, he wrote to Geraud, then Bishop of +Albi, and Geoffroi, peremptorily reiterating his commands and ordering +them to try both living and dead. In spite of this, Geoffroi maintained +his sullen contumacy. We have no means of knowing the fate of most of +these unfortunates, who probably rotted to death in their dungeons +without their trials being concluded; but of some of them we have +traces, as related in a former chapter. After Clement and his cardinals +had passed away, and no further interference was to be dreaded, in 1319 +two surviving ones, Guillem Salavert and Isarn Colli, were brought out +for further examination, when the former confirmed his confession and +the latter retracted it as extorted under torture. Six months later, +Guillem Calverie of Cordes, who had been imprisoned in 1301, was +abandoned to the secular arm for retracting his confession (probably +before Clement's cardinals), and Guillem Salavert was allowed to escape +with wearing crosses, in consideration of his nineteen years' +imprisonment without conviction. Even as late as 1328 attested copies +made by order of the royal judge of Carcassonne, of inventories of +personal property of Raymond Calverie and Jean Baudier, two of the +prisoners of 1299-1300, show that their cases were still the subject of +litigation. Even more remarkable as a manifestation of contumacy is the +case of Guillem Garric, held in prison for complicity in the attempt to +destroy the records at Carcassonne in 1284. Royal letters of 1312 recite +that his merits and piety had caused Clement V. to grant him full +pardon, wherefore the king restores to him and his descendants his +confiscated castle of Monteirat. Yet the Inquisition did not relax its +grip, but waited until 1321, when he was brought forth from prison, and +in consideration of his contrition Bernard Gui mercifully sentenced the +old man to perpetual banishment from France within thirty days.[104] + +Another endeavor was made by Clement to repress the abuses of the +Inquisition by transferring from its jurisdiction to that of the bishops +the Jews of the provinces of Toulouse and Narbonne on account of the +undue molestation to which they were continually subjected. This +transfer even included cases then pending, but after Clement's death a +bull was produced in which he annulled the previous one and restored the +jurisdiction of the Inquisition.[105] + +The outcome of all this struggle and investigation is to be found in the +measures of reform adopted in 1312 by the Council of Vienne at Clement's +instance. The five books of canon law known as the "Clementines," +which were enacted by the council, were retained for revision by +Clement, who was on the point of publishing them when he died, April 20, +1314. They were held in suspense during the long interregnum which +followed, and were not authoritatively given to the world until October +25, 1317, by John XXII. The canons relating to the Inquisition have been +alluded to above, and it will be remembered that they only restricted +the power of the inquisitor by requiring episcopal concurrence in the +use of torture, or of harsh confinement equivalent to torture, and in +the custody of prisons. There was a _brutum fulmen_ of excommunication +denounced against those who should abuse their power for purposes of +hate, affection, or extortion, and the importance of the whole lies far +less in the remedies it proposes than in its emphatic testimony of the +existence of cruelty and corruption in every detail of inquisitorial +practice. Bernard Gui vainly raised his voice in an earnest and +elaborate protest against the publication of the new rules, and after +their promulgation he did not hesitate openly to tell his brethren that +they required to be modified or rather wholly suspended by the Holy See, +but his expostulations were totally uncalled for. The closest +examination of inquisitorial methods before and after the publication of +the Clementines fails to reveal any influence exercised by them for good +or for evil. No trace of any practical effort for their enforcement is +to be found, and inquisitors went on, as was their wont, in the +arbitrary fashion for which their office gave them such unlimited +opportunity.[106] + +One case may indeed be cited to show a special relaxation of the +procedure against heretics. Philippe's hatred of Boniface VIII. was +undying, and could not be quenched even by the miserable end of his +enemy. Yet the one thing which he failed to wring from his tool in the +papal chair was the condemnation of the memory of Boniface as a heretic. +After repeated efforts he compelled Clement to take testimony on the +subject, and a cloud of witnesses were produced who swore with minute +detail to the unbelief of the late pope in the immortality of the soul, +and in all the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement, and to +his worship of demons, to his cynical and unnatural lasciviousness, and +to the common fame which existed in the community as to his evil beliefs +and habits. The witnesses were reputable churchmen for the most part, +and their evidence was precise. A tithe of such testimony would have +sufficed to burn the bones and disinherit the heirs of a score of +ordinary culprits, but for once the recognized rules of procedure were +set aside. Philippe was forced to desist from the pursuit, though +Clement in his final bull of April 27, 1311, declared that the king and +his witnesses had been actuated solely by zeal for the Church, and the +affair fell through. The pretensions put forth by Boniface in his +offensive decretals were formally withdrawn, and Guillaume de Nogaret +obtained his long-withheld absolution.[107] + +Clement died at Carpentras April 20, 1314, carrying with him the shame +and guilt of the ruin of the Templars, and was followed in about seven +months (November 29) by his tempter and accomplice, Philippe le Bel. The +cardinals on whom devolved the choice of a successor to St. Peter were +torn with dissensions. The Italians demanded that the election should be +held in the Eternal City. The French, or Gascons, as they were called, +insisted on the observance of the rule that the selection should be made +on the spot where the last pontiff had expired, knowing that in Italy +they would be exposed to the same insults and annoyances as were +inflicted in France on their Italian brethren. Shut up in the episcopal +palace of Carpentras, the conclave awaited in vain the inspiration of +the Holy Ghost, even though those outside tried the gentle expedient of +cutting off the food of the members and pillaging their houses. The +situation grew so insupportable that, as a last desperate resort, on +July 23, 1314, the Gascon faction, under the lead of Clement's nephews, +set fire to the palace and threatened the Italians with death, so that +the latter were glad to escape with their lives by breaking a passage +through the rear wall. Two years passed away without the election of a +visible head of the Church, and the faithful might well fear that they +had seen the last of the popes. The French court, however, had found +itself so well abetted by a French pope that its policy required the +chair of St. Peter to be filled, and in 1316 Louis Hutin sent his +brother, Philippe le Long, then Count of Poitiers, to Lyons with orders +to get the cardinals together. To accomplish this Philippe was obliged +to swear that he would neither do them violence nor imprison them, and +they, having thus secured their independence, were no more disposed to +accord than before. For six months the business thus lagged without +prospect of result, when Philippe received the news of the sudden death +of his brother, and that the widowed queen claimed to be pregnant. The +prospect of a vacant throne, or at least of a regency, awaiting him in +Paris rendered further dallying in Lyons insupportable, nor could he +well depart without bringing his errand to a successful issue. Hastily +counselling with his lawyers, it was discovered that his oath was +unlawful and therefore not to be observed. Consequently he invited the +reverend fathers to a colloquy in the Dominican convent, and when they +were thus safely hived he sternly told them that they should not depart +till they had chosen a pope. His guards blocked every entrance, and he +hastened off to Paris, leaving them to deliberate in captivity. Thus +entrapped they made a merit of necessity, though forty days were still +required before they proclaimed Jacques d'Ozo, Cardinal of Porto, as the +Vicar of Christ--the Italians having been won over by his oath that he +would never mount a horse or mule except to go to Rome. This oath he +kept during his whole pontificate of eighteen years, for he slipped down +the Rhone to Avignon by boat, ascended on foot to the palace, and never +left it except to visit the cathedral which adjoined it. Such a process +of selection was not likely to result in the evolution of a saint, and +John XXII. was its natural exponent. His distinguished learning and +vigorous abilities had elevated him from the humblest origin, while his +boundless ambition and imperious temper provoked endless quarrels from +which his daring spirit never shrank.[108] + +With his election the troubles of the Inquisition of Languedoc were +over. Though he published the Clementines, he soon let it be seen that +the inquisitors had nothing to fear from him, and they made haste to pay +off the accumulated scores of vengeance. The first victim was Bernard +Délicieux. During the pontificate of Clement and the interregnum he had +lived in peace, and might well imagine that his enthusiasm for the +people of Languedoc had been forgotten. His earnest nature had led him +to join the section of his order known as the Spirituals, and he had +been prominent in the movements by which, during the vacancy of the +Holy See, they had gained possession of the convents of Béziers and +Narbonne. One of the first cares of John XXII. was to heal this schism +in the Order, and he promptly summoned before him the friars of Béziers +and Narbonne. Bernard had not hesitated in signing an appeal to the +pope, and he now boldly came before him at the head of his brethren. +When he undertook to argue their cause he was accused of having impeded +the Inquisition and was promptly arrested. Besides the charge of +impeding the Inquisition, others of encompassing by magic arts the death +of Benedict XI., and of treason in the affair of Carcassonne, were +brought against him. A papal commission was formed to investigate these +matters, and for more than two years he was held in close prison while +the examination went slowly on. At length it was ready for trial, and +September 3, 1319, a court was convened at Castelnaudari consisting of +the Archbishop of Toulouse and the Bishops of Pamiers and St. Papoul, +when the archbishop excused himself and left the matter in the hands of +his associates, who transferred the court to Carcassonne, September 12. +The importance attached to the trial is shown by the fact that at it the +Inquisition was represented by the inquisitor Jean de Beaune, and the +king by his Seneschal of Carcassonne and Toulouse and his "Reformers," +Raoul, Bishop of Laon, and Jean, Count of Forez.[109] + +The official report of the trial has been preserved in all its immense +prolixity, and there are few documents of that age more instructive as +to what was then regarded as justice. Some of Bernard's old accomplices, +such as Arnaud Garsia, Guillem Fransa, Pierre Probi, and others, who had +already been seized by the Inquisition, were brought forward to be tried +with him and were used as witnesses to save their own lives by swearing +his away. The old man, worn with two years of imprisonment and constant +examination, was subjected for two months to the sharpest +cross-questioning on occurrences dating from twelve to eighteen years +previous, the subjects of the multiform charges being ingeniously +intermingled in the most confusing manner. Under pretext of seeking the +salvation of his soul he was solemnly and repeatedly admonished that he +was legally a heretic for remaining for more than a year under the _ipso +facto_ excommunication incurred by impeding the Inquisition, and that +nothing could save him from the stake but absolute submission and full +confession. Twice he was tortured, the first time, October 3, on the +charge of treason, and the second, November 20, on that of necromancy; +and though the torture was ordered to be "moderate," the notaries who +assisted at it are careful to report that the shrieks of the victim +attested its sufficiency. In neither case was anything extracted from +him, but the efficacy of the combined pressure thus brought to bear on a +man weakened by age and suffering is shown by the manner in which he was +brought day by day to contradict and criminate himself, until at last he +threw himself on the mercy of the court, and humbly begged for +absolution.[110] + +In the sentence, rendered December 8, he was acquitted of attempting the +life of Benedict XI., while on the other charges his guilt was +aggravated by no less than seventy perjuries committed under +examination. After abjuration, he was duly absolved and condemned to +degradation from holy orders and imprisonment for life, in chains and on +bread and water, in the inquisitorial prison of Carcassonne. Considering +the amnesty proclaimed in 1307 by Philippe le Bel, and the discharge of +Frère Bernard in 1308, it seems strange that now the representatives of +Philippe le Long at once protested against the sentence as too mild, and +appealed to the pope. The judges themselves did not think so, for in +delivering the prisoner to Jean de Beaune they humanely ordered that in +view of his age and debility, and especially the weakness of his hands +(doubtless crippled in the torture-chamber), the penance of chains and +bread and water should be omitted. Jean de Beaune may be pardoned if he +felt a fierce exultation when the ancient enemy of his office was thus +placed in his hands to expiate the offence which had so harassed his +predecessors; and that exultation was perhaps increased when, February +26, 1320, the relentless pope, possibly to gratify the king, +countermanded the pitying order of the bishops, and required the +sentence to be executed in all its terrible rigor. Under these hardships +the frail body which had been animated by so dauntless a spirit soon +gave way, and in a few months merciful death released the only man who +had dared to carry on a systematic warfare with the Inquisition.[111] + +The progress of reaction had been rapid. In 1315 Louis Hutin had issued +an edict in which were embodied most of the provisions of the laws of +Frederic II. This piece of legislation, perfectly superfluous in view of +the eighty years' career of the Inquisition in his dominions, is only +of interest as showing the influence already obtained by the Dominicans +during the papal interregnum. With the election of John XXII., +notwithstanding his publication of the Clementines, all fear of +interference disappeared, and the populations were surrendered again to +the unchecked authority of the inquisitors. There was a significant +notice to this effect in the withdrawal by the new pope, March 30, 1318, +of the security given by Clement's cardinals to Aimeric Castel and the +other citizens of Carcassonne, Albi, and Cordes, who were deputed to +carry on the case of those cities against the inquisitors, and the +latter were directed to prosecute them diligently. The Inquisition +recognized that its hour of triumph had come, and took in hand the +survivors of those who had been conspicuous in the disturbances of +fifteen years before. The unconvicted prisoners of 1299 and 1300, whom +it had held in defiance of the reiterated orders of Clement--at least +those who had not rotted to death in its dungeons--were brought forth +and disposed of. A still more emphatic assertion of its renewed mastery +was the subjection and "reconciliation" of the rebellious towns. Of +what took place at Carcassonne we have no record, but it probably was +the same as the ceremonies performed at Albi. There, March 11, 1319, the +consuls and councillors and a great crowd of citizens were assembled in +the cathedral cemetery, before Bishop Bernard and the inquisitor Jean de +Beaune. There, with uplifted hands, they all professed repentance in the +most humiliating terms, and swore to accept whatever penance might be +imposed upon them, and thereafter to obey implicitly the bishop and +inquisitor. Then those present, together with the dead who had shown +signs of penitence, were relieved from excommunication, the rest of the +population being required to apply for absolution within a month. The +announcement of the penances followed. The town was to make good all +expenses and losses accruing to the episcopate and Inquisition by reason +of the troubles; it was to build and complete within two years a chapel +to the cathedral, and a portal to the Dominican church; to give fifty +livres to the Carmelites to be expended on their church, and, finally, +to construct marble tombs for Nicholas d'Abbeville, and Foulques de +Saint-Georges at Lyons and Carcassonne, where those inquisitors had died +in poverty and exile by reason of the rebellion of the inhabitants. Ten +pilgrimages, moreover, were designated for the survivors of those who in +1301 had bound themselves to prosecute Bishop Bertrand and Nicholas +d'Abbeville in the royal court, as well as for those who had served as +consuls and councillors from 1302 to 1304. Jean de Beaune seems to have +considered it a special grace when, in December, 1320, he postponed the +performance of their pilgrimages during the year from Easter, 1321, to +1322. The town of Cordes, June 29, 1321, was "reconciled" with a +similar humiliating ceremony and pledges of future obedience. Thus the +Inquisition celebrated its triumph in the long struggle. It had won the +victory, and its opponents could only save themselves by unconditional +surrender.[112] + + * * * * * + +Whether the citizens of Albi whose arrest in 1299 gave rise to so many +troubles were really heretics or not cannot now be determined. Their +confessions were precise and detailed, but, as their defenders alleged, +the Inquisition had ample means of extorting what it pleased from its +victims, and the long delay in convicting them would seem to argue that +the tribunal had good reason for not wishing its sentences to see the +light while there was chance of their being subjected to scrutiny under +Clement V. The inquisitors urged in justification a single case, that of +Lambert de Foyssenx, who complained to Clement's cardinals that he had +been unjustly accused, but who subsequently asserted his heresy +defiantly, refused to recant, and was burned in 1309. This is the only +instance of the kind, for the wretched survivors who were led to abjure +and recant in 1319 were broken by prison and torture, and their evidence +is worthless.[113] + +Yet Bernard Gui was undoubtedly correct when he asserted that the +troubles and limitations imposed on the Inquisition under Philippe le +Bel led to the recrudescence of a heresy which had been nearly +extinguished. In the debate before the king at Toulouse, in 1304, +Guillem Pierre, the Dominican provincial, asserted that there were then +in Languedoc no heretics except some forty or fifty in Albi, +Carcassonne, and Cordes, and for a few leagues around them. This was +doubtless an exaggeration, but with improved prospects of immunity +perfected missionaries were invited from Lombardy and Sicily, and the +number of believers rapidly increased. Bernard Gui boasts that from 1301 +to 1315 there were more than a thousand detected by the Inquisition, who +confessed and were publicly punished.[114] + +The registers of Geoffroi d'Ablis at Carcassonne in 1308-9 show great +activity rewarded by abundant results, and one of the witnesses in the +trial of Bernard Délicieux tells us that, when the Inquisition was able +to resume its labors there, many heretics and believers were promptly +discovered.[115] About the same period commence the sentences of the +Inquisition of Toulouse published by Limborch. In 1306 Bernard Gui had +been appointed inquisitor at Toulouse. His numerous works attest his +wide range of learning and incessant mental activity, while his +practical skill in affairs was animated with a profound conviction of +the wickedness of heresy and of the duty of his Order to enforce, at +every cost, submission to Rome. Two missions as papal legate, one to +Italy and the other to France, and two bishoprics, those of Tuy and +Lodève, attest the value set on his services by John XXII. With his +appointment at Toulouse he promptly commenced the long campaign which +resulted in the virtual extirpation of Catharism in Languedoc. Yet, +though stern and unsparing when the occasion seemed to demand it, his +record bears no trace of useless cruelty or abusive extortion.[116] + +Catharism by this time had been forced back to the humbler class among +whom it had found its first disciples. The nobles and gentlemen who had +so long upheld it had perished or been impoverished by the remorseless +confiscations of three quarters of a century. The rich burghers of the +cities--merchants and professional men--had learned the temptations held +out by their wealth and the impossibility of avoiding detection. The +fascinations of martyrdom have their limits, and the martyrs among them +had been gradually but surely weeded out. Yet the old beliefs were still +rooted among the simple folk of country hamlets and especially in the +wild valleys among the foothills of the eastern Pyrenees. The active +intercourse with Lombardy, and even with Sicily, was still kept up, and +there were not wanting earnest ministers who braved every danger to +administer to believers the consolations of their religion and to spread +the faith in the fastnesses which were its last refuge. Chief among +these was Pierre Autier, formerly a notary of Ax (Pamiers). His early +life had not been pure, for we hear of his _druda_, or mistress, and his +natural children, but with advancing years he embraced all the +asceticism of the sect, to which he devoted his life. Driven to Lombardy +in 1295, he returned in 1298 to remain on his native soil to the end, +and to endure a war to the knife from the Inquisition. His property was +confiscated and his family dispersed and ruined. The region to which he +belonged lay at the foot of the Pyrenees, rugged, with few roads and +many caves and hiding-places, whence escape across the frontier to +Aragon was comparatively facile; it was full of his kindred who were +devoted to him, and here for eleven years he maintained himself, lurking +in disguise and wandering from place to place with the emissaries of the +Holy Office ever on his track. He had been ordained to the ministry at +Como, and speedily acquired authority in the sect of which he became one +of the most zealous, indefatigable, and intrepid missionaries. Already, +in 1300, he was so conspicuous that every effort was made for his +apprehension. A certain Guillem Jean offered the Dominicans of Pamiers +to betray him, but the treachery became known among the faithful, two of +whom, Pierre d'Aère and Philippe de Larnat enticed Guillem to the bridge +at Alliat by night, seized him, gagged him, carried him off to the +mountains, and, after extorting a confession, cast him over a precipice. +Worthy lieutenants of Pierre Autier were his brother Guillem and his son +Jacques, Amiel de Perles, Pierre Sanche, and Sanche Mercadier, whose +names occur everywhere throughout the confessions as active +missionaries. Jacques Autier on one occasion had the boldness to preach +at midnight to a gathering of heretic women in the Church of +Sainte-Croix in Toulouse, the spot being selected as one in which they +could best hold their meeting undisturbed.[117] + +The work of Geoffroi d'Ablis in Carcassonne seems to be principally +directed to determining the protectors and refuges of Pierre Autier. At +Toulouse Bernard Gui was energetically employed in the same direction. +The heretic was driven from place to place, but the wonderful fidelity +of his disciples seemed to render all efforts vain, and finally Bernard +was driven to the expedient of issuing, August 10, 1309, a special +proclamation as an incitement for his capture. + + "Friar Bernard Gui, Dominican, Inquisitor of Toulouse, to all + worshippers of Christ, the reward and crown of eternal life. Gird + yourselves, Sons of God; arise with me, Soldiers of Christ, against + the enemies of his Cross, those corrupters of the truth and purity + of Catholic faith, Pierre Autier, the heresiarch, and his + coheretics and accomplices, Pierre Sanche and Sanche Mercadier. + Hiding in concealment and walking in darkness, I order them by the + virtue of God, to be tracked and seized wherever they may be found, + promising eternal reward from God, and also a fitting temporal + payment to those who will capture and produce them. Watch, + therefore, O pastors, lest the wolves snatch away the sheep of your + flock! Act manfully, faithful zealots, lest the adversaries of the + faith fly and escape!" + +This stirring exhortation was probably superfluous, for the prey was +captured before it could have been published throughout the land. The +arrest of nearly all his family and friends, in 1308-9, had driven +Pierre Autier from his accustomed haunts. About St. John's Day (June +24), 1309, he found refuge with Perrin Maurel of Belpech, near +Castelnaudari, where he lay for five weeks or more. Thither came his +daughter Guillelma, who remained with him a short time, and the two +departed together. The next day he was captured. Perrin Maurel was +likewise seized, and with customary fidelity stoutly denied everything +until Pierre Autier, in prison, advised him in December to confess.[118] + +This triumph was followed in October by the capture of Amiel de Perles, +who forthwith placed himself in _endura_, refusing to eat or drink, and, +as he was fast sinking, to prevent the stake from being robbed of its +prey, a special _auto de fé_ was hurriedly arranged for his burning, +October 23. While yet his strength lasted, however, Bernard Gui enjoyed +the ghastly amusement of making the two heresiarchs in his presence +perform the act of heretical "adoration."[119] + +Pierre Autier was not burned until the great _auto de fé_ of April, +1310, when Geoffroi d'Ablis came from Carcassonne to share in the +triumph. The heresiarch had not sought to conceal his faith, but had +boldly declared his obnoxious tenets and had pronounced the Church of +Rome the synagogue of Satan. That he was subjected to the extremity of +torture, however, there can be no reasonable doubt--not to extract a +confession, for this was superfluous, but to force him to betray his +disciples and those who had given him refuge. His intimate acquaintance +with all the heretics of the land was a source of information too +important for Bernard Gui to shrink from any means of acquiring it; and +the copious details thus obtained are alluded to in too many subsequent +sentences for us to hesitate as to the methods by which the heresiarch +was brought to place his friends and associates at the mercy of his +tormentors.[120] + +This may be said to close the bloody drama of Catharism in Languedoc. +Armed with the revelations thus obtained, Bernard Gui and Geoffroi +d'Ablis required but a few years more to convert or burn the remnant of +Pierre Autier's disciples who could be caught, and to drive into exile +those who eluded their spies. No new and self-devoted missionaries arose +to take his place, and after 1315 the Patarin almost disappears from +the records of the Inquisition in France. Some few scattering cases +subsequently occur, but their offences are of old date and almost +invariably revert to the missionary work of Pierre Autier and his +associates. One of the latest of these is recorded in an undated +sentence, probably of 1327 or 1328, in which Jean Duprat, Inquisitor of +Carcassonne, condemns Guillelma Tornière. She had abjured and had been +long confined in prison, where she was detected in making converts and +praising Guillem Autier and Guillem Balibaste as good and saintly men. +Under interrogation she refused to take an oath, and was accordingly +burned. In 1328, Henri de Chamay of Carcassonne condemned to prison +Guillem Amiel for Catharism, and in 1329 he sentenced two Cathari, +Bartolomé Pays and Raymond Garric of Albi, whose offences had been +committed respectively thirty-five and forty years before. In the same +year he ordered four houses and a farm to be demolished because their +owners had been hereticated in them, but these acts had doubtless been +performed long previous. Confiscations still continued for ancestral +offences, but Catharism as an existing belief may be said at this period +to be virtually extinct in Languedoc, where it had a hundred and fifty +years before had a reasonable prospect of becoming the dominant +religion.[121] + +In the same year, 1329, occurred a case which is not without interest as +showing how an earnest but unstable brain pondering over the crime and +misery of the world, wove some of the cruder elements of Catharism and +Averrhoism into a fantastic theory. Limoux Noir, of Saint-Paul in the +diocese of Alet, had already been tried by his bishop in 1326, but had +been able to evade the unskilled officials of the episcopal tribunal. +The Inquisition had surer methods and speedily brought him to +confession. He had formed a philosophy of the Universe which superseded +all religion. God had created the archangels, these the angels, and the +latter the sun and moon. These heavenly bodies, as being unstable and +corruptible, were females. Out of their urine the world was formed, and +was necessarily corrupt, with all that sprang from it. Moses, Mahomet, +and Christ were all sent by the sun and were teachers of equal +authority. In the under world Christ and Mahomet are now disputing and +seeking to gain followers. Baptism was of no more use than the +circumcision of Israel or the blessing of Islam, for those who renounced +evil in baptism grew up to be robbers and strumpets. The Eucharist was +naught, for God would not let himself be handled by adulterers such as +the priests. Matrimony was to be shunned, for from it sprang robbers and +strumpets. Thus he explained away and rejected all the doctrines and +practices of the Church. To see whether the Saviour's fast of forty days +was possible, he had fasted in a cabin ten days and nights, at the end +of which this system of philosophy had been revealed to him by God. +Again, in 1327, he had placed himself in _endura_, with the resolve to +carry it to the end, but had been persuaded by his brother to take the +Eucharist, to save his bones from being burned after his death. He was +sixty years old, and his crazy doctrines had brought him a few +disciples, but the sect was crushed at the outset. He declared to the +inquisitor that he would rather be flayed alive than believe in +transubstantiation, and he proved his resolute character by resisting +all attempts to induce him to recant, so that there was no alternative +but to abandon him to the secular arm, which was duly done and his +belief perished with him.[122] + + * * * * * + +Thus the Inquisition triumphed, as force will generally do when it is +sufficiently strong, skilfully applied, and systematically continued +without interruption to the end. In the twelfth century the south of +France had been the most civilized land of Europe. There commerce, +industry, art, science, had been far in advance of the age. The cities +had won virtual self-government, were proud of their wealth and +strength, jealous of their liberties, and self-sacrificing in their +patriotism. The nobles, for the most part, were cultivated men, poets +themselves or patrons of poetry, who had learned that their prosperity +depended on the prosperity of their subjects, and that municipal +liberties were a safeguard, rather than a menace, to the wise ruler. The +crusaders came, and their unfinished work was taken up and executed to +the bitter end by the Inquisition. It left a ruined and impoverished +country, with shattered industry and failing commerce. The native nobles +were broken by confiscation and replaced by strangers, who occupied the +soil, introducing the harsh customs of Northern feudalism, or the +despotic principles of the Roman law, in the extensive domains acquired +by the crown. A people of rare natural gifts had been tortured, +decimated, humiliated, despoiled, for a century and more. The precocious +civilization which had promised to lead Europe in the path of culture +was gone, and to Italy was transferred the honor of the Renaissance. In +return for this was unity of faith and a Church which had been hardened +and vitiated and secularized in the strife. Such was the work and such +the outcome of the Inquisition in the field which afforded it the widest +scope for its activity, and the fullest opportunity for developing its +powers. + +Yet in the very triumph of the Inquisition was the assurance of its +decline. Supported by the State, it had earned and repaid the royal +favor by the endless stream of confiscations which it poured into the +royal coffers. Perhaps nothing contributed more to the consolidation of +the royal supremacy than the change of ownership which threw into new +hands so large a portion of the lands of the South. In the territories +of the great vassals the right to the confiscations for heresy became +recognized as an important portion of the _droits seigneurioux_. In the +domains of the crown they were granted to favorites or sold at moderate +prices to those who thus became interested in the new order of things. +The royal officials grasped everything on which they could lay their +hands, whether on the excuse of treason or of heresy, with little regard +to any rights; and although the integrity of Louis IX. caused an inquest +to be held in 1262 which restored a vast amount of property illegally +held, this was but a small fraction of the whole. To assist his +Parlement in settling the innumerable cases which arose, he ordered, in +1260, the charters and letters of greatest importance to be sent to +Paris. Those of each of the six senechaussées filled a coffer, and the +six coffers were deposited in the treasury of the Sainte-Chapelle. In +this process of absorption the case of the extensive Viscounty of +Fenouillèdes may be taken as an illustration of the zeal with which the +Inquisition co-operated in securing the political results desired by the +crown. Fenouillèdes had been seized during the crusades and given to +Nuñez Sancho of Roussillon, from whom it passed, through the King of +Aragon, into the hands of St. Louis. In 1264 Beatrix, widow of Hugues, +son of the former Viscount Pierre, applied to the Parlement for her +rights and dower and those of her children. Immediately the inquisitor, +Pons de Poyet, commenced a prosecution against the memory of Pierre, who +had died more than twenty years previously in the bosom of the Church, +and had been buried with the Templars of Mas Deu, after assuming the +religious habit and receiving the last sacraments. He was condemned for +having held relations with heretics, his bones were dug up and burned, +and the Parlement rejected the claim of the daughter-in-law and +grandchildren. Pierre, the eldest of these, in 1300, made a claim for +the ancestral estates, and Boniface VIII. espoused his quarrel with the +object of giving trouble to Philippe le Bel; but, though the affair was +pursued for some years, the inquisitorial sentence held good. It was not +only the actual heretics and their descendants who were dispossessed. +The land had been so deeply tinctured with heresy that there were few +indeed whose ancestors could not be shown, by the records of the +Inquisition, to have incurred the fatal taint of associating with +them.[123] + +The rich bourgeoisie of the cities were ruined in the same way. Some +inventories have been preserved of the goods and chattels sequestrated +when the arrests were made at Albi in 1299 and 1300, which show how +thoroughly everything was swept into the maelstrom. That of Raymond +Calverie, a notary, gives us every detail of the plenishing of a +well-to-do burgher's house--every pillow, sheet, and coverlet is +enumerated, every article of kitchen gear, the salted provisions and +grain, even his wife's little trinkets. His farm or bastide was +subjected to the same minuteness of seizure. Then we have a similar +insight into the stock and goods of Jean Baudier, a rich merchant. Every +fragment of stuff is duly measured--cloths of Ghent, Ypres, Amiens, +Cambray, St. Omer, Rouen, Montcornet, etc., with their valuation--pieces +of miniver, and other articles of trade. His town house and farm were +inventoried with the same conscientious care. It is easy to see how +prosperous cities were reduced to poverty, how industry languished, and +how the independence of the municipalities was broken into subjection in +the awful uncertainty which hung over the head of every man.[124] + +In this respect the Inquisition was building better than it knew. In +thus aiding to establish the royal power over the newly-acquired +provinces, it was contributing to erect an authority which was destined +in the end to reduce it to comparative insignificance. With the +disappearance of Catharism, Languedoc became as much a part of the +monarchy as l'Isle de France, and the career of its Inquisition merges +into that of the rest of the kingdom. It need not, therefore, be pursued +separately further. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FRANCE. + + +Although Catharism never obtained in the North sufficient foothold to +render it threatening to the Church, yet the crusades and the efforts +which followed the pacification of 1229 must have driven many heretics +to seek refuge in places where they might escape suspicion. In +organizing persecution in the South, therefore, it was necessary to +provide some supervision more watchful than episcopal negligence was +likely to supply, over the regions whither heretics might fly when +pursued at home, or the efforts made in Languedoc would only be +scattering the infection. Vigilant guardians of the faith were +consequently requisite in lands where heretics were few and hidden, as +well as in those where they were numerous and enjoyed protection from +noble and city. Under the pious king, St. Louis, who declared that the +only argument a layman could use with a heretic was to thrust a sword +into him up to the hilt, they were sure of ample support from the +secular power.[125] + +Accordingly when, in 1233, the experiment was tried of appointing Pierre +Cella and Guillem Arnaud as inquisitors in Toulouse, a similar tentative +effort was made in the northern part of the kingdom. Here also it was +the Dominican Order which was called upon to furnish the necessary +zealots. I have already alluded to the failure of the attempt to induce +the Friars of Franche-Comté to undertake the work. In western Burgundy, +however, the Church was more fortunate in finding a proper instrument. +Like Rainerio Saccone, Frère Robert, known as _le Bugre_, had been a +Patarin. The peculiar fitness thence derived for detecting the hidden +heretic was rendered still more effective by the special gift which he +is said to have claimed, of being able to recognize them by their +speech and carriage. In addition, he was fitted for the work by the +ardent fanaticism of the convert, by his learning, his fiery eloquence, +and his mercilessness. When, early in 1233, instructions to persecute +heresy were sent to the Prior of Besançon, Robert was nominated to +represent him and act as his substitute; and, eager to manifest his +zeal, he lost no time in making a descent upon La Charité. It will be +remembered that this place was notorious as a centre of heresy in the +twelfth century, and that repeated efforts had been made to purify it. +These had proved fruitless against the stubbornness of the misbelievers, +and Frère Robert found Stephen, the Cluniac prior, vainly endeavoring to +win or force them over. The new inquisitor seems to have been armed with +no special powers, but his energy speedily made a profound impression, +and heretics came forward and confessed their errors in crowds, husbands +and wives, parents and children, accusing themselves and each other +without reserve. He reported to Gregory IX. that the reality was far +worse than had been rumored; that the whole town was a stinking nest of +heretical wickedness, where the Catholic faith was almost wholly set +aside and the people in their secret conventicles had thrown off its +yoke. Under a specious appearance of piety they deceived the wisest, and +their earnest missionary efforts, extending over the whole of France, +were seducing souls from Flanders to Britanny. Uncertain as to his +authority, he applied to Gregory for instructions and was told to act +energetically in conjunction with the bishops, and, under the statutes +recently issued by the Holy See, to extirpate heresy thoroughly from the +whole region, invoking the aid of the secular arm, and coercing it if +necessary with the censures of the Church.[126] + +We have no means of knowing what measures Robert adopted, but there can +be no doubt that under this stimulus, and clothed with this authority, +he was active and unsparing. His crazy fanaticism probably exaggerated +greatly the extent of the evil and confounded the innocent with the +guilty. It was not long before the Archbishop of Sens, in whose province +La Charité lay, expostulated with Gregory upon this interference with +his jurisdiction, and in this he was joined by other prelates, alarmed +at the authority given to the Dominican Provincial of Paris to appoint +inquisitors for all portions of the kingdom. They assured the pope that +there was no heresy in their provinces and no necessity for these +extraordinary measures. Gregory thereupon revoked all commissions early +in February, 1234, and urged the prelates to be vigilant, recommending +them to make use of Dominicans in all cases where action appeared +desirable, as the friars were specially skilled in the refutation of +heresy. Had Robert been an ordinary man this might have postponed for +some time the extension of the Inquisition in France, but he was too +ardent to be repressed. In June, 1234, we find St. Louis paying for the +maintenance of heretics in prison at St. Pierre-le-Moutier, near Nevers, +which would seem as though Frère Robert had succeeded in getting to work +again on his old field of operations. Meanwhile he had not been idle +elsewhere. King Louis furnished him with an armed guard to protect him +from the enmities which he aroused, and, secure in the royal favor, he +traversed the country carrying terror everywhere. At Péronne he burned +five victims; at Elincourt, four, besides a pregnant woman who was +spared for a time at the intercession of the queen. His methods were +speedy, for before Lent was out we find him at Cambrai, where, with the +assistance of the Archbishop of Reims and three bishops, he burned about +twenty and condemned others to crosses and prison. Thence he hastened to +Douai, where, in May, he had the satisfaction of burning ten more, and +condemning numerous others to crosses and prison in the presence of the +Count of Flanders, the Archbishop of Reims, sundry bishops and an +immense multitude who crowded to the spectacle. Thence he hurried to +Lille, where more executions followed. All this was sufficient to +convince Gregory that he had been misinformed as to the absence of +heresy. Undisturbed by the severe experience which he had just undergone +with a similar apostle of persecution, Conrad of Marburg, we find him, +in August, 1235, excitedly announcing to the Dominican provincial that +God had revealed to him that the whole of France was boiling with the +venom of heretical reptiles, and that the business of the Inquisition +must be resumed with loosened rein. Frère Robert was to be commissioned +again, with fitting colleagues to scour the whole kingdom, aided by the +prelates, so that innocence should not suffer nor guilt escape. The +Archbishop of Sens was strictly ordered to lend efficient help to +Robert, whom God had gifted with especial grace in these matters, and +Robert himself was honored with a special papal commission empowering +him to act throughout the whole of France. The pope, moreover, spurred +him on with exhortations to spare no labor in the work, and not to +shrink from martyrdom if necessary for the salvation of souls.[127] + +This was pouring oil upon the flames. Robert's untempered fanaticism had +required no stimulus, and now it raged beyond all bounds. The kingdom, +by Gregory's thoughtless zeal, was delivered up to one who was little +better than a madman. Supported by the piety of St. Louis, the prelates +were obliged to aid him and carry out his behests, and for several years +he traversed the provinces of Flanders, Champagne, Burgundy, and France +with none to curb or oppose him. The crazy ardor of such a man was not +likely to be discriminating or to require much proof of guilt. Those +whom he designated as heretics had the alternative of abjuration with +perpetual imprisonment or of the stake--varied occasionally with burial +alive. In one term of two or three months he is said to have thus +despatched about fifty unfortunates of either sex, and the whole number +of his victims during his unchecked career of several years must have +been large. The terror spread by his arbitrary and pitiless proceedings +rendered him formidable to high and low alike, until at length the +evident confounding of the innocent with the guilty raised a clamor to +which even Gregory IX. was forced to listen. An investigation was held +in 1238 which exposed his misdeeds, though not before he had time, in +1239, to burn a number of heretics at Montmorillon in Vienne, and +twenty-seven, or, according to other accounts, one hundred and +eighty-three, at Mont-Wimer--the original seat of Catharism in the +eleventh century--where, at this holocaust pleasing to God, there were +present the King of Navarre with a crowd of prelates and nobles and a +multitude wildly estimated at seven hundred thousand souls. Robert's +commission was withdrawn, and he expiated his insane cruelties in +perpetual prison. The case ought to have proved, like that of Conrad of +Marburg, a wholesome warning. Unfortunately the spirit which he had +aroused survived him, and for three or four years after his fall active +persecution raged from the Rhine to the Loire, under the belief that the +land was full of heretics.[128] + +The unlucky termination of Robert's career did not affect his +colleagues, and thenceforth the Inquisition was permanently established +throughout France in Dominican hands. The prelates at first were +stimulated to some show of rivalry in the performance of their neglected +duties. Thus the provincial council of Tours, in 1239, endeavored to +revive the forgotten system of synodal witnesses. Every bishop was +instructed to appoint in each parish three clerks--or, if such could not +be had, three laymen worthy of trust--who were to be sworn to reveal to +the officials all ecclesiastical offences, especially those concerning +the faith. Such devices, however, were too cumbrous and obsolete to be +of any avail against a crime so sedulously and so easily concealed as +heresy, even if the prelates had been zealous and earnest persecutors. +The Dominicans remained undisputed masters of the field, always on the +alert, travelling from place to place, scrutinizing and questioning, +searching the truth and dragging it from unwilling hearts. Yet scarce a +trace of their strenuous labors has been left to us. Heretics throughout +the North were comparatively few and scattered; the chroniclers of the +period take no note of their discovery and punishment, nor even of the +establishment of the Inquisition itself. That a few friars should be +deputed to the duty of hunting heretics was too unimpressive a fact to +be worthy of record. We know, however, that the pious King Louis +welcomed them in his old hereditary dominions, as he did in the +newly-acquired territories of Languedoc, and stimulated their zeal by +defraying their expenses. In the accounts of the royal baillis for 1248 +we find entries of sums disbursed for them in Paris, Orleans, Issoudun, +Senlis, Amiens, Tours, Yèvre-le-Chatel, Beaumont, St. Quentin, Laon, and +Macon, showing that his liberality furnished them with means to do their +work, not only in the domains of the crown, but in those of the great +vassals; and these items further illustrate their activity in every +corner of the land. That their sharp pursuit rendered heresy unsafe is +seen in the permission already alluded to, in 1255, to pursue their +quarry across the border into the territories of Alphonse of Toulouse, +thus disregarding the limitations of inquisitorial districts.[129] + +This shows us that already the Inquisition was becoming organized in a +systematic manner. In Provence, where Pons de l'Esparre, the Dominican +prior, had at first carried on a kind of volunteer chase after heretics, +we see an inquisitor officially acting in 1245. This district, +comprising the whole southeastern portion of modern France, with Savoy, +was confided to the Franciscans. In 1266, when they were engaged in +Marseilles in mortal strife with the Dominicans, the business of +persecution would seem to have been neglected, for we find Clement IV. +ordering the Benedictines of St. Victor to make provision for +extirpating the numerous heretics of the valley of Rousset, where they +had a dependency. The Inquisition of Provence was extended in 1288 over +Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, whose governor was ordered to defray +from the confiscations the moderate expenses of the inquisitors, +Bertrand de Cigotier and Guillem de Saint-Marcel. In 1292 Dauphiné was +likewise included, thus completing the organization in the territories +east of the Rhone. The attention of the inquisitors was specially called +to the superstition which led many Christians to frequent the Jewish +synagogues with lighted candles, offering oblations and watching through +the vigils of the Sabbath, when afflicted with sickness or other +tribulations, anxious for friends at sea or for approaching childbirth. +All such observances, even in Jews, were idolatry and heresy, and those +who practised them were to be duly prosecuted.[130] + +With this exception the whole of France was confided to the Dominicans. +In 1253 a bull of Innocent IV. renders the Provincial of Paris supreme +over the rest of the kingdom, including the territories of Alphonse of +Toulouse. Numerous bulls follow during the next few years which speak of +the growth of heresy requiring increased efforts for its suppression and +of the solicitude of King Louis that the Inquisition should be +effective. Elaborate instructions are sent for its management, and +various changes are made and unmade in a manner to show that a watchful +eye was kept on the institution in France, and that there was a constant +effort to render it as efficient as possible. By a papal brief of 1255 +we see that at that time the Inquisition of Languedoc was independent of +the Paris provincial; in 1257 it is again under his authority; in 1261 +it is once more removed, and in 1264 it is restored to him--a provision +which became final, rendering him in some sort a grand-inquisitor for +the whole of France. In 1255 the Franciscan provincial was adjoined to +the Dominican, thus dividing the functions between the two Orders; but +this arrangement, as might be expected, does not seem to have worked +well, and in 1256 we find the power again concentrated in the hands of +the Dominicans. The number of inquisitors to be appointed was always +strictly limited by the popes, and it varied with the apparent +exigencies of the times and also with the extent of territory. In 1256 +only two are specified; in 1258 this is pronounced insufficient for so +extensive a region, and the provincial is empowered to appoint four +more. In 1261, when Languedoc was withdrawn, the number is reduced to +two; in 1266 it is increased to four, exclusive of Languedoc and +Provence, to whom in 1267 associates were adjoined, and in 1273 the +number was made six, including Languedoc, but excluding Provence. This +seems to have been the final organization, but it does not appear that +the Northern kingdom was divided into districts, strictly delimitated as +those of the South.[131] + +The Inquisition at Besançon appears to have been at first independent +of that of Paris. After the failure to establish it in 1233 it seems to +have remained in abeyance until 1247, when Innocent IV. ordered the +Prior of Besançon to send friars throughout Burgundy and Lorraine for +the extirpation of heresy. The next year John Count of Burgundy urged +greater activity, but his zeal does not seem to have been supplemented +with liberality, and in 1255 the Dominicans asked to be relieved of the +thankless task, which proved unsuccessful for lack of funds, and +Alexander IV. acceded to their request. There are some evidences of an +Inquisition being in operation there about 1283, and in 1290 Nicholas +IV. ordered the Provincial of Paris to select three inquisitors to serve +in the dioceses of Besançon, Geneva, Lausanne, Sion, Metz, Toul, and +Verdun, thus placing Lorraine and the French Cantons of Switzerland, as +well as Franche Comté, under the Inquisition of France, an arrangement +which seems to have lasted for more than a century.[132] + +Little remains to us of the organization thus perfected over the wide +territory stretching from the Bay of Biscay to the Rhine. The laborers +were vigorous, and labored according to the light which was in them, but +the men and their acts are buried beneath the dust of the forgotten +past. That they did their duty is visible in the fact that heresy makes +so little figure in France, and that the slow but remorseless +extermination of Catharism in Languedoc was not accompanied by its +perpetuation in the North. We hear constantly of refugees from Toulouse +and Carcassonne flying for safety to Lombardy and even to Sicily, but +never to Touraine or Champagne, nor do we ever meet with cases in which +the earnest missionaries of Catharism sought converts beyond the +Cevennes. This may fairly be ascribed to the vigilance of the +inquisitors, who were ever on the watch. Chance has preserved for us as +models in a book of formulas some documents issued by Frère Simon Duval, +in 1277 and 1278, which afford us a momentary glimpse at his proceedings +and enable us to estimate the activity requisite for the functions of +his office. He styles himself inquisitor "_in regno Franciæ_," which +indicates that his commission extended throughout the kingdom north of +Languedoc, and he speaks of himself as acting in virtue of the +apostolical authority and royal power, showing that Philippe le Hardi +had dutifully commissioned him to summon the whole forces of the State +to his assistance when requisite. November 23, 1277, he gives public +notice that two canons of Liège, Suger de Verbanque and Berner de +Niville, had fled on being suspected of heresy, and he cites them to +appear for trial at St. Quentin in Vermandois on the 23d of the ensuing +January. This trial was apparently postponed, for on January 21, 1278, +we find him summoning the people and clergy of Caen to attend his sermon +on the 23d. Here he at least found an apostate Jewess who fled, and we +have his proclamation calling upon every one to aid Copin, sergeant of +the Bailli of Caen, who had been despatched in her pursuit. Frère Duval +was apparently making an extended inquest, for July 5 he summons the +people and clergy of Orleans to attend his sermon on the 7th. A +fortnight later he is back in Normandy and has discovered a nest of +heretics near Evreux, for on July 21 we have his citation of thirteen +persons from a little village hard by to appear before him. These +fragmentary and accidental remains show that his life was a busy one and +that his labors were not unfruitful. A letter of the young Philippe le +Bel, in February, 1285, to his officials in Champagne and Brie, ordering +them to lend all aid to the inquisitor Frère Guillaume d'Auxerre, +indicates that those provinces were about to undergo a searching +examination.[133] + +The inquisitors of France complained that their work was impeded by the +universal right of asylum which gave protection to criminals who +succeeded in entering a church. No officer of the law dared to follow +and make an arrest within the sacred walls, for a violation of this +privilege entailed excommunication, removable only after exemplary +punishment. Heretics were not slow in availing themselves of the +immunity thus mercifully afforded by the Church which they had wronged, +and in the jealousy which existed between the secular clergy and the +inquisitors there was apparently no effort made to restrict the abuse. +Martin IV. was accordingly appealed to, and in 1281 he issued a bull +addressed to all the prelates of France, declaring that such perversion +of the right of asylum was no longer to be permitted; that in such +cases the inquisitors were to have full opportunity to vindicate the +faith, and that so far from being impeded in the performance of their +duty, they were to be aided in every way. The special mention in this +bull of apostate Jews along with other heretics indicates that this +unfortunate class formed a notable portion of the objects of +inquisitorial zeal. Several of them, in fact, were burned or otherwise +penanced in Paris between 1307 and 1310.[134] + +There was one class of offenders who would have afforded the Inquisition +an ample field for its activity, had it been disposed to take cognizance +of them. By the canons, any one who had endured excommunication for a +year without submission and seeking absolution was pronounced suspect of +heresy, and we have seen Boniface VIII., in 1297, directing the +inquisitors of Carcassonne to prosecute the authorities of Béziers for +this cause. The land was full of such excommunicates, for the shocking +abuse of the anathema by priest and prelate for personal interests had +indurated the people, and in a countless number of cases absolution was +only to be procured by the sacrifice of rights which even faithful sons +of the Church were not prepared to make. This growing disregard of the +censure was aggravating to the last degree, but the inquisitors do not +seem to have been disposed to come forward in aid of the secular clergy, +nor did the latter call upon them for assistance. In 1301 the Council of +Reims directed that proceedings should be commenced, when it next should +meet, against all who had been under excommunication for two years, as +being suspect of heresy; and in 1303 it called upon all such to come +forward and purge themselves of the suspicion, but the court in which +this was to be done was that of the bishops and not of the Inquisition. +Mutual jealousy was seemingly too strong to admit of such +co-operation.[135] + + * * * * * + +In 1308 we hear of a certain Étienne de Verberie of Soissons, accused +before the inquisitor of blasphemous expressions concerning the body of +Christ. He alleged drunkenness in excuse, and was mercifully treated. +Shortly afterwards occurred the first formal _auto de fé_ of which we +have cognizance at Paris, on May 31, 1310. A renegade Jew was burned, +but the principal victim was Marguerite de Hainault, or la Porete. She +is described as a "_béguine clergesse_," the first apostle in France +of the German sect of Brethren of the Free Spirit, whom we shall +consider more fully hereafter. Her chief error was the doctrine that the +soul, absorbed in Divine love, could yield without sin or remorse to all +the demands of the flesh, and she regarded with insufficient veneration +the sacrifice of the altar. She had written a book to propagate these +doctrines which had, before the year 1305, been condemned as heretical +and burned by Gui II., Bishop of Cambrai. He had mercifully spared her, +while forbidding her under pain of the stake from circulating it in +future or disseminating its doctrines. In spite of this she had again +been brought before Gui's successor, Philippe de Marigny, and the +Inquisitor of Lorraine, for spreading it among the simple folk called +Begghards, and she had again escaped. Unwearied in her missionary work, +she had even ventured to present the forbidden volume to Jean, Bishop of +Chalons, without suffering the penalty due to her obstinacy. In 1308 she +extended her propaganda to Paris and fell into the hands of Frère +Guillaume de Paris, the inquisitor, before whom she persistently refused +to take the preliminary oath requisite to her examination. He was +probably too preoccupied with the affair of the Templars to give her +prompt justice, and for eighteen months she lay in the inquisitorial +dungeons under the consequent excommunication. This would alone have +sufficed for her conviction as an impenitent heretic, but her previous +career rendered her a relapsed heretic. Instead of calling an assembly +of experts, as was customary in Languedoc, the inquisitor laid a written +statement of the case before the canonists of the University, who +unanimously decided, May 30, that if the facts as stated were true, she +was a relapsed heretic, to be relaxed to the secular arm. Accordingly, +on May 31, she was handed over, with the customary adjuration for mercy, +to the prévôt of Paris, who duly burned her the next day, when her noble +manifestation of devotion moved the people to tears of compassion. +Another actor in the tragedy was a disciple of Marguerite, a clerk of +the diocese of Beauvais named Guion de Cressonessart. He had endeavored +to save Marguerite from the clutches of the Inquisition, and on being +seized had, like her, refused to take the oath during eighteen months' +imprisonment. His brain seems to have turned during his detention, for +at length he astonished the inquisitor by proclaiming himself the Angel +of Philadelphia and an envoy of God, who alone could save mankind. The +inquisitor in vain pointed out that this was a function reserved solely +for the pope, and as Guion would not withdraw his claims he was +convicted as a heretic. For some reason, however, not specified in the +sentence, he was only condemned to degradation from orders and to +perpetual imprisonment.[136] + +The next case of which we hear is that of the Sieur de Partenay, in +1323, to which allusion has already been made. Its importance to us lies +in its revealing the enormous and almost irresponsible authority wielded +by the Inquisition at this period. The most powerful noble of Poitou, +when designated as a heretic by Frère Maurice, the Inquisitor of Paris, +is at once thrown into the prison of the Temple by the king, and all his +estates are sequestrated to await the result. Fortunately for Partenay +he had a large circle of influential friends and kindred, among them the +Bishop of Noyon, who labored strenuously in his behalf. He was able to +appeal to the pope, alleging personal hatred on the part of Frère +Maurice; he was sent under guard to Avignon, where his friends succeeded +in inducing John XXII. to assign certain bishops as assessors to try the +case with the inquisitor, and after infinite delays he was at length set +free--probably not without the use of means which greatly diminished his +wealth. When such a man could be so handled at the mere word of an angry +friar, meaner victims stood little chance.[137] This case in the North +and the close of Bernard Gui's career in Toulouse, about the same time, +mark the apogee of the Inquisition in France. Thenceforth we have to +follow its decline. + +Yet for some years longer there was a show of activity at Carcassonne, +where Henri de Chamay was a worthy representative of the older +inquisitors. January 16, 1329, in conjunction with Pierre Bruni he +celebrated an _auto de fé_ at Pamiers, where thirty-five persons were +permitted to lay aside crosses, and twelve were released from prison +with crosses, six were pardoned, seven were condemned to perpetual +imprisonment, together with four false witnesses, eight had arbitrary +penances assigned them, four dead persons were sentenced, and a friar +and a priest were degraded. As the see of Pamiers, to which this _auto_ +was confined, was a small one, the number of sentences uttered indicates +active work. December 12, of the same year, Henri de Chamay held another +at Narbonne, where the fate of some forty delinquents was decided. Then, +January 7, 1329, he held another at Pamiers; May 19, one at Béziers; +September 8, one at Carcassonne, where six unfortunates were burned and +twenty-one condemned to perpetual prison. Shortly afterwards he burned +three at Albi, and towards the end of the year he held another _auto_ at +a place not named, where eight persons were sentenced to prison, three +to prison in chains, and two were burned. Some collisions seem to have +occurred about this time with the royal officials, for, in 1334, the +inquisitors complained to Philippe de Valois that their functions were +impeded, and Philippe issued orders to the seneschals of Nimes, +Toulouse, and Carcassonne that the Inquisition must be maintained in the +full enjoyment of its ancient privileges.[138] + +Activity continued for some little time longer, but the records have +perished which would supply the details. We happen to have the accounts +of the Sénéchaussée of Toulouse, for 1337, which show that Pierre Bruni, +the inquisitor, was by no means idle. The receiver of confiscations +enumerates the estates of thirty heretics from which collections are in +hand; there was an _auto de fé_ celebrated and paid for; the number of +prisoners in the inquisitorial jail is stated at eighty-two, but as +their maintenance during eleven months amounted to the sum of three +hundred and sixty-five livres fourteen sols, the average number at three +deniers per diem must have been ninety. The terrible vicissitudes of the +English war doubtless soon afterwards slackened the energy of the +inquisitors, but we know that there were _autos de fé_ celebrated at +Carcassonne in 1346, 1357, and 1383, and one at Toulouse in 1374. The +office of inquisitor continued to be filled, but its functions +diminished greatly in importance, as we may guess from the fact that it +is related of Pierre de Mercalme, who was Provincial of Toulouse from +1350 to 1363, that during more than two years of this period he also +served as inquisitor.[139] + +In the North we hear little of the Inquisition during this period. The +English wars, in fact, must have seriously interfered with its activity, +but we have an evidence that it was not neglecting its duty in a +complaint made by the Provincial of Paris to Clement VI., in 1351, that +the practice of excepting the territories of Charles of Anjou from the +commissions issued to inquisitors deprived the provinces of Touraine and +Maine of the blessings of the institution and allowed heresy to flourish +there, whereupon the pope promptly extended the authority of Frère +Guillaume Chevalier and of all future inquisitors to those regions.[140] + +With the return of peace under Charles le Sage the Inquisition had freer +scope. The Begghards, or Brethren of the Free Spirit, undeterred by the +martyrdom of Marguerite la Porete, had continued to exist in secret. In +September, 1365, Urban V. notified the prelates and inquisitors +throughout France that they were actively at work propagating their +doctrines, and he sent detailed information as to their tenets and the +places where they were to be found to the Bishop of Paris, with orders +to communicate it to his fellow-prelates and the Inquisition. If any +immediate response to this was made, the result has not reached us, but +in 1372 we find Frère Jacques de More, "_inquisiteur des Bougres_," +busy in eradicating them. They called themselves the Company of Poverty, +and were popularly known by the name of Turelupins; as in Germany, they +were distinguished by their peculiar vestments, and they propagated +their doctrines largely by their devotional writings in the vernacular. +Charles V. rewarded the labors of the inquisitor with a donation of +fifty francs, and received the thanks of Gregory XI. for his zeal. The +outcome of the affair was the burning of the books and garments of the +heretics in the swine-market beyond the Porte Saint-Honoré, together +with the female leader of the sect, Jeanne Daubenton. Her male colleague +escaped by death in prison, but his body was preserved in quicklime for +fifteen days, in order that he might accompany his partner in guilt in +the flames. That such a spectacle was sufficiently infrequent to render +it a matter of importance is shown by its being recorded in the doggerel +of a contemporary chronicler-- + + "L'an MDCCCLXXII. je vous dis tout pour voir + Furent les Turelupins condannez pour ardoir, + Pour ce qu'ils desvoient le people à decepvoir + Par feaultes heresies, l'Eveque en soult levoir." + +The sect was a stubborn one, however, especially in Germany, as we shall +see hereafter, and in the early part of the next century Chancellor +Gerson still considers it of sufficient importance to combat its errors +repeatedly. Its mystic libertinism was dangerously seducing, and he was +especially alarmed by the incredible subtlety with which it was +presented in a book written by a woman known as Mary of Valenciennes. In +May, 1421, twenty-five of these sectaries were condemned at Douai by the +Bishop of Arras. Twenty of them recanted and were penanced with crosses +and banishment or imprisonment, but five were stubborn and sealed their +faith with martyrdom in the flames.[141] + +In 1381 Frère Jacques de More had a more illustrious victim in Hugues +Aubriot. A Burgundian by birth, Aubriot's energy and ability had won for +him the confidence of the wise King Charles, who had made him Prévôt of +Paris. This office he filled with unprecedented vigor. To him the city +owed the first system of sewerage that had been attempted, as well as +the Bastille, which he built as a bulwark against the English, and he +imposed some limitation on the flourishing industry of the _filles de +vie_. His good government gained him the respect and affection of the +people, but he made a mortal enemy of the University by disregarding +the immunities on the preservation of which, in the previous century, it +had staked its existence. In savage mockery of its wrath, when building +the Petit-Châtelet, he named two foul dungeons after two of the +principal quarters of the University, le Clos Bruneau and la Rue du +Foing, saying that they were intended for the students. Under the strong +rule of Charles V. the University had to digest its wrongs as best it +could, but after his death, in 1380, it eagerly watched its opportunity. +This was not long in coming, nor, in the rivalry between the Dukes of +Berri and Burgundy, was it difficult to enlist the former against +Aubriot as a Burgundian. The rule of the princes, at once feeble and +despotic, invited disorder, and when the people, November 25, 1380, rose +against the Jews, pillaged their houses, and forcibly baptized their +children, Aubriot incurred the implacable enmity of the Church by +forcing a restoration of the infants to their parents. The combination +against him thus became too strong for the court to resist. It yielded, +and on January 21, 1381, he was cited to appear before the bishop and +inquisitor. He disdained to obey the summons, and his excommunication +for contumacy was published in all the churches of Paris. This compelled +obedience, and when he came before the inquisitor, on February 1, he was +at once thrown into the episcopal prison while his trial proceeded. The +charges were most frivolous, except the affair of the Jewish children +and his having released from the Châtelet a prisoner accused of heresy, +placed there by the inquisitor. It was alleged that on one occasion one +of his sergeants had excused himself for delay by saying that he had +waited at church to see God (the elevation of the Host), when Aubriot +angrily rejoined, "Sirrah, know ye not that I have more power to harm +you than God to help;" and again that when some one had told him that +they would see God in a mass celebrated by Silvestre de la Cervelle, +Bishop of Coutances, he replied that God would not permit himself to be +handled by such a man as the bishop. His enemies were so exasperated +that on the strength of this flimsy gossip he was actually condemned to +be burned without the privilege allowed to all heretics of saving +himself by abjuration; but the princes intervened and succeeded in +obtaining this for him. He had no reason to complain of undue delay. On +May 17 a solemn _auto de fé_ was held. On a scaffold erected in front of +Nôtre Dame, Aubriot humbly confessed and recanted the heresies of which +he had been convicted, and received the sentence of perpetual +imprisonment, which of course carried with it the confiscation of his +wealth, while the rejoicing scholars of the University lampooned him in +halting verses. He was thence conveyed to a dungeon in the episcopal +prison, where he lay until 1382, when the insurrection of the Maillotins +occurred. The first thought of the people was of their old prévôt. They +broke open the prison, drew him forth and placed him at their head. He +accepted the post, but the same night he quietly withdrew and escaped to +his native Burgundy, where his adventurous life ended in peaceful +obscurity. The story is instructive as showing how efficient an +instrument was the Inquisition for the gratification of malice. In fact, +its functions as a factor in political strife were of sufficient +importance to require more detailed consideration hereafter.[142] + +After this we hear little more of the Inquisition of Paris, although it +continued to exist. When, in 1388, the eloquence of Thomas of Apulia +drew wondering crowds to listen with veneration to his teaching that the +law of the Gospel was simply love, with the deduction that the +sacraments, the invocation of saints, and all the inventions of the +current theology were useless; when he wrote a book inveighing against +the sins of prelate and pope, and asserting, with the Everlasting +Gospel, that the reign of the Holy Ghost had supplanted that of the +Father and the Son, and when he boldly announced himself as the envoy of +the Holy Ghost sent to reform the world, the Inquisition was not called +upon to silence even this revolutionary heretic. It was the Prévôt of +Paris who ordered him to desist from preaching, and, when he refused, it +was the bishop and University who tried him, ordered his book to be +burned on the Place de Grève, and would have him burned had not the +medical alienists of the day testified to his insanity and procured for +him a commutation of his punishment to perpetual imprisonment.[143] + + * * * * * + +Various causes had long been contributing to deprive the Inquisition in +France of the importance which it had once enjoyed. It no longer as of +old poured into the royal fisc a stream of confiscations and co-operated +efficiently in consolidating the monarchy. It had done its work too +well, and not only had it become superfluous as an instrument for the +throne, but the throne which it had aided to establish had become +supreme and had reduced it to subjection. Even in the plenitude of +inquisitorial power the tendency to regard the royal court as possessing +a jurisdiction higher than that of the Holy Office is shown in the case +of Amiel de Lautrec, Abbot of S. Sernin. In 1322 the Viguier of Toulouse +accused him to the Inquisition for having preached the doctrine that the +soul is mortal in essence and only immortal through grace. The +Inquisition examined the matter and decided that this was not heresy. +The royal _procureur-général_, dissatisfied with this, appealed from the +decision, not to the pope but to the Parlement or royal court. No +question more purely spiritual can well be conceived, and yet the +Parlement gravely entertained the appeal and asserted its jurisdiction +by confirming the decree of the Inquisition.[144] + +This was ominous of the future, although the indefatigable Henri de +Chamay, apparently alarmed at the efforts successfully made by Philippe +de Valois to control and limit spiritual jurisdictions, procured from +that monarch, in November, 1329, a _Mandement_ confirming the privileges +of the Inquisition, placing all temporal nobles and officials afresh at +its disposal, and annulling all letters emanating from the royal court, +whether past or future, which should in any way impede inquisitors from +performing their functions in accordance with their commissions from the +Holy See. The evolution of the monarchy was proceeding too rapidly to be +checked. Henri de Chamay himself, in 1328, had officially qualified +himself as inquisitor, deputed, not by the pope, as had always been the +formula proudly employed, but by the king, and a judicial decision to +this effect followed soon after. It was Philippe's settled policy to +enforce and extend the jurisdiction of the crown, and in pursuance of +this he sent Guillaume de Villars to Toulouse to reform the +encroachments of the ecclesiastical tribunals over the royal courts. In +1330 de Villars, in the performance of his duty, caused the registers of +the ecclesiastical courts to be submitted to him, after which he +demanded those of the Inquisition. When we remember how jealously these +were guarded, how arrogantly Nicholas d'Abbeville had refused a sight of +them to the bishops sent by Philippe le Bel, and how long Jean de +Pequigny hesitated before he interfered with Geoffroi d'Ablis, we can +measure the extent of the silent revolution which had occurred during +the interval in the relations between Church and State, by the fact that +de Villars, on being refused, coolly proceeded to break open the door of +the chamber in which the registers were kept. The inquisitor appealed, +and again it was not to the pope, but to the Parlement, and that body, +in condemning de Villars to pay the costs and damages, did so on the +ground that the Inquisition was a royal and not an ecclesiastical court. +This was a Pyrrhic victory; the State had absorbed the Inquisition. It +was the same when, in 1334, Philippe listened to the complaints of the +inquisitors that his seneschals disturbed them in their jurisdiction, +and gave orders that they should enjoy all their ancient privileges, for +these are treated as derived wholly from the royal power. Henceforth the +Inquisition could exist only on sufferance, subject to the supervision +of the Parlement, while the Captivity of Avignon, followed by the Great +Schism, constantly gave to the temporal powers increased authority in +spiritual matters.[145] + +How completely the Inquisition was becoming an affair of state is +indicated by two incidents. In 1340, when the lieutenant of the king in +Languedoc, Louis of Poitou, Count of Die and Valentinois, was making his +entry into the good city of Toulouse, he found the gate closed. +Dismounting and kneeling bareheaded on a cushion, he took an oath on the +Gospels, in the hands of the inquisitor, to preserve the privileges of +the Inquisition, and then another oath to the consuls to maintain the +liberties of the city. Thus both institutions were on the same footing +and required the same illusory guarantee, the very suggestion of which +would have been laughed to scorn by Bernard Gui. Again, in 1368, when +the royal revenues were depleted by the English wars and the ravages of +the Free Companies, and were insufficient to pay the wages of the +Inquisitor of Carcassonne, Pierre Scatisse, the royal treasurer, +ordered a levy by the consuls of twenty-six livres tournois to complete +the payment. Confiscations had long since ceased to meet the +expenditures, but the inquisitor was a royal official and must be paid +by the city if not by the state.[146] + +How thorough was the subjection of all ecclesiastical institutions, and +how fallen the Inquisition from its high estate, is manifested by an +occurrence in 1364, at a moment when the royal authority was at the +lowest ebb. King John had died a prisoner in London, April 8, and the +young Charles V. was not crowned until May 19, while his kingdom was +reduced almost to anarchy by foreign aggression and internal +dissensions. Yet, April 16, Marshal Arnaud d'Audeneham, Lieutenant du +Roi in Languedoc, convoked at Nîmes an assembly of the Three Estates +presided over by the Archbishop of Narbonne. One of the questions +discussed was a quarrel between the Archbishop of Toulouse and the +inquisitor whom he had prohibited from exercising his functions, saying +that the Inquisition had been established at the request of the province +of Languedoc, and that now it had become an injury. All the prelates, +except Aymeri, Bishop of Viviers, sided with the archbishop, while the +representatives of Toulouse asked to be admitted as parties to the suit +on the side of the inquisitor. No one seems to have doubted that the +marshal, as royal deputy, had full jurisdiction over the matter, and his +decision was against the archbishop.[147] + +Even in Carcassonne, where the Dominicans had lorded it so imperiously, +all fear of them had disappeared so utterly that in 1354 a sturdy +blacksmith named Hugues erected a shop close to the church of the +Friars, and carried on his noisy avocation so vigorously as to interrupt +their services and interfere with their studies. Remonstrances and +threats were of no avail, and they were obliged to appeal, not to the +bishop or the inquisitor, but to the king, who graciously sent a +peremptory order to his seneschal to remove the smithy or to prevent +Hugues from working in it.[148] + +Towards the end of the century some cases occurring in Reims illustrate +how completely the Inquisition was falling into abeyance throughout the +kingdom, and how the jurisdiction of the royal court of the Parlement +was accepted as supreme in spiritual matters. In 1385 there arose a +dispute between the magistrates of the city and the archbishop as to +jurisdiction over blasphemy, which was claimed by both. This was settled +by an agreement recognizing it as belonging to the archbishop, but +twenty years later the quarrel broke out afresh over the case of Drouet +Largèle, who was guilty of blasphemy savoring of heresy as to the +Passion and the Virgin. The matter was appealed to the Parlement, which +decided in favor of the archbishop, and no allusion throughout the whole +affair occurs as to any claim that the Inquisition might have to +interpose, showing that at this time it was practically disregarded. Yet +we chance to know that Reims was the seat of an Inquisition, for in 1419 +Pierre Florée was inquisitor there, and preached, October 13, the +funeral sermon at the obsequies of Jean sans Peur of Burgundy, giving +great offence by urging Philippe le Bon not to avenge the murder of his +father. We see also the scruples of the Inquisition on the subject of +blasphemy in 1423 at Toulouse, where it had become the custom to submit +to the inquisitor the names of all successful candidates in municipal +elections in order to ascertain whether they were in any way suspect of +heresy. Among the capitouls elected in 1423 was a certain François +Albert, who was objected to by the acting inquisitor, Frère Bartolomé +Guiscard, on account of habitual use of the expletives _Tête-Dieu_ and +_Ventre-Dieu_, whereupon the citizens substituted Pierre de Sarlat. +Albert appealed to the Parlement, which approved of the action of the +inquisitor.[149] + +Still more emphatic as to the supreme authority of the Parlement was the +case of Marie du Canech of Cambrai, to which I have already had occasion +to refer. For maintaining that when under oath she was not bound to tell +the truth to the prejudice of her honor, she was prosecuted for heresy +by the Bishop of Cambrai and Frère Nicholas de Péronne, styling himself +deputy of the inquisitor-general or Provincial of Paris. Being severely +mulcted, she appealed to the Archbishop of Reims, as the metropolitan, +and he issued inhibitory letters. Then the bishop and inquisitor +appealed from the archbishop to the Parlement. The matter was +elaborately argued on both sides, the archbishop alleging that there was +at that time no inquisitor in France, and drawing a number of subtle +distinctions. The Parlement had no hesitation in accepting jurisdiction +over this purely spiritual question. It paid no attention to the +cautious arguments of the archbishop, but decided broadly that the +bishop and inquisitor had no grounds for disobeying the citation of the +archbishop evoking the case to his own court, and it condemned them in +costs. Thus the ancient supremacy of the episcopal jurisdiction was +reasserted over that of the Inquisition.[150] + +The Great Schism, followed by the councils of Constance and Basle, did +much to shake the papal power on which that of the Inquisition was +founded. The position of Charles VII. towards Rome was consistently +insubordinate, and the Pragmatic Sanction which he published in 1438 +secured the independence of the Gallican Church, and strengthened the +jurisdiction of the Parlement. When Louis XI. abrogated it, in 1461, the +remonstrances of his Parlement form a singularly free-spoken indictment +of papal vices, and that body continued to treat the instrument as +practically in force, while Louis himself, by successive measures of +1463, 1470, 1472, 1474, 1475, and 1479, gradually re-established its +principles. Had not the Concordat of Francis I., in 1516, swept it away, +when he conspired with Leo X. to divide the spoils of the Church, it +would eventually have rendered France independent of Rome. Francis knew +so well the opposition which it would excite that he hesitated for a +year to submit the measure to his Parlement for registration, and the +Parlement deferred the registration for another year, till at last the +negotiator of the concordat, Cardinal Duprat, brought to bear sufficient +pressure to accomplish the object. During the discussion the University +had the boldness to protest publicly against it, and to lodge with the +Parlement an appeal to the next general council.[151] + +During this period of antagonism to Rome the University of Paris had +contributed no little to the abasement of the Inquisition by supplanting +it as an investigator of doctrine and judge of heresy. Its ancient +renown, fully maintained by an uninterrupted succession of ardent and +learned teachers, gave it great authority. It was a national institution +of which clergy and laity alike might well be proud, and at one time it +appeared as though it might rival the Parlement in growing into one of +the recognized powers of the State. In the fearful anarchy which +accompanied the insanity of Charles VI. it boldly assumed a right to +speak on public affairs, and its interference was welcomed. In 1411 the +king, who chanced at the time to be in the hands of the Burgundians, +appealed to it to excommunicate the Armagnacs, and the University +zealously did so. In 1412 it presented a remonstrance to the king on the +subject of the financial disorders of the time and demanded a reform. +Supported by the Parisians, at its dictate the financiers and thieves +of the government, with the exception of the chancellor, were dismissed +in 1413, greatly to the discontent of the courtiers, who ridiculed the +theologians as bookworms; and in the same year it co-operated with the +Parlement in securing momentary peace between the angry factions of the +land. The thanks which the heir-apparent, the Duke of Guienne, +accompanied by the Dukes of Berri, Burgundy, Bavaria, and Bar, solemnly +rendered to the assembled Faculty, virtually recognized it as a part of +the State. But when, in 1415, it sent a deputation to remonstrate +against the oppression of the people through excessive taxation, the +Duke of Guienne, who was angry at the part taken by it, without +consulting the court, in degrading John XXIII. at the Council of +Constance, curtly told the spokesmen that they were interfering in +matters beyond their competence; and when the official orator attempted +to reply, the duke had him arrested on the spot and kept in prison for +several days.[152] + +Though its temporary ambition to rival the Parlement in state affairs +was fortunately not gratified, in theology such a body as this was +supreme. It would naturally be called upon, either as a whole or by +delegates, to furnish the experts whose counsel was to guide bishop and +inquisitor in the decision of cases; and as the old heresies died out +and new ones were evolved, every deviation from orthodoxy came to be +submitted to it as a matter of course, when its decision was received as +final. These were for the most part scholastic subtleties to which I +shall recur hereafter, as well as to the great controversies over the +Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, and over Nominalism and Realism, in +which it took a distinguished part. Sometimes, however, the questions +were more practical. When some insolent wretch, in 1432, impudently told +Frère Pierre de Voie, the deputy-inquisitor of Evreux, that his +citations were simply abuses, the offended functionary, in place of +promptly clapping the recalcitrant into prison, plaintively referred the +case to the University, and had the satisfaction of receiving a solemn +decision that the words were audacious, presumptuous, scandalous, and +tending to rebellion (it did not say heretical), and that the utterer +was liable to punishment. Bernard Gui or Nicholas d'Abbeville would +have asked for no such warrant.[153] + +To what an extent the University in time replaced the Inquisition in its +neglected and forgotten functions is shown in 1498, in the case of the +Observantine Franciscan, Jean Vitrier. In the restlessness and +insubordination which heralded the Reformation, this obscure friar +anticipated Luther even more than did John of Wesel, although in the +strictness of his asceticism he taught that a wife might better break +her marriage-vow than her fasts. In his preaching at Tournay he +counselled the people to drag the concubines and their priests from +their houses with shame and derision; he affirmed that it was a mortal +sin to listen to the masses of concubinary priests. Pardons and +indulgences were the offspring of hell: the faithful ought not to +purchase them, for they were not intended for the maintenance of +brothels. Even the intercession of the saints was not to be sought. +These were old heresies for which any inquisitor would promptly offer +the utterer the alternative of abjuration or the stake; but the prelates +and magistrates of Tournay referred the matter to the University, which +laboriously extracted from Vitrier's sermons sixteen propositions for +condemnation.[154] + +Even more significant of the growing authority of the University and the +waning power of the Papacy was a decision rendered in 1502. Alexander +VI. had levied a tithe on the clergy of France, with the customary +excuse of prosecuting the war against the Turks. The clergy, whose +consent had not been asked, refused to pay. The pope rejoined by +excommunicating them, and they applied to the University to know whether +such a papal excommunication was valid, whether it was to be feared, and +whether they should consequently abstain from the performance of divine +service. On all these points the University replied in the negative, +unanimously and without hesitation. Had circumstances permitted the same +independence in Germany, a little more progress in this direction would +have rendered Luther superfluous.[155] + +It is not to be supposed, however, that the Inquisition, though fallen +from its former dignity, had ceased to exist or to perform its +functions after a fashion. It was to the interest of the popes to +maintain it, and the position of inquisitor, though humble in comparison +with that which his predecessors enjoyed, was yet a source of influence, +and possibly of profit, which led to its being eagerly sought. In 1414 +we find two contestants for the post at Toulouse, and in 1424 an +unseemly quarrel between two rivals at Carcassonne. The diocese of +Geneva was also the subject of contention embittered by the traditional +rivalry between the two Mendicant Orders. It will be remembered that in +1290 this, with other French cantons, was included by Nicholas IV. in +the inquisitorial province of Besançon, which was Dominican. Geneva +belonged, however, ecclesiastically to the metropolis of Vienne, which +was under the Franciscan Inquisition of Provence, and Gregory XI. so +treated it in 1375. When Pons Feugeyron was commissioned, in 1409, +Geneva was not mentioned in the enumeration of the dioceses under him; +but when his commission was renewed by Martin V., in 1418, it was +included, and he began to exercise his powers there. There at once arose +the threat of a most scandalous quarrel between the combative Orders; +the Dominicans appealed to Martin, and in 1419 he restored Geneva to +them. Yet in 1434, when Eugenius IV. again confirmed Pons Feugeyron's +commission, the name of Geneva once more slipped in. The Dominicans must +again have successfully reclaimed it, for in 1472, when there was a +sudden resumption of inquisitorial activity under Sixtus IV., in +confirming Frère Jean Vaylette as Inquisitor of Provence, with the same +powers as Pons Feugeyron, Geneva was omitted in the list of his +jurisdictions, while the Dominicans, Victor Rufi and Claude Rufi, were +appointed respectively at Geneva and Lausanne; and in 1491 another +Dominican, François Granet, was commissioned at Geneva.[156] + +Yet the position thus eagerly sought had no legitimate means of support. +In the terrible disorders of the times the royal stipends had been +withdrawn. Alexander V., in 1409, instructed his legate, the Cardinal of +S. Susanna, that some method must be devised of meeting the expenses of +the inquisitor, his associate, his notary, and his servant. He suggests +either levying three hundred gold florins on the Jews of Avignon; or +that each bishop shall defray the cost as the inquisitor moves from one +diocese to another; or that each bishop shall contribute ten florins +annually out of the legacies for pious uses. Which device was adopted +does not appear, but they all seem to have proved fruitless, for in 1418 +Martin V. wrote to the Archbishop of Narbonne that he must find some +means of supplying the necessary expenses of the Inquisition. Under such +circumstances the attraction of the office may, perhaps, be discerned +from a petition, in this same year 1418, from the citizens of Avignon in +favor of the Jews. The protection afforded by the Avignonese popes to +this proscribed class had rendered the city a Jewish centre, and they +were found of much utility; but they were constantly molested by the +inquisitors, who instituted frivolous prosecutions against them, +doubtless not without profit. Martin listened kindly to the appeal, and +it proves the degradation of the Inquisition that he gave the Jews a +right to appoint an assessor who should sit with the inquisitor in all +cases in which they were concerned.[157] + +Still the Inquisition was not wholly without evidence of activity in its +purposed sphere of duty. We shall see hereafter that Pierre d'Ailly, +Bishop of Cambrai, when, in 1411, he prosecuted the Men of Intelligence, +duly called in the inquisitor of the province, who was Dominican Prior +of St. Quentin in Vermandois, to join in the sentence. In 1430 we hear +of a number of heretics who had been burned at Lille by the +deputy-inquisitor and the Bishop of Tournay; and in 1431 Philippe le Bon +ordered his officials to execute all sentences pronounced by Brother +Heinrich Kaleyser, who had been appointed Inquisitor of Cambrai and +Lille by the Dominican Provincial of Germany--a manifest invasion of the +rights of his colleague of Paris, doubtless due to the political +complications of the times. This order of Philippe le Bon, however, +shows that the example of supervision set by the Parlement was not lost +on the feudatories, for the officials are only instructed to make +arrests when there has been a proper preliminary inquest, with +observance of all the forms of law. I shall have occasion hereafter to +speak of the part played by the Inquisition in the tragedy of Joan of +Arc, and need here only allude to the appointment, in 1431, by Eugenius +IV., of Frère Jean Graveran to be Inquisitor of Rouen, where he was +already exercising the functions of the office, and where he was +succeeded in 1433 by Frère Sébastien l'Abbé, who had been papal +penitentiary and chaplain--another evidence of the partition of France +during the disastrous English war. People were growing more careless +about excommunication than ever. About 1415, a number of ecclesiastics +of Limoges were prosecuted by the inquisitor, Jean du Puy, as suspect of +heresy for this cause; they appealed to the Council of Constance, and in +1418 the matter was referred back to the archbishop. Still the +indifference to excommunication grew, and in 1435 Eugenius IV. +instructed the Inquisitor of Carcassonne to prosecute all who remained +under the censure of the Church for several years without seeking +absolution.[158] + +With the pacification of France and the final expulsion of the English, +Nicholas V. seems to have thought the occasion opportune for reviving +and establishing the Inquisition on a firmer and broader basis. A bull +of August 1, 1451, to Hugues le Noir, Inquisitor of France, defines his +jurisdiction as extending not only over the Kingdom of France, but also +over the Duchy of Aquitaine and all Gascony and Languedoc. Thus, with +the exception of the eastern provinces, the whole was consolidated into +one district, with its principal seat probably in Toulouse. The +jurisdiction of the inquisitor was likewise extended over all offences +that had hitherto been considered doubtful--blasphemy, sacrilege, +divination, even when not savoring of heresy, and unnatural crimes. He +was further released from the necessity of episcopal co-operation, and +was empowered to carry on all proceedings and render judgment without +calling the bishops into consultation. Two centuries earlier these +enormous powers would have rendered Hugues almost omnipotent, but now it +was too late. The Inquisition had sunk beyond resuscitation. In 1458 the +Franciscan Minister of Burgundy represented to Pius II. the deplorable +condition of the institution in the extensive territories confided to +his Order, comprising the great archiepiscopates of Lyons, Vienne, +Arles, Aix, Embrun, and Tarantaise, and covering both sides of the +Rhone and a considerable portion of Savoy. In the thirteenth century +Clement IV. had placed this region under the control of the Burgundian +Minister, but with the lapse of time his supervision had become nominal. +Ambitious friars had obtained directly from the popes commissions to act +as inquisitors in special districts, and therefore acknowledged no +authority but their own. Others had assumed the office without +appointment from any one. There was no power to correct their excesses; +scandals were numerous, the people were oppressed, and the Order exposed +to opprobrium. Pius hastened to put an end to these abuses by renewing +the obsolete authority of the minister, with full power of removal, even +of those who enjoyed papal commissions.[159] + +The Inquisition was thus reorganized, but its time had passed. To so low +an ebb had it fallen that in this same year, 1458, Frère Bérard Tremoux, +Inquisitor of Lyons, who had aroused general hostility by the rigor with +which he exercised his office, was thrown in prison through the efforts +of the citizens, and it required the active interposition of Pius II. +and his legate, Cardinal Alano, to effect his release. The venality and +corruption of the papal curia, moreover, was so ineradicable that no +reform was possible in anything subject to its control. But three years +after Pius had placed the whole district under the Minister of Burgundy +we find him renewing the old abuses by a special appointment of Brother +Bartholomäus of Eger as Inquisitor of Grenoble. That such commissions +were sold, or conferred as a matter of favor, there can be no reasonable +doubt, and the appointees were turned loose upon their districts to +wring what miserable gains they could from the fears of the people. Only +this can explain a form of appointment which became common as +"inquisitor in the Kingdom of France," "without prejudice to other +inquisitors authorized by us or by others"--a sort of letter-of-marque +to cruise at large and make what the appointees could from the faithful. +Similarly significant is the appointment of Frère Pierre Cordrat, +confessor of Jean, Duke of Bourbon, in 1478, to be Inquisitor of +Bourges, thus wholly disregarding the consolidation of the kingdom by +Nicholas V. It is hardly necessary to extend the list further. +Inquisitors were appointed by the popes in constant succession, either +for the kingdom of France or for special districts, as though the +institution were at the height of its power and activity. That something +was to be gained by all this there can be no question, but there is +little risk in assuming that the gainer was not religion.[160] + +Several cases occurring about this period are interesting as +illustrations of the spread of the spirit of inquiry and independence, +and of the subordinate position to which the Inquisition had sunk. In +1459, at Lille, there was burned a heretic known as Alphonse of +Portugal, who led an austere life as an anchorite and frequented the +churches assiduously, but who declared that since Gregory the Great +there had been no true pope, and consequently no valid administration of +the sacraments. In the account which has reached us of his trial and +execution there is no allusion to the intervention of the Holy Office. +Still more significant is the case, in 1484, of Jean Laillier, a priest +in Paris, a theological licentiate, and an applicant for the doctorate +in theology. In his sermons he had been singularly free-spoken. He +denied the validity of the rule of celibacy; he quoted Wickliff as a +great doctor; he rejected the supremacy of Rome and the binding force of +tradition and decretal; John XXII., he said, had had no power to condemn +Jean de Poilly; so far from St. Francis occupying the vacant throne of +Lucifer in heaven, he was rather with Lucifer in hell; since the time of +Silvester the Holy See had been the church of avarice and of imperial +power, where canonization could be obtained for money. So weak had +become the traditional hold of the Church on the consciences of men that +this revolutionary preaching seems to have aroused no opposition, even +on the part of the Inquisition; but Laillier, not content with simple +toleration, applied to the University for the doctorate, and was refused +admission to the preliminary disputations unless he should purge +himself, undergo penance, and obtain the assent of the Holy See. +Laillier thereupon boldly applied to the Parlement, now by tacit assent +clothed with supreme jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters, asking it +to compel the University to admit him. The Parlement entertained no +doubts as to its own competence, but decided the case in a manner not +looked for by the hardy priest. It ordered Louis, Bishop of Paris, in +conjunction with the inquisitor and four doctors selected by the +University, to prosecute Laillier to due punishment. The bishop and +inquisitor agreed to proceed separately and communicate their processes +to each other; but Laillier must have had powerful backers, for Bishop +Louis, without conferring with his colleague or the experts, allowed +Laillier to make a partial recantation and a public abjuration couched +in the most free and easy terms, absolved him, June 23, 1486, pronounced +him free from suspicion of heresy, restored him to his functions, and +declared him capable of promotion to all grades and honors. Frère Jean +Cossart, the inquisitor, who had been diligently collecting evidence of +many scandalous doctrines of Laillier's and vainly communicating them to +the bishop, was forced to swallow this affront in silence, but the +University felt its honor engaged and was not inclined to submit. +November 6, 1486, it issued a formal protest against the action of the +bishop, appealed to the pope, and demanded "Apostoli." Innocent VIII. +promptly came to the rescue. He annulled the decision of the bishop and +ordered the inquisitor, in conjunction with the Archbishop of Sens and +the Bishop of Meaux, to throw Laillier into prison, while they should +investigate the unrecanted heresies and send the papers to Rome for +decision. Very suggestive of the strong influences supporting Laillier +is the pope's expression of fear lest the pressure brought to bear on +the University should have forced it to admit him to the doctorate; if +so, such action is pronounced void, and all engaged in the attempt are +ordered to desist under pain of incurring suspicion of heresy. It is not +a little singular that the Bishop of Meaux, who was thus selected to sit +in judgment on Laillier, was at this very time under censure by the +University for reviving the Donatist heresy of the insufficiency of the +sacraments in polluted hands--the Eucharist of a fornicating priest was +of no more account, he said, than the barking of a dog. Many an +unfortunate Waldensian had been burned for less than this, but the +inquisitor had not dared to hold him to account. Nor do we hear of his +intervention in the case of Jean Langlois, priest of St. Crispin, who, +when celebrating mass, June 3, 1491, horrified his flock by casting on +the floor and trampling the consecrated wine and host. On his arrest he +gave as his reason that the body and blood of Christ were not in the +elements, and as he stubbornly refused to recant, he expiated his error +at the stake. Similar was the fate of Aymon Picard, who, at the feast of +St. Louis in the Sainte-Chapelle, August 25, 1503, snatched the host +from the celebrant and cast it in pieces on the floor, and obstinately +declined to abjure. All this was significant of the time coming when the +Inquisition would be more necessary than ever.[161] + +The present degradation which it shared with the rest of the Church in +the constantly growing supremacy of the State is manifested by a +commission issued in 1485, by Frère Antoine de Clède, appointing a vicar +to act for him in Rodez and Vabres. In this document he styles himself +Inquisitor of France, Aquitaine, Gascony, and Languedoc, deputed by the +Holy See and the Parlement. The two bodies are thus equal sources of +authority, and the appointment by the pope would have been insufficient +without the confirmation by the royal court. How contemptible, indeed, +the Inquisition had become, even in the eyes of ecclesiastics, is +brought instructively before us in a petty quarrel between the +Inquisitor Raymond Gozin and his Dominican brethren. When he succeeded +Frère Gaillard de la Roche, somewhere about 1516, he found that the +house of the Inquisition at Toulouse had been stripped of its furniture +and utensils by the friars of the Dominican convent. He made a +reclamation, and some of the articles were restored; but the friars +subsequently demanded them back, and on his refusal procured from the +General Master instructions to the vicar, under which the latter +proceeded to extremities with him, wholly disregarding his appeal to the +pope, though he finally, in 1520, succeeded in obtaining the +intervention of Leo X. Imagination could scarcely furnish a more +convincing proof of decadence than this exhibition of the successor of +Bernard de Caux and Bernard Gui vainly endeavoring to defend his kitchen +gear from the rapacious hands of his brethren.[162] + +It is quite probable that this dispute was envenomed by the inevitable +jealousy between the main body of the Order and its puritan section +known as the Reformed Congregation. Of this latter Raymond Gozin was +vicar-general, and his anxiety to regain his furnishings was probably +due to the fact that he was altering the house of the Inquisition so as +to accommodate within it a Reformed convent. The vast buildings which it +had required in the plenitude of its power had become a world too wide +for its shrunken needs. The original home of the Dominican Order, before +the removal in 1230 through the liberality of Pons de Capdenier, it +contained a church with three altars, a refectory, cells (or prison), +chambers, guest-rooms, cloisters, and two gardens. In approving of the +proposed alterations, Leo X. stipulated that some kind of retiring-room +with convenient offices must still be reserved for the use of the +Inquisition. This epitomizes the history of the institution. Yet it had +by no means wholly lost its power of evil, for in 1521 Johann Bomm, +Dominican Prior of Poligny, and inquisitor at Besançon had the +satisfaction of despatching two lycanthropists, or wer-wolves.[163] + + * * * * * + +The career of the Waldenses forms so interesting and well-defined an +episode in the history of persecution that I have hitherto omitted all +reference to that sect, in order to present a brief, continuous outline +of its relations with the Inquisition, which found in it, after the +disappearance of the Cathari, the only really important field of labor +in France. + +Although by no means as numerous or as powerful in Languedoc as the +Cathari, the Waldenses formed an important heretical element. They were, +however, mostly confined to the humbler classes, and we hear of few +nobles belonging to the sect. In the sentences of Pierre Cella, rendered +in Querci in 1241 and 1242, we have abundant testimony as to their +numbers and activity. Thus, references occur to them-- + + At Gourdon in 55 cases out of 219 + At Montcucq in 44 " " " 84 + At Sauveterre in 1 case " " 5 + At Belcayre in 3 cases out of 7 + At Montauban in 175 " " " 252 + At Moissac in 1 case " " 94 + At Montpezat in no " " " 22 + At Montaut in no " " " 23 + At Castelnau in 1 " " " 11 + +and although many of these are mere allusions to having seen them or had +dealings with them, the comparative frequency of the reference indicates +the places where their heresy was most flourishing. Thus, Montauban was +evidently its headquarters in the district, and at Gourdon and Montcucq +there were vigorous colonies. + +They had a regular organization--schools for the young where their +doctrines were doubtless implanted in the children of orthodox parents; +cemeteries where their dead were buried; missionaries who traversed the +land diligently to spread the faith, and who customarily refused all +alms, save hospitality. A certain Pierre des Vaux is frequently referred +to as one of the most active and most beloved of these, regarded, +according to one of his disciples, as an angel of light. Public +preaching in the streets was constant, and numerous allusions are made +to disputations held between the Waldensian ministers and the Catharan +perfects. Still, the utmost good feeling existed between the two +persecuted sects. Men were found who confessed to believing in the +Waldenses and to performing acts of adoration to the Cathari--in the +common enmity to Rome any faith which was not orthodox was regarded as +good. The reputation of the Waldenses as skilful leeches was a powerful +aid in their missionary labors. They were constantly consulted in cases +of disease or injury, and almost without exception they refused payment +for their ministrations, save food. One woman confessed to giving forty +sols to a Catharan for medical services, while to Waldenses she gave +only wine and bread. We learn also that they heard confessions and +imposed penance; that they celebrated a sacramental supper in which +bread and fish were blessed and partaken of, and that bread which they +consecrated with the sign of the cross was regarded as holy by their +disciples. Notwithstanding the strength and organization of the sect, +the Waldenses were evidently looked upon by Pierre Cella with a less +unfavorable eye than the Cathari, and the penances imposed on them were +habitually lighter.[164] + +From Lyons the Waldensian belief had spread to the North and East, as +well as to the South and West. It is a curious fact that while the +Cathari never succeeded in establishing themselves to any extent beyond +the Romance territories, the Waldenses were already, in 1192, so +numerous in Lorraine that Eudes, Bishop of Toul, in ordering them to be +captured and brought to him in chains for judgment, not only promises +remission of sins as a reward, but feels obliged to add that if, for +rendering this service, the faithful are driven away from their homes, +he will find them in food and clothing. In Franche Comté, John, Count of +Burgundy, bears emphatic testimony to their numbers in 1248, when he +solicited of Innocent IV. the introduction of the Inquisition in his +dominions, and its discontinuance in 1257 doubtless left them to +multiply in peace. In 1251 we find the Archbishop of Narbonne condemning +some female Waldenses to perpetual imprisonment. It was, however, in the +mountains of Auvergne and the Alpine and sub-Alpine regions stretching +between Geneva and the Mediterranean that they found the surest refuge. +While Pierre Cella was penancing those of Querci, the Archbishop of +Embrun was busy with their brethren of Freyssinières, Argentière, and +Val-Pute, which so long continued to be their strongholds. In 1251, when +Alphonse and Jeanne, on their accession, guaranteed at Beaucaire the +liberties of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, the Bishop-legate Zoen +earnestly urged them to destroy the Waldenses there. There were ample +laws on the municipal statute-books of Avignon and Arles for the +extermination of "heretics and Waldenses," but the local magistracy +was slack in their enforcement and was obliged to swear to extirpate the +sectaries. The Waldenses were mostly simple mountain folk, with +possessions that offered no temptation for confiscation, and persecuting +energy was more profitable and more usefully directed against the richer +Cathari. We hear, indeed, that from 1271 to 1274 the zeal of Guillaume +de Cobardon, Seneschal of Carcassonne, urged the inquisitors to active +work against the Waldenses, resulting in numerous convictions, but among +the far more populous communities near the Rhone the Inquisition was not +introduced into the Comtat Venaissin until 1288, nor into Dauphiné until +1292, and in both cases we are told that it was caused by the alarming +spread of heresy. In 1288 the same increase is alluded to in the +provinces of Arles, Aix, and Embrun, when Nicholas IV. sent to the +nobles and magistrates there the laws of Frederic II., with orders for +their enforcement, and to the inquisitors a code of instructions for +procedure.[165] + +About the same period there is a curious case of a priest named Jean +Philibert, who was sent from Burgundy into Gascony to track a fugitive +Waldensian. He followed his quarry as far as Ausch, where he found a +numerous community of the sectaries, holding regular assemblies and +preaching and performing their rites, although they attended the parish +churches to avert suspicion. Their evangelical piety so won upon him +that, after going home, he returned to Ausch and formally joined them. +He wandered back to Burgundy, where he fell under suspicion, and in 1298 +he was brought before Gui de Reims, the Inquisitor of Besançon, when he +refused to take an oath and was consigned to prison. Here he abjured, +and on being liberated returned to the Waldenses of Gascony, was again +arrested, and brought before Bernard Gui in 1311, who finally burned him +in 1319 as a relapsed. In 1302 we hear of two Waldensian ministers +haunting the region near Castres, in the Albigeois, wandering around by +night and zealously propagating their doctrines. Still, in spite of +these evidences of activity, little effort at repression is visible at +this period. The Inquisition was crippled for a while by its contest +with Philippe le Bel and Clement V., and when it resumed unrestricted +operations, Pierre Autier and his Catharan disciples absorbed its +energies. Although the sentences of Bernard Gui at Toulouse commence in +1308, it is not until the _auto de fé_ of 1316 that any Waldenses appear +among its victims, when one was condemned to perpetual imprisonment and +one was burned as an unrepentant heretic. The _auto_ of 1319 appears to +have been a jail-delivery, for poor wretches appear in it whose +confessions date back to 1309, 1311, 1312, and 1315. On this occasion +eighteen Waldenses were condemned to pilgrimages with or without +crosses, twenty-six to perpetual prison, and three were burned. In the +_auto_ of 1321 a man and his wife who obstinately refused to abjure were +burned. In that of 1322 eight were sentenced to pilgrimages, of whom +five had crosses, two to prison, six dead bodies were exhumed and +burned, and there is an allusion to the brother of one of the prisoners +who had been burned at Avignon. This comprises the whole work of Bernard +Gui from 1308 to 1323, and does not indicate any very active +persecution. It is perhaps noteworthy that all of those punished in 1319 +were from Ausch, while the popular name of "Burgundians," by which the +Waldenses were known, indicates that the headquarters of the sect were +still in Franche Comté. In fact, an allusion to a certain Jean de +Lorraine as a successful missionary indicates that region as busy in +proselyting efforts, and there are not wanting facts to prove that the +Inquisition of Besançon was active during this period. In the _auto_ of +1322 many of the sufferers were refugees from Burgundy, and we learn +that they had a provincial named Girard, showing that the Waldensian +Church of that region had a regular organization and hierarchy.[166] + +In his "_Practica_" Bernard Gui gives a clear and detailed statement +of the Waldensian belief as it existed at this time, the chief points of +which may be worth enumerating as affording us a definite view of the +development of the faith in its original seat after a century and a half +of persecution. There was no longer any self-deceit as to connection +with the Roman Church. Persecution had done its work, and the Waldenses +were permanently severed. Theirs was the true Church, and that of the +pope was but a house of lies, whose excommunication was not to be +regarded, and whose decrees were not to be obeyed. They had a complete +organization, consisting of bishops, priests, and deacons, and they held +in some large city one or two general chapters every year, in which +orders were conferred and measures for mission work were perfected. The +Waldensian orders, however, did not confer exclusive supernatural power. +Although they still believed in transubstantiation, the making of the +body and blood of Christ depended on the purity of the ministrant; a +sinner was impotent to effect it, while it could be done by any +righteous man or woman. It was the same with absolution: they held the +power of the keys direct from Christ, and heard confessions and imposed +penance. Their antisacerdotalism was strongly expressed in the +simplification of their faith. There was no purgatory, and consequently +masses for the dead or the invocation of the suffrages of the saints +were of no avail; the saints, in fact, neither heard nor helped man, and +the miracles performed in their name in the churches were fictitious. +The fasts and feasts prescribed in the calendar were not to be observed, +and the indulgences so lavishly sold were useless. As of old, oaths and +homicide were forbidden. Yet enough of the traditional ascetic +tendencies were preserved to lead to the existence of a monastic +fraternity whose members divested themselves of all individual property, +and promised chastity, with obedience to a superior. Bernard Gui refers, +with a brevity which shows how little importance he attached to them, to +stories about sexual abominations performed in nocturnal assemblies, and +he indicates the growth of popular superstition by a brief allusion to a +dog which appears in these gatherings and sprinkles the sectaries with +his tail.[167] + +The non-resistance doctrines of the Waldenses rendered them, as a rule, +a comparatively easy prey, but human nature sometimes asserted itself, +and a sharp persecution carried on at this period by Frère Jacques +Bernard, Inquisitor of Provence, provoked a bloody reprisal. In 1321 he +sent two deputies--Frères Catalan Fabri and Pierre Paschal--to the +diocese of Valence to make inquisition there. Former raids had left the +people in an angry mood. Multitudes had been subjected to the +humiliation of crosses, and these and their friends vowed revenge on the +appearance of the new persecutors. A plot was rapidly formed to +assassinate the inquisitors at a village where they were to pass the +night. For some reason, however, they changed their plans, and passed on +to the Priory of Montoison. The conspirators followed them, broke down +the doors, and slew them. Strangely enough, the Prior of Montoison was +accused of complicity in the murder, and was arrested when the murderers +were seized. The bodies of the martyrs were solemnly buried in the +Franciscan convent at Valence, where they soon began to manifest their +sanctity in miracles, and they would have been canonized by John XXII. +had not the quarrel which soon afterwards sprang up between him and the +Franciscans rendered it impolitic for him to increase the number of +Franciscan saints.[168] + +A few Waldenses appear in the prosecutions of Henri de Chamay of +Carcassonne in 1328 and 1329, and, from the occasional notices which +have reached us in the succeeding years, we may conclude that +persecution, more or less fitful, never wholly ceased; while, in spite +of this, the heresy kept constantly growing. After the disappearance of +Catharism, indeed, it was the only refuge for ordinary humanity when +dissatisfied with Rome. The Begghards were mystics whose speculations +were attractive only to a certain order of minds. The Spirituals and +Fraticelli were Franciscan ascetics. The Waldenses sought only to +restore Christianity to its simplicity; their doctrines could be +understood by the poor and illiterate, groaning under the burdens of +sacerdotalism, and they found constantly wider acceptance among the +people, in spite of all the efforts put forth by the waning power of the +Inquisition. Benedict XII., in 1335, summoned Humbert II., Dauphin of +Viennois, and Adhémar of Poitou to assist the inquisitors. Humbert +obeyed, and from 1336 to 1346 there were expeditions sent against them +which drove them from their homes and captured some of them. Of these a +portion abjured and the rest were burned; their possessions were +confiscated and the bones of the dead exhumed. The secular and +ecclesiastical officials of Embrun joined in these efforts, but they +had no permanent result. In Languedoc Frère Jean Dumoulin, Inquisitor of +Toulouse, in 1344 attacked them vigorously, but only succeeded in +scattering them throughout Béarn, Foix, and Aragon. In 1348 Clement VI. +again urged Humbert, who responded with strict orders to his officers to +aid the ecclesiastical authorities with what force might be necessary, +and this time we hear of twelve Waldenses brought to Embrun, and burned +on the square in front of the cathedral. When Dauphiné became a +possession of the crown the royal officials were equally ready to +assist. Letters of October 20, 1351, from the governor, order the +authorities of Briançon to give the inquisitor armed support in his +operations against the heretics of the Briançonnais, but this seems to +have been ineffective; and the next year Clement VI. appealed to the +Dauphin Charles, and to Louis and Joanna of Naples, to aid Frère Pierre +Dumont, the Inquisitor of Provence, and summoned prelates and +magistrates to co-operate in the good work. The only recorded result of +this was the penancing of seven Waldenses by Dumont in 1353. More +successful were the Christian labors of Guillaume de Bordes, Archbishop +of Embrun from 1352 to 1363, surnamed the Apostle of the Waldenses, who +tried the unusual expedient of kindness and persuasion. He personally +visited the mountain valleys, and had the satisfaction of winning over a +number of the heretics. With his death his methods were abandoned, and +Urban V., from 1363 to 1365, was earnest in calling upon the civil power +and in stimulating the zeal of the Provençal inquisitors, Frères Hugues +Cardilion and Jean Richard. The celebrated inquisitor François Borel now +appears upon the scene. Armed expeditions were sent into the mountains +which had considerable success. Many of the heretics were obstinate and +were burned, while others saved their lives by abjuration. Their pitiful +little properties were confiscated; one had a cow, another two cows and +clothes of white cloth. In the purse of another, more wealthy, were +found two florins--a booty which scarce proved profitable, for the wood +to burn him and a comrade cost sixty-two sols and six deniers. One woman +named Juven who was burned possessed a vineyard. The vintage was +gathered and the must stored in her cabin, when the wrathful neighbors +fired it at night and destroyed the product.[169] + +All this was of no avail. When Gregory XI. ascended the pontifical +throne, in 1370, his attention was early directed to the deplorable +condition of the Church in Provence, Dauphiné, and the Lyonnais. The +whole region was full of Waldenses, and many nobles were now beginning +to embrace the heresy. The prelates were powerless or negligent, and the +Inquisition ineffective. He set to work vigorously, appointing +inquisitors and stimulating their zeal, but the whole system by this +time was so discredited that his labors were ineffectual. The royal +officials, so far from aiding the inquisitors, had no scruple in +impeding them. Unsafe places were assigned to them in which to conduct +their operations; they were forced to permit secular judges to act as +assessors with them; their proceedings were submitted for revision to +the secular courts, and even their prisoners were set at liberty without +consulting them. The secular officials refused to take oaths to purge +the land of heresy, and openly protected heretics, especially nobles, +when prosecutions were commenced against them.[170] + +Gregory duly complained of this to Charles le Sage in 1373, but to +little purpose at first. The evil continued unabated, and in 1375 he +returned to the charge still more vigorously. No stone was left +unturned. Not only was the king requested to send a special deputy to +the infected district, but the pope wrote directly to the royal +lieutenant, Charles de Banville, reproaching him for his protection of +heretics, and threatening him if he did not mend his ways. Certain +nobles who had become conspicuous as favorers of heresy were +significantly reminded of the fate of Raymond of Toulouse; the prelates +were scolded and stimulated; Amedeo of Savoy was summoned to assist, and +the Tarantaise was added to the district of Provence that nothing might +interfere with the projected campaign. As the spread of heresy was +attributable to the lack of preachers, and to the neglect of prelates +and clergy in instructing their flocks, the inquisitor was empowered to +call in the services of Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and +Augustinians, to spread over the land and teach the people the truths of +religion. These multiplied efforts at length began to tell. Charles +issued orders to enforce the laws against heresy, and when Gregory sent +a special Apostolic Internuncio, Antonio, Bishop of Massa, to direct +operations, persecution began in earnest. Frère François Borel, the +Inquisitor of Provence, had long been struggling against the +indifference of the prelates and the hostility of the secular power. Now +that he was sure of efficient seconding be was like a hound slipped from +the leash. His forays against the miserable populations of +Freyssinières, l'Argentière, and Val-Pute (or Val-Louise) have conferred +on him a sinister reputation, unredeemed by the efficient aid which he +contributed to regaining the liberties of his native town of Gap.[171] + +The immediate success which rewarded these efforts was so overwhelming +as to bring new cause for solicitude. The Bishop of Massa's mission +commenced early in May, 1375, and already, by June 17, Gregory is +concerned about the housing and support of the crowds of wretches who +had been captured. In spite of numerous burnings of those who proved +obstinate, the prisons of the land were insufficient for the detention +of the captives, and Gregory at once ordered new and strong ones to be +built in Embrun, Avignon, and Vienne. To solve the financial +complications which immediately arose, the bishops, whose negligence was +accountable for the growth of heresy, were summoned within three months +to furnish four thousand gold florins to build the prisons, and eight +hundred florins per annum for five years for the support of the +prisoners. This they were allowed to take from the legacies for pious +uses, and the restitutions of wrongly-acquired funds, with a threat, if +they should demur, that they should be deprived of these sources of +income and be excommunicated besides. The bishops, however, were no more +amenable to such arguments than those of Languedoc had been in 1245, +and, after the three months had passed, Gregory answers, October 5, the +anxious inquiry of the Bishop of Massa as to how he shall feed his +prisoners, by telling him that it is the business of every bishop to +support those of his diocese, and that any one who refuses to do so is +to be coerced with excommunication and the secular arm. This was a mere +_brutum fulmen_, and in 1376 he endeavored to secure a share in the +confiscations, but King Charles refused to divide them, though in 1378 +he at last agreed to give the inquisitors a yearly stipend for their own +support, similar to that paid to their brethren at Toulouse.[172] + +All other devices being exhausted, Gregory at last had recourse to the +unfailing resource of the curia--an indulgence. There is something so +appallingly grotesque in tearing honest, industrious folk from their +homes by the thousand, in thrusting them into dungeons to rot and +starve, and then evading the cost of feeding them by presenting them to +the faithful as objects of charity, that the proclamation which Gregory +issued August 15, 1370, is perhaps the most shameless monument of a +shameless age-- + + "To all the faithful in Christ: As the help of prisoners is + counted among pious works, it befits the piety of the faithful to + mercifully assist the incarcerated of all kinds who suffer from + poverty. As we learn that our beloved son, the Inquisitor François + Borelli, has imprisoned for safe-keeping or punishment many + heretics and those defamed for heresy, who in consequence of their + poverty cannot be sustained in prison unless the pious liberality + of the faithful shall assist them as a work of charity; and as we + wish that these prisoners shall not starve, but shall have time for + repentance in the said prisons; now, in order that the faithful in + Christ may through devotion lend a helping hand, we admonish, ask, + and exhort you all, enjoining it on you in remission of your sins, + that from the goods which God has given you, you bestow pious alms + and grateful charity for the food of these prisoners, so that they + may be sustained by your help, and you, through this and other good + works inspired by God, may attain eternal blessedness!"[173] + +Imagination refuses to picture the horrors of the economically +constructed jails where these unfortunates were crowded to wear out +their dreary lives, while their jailers vainly begged for the miserable +pittance that should prolong their agonies. Yet so far was Gregory from +being satisfied with victims in number far beyond his ability to keep, +that, December 28, 1375, he bitterly scolded the officials of Dauphiné +for the negligent manner in which they obeyed the king's commands to aid +the inquisitors--a complaint which he reiterated May 18, 1376. From some +expressions in these letters it is permissible to assume that this whole +inhuman business had shocked even the dull sensibilities of that age of +violence. Yet in spite of all that had been accomplished the heretics +remained obstinate, and in 1377 Gregory indignantly chronicles their +increase, while reproaching the inquisitors with their slackness in +performing the duties for which they had been appointed.[174] + +What effect on the future of the Waldenses a continuance of Gregory's +remorseless energy would have wrought can only be matter of conjecture. +He died March 27, 1378, and the Great Schism which speedily followed +gave the heretics some relief, during which they continued to increase, +although in 1380 Clement VII. renewed the commission of Borel, whose +activity was unabated until 1393, and his victims were numbered by the +hundred. A good many conversions rewarded his labors, and the converts +were allowed to retain their property on payment of a certain sum of +money, as shown by a list made out in 1385. In 1393 he is said to have +burned a hundred and fifty at Grenoble in a single day. San Vicente +Ferrer was a missionary of a different stamp, and his self-devoted +labors for several years in the Waldensian valleys won over numerous +converts. His memory is still cherished there, and the village of +Puy-Saint-Vincent, with a chapel dedicated to him, shows that his kindly +ministrations were not altogether lost.[175] + +The Waldenses by this time were substantially the only heretics with +whom the Church had to deal outside of Germany. The French version of +the _Schwabenspiegel_, or South German municipal code, made for the +Romande speaking provinces of the empire, is assignable to the closing +years of the century, and it attests the predominance of Waldensianism +in its chapter on heresy, by translating the _Käezer_ (Catharus) of the +original by _vaudois_. Even "Leschandus" (Childeric III.) is said to +have been dethroned by Pope Zachary because he was a protector of +vaudois. That at this period the Inquisition had become inoperative in +those regions where it had once been so busy is proved by the episcopal +tribunals being alone referred to as having cognizance of such +cases--the heretic is to be accused to his bishop, who is to have him +examined by experts.[176] + +How completely the Waldenses dropped out of sight in the struggles of +the Great Schism is seen in a bull of Alexander V., in 1409, to Frère +Pons Feugeyron, whose enormous district extended from Marseilles to +Lyons and from Beaucaire to the Val d'Aosta. This comprehended the whole +district which François Borel and Vicente Ferrer found swarming with +heretics. The inquisitor is urged to use his utmost endeavors against +the schismatic followers of Benedict XIII. and Gregory XII., against the +increasing numbers of sorcerers, against apostate Jews and the Talmud, +but not a word is said about Waldenses. They seem to have been +completely forgotten.[177] + +After the Church had reorganized itself at the Council of Constance it +had leisure to look after the interests of the faith, although its +energies were mostly monopolized by the Hussite troubles. In 1417 we +hear of Catharine Sauve, an anchorite, burned at Montpellier for +Waldensian doctrines by the deputy-inquisitor, Frère Raymond Cabasse, +assisted by the Bishop of Maguelonne. The absence of persecution had by +no means been caused by a diminution in the number of heretics. In 1432 +the Council of Bourges complained that the Waldenses of Dauphiné had +taxed themselves to send money to the Hussites, whom they recognized as +brethren; and there were plenty of them to be found by any one who took +the trouble to look after them. On August 23, of this same year, we have +a letter from Frère Pierre Fabri, Inquisitor of Embrun, to the Council +of Basle, excusing himself for not immediately obeying a summons to +attend it on the ground of his indescribable poverty, and of his +preoccupations in persecuting the Waldenses. In spite of the great +executions which he had already made, he describes them as flourishing +as numerously as ever in the valleys of Freyssinières, Argentière, and +Pute, which had been almost depopulated by the ferocious raids of +François Borel. He now has in his dungeons of Embrun and Briançon six +relapsed heretics, who have revealed to him the names of more than five +hundred others whom he is about to seize, and whose trials will be a +work of time, but as soon as he can absent himself without prejudice to +the faith his first duty will be to attend the council. Evidently the +harvest was abundant and the reapers were few.[178] + +In 1441 the Inquisitor of Provence, Jean Voyle, made some effort at +persecution, but apparently with little result, and the Waldensian +churches seem to have enjoyed a long respite, for the terrible episode +of the so-called Vaudois of Arras, in 1460, as we shall see hereafter, +was merely a delirium of witchcraft. In France, so completely had the +Waldenses monopolized the field of misbelief in the public mind that +sorcery became popularly known as _vauderie_ and witches as _vaudoises_. +Accordingly, when, in 1465, at Lille, five "Poor Men of Lyons" were +tried, and four of them recanted and one was burned, it was necessary to +find some other name for them, and they were designated as +Turelupins.[179] + +It is not until 1475 that we find the inquisitors again at work in their +old hunting-ground among the valleys around the headwaters of the +Durance. The Waldenses had quietly multiplied again. They held their +conventicles undisturbed, they dared openly to preach their abhorred +faith, and their missionary zeal was rewarded with abundant conversions. +Worse than all, when the bishops and inquisitors sought to repress them +in the accustomed manner, they appealed to the royal court, which was so +untrue to its duty that it granted them letters of protection and they +waxed more insolent than ever. In vain Sixtus IV. sent special +commissions armed with full powers to put an end to this disgraceful +state of things. Men at this time in France recked little of papal +authority, and the commissioners found themselves scorned. Sixtus, +therefore, July 1, 1475, addressed an earnest remonstrance to Louis XI. +The king was surely ignorant of the acts of his representatives; he +would hasten to disavow them and lend the whole power of the State, as +of old, to the support of the Inquisition.[180] + +The correspondence which ensued would doubtless be interesting reading +if it were accessible. Its purport, however, can readily be discerned in +the Ordonnance of May 18, 1478, which marks in the most emphatic manner +the supremacy which the State had obtained over the Church. The king +assumed that his subjects of Dauphiné were all good Catholics. In a +studied tone of contemptuous insolence he alludes to the old Mendicants +(_vieux mendiens_) styling themselves inquisitors, who vex the faithful +with accusations of heresy and harass them with prosecutions in the +royal and ecclesiastical courts for purposes of extortion or to secure +the confiscation of their property. He therefore forbids his officers to +aid in making such confiscations, decrees that the heirs shall be +reinstated in all cases that have occurred, and in order to put a stop +to the frauds and abuses of the inquisitors he strictly enjoins that for +the future they shall not be permitted to prosecute the inhabitants in +any manner.[181] + +Such was the outcome of the efforts which, for two hundred and fifty +years, the Church had unremittingly made to obtain despotic control over +the human mind. For far less than such defiance it had destroyed Raymond +of Toulouse and the civilization of Languedoc. It had built up the +monarchy with the spoils of heresy, and now the monarchy cuffed it and +bade it bury its Inquisition out of the sight of decent men. This put an +end for a time to the labors of the Inquisition against the Waldenses of +Dauphiné, but the troubles of the latter were by no means over. The +death of Louis, in 1483, deprived them of their protector, and the +Italian policy of Charles VIII. rendered him less indifferent to the +wishes of the Holy See. At the request of the Archbishop of Embrun, +Innocent VIII. ordered the persecutions renewed. The Franciscan +Inquisitor, Jean Veyleti, whose excesses had caused the appeal to the +throne in 1475, was soon again at work, and had the satisfaction of +burning both consuls of Freyssinières. Though the Waldenses had +represented themselves to Louis XI. as faithful Catholics, the ancient +errors were readily brought to light by the efficient means of torture. +Though they believed in transubstantiation, they denied that it could be +effected by sinful priests. Their _barbes_, or pastors, were ordained, +and administered absolution after confession, but the pope, the bishops, +and the priests had lost that power. They denied the existence of +purgatory, the utility of prayers for the dead, the intercession of +saints, the power of the Virgin, and the obligation of keeping any +feast-days save Sunday. Wearied with their stubbornness, the archbishop, +in June and July, 1486, summoned them either to leave the country or to +come forward and submit, and as they did neither he excommunicated them. +This was equally ineffective, and he appealed again to Innocent VIII., +who resolved to end the heresy with a decisive blow. Accordingly, in +1488, a crusade on a large scale was organized in both Dauphiné and +Savoy. The papal commissioner, Alberto de' Capitanei, obtained the +assistance of the Parlement of Grenoble, and a force was raised under +the command of Hugues de La Palu, Comte de Vanax, to attack them on +every side. The attack was delayed by legal formalities, during which +they were urged to submission, but refused, saying that their faith was +pure and that they would die rather than abandon it. At length, in +March, 1489, the crusaders advanced. The valley of Pragelato was the +first assailed, and, after a few days, was reduced to the alternative of +death or abjuration, when fifteen obstinate heretics were burned. In Val +Cluson and Freyssinières the resistance was more stubborn and there was +considerable carnage, which so frightened the inhabitants of Argentière +that they submitted peaceably. In Val Louise the people took refuge in +the cavern of Aigue Fraide, which they imagined inaccessible, but La +Palu succeeded in reaching it, and built fires in the mouth, suffocating +the unhappy refugees. This, and the confiscations which followed, +divided between Charles VIII. and the Archbishop of Embrun, gave a fatal +blow to Waldensianism in the valleys. To prevent its resuscitation the +legate left behind him François Ploireri as Inquisitor of Provence, who +continued to harass the people with citations and pronounced +condemnations for contumacy, burning an occasional _barbe_ and +confiscating the property of relapsed and hardened heretics.[182] + +With a new king, in the person of Louis XII., there came a new phase in +the affairs of the Waldenses. A conference was held in Paris before the +royal chancellor, where envoys from Freyssinières met Rostain, the new +Archbishop of Embrun, and deputies of the Parlement of Grenoble. It was +resolved to send to the spot papal and royal commissioners, with power +to determine the status of the so-called heretics. They went to +Freyssinières and examined witnesses, who satisfied them that the +population were good Catholics, in spite of the urgent assertions of the +archbishop that they were notorious heretics. All the excommunications +were removed, which put an end to the prosecutions. On October 12, 1502, +Louis XII. confirmed the decision, and Alexander VI., to whose son, +Cæsar Borgia, Louis had given the Duchy of Valentinois, embracing the +territory in question, was not disposed to run counter to the royal +wishes. The Waldenses were, however, unable to loosen the grip of the +Archbishop of Embrun on the property which he had confiscated, in spite +of positive orders for its restoration from the king, but at least they +were allowed, under the guise of Catholicism, to worship God after their +own fashion, until the crowding pressure of the Reformation forced them +to a merger with the Calvinists. In the Briançonnais, in spite of +occasional burnings, heresy continued to spread until, in 1514, Antoine +d'Estaing, Bishop of Angoulême, was sent thither, when the measures he +adopted, vigorously enforced by the secular authorities, put an end to +it in a few years.[183] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SPANISH PENINSULA. + + +The kingdom of Aragon, stretching across both sides of the Pyrenees, +with a population kindred in blood and speech to that of Mediterranean +France, was particularly liable to inroads of heresy from the latter. +The Counts of Barcelona had been Carlovingian vassals, and even owned a +shadowy allegiance to the first Capetians. We have seen how ready were +Pedro II. and his successors to aid in resisting Frankish encroachments, +even at the cost of encouraging heresy, and it was inevitable that +schismatic missions should be established in populous centres such as +Barcelona, and that heretics, when hard-pressed, should seek refuge in +the mountains of Cerdaña and Urgel. In spite of this, however, heresy +never obtained to the west of the Pyrenees the foothold which it enjoyed +to the east. Its manifestations there were only spasmodic, and were +suppressed with effort comparatively slender. + +It is somewhat remarkable that we hear nothing specifically of the +Cathari in Aragon proper. Matthew Paris, indeed, tells a wild tale of +how, in 1234, they were so numerous in the parts of Spain that they +decreed the abrogation of Christianity, and raised a large army with +which they burned churches and spared neither age nor sex, until Gregory +IX. ordered a crusade against them throughout western Europe, when in a +stricken field they were all cut off to a man; but this may safely be +set down to the imagination of some pilgrim returning from Compostella +and desiring to repay a night's hospitality at St. Alban's. In the +enumeration of Rainerio Saccone, about 1250, there is no mention of any +Catharan organization west of the Pyrenees. That many Cathari existed in +Aragon there can be no doubt, but they are never described as such, and +the only heretics of whom we hear by name are _los encabats_--the +Insabbatati or Waldenses. It will be remembered that it was against +these that the savage edicts of Alonso II. and Pedro II. were directed, +towards the close of the twelfth century.[184] + +After this, for a while, persecution seems to have slept. The sympathies +and ambition of King Pedro were enlisted with Raymond of Toulouse, and +after his fall at Muret, during the minority of Jayme I., the Aragonese +probably awaited the results of the Albigensian war with feelings +enlisted in favor of their race rather than of orthodoxy. As it drew to +a close, however, Don Jayme, in 1226, issued an edict prohibiting all +heretics from entering his kingdom, doubtless moved thereunto by the +numbers who sought escape from the crusade of Louis VIII., and he +followed this, in 1228, with another, depriving heretics, with their +receivers, fautors, and defenders, of the public peace. The next step, +we are told by the chroniclers of the Inquisition, was taken in +consequence of the urgency of Raymond of Pennaforte, the Dominican +confessor of the young king, who prevailed on him to obtain from Gregory +IX. inquisitors to purge his land. This is based on the bull +_Declinante_, addressed, May 26, 1232, to Esparrago, Archbishop of +Tarragona, and his suffragans, instructing them to make inquest in their +dioceses after heretics, either personally or by Dominicans or other +fitting persons, and to punish such as might be found, according to the +statutes recently issued by him and by Annibaldo, Senator of Rome. This +doubtless gave an impulse to what followed, but as yet there was no +thought of a papal or Dominican Inquisition, or of adopting foreign +legislation. In the following year, 1233, Don Jayme issued from +Tarragona, with the advice of his assembled prelates, a statute on the +subject, showing that the matter was regarded as pertaining to the State +rather than to the Church. Seigneurs who protected heretics in their +lands forfeited them to the lord, or, if allodial, to the king. Houses +of heretics, if allodial, were to be torn down; if held in fief, +forfeited to the lord. All defamed or suspected of heresy were declared +ineligible to office. That the innocent might not suffer with the +guilty, no one was to be punished as a heretic or believer except by his +bishop or such ecclesiastic as had authority to determine his guilt. +Bishops were ordered, when it might seem expedient to them in places +suspected of heresy, to appoint a priest or clerk, while the king or his +bailli would appoint two or three laymen, whose duty it should be to +investigate heretics, and, taking precautions against their escape, to +report them to the bishop or to the royal officials, or to the lord of +the place. In this incongruous mixture of clerical and lay elements +there may, it is true, be discovered the germ of an Inquisition, but one +of a character very different from that which was at this time taking +shape at Toulouse. The subordinate position of these so-called +inquisitors is seen in the provision that any negligence in the +performance of their functions was punishable, in the case of a clerk, +by the loss of his benefice, in that of a layman, by a pecuniary +mulct.[185] + +To what extent this crude expedient was put in practice we have no means +of knowing, but probably some attempts were made which only proved its +inefficiency. Esparrago died soon afterwards and was succeeded in the +archiepiscopal seat of Tarragona by Guillen Mongriu, whose vigorous and +martial temperament was illustrated by his conquest of the island of +Iviza. Mongriu speedily found that the domestic Inquisition would not +work, and applied for the solution of some doubts to Gregory, who sent +him, April 30, 1235, a code of instructions drawn up by Raymond of +Pennaforte. About this time we find the first record of active work in +persecution, which illustrates the absence of all formal inquisitorial +procedure. Robert, Count of Rosellon, was one of the great feudatories +of the crown of Aragon. He seems to have been involved, as most nobles +were, in some disputes as to fiefs and tithes with the Bishop of Elne, +whose diocese was in his territories. The bishop accused him of being +the chief of the heretics of the region and of using his castles as a +refuge for them. All this was very likely true--at least the bishop had +no difficulty in finding witnesses to prove it, when Robert obediently +abjured, but subsequently relapsed. Don Jayme accordingly had him +arrested and imprisoned, but Robert managed to escape and shut himself +in one of his inaccessible mountain strongholds. His position, however, +was desperate, and his lands liable to confiscation; he therefore +expressed to Gregory IX. his desire to return to the bosom of the +Church, and offered to serve with his followers against the Saracen as +long as the pope might designate. Gregory therefore wrote, February 8, +1237, to Raymond of Pennaforte, that if the count would for three years +with his subjects assist in the conquest of Valencia, and give +sufficient security that in case of relapse his territories should be +forfeited to the crown, he could be absolved. On hearing this the good +bishop hastened to the papal court and declared that if Robert was +absolved he and his witnesses would be exposed to the imminent peril of +death, and that heresy would triumph in his diocese; but, on receiving +assurances that his fiefs and tithes would be taken care of, he quieted +down and offered no further opposition.[186] + +Under the impulsion of Gregory and of Raymond of Pennaforte, Dominican +inquisitors had at last been resorted to, and in this year, 1237, we +first become cognizant of them. In right of his wife Ermessende, Roger +Bernard the Great of Foix was Vizconde of Castelbo, a fief held of the +Bishop of Urgel, with whom he had had a bitter war. He gave Castelbo to +his son Roger, who, by the advice of his father, in 1237, allowed the +Inquisition free scope there, placing the castle in the hands of Ramon +Fulco, Vizconde of Cardona, in the name of the Archbishop of Tarragona +and the bishops assembled at the Council of Lerida. That council +thereupon appointed a number of inquisitors, including Dominicans and +Franciscans, who made a descent on Castelbo. It had long been noted as a +nest of Catharans. In 1225, under the protection of Arnaldo, then lord +of the place, perfected heretics publicly preached their doctrines +there. In 1234 we hear of a heretic of Mirepoix going thither to receive +the _consolamentum_ on his death-bed. The inquisitors, therefore, had no +difficulty in finding victims. They ordered two houses to be destroyed, +exhumed and burned the bones of eighteen persons, condemned as heretics, +and carried off as prisoners some forty-five men and women, condemned +fifteen who fled, and were undecided about sundry others. Still, the +Bishop of Urgel was not satisfied, and he gratified his rancor by +condemning and excommunicating Roger Bernard as a defender of heretics, +and it was not until 1240 that the latter, through the intervention of +the Archbishop of Tarragona, and by submitting, abjuring heresy, and +swearing to perform any penance assigned to him, procured from the +bishop absolution and a certificate that he recognized him "_per bon +et per leyal e per Catholich_."[187] + +In 1238 the Inquisition of Aragon may be said to be founded. In April of +that year Gregory IX. wrote to the Franciscan Minister and Dominican +Prior of Aragon deploring the spread of heresy through the whole +kingdom, so that heretics no longer seek secrecy, but openly combat the +Church, to the destruction of its liberties; and though this may be an +exaggeration, we know from a confession before the Inquisition of +Toulouse that there were enough scattered through the land to afford +shelter to the wandering Catharan missionaries. Gregory, therefore, +placed in the hands of the Mendicants the sword of the Word of God, +which was not to be restrained from blood. They were instructed to make +diligent inquisition against heresy and its abettors, proceeding in +accordance with the statutes which he had issued, and calling in when +necessary the aid of the secular arm. At the same time he made a similar +provision for Navarre, which was likewise said to be swarming with +heretics, by commissioning as inquisitors the Franciscan Guardian of +Pamplona and the Dominican Pedro de Leodegaria. As an independent +institution the Inquisition of Navarre seems never to have advanced +beyond an embryonic condition. In 1246 we find Innocent IV. writing to +the Franciscan Minister there to publish that Grimaldo de la Mota, a +citizen of Pamplona, is not to be aspersed as a heretic because while in +Lombardy he had eaten and drunk with suspected persons, but this is the +only evidence of vitality that I have met with, and Navarre was +subsequently incorporated into the Inquisition of Aragon.[188] + +In Aragon the institution gradually took shape. Berenger de Palau, +Bishop of Barcelona, was busily engaged in organizing it throughout his +diocese at the time of his death in 1241, and the vicar, who replaced +him while the see was vacant, completed it. In 1242 Pedro Arbalate, who +had succeeded Guillen Mongriu as archbishop, with the assistance of +Raymond of Pennaforte, held the Council of Tarragona to settle the +details of procedure. Under the guidance of so eminent a canonist, the +code drawn up by the council showed a thorough knowledge of the +principles guiding the Church in its dealings with heretics, and long +continued to be referred to as an authority not only in Spain, but in +France. At the same time its careful definitions, which render it +especially interesting to us, indicate that it was prepared for the +instruction of a Church which as yet practically knew nothing of the +principles of persecution firmly established elsewhere. It was probably +under the impulse derived from these movements that active persecution +was resumed at Castelbo, which does not seem to have been purified by +the raid of 1237. This time the heretics were not as patient as before, +and resorted to poison, with which they succeeded in taking off Fray +Ponce de Blanes, or de Espira, the inquisitor, who had made himself +peculiarly obnoxious by his vigorous pursuit of heresy for several +years. This aroused all the martial instincts of the retired archbishop, +Guillen Mongriu, who assembled some troops, besieged and took the +castle, burned many of the heretics, and imprisoned the rest for life. +An organized effort was made to extend the Inquisition throughout the +kingdom, and the parish priests were individually summoned to lend it +all the aid in their power. Urgel seems to have been the headquarters of +the sectaries, for subsequently we hear of their sharp persecution there +by the Dominican inquisitor, Bernardo Travesser, and of his martyrdom by +them. As usual, both he and Ponce de Blanes shone forth in miracles, and +have remained an object of worship in the Church of Urgel, though in +1262 the latter was translated to Montpellier, where he lies +magnificently entombed.[189] + +Still, the progress of organization seems to have been exceedingly slow. +In 1244 a case decided by Innocent IV. shows a complete absence of any +effective system. The Bishop of Elne and a Dominican friar, acting as +inquisitors, had condemned Ramon de Malleolis and Helena his wife as +heretics. By some means they succeeded in appealing to Gregory IX., who +referred the matter to the Archdeacon of Besalu and the Sacristan of +Girona. These acquitted the culprits and restored them to their +possessions; but the case was carried back to Rome, and Innocent finally +confirmed the first sentence of conviction. Again, in 1248, a letter +from Innocent IV. to the Bishop of Lerida, instructing him as to the +treatment in his diocese of heretics who voluntarily return to the +Church, presupposes the absence of inquisitors and absolute ignorance as +to the fundamental principles in force. The power conferred the same +year on the Dominican Provincial of Spain to appoint inquisitors seems +to have remained unused. The efforts of Archbishop Mongriu and Raymond +of Pennaforte had spent themselves apparently without permanent results. +King Jayme grew dissatisfied, and, in 1254, urgently demanded a fresh +effort of Innocent IV. This time the pope concluded, at Jayme's +suggestion, to place the matter entirely in Dominican hands; but so +little had been done in the way of general organization that he confided +the choice of inquisitors to the priors of Barcelona, Lerida, Perpignan, +and Elne, each one to act within his own diocese, unless, indeed, there +are inquisitors already in function under papal commissions--a clause +which shows the confusion existing at the time. Innocent further felt it +necessary to report this action to the Archbishops of Tarragona and +Narbonne, and to call upon them to assist the new appointees. This +device does not seem to have worked satisfactorily. At that time the +whole peninsula constituted but one Dominican province, and, in 1262, +Urban IV. again adopted definitely the plan, in general use elsewhere, +of empowering the provincial to appoint the inquisitors--now limited to +two. A few days before he had sent to those of Aragon a bull defining +their powers and procedure, and a copy of this was enclosed to the +provincial for his guidance. This long remained the basis of +organization; but after the division of the province into two, by the +General Chapter of Cologne in 1301, the Aragonese chafed under their +subordination to the Provincial of Spain, whose territories consisted +only of Castile, Leon, and Portugal. The struggle was protracted, but +the Inquisition of Aragon at last achieved independence in 1351, when +Fray Nicholas Roselli, the Provincial of Aragon, obtained from Clement +VI. the power of appointing and removing the inquisitors of the +kingdom.[190] + +Meanwhile the inquisitors had not been inactive. Fray Pedro de Cadreyta +rendered himself especially conspicuous, and as usual Urgel is the +prominent scene of activity. In conjunction with his colleague, Fray +Pedro de Tonenes, and Arnaldo, Bishop of Barcelona, he rendered final +judgment, January 11, 1257, against the memory of Ramon, Count of Urgel, +as a relapsed heretic who had abjured before the Bishop of Urgel, and +whose bones were to be exhumed; but, with unusual lenity, the widow, +Timborosa, and the son, Guillen, were admitted to reconciliation and not +deprived of their estates. Twelve years later, in 1269, we find +Cadreyta, together with another colleague, Fray Guillen de Colonico, and +Abril, Bishop of Urgel, condemning the memory of Arnaldo, Vizconde of +Castelbo, and of his daughter Ermessende, whom we know as the heretic +wife of Roger Bernard the Great of Foix. They had both been dead more +than thirty years, and her grandson, Roger Bernard III. of Foix, who had +inherited the Vizcondado of Castelbo, was duly cited to defend his +ancestors; but if he made the attempt, it was vain, and their bones were +ordered to be exhumed. It is not likely that these sturdy champions of +the faith confined their attention to the dead, though the only +execution we happen to hear of at this period is that of Berenguer de +Amoros, burned in 1263. That the living, indeed, were objects of fierce +persecution is rendered more than probable by the martyrdom of Cadreyta, +who was stoned to death by the exasperated populace of Urgel, and who +thus furnished another saint for local cult.[191] + +During the remainder of the century we hear little more of the +Inquisition of Aragon, but the action of the Council of Tarragona, in +1291, would seem to show that it was neither active nor much respected. +Otherwise the council would scarce have felt called upon to order the +punishment of heretics who deny a future existence, and, further, that +all detractors of the Catholic faith ought to be punished as they +deserve, to teach them reverence and fear. Still more significant is the +injunction on parish priests to receive kindly and aid efficiently the +beloved Dominican inquisitors, who are laboring for the extirpation of +heresy.[192] + +With the opening of the fourteenth century there would appear to be an +increase of vigor. In 1302 Fray Bernardo celebrated several _autos de +fé_, in which a number of heretics were abandoned to the secular arm. In +1304 Fray Domingo Peregrino had an _auto_ in which we are told that +those who were not burned were banished, with the assent of King Jayme +II.--one of the rare instances of this punishment in the annals of the +Inquisition. In 1314 Fray Bernardo Puigcercos was so fortunate as to +discover a number of heretics, of whom he burned some and exiled others. +To Juan de Longerio, in 1317, belongs the doubtful honor of condemning +the works of Arnaldo de Vilanova. The names of Arnaldo Burguete, Guillen +de Costa, and Leonardo de Puycerda have also reached us, as successful +inquisitors, but their recorded labors were principally directed against +the Spiritual Franciscans, and will be more particularly noted +hereafter. The Aragonese seem not to have relished the methods of the +Inquisition, for in 1325 the Cortes, with the assent of King Jayme II., +prohibited for the future the use of the inquisitorial process and of +torture, as violations of the Fueros. Whether or not this was intended +to apply to the ecclesiastical as well as to the secular courts it is +impossible now to tell, but, if it were, it had no permanent result, as +we learn from the detailed instructions of Eymerich fifty years later. +About the middle of the century, the merits of the Inquisitor Nicholas +Roselli earned him the cardinalate. It is true that when the energetic +action of the Inquisitor Jean Dumoulin, in 1344, drove the Waldenses +from Toulouse to seek refuge beyond the Pyrenees, Clement VI. wrote +earnestly to the kings and prelates of Aragon and Navarre to aid the +Inquisition in destroying the fugitives, but there is no trace of any +corresponding result.[193] + +To Roselli, however, belongs the credit of raising a question which +inflamed to a white heat the traditional antagonism of the two great +Mendicant Orders. It is worth brief attention as an illustration of the +nicety to which doctrinal theology had attained under the combined +influence of scholastic subtlety in raising questions, and inquisitorial +enforcement of implicit obedience in the minutest articles of faith. In +1351 the Franciscan Guardian of Barcelona, in a public sermon, stated +that the blood shed by Christ in the Passion lost its divinity, was +sundered from the Logos, and remained on earth. The question was a novel +one and a trifle difficult of demonstration, but its raising gave +Roselli a chance to inflict a blow on the hated Franciscans, and he +referred it to Rome. The answer met his most ardent anticipations. The +Cardinal of Sabina, by order of Clement VI., wrote that the pope had +heard the proposition with horror; he had convened an assembly of +theologians in which he himself argued against it, when it was +condemned, and the inquisitors everywhere were ordered to proceed +against all audacious enough to uphold it. Roselli's triumph was +complete, and the unfortunate guardian was obliged to retract his +speculations in the pulpit where he had promulgated them. The +Franciscans were restless under this rebuff, which they construed as +directed against their Order. In spite of the papal decision the +question remained an open one in the schools, where it was eagerly +debated on both sides. The Franciscans argued, with provoking +reasonableness, that the blood of Christ might well be believed to +remain on earth, seeing that the foreskin severed in the Circumcision +was preserved in the Lateran Church and reverenced as a relic under the +very eyes of pope and cardinal, and that portions of the blood and water +which flowed in the Crucifixion were exhibited to the faithful at +Mantua, Bruges, and elsewhere. After the lapse of a century, the +Franciscan, Jean Bretonelle, professor of theology in the University of +Paris, in 1448 brought the matter before the faculty, stating that it +was causing discussion at Rochelle and other places. A commission of +theologians was appointed, which, after due debate, rendered a solemn +decision that it was not repugnant to the faith to believe that the +blood shed at the Passion remained on earth. Thus encouraged, the +Franciscans grew bolder. + +The Observantine Franciscan, Giacomo da Monteprandone, better known as +della Marca, was one of the most prominent ecclesiastics of the +fifteenth century. His matchless eloquence, his rigid austerity, his +superhuman vigor, and his unquenchable zeal for the extermination of +heresy well earned the beatification conferred on him after death; and +since 1417 he had been known as a hammer of heretics. He held a +commission as universal inquisitor which clothed him with power +throughout Christendom, and the heretics in every corner of Italy, in +Bohemia, Hungary, Bosnia, and Dalmatia, had learned with cause to +tremble at his name. It required no little nerve to assail such a man, +and yet when, April 18, 1462, at Brescia, he publicly preached the +forbidden doctrine, the Dominican Inquisitor, Giacomo da Brescia, lost +no time in calling him to account. First a courteous note expressed +disbelief in the report of the sermon and asked a disclaimer; but on the +Observantine adhering to the doctrine, a formal summons followed, citing +him to appear for trial on the next day. The two Orders had thus fairly +locked horns. The Bishop of Brescia interfered and obtained a withdrawal +of the summons, but the question had to be fought out before the pope. +The bitterness of feeling may be judged by the complaint of the +inquisitor that his opponent had so excited the people of Brescia +against him and the Dominicans that but for prompt measures many of them +would have been slain; while, from Milan to Verona, every Dominican +pulpit resounded with denunciations of Giacomo della Marca as a heretic. + +The politic Pius II. feared to quarrel with either Order, and had a +tortuous path to tread. To the Dominicans he furnished an authenticated +copy of the decision of Clement VI. To Giacomo della Marca he wrote that +this had been done because he could not refuse it, and not to give it +authority. It had not been issued by Clement, but only in his name, and +the question was still an open one. Giacomo might rest in peace in the +conviction that the pope had full confidence in his zeal and orthodoxy, +and that his calumniators should be silenced. On May 31 he issued +commands that all discussions of the question should cease, and that +both sides should send their most learned brethren to an assembly which +he would hold in September for exhaustive debate and final decision. +This he hoped would put an end to the matter, while skilful postponement +of the conference would allow it to die out; but he miscalculated the +enmity of the rival Orders. The quarrel raged more fiercely than ever. +The Franciscans declared that the inquisitor who started it would be +deprived of his office and mastership in theology. Pius thereupon +soothed him by assuring him that he had only done his duty, and that he +had nothing to fear. + +The conference had become an inevitable evil, and Pius found himself +obliged to allow it to meet in December, 1463. Each side selected three +champions, and for three days, in the presence of the pope and sacred +college, they argued the point with such ardent vehemence that, in spite +of the bitter winter weather, they were bathed in sweat. Then others +took part and the question was debated pro and con. The Franciscans put +in evidence the blood of Christ exhibited for the veneration of the +faithful in many shrines, and to the foreskin which was in the Lateran +and also in the royal chapel of France. They also appealed to the +cuttings of Christ's hair and beard, the parings of his nails, and all +his excretions--did these remain on earth or were they divine and +carried to heaven? To these arguments the Dominican reply is a curious +exhibition of special pleading and sophistry; but as no one could allege +a single text of Scripture bearing upon the question, neither side could +claim the victory. The good Bishop of Brescia, who had at first played +the part of peacemaker, consistently presented a written argument in +which he proved that the pope ought not to settle the question because +such a determination would, firstly, be doubtful; secondly, superfluous; +and, thirdly, perilous. This wise utterance was probably inspired, for +Pius reserved his decision, and, August 1, 1464, only eight days before +his death, issued a bull in which he recited how the faithful had been +scandalized by the quarrel between the two Orders, and, therefore, he +forbade further discussion on the subject until the Holy See should +finally decide it. The Dominicans were emphatically prohibited from +denouncing the Franciscans as heretics on account of it, and any +infraction of his commands was punishable by _ipso facto_ +excommunication supplemented with harsh imprisonment. He tells us +himself that after the public discussion the cardinals debated the +matter for several days. The majority inclined to the Dominicans and he +agreed with them, but the preaching of the Franciscans was necessary for +the crusade against the Turks which he proposed to lead in person, and +it was impolitic to offend them, so he postponed the decision. +Mutterings of discussion, without open quarrel, have since then +occasionally occurred between the Orders, but the popes have never seen +fit to issue a definite decision on the subject, and the momentous +question started by Roselli remains still unsettled--a pitfall for +unwary feet.[194] + +In 1356 Roselli was created Cardinal of S. Sisto, and was succeeded +after a short interval by Nicolas Eymerich, the most noteworthy man of +whom the Aragonese Inquisition can boast, although after more than +thirty years of service he ended his days in disgrace and exile. Trained +in varied learning, and incessant in industry, of his numerous works but +one has had the honors of print--his "Directorium Inquisitorum," in +which, for the first time, he systematized the procedure of his beloved +institution, giving the principles and details which should guide the +inquisitor in all his acts. The book remained an authority to the last, +and formed the basis of almost all subsequent compilations. Eymerich's +conception of the model inquisitor was lofty. He must be fully +acquainted with all the intricacies of doctrine, and with all the +aberrations of heresy--not only those which are current among the common +people, but the recondite speculations of the schools, Averrhoism and +Aristotelian errors, and the beliefs of Saracen and Tartar. At a time +when the Inquisition was declining and falling into contempt, he boldly +insisted on its most extreme prerogatives as an imprescriptible +privilege. If he assumed that the heretic had but one right--that of +choosing between submission and the stake--he was in this but the +conscientious exponent of his age, and his writings are instinct with +the conviction that the work of the inquisitor is the salvation of +souls. + +From Eymerich's lament over the difficulty of providing for the expenses +of an institution so necessary to the Church, it is evident that the +kings of Aragon had not felt it their duty to support the Holy Office, +while the bishops, he tells us, were as firm as their brethren in other +lands in evading the responsibility which by right was incumbent on +them. The confiscations, he adds, amounted to little or nothing, for +heretics were poor folk--Waldenses, Fraticelli, and the like. In fact, +so far as we can gather, the sum of Eymerich's activity during his long +career is so small that it shows how little was left of heresy by this +time. Occasional Fraticelli and Waldenses and renegade Jews or Saracens +were all that rewarded the inquisitor, with every now and then some +harmless lunatic whose extravagance unfortunately took a religious turn, +or some over-subtle speculator on the intricacies of dogmatic theology. +Thus, early in his career, about 1360, Eymerich had the satisfaction of +burning as a relapsed heretic a certain Nicholas of Calabria, who +persisted in asserting that his teacher, Martin Gonsalvo of Cuenca, was +the Son of God, who would live forever, would convert the world, and at +the Day of Judgment would pray for all the dead and liberate them from +hell. In 1371 he had the further gratification of silencing, by a +decision of Gregory XI., a Franciscan, Pedro Bonageta. The exact +relation between the physical matter of the consecrated host and the +body of Christ under certain circumstances had long been a source of +disputation in the Church, and Fray Pedro taught that if it fell into +the mud or other unclean place, or if it were gnawed by a mouse, the +body of Christ flew to heaven and the wafer became simple bread; and so +also when it was ground under the teeth of the recipient, before he +swallowed it. Gregory did not venture to pronounce this heretical, but +he forbade its public enunciation. About the same time Eymerich had a +good deal of trouble with Fray Ramon de Tarraga, a Jew turned Dominican, +whose numerous philosophical writings savored of heresy. After he had +been kept in prison for a couple of years, Gregory ordered him to have a +speedy trial, and threatened Eymerich with punishment for contumacy if +his commands were disobeyed. Ramon must have had powerful friends in the +Order whom Eymerich feared to provoke, for six months later Gregory +wrote again, saying that if Ramon could not be punished according to the +law in Aragon, he must be sent to the papal court under good guard with +all the papers of the process duly sealed. In fact, the Inquisition was +not established for the trial of Dominicans. At the same time another +Jew, Astruchio de Piera, held by Eymerich on an accusation of sorcery +and the invocation of demons, was claimed as justiciable by the civil +power, and was sequestrated until Gregory ordered his delivery to the +inquisitor, who forced him to abjure and imprisoned him for life. +Somewhat earlier was a certain Bartolo Janevisio, of Majorca, who +indulged in some apocalyptic writing about Antichrist, and was forced, +in 1361, by Eymerich to recant, while his book was publicly burned. More +practical, from a political point of view, was Eymerich's doctrine that +all who lent assistance to the Saracens were punishable by the +Inquisition as fautors of heresy, but this seems to have remained a +theoretical assertion which brought no business to the Holy Office. We +shall see hereafter how he fared in seeking the condemnation of Raymond +Lulli's writings, and need only say here that the result was his +suspension from office, to be succeeded by his capital enemy Bernardo +Ermengaudi, in 1386, and that after the succession to the throne, in +1387, of Juan I., who was bitterly hostile to him, he was twice +proscribed and exiled, and was denounced by the king as an obstinate +fool, an enemy of the faith inspired by Satan, anointed with the poison +of infidelity, together with other unflattering qualifications. He did +not succeed better when in his rash zeal he assailed the holy San +Vicente Ferrer for saying in a sermon that Judas Iscariot had a true and +salutary repentance; that, being unable to reach Christ and obtain +forgiveness owing to the crowd, he hanged himself and was pardoned in +heaven. When the case was drawing to a conclusion, Pedro de Luna, then +Cardinal of Aragon, took Vicente under his protection and made him his +confessor, and, after his election in 1394 as Avignonese pope, under the +name of Benedict XIII., he forced Eymerich to surrender the papers, +which he unceremoniously burned. The next inquisitor, Bernardo Puig, is +said to have been earnest and successful, punishing many heretics and +confuting many heresies. In Valencia, about 1390, there was a case in +which Pedro de Ceplanes, priest of Cella, read in his church a formal +declaration that there were three natures in Christ--divine, spiritual, +and human. A merchant of the town loudly contradicted it, and a tumult +arose. The inquisitor of Valencia promptly arrested the too ingenious +theologian, who only escaped the stake by public recantation and +condemnation to perpetual imprisonment; but he broke jail and fled to +the Balearic Isles, interjecting an appeal to the Holy See.[195] + +The creation, in 1262, of the kingdom of Majorca, comprising the +Balearic Isles, Rosellon, and Cerdaña, by Jayme I. of Aragon, for the +benefit of his younger son Jayme, seemed to render a separate +inquisition requisite for the new realm. At what time it was established +is uncertain, the earliest inquisitor of Majorca on record being Fr. +Ramon Durfort, whose name occurs as a witness on a charter of 1332, and +he continued to occupy the position until 1343, when he was elected +Provincial of Toulouse. From that time, at least, there is a succession +of inquisitors, and the forcible reunion in 1348, by Pedro IV., of the +outlying provinces to the crown of Aragon did not effect a consolidation +of the tribunals. As the Inquisition declined in dignity and importance, +indeed, it seems to have sought a remedy in multiplying and localizing +its offices. In 1413 Benedict XIII. (who was still recognized as pope in +Aragon) made a further division by separating the counties of Rosellon +and Cerdaña from the Balearic Isles, Fray Bernardo Pages retaining the +former, and Guillen Sagarra obtaining the latter. Both of these were +energetic men who celebrated a number of _autos de fé_, in which +numerous heretics were reconciled or burned. Sagarra was succeeded by +Bernardo Moyl, and the latter by Antonio Murta, who was confirmed in +1420, when Martin V. approved of the changes made. At the same time +Martin, at the request of the king and of the consuls of Valencia, +erected that province also into a separate Inquisition. The Provincial +of Aragon appointed Fray Andrea Ros to fill the position; he was +confirmed in 1433 by Eugenius IV., but was removed without cause +assigned the next year by the same pope, although we are told that he +inflexibly persecuted the "Bohemians" or "Wickliffites" with fire +and sword. His successors, Domingo Corts and Antonio de Cremona, earned +equal laurels in suppressing Waldenses.[196] + +A case occurring in 1423 would seem to indicate that the Inquisition had +lost much of the terror which had rendered it formidable. Fray Pedro +Salazo, Inquisitor of Rosellon and Cerdaña, threw in prison on charges +of heresy a hermit named Pedro Freserii, who enjoyed great reputation +for sanctity among the people. The accused declared that the witnesses +were personal enemies, and that he was ready to purge himself before a +proper judge, and his friends lodged an appeal with Martin V. The pope +referred the matter, with power to decide without appeal, to Bernardo, +Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of Arles, in the diocese of Elne. +Bernardo deputed the case to a canon of the church of Elne, who +acquitted the accused without awaiting the result of another appeal to +the pope interjected by the inquisitor; and Martin finally sent the +matter to the Ordinary of Narbonne, with power to summon all parties +before him and decide the case definitely. The whole transaction shows a +singular want of respect for the functions of the Inquisition.[197] + +Even more significant is a complaint made in 1456 to Calixtus III. by +Fray Mateo de Rapica, a later inquisitor of Rosellon and Cerdaña. +Certain neophytes, or converted Jews, persisted in Judaic practices, +such as eating meat in Lent and forcing their Christian servants to do +likewise. When Fray Mateo and Juan, Bishop of Elne, prosecuted them, +they were so far from submitting that they published a defamatory libel +upon the inquisitor, and, with the aid of certain laymen, afflicted him +with injuries and expenses. Finding himself powerless, he appealed to +the pope, who ordered the Archbishop and Official of Narbonne to +intervene and decide the matter. The same spirit, in even a more +aggravated form, was exhibited in a case already referred to, when, in +1458, Fray Miguel, the Inquisitor of Aragon, was maltreated and thrown +in prison for nine months by some nobles and high officials of the +kingdom, whom he had offended in obeying the instructions sent to him by +Nicholas V.[198] + +Yet, as against the poor and friendless, the Inquisition retained its +power. Wickliffitism--as it had become the fashion to designate +Waldensianism--had continued to spread, and about 1440 numbers of its +sectaries were discovered, of whom some were reconciled, and more were +burned as obstinate heretics by Miguel Ferriz, Inquisitor of Aragon, +and Martin Trilles of Valencia. Possibly among these was an unfortunate +woman, Leonor, wife of Doctor Jayme de Liminanna, of whom, about this +time, we hear that she refused to perform the penance assigned to her by +the Inquisition of Cartagena, and that she was consequently abandoned to +the secular arm. The post of inquisitor continued to be sought for. To +multiply it, Catalonia was separated from Aragon by Nicholas V. shortly +after his accession in 1447. In 1459 another division took place, the +diocese of Barcelona being erected into an independent tribunal by +Martiale Auribelli, Dominican General Master, for the benefit of Fray +Juan Conde, counsellor and confessor of the infant Carlos, Prince of +Viane. The new incumbent, however, had not a peaceful time. It was +probably the Inquisitor of Catalonia, objecting to the fractioning of +his district, who obtained from Pius II., in 1461, a brief annulling the +division, on the ground that one inquisitor had always sufficed. Fray +Juan resisted and incurred excommunication, but the influence of his +royal patron was sufficient to obtain from Pius, October 13, 1461, +another bull restoring him to his position and absolving him from the +excommunication. In 1479 a squabble occurring at Valencia shows that the +office possessed attractions worth contending for. The Provincial of +Aragon had removed Fray Jayme Borell and appointed Juan Marquez in his +stead. Borell carried the tale of his woes to Sixtus IV., who commanded +the General Master to replace him and retain him in peaceful +possession.[199] + +Ferdinand the Catholic succeeded to the throne of Aragon in 1479, as he +had already done, in 1474, to that of Castile by right of his wife +Isabella. Even before the organizing of the new Inquisition in Aragon, +in 1483, it is probable that the influence of Ferdinand had done much to +restore the power of the institution. In 1482, on the eve of the change, +we find the Inquisition of Aragon acting with renewed vigor and +boldness, under the Dominican, Juan de Epila. A number of cases are +recorded of this period, including the prosecution of the father and +mother of Felipe de Clemente, Prothonotary of the kingdom. As a +preparatory step to placing the dominions of the crown of Aragon under +Torquemada as Inquisitor-general, it was requisite to get rid of +Cristobal Gualvez, who had been Inquisitor of Valencia since 1452, and +who had disgraced his office by his crimes. Sixtus IV. had a special +enmity to him, and, in ordering his deposition, stigmatized him as an +impudent and impious man, whose unexampled excesses were worthy of +severe chastisement; and when Sixtus, in 1483, extended Torquemada's +authority over the whole of Spain, with power to nominate deputies, he +excepted "that son of iniquity, Cristobal Gualvez," who had been +interdicted from the office in consequence of his demerits, and whom he +even deprived of the function of preaching.[200] + + * * * * * + +The great kingdom of Castile and Leon, embracing the major portion of +the Spanish peninsula, never enjoyed the blessing of the mediæval +Inquisition. It was more independent of Rome than any other monarchy of +the period. Lordly prelates, turbulent nobles, and cities jealous of +their liberties allowed scant opportunity for the centralization of +power in the crown. The people were rude and uncultured, and not much +given to vain theological speculation. Their superfluous energy, +moreover, found ample occupation in the task of winning back the land +from the Saracen. The large population of Jews and of conquered Moors +gave them peculiar problems to deal with which would have been +complicated rather than solved by the methods of the Inquisition, until +the union of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand and Isabella, followed +by the conquest of Granada, enabled those monarchs to undertake +seriously the business, attractive both to statecraft and to fanaticism, +of compelling uniformity of faith. + +It is true that the Dominican legend relates how Dominic returned from +Rome to Spain as Inquisitor-general, on the errand of establishing there +the Inquisition for the purpose of punishing the renegade converted Jews +and Moors; how he was warmly seconded by San Fernando III.; how he +organized the Inquisition throughout the land, celebrating himself the +first _auto de fé_ at Burgos, where three hundred apostates were +burned, and the second _auto_ in the presence of the saintly king, who +himself carried on his shoulders fagots for the burning of his subjects, +and the pertinacious wretches defiantly rejoiced in the flames which +were consuming them; how, after this, he established the Inquisition in +Aragon, whence he journeyed to Paris and organized it throughout France; +how, in 1220, he sent Conrad of Marburg as inquisitor to Germany, and in +1221 finished his labors by founding it in all the parts of Italy. All +this can rank in historical value with the veracious statement of an old +chronicler--a compatriot of the Pied Piper of Hamelin--that St. Boniface +was an inquisitor, and that, with the support of Pepin le Bref, he +burned many heretics. Detailed lists, moreover, are given of the +successive inquisitors-general of the Peninsula--Frailes Suero Gomes, B. +Gil, Pedro de Huesca, Arnaldo Segarra, Garcia de Valcos, etc., but these +are simply the Dominican provincials of Spain, who were empowered by the +popes to appoint inquisitors, and whose exercise of that power did not +extend beyond Aragon. Even Paramo, although he tries to prove that there +were inquisitors nominally in Castile, is forced to admit that +practically there was no Inquisition there.[201] + +Yet, even in the distant city of Leon, Catharism had obtained a +foothold. Bishop Rodrigo, who died in 1232, expelled a number of +Cathari, on his attention being called to them by their circulating a +story to excite hatred of the priesthood, relating how a poor woman +placed a candle on the altar in honor of the Virgin, and on her leaving +it a priest took it for his own use. The following night the Virgin +appeared to her votary and cast burning wax into her eyes, saying, +"Take the wages of your service. As soon as you went away a priest +carried off the candle; as you would have been rewarded had the candle +been consumed on my altar, so you must bear the punishment, since your +carelessness gave me the light only for a moment." This diabolical +story, says Lucas of Tuy, an eye-witness, so affected the minds of the +simple that the devotion of offering candles ceased, and it required two +genuine miracles to restore the faith of the people. During the +interval between the death of Bishop Rodrigo, in March, 1232, and the +election of his successor, Arnaldo, in August, 1234, the heretics had +ample opportunity to work their wicked will. A Catharan named Arnaldo +had been burned, about 1218, in a place in the suburbs used for +depositing filth. There was a spring there which the heretics colored +red, and proclaimed that it had miraculously been turned to blood. Many +of them, simulating blindness, lameness, and demoniacal possession, were +carried there and pretended to be cured, after which they dug up the +heretic's bones and declared them to be those of a holy martyr. The +people were fired with enthusiasm, erected a chapel, and worshipped the +relics with the utmost ardor. In vain the clergy and the friars +endeavored to stem the tide; the people denounced them as heretics, and +despised the excommunication with which the neighboring bishops visited +the adoration of the new saint; while the real heretics made many +converts by secretly relating how the affair had been managed, and +pointing it out as a sample of the manufacture of saints and miracles. +God visited the sacrilege with a drouth of ten months, which was not +broken until Lucas, at the risk of his life, destroyed the heretic +chapel; and when the rains came there was a revulsion of feeling which +enabled him to expel the heretics. All this would seem to indicate that +the heretics were numerous and organized; it certainly shows that there +was no machinery for their suppression; but after the elevation of Lucas +to the see of Tuy, in 1239, we hear no more of heretics or of +persecutions. The whole affair, apparently, was a sporadic +manifestation, probably of some band of fugitives from Languedoc, who +disappeared and left no following.[202] + +If what Lucas tells us be true, that ecclesiastics frequently joined in +and enjoyed the ridicule with which heretics derided the sacraments and +the clergy, the Spanish Church was not likely to give much aid to the +introduction of the Inquisition. How little its methods were understood +appears in the fact that when, in 1236, San Fernando III. found some +heretics at Palencia, he proceeded to brand them in the face, which +brought them to reason and led them to seek absolution. No one seemed to +know what to do with them, so Gregory IX. was applied to, and he +authorized the Bishop of Palencia to reconcile them. There is probably +no truth in the statement of some historians that the king, on several +occasions, was obliged to levy from his subjects a tribute of wood with +which to burn the unrepentant, and the story only serves to show how +utterly vague have been the current conceptions of the period.[203] + +We reach firmer ground with the codes known as El Fuero Real and Las +Siete Partidas, the first issued by Alonso the Wise, in 1255, and the +second about ten years later. By this time the Inquisition was at its +height. It was thoroughly organized, and wherever it existed the +business of suppressing heresy was exclusively in its hands. Yet not +only does Alonso take no count of it, but in his regulation by secular +law of the relations between the heretic and the Church he shows how +completely, up to this period, Spain had remained outside of the great +movements of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Heresy, it is true, +is one of the matters pertaining to the ecclesiastical tribunals, and +any one can accuse a heretic before his bishop or vicar. If the accused +is found not to believe as the Church teaches, effort is to be made to +convert him, and if he returns to the faith he is to be pardoned. If he +proves obstinate, he is to be handed over to the secular judge. Then, +however, his fate is decided without reference to the laws which the +Church had endeavored to introduce throughout Christendom. If the +culprit had received the _consolamentum_, or is a believer observing the +rites, or one of those who deny the future life, he is to be burned; but +if a believer not observing the rites, he is to be banished or +imprisoned until he returns to the faith. Any one learning heresy, but +not yet a believer, is fined ten pounds of gold to the fisc, or, if +unable to pay, to receive fifty lashes in public. In the case of those +who die in heresy or are executed, their estates pass to Catholic +descendants, or, in default of these, to the next of kin; if without +such kindred, the property of laymen goes to the fisc, of ecclesiastics, +to the Church, if claimed within a year, after which it inures to the +fisc. Children disinherited for heresy recover their portions, but not +the mesne profits, on recantation. No one, after condemnation for +heresy, can hold office, inherit property, make a will, execute a sale, +or give testimony. The house where a wandering heretic missionary is +sheltered is forfeited to the Church, if inhabited by the owner; if +rented, the offending tenant is fined ten pounds of gold or publicly +scourged. A _rico home_ or noble sheltering heretics in his lands or +castles, and persisting after a year's excommunication, forfeits the +land or castle to the king; and if a non-noble his body and property are +at the king's pleasure. The Christian who turns Jew or Moslem is legally +a heretic, and is to be burned, as well as one who brings up a child in +the forbidden faith. Prosecutions of the dead, however, are humanely +limited to five years after decease.[204] + +All this shows that Alonso and his counsellors recognized the duty of +the State to preserve the purity of the faith, but that they considered +it wholly an affair of the State, in which the Church had no voice +beyond ascertaining the guilt of the accused. All the voluminous and +minute legislation of Gregory IX., Innocent IV., and Alexander IV. was +wholly disregarded--the canon law had no currency in Castile, which +regulated such matters to suit its own needs. That in this respect the +popular needs were met is shown by the Ordenamiento de Alcalà, issued in +1348, which is silent on the subject of heresy. Apparently no change was +deemed necessary in the provisions of the Partidas, which were then for +the first time confirmed by the popular assembly. Under such legislation +it follows as a matter of course that the Dominican provincial had no +inquisitors to appoint, except in Aragon, under the bull of Urban IV. in +1262. + +Castile continued unvexed by the Inquisition, and persecution for heresy +was almost unknown. In 1316 Bernard Gui, of Toulouse, discovered in his +district some of the dreaded sectaries known as Dolcinists or +Pseudo-Apostoli, who fled to Spain to escape his energetic pursuit. May +1, 1316, he wrote to all the prelates and friars of Spain describing +their characteristics and urging their apprehension and punishment. Had +there been an Inquisition there he would have addressed himself to it. +From remote Compostella he received an answer, written by Archbishop +Rodrigo, March 6, 1317, announcing that five persons answering to the +description had been captured there and were held in chains, and asking +for instructions as to the mode of trying them and the punishment to be +inflicted in case they are found guilty, "for all this is heretofore +unaccustomed in our parts." Evidently there was no Inquisition in +Castile and Leon to which to apply, and even the provisions of the +Partidas were unknown, though of all places in the kingdom Compostella +must have been the one most familiar with the outer world and with +heretics, from the stream of penitents continually sent thither as +pilgrims.[205] + +In 1401 Boniface IX. made a demonstration by appointing the provincial, +Vicente de Lisboa, inquisitor over all Spain, directing that his +expenses should be paid by the bishops, and that no superior of his +Order could remove him. The only heresy specifically alluded to in the +bull is the idolatrous worship of plants, trees, stones, and +altars--apparently superstitious relics of paganism which indicate the +condition of religion and culture in the Peninsula. Boniface's action +could hardly have been taken with any expectation of result, as Spain +rendered obedience to Benedict XIII., the Antipope of Avignon, and it +was probably only a move in the political game of the Great Schism. +Whatever the motive, however, the effort was fruitless, for Fray Vicente +was already dead in the odor of sanctity at the date of the bull. On +learning this, Boniface returned to the charge, February 1, 1402, by +empowering forever thereafter the Dominican Provincial of Spain to +appoint and remove inquisitors, or to act as such himself, with all the +privileges and powers accorded to the office by the canons. Inoperative +as this remained, it at least had the advantage of supplying to the +Spanish historians an unbroken line of inquisitors-general to be +catalogued. About the same time King Henry III. increased the penalties +of heresy by decreeing confiscation to the royal treasury of one-half of +the possessions of heretics condemned by the ecclesiastical +judges.[206] + +This, perhaps, technically justifies Alonso Tostado, Bishop of Avila, +who soon afterwards alludes to inquisitors in Spain investigating those +defamed for heresy, and it explains the remarks of Sixtus IV. when, in +January, 1482, he confirmed the two inquisitors appointed at Seville by +Ferdinand and Isabella at the commencement of their reforms, and forbade +their naming more, for the reason that the appointees of the Dominican +provincial were sufficient. In spite of all this, the Spanish +Inquisition was simply potential, not existent. When, in 1453, Alonso de +Almarzo, Abbot of the great Benedictine foundation of Antealtares of +Compostella, with his accomplices, was tried for selling throughout +Spain and Portugal indulgences warranted to release the souls of the +damned from hell, for counterfeiting the papal Agnus Dei, for forging +and altering papal letters, and for persuading Jewish converts to +apostatize, had there been an Inquisition it would promptly have taken +cognizance of the culprits; but in place of this the case was referred +to Nicolas V., who instructed the Bishop of Tarazona to proceed against +them. A few years later Alonso de Espina, about 1460, sorrowfully admits +the absence of all persecution of heresy. Bishops and inquisitors and +preachers ought all to resist the heretics, but there is no one to do +it. "No one investigates the errors of heretics. The ravening wolves, O +Lord, have gained admittance to thy flock, for the shepherds are few. +There are many hirelings, and because they are hirelings they care only +for shearing, not for feeding the sheep!" and he draws a deplorable +picture of the Spanish Church, distracted with heretics, Jews, and +Saracens. Soon after this, in 1464, the Cortes assembled at Medina +turned its attention to the subject and complained of the great number +of "_malos cristianos e sospechosos en la fe_," but the national +aversion to the papal Inquisition still manifested itself, and its +introduction was not suggested. The archbishops and bishops were +requested to set on foot a rigid investigation after heretics, and King +Henry IV. was asked to lend them aid, so that every suspected place +might be thoroughly searched, and offenders brought to light, +imprisoned, and punished. It was represented to the king that this would +be to his advantage, as the confiscations would inure to the royal +treasury, and he graciously expressed his assent; but the effort was +resultless.[207] + +For the most part the orthodoxy of Spain had been vexed only with a few +Fraticelli and Waldenses, not numerous enough to call for active +repression. The main trouble lay in the multitudes of Jews and Moors +who, under the law, were entitled to toleration, but whom popular +fanaticism had forced to conversion in great numbers, and whose purity +of faith was justly liable to suspicion. Hereafter I hope to have the +opportunity of showing that from both the religious and the political +standpoint of the age the measures taken by Ferdinand and Isabella were +by no means without justification, however mistaken they were both in +morals and in policy, and however unfortunate in their ultimate results. +At present it suffices to point out this condition of affairs to explain +the dissatisfaction which was widely prevalent and the demand for an +efficient remedy. + +At the same time even Spain was not wholly unmoved by the spirit of +unrest and inquiry which marked the second half of the fifteenth +century, sapping the foundations of tradition and rejecting the claims +of sacerdotalism. About 1460 we learn from Alonso de Espina that many +were beginning to deny the efficacy of oral confession, and this point +could not have been reached without calling in question many other +doctrines and observances which the Church taught to be necessary to +salvation. At length these innovators grew so bold that Pedro de Osma, a +professor in the great University of Salamanca, ventured to promulgate +their obnoxious opinions in print. Oral confession, he asserted, was of +human, not of divine precept, and was unnecessary for the forgiveness of +sins; no papal indulgence could insure the living from the fires of +purgatory; the papacy could err, and had no power to dispense with the +statutes of the Church. Had there been any machinery of persecution at +hand, short work would have been made with so bold a heretic, but the +authorities were so much at a loss what to do with him that they applied +to Sixtus IV., who sent a commission to Alonso Carrillo, Archbishop of +Toledo, the dignitary next in rank to the king, to try him. In 1479 a +council was assembled for the purpose at Alcalà, consisting of fifty-two +of the best theologians in Spain, besides a number of canon lawyers. +Pedro was summoned to appear, and on his failing to do so his doctrine +was condemned as heretical, and he was sentenced--not to the stake for +contumacy, but to recant publicly in the pulpit. He submitted and did +so, and we are told in the official report of the proceedings that all +the faithful burst into tears at this signal manifestation of the +conquering hand of God. Pedro died peacefully in the bosom of the Church +during the next year, 1480, and Sixtus IV., in confirming the action of +the council, ordered the archbishop to prosecute as heretics any of his +followers who would not imitate his obedience.[208] + +Evidently some more efficient and less cumbrous method was requisite if +the population of reunited Spain was to enjoy the blessing of uniformity +in faith. It did not take long for the piety of Isabella and the policy +of Ferdinand to discover appropriate means. + + * * * * * + +In Portugal, Affonso II., at the commencement of his reign, in 1211, had +manifested his zeal by inducing his Cortes to adopt severe laws for the +repression of heresy; but when Sueiro Gomes, the first Dominican +Provincial of Spain, endeavored to introduce in his kingdom inquisitors +of the order, Affonso refused to admit them, and successfully insisted +that heretics should be tried as heretofore by the ordinary episcopal +courts. This rebuff sufficed for nearly a century and a half, and there +must have been considerable freedom of thought, for, about 1325, Alvaro +Pelayo gives a long list of the errors publicly defended in the schools +of Lisbon by Thomas Scotus, a renegade friar. Their nature may be +appreciated from his Averrhoistic assertion that there had been three +deceivers--Moses who deceived the Jews, Christ the Christians, and +Mahomet the Saracens. He seems to have enjoyed immunity until he +declared that St. Antony of Padua kept concubines, when the Franciscan +prior had him incarcerated, and his trial followed. At last, by a bull, +dated January 17, 1376, Gregory XI. authorized Agapito Colonna, Bishop +of Lisbon, to appoint, for this time only, a Franciscan inquisitor, as +heresies were known to be spreading, and there were no inquisitors in +the kingdom. The nominee was to receive an annual salary of two hundred +gold florins assessed upon all the dioceses in the proportion of their +contributions to the apostolic chamber. Under this authority Agapito +appointed the first Portuguese inquisitor, Martino Vasquez. From what we +have seen elsewhere we may reasonably doubt his success in collecting +his stipend; but, small as his receipts may have been, they were the +equivalent of his service, for no trace of any labors performed by him +remains.[209] + +The Great Schism commenced in 1378, and as Portugal acknowledged Urban +VI. while Spain adhered to the antipope Clement VII., the Dominican +province of Spain divided itself, the Portuguese choosing a +vicar-general, and finally a provincial, Gonçalo, in 1418, when Martin +V. legalized the separation. This perhaps explains why Martino Vasquez +was succeeded by another Franciscan. In 1394 Rodrigo de Cintra, calling +himself Inquisitor of Portugal and Algarve, applied to Boniface IX. for +confirmation, which was graciously accorded to him. Apparently the +revenues of the office were nil, for the privilege was granted to him of +residing with one associate at will in any Franciscan convent, which was +bound to minister to his necessities, the same as to any other master of +theology. Rodrigo was preacher to King João I., who requested this favor +of Boniface, and his career, like that of his predecessor, is a blank. +He was followed by a Dominican, Vicente de Lisboa, who had been +Provincial of Spain at the time of the disruption, when he returned to +Portugal and became confessor of Dom João. The king, in 1399, requested +of Boniface his appointment as inquisitor, which was duly granted; and, +as we have seen, in 1401, the pope endeavored to extend his jurisdiction +over Castile and Leon. No trace of his inquisitorial activity exists. +After his death, in 1401, there appears to have been an interval. The +office apparently was regarded as a perquisite of the royal chapel for +those who would condescend to accept it. The next appointment of which +we hear is that of another confessor of Dom João, in 1413, this time a +Franciscan, Affonso de Alprão, of whose doings no record has been +preserved. When, in 1418, the kingdom was reorganized as an independent +Dominican province, the earnest annalists of the Inquisition assume that +under the bull of Boniface IX., in 1402, each successive provincial was +likewise an inquisitor-general, and the lists of these worthies are +laboriously paraded as such, until the founding of the New Inquisition +in 1531. No acts of theirs in such capacity, however, are recorded. The +Holy Office continued dormant, without even a titular official, until, +in the early years of the sixteenth century, Dom Manoel, stimulated by +the example of his Castilian neighbors, and feeling solicitude as to the +status of the New Christians, or converts from Judaism and Islam, +bethought him of its revival. Although he had the Dominican provincial +at hand, no purpose of utilizing him in this manner seems to have been +entertained. The king applied to the pope and obtained the appointment +of a Franciscan, Henrique de Coimbra, but there is no trace of his +activity.[210] + +The New Inquisition of Spain was a model which the smaller kingdom would +naturally be expected to adopt, and in fact, to ardent Catholics, there +might well seem to be a necessity for such an institution in view of the +problems arising from the large influx of New Christians flying from +Spanish persecution. Dom Manoel, indeed, at one time entertained so +seriously the idea of establishing the Spanish Inquisition in his +dominions that, in 1515, he ordered his ambassador at Rome, D. Miguel da +Silva, to obtain from Leo X. the same privileges as those which had been +conceded to Castile, but from some cause the project was abandoned. His +son, Dom João III., who succeeded him in 1521, was a weak-minded +fanatic, and it is only singular that the introduction of the +Inquisition on the Spanish model was delayed for still ten years. The +struggle which took place over the measure belongs, however, to a period +beyond our present limits.[211] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ITALY. + + +In France we have seen the stubbornness of heresy in alliance with +feudalism resisting the encroachments of monarchy. In Italy we meet with +different and more complicated conditions, which gave additional +stimulus to antagonism against the established Church, and rendered its +suppression a work of much greater detail. Here heresy and politics are +so inextricably intermingled that at times differentiation becomes +virtually impossible, and the fate of heretics depends more on political +vicissitudes than even on the zeal of men like St. Peter Martyr, or +Rainerio Saccone. + +For centuries the normal condition of Italy was not far removed from +anarchy. Spasmodic attempts of the empire to make good its traditional +claim to overlordship were met by the steady policy of the papacy to +extend its temporal power over the Peninsula. During the century +occupied by the reigns of the Hohenstaufens (1152-1254), when the empire +seemed nearest to accomplishing its ends, the popes sought to erect a +rampart by stimulating the attempts of the cities to establish their +independence and form self-governing republics, and it thus created for +itself a party in all of them. North of the Patrimony of St. Peter the +soil of Italy thus became fractioned into petty states under +institutions more or less democratic. For the most part they were torn +with savage internal feuds between factions which, as Guelf or +Ghibelline, hoisted the banner of pope or kaiser as an excuse for +tearing each other to pieces. As a rule, they were involved in constant +war with each other. Occasionally, indeed, some overmastering necessity +might bring about a temporary union, as when the Lombard League, in +1177, broke the Barbarossa's power on the field of Legnano, but, in +general, the chronicles of that dismal period are a confused mass of +murderous strife inside and outside the gates of every town. + +Heresy could scarce ask conditions more favorable for its spread. The +Church, worldly to the core, was immersed in temporal cares and +pleasures, and during the strife between Alexander III. and the four +antipopes successively set up by Frederic I.--Victor, Pascal, Calixtus, +and Innocent--the enforcement of orthodoxy was out of the question. +After the triumph of the papacy, stringent decrees, as we have seen, +were issued by Lucius III., and edicts were promulgated by Henry VI. in +1194, and by Otho IV. in 1210, but they were practically inefficient. +When every town was divided against itself heresy could bargain for +toleration by holding the balance of power, and was frequently able, by +throwing its weight on one side or the other, to obtain a share in the +government. The larger struggles of city against city and of pope +against emperor afforded a still wider field for the exercise of this +diplomatic ability, of which full advantage was taken. When the formulas +of persecution became defined under Honorius III., Gregory IX., and +Frederic II., and fautorship was made equivalent to heresy, the factions +and the nobles who tolerated or protected heretics became involved in +the common anathema, and whole communities were stigmatized as given +over to false idols. Yet although Ghibelline and heretic were frequently +held by the popes to be almost convertible terms, there was in reality +no test capable of universal application. Traditional hostility to the +empire rendered Milan an intensely Guelf community, and yet it was +everywhere recognized as the greatest centre of heresy. + +Though heresy was by no means so universal as the papal anathemas would +indicate, yet heretics were quite numerous enough to possess political +importance, and to have some justification for their hopes of eventually +becoming dominant. Little concealment was deemed necessary. When Otho +IV. was in Rome for his coronation in 1209, under the vigilant rule of +Innocent III., the ecclesiastics who accompanied him were scandalized at +finding schools where Manichæan doctrines were openly taught, apparently +without interference. The earlier Dominican persecutors are represented +as constantly holding public disputations with heretics in the most +populous cities of Italy, and the miracles related of them were mostly +occasioned by the taunts and challenges of heretics. Otho, at Ferrara, +in 1210, was obliged to order the magistrates to put to the ban the +Cathari who refused, at the instance of the bishop, to return to the +Church, and also those who publicly supported them.[212] + +Although Stephen of Bourbon relates that a converted heretic informed +him that in Milan there were no less than seventeen heterodox sects +which bitterly disputed with each other, yet they can, as in France, be +reduced to two main classes--Cathari, or Patarins, and Waldenses. The +Cathari, it will be remembered, made their appearance in the first half +of the eleventh century, at Monforte, in Lombardy, and they had +continued to multiply since then. About the middle of the thirteenth +century Rainerio Saccone gives us an enumeration of their churches. In +Lombardy and the Marches there were about five hundred perfected Cathari +of the Albanensian sect, more than fifteen hundred Concorrezenses, and +about two hundred Bajolenses. The Church of Vicenza reckoned about a +hundred; there were as many in Florence and Spoleto, and in addition +about one hundred and fifty refugees from France in Lombardy. As he +estimates the total number, from Constantinople to the Pyrenees, at four +thousand, with a countless congregation of believers, it will be seen +that nearly two thirds of the whole number were concentrated in northern +Italy, chiefly in Lombardy, and that they constituted a notable portion +of the population.[213] + +Lombardy, in fact, was the centre whence Catharism was propagated +throughout Europe. We have seen above how for more than half a century +it served as a refuge to the persecuted saints of Languedoc, and as a +source whence to draw missionaries and teachers. About 1240 a certain +Yvo of Narbonne was falsely accused of heresy and fled to Italy, where +he was received as a martyr, and had full opportunity of penetrating +into the secrets of the sectaries. In a letter to Géraud, Archbishop of +Bordeaux, he describes their thorough organization throughout Italy, +with ramifications extending into all the neighboring lands. From all +the cities of Lombardy and Tuscany their youth were sent to Paris to +perfect themselves in logic and theology, so as to be able successfully +to defend their errors. Catharan merchants frequented fairs and +obtained entrance into houses where they lost no opportunity of +scattering the seed of false doctrine. Full of zeal and courage, the +Catharan believed his faith to be the religion of the future, and his +ardor courted martyrdom in the effort to spread it everywhere. Milan was +the headquarters whither every year delegates were sent from the +churches throughout Christendom, bringing contributions for the support +of the central organization, and receiving instructions as to the +symbol, changed every twelvemonth, whereby the wandering Patarin could +recognize the houses of his brethren and safely claim hospitality. It +was in vain that, in 1212, Innocent III. warned the heretical city of +the fate of Languedoc, and threatened to send a similar crusade for its +extirpation. Fortunately for the Lombards he had no one to summon to +their destruction, for Germany, however desirous of conquering Italy, +was too distracted for such an enterprise, and the popes dreaded +imperial domination quite as much as heresy. There was bitter irony in +the reply of Frederic II., when, in 1236, he was subduing the rebellious +Lombards, and he answered the clamor of Gregory IX., who called upon him +to transfer his arms to Syria, by pointing out that the Milanese were +much worse than Saracens, and their subjugation much more +important.[214] + +We have no means of obtaining an approximate estimate of the Waldenses, +but in some districts they must have been almost as numerous as the +Cathari. The remains of the Arnaldistæ and Umiliati had eagerly welcomed +the missionaries of the Poor Men of Lyons, and had not only adopted +their tenets, but had pushed them to a further development in antagonism +to Rome. As early as 1206 we see Innocent III. alluding to Umiliati and +Poor Men of Lyons as synonymous expressions, and endeavoring with little +success to effect their expulsion from Faenza, where they were spreading +and infecting the people. In Milan they had built a school where they +publicly taught their doctrines; this was at length torn down by a +zealous archbishop, and when, in 1209, Durán de Huesca sought to bring +them back to the fold, a hundred or more of them consented to be +reconciled if the building were restored to them. Evidently they had +little to dread from active persecution, and subsequent letters of +Innocent show them to be still flourishing there. The Waldenses who were +burned at Strassburg in 1212 admitted that their chief resided in Milan, +and that they were in the habit of collecting money and remitting it to +him.[215] + +It was, however, in the valleys of the Cottian Alps, to which they +spread from Dauphiné, that they settled themselves most firmly. In those +inhospitable regions, till then almost uninhabited, their marvellous and +self-denying industry occupied every spot where incessant labor could +support life. There they rapidly increased and filled the valleys of +Luserna, Angrogna, San Martino, and Perosa. In 1210 Giacomo di Carisio, +Bishop of Turin, alarmed at the constant growth of this heresy in his +diocese, applied to Otho IV. for aid in its suppression, but the emperor +in reply merely ordered him to use severity in their punishment and +expulsion. Authority for this he already had in abundance under the +canons, but he lacked the physical force to render it effective, and the +imperial rescript went for naught. This shows that the local suzerains +took no measures to enforce persecution, and the heretics continued to +increase. The immediate sovereign of the district most deeply infected +was the Abbey of Ripaille, which found itself unable to control them, +and made over its temporal rights to Tommaso I., Count of Savoy. He +issued an edict, to which I have already referred, imposing a fine of +ten sols for giving refuge to heretics, which proved altogether +ineffective. Thus, in the absence of efficient repression, were +established those Alpine communities whose tenacity of belief supplied +through centuries an unfailing succession of humble martyrs, and who +ennobled human nature by their marvellous example of constancy and +endurance.[216] + +Although the Lombard Waldenses admitted their descent from the Poor Men +of Lyons, their more rapid development gave rise to differences, and in +1218 a conference was held at Bergamo between delegates of both parties. +This did not succeed in removing the points of dissidence, and about +1230 the Lombards sent to the brethren in Germany a statement of the +discussion and of their views. It is not our province to enter into +these minute details of faith and Church government, but the affair is +worth alluding to as illustrating the flourishing condition of the +Church, the practical toleration which it enjoyed, and the active +communication which existed between its organizations throughout +Europe.[217] + + * * * * * + +The aggressiveness of the heretics, the favor shown them by the people, +and the impossibility of any systematic suppression by the Church under +existing political conditions are well exhibited in the troubles which +commenced at Piacenza in 1204. There the heretics were strong enough to +provoke a quarrel between the authorities and Bishop Grimerio, which +resulted in either the withdrawal or the expulsion of the prelate and +all the clergy. The exiles transferred themselves to Cremona, but in +1205 that city likewise quarrelled with its pastors, and the wanderers +were again driven forth, to find a refuge in Castell' Arquato. For +three years and a half Piacenza remained without an orthodox priest, and +deprived of all the observances and consolations of religion. So weak +was the hold of the Church upon the people that this deprivation was +acquiesced in with the utmost indifference. In October, 1206, Innocent +III. sent three Apostolic Visitors to effect a reconciliation, with a +threat of dividing the diocese and apportioning it among the neighboring +sees, but the citizens cared nothing for this, and refused the terms +demanded, which required them to compensate their bishop for the damage +inflicted on him. After some six months wasted in fruitless negotiations +the Visitors departed, and it was not till July, 1207, that another +commission, offering more favorable conditions, succeeded in effecting a +reconciliation which enabled the clergy to return from exile. About the +same period Innocent found himself obliged to use persuasion and +argument in the endeavor to urge the people of Treviso to expel their +heretics. So far from threatening them, he begged them to have faith +that their bishop would reform the excesses of the clergy whose evil +example had disturbed them. It is easy thus to understand the exulting +confidence with which the heretics anticipated the eventual triumph of +their creeds, and the despair which led Abbot Joachim of Flora, in +expounding the Apocalypse, to see in them the locusts with the power of +scorpions who issue from the bottomless pit at the sounding of the fifth +trumpet (Rev. IX. 3, 4). These heretics are the Antichrist; they are to +grow in power and their king is already chosen, that king of the locusts +"whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue +hath his name Apollyon" (Rev. IX. 11). Resistance to them will be in +vain; they are to unite with the Saracens, with whom, in 1195, he says +they are already entering into negotiations.[218] + +When Honorius III., in 1220, obtained from Frederic II. the ferocious +coronation-edict against heresy, he may well have imagined that the way +was open for its immediate suppression. If so, he was not long in +discovering his mistake. Whatever professions Frederic might make, or +whatever rigor he might exercise in his Sicilian dominions, it was no +part of his policy to estrange the Ghibelline leaders, or to strengthen +the Guelfic factions in the turbulent little republics which he sought +to reduce to subjection. His whole reign was an internecine conflict, +open or concealed, with Rome, and he was too much of a free-thinker to +have any scruples as to the sources whence he could draw strength for +himself or annoyance for his enemy. In central and upper Italy, +therefore, his laws were for the most part virtually a dead letter. +Already, in 1221, Ezzelin da Romano, the most powerful Ghibelline in the +March of Treviso, was complained of for the protection which he afforded +to heretics, and his continuing to do so to the end shows that he found +it to be good policy. When, in 1227, Ingheramo da Macerata, the late +podestà of Rimini, was persecuted by the citizens because he had +delivered for burning as heretics some of their daughters and sisters, +and because he had wished to inscribe on their statute-books the +constitutions of Frederic, it was not to the emperor that he applied for +protection, but to Honorius III.[219] + +Something more than imperial edicts was plainly necessary, and Honorius, +in casting around for methods to check the spread of heresy, appointed, +in 1224, the Bishops of Brescia and Modena as commissioners with special +powers to exterminate the heretics of Lombardy--as inquisitors, in fact, +this being one of the steps which gradually led to the establishment of +the Inquisition, the usefulness of the Dominicans in this respect not +having yet been divined. The Bishop of Modena, however, undertook a +mission to convert the pagans of Prussia, and the Bishop of Rimini was +substituted in his place. The prelates commenced with Brescia itself, +whose prelate doubtless knew where to strike. They ordered the tearing +down of certain houses where heretical preachers had been accustomed to +hold forth. At once an armed insurrection broke out. The perennial +factions of the city took sides. Several churches were burned, and the +heretics parodied from them the anathema by casting lighted torches from +the windows, and solemnly excommunicating all members of the Church of +Rome. It was not until after a severe and prolonged conflict that the +Catholics obtained the upper hand, and then the terms prescribed by +Honorius were so mild as to indicate that it was not deemed politic to +drive the defeated party to despair. All excommunicates were required to +apply personally for absolution to the Holy See. The fortified houses of +the lords of Gambara, of Ugona, of the Oriani, of the sons of Botatio, +who had been the leader in the troubles, were ordered to be razed to the +ground, never to be rebuilt, while other strongholds, which had been +defended against the Catholics, were to be cut down one-third or +one-half. Benificed clerks who were children of heretics or of fautors +were to be suspended for three years or more as their individual +participation in the troubles might indicate. A levy of three hundred +and thirty lire was ordered on the clergy of Lombardy and the +Trivigiana to recompense the Catholics for the losses endured in +contending with the heretics. So unaccustomed as yet were the Lombards +to persecution that even these conditions were deemed too harsh. The +city of Milan interceded, and finally even the authorities of Brescia +itself urged that moderation would be conducive to peace; and, May 1, +1226, Honorius authorized the bishops to use their discretion in +diminishing the penalties. When, however, the Dominican Guala was +elected Bishop of Brescia in 1230, he speedily succeeded in introducing +in the local statutes the law of Frederic, of March, 1224, which decreed +for heretics the stake or loss of the tongue, and he forced the podestà +to swear to its execution.[220] + +Gregory IX. was a man of sterner temper than Honorius, and, despite his +octogenary age, his advent to the pontificate, in 1227, was the signal +for unrelenting war on heresy. Within three weeks of his accession peace +was signed, under the auspices of the papacy, between Frederic II. and +the Lombard League, with provisions for the suppression of heresy. +Gregory immediately, in the most imperious fashion, summoned the +Lombards to perform their duty. Hitherto, he told them, all their +pretended efforts had been fraudulent. No enforcement of the imperial +constitutions had been attempted. If the heretics had at any time been +driven away, it was with a secret understanding that they would be +allowed to return and dwell in peace. If fines had been inflicted, the +money had been covertly refunded. If statutes had been enacted, there +was always a reservation by which they were rendered ineffective. Thus +heresy had grown and strengthened while the liberties of the Church had +been subverted. Heretics had been permitted to preach their doctrines +publicly, while ecclesiastics had been outlawed and imprisoned. All this +must cease, the provisions of the treaty of peace must be enforced, and, +if they continued in their evil courses, the Holy See would find means +to coerce them in their perversity.[221] + +These were brave words, though the political condition of Lombardy +rendered them ineffective. Nearer home, however, Gregory had fairer +opportunity of enforcing his will, and we have already seen how +promptly he recognized the utility of the Order of Dominic and laid the +foundations of the Inquisition by his tentative action in Florence. +While this was taking shape his zeal was stimulated by the discovery, in +1231, that in Rome itself heresy had become so bold that it ventured to +assert itself openly, and that many priests and other ecclesiastics had +been converted. Probably the first _auto de fé_ on record was that held +by the Senator Annibaldo at the portal of Santa Maria Maggiore, when +these unfortunates were burned or condemned to perpetual prison, and +Gregory took advantage of the occasion to issue the decretal which +became the basis of inquisitorial procedure, and to procure the +enactment of severe secular laws in the name of the senator. The details +I have already given (Vol. I. p. 325), and they need not be repeated +here; but Gregory did not content himself with what he thus accomplished +in Rome. His aid just then was desirable to Frederic II. in his Lombard +complications, and to Gregory's urgency may doubtless be attributed the +severe legislation of the Sicilian Constitutions, issued about this +time, and the Ravenna decrees of 1232. Shortly afterwards, indeed, we +find Frederic writing to him that they are like father and son; that +they should sharpen the spiritual and temporal swords respectively +committed to them against heretics and rebels, without wasting effort on +sophistry, for if time be spent in disputation nature will succumb to +disease. It is not probable that Gregory counted much on the zeal of the +emperor, but he sent the edict of Annibaldo to Milan, with instructions +that it be adopted and enforced there. Already, in 1228, his legate, +Goffredo, Cardinal of San Marco, had obtained of the Milanese the +enactment of a law by which the houses of heretics were to be destroyed, +and the secular authorities were required to put to death within ten +days all who were condemned by the Church; but thus far no executions +seem to have taken place under it.[222] + +It was now that Gregory, seeing the futility of all efforts thus far +save those which the Dominicans were making in Florence, hit upon the +final and successful experiment of confiding to the Order the +suppression of heresy as part of their regular duties. A fresh impulse +was felt all along the line. The Church suddenly found that it could +count upon an unexpected reserve of enthusiasm, boundless and +exhaustless, despising danger and reckless of consequences, which in the +end could hardly fail to triumph. A new class of men now appears upon +the scene--San Piero Martire, Giovanni da Vicenza, Rolando da Cremona, +Rainerio Saccone--worthy to rank with their brethren in Languedoc, who +devoted themselves to what they held to be their duty with a singleness +of purpose which must command respect, however repulsive their labors +may seem to us. On one hand these men had an easier task than their +Western colleagues, for they had not to contend with the jealousy, or +submit to the control, of the bishops. The independence of the Italian +episcopate had been broken down in the eleventh century. Besides, the +bishops naturally belonged to the Guelfic faction, and welcomed any +allies who promised to aid them in crushing the antagonistic party in +their turbulent cities. On the other hand, the political dissensions +which raged everywhere with savage ferocity increased enormously the +difficulties and dangers of the task. + +In Italy, as in France, the organization of the Inquisition was gradual. +It advanced step by step, the earlier proceedings, as we have seen both +in Florence and Toulouse, being characterized by little regularity. As +the tribunal by degrees assumed shape, a definite code of procedure was +established which was virtually the same everywhere, except with regard +to the power of confiscation, the application of the profits of +persecution, and the acquittal of the innocent. To these attention has +already been called, and they need not detain us further. The problems +which the founders of the Inquisition had to meet in Italy, and the +methods in which these were met, can best be illustrated by a rapid +glance at what remains to us of the careers of some of the earnest men +who undertook the apparently hopeless task. + +The earliest name I have met with bearing the title of Inquisitor of +Lombardy is that of a Frà Alberico in 1232. The Cardinal Legate +Goffredo, whom we have seen busy in Milan, undertook to quiet civil +strife in Bergamo, with the consent of all factions, by appointing as +podestà Pier Torriani of Milan; and at the same time he seized the +opportunity to make a raid on heretics, a number of whom he cast into +prison. No sooner was his back turned than the citizens refused to +receive his podestà, elected in his place a certain R. di Madello, and, +what was worse, set at liberty the captive heretics. Thereupon the +legate placed the city under interdict, which brought the people to +their senses, and they agreed to stand to the mandate of the Church. +Gregory accordingly, November 3, 1232, instructed Alberico, as +Inquisitor of Lombardy, to reconcile the city on condition that the +people refund to Pier Torriani all his expenses and give sufficient +security to exterminate heresy. Here we see how intimate were the +relations between politics and heresy, and what difficulties the +alliance threw in the way of persecution.[223] + +Frà Rolando da Cremona we have already met as professor in the inchoate +University of Toulouse, and we have seen how rigid and unbending was his +zeal. Hardly had he quitted Langueduc when we find him, in 1233, already +actively at work in the congenial duty of suppressing heresy at +Piacenza. The twenty-five years which had elapsed since the Piacenzans +had shown themselves so indifferent to their spiritual privileges had +not greatly increased their respect for orthodoxy. Rolando assembled +them, preached to them, and then ordered the podestà to expel the +heretics. The result did not correspond to his expectations. With the +connivance of the podestà, the heretics and their friends arose and made +a general onslaught on the clergy, including the bishop and the friars, +in which a monk of San Sabino was slain and Rolando and some of his +comrades were wounded. The Dominicans carried Rolando half-dead from the +city, which was placed under interdict by the bishop. Then a revulsion +of feeling occurred; Rolando was asked to return, and full satisfaction +was promised. He prudently kept away, but ordered the imprisonment of +the podestà and twenty-four others till the pleasure of the pope should +be known. Gregory took advantage of the opportunity by sending thither +the Archdeacon of Novara, with instructions to place the city under +control of the orthodox party, taking ample security that the heretics +should be suppressed; but this arrangement did not please the citizens, +who rose again and liberated the prisoners. Sharp as was this +experience, it did not dull the edge of Rolando's zeal, for the next +year we find him at work in the Milanese, where he received rough +treatment at the hands of Lantelmo, a noble who sheltered heretics in +his castle near Lodi. For this Lantelmo was condemned to be led through +the streets, stripped and with a halter around his neck, to Rolando's +presence, and there to accept such penance as the friar, at command of +the pope, might enjoin on him. A month later we hear of his seizing two +Florentine merchants, Feriabente and Capso, with all their goods. They +evidently were persons of importance, for Gregory ordered their release +in view of having received bail for them in the enormous sum of two +thousand silver marks.[224] + +During this transition period, while the Inquisition was slowly taking +shape, one of the most notable of the Dominicans engaged in the work of +persecution was Giovanni Schio da Vicenza. I have alluded in a previous +chapter to his marvellous career as a pacificator, and it may perhaps +not be unjust to assume that his motive in employing his unequalled +eloquence in harmonizing discordant factions was not only the Christian +desire for peace, but also to remove the obstruction to persecution +caused by perpetual strife, for in almost all these movements we may +trace the connection between heresy and politics. After his wonderful +success at Bologna, Gregory urged him to undertake a similar mission to +Florence, where constant civic war was accompanied by recrudescence of +heresy. In spite of the efforts of the embryonic Inquisition there, +heresy was undisguised, and the ministers of Christ were openly opposed +and ridiculed. Gregory assumed that Giovanni acted under the direct +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and did not venture to send him orders, +but only requests. He was, like all his colleagues, popularly regarded +as a thaumaturgist, and stories were told of his crossing rivers +dry-shod, and causing vultures to descend from on high at his simple +command. The Bolognese were so loath to part with him that they used +gentle violence to retain him, and only let him go after Gregory had +ordered their city laid under interdict, and had threatened to deprive +of its episcopal dignity any place which should detain him against his +will. After completely succeeding in his mission to Florence he was +despatched on a similar one to Lombardy. The League, which had been so +efficient an instrument in curbing the imperial power, was breaking up. +Fears were entertained that Frederic would soon return from Germany with +an army, and a portion of the Lombard cities and nobles were disposed to +invite him. Some countervailing influence was required, and nothing more +effective than Giovanni's eloquence could be resorted to. At Padua, +Treviso, Conigliano, Ceneda, Oderzo, Belluno, and Feltre he preached on +the text "Blessed are the feet of the bearers of peace" with such +effect that even the terrible Ezzelin da Romano is said to have twice +burst into tears. The whole land was pacified, save the ancestral +quarrel between Ezzelin and the counts of Campo San Piero, which +unpardonable wrongs had rendered implacable. After a visit to Mantua, +the apostle of peace went to Verona, then besieged by an army of +Mantuans, Bolognese, Brescians, and Faenzans, where he persuaded the +assailants to withdraw, and the Veronese, in gratitude, proclaimed him +podestà by acclamation. He promptly made use of the position to burn in +the market-place some sixty heretics of both sexes, belonging to the +noblest families of the city. Then he summoned to a great assembly in a +plain hard by all the confederate cities and nobles. Obedient to his +call there came the Patriarch of Aquileia, the Bishops of Mantua, +Brescia, Bologna, Modena, Reggio, Treviso, Vicenza, Padua, and Ceneda, +Ezzelin da Romano, the Marquis of Este, who was Lord of Mantua, the +Count of San Bonifacio, who ruled Ferrara, and delegates from all the +cities, with their carrochi. The multitude was diversely estimated at +from forty thousand to five hundred thousand souls, who were wrought by +his eloquence to the utmost enthusiasm of mutual forgiveness. After +denouncing as rebels and enemies of the Church all who adhered to +Frederic or invited him to Italy, Giovanni induced his auditors to swear +to accept such settlement of their quarrels as he should dictate, and +when he announced the terms they unanimously signed the treaty.[225] + +So great became his reputation that Gregory IX. was seriously disturbed +at a report that Giovanni contemplated making himself pope. A consistory +was assembled to consider the advisability of excommunicating him, and +that step would have been taken had not the Bishop of Modena sworn upon +a missal that he had once seen an angel descend from heaven while +Giovanni was speaking, and place a golden cross upon his brow. A +confidential mission was sent to Bologna to investigate his career +there, which returned with authentic accounts of numberless miracles +performed by him, among them no less than ten resuscitations of the +dead. So holy a man could not well be thrust from the pale of the +Church, and the project was abandoned.[226] + +Meanwhile he had visited his native place, Vicenza, on invitation of the +bishop, and had so impressed the people that they gave him their +statutes to revise at his pleasure, and proclaimed him duke, marquis, +and count of the city--titles which belonged to the bishop, who also +offered to make over the episcopate to him. As at Verona, he used his +power to burn a number of heretics. During his absence at Verona, +Uguccione Pileo, an enemy of the Schia family, induced the people to +revolt, when Giovanni hastened back and suppressed the rebellion, +putting to death, with torture, a number of citizens, who are charitably +supposed to have been heretics. Uguccione brought up reinforcements; a +fierce battle was fought in the streets, and Giovanni was worsted and +taken prisoner. A letter of condolence, addressed to him in prison, by +Gregory, under date of September 22, 1233, serves to fix the date of +this, and to show how powerless was the papacy to protect its agents in +the fierce dissensions of the period. Giovanni was obliged to ransom +himself and return to Verona, and thence to Bologna. The peace which he +had effected was of short duration. The chronic wars broke out afresh, +and Giovanni, at the instance of Gregory, came again to pacify them. In +this he succeeded, but no sooner was his back turned than hostilities +were renewed. Gregory made a third attempt, through the Bishops of +Reggio and Treviso, who induced the warring factions to lay down their +arms for a while; but the main object, of presenting a united front and +keeping Frederic out of Italy, was lost, Ezzelin and a number of the +cities urged his coming, and the decisive victory of Cortenuova, in +November, 1237, dissolved the Lombard League which had so long held the +empire in check, and made him master of Lombardy.[227] + +During all this time Gregory had been untiring in his efforts to subdue +heresy in Lombardy, undeterred by the disheartening lack of result. All +his legates to that province were duly instructed to regard this as one +of their chief duties. In May, 1236, he had even attempted to establish +there a rudimentary Inquisition, but, in the existing condition of the +land, even he could hardly have expected to accomplish anything. +Frederic came with professions that the extirpation of heresy was one of +the motives impelling him to the enterprise; and when Gregory reproached +him with suppressing the preaching of the friars and thus favoring +heresy, he astutely retorted, with a reference to Giovanni, by alluding +to those who, under pretext of making war on heresy, were busy in +establishing themselves as potentates, and were taking castles as +security from those suspect in faith. Gregory, in reply, could only +disclaim all responsibility for the acts of the adventurous friar. Yet +Gregory himself, when it suited his Lombard policy, did not hesitate to +relax his severity against the heretics, and it became a popular cry in +Germany that he had been bribed with their gold.[228] + +For some years Giovanni Schio led a comparatively quiet existence in +Bologna, but in 1247, by which time the Inquisition was fairly taking +shape, Innocent IV. appointed him perpetual inquisitor throughout +Lombardy, arming him with full powers and releasing him from all +subjection or accountability to the Dominican general or provincial. In +the existing condition of the north of Italy the commission was +virtually inoperative, and its only interest lies in its terms, which +show that up to this time there was no organized Inquisition there. We +hear nothing further of his activity, even after the death of Frederic, +in 1250, until, in 1256, the long-delayed crusade was undertaken against +Ezzelin da Romano. By his fiery eloquence he raised in Bologna a +considerable force of crusaders, at whose head he marched against the +tyrant of the Trevisan, but, disgusted with the quarrels of the leaders, +he returned to Bologna before the final catastrophe, and he is supposed +to have perished, in 1265, in the crusade against Manfred, when there +was a contingent of ten thousand Bolognese in the army of Charles of +Anjou.[229] + +Yet the most noteworthy in all respects of the dauntless zealots who +fought the seemingly desperate battle against heresy was Piero da +Verona, better known as St. Peter Martyr. Born at Verona in 1203 or +1206, of a heretic family, his legend relates that he was divinely led +to recognize their errors. When a schoolboy of only seven years of age +his uncle chanced to ask him what he learned, and he repeated the +orthodox creed. His uncle thereupon told him he must not say that God +created the heaven and the earth, for he was not the creator of the +visible universe; but the child, filled with the Holy Ghost, overcame +his elder in argument, who thereupon urged the parents to remove him +from school, but the father, who hoped to see him become a leader of the +sect, allowed him to complete his education. His orthodox zeal grew with +his growth, and in 1221 he entered the Dominican Order. His confessor +testified that he never committed a mortal sin, and the bull of his +canonization bears emphatic evidence to his humility, his meek +obedience, his sweet benignity, his exhaustless compassion, his +unfailing patience, his wonderful charity, his passionate supplications +to God for martyrdom, and the innumerable miracles which illustrated his +life.[230] + +Before the Dominicans were armed with the power of persecution Piero +earnestly devoted himself to the original function of the Order, that of +controverting heresy, and preaching against heretics. In this the +success of the young apostle was marvellously aided by his thaumaturgic +development. At Ravenna, Mantua, Venice, Milan, and other places, +numerous wonders are related of his performance. Thus, at Cesena, the +success of his efforts at conversion irritated the heretics, who, on one +occasion, interrupted his preaching in the public square by volleys of +filth and stones discharged from a house near by. He several times +mildly entreated them to desist, but in vain, when, inspired by divine +wrath, he launched a terrible imprecation against them. Instantly the +house crumbled in ruin, burying the sacrilegious wretches, nor could it +be rebuilt until long afterwards.[231] + +When the Dominicans were charged with the duty of persecution his +earnest zeal naturally caused him to be selected as one of the earliest +laborers. In 1233 he was sent to Milan, where, thus far, all the efforts +of papal missives and legates had proved ineffectual to rouse the +authorities and the citizens to undertake the holy work. The laws which, +in 1228, Cardinal Goffredo had inscribed on the statute-book had +remained a dead letter. All this was changed when Piero da Verona made +his influence felt. Not only did he cause Gregory's legislation of 1231 +to be adopted in the municipal law, but he stimulated the podestà, +Oldrado da Tresseno, and the archbishop, Enrico da Settala, to work in +earnest. A number of heretics were burned, who were probably the first +victims of fanaticism which Milan had seen since the time of the Cathari +of Monforte. So strong was the impression made by these executions that +they earned for the podestà Oldrado the honor of an equestrian portrait +in bas-relief, with the inscription, "_Qui solium struxit, Catharos ut +debuit uxit_," which is still to be seen adorning the wall of the Sala +del Consiglio, now the Archivio pubblico. It fared worse with the +archbishop, who was rendered so unpopular that he was banished, for +which the magistracy was duly excommunicated; but he, too, had +posthumous reward, for his tomb bore the legend "_instituto inquisitore +jugulavit hoereses_." Piero likewise founded in Milan a company, or +association, for the suppression of heresy, which was taken under +immediate papal protection--the model of that which ten years later did +such bloody work in Florence. We may safely assume that his fiery +activity continued unabated, though we hear nothing of him until 1242, +when we again find him in Milan so vigorously at work that he is said +to have caused a sedition which nearly ruined the city.[232] + +Two years later we meet him fighting heresy in Florence. That city, it +will be remembered, was the subject of the earliest inquisitorial +experiments, Frà Giovanni di Salerno, Prior of Santa Maria Novella, +having been commissioned to prosecute heretics in 1228, and being +succeeded after his death, in 1230, by Frà Aldobrandini Cavalcante, and +about 1241 by Frà Ruggieri Calcagni. The first two of these accomplished +little, being, in fact, rather preachers than inquisitors. The heretics +were protected by the Ghibelline faction and the partisans of Frederic +II., and heresy, far from decreasing, spread rapidly in spite of +occasional burnings. When the Catharan Bishop Paternon fled, his +position was successively held by three others, Torsello, Brunnetto, and +Giacopo da Montefiascone. Many of the most powerful families were +heretics or open defenders of heresy--the Baroni, Pulci, Cipriani, +Cavalcanti, Saraceni, and Malpresa. The Baroni built a stronghold at San +Gaggio, beyond the walls, which served as a refuge for the Perfected, +and there were plenty of houses in the town where they could hold their +conventicles in safety. The Cipriani had two palaces, one at Mugnone and +the other in Florence, where troops of Cathari assembled under the +leadership of a heresiarch named Marchisiano, and there were great +schools at Poggibonsi, Pian di Cascia, and Ponte a Sieve.[233] + +The whole of central Italy, in fact, was almost as deeply infected with +heresy as Lombardy, and little had as yet been done to purify it. That +as late as 1235 no comprehensive attempt had been made to establish the +Inquisition is shown by a papal brief addressed in that year to the +Dominicans of Viterbo, empowering them, in all the dioceses of Tuscany, +Viterbo, Orta, Balneoreggio, Castro, Soano, Amerino, and Narni, to +absolve heretics not publicly defamed for heresy, who should +spontaneously accuse themselves, provided the bishops assented and +sufficient bail were given; and the bishops were ordered to co-operate. +Heretics not thus voluntarily confessing were to be dealt with according +to the papal statutes. At Viterbo dwelt Giovanni da Benevento, who was +called the pope of the heretics, but it was not until Gregory went +thither in 1237 and undertook the task of purifying the place himself +that any efficient action was taken; he condemned Giovanni and many +other heretics, and ordered the palaces of some of the noblest families +of the city to be torn down, as having afforded refuge to heretics. At +the same time the Bishop of Padua was urged to persevere in the good +work, and at Parma the Knights of Jesus Christ were instituted with the +same object by Jordan, the Dominican general. All this indicates the +commencement of systematic operations, and the pressure grew stronger +year by year. Under the energetic management of Ruggieri Calcagni the +Florentine Inquisition rapidly took shape and executions became +frequent, while in the confessions of the accused allusions are made to +heretics burned elsewhere, showing that persecution was becoming active +wherever political conditions rendered it possible. Thus in a confession +of 1244 there is a reference to two, Maffeo and Martello, burned not +long before at Pisa.[234] + +In Florence Frà Ruggieri's vigor was reducing the heretics to +desperation. Each trial revealed fresh names, and as the circle spread +the prosecutions became more numerous and terrible. The Signoria was +coerced by papal letters to enforce the citations of the inquisitor, and +as the prisoners multiplied and their depositions were taken, fully a +third of the citizens, including many nobles, were found to be involved. +Excited by the magnitude of the developments, Ruggieri determined to +strike at the chiefs, and, invoking the aid of the Priors of the Arts, +he seized a number of them and condemned to the stake those who proved +contumacious. The time had evidently come when they must choose between +open resistance and destruction. The Baroni assembled their followers, +broke open the jails, and carried off the prisoners, who were +distributed through various strongholds in the Florentine territory, +where they continued to preach and spread their doctrines. + +Matters were rapidly approaching a crisis. On the one hand it was +impossible for so large a body as the heretics to permit themselves to +be slaughtered in detail with impunity, to say nothing of the +spoliation and gratification of private feuds which could not fail to +involve the innocent with the guilty in a persecution of such extent so +recklessly pursued. On the other hand, the persecutors were maddened +with excitement and with the prospects of at last triumphing over the +adversaries who had so long defied them. Innocent IV. wrote pressingly +to the Signoria commanding energetic support for the inquisitor, and he +summoned from Lombardy Piero da Verona to lend his aid in the +approaching struggle. Towards the end of 1244 Piero hastened to the +conflict, and his eloquence drew such crowds that the Piazza di Santa +Maria Novella had to be enlarged to accommodate the multitude. He +utilized the enthusiasm by enrolling the orthodox nobles in a guard to +protect the Dominicans, and formed a military order under the name of +the Società de' Capitani di Santa Maria, uniformed in a white doublet +with a red cross, and these led the organization known as the Compagnia +della Fede, sworn to defend the Inquisition at all hazards, under +privileges granted by the Holy See. Thus encouraged and supported, +Ruggieri pushed forward the trials, and numbers of victims were burned. +This was a challenge which the heretics could only decline under pain of +annihilation. They likewise organized under the lead of the Baroni, and +it was not difficult to persuade the podestà, Ser Pace di Pesannola of +Bergamo, recently appointed by Frederic II., that the interest of his +master required him to protect them. Thus the perennial quarrel between +the Church and the empire filled the streets of Florence with bloodshed +under the banners of orthodoxy and heterodoxy. + +Ruggieri provoked the conflict without flinching. He cited the Baroni +before him, and when they contemptuously refused to appear he procured a +special mandate from Innocent IV. This they obeyed with the utmost +docility, about August 1, 1245, swearing to stand to the mandates of the +Church, and depositing one thousand lire as security; but when they +understood that he was about to render sentence against them, they +appealed to the podestà. Ser Pace thereupon sent his officers, August +12, to Ruggieri, ordering him to annul the proceedings as contrary to +the mandate of the emperor, to return the money taken as bail, and, in +case of contumacy, to appear the next day before the podestà under +penalty of a thousand marks. Ruggieri's only notice of this was a +summons the next day to Ser Pace to appear before the Inquisition as +suspect of heresy and fautorship, under pain of forfeiture of office. +The fervid rhetoric of Frà Piero poured oil upon the flames, and the +city found itself divided into two factions, not unequally matched and +eager to fly at each other. Taking advantage of the assembling of the +faithful in the churches on a feast-day, the podestà sounded the tocsin, +and many unarmed Catholics are said to have been slaughtered before the +altars. Then on St. Bartholomew's day (August 24) Ruggieri and Bishop +Ardingho, in the Piazza di S. Maria Novella, publicly read a sentence +condemning the Baroni, confiscating their possessions, and ordering +their castles and palaces to be destroyed, which naturally led to a +bloody collision between the factions. Piero then placed himself at the +head of the Compagnia della Fede, carrying a standard like the other +captains, among whom the de' Rossi were the most conspicuous. Under his +leadership two murderous battles were fought, one at the Croce al +Trebbio and the other in the Piazza di S. Felicità, in both of which the +heretics were utterly routed. Monuments still mark the scene of these +victories; and, until recent times, the banner which San Piero gave to +the de' Rossi was still carried by the Compagnia di San Piero Martire +on the celebration of his birthday, April 29, while the one which he +bore himself is preserved among the relics of Santa Maria Novella and is +publicly displayed on his feast-day. + +Thus was destroyed in Florence the power of the heretics and of the +Ghibellines. Ruggieri, for his steadfast courage, was rewarded, before +the close of 1245, with the bishopric of Castro, and was succeeded as +inquisitor by San Piero himself, whose indefatigable zeal allowed the +heretics no rest. Many of them, recognizing the futility of further +resistance, abandoned their errors; others fled, and when Piero left +Florence he could boast that heresy was conquered and the Inquisition +established on an impregnable basis; though Rainerio's estimate of the +Florentine Cathari, some years later, shows that it still had an ample +harvest to reward its labors.[235] + +While Ruggieri, in the summer of 1245, was precipitating the conflict in +Florence, Innocent IV., in the Council of Lyons, was passing sentence of +dethronement on Frederic II. and trying to find some aspirant hardy +enough to accept the imperial crown. Frederic laughed the sentence to +scorn and easily disposed of his would-be competitors, but he was +obliged to struggle hard to maintain his Italian possessions, and his +death, December 13, 1250, relieved the papacy from the most formidable +antagonist which its ambitious designs had ever encountered. Skilled +equally in the arts of war and peace, untiring in activity, dismayed by +no reverses, intellectually far in advance of his age, and encumbered +with few scruples, Frederic's brilliant abilities and indomitable +courage had been the one obstacle in the papal path towards domination +over Italy and the foundation on that basis of a universal theocratic +monarchy. His son, Conrad IV., a youth of twenty-one, was scarce to be +dreaded in comparison, though Innocent cautiously waited for a while in +Lyons before venturing into Italy. After reaching Genoa, June 8, 1251, +he addressed to Piero da Verona and Viviano da Bergamo a brief which +shows that the intervening six months had not sufficed to dull the sense +of rejoicing at the death of his great opponent, and that no more time +was to be lost in taking full advantage of the opportunity. A +dithyrambic burst of exultation is followed by the declaration that +thanks to God for this inestimable mercy are to be rendered not so much +in words as in deeds, and of these the most acceptable is the +purification of the faith. Frederic's favor towards heretics had long +impeded the operations of the Inquisition throughout Italy, and now that +he is removed it is to be put into action everywhere with all possible +vigor. Inquisitors are to be sent into all parts of Lombardy; Piero and +Viviano are ordered to proceed forthwith to Cremona, armed with all +necessary powers; rulers who do not zealously assist them will be +coerced with the spiritual sword, and, if this proves insufficient, +Christendom will be aroused to destroy them in a crusade. This bull was +followed by a rapid succession of others addressed to the Dominican +provincials and to potentates, ordering strenuous co-operation, and the +inscription in all local statutes of the constitutions of the dead +emperor and of the popes--bulls issued in such haste that, June 13, +1252, the pope was obliged to explain that the blunders and omissions +arising from the hurried work of the scribes are not to invalidate them. +The whole was crowned, May 15, 1252, by the issue of the bull _Ad +extirpanda_, of which I have given an abstract in a former chapter. This +sought to render the civil power completely subservient to the +Inquisition, and prescribed the extirpation of heresy as the chief duty +of the State.[236] + +Innocent's mandate probably found Piero at the convent of San Giovanni +in Canali at Piacenza, of which he was prior in 1250, and where his +austerities so impressed his brethren that they begged his friend, +Matteo da Correggio, pretor of the city, to induce him to moderate them, +lest the flesh which he so persistently macerated should give way under +the ardent spirit within. If, in fact, we are to believe the statement +that he habitually never broke his fast before sunset, and that he +passed most of the night in prayer, restricting his sleep to the least +that was compatible with life, his career becomes easily intelligible. +Deficiency of nourishment, replaced by unceasing and unnatural nervous +exaltation, must have rendered him virtually an irresponsible +being.[237] + +We have no details of what he accomplished as inquisitor at Cremona, or +at Milan to which he was afterwards transferred. It is presumable, +however, that his relentless activity fully responded to the +expectations of those who had selected him as the fittest instrument to +take advantage, in the headquarters of heresy, of the unexpected +opportunity to visit the now defenceless heretics with the wrath of God. +Within nine months after he had been summoned to action he had already +become such an object of terror that in despair a plot was laid for his +assassination. The matter was intrusted to Stefano Confaloniero, a noble +of Aliate, and the hire of the assassins, twenty-five lire, was +furnished by Guidotto Sachella. The week before Easter (March 23-30), +1252, Stefano proposed the murder to Manfredo Clitoro of Giussano, who +agreed to do it, and associated with him Carino da Balsamo. At the same +time Giacopo della Chiusa undertook to go to Pavia to slay Rainerio +Saccone, and made the journey, but failed to accomplish his mission. The +other conspirators were more successful. Frà Piero at that time was +Prior of Como, and went thither to pass his Easter. He was obliged to +return to Milan on Low Sunday, April 7, as on that day expired the term +of fifteen days which he had assigned to a contumacious heretic. During +Easter week Stefano, with Manfredo and Carino, went to Como and awaited +Piero's departure. It shows the fearlessness and the austerity of the +man that he set out on foot, April 7, though weakened with a quartain +fever, and accompanied only by a single friar, Domenico. Manfredo and +Carino followed them as far as Barlassina, and set upon them in a lonely +spot. Carino acted as executioner, laying open Piero's head with a +single blow, mortally wounding Domenico, and then, finding that Piero +still breathed, plunging a dagger in his breast. Some passing travellers +carried the body of the martyr to the convent of San Sempliciano, while +Domenico was conveyed to Meda, where he died five days afterwards. As +for the conspirators, I have already alluded to the strange delay which +postponed for forty-three years the final sentence of Stefano +Confaloniero, and to the repentance and beatification of Carino, who +became St. Acerinus. Daniele da Giussano, another of the confederates, +also repented and entered the Dominican Order. Giacopo della Chiusa +seems to have escaped, and Manfredo and a certain Tommaso were captured +and confessed. Manfredo admitted that he had been concerned in the +murder of two other inquisitors, Frà Pier di Bracciano and Frà Catalano, +both Franciscans, at Ombraida in Lombardy. He was simply ordered to +present himself to the pope for judgment, but in place of obeying he +very naturally fled, and there is no record of his subsequent fate. No +one seems to have been put to death, and common report asserted that the +assassins found a safe refuge among the Waldenses of the Alpine valleys, +which is not improbable.[238] + +In fact, the Church made much shrewder use of the martyrdom than the +exaction of vulgar vengeance. Its whole machinery was set to work at +once to impress the populations with the sanctity of the martyr. +Miracles multiplied around him. When the General Chapter of the Order +assembled at Bologna in May, Innocent wrote to them in terms of the most +extravagant hyperbole respecting him, and urged them to fresh exertions +in the cause of Christ. By August 31, he ordered the commencement of +proceedings of canonization, and before a year had elapsed, March 25, +1253, the bull of canonization was issued--I believe the most speedy +creation of a saint on record. It would be difficult to exaggerate the +cult which developed itself around the martyr. Before the century was +out, Giacopo di Voragine compared his martyrdom with that of Christ, +establishing many similitudes between them, and he assures us that the +disappearance of heresy in the Milanese was owing to the merits of the +saint--indeed, already, in the bull of canonization it is asserted that +many heretics had been converted by his death and miracles. It is true +that when, in 1291, Frà Tommaso d'Aversa, a Dominican of Naples, in a +sermon on the feast of San Piero dared to compare his wounds with the +stigmata of St. Francis--saying that the former were the signs of the +living God and not of the dead, while the latter were those of the dead +God and not of the living--it is true that the expression was thought to +savor of blasphemy. The existing pope, Nicholas IV., chanced to be a +Franciscan, so Tommaso was summoned before him, forced to confess, and +was sent back to his provincial with orders to subject him to a +punishment that would prevent a repetition of the sacrilege. Yet +successive popes encouraged the cult of San Piero until Sixtus V., in +1586, designated him as the second head of the Inquisition after St. +Dominic, and as its first martyr, and in 1588 granted plenary indulgence +to all who should visit for devotion the Dominican churches on the days +of St. Dominic, Peter Martyr, and Catharine of Siena. In the seventeenth +century an enthusiastic Spaniard declared that he was crowned with three +crowns, "_como Emperador de Martyres_." In 1373, Gregory XI. granted +permission to erect a small oratory on the spot of the murder, which +grew to be a magnificent church with a splendid convent, through the +offerings of the innumerable pilgrims who flocked thither. The +authenticity of the martyr's sanctity was proved when, in 1340, +eighty-seven years after death, the body was translated to a tomb of +marvellous workmanship, and was found in a perfect state of +preservation; and when the sepulchre was opened in 1736 it was still +found uncorrupted, with wounds corresponding exactly to those described +in the annals.[239] + +The enthusiasm excited by the career of San Piero was turned to +practical account by the organization in most of the Italian cities of +_Crocesegnati_, composed of the principal cavaliers, who swore to defend +and assist the inquisitors at peril of their lives, and to devote person +and property to the extermination of heretics, for which service they +received plenary remission of all their sins. These associations were +wont to assemble on the feast of San Piero in the Dominican churches, +which were the seats of the Inquisition, and hold aloft their drawn +swords during the reading of the Gospel, in testimony of their readiness +to crush heresy with force. They continued to exist until the last +century, and Frà Pier-Tommaso Campana, who was inquisitor at Crema, +relates with pride how, in 1738, he presided over such a ceremony in +Milan. The Crocesegnati, moreover, furnished material support to the +inquisitors, supplying them when necessary with both men and money for +the performance of their functions. In fact, they were subject to +excommunication if they refused to give money when called upon by the +inquisitor. It can readily be conceived how greatly the effectiveness of +the Inquisition was increased by such an organization.[240] + +If the heretics had hoped to strike their persecutors with terror they +were short-sighted. The fanaticism of the Order of Dominic furnished an +unfailing supply of men eager for the crown of martyrdom and unsparing +in their efforts to earn it. Hardly were the splendid obsequies of San +Piero completed when his place was occupied by Guido da Sesto and +Rainerio Saccone da Vicenza. The latter had been high in the Catharan +Church, when, divinely illuminated as to his errors, he was converted +and expiated his past life by entering the strict Dominican Order. It +was possibly in his favor that in 1246 Innocent IV. authorized the +Dominican prior at Milan to admit repentant heretics into the Order +without requiring the year's novitiate that was imposed on Catholics. +Thoroughly acquainted with all the secrets of heresy, he could render +invaluable aid in persecuting his old associates, whom he pursued with +all the ruthless bigotry of an apostate. He was speedily made an +inquisitor, and earned an enviable reputation among the faithful by his +vigor and success in exterminating heresy. The fact that, as we have +seen, he was singled out with San Piero by the conspirators to be slain +shows how thoroughly he had earned the hate of the persecuted. We know +nothing of the details of the attempt upon his life save that Giacopo +della Chiusa returned from Pavia with his errand unaccomplished. +Rainerio was at once transferred to Milan as the man best fitted to +replace the martyr, and he justified the selection by the unbending +firmness with which he vindicated the authority of his office. It was +still a novelty in Lombardy, and a man of his keen intelligence, +strength of purpose, and self-devotion was required to organize it and +establish it among a recalcitrant population.[241] + +Heretics, in fact, were more numerous than ever in Lombardy, for the +active work carried on in Languedoc by Bernard de Caux and his +colleagues had caused a wholesale emigration. Until the death of +Frederic, Lombardy was regarded as a secure haven; colonies established +themselves there, and even after the Lombard Inquisition was thoroughly +organized the persecuted wretches continued for half a century to seek +refuge there, nor do we often hear of their being detected.[242] All of +Rainerio's resolution and energy were required for the work before him. +In the March of Treviso, Ezzelin da Romano, whose influence extended far +to the west, continued openly to protect heresy, and even in Lombardy +the hopes excited by Frederic's death threatened to prove fallacious. In +1253, when Conrad IV. passed through Treviso to recover possession of +his Sicilian kingdom, he appointed as his Lombard vicar-general Uberto +Pallavicino, who soon became as obnoxious to the Church as Ezzelin +himself; and, though Conrad died in 1254, and Innocent IV. seized Naples +as a forfeited fief of the Church, Pallavicino's power continued to +increase, and he soon established relations with Manfred, Frederic's +illegitimate son, who wrested Naples from the papacy and became the +chief of the Ghibelline faction. Even more threatening was the revulsion +of feeling in Milan itself, when its ardent Guelfism was changed to +indifference by Innocent's indiscreet assertion of certain +ecclesiastical immunities which touched the pride of the citizens. The +heads of the hydra might well seem indestructible. + +One of Rainerio's first enterprises, in 1253, was summoning Egidio, +Count of Cortenuova, before his tribunal, as a fautor and defender of +heresy. The castle of Cortenuova, near Bergamo, had been razed as a nest +of heretics, and its reconstruction prohibited, but the count had seized +the castle of Mongano, which was claimed by the Bishop of Cremona, and +had converted it into a den of heretics, who enjoyed immunity under his +protection. He disdained to obey the citation and was duly +excommunicated. He paid no attention to this, and on March 23, 1254, +Innocent IV. ordered the authorities of Milan, under pain of +ecclesiastical censures, to take the castle by force and deliver its +inmates to the inquisitors for trial. The count, however, was in close +alliance with Pallavicino, "that enemy of God and the Church," and +the Milanese appear to have had no appetite for the enterprise at the +time. Mongano continued to be a place of refuge for the persecuted until +1269, when the Milanese were at last stimulated to undertake the siege, +and on capturing it handed it over to the Dominicans.[243] + +Better success awaited Rainerio's efforts with Roberto Patta da +Giussano, a Milanese noble who for twenty years had been one of the most +conspicuous defenders of heresy in Lombardy. At his castle of Gatta he +publicly maintained heretic bishops, allowing them to build houses, and +establish schools whence they spread their pernicious doctrines through +the land. They had also there a cemetery where, among others, were +buried their bishops, Nazario and Desiderio. The place was notorious, +and it is related of San Piero-Martire, as an instance of his prophetic +gifts, that once when passing it he had foretold its destruction and the +exhumation of the heretic bones. Roberto had been cited by the +archbishop and had abjured heresy, but no effective measures had been +ventured upon to coerce him from his evil ways, and the heretics of +Gatta had continued to enjoy his protection. It was otherwise when, in +1254, Rainerio and Guido summoned him again. On his failing to appear +they summarily condemned him as a heretic, declared his property +confiscated and his descendants subject to the usual disabilities. +Roberto saw that the new officials were not to be trifled with. The +prospects of the Ghibellines at the moment were apparently hopeless. He +hastened to make his peace, binding himself to submit to any terms which +the pope might dictate; and Innocent doubtless deemed himself merciful +when, August 19, 1254, he ordered the castle of Gatta and all the +heretic houses to be destroyed by fire, the bones in the cemetery to be +dug up and burned, and the count to perform such salutary penance as +Rainerio might prescribe.[244] + +The papal power was now at its height. Conrad IV. had died May 20, 1254, +not without suspicion of poison; Innocent IV. had seized his Sicilian +kingdoms, and for a brief space, until Manfred's romantic adventures and +victory of Foggia, he might well imagine himself on the eve of becoming +the undisputed temporal as well as spiritual head of Italy. Every effort +was made to perfect the Inquisition and to render it efficient both as a +political instrument and as a means of bringing about the long-desired +uniformity of belief. On March 8 Innocent had taken an important step in +its organization by ordering the Franciscan Minister of Rome to appoint +friars of his Order as inquisitors in all the provinces south of +Lombardy. On May 20 he reissued his bull _Ad extirpanda_; on the 22d he +sent the constitutions of Frederic II. to all the Italian rulers, with +orders to incorporate them in the local statutes, and informed them that +the Mendicants were instructed to coerce them in case of disobedience. +On the 29th he proceeded to reorganize the Lombard Inquisition by +instructing the provincial to appoint four inquisitors whose power +should extend from Bologna and Ferrara to Genoa. Under this impulsion +and the restless energy of Rainerio no time was lost in extending the +institution in every direction save where Ghibelline potentates such as +Ezzelin and Uberto prevented its introduction. We chance to have an +illustration of the process in the records of the little republic of +Asti, on the confines of Savoy. It is recited that in 1254 two +inquisitors, Frà Giovanni da Torino and Frà Paulo da Milano, with their +associates, appeared before the council of the republic and announced to +them that the pope enjoined them to admit the Inquisition within their +territories. Thereupon the Astigiani made answer that they were ready to +obey the pontiff, but they had no laws providing for persecution and it +would be necessary to frame one. Accordingly an _ordenamento_ was drawn +up prescribing obedience to the constitutions of Innocent IV. and +Frederic II., and it was forthwith added to the local statutes. Similar +action was doubtless taking place in every quarter where the people had +thus far remained in ignorance of the new doctrine that the suppression +of heresy was the first duty of the government.[245] + +The death of Innocent IV., December 7, 1254, whether it was the result +of Dominican litanies or of mortification at Manfred's success, made no +difference in the energy with which the progress of the Inquisition was +pushed. The accession of Alexander IV. was signalized by a succession of +bulls repeating and enforcing the regulations of his predecessor, and +urging prelates and inquisitors to increased activity. To overcome the +resistance of such cities as were slack in the duty of capturing and +delivering all who were designated for arrest by the inquisitors, the +latter were empowered to punish such delinquency with the heavy fine of +two hundred silver marks. Under this impulsion Rainerio assembled the +people of Milan, August 1, 1255, in the Piazza del Duomo, read to them +his commission, and gave them notice that, although he had hitherto +acted with great mildness, the time had passed for trifling. Many +citizens, he said, openly derided the Inquisition in the public streets; +others caused scandal by opposing and molesting it. He therefore gave +three formal warnings, attested by a notarial instrument duly witnessed, +that all who should continue to indulge in detraction or should in any +way impede the Inquisition were excommunicate as fautors of heresy, and +would be prosecuted to such penalties as their audacity deserved.[246] + +As the Inquisition warmed to its work, the four inquisitors provided for +Lombardy by Innocent IV. proved insufficient, and, March 20, 1256, +Alexander IV. ordered the provincial to increase the number to eight. He +appears to have been somewhat dilatory in obedience, for in 1260 he was +sharply reminded of the command and enjoined no longer to postpone its +fulfilment. Possibly the delay may have arisen from the fact that in +January, 1257, Rainerio had risen to the position of supreme inquisitor +over the whole of Lombardy and the Marches of Genoa and Treviso, with +power to appoint deputies. He thus was doubtless practically emancipated +from the control of the provincial, and was able to supply any +deficiency in the working force with those who were absolutely dependent +upon himself. In March, 1256, the prelates had been required in the most +urgent terms to render all aid and support to the inquisitors; and in +January, 1257, this was emphasized by informing them that those who +manifested neglect should not escape punishment, while those who showed +themselves zealous would find the Holy See benignant to them in their +"opportunities." The significance of this is not to be mistaken, and +it would be difficult to set limits to the power thus concentrated in +the hands of the ex-Catharan.[247] + +Territorially, however, his authority was circumscribed by the +possessions of Uberto and Ezzelin, within which no inquisitor dared +venture. In this very year, 1257, Piacenza, which had fallen under +control of Uberto, was placed in such complete hostility to the Church +that it was deprived of its episcopate, and its bishop, Alberto, was +transferred to Ferrara. In Vicenza, which was ruled by Ezzelin, matters +were even worse. There the heretics had a recognized chief named Piero +Gallo, of the Borgo di San Piero, whose name was adopted by them as a +rallying cry, to which the Catholics responded with "_viva Volpe_!"--a +member of the family of Volpe being the leader of their faction; and so +thoroughly did this become encrusted in the habits of the people that we +are told in the seventeenth century that the cry of the citizens of the +Borgo (then corruptly called Porsampiero) was still "_viva Gallo_!" +while that of the dwellers in the Piazza and Porta Nuova was "_viva +Volpe_!" Ezzelin would permit no persecution, and when the blessed +Bortolamio di Breganze, one of the immediate disciples of St. Dominic, +was made Bishop of Vicenza, in 1256, he was reduced to seeking +conversions by persuasion. After preaching for a while with little +effect he had a public discussion with Piero Gallo, and so impressed him +by argument that the heretic was converted. We may reasonably doubt the +assertion that Ezzelin's displeasure at this feat was the cause of +Bortolamio's banishment from his see, but, whatever was the motive, he +was consoled by Alexander IV., who sent him as nuncio to England. During +his absence, in 1258, his archdeacon, Bernardo Nicelli, was bolder, and +made a capture of importance in the person of the Catharan Bishop, +Viviano Bogolo. He endeavored to convert his prisoner, but his powers of +persuasion were insufficient, and Ezzelin interfered and set the heretic +at liberty.[248] + +So long as these Ghibelline chiefs retained power it was evident that +the foothold of heresy was secure, and that the hopes based on the death +of Frederic II. were not destined to fruition. Every motive had long +conspired to render the Church eager for the destruction of Ezzelin, who +was its most dreaded antagonist, and every expedient had been tried to +reduce him to subjection. As far back as 1221 Gregory IX., then legate +in Lombardy, had extorted from him assurances of his hatred of heresy. +In 1231 his sons, Ezzelin and Alberico, were at the papal court +expressing horror at his crimes and promising to deliver him up for +trial as a heretic if he would not reform, in order to escape the +disinheritance which they would otherwise incur under Frederic's laws. +They pledged themselves, moreover, to deliver to him letters from +Gregory, dated September 1, in which he was bitterly reproached for his +protection of heretics, and told that if he would humbly acknowledge his +errors and expel all heretics from his lands he might come within two +months to the Holy See, prepared to obey implicitly all commands laid +upon him; otherwise heaven and earth would be invoked against him, his +lands should be abandoned to seizure, and he, who was already a scandal +and a horror to men, should become an eternal opprobrium.[249] + +Whether the sons dutifully presented to their father this portentous +epistle does not appear, nor is it of any importance save as showing how +Ezzelin was already regarded as the mainstay of heresy, and how +habitually zeal for the faith was made to cover the ambitious political +designs of the Church. Ezzelin's courage never wavered, and his +adventurous career was pursued with scarce a check. When Frederic II. +overcame the resistance of Lombardy, he gave, in 1238, his natural +daughter Selvaggia to Ezzelin in marriage and created him imperial +vicar. The unanimous testimony of the ecclesiastical chroniclers +represents him as a monster whose crimes almost transcend the capacity +for evil of human nature, but the unrelieved blackness of the picture +defeats the object of the painter. Possibly he may have been among the +worst of the Italian despots of the time, when faithlessness and +contempt for human suffering were the rule, but the long unbroken +success which attended him shows that he must have had qualities which +attached men to him, and the report that he was twice moved to tears by +the eloquence of Frà Giovanni Schio indicates a degree of sensibility +impossible in one utterly depraved. In fact, the anecdote related by +Benvenuto da Imola, that he carried on his back his sister's lover +Sordello to and from the place of assignation, and then gave the +frightened troubadour a friendly warning, presupposes a character wholly +at variance with that currently attributed to him. Some of the stories +circulated to excite odium against him are so absurdly exaggerated as to +cast doubt upon all the accusations of the papalist writers.[250] + +Gregory's letters of September 1, 1231, were simply a ruse. So far was +he from awaiting the two months' delay for Ezzelin to present himself, +that three days later, on September 4, he executed his threat by +ordering the Bishops of Reggio, Modena, Brescia, and Mantua to offer +Ezzelin's lands to the spoiler, and to preach the cross against him, +with the same indulgences as for the Holy Land. This proved a failure, +and when Frà Giovanni Schio was sent on his mission of peace, in 1233, +Ezzelin's absolution was included in the general pacification, though he +had not abandoned the protection of heresy, which had been the +ostensible reason for assailing him. While Frederic was at peace with +the Church, Ezzelin appears to have been let alone; and when the quarrel +broke out afresh, after the emperor's subjugation of Lombardy, Ezzelin +was again attacked. Frederic's excommunication of April 7, 1239, was +followed, November 20, by that of Ezzelin. This time there is no mention +of fautorship of heresy, but only of his encroachments on the church of +Treviso and of his remaining under excommunication for more than three +years. A month is given to him to submit, after which he is to be +proceeded against as a heretic, for the Church had already discovered +the convenience of treating disobedience as heresy. Nothing came of +this, and in 1244 Innocent IV. resolved to see whether the Inquisition +could not be used to better effect. Frà Rolando da Cremona, whose +dauntless energy we have witnessed, was commissioned to make inquest on +him as on one suspected and publicly defamed for heresy by reason of +his association with heretics; and as the accused was "terrible and +powerful," the inquisitor was empowered to publish the legal citations +in any place where he could do so in safety. The result of this trial +_in absentia_ was conclusive. It was found that he was the son of a +heretic, that his kinsmen were heretics, that under his protection +heresy had spread throughout the March of Treviso, and it was decided +that he did not believe in the faith of Christ, and must be held suspect +of heresy. In March, 1248, Innocent pronounced his condemnation as a +manifest heretic to receive the reward of damnation incurred by damned +heretics, but promised him that he would learn the abundant clemency of +the Church if he would present himself in person by the next Ascension +day (May 28). The wary old chief did not allow his curiosity as to the +extent of papal clemency to overcome his caution, and abstained from +placing his person in Innocent's power. He sent envoys, however, who +offered to purge him of the suspicion of heresy by swearing to his +orthodoxy; but Innocent held that he must appear in person, and offered +him a safe-conduct in coming and going. There was no security promised +in staying, however, and Ezzelin was cautious. The term allowed him +passed away, and he was duly excommunicated. After two years more he was +notified that unless he appeared by August 1, 1250, he would be +subjected to the statutes against heresy. The obdurate sinner was +equally unmoved by this, and in June, 1251, the Bishop of Treviso and +the Dominican Prior of Mantua were ordered to summon him personally +again to appear by a given time, offering him ample security for his +safety: if he disobeyed, his subjects of Treviso were commanded to +coerce him, and if this failed a crusade was to be preached against +him.[251] + +To a pope desirous of extending his temporal sway it was exceedingly +convenient to condemn his political opponents for heresy, and +exceedingly economical to pay for their subjugation by lavishing the +treasures of salvation. Thus, in April, 1253, Innocent IV., as an +episode in his quarrel with Brancaleone, Senator of Rome, ordered the +Dominicans of the Roman province to preach a crusade, with Holy-Land +indulgences, against the so-called heretics of Tuscany. Preparations +were similarly made, on a larger scale, to crush those of Lombardy, +where heresy was described as being more rampant and aggressive than +ever. For two years a succession of bulls was issued directing all +prelates, and especially the inquisitors, to preach the cross against +them, with a most liberal assortment of indulgences. In one of these +absolution was actually offered to those who held property wrongfully +acquired, provided they contributed its value in aid of the crusade, +thus deliberately rendering the Church an accomplice in robbery. In +another, all persons or communities neglecting to aid the crusade were +ordered to be prosecuted by the inquisitors as fautors of heresy. As a +formal preliminary, Ezzelin was again cited, April 9, 1254, to present +himself for judgment by the next Ascension day (May 21), failing which +he was sentenced as a manifest heretic, to be dealt with as such. In all +these proceedings the curious travesty of an inquisitorial trial shows +us the influence which the Inquisition was already exercising on the +minds of churchmen, and the employment of inquisitors proves how useful +the institution was becoming as a factor in advancing the power of the +Holy See.[252] + +The Neapolitan conquest and the death of Innocent IV. postponed the +organization of the crusade, but at length, in June, 1256, it set out +from Venice under the leadership of the Legate Filippo, Archbishop-elect +of Ravenna. The capture by assault of Padua, Ezzelin's most important +city, was an encouraging commencement of the campaign, but the +seven-days' sack, to which the unfortunate town was abandoned, showed +that the soldiers of the cross were determined to make the most of the +indulgences which they had earned. Under its incompetent captain the +crusade dragged on without further result, in spite of reiterated bulls +offering salvation, until, in 1258, the legate was utterly routed near +Brescia and captured, together with his astrologer, the Dominican +Everard. Brescia fell into Ezzelin's hands, who, more powerful than +ever, entertained designs upon Milan, where he had relations with the +Ghibelline faction. When all danger seemed to him past, however, there +was a sudden revulsion of fortune. The Ghibelline chiefs of Lombardy, +Uberto Pallavicino and Buoso di Dovara, lords of Cremona, had been in +alliance with him; they had aided in the capture of Brescia, with the +understanding that they were to share in its possession, but he had +monopolized the conquest, and they were resolved on revenge. June 11, +1259, they signed a treaty against Ezzelin with the Milanese and with +Azzo d'Este, the head of the Lombard Guelfs. Ezzelin took the field with +a heavy force, hoping to gain possession of Milan through the +intelligences which he had within the walls, but on the march he was +attacked by Uberto, Buoso, and Azzo, who by skilful strategy dispersed +his troops and captured him, grievously wounded. His savage pride would +not brook this degradation: he tore the bandages from his wound, refused +all aid, and died in a few days.[253] + +No greater service could have been rendered to the Church than that +performed by Uberto, who had been in field and council the soul of the +alliance that destroyed the dreaded Ezzelin and threw open, after thirty +years of fruitless effort, the March of Treviso to the Inquisition. Some +show of favor in return for such services would not have been amiss; +would perhaps, indeed, have been wise, as it might have won over the +powerful Ghibelline chief. In the treaty of June 11, however, the allies +had alluded to Manfred as King of Sicily, and had pledged themselves to +labor for his reconciliation with the pope. No service, especially after +it had become irrevocable, could overbalance this recognition of the +hated son of Frederic. Uberto, Buoso, and the Cremonese had been +absolved from excommunication when they entered the alliance, but +Alexander IV. wrote, December 13, 1259, to his legate in Lombardy that +the absolution was worthless because it had not been administered by a +Dominican or a Franciscan, who alone were empowered to grant it; if, +however, the allies would repudiate Manfred and give sufficient security +to obey the mandates of the Church and to restore all Church property, +they might still be absolved.[254] + +Apparently Alexander's head had been turned by the triumph over Ezzelin, +but he knew little of the man whom he thus treated with such +supercilious ingratitude. By intrigues with the Torriani and other +powerful nobles of Milan, Uberto created for himself a party in that +city, and in 1260 he procured his election as podestà for five years. +Rainerio Saccone vainly endeavored to prevent a consummation so +deplorable. He assembled the citizens, denounced Uberto as vehemently +suspected of heresy and as a manifest defender of heretics, and +threatened that if it was persisted in he would ring all the church +bells, and summon the people and clergy and Crocesegnati to oppose it by +force. Unfortunately the citizens did not take in good part this +somewhat insolent interference of a stranger with their internal +affairs; or, as Alexander IV. describes it, "this wholesome counsel +given in the spirit of humility and kindness." In wrath they assembled +and rushed to the Dominican convent, where they gave Rainerio the +alternative of leaving the city or faring worse. He chose the wiser +alternative and departed.[255] + +It was in vain that Alexander, in the bull detailing these griefs, +ordered Rainerio and the other inquisitors to prosecute the guilty +parties. It was in vain also that he approved, October 14, 1260, the +statutes of an association of Defenders of the Faith recently formed in +Milan in honor of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, St. John the +Baptist, and St. Peter Martyr, whose members pledged themselves to give +assistance, armed or otherwise, to the Inquisition in its labors for the +extermination of heresy. Uberto was now the most powerful man in +Lombardy, and wherever his influence extended he prohibited inquisitors +from performing their functions. Heretics were safe under his rule, and +they flocked to his territories from other parts of Lombardy and from +Languedoc and Provence. One of his confidential servitors was a certain +Berenger, who had been condemned for heresy. Alexander lost no time in +repeating with him the comedy of an inquisitorial trial, which we have +seen performed with Ezzelin. December 9, 1260, he addressed instructions +to the inquisitors of Lombardy to cite him, from some safe place, to the +papal presence within two months, offering him a safe-conduct for coming +(but not for going), when if he can prove his innocence he will be +admitted to swear obedience to the papal mandates. If he does not +appear, he is to be proceeded against inquisitorially.[256] + +Uberto cared as little as Ezzelin for the impotent papal thunder, and +quietly went on strengthening his position and adding city after city to +his dominions, in spite of Alexander's instructions to Rainerio and his +inquisitors to act vigorously and to preach a crusade. Between his +success in the north, and the daily extending influence of Manfred's +wise and vigorous rule in the south, it looked for a while as though the +ambitious designs of the papacy were permanently crushed, and that the +Italian Inquisition might come to an untimely end. Inquisitors were no +longer able to move around in safety, even in the Roman province, and +prelates and cities were ordered to provide them with a sufficient guard +in all their journeys. An indication of the popular feeling is afforded +by the action taken in 1264 by the people of Bergamo, greatly to the +indignation of the Roman curia, to defend themselves against the +arbitrary methods of inquisitorial procedure. They enacted that any one +cited or excommunicated for heresy or fautorship might take an oath +before the prosecutor or bishop that he held the faith of the Church of +Rome in all its details, and then another oath before the podestà +binding himself to pay one hundred sols every time that he deviated from +it; after this he could not be cited outside of the city, and was +eligible to any municipal office within it, while the magistrates were +to defend him at the public expense against any such citation or +excommunication. Yet outside of Uberto's territories and influence the +business of the Inquisition in Lombardy went steadily on. In 1265 and +1266 Clement IV. is found issuing instructions as to the duties and +appointment of inquisitors as vigorously as though there were no +impediments to their functions. It seemed only a question of time, +however, when the districts yet open should be closed to them.[257] + +There have been few revolutions more pregnant with results than that +which occurred when the popes, renouncing the hope of acquiring for +themselves the kingdom of Sicily, and vainly tempting Edmond, son of +Henry III. of England, succeeded in arousing the ambition of Charles of +Anjou, and caused a crusade to be preached everywhere in his behalf. The +papacy fully recognized the supreme importance of the issue, and staked +everything upon it. The treasures of salvation were poured forth with +unstinted hand, and plenary indulgences were given to all who would +contribute a fourth of their income or a tenth of their property. The +temporal treasury of the Church was drawn upon with equal liberality. +Three years' tithe of all ecclesiastical revenues in France and +Flanders were granted to Charles, and when all this proved insufficient, +Clement IV. sacrificed the property of the Roman churches without +hesitation. An effort to raise one hundred thousand livres by pledging +it brought in only thirty thousand, and then he pawned for fifty +thousand more the plate and jewels of the Holy See. He could truly +answer Charles's increasing demands for money to support his naked and +starving crusaders by declaring that he had done all he could, and that +he was completely exhausted--he had no mountains and rivers of gold, and +could not turn earth and stones into coin. So utter was his penury that +the cardinals were reduced to living at the expense of the monasteries; +and when the Abbot of Casa Dei complained of the number quartered on +him, he was told that he would be relieved of the Cardinal of Ostia, but +that he must support the rest. More permanent relief, however, was found +at the expense of the foreigner by assigning to them revenues on +churches abroad on the liberal scale of three hundred marks a year +apiece.[258] + +Vainly Pallavicino sought to prevent the passage of the crusaders +through Lombardy. The fate of Italy--one may almost say of the +papacy--was decided, February 26, 1266, on the plain of Benevento, where +Guelf and Ghibelline from all portions of the Peninsula faced each +other. Had Charles been defeated it would have fared ill with the Holy +See. Europe had looked with aversion on the prostitution of its +spiritual power to advance its temporal interests, and success alone +could serve as a justification, in an age when men looked on the battle +ordeal as recording the judgment of God. In the previous August, Clement +had despairingly answered Charles's demands for money by declaring that +he had none and could get none--that England was hostile, that Germany +was almost openly in revolt, that France groaned and complained, that +Spain scarce sufficed for her internal necessities, and that Italy did +not furnish her own share of expenses. After the battle, however, he +could exultingly write, in May, to Cardinal Ottoboni of San Adriano, his +legate in England, that "Charles of Anjou holds in peace the whole +kingdom of that pestilent man, obtaining his putrid body, his wife, his +children, and his treasure," adding that already the Mark of Ancona had +returned to obedience, that Florence, Siena, Pistoja, and Pisa had +submitted, that envoys had come from Uberto and Piacenza, and that +others were expected from Cremona and Genoa; and on June 1 he announced +the submission of Uberto and of Piacenza and Cremona.[259] + +Although one by one Pallavicino's cities revolted from him in the +general terror, his submission was only to gain time, and in 1267 he +risked another cast of the die by joining in the invitation to Italy of +the young Conradin, but the defeat and capture of that prince at +Tagliacozza, in August, 1268, followed by his barbarous execution in +October, extinguished the house of Suabia and the hopes of the +Ghibellines. Charles of Anjou was master of Italy; he was created +imperial vicar in Tuscany; even in the north we find him this year +appointing Adalberto de' Gamberti as podestà in Piacenza. Before the +close of 1268 Pallavicino died, broken with age and in utter misery, +while besieged in his castle of Gusaliggio by the Piacenzans and +Parmesans. For a presumed heretic he made a good end, surrounded by +Dominicans and Franciscans, confessing his sins and receiving the +viaticum, so that, as a pious chronicler observes, we may humbly believe +that his soul was saved. Despite the calumnies of the papalists, he left +the reputation of a man of sterling worth, of lofty aims, and of great +capacity. As for Rainerio Saccone, the last glimpse we have of him is in +July, 1262, when Urban IV. orders him to come with all possible speed +for consultation on a matter of moment, defraying, from the proceeds of +the confiscations, all expenses for horses and other necessaries on the +journey. His expulsion from Milan had evidently not diminished his +importance.[260] + +Under these circumstances, the long interregnum of nearly three years, +which occurred after the death of Clement IV., in 1268, made little +difference. Henceforth there was to be no refuge for heresy. The +Inquisition could be organized everywhere, and could perform its +functions unhampered. By this time, too, its powers, its duties, and its +mode of procedure had become thoroughly defined and universally +recognized, and neither prelate nor potentate dared to call them in +question. As already stated, in 1254, Innocent IV. had divided the +Peninsula between the two Orders, giving Genoa and Lombardy to the +Dominicans, and central and southern Italy to the Franciscans. To the +provinces of Rome and Tuscany were allotted two inquisitors each, while +for that of St. Francis, or Spoleto, one was deemed sufficient, but in +1261 each inquisitor was furnished with two assistants, and the +provincials were instructed to appoint as many more as might be asked +for, so that the holy work might be prosecuted with full vigor. +Lombardy, as we have seen, had eight inquisitors, and when the +Dominicans divided that province, in 1304, the number was increased to +ten, seven being assigned to Upper and three to Lower Lombardy. For a +while the March of Treviso and Romagnola were intrusted to the +Franciscans, but, as stated above (Vol. I. p. 477), their extortions +were so unendurable that, in 1302, Boniface VIII. transferred these +districts to the Dominicans, without thereby relieving the people.[261] + +No time had been lost in enforcing unity of belief in the territories +redeemed from Ghibelline control. As early as February, 1259, the +Franciscan Minister of Bologna was ordered to appoint two friars as +inquisitors in Romagnola. At Vicenza, no sooner was quiet restored after +the death of Ezzelin than Frà Giovanni Schio was sent thither to remove +the excommunication incurred by the people in consequence of their +subjection to Ezzelin. The ceremony was symbolic of the scourging +inflicted on penitents. The podestà and council assembled at the usual +place of meeting, whence they marched in pairs to the cathedral. At the +south portal stood Giovanni with seven priests, and as the magistrates +entered they touched each one lightly with rods, after which the rites +of absolution were solemnly performed. The exiled bishop, Bortolamio, on +his return from England had tarried with St. Louis, whose confessor he +had been in Palestine, where he had served as papal legate during the +saintly king's crusade. As soon as he heard of the death of Ezzelin he +hastened homeward, bearing with him the priceless treasures of a thorn +of the crown and a piece of the cross which St. Louis had bestowed upon +him in parting. At once he commenced to build the great Dominican church +and convent of the Santa Corona. The site chosen was on the most +elevated spot in the city, known as the Colle, and among the buildings +destroyed to give place for it was the church of Santa Croce, which had +been occupied by the heretics as their place of assembly and worship. We +are told that the presence of the relics worked the miracle of relieving +the city of its three leading sins--avarice, heresy, and discord. As for +heresy, the miracle lay in the unlooked-for conversion of the chief +heretic of the district, Gieremia, known as the Archbishop of the Mark, +who, with his son Alticlero, made public recantation. The heretic +bishop, Viviano Bogolo, fled to Pavia, where he was recognized and +burned. His two deacons, Olderico da Marola and Tolomeo, with eight +others, probably Perfects, were obstinate, and were promptly burned. +These examples were sufficient. The "credentes" furnished no further +martyrs, and heresy, at least in its outward manifestation, was +extinguished.[262] + +In some places, unblessed with such wonder-working relics, however, the +Inquisition had much greater trouble in establishing orthodoxy. In +Piacenza it is said to have found the burning of twenty-eight wagon +loads of heretics necessary. At Sermione for sixteen years the +inhabitants defiantly refused to allow persecution. Though Catholic +themselves, they continued to afford protection to heretics, who +naturally flocked thither as one refuge after another was rendered +unsafe by the zeal of the inquisitors. It was in vain that Frà Timedeo, +the inquisitor, obtained evidence by sending there a female spy, named +Costanza da Bergamo, who pretended to be a heretic, received the +_consolamentum_, and was then unreservedly admitted to their secrets. At +last the scandal of such ungodly toleration became unendurable, and the +Bishop of Verona prevailed upon Mastino and Alberto della Scala of +Verona, and Pinamonte de' Bonacolsi of Mantua, to reduce Sermione to +obedience. It was obliged to submit in 1276, delivering up no less than +one hundred and seventy-four perfected heretics, and humbly asking to be +restored to Catholic unity, with a pledge to stand to the mandates of +the Church. Frà Filippo Bonaccorso, the Inquisitor of Treviso, applied +to John XXI. for instructions as to the treatment of the penitent +community. The pope was a humane and cultured man who cared more for +poetry than theology, and he was disposed to be lenient with repentant +sinners. He instructed Frà Filippo to remove the interdict if the town +would appoint a syndic to abjure heresy in its name, and to swear in +future to seize all heretics and deliver them to the Inquisition, any +infraction of the oath to work a renewal, _ipso facto_, of the +interdict. Every inhabitant was then to appear personally before the +inquisitor, and make full confession of everything relating to heresy, +to abjure, and to accept such penance as might be assigned--all infamous +penalties, disabilities, imprisonment, and confiscation being mercifully +excluded. Full records were to be kept of each case, and any +withholding of the truth or subsequent relapse was to expose the +delinquent to the full rigor of the law. Obstinate heretics were to be +dealt with according to the canons, and of these there were found +seventy, whom Frà Filippo duly condemned, and had the satisfaction of +seeing burned. To insure the future purity of the faith, in 1278 a +Franciscan convent was built at Sermione with the proceeds of a fine of +four thousand lire levied upon Verona as one of the conditions of +removing the interdict incurred by its upholding the cause of the +unfortunate Conradin; and in 1289 Ezzelin's castle of Illasio was given +to some of the nobles who had been conspicuous in the reduction of +Sermione, as a reward for their service, and to stimulate them in the +future to continue their support of the Inquisition.[263] + +Thus heresy, deprived of all protection, was gradually stamped out, and +the Inquisition established its power in every corner of the land. How +that power was abused to oppress the faithful with ingeniously devised +schemes of extortion we have already seen. In fact, in the territories +which had once been Ghibelline, it was impossible for any man, no matter +how rigid his orthodoxy, to be safe from prosecution if he chanced to +provoke the ill-will of the officials, or possessed wealth to excite +their cupidity. So successful had the Church been in confounding +political opposition with heresy that the mere fact of having adhered of +necessity to Ezzelin during the period of his unquestioned domination +long continued sufficient to justify prosecution for heresy, entailing +the desirable result of confiscation. When Ezzelin's generation passed +away, the memory of the dead was assailed and the descendants were +disinherited. In all this there was no pretence of errors of faith, but +the men to whom the Church intrusted the awful powers of the Inquisition +seemed implacably determined to erase from the land every trace of those +who had once dared to resist its authority. At last, in 1304, the +authorities of Vicenza appealed to Benedict XI. no longer to allow the +few survivors of Ezzelin's party and their descendants to be thus +cruelly wronged, and the pope graciously granted their petition. By this +time the empire was but a shadow; Ghibellinism represented no living +force that the papacy could reasonably dread, and its persecution had +long been merely the gratification of greed or malice.[264] + +The triumph of the Inquisition had not been effected wholly without +resistance. In 1277 Frà Corrado Pagano undertook a raid against the +heretics of the Valtelline. It was, doubtless, organized on an extended +scale, for he took with him two associates and two notaries. This would +indicate that heretics were numerous; the event showed that they did not +lack protectors, for Corrado da Venosta, one of the most powerful nobles +of the region, cut short the enterprise by slaughtering the whole party, +on St. Stephen's day, December 26. Pagano had been a most zealous +persecutor of heresy, and when his body was brought to Como it lay there +for eight days before interment, with wounds freshly bleeding, showing +that he was a martyr of God, and justifying the title bestowed on him by +his Dominican brethren of St. Pagano of Como. His relics are still +preserved there and are the objects of a local cult. Nicholas III. made +every effort to avenge the murder, even invoking the assistance of +Rodolf of Hapsburg, and his joy was extreme when, in November, 1279, the +podestà and people of Bergamo succeeded in capturing Corrado and his +accomplices. He at once ordered their delivery, under safe escort, to +the inquisitors, Anselmo da Alessandria, Daniele da Giussano, and +Guidone da Coconate, who were instructed to inflict a punishment +sufficient to intimidate others from imitating their wickedness, and all +the potentates of Lombardy were commanded to co-operate in their safe +conveyance.[265] + +The same year that justice was thus vindicated, a popular ebullition in +Parma shows how slender was the hold which the Inquisition possessed on +the people. Frà Florio had been diligent in the exercise of his +functions, and we are told that he had burned innumerable heretics, +when, in 1279, he chanced at Parma to have before him a woman guilty of +relapse. It was a matter of course to condemn her to relaxation, and she +was duly burned. In place of being piously impressed by the spectacle +the Parmesans were inspired by Satan to indignation which expressed +itself by sacking the Dominican convent, destroying the records of the +Inquisition, and maltreating the friars so that one of them died within +a few days. The Dominicans thereupon abandoned the ungrateful city, +marching out in solemn procession. The magistrates showed singular +indifference as to punishing this misdeed, and when summoned by the +Cardinal Legate of Ostia, the representatives who presented themselves +lacked the necessary authority, so that, after vainly waiting for +satisfaction, he laid an interdict upon the city. This was not removed +till 1282, and even then the guilty were not punished. In 1285 we find +Honorius IV. taking up the matter afresh and summoning the Parmesans to +send delegates to him within a month to receive sentence; what that +sentence was does not appear, but in 1287 the humbled citizens +petitioned the Dominicans to return, received them with great honor, and +voted them one thousand lire, in annual instalments of two hundred lire, +wherewith to build a church. So stubborn was the opposition elsewhere to +the Inquisition and its ways, that in 1287 the Provincial Council of +Milan still deemed it necessary to decree that any member of a municipal +government in any city within the province who should urge measures +favoring heretics should be deemed suspect of heresy, and should forfeit +any fiefs or benefices held of the Church.[266] + +Even in the Patrimony of St. Peter resistance was not wholly at an end. +In 1254, when the papacy was triumphant, Innocent IV. urged the +inquisitors of Orvieto and Anagni to take advantage of the propitious +time and act with the utmost vigor. In 1258 Alexander IV. sounded the +alarm that heresy was increasing even in Rome itself, and he pressingly +urged increased activity on the inquisitors and greater zeal in their +support by the bishops. Their efforts were not wholly successful. Twenty +years later a knight named Pandolfo still made his stronghold of Castro +Siriani, near Anagni, a receptacle of heretics. Frà Sinibaldo di Lago, +the inquisitor of the Roman province, made various ineffectual attempts +to prosecute him, and in 1278 Nicholas III. sent his notary, Master +Benedict, with offers of pardon in return for obedience, but the +heretics were obdurate, and Nicholas was forced to order Orso Orsini, +Marshal of the Church in Tuscany, to levy troops and give Frà Sinibaldo +armed assistance sufficient to enable him to coerce them to penitence. A +similar enterprise against the Viterbian noble, Capello di Chia, in +1260, has already been described (Vol. I. p. 342). In this case the zeal +of the Viterbians, who levied an army to assist the inquisitor, must +have had some political motive, for their city was of evil repute in the +matter of heresy. In 1265, encouraged by the assistance of Manfred, the +people had risen against the Inquisition and had only been subdued after +a bloody fight in which two friars were slain. In 1279 Nicholas +expresses his regret that although, while he had been inquisitor-general, +he had labored strenuously to purge Viterbo of heresy, his labors had +been unsuccessful. Heretics were still concealed there, and the whole +city was infected. Frà Sinibaldo was therefore ordered to go thither to +make a thorough inquisition of the place.[267] + +Earnest and unsparing as were the labors of the inquisitors, it seemed +impossible to eradicate heresy. Its open manifestations were readily +suppressed when the Ghibelline chiefs who protected it were destroyed, +but in secret it still flourished and maintained its organization. In +the inquest held on the memory of Armanno Pongilupo of Ferrara there is +a good deal of testimony which shows not only the activity and success +of the Inquisition of that city, but the continued existence of heresy +throughout the whole region. There are allusions to numerous heretics in +Vicenza, Bergamo, Rimini, and Verona. In the latter city a +lady-in-waiting of the Marchesa d'Este, named Spera, was burned in 1270, +and about the same time there were two Catharan bishops there, Alberto +and Bonaventura Belesmagra. In 1273 Lorenzo was Bishop of Sermione, and +Giovanni da Casaletto was Bishop of Mantua. There was a secret +organization extending through all the Italian cities, with visitors and +_filii majores_ performing their rounds, and messengers were constantly +passing to and fro, elaborate arrangements being made for secreting +them. Those who were in prison were kept supplied with necessaries by +their brethren at large, who never knew at what moment they might be +incarcerated. From the sentences of Bernard Gui we know that until the +fourteenth century was fairly advanced the Cathari of Languedoc still +looked to Italy as to a haven of refuge; that pilgrims thither had no +trouble in finding their fellow-believers in Lombardy, in Tuscany, and +in the kingdom of Sicily; that when the French churches were broken up +those who sought to be admitted to the circle of the Perfect, or to +renew their _consolamentum_, resorted to Lombardy, where they could +always find ministers authorized to perform the rites. When Amiel de +Perles had forfeited his ordination a conference was held in which it +was determined that he should be sent with an associate to "the Ancient +of the Heretics," Bernard Audoyn de Montaigu, in Lombardy for +reconciliation; and on another occasion we hear of Bernard himself +visiting Toulouse on business connected with the propagation of the +faith.[268] + +How difficult, indeed, was the task of the inquisitor in detecting +heresy under the mask of orthodoxy is curiously illustrated by the case +of Armanno Pongilupo himself. In Ferrara heretics were numerous. +Armanno's parents were both Cathari; he was a "_consolatus_" and his +wife a "_consolata_." In 1254 he was detected and imprisoned; he +confessed and abjured, and was released. From his Catharan bishop he +received absolution for his oath of abjuration, and was received back +into the sect. From this time until his death, in 1269, he was +unceasingly engaged in propagating Catharan doctrines and in ministering +to the wants of his less fortunate brethren in the clutches of the +Inquisition, which was exceedingly active and successful. Meanwhile be +preserved an exterior of the strictest Catholicism; he was regular in +attendance at the altar and confessional, and wholly devoted to piety +and good works. He died in the odor of sanctity, was buried in the +cathedral, and immediately he began to work miracles. He was soon +reverenced as a saint. A magnificent tomb arose over his remains, an +altar was erected, and, as the miraculous manifestations of his +sanctity multiplied, his chapel became filled with images and ex-votos, +to the no little profit of the church fortunate enough to possess him. +Adored as a saint in the popular cult, there came a general demand for +his canonization, in which the pride of the city was warmly enlisted, +but which was steadfastly opposed by the Inquisition. In the confessions +of heretics before it the name of Armanno constantly recurred as that of +one of the most active and trusted members of the sect, and ample +evidence accumulated as to his unrepentant heresy. Then arose a curious +conflict, waged on both sides with unremitting vigor for thirty-two +years. Hardly had the remains been committed to honorable sepulture in +the cathedral when Frà Aldobrandini, the inquisitor who had tried him in +1254, ordered the archpriest and chapter to exhume and burn the corpse, +and on their refusal excommunicated them and placed the cathedral under +interdict. From this they appealed to Gregory X. and set to work to +gather the evidence for canonization. For this purpose at different +times five several inquests were held and superabundant testimony was +forthcoming as to the success with which his suffrage was invoked, how +the sick were healed, the blind made to see, and the halt to walk, while +numerous priests bore emphatic witness to his pre-eminent piety during +life. Gregory and Aldobrandini passed away leaving the matter unsettled. +Frà Florio, the next inquisitor, sent to Rome expressly to urge Honorius +IV. to come to a decision, but Honorius died without concluding the +matter. On the accession of Boniface VIII., in 1294, Frà Guido da +Vicenza, then inquisitor, again visited Rome to procure a termination of +the affair. Still the contending forces were too evenly balanced for +either to win. At length the Lord of Ferrara, Azzo X., interposed, for +the contest between the inquisitor and the secular clergy seriously +threatened the peace of the city. In 1300 Boniface appointed a +commission to make a thorough investigation, with power to decide +finally, and in 1301 sentence was rendered to the effect that Armanno +had died a relapsed heretic; that no one should believe him to be +anything but a heretic; that his bones should be exhumed and burned, the +sarcophagus containing them and the altar erected before it be +destroyed; that all statues, images, ex-votos, and other offerings set +up in his honor in the cathedral and other Ferrarese churches should be +removed within ten days; and that all his property, real and personal, +was confiscated to the Inquisition, any sales or conveyances made of +them during the thirty-two years which had elapsed since his death being +void. Frà Guido's triumph was complete, and on the death of the Bishop +of Ferrara, in 1303, he was rewarded with the episcopate. Extraordinary +as this case may seem, it was not unique. At Brescia a heresiarch named +Guido Lacha was long adored as a saint by the people until the imposture +was detected by the Inquisition, which caused his bones to be dug up and +burned.[269] + +This was the period of the greatest power and activity of the +Inquisition, and the extent of its perfected organization is shown in a +document of 1302, wherein Frà Guido da Tusis, Inquisitor of Romagnola, +publishes in the communal council of Rimini the names of thirty-nine +officials whom he has selected as his assistants. The expenses of such a +body could not have been light, and to defray them there must have been +a constant stream of fines and confiscations pouring into the +inquisitorial treasury, showing an abundant harvest of heresy and active +work in its suppression.[270] It was probably between 1320 and 1330 that +was produced the treatise of Zanghino Ugolini, so often quoted above. +Frà Donato da Sant' Agata had been appointed Inquisitor of Romagnola, +and the learned jurisconsult of Rimini drew up for his instruction a +summary of the rules governing inquisitorial procedure, which is one of +the clearest and best manuals of practice that we possess. + +A singular episode of lenity occurred not long before, which is not to +be passed over, although inexplicable in itself and unproductive of +consequences. Its importance, indeed, lies in the evidence which it +affords that the extreme severity of the laws against heresy was +recognized as really unnecessary, since its relaxation in favor of a +single community as a matter of favor would otherwise have been a crime +against the faith. In February, 1286, Honorius IV., in consideration of +the fidelity manifested by the people of Tuscany to the Roman Church, +and especially to him before his elevation, relieved them individually +and universally from the penalties for heresy, including all +disabilities decreed by his predecessors and by Frederic II., whether +incurred by their own errors or by those of their ancestors. Catholic +children of heretic parents were thus _ipso facto_ restored to all +privileges and were no longer liable to disinheritance. In the case of +existing heretics it was necessary for them to appear before the +inquisitors within a time to be named by the latter--excepting absentees +in foreign lands, to whom a term of five months was allowed--to abjure +heresy and receive penance, which was to be a secret one, involving +neither humiliation, disability, or loss of property. Cases of relapse, +however, were to be treated with all the rigor of the law. As this bull +abrogated in Tuscany the constitutions of Frederic II., it required +confirmation by Rodolph of Hapsburg, which was duly procured. For a +while this extraordinary privilege seems to have been observed, for, in +1289, Nicholas IV., when anathematizing heretics and stimulating the +zeal of inquisitors throughout Genoa, Lombardy, Romagnola, Naples, and +Sicily, pointedly omits Tuscany from his enumeration. In time, however, +it was either repealed or disregarded. No case could come more +completely within its purview than that already referred to of Gherardo +of Florence, dying prior to 1250 and prosecuted in 1313. His numerous +children and grandchildren were good Catholics, and yet they were all +disinherited and subjected to the canonical disabilities.[271] + +Together with this exhibition of papal indulgence may be classed the +occasional interference of the Holy See to moderate the rigor of the +canons, or to repress the undue zeal of an inquisitor, when the sufferer +had influence or money enough to attract the papal attention. It is +pleasant to record three instances of this kind on the part of the +despotic Boniface VIII., when, in 1297, he declared that Rainerio Gatti, +a noble of Viterbo, and his sons had been prosecuted by the inquisitors +on perjured testimony, wherefore the process was to be annulled and the +accused and their heirs relieved from all stain of heresy; when, in +1298, he ordered the Inquisition to restore to the innocent children of +a heretic the property confiscated by Frà Andrea the inquisitor, and +when he ordered Frà Adamo da Como, the inquisitor of the Roman province, +to desist from molesting Giovanni Ferraloco, a citizen of Orvieto, whom +his predecessors, Angelo da Rieti and Leonardo da Tivoli, had declared +absolved from heresy. This Frà Adamo apparently rendered his office a +terror to the innocent. May 8, 1293, we find him compelling Pierre +d'Aragon, a gentleman of Carcassonne who chanced to be in Rome, to give +him security in the heavy sum of one hundred marks to present himself +within three months to the Inquisition of Carcassonne and obey its +mandates. Pierre accordingly appeared before Bertrand de Clermont on +June 19, and was closely examined, and then again on August 16, but +nothing was discovered against him. Whether or not he recovered his one +hundred marks from Frà Adamo does not appear, but the incident affords +an illustration at once of the perfected organization of the Holy +Office, and of the dangers which surrounded travellers in the countries +where it flourished.[272] + + * * * * * + +The Inquisition was thus thoroughly established and at work in northern +and central Italy, and heresy was gradually disappearing before its +remorseless and incessant energy. To escape it many had fled to +Sardinia, but in 1258 that island was added to the inquisitorial +province of Tuscany, and inquisitors were sent thither to track the +fugitives in their retreats.[273] There were two regions, however, +Venice and the Two Sicilies, which thus far we have not considered, as +they were in some sort independent of the movement which we have traced +in the rest of the Peninsula. + +Naples, like the other portions of southern Europe, had been exposed to +the infection of heresy. At an early period missionaries from Bulgaria +had penetrated the passes of the southern Apennines, and, in that motley +population of Greek and Saracen and Norman, proselytes had not been +lacking. The Norman kings, usually at enmity with the Holy See, had not +cared to inquire too closely into the orthodoxy of their subjects, and +had they done so the independence of the feudal baronage would have +rendered minute perquisition by no means easy. The allusions of the +Abbot Joachim of Flora to the Cathari indicate that their existence and +doctrines were familiar facts in Calabria, though as Rainerio makes no +allusion to any Catharan church in Italy south of Florence it is +presumable that the sectaries were widely scattered and unorganized. In +1235, when the Dominican convent in Naples was broken into by a mob and +several of the friars were grievously wounded, Gregory IX. attributed +the violence to friends of heretics.[274] + +Frederic II., however much at times his policy might lead him to +proclaim ferocious edicts of persecution, and even spasmodically to +enforce them, had no convictions of his own to render him persistent in +persecution, and his lifelong contest with the papacy gave him, secretly +at least, a fellow-feeling with all who resisted the supremacy of the +Holy See, whether in temporal or spiritual concerns. Occasional attacks +such as that under the auspices of the Archbishop of Reggio, in 1231, or +the form of secular inquisition which he instituted in 1233, had little +permanent effect. Cathari driven from Languedoc, who perhaps found even +Lombardy insecure, were tolerably sure of refuge in the wild and +secluded valleys of Calabria and the Abruzzi, lying aside from the great +routes of travel. The domination in Naples of Innocent IV. was too brief +for the organization of any systematized persecution, and when Manfred +reconquered the kingdom, although he seems to have felt his position too +precarious to risk open toleration, and, under pressure from Jayme of +Aragon, he ordered Bishop Vivian of Toulouse and his disciples, who had +settled in Apulia, to leave his dominions, yet he went no further in +active measures of repression.[275] + +Charles of Anjou came as a crusader and as the champion of the Church. +Scarce was his undisputed domination assured by the execution of +Conradin, October 20, 1268, than we see him zealously employed in +establishing the Inquisition throughout the kingdom. Numerous royal +letters of 1269 show it actively at work, and manifest the solicitude of +the king that the stipends and the expenses of the inquisitors should +be provided for, and that every assistance should be rendered by the +public officials. Each inquisitor was furnished with a letter which +placed all the forces of the State at his unreserved command. The +Neapolitan Inquisition was fully manned. There was one inquisitor for +Bari and the Capitanata, one for Otranto, and one for the Terra di +Lavoro and the Abruzzi; and in 1271 one was added for Calabria and one +for Sicily. Most of them were Dominicans, but we meet with at least one +Franciscan, Frà Benvenuto. Yet no buildings or prisons seem to have been +provided for them. The royal jails were placed at their disposal, and +the keepers were instructed to torture prisoners on requisition from the +inquisitors. Even as late as 1305 this arrangement appears to be in +force.[276] + +Charles's zeal did not confine itself to thus organizing and promoting +the Inquisition. He supplemented its labors by instituting raids on +heretics conducted under his own auspices. Thus, although there was an +inquisitor for the Abruzzi, we find him, December 13, 1269, sending +thither the Cavaliere Berardo da Rajano with instructions to investigate +and seize heretics and their fautors. The utmost diligence was enjoined +on him, and the local officials were ordered to assist him in every way, +but there is no allusion to his mission being in co-operation with the +inquisitor. Another significant manifestation of Charles's devotion is +seen in his founding, in 1274, and richly endowing for the Dominicans +the splendid church of San Piero Martire in Naples, and stimulating his +nobles to follow his example in showering wealth upon it. Yet fifty +years afterwards, in 1324, the building was still incomplete for lack of +funds, when King Robert aided the construction with fifty ounces of +gold, which he ordered the inquisitors to pay out of the royal third of +the confiscations coming into their hands. This is interesting as +showing how, in Naples, the profitable side of persecution was wholly +under the control of the Holy Office.[277] + +Few details have been preserved to us of the activity of the Inquisition +in Naples. We know that heretics continued to exist there, but the wild +and mountainous character of much of the country doubtless afforded them +abundant opportunities of safe asylum. Already, in August, 1269, a +letter of Charles ordering the seizure of sixty-eight heretics +designated by Frà Benvenuto shows that the work was being energetically +prosecuted, and in another letter of March 14, 1270, there is an +allusion to three others whom Frà Matteo di Caetellamare had recently +caused to be burned in Benevento. The inquisitors of Languedoc, +moreover, made haste, as early as 1269, to send agents to Naples to hunt +the refugees whom their severity had driven there, and Charles ordered +every assistance to be rendered to them, which, perhaps, explains the +success of Frà Benvenuto. Yet the perpetual necessity for royal +interposition leads to the inference that the Inquisition was not nearly +so effective in Naples as it proved in Languedoc and Lombardy. The royal +authority seems to be required at every turn, partly because the king +allowed little independent initiative to the inquisitors, and partly, +perhaps, because the local officials did not lend as hearty a +co-operation as they might have done. Thus the Neapolitan Inquisition, +even under the Angevines, seems never to have attained the compact and +effective organization of which we have seen the results elsewhere, +though Charles II. was an eager persecutor who stimulated the zeal of +his inquisitors, and his son Robert earned the name of the Pious. In +1305 we shall see Frà Tommaso di Aversa active in persecuting the +Spiritual Franciscans, and in 1311, King Robert, at the instance of Frà +Matteo da Ponza, ordered that all newly converted Jews should live +scattered among Christians, so as not to be tempted back to +Judaism.[278] + +The ineffectiveness of the Neapolitan Inquisition is seen in the +comparative security which attended an organized immigration of +Waldenses from the valleys of the Cottian Alps. It was probably about +1315 that Zanino del Poggio, a Milanese noble, led forth the first band +from Savoy, under specified guarantees of lands and privileges, after +the intending emigrants had received the report of deputies sent in +advance to survey the promised refuge. Fresh bands came to join them +and a group of villages sprang up--Guardia Piemontese, or Borgo degli +Oltremontani, Argentina, La Rocca, Vaccarizzo, and San Vincenzo in +Calabria, while in Apulia there were Monteleone, Montanto, Faito, La +Cella, and Matta. These were regularly visited by the "barbes," or +missionary pastors, who spent their lives wandering around among the +scattered churches, administering the consolations of religion and +watching over the purity of the faith. The fierce persecutions conducted +by François Borel led to further emigration on an enlarged scale, which +naturally sought the Neapolitan territories as a haven of rest, until +Apulia came to be regarded as the headquarters of the sect. That +considerable bodies of heretics could thus establish themselves and +flourish argues great negligence on the part of the Inquisition. In +fact, its recognized inefficiency was shown as early as 1326, when John +XXII. was in pursuit of some Fraticelli who had fled to Calabria; +instead of calling upon the inquisitors he applied to King Robert and to +the Duke of Calabria to capture them and hand them over to the episcopal +tribunals.[279] + +When, as the result of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, the Island of +Sicily passed into the hands of Pedro III. of Aragon, it was placed in +the bitterest antagonism towards the Holy See, and no active persecution +is to be looked for. In fact, in 1285, Martin IV., in ordering a crusade +preached against Pedro, gives as one of the four reasons alleged in +justification that heresy was multiplying in the island, and that +inquisitors were prevented from visiting it. It was not till 1302 that +Boniface VIII. was brought to accept the accomplished fact, and to +acknowledge Frederic of Aragon as King of Trinacria. The Inquisition +soon followed. In 1304 we find Benedict XI. ordering Frederic to receive +and give all due assistance to Frà Tommaso di Aversa the inquisitor, and +all other inquisitors who may be sent thither. The pope, however, did +not erect it into a separate tribunal, but instructed the Holy Office of +the mainland that its jurisdiction extended over both sides of the Faro. +Yet the introduction of the Inquisition in the island was nominal rather +than real except, as we shall see, with regard to the Templars, and +Sicily long remained a safe refuge for the persecuted Fraticelli. +Doubtless Arnaldo de Vilanova contributed to this by the picture which +he presented to Frederic of the inquisitors of the day. They were a +diabolical pest, trafficking in their offices, converting themselves +into demons, never edifying the faithful, but rather making them +infidels, as they abandoned themselves to hatred, greed, and lust, with +no one to condemn them or to repress their fury. When, in 1328, the +Archbishop of Palermo arrested a Fraticello, appeal was at once made to +Frederic, and John XXII. wrote to the archbishop urgently commanding +that the sect be extirpated, showing apparently that there was no +Inquisition then at work.[280] + + * * * * * + +The Republic of Venice was always a law unto itself. Though forming part +of the March of Treviso, its predominant interests in the thirteenth +century lay to the east of the Adriatic, and it did not become a +formidable power on the mainland until the acquisition of Treviso in +1339. That of Padua, in 1405, followed by Verona, Vicenza, Feltre, +Belluno, and Brescia, greatly increased its strength, and in 1448 it +wrenched Bergamo from the dukes of Milan. Thus its policy with regard to +the Inquisition eventually controlled the whole of the March of Treviso, +and a considerable portion of Lombardy. + +That policy held at bay in all things the pretensions of the Holy See, +and looked with extreme suspicion on whatever might give the popes an +excuse for interference with either the domestic policy or the foreign +enterprises of the Signoria. Fairly orthodox, though not bigoted, Venice +held aloof from the strife between Guelf and Ghibelline, and was not +involved in the anathemas lavished upon Ezzelin da Romano. Venice, in +fact, was the basis of operations in the crusade against him, and it was +a Venetian who led the expedition up the Brenta which captured Padua. +Yet the republic made no haste to join in the movement for the +extermination of heresy so energetically pushed by Gregory IX. and his +successors. The Constitutions of Frederic II. were never inscribed in +its statute-books. In 1229 the official oath of the Doge Giacopo +Tiepoli, which, as is customary, contains the criminal code of the day, +embodies no allusion to heresy or its suppression, and the same is true +of the criminal statute of 1232 published by the same doge.[281] + +It was about this time that the Inquisition was developed with all the +aggressive energy of which Gregory IX. was capable, but it found no +foothold in Venice. Yet the duty to punish heresy was at length +recognized, though the civil authorities would abate no jot of their +right to control the administration of justice in spiritual as well as +in temporal matters. The official oath taken in 1249 by the Doge Marino +Morosini contains a promise that certain upright and discreet and +Catholic men shall be appointed, with the advice of the Council, to +inquire after heretics. All heretics, moreover, who shall be delivered +to the secular arm by the Archbishop of Grado or other bishops of the +Venetian territories shall be duly burned, under the advice of the +Council, or of a majority of its members. Thus a kind of secular +Inquisition was established to search after heretics. The ancient +jurisdiction of the episcopal courts was alone recognized, but the +judgment of the bishops was subject to revision by the Council before +the death-penalty could be inflicted.[282] + +This could by no means be satisfactory to the papacy, and when the death +of Frederic II. led to an immediate effort to extend the Inquisition +through the territories hitherto closed to it, Venice was not forgotten. +By a bull of June 11, 1251, Innocent IV. ordered the Frati Vicenzo of +Milan, and Giovanni of Vercelli, to proceed to Venice and persecute +heretics there with the same powers as those exercised by inquisitors +elsewhere in Lombardy. Whether the good friars made the attempt to +exercise these powers is questionable; if they did so, their ill-success +is unquestionable. There is a document of 1256 which contains an oath to +pursue heretics and to denounce them, not to the ecclesiastical +tribunals, but to the doge or to the magistrates--an oath presumably +administered to the secular inquisitors established in 1249. The same +document contains a clause which indicates that the death-penalty +threatened in 1249 had already been abrogated. It classes Cathari and +usurers together: it alludes to the punishment decreed for those +convicted of relapse into either sin, and shows that this was not +capital, by providing that if the convict is a foreigner he shall be +banished from Venice, but if a citizen he shall not be banished. Yet the +death-penalty seems to have been restored soon afterwards, for, in 1275, +the oath of Giacomo Contarini is the same as that of 1249, with the +unimportant addition that the judgment of an episcopal vicar during the +vacancy of a see can be substituted for that of a bishop.[283] + +As the pressure of the Inquisition extended throughout Lombardy and the +Marches, the persecuted heretics naturally sought a refuge in Venetian +territory, where supervision was so much more negligent. It was in vain +that about 1286 Frà Filippo of Mantua, the Inquisitor of Treviso, was +sent by Honorius IV. with a summons to the republic to inscribe in its +laws the constitutions against heresy of Frederic and of the popes. +Although the example of the other cities of the Marca Trivigiana was +urged, and Venice was repeatedly required to do the same, obedience was +persistently refused. At length, in 1288, Nicholas IV. lost patience +with this persistent contumacy. He peremptorily ordered the Signoria to +adopt the imperial and papal laws, and commanded that the doge should +swear not only not to impede the Inquisitor of Treviso in his duties, +but to assist him. In default of obedience he threatened to proceed +against the city both spiritually and temporally.[284] + +The position of the republic was already indefensible under the public +law of the period. It was so administering its own laws as to afford an +asylum to a class universally proscribed, and it was refusing to allow +the Church to apply the only remedy deemed appropriate to this crying +evil. It therefore yielded to the inevitable, but in a manner to +preserve its own autonomy and independence. It absolutely refused to +incorporate in its own statutes the papal and imperial laws, but, August +4, 1289, it empowered the doge, Giovanni Dandolo, to give assistance to +the inquisitor, when called upon, without referring each case to the +Senate. A further wise provision decreed that all fines and +confiscations should inure to the State, which in turn undertook to +defray the expenses of the Holy Office. These were not light, as, in +addition to the cost of making arrests and maintaining prisoners, the +inquisitor received the liberal salary of twelve ducats a month. For +this purpose the proceeds of the corn-tax were set aside, and the money +was deposited with the Provveditore delle Viare, who disbursed it on the +requisition of the inquisitor. This compromise was accepted by Nicholas +IV., August 28, 1288, and was duly embodied in the official oath of the +next doge, Piero Gradenigo. Thus, while the inquisitor had full +opportunity of suppressing heresy, the temptation to abuse his office +for purposes of extortion was reduced to a minimum, and the State, by +retaining in its hands all the financial portion of the business, was +able at any time to exercise control.[285] + +The Inquisition was unaccustomed to submit to control, and soon chafed +under these limitations. Already, in 1292, Nicholas IV. complained to +Piero Gradenigo that the terms of the agreement were not carried out. +The inquisitors, Bonagiunta of Mantua and Giuliano of Padua, reported +that the papal and imperial laws against heresy were not enforced, and +that under the arrangement for expenditures they were unable to employ a +force of familiars sufficient to detect and seize the heretics. Heresy +consequently, they said, continued to flourish in Venetian territory, +for all of which Nicholas bitterly scolded the doge, and demanded such +changes as should remove these scandals, but without effect. The +Signoria, apparently, had not seen fit to abolish the office of secular +inquisitors provided by the legislation of 1249. These were three in +number, and were known as the "_tre Savi dell' eresia_," or +"_assistenti_." It was hardly possible that a duplicate organization +such as this could work without clashing. The situation became +intolerable, and in 1301 Frà Antonio, the Inquisitor of Treviso, +resolved to put an end to it. He notified the three Savi, Tommaso Viaro, +Marino Zorzi, and Lorenzo Segico, to recognize no superior save himself. +Their submission not being forthcoming, he proceeded to Venice, and +addressed to the Doge Gradenigo a monition ordering him, under pain of +excommunication, to swear to obey all the papal constitutions on heresy. +Gradenigo refused, alleging that this would be a violation of his oath +of office; the inquisitor withdrew his monition, and matters remained as +before. Whatever hopes had been entertained that the entering wedge +would enable the Inquisition to establish itself without restriction +were foiled by the steadfastness of the republic. The three Savi +continued their functions and, perhaps, even enlarged them; it had +become customary for them to be selected from among the senators, and +they acted in conjunction with the inquisitor in all cases coming within +his jurisdiction. As Venice extended her conquests on the mainland, in +all cities under her domination the _rettori_ or governors performed +this function, and their participation was required in all prosecutions +for heresy, not only by the inquisitor, but by the bishops.[286] + + * * * * * + +In Italy, as in France, the history of the Inquisition during the +fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is one of decadence. It is true that +in Italy it had not to contend with the consolidation of power in the +hands of a monarch, but the Captivity of Avignon and the debasement of +the papacy under the influence of the French court, co-operating with +the rise of the cities in wealth and culture, conduced to the same +result; while the Great Schism, followed by the Councils of Constance +and Basle, tended to emancipate the minds of men and foster +independence. During the fourteenth century much of the inquisitorial +activity was devoted to the new heresy of the Fraticelli, which will be +referred to hereafter when we come to consider that remarkable religious +movement. That movement, indeed, was the chief exception to the decay +in spiritual enthusiasm which diminished at once the veneration which +the Inquisition inspired and the opposition of heterodoxy which +constituted its _raison d' être_. As heretics grew fewer and poorer its +usefulness decreased, its means of impressing the popular imagination +disappeared, and its rewards grew less and less. + +As regards the Cathari, the Inquisition had done its work too well. +Unceasing and unsparing repression gradually annihilated the sect which, +during the first half of the thirteenth century, seemed almost able to +dispute with Rome the possession of Italy on equal terms. Yet when we +see that the Waldenses, exposed to the same merciless rigor, were not +extinguished, we recognize that some other factor besides mere +persecution was at work to obliterate a belief which once enjoyed so +potent an influence on the human mind that thousands for its sake went +joyfully to a dreadful death. The secret must be looked for in the +hopeless pessimism of the faith itself. There was in it nothing to +encourage and strengthen man in the battle of life. Manes had robbed the +elder Mazdeism of its vitality when he assigned to the Evil Principle +complete dominion over Nature and the visible universe, and when he +adopted the Sankhya philosophy, which teaches that existence is an evil, +while death is an emancipation for those who have earned spiritual +immortality, and a mere renewal of the same hated existence for all who +have not risen to the height of the austerest maceration. As +civilization slowly advanced, as the midnight of the Dark Ages began to +yield to the approaching dawn of modern ideas, as the hopelessness of +humanity grew less abject, the Manichæan theory grew less attractive. +The world was gradually awakening to new aims and new possibilities; it +was outgrowing the dreary philosophy of pessimism, and was unconsciously +preparing for the yet unknown future in which man was to regard Nature +not as an enemy, but as a teacher. Catharism had no possibility of +development, and in that lay its doom. + +The simple and earnest faith of the Waldenses, on the other hand, +inculcated helpfulness and hopefulness, patience under tribulation, and +an abiding trust in the watchful care of the Heavenly Father. The +arduous toil of the artisan or husbandman was blessed in the +consciousness of the performance of a duty. The virtues which form the +basis of all Christian society--industry, charity, self-abnegation, +sobriety, chastity, thrift--were stimulated and cultivated, and man was +taught that his fate, here and hereafter, depended on himself, and not +on the ministration or mediation of his fellow-creatures, alive or dead. +It was a faith which fitted man for the environment in which he had been +placed by his Creator, and it was capable of adaptation to the infinite +vicissitudes of human progress. Accordingly, it had proportionate +vitality. Rooted out in one place, it grew in another. It responded too +nearly to the needs and aspirations of multitudes ever to be wholly +blotted out. There was always a propitious soil for its scattered seeds, +and its resistance of inertia in the end proved too much for even the +persistent energy of its destroyers. + +Yet in Italy the Cathari lasted long after they had disappeared from +France. Driven from the plains of Lombardy and central Italy, they took +refuge in places less accessible. In 1340 we hear of them in Corsica, +when Gerald, the Franciscan general, sent his friars thither, who +succeeded in exterminating them for a time. In 1369 we again find +Franciscans, under Frà Mondino da Bologna, zealously at work there, and +earnestly supported by Gregory XI. In 1372 and 1373 Gregory wrote to the +Bishops of Marrana and Ajaccio, and to Frà Gabriele da Montalcino, +urging renewed activity, and, with singular lenity, authorizing them to +remit the death-penalty in cases of single relapse. These hunted +refugees were mostly in the forests and mountains, and to subdue them a +chain of spiritual forts was established, in the shape of Franciscan +houses. As late as 1397 a certain Frà Francesco was sent to Corsica in +the double capacity of papal nuncio and inquisitor.[287] + +On the mainland, in spite of the vigilance of the Inquisition, Cathari +continued to exist in Piedmont. In 1388 Frà Antonio Secco of Savigliano +had the good-fortune to lay hands on one of the active members of the +sect, Giacomo Bech of Chieri, near Turin. The report of his examination +before the inquisitor and the Bishop of Turin, which has been printed by +Sig. Girolamo Amati, gives full details of the condition of the sect. +After his tongue had been loosened by repeated applications of torture, +his confession shows that it was numerous in the vicinage, and that it +comprised members of many noble families--the Patrizi, Bertoni, Petiti, +Narro, and ancestors of Balbi and Cavour. Although in Italy, as in +France, the name of Waldenses had become applicable to all heretics, and +they were commonly designated by this name, they retained the moderated +dualism of the Lombard Cathari. Satan fell from heaven, created the +visible universe, and will finally return to glory. The law of Moses was +dictated by him, and Moses was the greatest of sinners. Human souls are +fallen demons, who transmigrate into other human bodies, or into those +of animals, until released by death-bed _consolamentum_. The purity of +the faith was maintained by occasional intercourse with its headquarters +in Bosnia. Giacomo Bech was converted by a Slavonian missionary, in +conjunction with Jocerino de' Balbi and Piero Patrizi, and the latter +gave him ten florins and sent him to Bosnia to perfect himself in the +doctrines, though he was compelled by ill-fortune at sea to return +without accomplishing his pilgrimage. Forty years before one of the +Balbi had gone thither for the same purpose; in 1360 a Narro and a +Benso, Piero Patrizi himself in 1377, and Berardo Rascherio in 1380. +Evidently the little community of Chieri maintained active relations +with the heads of the Church. In 1370 Bech had fallen into the hands of +the inquisitor, Frà Tommaso da Casacho, had been forced to confess, and +had been released after abjuration in reward for his betraying his +fellow-disciples.[288] + +Frà Antonio's labors had been already rewarded by the discovery of +another sect of Cathari in the valleys to the west and northwest of +Turin. Their heresiarch was Martino del Prete, and the community of +Chieri had vainly endeavored to win them over to unity. In Pignerol, Frà +Antonio had, in November, 1387, arrested a suspected heretic named +Antonio Galosna, who passed for a Franciscan Tertiary. The Inquisition +in those parts was greatly dependent upon the secular authorities, and +the Count of Savoy, Amadeo VII., was not disposed to second it with +zeal. When Galosna at first denied, Antonio succeeded in having him +tortured till he promised to tell everything if released from torture, +and accordingly the next day he made confession; but Giovanni di +Brayda, the chamberlain of Amadeo, and Antonio da Valencia, the Judge of +Pignerol, promised him that if he would retract they would effect his +deliverance. The Castellan of Pignerol, in whose charge he was, also +offered to liberate him on receiving five florins for himself and +seventy more for necessary expenses; but, although Galosna pledged all +his property to raise the sum, this device seems to have failed. On +December 29 he was brought before the count himself, after being warned +by di Brayda that if he confirmed his confession he should be hanged. He +accordingly retracted it, but was not liberated, and a month later, in +the presence of the count and the inquisitor, he repeated that his +confession had been extorted by violence. Apparently he was made the +subject of a prolonged debate between State and Church, in which the +latter triumphed, for on May 29 we find him in the possession of the +Bishop of Turin and of the inquisitor, undergoing examination in the +castle of Dross, near Turin.[289] + +He proved a mine of information well worth the repeated interrogatories +which extended from May 29 to July 10, for he had been a member of the +sect for twenty-five years and a wandering missionary for fifteen, and +was familiar with all the congregations, which appear to have been +numerous, some in the neighborhood of Turin, but mostly in the lower +Alpine valleys between Pignerol and Susa. Though he repeatedly alludes +to the sectaries as Vaudois, they had no affinity with the Waldenses, +and it is observable that he makes no reference to their existence in +any of the distinctive Waldensian valleys, such as Angrogna, Perosa, or +San Martino. They were mostly poor folk--peasants, servants, muleteers, +innkeepers, mechanics, and artisans, and the chiefs of their +"synagogues" were generally of this class, although occasionally a +clerk, a canon, a notary, or other educated person is enumerated among +the members. What were their precise distinctive tenets it is not easy +to define with accuracy. Galosna's rough handling had evidently rendered +him eager to satisfy the credulity of his examiners, and the imaginative +character of some of his revelations casts a doubt on the truthfulness +of them all. The applicant for initiation had to drink a beverage, foul +of aspect, made with the excrement of a toad kept for the purpose; +taken in excess it was apt to prove fatal, and its power was such that +whoso once partook of it could never thereafter abandon the sect. +Martino del Prete, the chief heresiarch, had a black cat as large as a +lamb, which he declared to be the best friend he had on earth. We may +safely set down the accounts of the sexual abominations which succeeded +religious services in the conventicles, when the lights were +extinguished, as worthy of equal credence. Contradictions in the +repeated statements of the doctrines taught show that Galosna's +imagination served him better than his memory in his prolonged +examinations. He was told that in joining the sect he would secure +salvation in glory with God the Father, and yet he declares that the +sect rejected immortality, and held that the soul died with the +body--and again, that there was no purgatory, but only heaven and hell +hereafter. They believed, moreover, in God the Father who created the +heavens, but they worshipped the Great Dragon, the creator of the world, +who fought God and the angels, and was more powerful than he on earth. +Christ was not the Son of God, but of Joseph, and was worthy of no +special reverence. Altogether the account is hopelessly confused, but we +can discern the dualism of a bastard Catharism, and allusions are made +to the _consolamentum_ and the sacrament of bread. Like Jacopo Bech, +Galosna had already abjured in the hands of Frà Tommaso da Casacho. Both +were therefore relapsed; there was no mercy for them, and on September +5, 1388, they were abandoned to the secular arm in Turin and necessarily +burned. Unfortunately the record ends here, and we have no details as to +the rich harvest which Frà Antonio must have reaped from the ample +information obtained from his victims as to the scattered members of the +sects.[290] + +Notwithstanding these evidences of vitality, Catharism was rapidly dying +out. The latest definite reference to it, west of the Adriatic, occurs +in 1403, when San Vicente Ferrer, the great Spanish revivalist, +undertook a peaceful mission in the remote valleys which no Catholic +priest had dared to visit for thirty years, when he found and converted +a number of Cathari dwelling among the Waldenses. He regarded as a form +of Manichæism the worship of the rising sun which he found habitual +among the peasants of the diocese of Lausanne, and some such survival of +nature-worship was probably not infrequent, for a penitent of Frà +Antonio Secco, in 1387, speaks of adoring the sun and moon on bended +knees. Yet there would seem to be a remnant of Catharism lingering among +the Waldenses of the Savoy valleys as late as 1451, when Filippo Regis +was tried by the Inquisition.[291] + + * * * * * + +Italian Waldensianism continued to flourish in the mountain fastnesses +of Piedmont, where the endless struggle with parsimonious nature +fostered the hardier virtues. Thence, as we have seen, were emigrants +and even colonies sent out, as persecution scattered the faithful or as +population outgrew the narrow means of subsistence. The kindlier climate +and less aggressive Inquisition of Naples finally rendered the southern +colonies the headquarters of the sect, with which constant +intercommunication was kept up. In 1387 we are told that the chief +pontiff resided in Apulia and that the Waldensian community at Barge in +Piedmont was presided over by two Apulians. A century later the mother +communities in the Cottian Alps still looked to southern Italy as to the +centre of their Church.[292] + +In 1292 we hear of persecutions in the Val Perosa, and again in 1312 +there were burnings of obstinate heretics in the valleys, but these +efforts effected little, for in 1332 a brief of John XXII. describes the +Waldensian church of the diocese of Turin as being in a most flourishing +condition. The heretics were so numerous that they disdained +concealment, holding assemblies in public in which as many as five +hundred would be gathered together. When Frà Giovanni Alberto, the +Inquisitor of Turin, had recently made an effort to repress them, they +boldly rose in arms. On the public square of Angrogna they slew the +parish priest Guillelmo, whom they suspected of furnishing information, +and Alberto himself they besieged in a castle where he had taken refuge, +so that he was glad to escape with his life, leaving the land abandoned +to heresy. For twenty years and more one of their principal chiefs had +been a man named Pier Martino, known also as Giuliano or Martino +Pastrae, who chanced in his wandering missions to fall into the hands of +Jean de Bades, the Inquisitor of Provence. The pope thereupon orders the +latter to deliver his prisoner to Frà Alberto, who will be able to +extract from him information of the utmost value in tracking and seizing +his fellow-religionists--information, as the pope suggests, which will +justify the use of torture. Doubtless this lucky capture enabled Frà +Alberto to lay hands on a number of outlying heretics, though he +probably did not again venture his person in the populous communities +which had shown so sturdy a readiness in self-protection.[293] + +Persecution continued, and in 1354 we chance to hear of an order issued +by Giacomo, Prince of Piedmont, to the Counts of Luserna, to imprison a +number of Waldenses recently discovered in Luserna and the neighboring +valleys. The order was issued at the instance of Pietro di Ruffia, +Inquisitor of Piedmont, who paid for his zeal with his life, being +shortly afterwards slain at Susa. In 1363 and 1364 Urban V. made another +attempt to reduce the heretics to obedience. The infected district was +exposed to attack on both sides, for the jurisdiction of the Inquisitor +of Provence extended over the Tarantaise. Frère Jean Richard of +Marseilles was directed to assail them from the west, while the +inquisitor and the Bishop of Turin were busy on the east. Amadeo of +Savoy was requested to co-operate with the Seneschal of Provence, and +this combined assault resulted in a number of captures and trials. It +was doubtless the mingled despair and thirst for revenge excited by this +that led to many Waldenses joining in the rising of the Jacquerie in +Savoy in 1365--a rising which was suppressed with the customary +merciless cruelty by the King of Navarre and Wenzel of Brabant. In spite +of these efforts at repression a letter written by them in 1368, to +their German brethren, would seem to show that they were still regarded +as the leaders of the sect.[294] + +Gregory XI. was especially zealous in the warfare with heresy, and we +have already seen how earnest were his efforts in 1375 to suppress the +Waldenses of Provence and Dauphiné. Those of Piedmont had rendered +themselves peculiarly obnoxious. Frà Antonio Pavo had recently gone to +"Bricarax," a place deeply infected with heresy, to preach against +them--his sermon, of course, including a summons before his +tribunal--when in place of humbly submitting, a dozen of them, incited +by the Evil One, had set upon him as he left the church and had slain +him. Another inquisitor, probably Pietro di Ruffia, had met the same +fate in the Dominican cloister at Susa, on the day of the Purification +of the Virgin (February 2). Such misdeeds demanded exemplary +chastisement, and Gregory's exhortations to Charles V. of France were +accompanied with the strongest urgency on Amadeo VI. of Savoy to clear +his land of brambles. We have seen how successful were the labors of the +Nuncio, Antonio Bishop of Massa, and the Inquisitor of Provence, +François Borel. They did not confine their energies to the French +valleys. The Waldenses of the Val di Susa were exposed to the most +pitiless persecution; on a Christmas night Borel with an armed force +attacked Pragelato, putting to the sword all whom he could reach. The +wretches who escaped perished of hunger and cold, including, it is said, +fifty women with children at the breast.[295] + +It may be hoped that this holocaust satisfied the manes of the murdered +inquisitors, for they seem to have received no other satisfaction. A +succession of inquisitors--Piero di Castelmonte, Ruffino di Terdona, +Tommaso da Casacho, and Michele Grassi, undaunted by the fate of their +predecessors, wasted their energies on the Piedmontese Waldenses without +reducing them to subjection. The pitiless forays of Borel drove the poor +wretches from their native valleys, and they poured over into Piedmont. +Amadeo VII., who succeeded his father in 1383, seems to have given the +Inquisition but slender support, and it had little encouragement in its +efforts to subdue the stubborn mountaineers. The fragmentary records of +Frà Antonio Secco, who undertook the work in the spring of 1387, show +how fruitless was the endeavor to co-operate with the ruthless +proselytism of Borel. It is true that he caught Isabel Ferreria, the +wife of Giovanni Gabriele, one of the murderers of Antonio Pavo, and had +the satisfaction of torturing her, but he could get no evidence against +her, and could only learn that her husband had died in 1386. Some other +suspects he tortured and penanced with crosses: apparently he had no +prisons at his disposal in which to incarcerate them. Accusations and +denunciations poured in to him by the hundred, showing that the land was +alive with heretics, but he was powerless to inflict on them punishment +that would make an impression. One of his first cases had been a certain +Lorenzo Bandoria, who had abjured before Antonio Pavo, and who under +torture confessed to continued heresy. Here was a clear case of relapse, +and accordingly, on March 31, he was abandoned to the secular arm and +all his property declared confiscated to the Inquisition. This proved a +mere _brutum fulmen_, for on May 6 Frà Antonio was obliged to issue a +mandate to Ugonetto Bruno, Lord of Ozasco, ordering him, under pain of a +hundred marks, to capture Lorenzo and present him before the tribunal +the next day, while the treasurer of Ozasco was required, under threat +of excommunication, to appear at the same time with an inventory of all +the convict's property. As Lorenzo had been handed over to the Castellan +of Pignerol for execution, it is evident that the officials refused to +carry out the sentences of the inquisitor, nor does this new effort +appear to have had any better result. Many of his citations were +disregarded, and when, on May 19, he ordered the lords of Ozasco to +arrest three heretics under penalty of a hundred marks, no attention +seems to have been paid to the command. This insubordination increased, +and as the season advanced we observe that when an accused refuses to +confess, the dread entry "the lord inquisitor is not content" is not +followed by the customary torture, but that the culprit is mercifully +dismissed under bail. One case gave Frà Antonio infinite disgust. On +June 27 he cited Giacomo Do and Sanzio Margarit of Sangano; they did not +appear, but on August 6 he found them in Turin and seized them. For +fifteen days he kept them in chains, when they broke jail, but by the +help of God he caught them again and carried them to the castle of +Avegliana, where they remained ten days. He had been unable to get them +tortured, and they would not confess without it; the magistrates of +Avegliana appealed to Count Amadeo, who ordered them released, and Frà +Antonio records the unwillingness with which he obeyed the command. He +endeavored to turn his stay in Avegliana to account by publishing the +customary monition for all persons to come forward and confess their own +heresy or denounce those who were suspect. For nine days he waited, but +not a soul appeared to accuse himself or his neighbors, and he departed, +grieved at heart over the obduracy of the people, for it was common fame +that there were many heretics there and in the neighborhood, especially +at Coazze and Valgione. The final blow came when in December he issued a +summons to all the officials of Val Perosa, one of the recognized +Waldensian valleys, reciting that their land was full of heretics and +that they must appear before him in Pignerol to purge themselves and +their communities of this infamy. They did not obey, but through the +intervention of the Piedmontese Chancellor, Giovanni di Brayda, and +other courtiers, they agreed to pay Count Amadeo five hundred florins a +year, for which he was to prevent the inquisitor from visiting Val +Perosa, and they were to be exempted from obeying his citations. This +was too much to endure, and Frà Antonio shook the dust of Pignerol from +his feet for the more promising chase of the Cathari near Turin, first +denouncing the officials of Val Perosa as having incurred +excommunication and the penalties of contumacy, the only result of which +was to draw upon his head the wrath of Count Amadeo. It does not appear +that he had any better success in endeavoring to obtain for his +Inquisition the confiscations of the people of Pragelato condemned by +the Provençal inquisitor, François Borel. By a special privilege of +Clement VII. the latter's jurisdiction had been extended over some of +the Piedmontese valleys, and though Frà Antonio might abandon the +persons of the heretics to his Franciscan rival, he was resolved, if he +could, to retain their property. These mishaps of Frà Antonio have an +interest, not only as a rare instance of difficulties thrown into the +path of the Inquisition, but as explaining why the fierce persecutions +of Borel had so little effect in diminishing Waldensianism.[296] +Pragelato, however, suffered more severely in 1400 when, about +Christmas, it was attacked by an armed force from Susa. The inhabitants +who escaped death or capture took refuge on the mountain-tops of the Val +San Martino, where many perished from exposure in the inclement season; +and the survivors, on returning after the departure of the troops, found +their dwellings dismantled. This cold-blooded cruelty shocked even +Boniface IX., who ordered the inquisitor in charge of the foray to +moderate his zeal in future.[297] + +Vicente Ferrer's visit of 1403 was of a more peaceful nature, but it is +not likely that the conversions of which he boasted were more permanent +than those which his eloquence effected with the Moors and Jews of his +native land, where they eagerly clamored for baptism under the +persuasion of massacre.[298] + +During the Great Schism persecution slackened, but already, in 1416, +fresh decrees were issued against the Waldenses. Our knowledge of +details is but fragmentary at best, and it is impossible to construct a +complete history of the conflict between them and the Inquisition, but +we may fairly infer that the latter was at least spasmodically active. A +petition addressed to the Duke of Savoy by the lords of Luserna recites +that the inhabitants of the valley were in full rebellion, owing to +repeated persecution; the document is without date, but must be +posterior to 1417, when Sigismund erected the county into a duchy. +Again, we know that, between 1440 and 1450, Frà Bertrando Piero, vicar +of the inquisitor, in one raid burned at Coni twenty-two relapsed +heretics, and confiscated their property. This happens to be alluded to +in a memorial addressed in 1457 to Calixtus III., by the people of the +neighboring village of Bernez, who proceed to relate that after this +exploit Frà Bertrando visited their town in company with his principal, +Frà Ludovico da Soncino, and commenced an inquisition there, but +abandoned it, to the scandal of the people, without concluding the +trials. Then Felix V. (Amadeo of Savoy) sent the Abbot of San-Piero of +Savigliano to complete the unfinished business, who acquitted a number +of the accused. Then recently there had come a new inquisitor who took +up the cases again and molested those who had been discharged, whereupon +they petitioned the pope that he be restrained from further proceedings +until two experts in theology be appointed as assessors by the Bishop of +Mondovi and the Abbot of Savigliano. The presentation of such a request +shows how much the Inquisition had lost of its power of inspiring awe, +and this is emphasized by the action of Calixtus in ordering the Bishop +of Turin and the inquisitor to associate with themselves two experts and +proceed with the cases. It indicates, moreover, that little rest was +allowed to the Waldenses. While this affair was dragging its slow length +along, Nicholas V., in 1453, addressed to the Bishops of Turin and Nice +and to the Inquisitor Giacomo di Buronzo, a bull reciting that Giacomo +had found in the Valley of Luserna a majority of the inhabitants +infected with heresy, many of them having relapsed repeatedly. Unable to +convert them, he had placed an interdict on the valley; the people had +repented and begged for readmission to the Church, wherefore Nicholas +orders the removal of the interdict, and that penitents, whether +relapsed or not, be pardoned and restored to all their civil rights--a +degree of lenity which indicates that sterner measures at the time were +clearly inexpedient.[299] + +In 1475 a more serious war of extermination was commenced against them +under the Duchess Yolande, Regent of Savoy, in conjunction with the +simultaneous action of the Inquisition in Dauphiné. By an edict of +January 23, 1476, all the officials in the infected districts were +placed at the disposition of the Inquisition, and the podestà of Luserna +was cited to appear on February 10, to answer for his conduct, in +refusing, at the instance of the Inquisitor Andrea di Aquapendente, to +make proclamation that none of the converts of Giacomo di Buronzo should +be permitted to effect sales greater in amount than one florin, and that +all sales which had been made by them were void, for they had relapsed, +were endeavoring to emigrate, and to dispose of their property, which +was legally confiscated. Louis XI., who stopped the persecution, as we +have seen, so unceremoniously in his own dominions, felt interest enough +in the matter to extend protection over the unfortunates in his sister's +territories, and his word had power sufficient to dampen the zeal of the +duchess, who was wholly dependent on him after the misfortunes of +Charles the Bold. Sixtus IV. was much scandalized by this. He had sent a +special papal commissioner to speed the holy work, and he wrote +pressingly to Louis, assuming that the royal letters of protection must +have been surreptitiously obtained. He instructed the Bishop of Turin to +go, if possible, in person to Louis and to make every effort to +exterminate the heretics, who dared openly to propagate their doctrines +and make converts, to the ruin of immortal souls. The death of Louis, in +1483, deprived the Waldenses of their protector, and persecution +recommenced. An order of Duke Carlo I., in 1484, to inquire into the +violences committed by the people of Angrogna, Villaro, and Bobbio +because their lords endeavored to suppress their heresies, shows how +soon and how bitterly the struggle broke out afresh. The heretics +scattered through the towns of Piedmont were mercilessly dealt with by +the inquisitors, but those who inhabited the mountain valleys were safe, +except from assault by overwhelming forces. In April, 1487, Innocent +VIII. recites how the inquisitor-general, Frà Blasio di Monreale, had +gone to the infected district, and had vainly sought by earnest +exhortations to induce the heretics to abandon their errors; how they +had contemptuously defied his censures, had continued openly to preach +and make converts, had attacked his house, slain his familiar, and +pillaged his goods. More strenuous efforts were evidently requisite, and +Innocent appointed Alberto de' Capitanei, Archdeacon of Cremona, as +papal nuncio and commissioner to Piedmont and Dauphiné, with +instructions to coerce the people to receive Frà Blasio, and permit the +free exercise of his office, and to crush the heretics like venomous +serpents. To this end Alberto was empowered to preach a crusade with +plenary indulgences, and to deprive of their office and dignities all, +whether ecclesiastics or laymen, who refused to obey his commands. From +February to May, 1488, he duly issued his citations to the heretics, and +as they were contumacious, he condemned them accordingly and abandoned +them in mass to the secular arm. Meanwhile a force estimated at eighteen +thousand crusaders had been raised in France and Piedmont, which +advanced in four columns so as to block every avenue of escape. The +slaughter in Val Louise has already been alluded to. The Val d'Angrogna +was more fortunate, and in the attack upon it the crusading army was +virtually annihilated. This victory earned for the Waldenses a respite, +and in 1490 Carlo I. invited them to a conference at Pignerol, where he +granted them peace and confirmed their privileges. In 1498 they were +visited by Lucas of Prague and Thomas Germanus, envoys of the _Unitas +Fratrum_ of Bohemia. Through these they addressed a letter to the +Bohemian King Ladislas and his nobles, boasting that they did not +frequent the Catholic churches, fiercely denouncing the vices of the +priesthood, and arguing that the benediction of such men was rather a +malediction. Evidently the spirit of the persecuted saints was unbroken, +and it was soon after put to the test in the valley of the Po, where +whole villages were found to consist of Waldenses. Marguerite de Foix, +Marchioness of Saluces, put troops at the command of the Inquisitor +Angelo Ricciardino, who had found his ordinary machinery baffled. The +villages of Pravillelm, Beitoneto, and Oncino were raided; most of the +inhabitants succeeded in escaping to Luserna, but some were captured, +and five were sentenced to be burned, March 24, 1510. A heavy snow-storm +delayed the execution, and during the ensuing night the prisoners broke +jail and joined their comrades. The inquisitor, however, was not to be +balked of his exhibition, and replaced the fugitives with three +prisoners to whom he had promised pardon in consideration of the fulness +of their confessions, and who were duly burned. The deserted villages +were confiscated and made over to good Catholics, but the refugees at +intervals descended on them, slaying and spoiling without mercy, till no +one dared to dwell there. Finally the bigoted marchioness yielded, and +for a round sum of money, in 1512, permitted the exiles to return and +dwell in peace. The triumph of toleration thus won by the sword was but +local and temporary. In Savoy, the statutes published in 1513 contain +all the time-honored provisions for the suppression of heresy, with +instructions to all public officials to aid in every way the +Inquisition, whose expenses are to be defrayed out of the confiscations. +Continued persecution was thus provided for, nor was it averted when, in +1530, the Waldenses opened negotiations with the Protestants of +Switzerland, resulting in their final incorporation with the +Calvinists.[300] + +These incessant ravages naturally led to emigration on an extended +scale, which, as we have seen, mostly turned itself to Calabria and +Apulia, where the brethren had dwelt in comparative peace for nearly two +centuries. A large portion of the population of Freyssinières, for +instance, expatriated themselves and settled in the valley of Volturara. +The Inquisition was virtually extinct in the kingdom of Naples during +the fifteenth century, and the heretics had earned toleration by a +decent reserve. They attended mass occasionally, allowed their children +to be baptized by the priests, and, what was more important, they paid +their tithes with exemplary regularity--tithes which grew satisfactorily +under the incessant industry of the God-fearing husbandmen. The mountain +valleys which had been almost a desert became smiling with corn-fields +and pastures, orchards and vine-yards. The nobles on whose lands they +had settled under formal agreements gave willing protection to those who +contributed so greatly to their revenues. When the independence of the +feudatories was lost under the growing royal power of the House of +Aragon, the heretics sought and obtained, in 1497, from King Frederic, +the confirmation by the crown of the agreements with the nobles, and +thus felt assured of continued toleration. They were visited every two +years by the travelling pastors, or _barbes_, who came in pairs, an +elder, known as the _reggitore_, and a younger, the _coadiutore_, +journeying with some pretence of occupation, finding in every city the +secret band of believers whom it was their mission to comfort and keep +steadfast in the faith, and from whom they made collections which they +reported to the General Assembly or Council. Between Pignerol and +Calabria they counted twenty-five days' journey along the western +coast, returning by the eastern to Venice. Everywhere they met friends +acquainted with their secret passwords, and in spite of ecclesiastical +vigilance there existed throughout Italy a subterranean network of +heresy disguised under outward conformity. In 1497 the envoys from the +Bohemian Brethren, Lucas and Thomas, found in Rome itself one of their +faith, whom they bitterly reproached for concealing his belief. In +Calabria, in 1530, it was estimated that they numbered ten thousand +souls, in Venetia, six thousand. The fate of these poor creatures, after +generations of peaceful existence which might well seem destined to be +perpetual, belongs to a period beyond our present limits, but the fact +that they could thus prosper and increase shows how rusty had grown the +machinery of the Inquisition, and how incapable had become its +officials.[301] + + * * * * * + +It only remains for us to note cursorily such indications as have +reached us of the activity and condition of the Inquisition in the +several provinces of Italy during the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries. In Savoy, as we have seen, the bitter contest with the +Waldenses kept it in fair working condition, while it was gradually +falling into desuetude elsewhere, although in Lombardy it still, for a +while, maintained its terrors. We have a somewhat vague description of +its sleepless vigilance in 1318, in pursuing certain heretics who are +described as Lollards--whether Begghards or Waldenses does not appear, +but probably the latter, as we are told that when concealment became +impossible the men escaped to Bohemia, leaving some women with children +at the breast, whereupon the women were burned, and the children given +to good Catholics to be brought up in the faith. In 1344 we hear of a +great popular excitement, caused by the belief that a number of victims +of the Inquisition had suffered unjustly. Matters went so far that the +Imperial Vicar, Lucchino Visconti, asked Clement VI. to order an +investigation, which was duly held, though we do not know the result. It +was possibly the feeling thus aroused which led, in 1346, to the murder +in the Milanese of a Franciscan inquisitor conspicuous for his +persecuting zeal. The perpetual troubles during the century between the +Holy See and the Visconti cannot but have greatly interfered with the +efficiency of persecution. In the collected statutes of the Dukes of +Milan from 1343 to 1495 there is no allusion of any kind to the +Inquisition, or to the punishment of heretics. There is, however, on +record a decree of 1388 placing the civil officials at the service of +the Inquisition, but it enforces the conditions of the Clementines, +which require episcopal consent to the use of torture and harsh prison, +and to the final sentence. It moreover threatens inquisitors with +punishment for using their office to extort money or gratify malice; and +it further significantly commands them not to abuse the privilege of +armed familiars, or to unnecessarily multiply their officials. How the +political passions of the time hindered the functions of the Holy Office +is seen in the case of Frà Ubertino di Carleone, a bustling Franciscan, +subsequently Bishop of Lipari, who, about 1360, was accused of heresy by +the Inquisitor of Piacenza. He at once proclaimed that his Ghibellinism +was the motive of the prosecution, and aroused the factions of the city +to a tumult, under cover of which he escaped.[302] + +Inquisitors, indeed, continued to be regularly appointed, and to perform +such of their functions as they could, but the decline in their +usefulness is shown by one of the earliest acts of Martin V., in 1417, +before leaving Constance, in commissioning the Observantine Franciscan, +Giovanni da Capistrano, as a special inquisitor against the heretics of +Mantua. From this time, in fact, when any effective effort against +heresy was called for, the regular machinery of the Inquisition was no +longer relied upon. It seems to have been regarded as effete for all the +purposes for which it had been instituted, and special appointments were +necessary of men devoted to the work, such as Capistrano and his friend +Giacomo della Marca. Just as the inquisitorial jurisdiction had +superseded the episcopal, so now both were overslaughed as insufficient. +Thus, in 1457, when a new heresy sprang up in Brescia and Bergamo +concerning Christ, the Virgin, and the Church Militant, infecting both +clergy and laity, and including suspicion of sorcery, Calixtus III. +ordered his nuncio in those parts, Master Bernardo del Bosco, to seize +the heretics and try them, with even more than the privileges of an +inquisitor, for he was empowered to proceed to final judgment and +execution without appeal, leaving it to his discretion whether he should +call for advice upon the inquisitors and episcopal ordinaries. Two years +later, in the case of Zanino da Solcia, to which I shall recur +hereafter, the sentence was rendered by the Lombard inquisitor, Frà +Jacopo da Brescia, but the examination took place in the presence of +Master Bernardo del Bosco, who moreover received the abjuration of +Zanino, and the sentence was sent to Pius II. and was modified by him. +The diminution of popular respect for the Inquisition was still further +manifested in 1459, by the doubts publicly expressed of the validity of +the bulls of Innocent IV. and Alexander IV. authorizing inquisitors to +preach crusades against heretics and to prosecute for heresy all persons +and communities impeding them, so that Calixtus III. was obliged to +reissue the authorization.[303] + +A curious case occurring about this time illustrates the growing +indifference felt in Lombardy for the Inquisition. In Milan, about 1440, +a learned mathematician, named Amadeo de' Landi, was accused of heresy +before the inquisitors. During the progress of his trial he was, to the +great damage of his reputation, denounced as a heretic by sundry friars +in their sermons, and among others by Bernardino of Siena, the saintly +head of the Observantines. The Inquisition pronounced him a good +Catholic and discharged him, but those who had slandered him offered no +reparation. The acquittal by the Inquisition apparently did not outweigh +the denunciations of Bernardino, and Amadeo appealed to Eugenius IV., +who referred the matter to Giuseppe di Brippo, with power to enforce his +decision with censures. Giuseppe summoned the detractors to appear on a +certain day, and on their failing to present themselves condemned +Bernardino to make public retraction under pain of excommunication. +Bernardino paid no heed to this, and on his death in 1444, when +immediate efforts were made for his canonization, Amadeo raised great +scandal by proclaiming that he had died in mortal sin as an +excommunicate. This gratified the jealousy of the conventual branch of +the Franciscans and many of the secular clergy, who spread the scandal +far and wide. By this time, however, the Observantines were too +influential for such an assault upon their revered vicar-general to be +successful; and in 1447 they obtained from Nicholas V. a bull in which +he annulled all the proceedings of Giuseppe, ordered every record of +them to be destroyed, imposed silence on the unlucky Amadeo, declared +Bernadino to have acted righteously throughout, and forbade all clerks, +friars, and others from indulging in further detraction concerning him. +I may add that the opposition of the Conventuals was powerful enough to +postpone until 1450 the canonization of San Bernardino, and a humorous +incident in the struggle may be worth mention. When the blessed Tommaso +of Florence died at Rieti in 1447, and immediately began to coruscate in +miracles, Capistrano hurried thither and forbade him to display further +his thaumaturgic powers until Bernardino should be canonized--and +Tommaso meekly obeyed.[304] + +Yet, shorn as the Inquisition had become of real effectiveness for its +avowed functions, the office continued to be sought, doubtless because +it conferred a certain measure of importance, and possibly because it +afforded opportunity of illicit gains. Inquisitors were regularly +appointed, and the custom grew up in Lombardy that in each city where a +tribunal existed vacancies were filled on the nomination of the prior of +the local Dominican convent with the assent of discreet brethren, +whereupon the General Master of the Order issued the commission. In 1500 +this was modified by giving the Vicar-general of Lombardy power to +reject or ratify the nomination. The subordinate position to which the +inquisitorial office had fallen is illustrated in the last decade of the +fifteenth century by Frà Antonio da Brescia, who was inquisitor of his +native place, and who was claimed as an ornament of the Dominican Order, +but his eulogist has nothing to say as to his persecuting heretics, +while praising his pulpit labors in many of the Italian cities.[305] + + * * * * * + +In Venice, as we have seen, the Inquisition never succeeded in shaking +off the trammels of state supervision and interference. In what spirit +the State regarded its relations with the Holy Office was exhibited in +1356, when Frà Michele da Pisa, the Inquisitor of Treviso, imprisoned +some Jewish converts who had apostatized. This was strictly within his +functions, but the secular officials interposed, forbade his proceeding +to try his prisoners, seized his familiars, and tortured them on the +charge of pilfering the property of the accused. These high-handed +measures provoked the liveliest indignation on the part of Innocent VI., +but the republic stood firm, and nothing seems to have been gained. In +the correspondence which ensued, moreover, there are allusions to former +troubles which show that this was by no means the first time that Frà +Michele's labors had been impeded by the secular power. Sometimes, +indeed, the Signoria completely ignored the Inquisition. In 1365 a case +in which a prisoner had blasphemed the Virgin was brought before the +Great Council, which ordered him to be tried by the vicar of the Bishop +of Castello, and on conviction to be banished, thus prescribing the +punishment, and recognizing only the episcopal jurisdiction.[306] + +In 1373 Venice was honored with the appointment of a special inquisitor, +Frà Ludovico da San-Martino, while Frà Niccolò Mucio of Venice was made +Inquisitor of Treviso. This led to some debate about their partition of +the great Patriarchate of Aquileia, which extended from the province of +Spalatro to that of Milan. The Patriarchate of Grado (which was not +transferred to Venice till 1451) was adjudged to Ludovico, together with +the see of Jesol. This latter place, though close to Venice, was then, +we are told, in ruins, with a roofless cathedral serving as a place of +refuge for heretics, who there felt safe from persecution. This +partition did not improve the position of the inquisitor, whose +importance was reduced to a minimum. He seems, in fact, to be regarded +only as a functionary of the state police. In 1412 the Great Council +orders him, April 17, to put an end to the performance of divine service +by a Greek priest named Michael, whose celebrations attract great +crowds, and also to banish him, taking care to so manage the affair that +the interposition of the council may not be suspected; and a month +later, May 26, the order of banishment is revoked, but the prohibition +of celebration is maintained. In all his proper functions the inquisitor +was overslaughed and disregarded. In 1422 the Council of Ten appointed a +commission to examine some Franciscans charged with sacrificing to +demons and other abominable practices, and a month later they sent to +Martin V., requesting powers to terminate the matter, in view of the +immunities enjoyed by the Mendicants. When, in the following year, 1423, +the Senate withdrew the pecuniary provision with which the State had +always defrayed the expenses of the Inquisition, they marked their sense +of its inutility and their indifference to its power. This may possibly +have led to the reunion of the districts of Venice and Treviso, for, in +1433 and 1434, we find single inquisitors appointed to both. In the +latter year the lack of power of the incumbent, Frà Luca Cioni, is shown +by the fact that when he desired to proceed against Ruggieri da Bertona, +accused of heresy, he was forced to get Eugenius IV. to order the Bishop +of Castello (Venice) to assist him. A further recognition of the +inefficiency of the Inquisition is seen in the sending of Frà Giovanni +da Capistrano to Venice in 1437, when the Jesuats were accused of +heresy, and he acquitted them, and again, about 1450, when heretical +notions spread there concerning the origin and nature of the soul, which +he suppressed.[307] + +Allusion has been made in a former chapter to the limitation imposed in +1450 by the Council of Ten on the number of armed familiars whom the +inquisitor might retain, reducing them to four, and in 1451 increasing +them to twelve, with instructions to the police to see that they were +really engaged in the duties of the Holy Office. In so large and +populous a district this sufficiently shows how purely nominal were the +functions of the Inquisition, and how close was the supervision +exercised by the State. Yet inquisitors continued to be appointed, but +when they attempted to exercise any independent jurisdiction we have +seen, in the case of the sorcerers of 1521, that even the most energetic +interference of Leo X. could not induce the Signoria to waive its right +of final decision.[308] + +In Mantua, which formed part of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, we hear, +in 1494, of an inquisitor who, for lack of heresies to suppress, +assailed the _monts de piété_, or public pawning establishments, and all +who favored them. These institutions were founded about this period as a +charitable work for the purpose of rescuing the poor from the exactions +of the usurers and the Jews. Frà Bernardino da Feltre, a celebrated +Observantine Franciscan, made this a special object of his mission-work +in the Italian cities, and on his coming to Mantua he completely +silenced his adversaries. The decline of visible heresy at this period, +in fact, is illustrated in the very diffuse account which Luke Wadding +gives, year after year, of Bernardino's triumphant progress throughout +Italy to call the people to repentance, when cities eagerly disputed +with each other the blessing of his presence. In all this there is no +allusion to any attacks by him on heresy; had there been any to assail, +his burning zeal would not have suffered it to enjoy impunity.[309] + + * * * * * + +In Tuscany the growing insubordination felt towards the Inquisition was +manifested at Siena, in 1340, by the enactment of laws checking some of +its abuses. Frà Simone Filippo, the inquisitor, complained to Benedict +XII., who at once pronounced them null and void, and ordered them erased +from the statute-book. The relations between the Holy Office and the +people at this period, however, are more significantly displayed in a +series of events occurring at Florence, of which the details chance to +have been preserved. In Tuscany the triumph of orthodoxy had been +complete. A sermon of Frà Giordano da Rivalto, in 1304, asserts that +heresy was virtually exterminated: scarce any heretics remained, and +they were in strict hiding. This is confirmed by Villani, who tells us +that, by the middle of the century, there were no heretics in Florence. +This is doubtless too absolute an assertion, but the existence of a few +scattered Waldenses and Fraticelli offered scant excuse for such an +establishment as the inquisitor was accustomed to maintain. In 1337 the +papal nuncio, Bertrand, Archbishop of Embrun, took the incumbent of the +office severely to task for the abuse of appointing an excessive number +of assistants, and ordered him in future to restrict himself to four +counsellors and assessors, two notaries, two jailers, and twelve +ministers or familiars. This was by no means a small or inexpensive body +of officials; the Inquisition's share of confiscations from the few +poverty-stricken heretics who could occasionally be picked up evidently +was insufficient to maintain such a corps, and means, either fair or +foul, must be found to render the income of the office adequate to the +wants of those who depended upon it for their fortunes. How this was +done, on the one hand by cheating the papal camera, and on the other by +extorting money on false charges of heresy and by selling to bravoes +licenses to carry arms, has already been pointed out. The former device +was one which, when detected, was difficult to condone, and its +discovery caused, in the commencement of 1344, a sudden vacancy in the +Florentine Inquisition. The republic was in the habit of suggesting +names to the Franciscan General for appointment, and sometimes its +requests were respected. In the present case it asked, February 26, that +the Tuscan inquisitor, Frà Giovanni da Casale, be permitted to exercise +his functions within the city, but the suggestion was unheeded, and in +March the post was given to Frà Piero di Aquila.[310] + +Frà Piero was a distinguished member of the Franciscan Order. But two +months earlier he had been appointed chaplain to Queen Joanna of Naples, +and his Commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard were highly +esteemed, receiving, in 1480, the honor of an edition printed at +Speier. A man so gifted was warmly welcomed, and the republic thanked +the Franciscan General for the selection. I have already detailed how he +fell into the same courses as his predecessor in cheating the papal +camera, how he was prosecuted for this, and for what the republic +officially denounced as "_estorsioni nefande_" committed on the +people, and how, within two years after his appointment, he was a +fugitive, not daring to stand trial. There is another phase of his +activity, however, which is worth recounting in some detail, as it +illustrates perfectly how useful an instrument was the Inquisition in +carrying out the wishes of the Roman curia in matters wholly +disconnected with the purity of the faith.[311] + +The Cardinal of Santa Sabina, while visiting various courts in the +capacity of papal legate, had had occasion to collect large sums. In +charity to him we may assume, what doubtless was the truth, that the +money belonged to the pope, although it stood in the cardinal's name on +the books of his bankers, the great Florentine company of the +Acciajuoli. In receiving it the members of the company had bound +themselves jointly and severally for its repayment, agreeing to subject +themselves to the judgment of the Court of Auditors of the Apostolic +Chamber. In 1343 there was due the cardinal some twelve thousand +florins, which the Acciajuoli were unable to pay. A commercial and +financial crisis had paralyzed the commerce and industries of the city. +Its bankers had advanced vast sums to Edward III. of England and to +Robert the Good of Naples, and clamored in vain for repayment. The +Lombard war had exhausted the public treasury and the whole community +was bankrupt. Not only the Acciajuoli, but the Bardi, the Peruzzi, and +other great banking-houses closed their doors, and ruin stared the +Florentines in the face. There was at least one creditor, however, who +was resolved to have his money.[312] + +On October 9, 1343, Clement VI. wrote to the republic, stating the claim +of the cardinal and ordering the Signoria to compel the Acciajuoli to +pay it. Under the circumstances this was clearly impossible, but +judgment against the debtors had been rendered by the auditors of the +papal camera. This was enough to bring the affair within the sphere of +spiritual jurisdiction, and authority was sent to the inquisitor to +execute the sentence, calling in the aid of the secular arm, and, if +necessary, laying an interdict on the city. The matter dragged on until, +November 23, 1345, Frà Piero appeared before the Gonfaloniero and the +Priors of the Arts, and summoned them to imprison the debtors until +payment, under pain of excommunication and interdict; whereupon the +magistrates responded that, out of reverence for the pope and respect +for the inquisitor and to oblige the cardinal, they would lend the aid +of the secular arm. Still the money was not forthcoming, and although +such assets of the Acciajuoli as could be seized were delivered to Frà +Piero, and security was given for the balance, he held the whole +community responsible for the debt of a few of the citizens. The +discussion became angry, and when the inquisitor, in violation of a law +of the republic, committed the indiscretion of arresting Salvestro +Baroncelli, a member of the bankrupt company, as he was leaving the +palace of the Priors of the Arts, his three familiars who had committed +the offence were, in compliance with a savage statute, punished with +banishment and the loss of the right hand. + +All this did not extract the money from the bankrupts, and Frà Piero +laid the city under interdict, but both the clergy and people refused to +observe it. The churches remained open and the rites of religion +continued to be celebrated, leading to a fresh series of prosecutions +against the bishop and priests. Inside the walls the Florentines might +disregard the censures of the Church, but a commercial community could +not afford to be cut off from intercourse with the world. Her citizens +and their goods were scattered in every trade-centre in Christendom, and +were virtually outlawed by the interdict. This was the reason alleged by +the priors when, June 14, 1346, they humbled their pride and sent +commissioners to Clement authorized to bind the republic to pay the debt +of the Acciajuoli to the cardinal, not exceeding seven thousand florins, +in eight months. Their submission was graciously received, and, February +28, 1347, the pope ordered the interdict removed, cautiously providing, +however, for its _ipso facto_ renewal in case the obligation for six +thousand six hundred florins was not met at maturity.[313] + +Meanwhile another scene of the comedy was developing itself. In its +contest with Frà Piero the republic had not stood solely on the +defensive. Piero, papal nuncio at Lucca, who had in charge the +prosecutions against the inquisitors for embezzling the sums due to the +camera, had appointed as his deputy in Florence, Niccolò, Abbot of Santa +Maria, who proceeded against Frà Piero on that charge, to which the +Signoria added the accusation, sustained by abundant testimony, of +extorting from citizens large sums of money by fraudulent prosecutions +for heresy. By March 10, 1346, the Signoria was asking the appointment +of Frà Michele di Lapo as his successor. Frà Piero was a fugitive, and +refused to return and stand his trial when legally cited and tendered a +safe-conduct. After due delay, in 1347, the Abate Niccolò, being armed +with papal authority, declared him in default and contumacious, and then +proceeded to excommunicate him. The excommunication was published in all +the churches of Florence, and Frà Piero was thus cut off from the +faithful and abandoned to Satan. He could afford to regard all this with +calm philosophy. His success in collecting the cardinal's money entitled +him to reward, and the booty of seven thousand florins which he had +personally carried off from Florence as the results of his two years' +inquisitorial career, could doubtless be used to advantage. While +Niccolò was vainly citing him, he was promoted, February 12, 1347, to +the episcopate of Sant-Angeli de' Lombardi, and his excommunication was +answered, June 29, 1348, by his translation to the presumably preferable +see of Trivento. All that the Florentines could do was to petition +repeatedly that in future inquisitors should be selected from among +their own citizens, who would be less likely than strangers to be guilty +of extortions and scandals. Their request was respected at least in +1354, when a Florentine, Frà Bernardo de' Guastoni, was appointed +Inquisitor of Tuscany.[314] + +This was not likely to be effective, and the Signoria made a more +promising effort at self-protection by passing various laws imitated +from those adopted not long before at Perugia. To limit the abuse of +selling licenses to bear arms, the inquisitor, as we have seen, was +restricted to employing six armed familiars. Moreover, it was decreed +that no citizen could be arrested without the participation of the +podestà, who was required to seize all persons designated to him by the +bishop--the inquisitor not being alluded to--which would seem to leave +small opportunity for independent action by the latter, especially as he +was deprived of his private jail and was ordered to send all prisoners +to the public prison. He was further prohibited from inflicting +pecuniary punishments, and all whom he condemned as heretics were to be +burned. This was revolutionary in a high degree, and did not tend to +harmonize the relations between the republic and the papacy. The +desperate quarrel between them which arose in 1375 was caused by +political questions, but it was embittered by troubles arising from the +Inquisition, especially as a demand made by Innocent VI., in 1355, for a +revision of their statutes remained unheeded. In 1372 efforts were made +to obtain the removal of Frà Tolomeo da Siena, the Inquisitor of +Tuscany, who was exceedingly unpopular, but Gregory XI. expressed the +fullest confidence in him and ordered him to be protected by the +Vicar-general, Filippo, Bishop of Sabina. Yet the pope probably yielded, +for I find in 1373 that Frà Piero di Ser Lippo, who had already served +as Tuscan inquisitor in 1371, was again appointed to replace a certain +Frà Andrea di Ricco. With some intervals Frà Piero served until at least +1384, and he proved no more disposed than his predecessors to yield to +the resistance which the methods of the Inquisition inevitably provoked +in the free Italian cities. Pistoia had followed the example of Florence +in endeavoring to protect its citizens by municipal statutes, and in +1375 it was duly placed under interdict and its citizens were +excommunicated. At the same time Frà Piero complained of Florence as +impeding the free action of the Inquisition, and Gregory at once ordered +the Signoria to abrogate the obnoxious statutes. No attention was paid +to these commands by Florence, and when the rupture came the Florentine +mob expressed its feelings by destroying the inquisitorial prison and +driving the inquisitor from the city. It was also alleged that in the +disturbances a monk named Niccolò was tortured and buried alive. These +misdeeds, although denied by the Signoria, were alleged as a +justification of the terrible bull of March 31, 1376, fulminated against +Florence by Gregory. In this he not only excommunicated and interdicted +the city, but specially outlawed the citizens, exposing their property +wherever found to seizure, and their persons to slavery. This shocking +abuse was the direct outgrowth of the long series of legislation against +heresy, and was sanctioned by the public law of the period; everywhere +throughout Christendom the goods of Florentines were seized and the +merchants were glad to beg their way home, stripped of all they +possessed. Not all were so fortunate, as some pious monarchs, like +Edward III., in addition reduced them to servitude. No commercial +community could long endure a contest waged after this fashion, and, as +before, Florence was compelled to submit. In the peace signed July 28, +1378, the republic agreed to annul all laws restricting the Inquisition +and interfering with the liberties of the Church, and it authorized a +papal commissioner to expunge them from the statute-book. The Great +Schism, however, weakened for a time the aggressive energy of the +papacy, and much of the obnoxious legislation reappears in the revised +code of 1415.[315] + +The career of Tommasino da Foligno, who died in 1377, has interest for +us, not only as illustrating the activity of the Inquisition of the +period, but also from the curious parallelism which it affords with that +of Savonarola. He was one of the prophets, like St. Birgitta of Sweden, +St. Catharine of Siena, and the Friends of God in the Rhinelands, who +were called forth by the untold miseries then afflicting mankind. A +tertiary of St. Francis, he had practised for three years the greatest +austerities as an anchorite, when God summoned him forth to preach +repentance to the warring factions whose savage quarrels filled every +city in the land with wretchedness. Like the other contemporary +prophets, he spared neither clerk nor layman; and his bitter +animadversions at Perugia on the evil life of Gerald, Abbot of +Marmoutiers, papal vicar for the States of the Church, may perhaps +account for his subsequent rough handling by the Inquisition. Gifted +with miraculous power, as well as with the spirit of prophecy, he +wandered from town to town, proclaiming the wrath of God, and +foretelling misfortunes which, in the existing state of society, were +almost sure to come to pass. To convince the incredulous at Siena, on a +midsummer day he predicted a frost for the morrow. When it duly came he +was accused of sorcery, seized by the Inquisition, and tortured nearly +to death, but he was discharged when a miracle established his innocence +and healed the wounds of the torture-chamber. After an intermediate +pilgrimage to far-off Compostella, his preaching at Florence excited so +much antagonism that again he was arrested by the Inquisition, cast into +a dungeon, and kept three days without food or drink, to be finally +discharged as insane. After his death at Foligno, unsuccessful attempts +were made to procure his canonization, and he long remained an object of +local veneration and worship.[316] + +During the fifteenth century the Inquisition in central Italy subsided +into the same unimportance that we have witnessed elsewhere. The effect +of the Great Schism in reducing the respect felt for the papacy was +especially felt in Italy, and the papal officials lost nearly all power +of enforcing obedience, although the Inquisition at Pisa, when it was +strengthened by the presence of the council held there in 1409, took its +revenge on a man named Andreani, whom it burned for the crime of +habitually and publicly ridiculing it. When the schism was healed at +Constance, one of the earliest efforts of Martin V. was directed against +the Fraticelli, whose increase in the Roman province he especially +deprecated. In his bull on the subject, November 14, 1418, he complained +that when inquisitors endeavored to exercise their office against the +heretics the latter would claim the jurisdiction of some temporal lord +and then threaten and insult their persecutors, so that the latter were +afraid to perform their functions. Martin's only remedy was practically +to supersede the inquisitors by special appointments, and this naturally +sank the institution to a deeper degradation. Thus in 1424, when there +were three Fraticelli to be tried in Florence, Martin placed the matter +in the hands of Frà Leonardo, a Dominican professor of theology. Still +the office of inquisitor continued to be sought and appointments to be +made with more or less regularity, from motives which can easily be +conjectured; but of activity against heresy there is scarce a trace. How +unimportant its functions had become in Bologna may be gathered from the +fact that in 1461 the inquisitor, Gabriele of Barcelona, was sent to +Rome by his superiors to teach theology in the convent of Minerva, when +Pius II. authorized him to appoint a vicar to discharge his duties +during his absence. Ten years afterwards the Bolognese inquisitor, Frà +Simone da Novara, was fortunate enough to lay hands on a man named +Guizardo da Sassuolo, who was suspected of heresy. So completely were +such proceedings forgotten that he felt obliged to apply for +instructions to Paul II., who congratulated him on the capture, ordered +him to proceed according to the canons, and desired the episcopal vicar +to co-operate. Heretics evidently had grown scarce, and the +inquisitorial functions had fallen into desuetude.[317] + +In Rome, when there really was a heresiarch to condemn, there was no +Inquisition at hand to perform the duty. In the proceedings against +Luther there is no trace of its intervention. The bull _Exsurge Domine_, +June 15, 1520, contains no allusion to his doctrines having been +examined by it; when they were publicly condemned, June 12, 1521, the +ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Ascoli, Auditor of the Rota, and +Silvestro Prierias, Master of the Sacred Palace, while the sentence +which consigned his effigy and his books to the flames was pronounced by +Frà Cipriano, professor in the College of Sacred Theology. It was +perhaps the most momentous _auto de fé_ that has ever been celebrated, +but the Inquisition can boast of no participation in it.[318] + + * * * * * + +In the Two Sicilies the Inquisition dragged on a moribund existence. +Letters of King Robert in 1334 and 1335 and of Joanna I. in 1342 and +1343 show that inquisitors continued to be appointed and to receive the +royal exequatur, but they were limited to making fifty arrests each, and +record of these was required to be entered in the royal courts; they had +no jails, and the royal officials received their prisoners and tortured +them when called upon. The Jews appear to be the main object of +inquisitorial activity, and this can only have been halting, for in 1344 +Clement VI. orders his legate at Naples, Aymerico, Cardinal of S. +Martino, to punish condignly all apostate Jews, as though there were no +Inquisition at work there. Yet in 1362 there were three inquisitors in +Naples, Francesco da Messina, Angelo Cicerello da Monopoli, and Ludovico +da Napoli, who took part in the trial of the rebellious Luigi di +Durazzo. Still, when efforts were to be made against the Fraticelli, +Urban V., in 1368, deemed it necessary to send a special inquisitor, Frà +Simone del Pozzo, to Naples. Although his jurisdiction extended over the +island of Sicily, Gregory XI., in 1372, when informed that the relics of +the Fraticelli were venerated there as those of saints, ordered the +prelates to put a stop to it, as though he had no inquisitor to call +upon. Yet Frà Simone was there in that year, and had a theological +disputation with Frà Niccolò di Girgenti, a learned Franciscan who had +been provincial of his Order. The question turned upon some scholastic +subtleties respecting the three persons of the Trinity, and as each +disputant claimed the victory, Simone proceeded to settle the matter by +secretly prosecuting his antagonist for heresy. Niccolò got wind of this +and at once appealed to Rome, before the Archbishop of Palermo, +demanding his _apostoli_--an appeal which Simone pronounced frivolous. +The revelations made by Niccolò as to his antagonists present a most +dismal picture of the internal condition of the Church at the time, +although Frà Simone's learning and ascetic life won him the popular +reputation of a saint, and he obtained the bishopric of Catania, +becoming an important political personage. In 1373 Frederic III. issued +letters to all the royal officials ordering them to lend all aid to him +and to his familiars, and the Inquisition seems to have been firmly +established, with prisons of its own. In 1375 we find Gregory applying +to the king for the confiscations, and procuring from the revenues of +Palermo an appropriation of twelve ounces of gold, to be applied to the +extermination of heresy. In this recrudescence of persecution the Jews +appear to have been the principal victims. They appealed to Frederic, +who in the same year, 1375, issued letters severely blaming the +inquisitors and ordering that in future their prisoners should be +confined only in the royal jails; that civil judges should assist in +their decisions, and that an appeal should lie to the High Court. This +was imposing serious limitations on inquisitorial jurisdiction, but no +reclamation against it appears to have been made. In Naples, letters of +Charles III., issued in 1382 to Frà Domenico di Astragola and Frà +Leonardo di Napoli, show that inquisitors continued to be appointed. In +1389 Boniface IX. seems to unite Naples with Sicily by appointing Frà +Antonio Traverso di Aversa as inquisitor on both sides of the Faro; but +in 1391 another brief of the same pope alludes to the Inquisition of +Sicily having become vacant by the death of Frà Francesco da Messina, +and as there is customarily but one inquisitor there he fills the +vacancy by the appointment of Frà Simone da Amatore. Frà Simone had a +somewhat stormy career. Already, in 1392, he was replaced by Frà +Giuliano di Mileto, afterwards Bishop of Cefalù, but seems to have +regained his position, for in 1393 he was obliged by King Martin to +refund moneys extorted from some Jews whom he had prosecuted for holding +illicit relations with Christian women, and was told not to interfere +with matters beyond his jurisdiction. Engaging in treasonable +intrigues, he was driven from the island, and in 1397 we find him acting +as papal legate and provincial in Germany. In 1400 he obtained his +pardon from King Martin, and was allowed to reside in Syracuse, but was +strictly forbidden from exercising the office of inquisitor. Meanwhile, +in 1395, we hear of Guglielmo di Girgenti as inquisitor, and in 1397, of +Matteo di Catania, a sentence by whom in that year, fining a Jew and his +wife in forty ounces, was confirmed by the king, showing that the +Inquisition continued to be subordinated to the civil power. Frà Matteo +was inquisitor on both sides of the Faro, for a royal letter of 1399 +describes him as such, and orders obedience rendered to his vicar, while +another of 1403 shows that he still retained the position. A royal +decree of 1402 specially provides for Jews an appeal to the king from +all inquisitorial sentences, thus continuing what had long been the +practice. In 1415 royal letters confirming the appointment of Frà +Antonio de Pontecorona, others of 1427 in favor of Frà Benedetto da +Perino, and of 1446, in favor of Frà Andrea de la Pascena, show that the +organization was maintained, but all sentences were required to be +transmitted to the viceroy, who submitted them to a royal judge before +they were valid. Thus, in 1451, King Alfonso confirmed a fine of ten +thousand florins, levied upon the Jews as a punishment for their usuries +and other offences.[319] + +On the mainland we have seen proof of the decay of the Inquisition in +the undisturbed growth of the Waldensian communities, and the complete +breaking-down of its machinery is fairly illustrated in 1427, when +Joanna II. undertook to enforce certain measures against the Jews of her +kingdom. Had there been an effective and organized Inquisition she would +have required no better instrument for her purpose; and it could only +have been the absence of this that led her to call in the indefatigable +persecutor, Frà Giovanni da Capistrano, to whom she issued a commission +to coerce the Jews to abandon usury and to wear the sign Tau, as +provided by law. He was empowered to decree such punishments as he +might deem fit, which were to be mercilessly inflicted by all judges and +other officials, and he was moreover to constrain, under pain of +confiscation, the Jews to surrender to him for cancellation all letters +and privileges granted to them by former monarchs. Yet there was still a +simulacrum of the Inquisition maintained, for in the following year, +1428, we find Martin V. confirming the appointment of Frà Niccolò di +Camisio as Inquisitor of Benevento, Bari, and the Capitanata.[320] + +Whatever vitality the Inquisition retained was still more reduced when, +in 1442, the House of Aragon obtained the throne of Naples. Giannone +tells us that the Aragonese princes rarely admitted inquisitors, and, +when they did so, required minute reports as to their every official +act, never permitting any conviction without the participation of the +secular magistrates, followed by royal confirmation, as we have seen to +have been the case in Sicily. When, in 1449, Nicholas V. appointed Frà +Matteo da Reggio as inquisitor to exterminate the apostate Jews who were +said to be numerous throughout the kingdom, the terms employed would +seem to indicate that for some time the Inquisition had been practically +extinct, although but two years before he had given a commission to Frà +Giovanni da Napoli, and although subsequent inquisitors were +occasionally appointed.[321] + +In Sicily, however, in 1451, the Inquisition obtained fresh vitality by +means of an ingenious device. Frà Enrico Lugardi, Inquisitor of Palermo, +produced a most impudent forgery in the shape of a long and elaborate +privilege purporting to have been issued by the Emperor Frederic II. in +1224, ordering all his Sicilian subjects to give aid and comfort to the +"inquisitors of heretical pravity," and stating that, as it was +unfitting that all confiscations should inure to the royal fisc without +rewarding the inquisitors for their toils and perils, the confiscations +henceforth should be divided equally between the fisc, the Inquisition, +and the Holy See; moreover, all Jews and infidels were required once a +year to supply inquisitors and their attendants, when in prosecution of +their duty, with all necessaries for man and beast. Though the +fraudulent character of this document was conspicuous on its face, to +say nothing of a blunder in the regnal year of its date, the age was not +a critical one; Frà Enrico seems to have had no trouble in inducing King +Alonso to confirm it, and it was subsequently confirmed again in 1477 by +Ferdinand and Isabella. The privileges which it conferred were +substantial, and gave fresh importance to the Inquisition, although its +judgments were still subjected to revision by the civil power. When, in +1474, famine led Sixtus IV. to request of the Viceroy Ximenes the +shipment of a large supply of corn from Sicily to Rome, he wrote to the +inquisitor, Frà Salvo di Cassetta, ordering him to strain every nerve to +secure the granting of the favor. The inquisitor at that time was +evidently a personage of influence, for Frà Salvo in fact was also +confessor of the viceroy. The central tribunal of the Inquisition sat in +Palermo, and there were three commissioners or deputies in charge of the +three "valleys" of the island.[322] + +Ferdinand the Catholic, in founding the New Spanish Inquisition, +obtained for his grand inquisitor the power of nominating deputies in +all the dependencies of Castile and Aragon. About 1487 Fray Antonio de +la Peña was sent to Sicily in that capacity, who speedily organized the +Holy Office on its new basis throughout the island; and in 1492 an edict +of banishment was issued against the Jews, who, as of old, were the +chief objects of persecution. On the mainland there was more trouble. +When, in 1503, Ferdinand acquired the kingdom of Naples, the Great +Captain, Gonsalvo of Cordova, finding the people excited with the fear +that the Spanish Inquisition might be introduced, made a solemn compact +that no inquisitors should be sent thither. The old rules were kept in +force; no one was allowed to be arrested without a special royal +warrant, and no inquisitor could exercise any functions without the +confirmation of his commission by the royal representative. +Notwithstanding this, in 1504, Diego Deza, the Spanish inquisitor-general, +sent to Naples an inquisitor and a receiver of confiscated property, +with royal letters ordering them to have free exercise of their +authority, but Gonsalvo, who knew by how slender a tenure the new +dynasty held the allegiance of the people, seems not to have admitted +them. Under the excuse that the Jews and New Christians expelled from +Spain found refuge in Naples, the attempt was again made in 1510, and +Andres Palacio was sent there as inquisitor, but the populace rose in +arms and made demonstrations so threatening that even Ferdinand's +fanaticism was forced to give way. The movements of the French in the +north of Italy were disquieting, the loyalty of the Neapolitans was not +to be relied upon, and the inquisitor was withdrawn with a promise that +no further effort would be made to force upon the people the dreaded +tribunal. Even Julius II. recognized the necessity of this and assented +to the understanding. The Calabrian and Apulian Waldenses thus had a +respite until the progress of the Reformation in Italy aroused the +Church to renewed efforts and to a complete reorganization of its +machinery of persecution.[323] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SLAVIC CATHARI. + + +When Innocent III. found himself confronted with the alarming progress +of the Catharan heresy, his vigilant activity did not confine itself to +Italy and Languedoc. The home of the belief lay to the east of the +Adriatic among the Slavic races. Thence came the missionaries who never +ceased to stimulate the zeal of their converts, and every motive of +piety and of policy led him to combat the error at its source. Thus the +field of battle stretched from the Balkans to the Pyrenees along a front +of over a thousand miles, and the result might have been doubtful but +for the concentration of moral and material forces resulting from the +centralized theocracy founded by Hildebrand. + +The contest in the regions south of Hungary is instructive as an +illustration of the unconquerable persistence of Rome in conducting for +centuries an apparently resultless struggle, undeterred by defeat, +taking advantage of every opening for a renewal of the strife, and using +for its ends the ambition of monarchs and the self-sacrificing devotion +of zealots. A condensed review of the rapid vicissitudes of such a +contest is therefore not out of place, although the scene of action lay +too far from the centres of European life to have decisive influence +upon the development of European thought and belief, except as it served +as a refuge for the persecuted and a centre of orthodoxy to which +neophytes could be sent. + +The vast regions east of the Adriatic scarce paid more than a nominal +spiritual allegiance to Rome. A savage and turbulent population, +conquered by Hungary towards the end of the eleventh century, and always +endeavoring to throw off the yoke, was Christian in little more than +name. Such Christianity as it boasted, moreover, was not Latin. The +national ritual was Slavic, in spite of its prohibition by Gregory VII., +and the Roman observance was detested, from its foreign origin, as the +badge of subjugation. The few Latin prelates and priests and monks were +encamped amid a hostile population to whom they were strangers in +language and manners, and the dissoluteness of their lives gave them no +opportunity of acquiring a moral influence that might disarm national +and race antipathies. Under such circumstances there was nothing to +hinder the spread of Catharism, and when the devastating wars of the +Hungarians came to be dignified as crusades for the extermination of +heresy, heresy might well claim to be identified with patriotism. From +the Danube to Macedonia, and from the Adriatic to the Euxine, the +Catharan Church was well organized, divided into dioceses with their +bishops, and actively engaged in mission work. Its most flourishing +province was Bosnia, where, at the end of the twelfth century, it +counted some ten thousand devoted partisans. Culin, the Ban who held it +under the suzerainty of Hungary, was a Catharan, and so were his wife +and the rest of his family. Even Catholic prelates were suspected, not +without cause, of leaning secretly to the heretic belief.[324] + +The earliest interference with heresy occurs at the end of the twelfth +century, when the Archbishop of Spalatro, doubtless under impulsion from +Innocent, drove out a number of Cathari from Trieste and Spalatro. They +found ready refuge in Bosnia, where Culin welcomed them. Vulcan, King of +Dalmatia, who had designs upon Bosnia, in 1199 represented to Innocent +the deplorable prevalence of heresy there, and suggested that Emeric, +King of Hungary, should be urged to expel the heretics. Innocent +thereupon wrote to Emeric, sending him the severe papal decretal against +the Patarins of Viterbo as a guide for his action, and ordering him to +cleanse his territories of heresy and to confiscate all heretical +property. Culin seems to have taken the initiative by attacking Hungary, +but at the same time he tried to make his peace with Rome by asserting +that the alleged heretics were good Catholics. He sent some of them, +with two of his prelates, to Innocent for examination, and asked for +legates to investigate the matter on the spot. In 1202 the pope +accordingly ordered his chaplain, Giovanni da Casemario, and the +Archbishop of Spalatro, to proceed to Bosnia, where, if they found any +heretics, including the Ban himself, they were to be prosecuted +according to the rigor of the canons. Giovanni successfully accomplished +this mission in 1203. He reported to Innocent a pledge given by the +Cathari to adopt the Latin faith, while, to insure the maintenance of +religion, he recommended the erection of three or four additional +bishoprics in the territory of the Ban, which were ten days' journey in +extent and which yet had but one see, of which the incumbent was dead. +At the same time King Emeric wrote that Giovanni had brought to him the +leaders of the heretics, and he had found them converted to orthodoxy. +Culin's son had likewise presented himself, and had entered into bonds +of one thousand marks, to be forfeited in case he should hereafter +protect heretics within his dominions. The triumph of the Church seemed +assured, especially when, in the same year, Calo Johannes, the Emperor +of the Bulgarians, applied to Innocent to have cardinals sent to crown +him, and professed himself in all things obedient to the Holy See.[325] + +All such hopes proved fallacious. With the development of the +Albigensian troubles the attention of Innocent was directed from the +Slavs. The conversions made under pressure were but temporary. The +metropolitan of the province, Arringer, Archbishop of Ragusa, filled the +vacant see of Bosnia with a Catharan, and, dying himself soon after, his +episcopal city became a nest of heretics. The few Catholic priests +scattered through the region abandoned their posts, and Catholicism grew +virtually almost extinct. In 1221 it is said that in the whole of Bosnia +there was not a single orthodox preacher to be heard. Equally +disheartening was the course of affairs among the Bulgarians. After Calo +Johannes had been crowned by a legate from Rome, his quarrels with the +Latin Emperors of Constantinople led to a breach, and in the wide +territories under his dominion the Cathari had full liberty of +conscience.[326] + +At length the papal attention was again directed to this deplorable +state of affairs. In 1221 Honorius III. sent his chaplain, Master +Aconcio, as legate to Hungary, with orders to arouse the king and the +prelates to a sense of their obligation to exterminate the heretics who +were thus openly defiant. On his way the legate paused at Ragusa to +superintend the election of an orthodox archbishop, after which he +ordered all Dalmatia and Croatia to join in a crusade, but no one +followed him, and he went alone to Bosnia, where he died the same year. +Better results were promised by the ambition of Ugolin, Archbishop of +Kalocsa, who desired to extend his province; he proposed to Andreas II. +of Hungary that he would lead a crusade at his own cost, and king and +pope promised him all the territories which he should clear of heretics, +but Ugolin overrated his powers, and adopted the expedient of +subsidizing with two hundred silver marks the ruler of Syrmia, Prince +John, son of Margaret, widow of the Emperor Isaac Angelus. John took the +money without performing his promise, though reminded of it by Honorius +in 1227. Relieved from apprehension, the Bosnians deposed their Ban +Stephen and replaced him with a Catharan, Ninoslav, one of the most +notable personages in Bosnian history, who maintained himself from 1232 +to 1250.[327] + +The scale at length seemed to turn with the advent on the scene of the +Mendicant Orders, full of the irrepressible enthusiasm, the disregard of +toil and hardship, and the thirst for martyrdom of which we have already +seen so many examples. Behind them now, moreover, was Gregory IX., the +implacable and indefatigable persecutor of heresy, who urged them +forward unceasingly. The Dominicans were first upon the ground. As early +as 1221 the Order formed establishments in Hungary, developing its +proselyting energy from that centre, and thus taking the heretics in +flank. The Dominican legend relates that the Inquisition was founded in +Hungary by Friar Jackzo (St. Hyacinth), an early member of the Order, +who died in 1257, and that it could soon boast of two martyred +inquisitors, Friar Nicholas, who was flayed alive, and Friar John, who +was lapidated by the heretics. In 1233 we hear of the massacre of ninety +Dominican missionaries among the Cumans, and it was perhaps somewhat +earlier than this that thirty-two were drowned by the Bosnian heretics, +whom they were seeking to convert; but Dominican ardor was only inflamed +by such incidents. Preparations were made for systematic work. In 1232 +Gregory ordered his legate in Hungary, Giacopo, Bishop of Palestrina, to +convert the Bosnians. King Andreas gave the Banate to his son Coloman, +Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia, and ordered him to assist. Results soon +followed. The Catholic Bishop of Bosnia was himself infected with +heresy, and excused himself on the ground that he had ignorantly +supposed the Cathari to be orthodox. The Archbishop of Ragusa was +cognizant of this, and had paid no attention to it, so Giacopo +transferred Bosnia to Kalocsa--a transfer, however, which was for the +present inoperative. More important was the conversion of Ninoslav, who +abandoned the religion of his fathers in order to avert the attacks of +Coloman, which were rapidly dismembering his territories. He was +effusively welcomed by Gregory; he gave money to the Dominicans for the +building of a cathedral; many of his magnates followed his example, and +his kinsman, Uban Prijesda, handed his son to the Dominicans as a +hostage for the sincerity of his conversion. Gregory was overjoyed at +this apparent success. In 1233 he ordered the boy restored to his +father; he took Bosnia under the special protection of the Holy See, and +ordered Coloman to defend Ninoslav from the attacks of disaffected +heretics; he deposed the heretic bishop, and instructed his legate to +divide the territory into two or three sees, appointing proper +incumbents. The latter measure was not carried out, however, and a +German Dominican, John of Wildeshausen, was consecrated Bishop of all +Bosnia.[328] + +The Legate Giacopo returned to Hungary satisfied that the land was +converted, but success proved fleeting. Either Ninoslav's conversion was +feigned or he was unable to control his heretic subjects, for in the +next year, 1234, we find Gregory complaining that heresy was increasing +and rendering Bosnia a desert of the faith, a nest of dragons and a home +of ostriches. In conjunction with Andreas he ordered a crusade, and +Coloman was instructed to attack the heretics. The Carthusian Prior of +St. Bartholomew was sent thither to preach it with Holy Land +indulgences, and by the end of 1234 Coloman laid Bosnia waste with fire +and sword. Ninoslav threw himself heart and soul with the Cathari, and +the struggle was bloody and prolonged. The Legate Giacopo induced Bela +IV. to take an oath to extirpate all heretics from every land under his +jurisdiction, and the Franciscans hastened to take a hand in the good +work. They commenced with the city of Zara, but the Archbishop of Zara, +instead of seconding their labors, impeded them, which earned for him +the emphatic rebuke of Gregory. Indeed, from the account which Yvo of +Narbonne gives about this time of the Cathari of the maritime districts, +they could not have been much disturbed by these proceedings.[329] + +In 1235 the crusaders were unlucky. Bishop John lost all hope of +recovering his see and asked Gregory to relieve him of it, as the labors +of war were too severe for him; but Gregory reproved his +faintheartedness, telling him that if he disliked war the love of God +should urge him on.[330] In 1236 the aspect of affairs improved, +probably because Bela IV. had replaced Andreas on the throne of Hungary, +and because the crusaders were energetically aided by Sebislav, Duke of +Usora, the son of the former Ban Stephen, who hoped to recover the +succession. He was rewarded by Gregory calling him a lily among thorns +and the sole representative of orthodoxy among the Bosnian chiefs, who +were all heretics. At last, in 1237, Coloman triumphed, but heresy was +not eradicated, in spite of his efforts through the following years. In +fulfilment of his request, Gregory ordered the consecration of the +Dominican Ponsa as Bishop of Bosnia, and soon afterwards appointed Ponsa +as legate for three years in order that he might exterminate the remnant +of heresy. It must have been a tolerably large remnant, for in the same +breath he promised the protection of the Holy See to all who would take +the cross to extirpate it. In 1239 the Provincial Prior of Hungary was +ordered to send to the heretic districts a number of friars, powerful in +speech and action, to consummate the work. Ponsa, though bishop and +legate, had no revenues and no resources, so Gregory ordered paid over +to him the moneys collected from crusaders in redemption of vows, and +the sum which Ninoslav, during his interval of orthodoxy, had given to +found a cathedral. By the end of 1239 heresy seemed to be exterminated, +but scarce had Coloman and his crusaders left the land when his work was +undone and heresy was as vigorous as ever. In 1240 Ninoslav appears +again as Ban, visiting Ragusa with a splendid retinue to renew the old +treaty of trade and alliance. King Bela's energies, in fact, were just +then turned in another direction, for Assan, the Bulgarian prince, had +declared in favor of the Greeks; his people therefore were denounced as +heretics and schismatics, and Bela was stimulated to undertake a crusade +against him, for which, as usual, Holy Land indulgences were promised. +It was hard to make head at once against so many enemies of the faith, +and in the confusion the Cathari of Bosnia had a respite. Still more +important for them as a preventive of persecution was the Tartar +invasion which, in 1241, reduced Hungary to a desert. In the bloody day +of Flusse Sajo the Hungarian army was destroyed, Bela barely escaped +with his life, and Coloman was slain. The respite was but temporary, +however, for in 1244 Bela again overran Bosnia. Ninoslav made his peace +and the heretics were persecuted, until 1246, when Hungary was involved +in war with Austria, and promptly they rose again with Ninoslav at their +head.[331] + +All these endeavors to diffuse the blessings of Christianity had not +been made without bloodshed. We have few details of these obscure +struggles in a land little removed from barbarism, but there is one +document extant which shows that the Albigensian crusades, with all +their horrors, had been repeated to no purpose. In 1247 Innocent IV., in +making over the see of Bosnia to the Archbishop of Kalocsa, alludes to +the labors performed by him and his predecessors in the effort to redeem +it from heresy. They had meritoriously devastated the greater part of +the land; they had carried away into captivity many thousands of +heretics, with great effusion of blood, and no little slaughter of their +own men and waste of their substance. In spite of these sacrifices, as +the churches and castles which they had built were not strong enough to +resist siege, the land could not be retained in the faith; it had wholly +relapsed into heresy, and there was no hope of its voluntary redemption. +The church of Kalocsa had been thoroughly exhausted, and it was now +rewarded by placing the recalcitrant region under its jurisdiction, in +the expectation that some future crusade might be more fortunate. +Innocent IV. had, a few months earlier, ordered Bela to undertake a +decisive struggle with the Cathari, but Ninoslav appealed to him, +protesting that he had been since his conversion a faithful son of the +Church, and had only accepted the aid of the heretics because it was +necessary to preserve the independence of the Banate. Moved by this, +Innocent instructed the Archbishop of Kalocsa to abstain from further +persecution. He ordered an investigation into the faith and actions of +Ninoslav, and gave permission to use the Glagolitic writing and the +Slavic tongue in the celebration of Catholic service, recognizing that +this would remove an obstacle to the propagation of the faith. +Ninoslav's last years were peaceful, but after his death, about 1250, +there were civil wars stimulated by the antagonism between Catharan and +Catholic. He was succeeded by Prijesda, who had remained Catholic since +his conversion in 1233. Under pretence of supporting Prijesda, Bela +intervened, and by 1254 he had again reduced Bosnia to subjection, +leading, doubtless, to active persecution of heresy, although the +transfer of the see of Bosnia to Kalocsa was not carried into +effect.[332] + +It was about this time that Rainerio Saccone gives us his computation of +the Perfects in many of the Catharan churches. In Constantinople there +were two churches, a Latin and a Greek, the former comprising fifty +Perfects. The latter, together with those of Bulgaria, Roumania, +Slavonia, and Dalmatia, he estimates at about five hundred. This would +indicate a very large number of believers, and shows how unfruitful had +been the labors and the wars which had continued for more than a +generation. In fact, although Bela's long reign lasted until 1270, he +failed utterly in his efforts to extirpate heresy. On the contrary, the +Cathari grew ever stronger and the Church sank lower and lower. Even +the Bosnian bishops dared no longer to remain in their see, but resided +in Djakovar. So little reverence was there felt in those regions for the +Holy See that so near as Trieste, when, in 1264, two Dominicans +commissioned to preach the crusade against the Turks endeavored to +perform their duty, the dean and canons hustled them violently out of +the church, and would not even allow them to address the crowd in the +public square, while the archdeacon publicly declared that any one who +listened to them was excommunicate.[333] + +Things grew worse with the accession, in 1272, of Bela's grandson, +Ladislas IV., known as the Cuman, from his mother Elizabeth, a member of +that pagan tribe. Ladislas lived with the Cumans and shared their +religion until his contempt for the Holy See manifested itself in the +most offensive manner. The papal legate, Filippo, Bishop of Fermo, had +called a council to meet at Buda, when Ladislas ordered the magistrates +of the city not to permit the entrance of any prelates, or the supplying +of any food to the legate, who was thus forced to depart ignominiously. +This called down upon him the anger of Rodolph of Hapsburg and of +Charles of Anjou, and he was fain, in 1280, to make reparation, not only +by a humble apology and a grant of one hundred marks per annum for the +founding of a hospital, but by adopting and publishing as the law of the +land all the papal statutes against heresy, and swearing to enforce them +vigorously, while his mother Elizabeth did the same as Duchess of +Bosnia. Something was gained by this, and still more, when, in 1282, +Ladislas appointed as ruler of Bosnia his brother-in-law, Stephen +Dragutin, the exiled King of Servia. The latter, although a Greek, +persecuted the Cathari; and when, about 1290, he was converted to +Catholicism, his zeal increased, He sent to Rome Marino, Bishop of +Antivari, to report the predominance of heresy and to ask for aid. +Nicholas IV. promptly responded by commissioning a legate to Andreas +III., the new King of Hungary, to preach a crusade, and the Emperor +Rodolph was ordered to assist, but the effort was bootless. Equally vain +was his command to the Franciscan Minister of Slavonia to select two +friars acquainted with the language, and send them to Bosnia to +extirpate heresy. The request at the same time made to Stephen to +support them with the secular arm shows that the missionaries were in +fact inquisitors. Unluckily, Nicholas in his zeal also employed +Dominicans in the business. Inspired by the traditional hatred between +the Orders, the inquisitors, or missionaries, employed all their +energies in quarrelling with each other, and became objects of ridicule +instead of terror to the heretics.[334] + +In 1298 Boniface VIII. undertook finally to organize the Inquisition in +the Franciscan province of Slavonia, which comprised all the territory +south of Hungary, from the Danube to Macedonia. The provincial minister +was ordered to appoint two friars as inquisitors for this immense +region, and was intrusted as usual with the power of removing and +replacing them. This slender organization he endeavored to supplement by +ordering the Archbishop of Kalocsa to preach a crusade, but there was no +response, and the proposed Inquisition effected nothing. When Stephen +Dragutin died, in 1314, Bosnia was conquered by Mladen Subic, son of the +Ban of Croatia, under whom it was virtually independent of Hungary. +Mladen made some show of persecuting heresy--at least when he had a +request to make at Avignon--but as the vast majority of his subjects +were Cathari, whose support was absolutely necessary to him, it is safe +to say that he made no serious effort. In 1319 John XXII. describes the +condition of Bosnia as deplorable. There were no Catholic ecclesiastics, +no reverence for the sacraments; communion was not administered, and in +many places the rite of baptism was not even known or understood. When +such a pontiff as John felt obliged to appeal to Mladen himself to put +an end to this reproach, it shows that he had no means of effective +coercion at hand.[335] + +Mladen was overthrown by Stephen Kostromanic, and when he fled to +Hungary, Charles Robert cast him in prison, leaving undisturbed +possession to Stephen, who styled himself Ban by the grace of God. +Stephen, in 1322, seems to have abandoned Catholicism, joining either +the Greeks or the Cathari, but in spite of this affairs commenced to +look more favorable. Hungary began to emerge from the disorders and +disasters which had so long crippled it, and King Charles Robert was +inclined to listen to exhortations as to his duty towards the Bosnian +heretics. In 1323, therefore, John XXII. made another attempt, sending +Frà Fabiano thither and ordering Charles Robert and Stephen to give him +effective support. The latter was obdurate, though the former seems to +have manifested some zeal, if one may believe the praises bestowed on +him in 1327 by John. Fabiano was indefatigable, but his duty proved no +easy one. At the very outset he met with unexpected resistance in a city +so near at hand as Trieste. When he endeavored there to enforce the +decrees against heresy, and to arouse the people to a sense of their +duty, the bells were rung, a mob was assembled, he was dragged from the +pulpit and beaten, the leaders in the disturbance being two canons of +the Cathedral, Michele da Padua, and Raimondo da Cremona, who were +promptly ordered by the pope to be prosecuted as suspects of heresy. +Hardly had he settled this question when he was involved in a +controversy with the rival Dominicans, whom he found to be poaching on +his preserves. A zealous Dominican, Matteo of Agram, by suppressing the +fact that Slavonia was Franciscan territory, had obtained from John +letters authorizing the Dominican provincial to appoint inquisitors, +commissioned to preach a crusade with Holy Land indulgences, and these +inquisitors had been urgently recommended by the pope to the King of +Hungary and other potentates. It was impossible that the Orders could +co-operate in harmony, and Fabiano made haste to represent to John the +trap into which he had been led. The pope was now at the height of his +controversy with the greater part of the Franciscans over the question +of poverty, and it was impolitic to give just grounds of complaint to +those who remained faithful; he therefore promptly recalled the letters +given to the Dominicans, and scolded them roundly for deceiving him. +Even yet it seemed impossible for Fabiano to penetrate beyond the +borders of his district, or to work without impediment, for in 1329 he +was occupied with prosecuting for heresy the Abbot of SS. Cosmas and +Damiani of Zara and one of his monks, when John, the Archbishop of Zara, +intervened forcibly and stopped the proceedings. The difficulties thrown +in Fabiano's way must have been great, for he felt compelled to visit +Avignon for their removal, but his usual ill-luck accompanied him. The +contest between the papacy on the one side, and the Visconti and Louis +of Bavaria on the other, rendered parts of Lombardy unsafe for +papalists, and a son of Belial named Franceschino da Pavia had no +scruple in laying hands on the inquisitor and despoiling him of his +horses, books, and papers. During all this time the Inquisition must +have been at a standstill, but at last Fabiano overcame all obstacles. +In 1330 he returned to the scene of action; Charles Robert and Stephen +lent him their assistance, and the work of suppressing the Cathari +commenced under favorable auspices, and by the methods which we have +seen so successful elsewhere. The condition of the Bosnian Church may be +guessed from the fear felt by John XXII. that the bishops would be +heretics, leading him, in 1331, to reserve their appointment to the Holy +See. Yet on the death of Bishop Peter, in 1334, the chapter elected a +successor, and Charles Robert endeavored to force a layman on the +Church, causing a disgraceful quarrel which was not settled until +Benedict XII., in 1336, pronounced in favor of the candidate of the +chapter.[336] + +The spiritual condition of the Slavs at this period is indicated by an +occurrence in 1331 nearer home. The Venetian inquisitor, Frà Francesco +Chioggia, in visiting his district, found in the province of Aquileia +innumerable Slavs who worshipped a tree and fountain. Apparently they +were impervious to his exhortations, and he had no means at the moment +to enforce obedience. He was obliged to preach against them, in Friuli, +a crusade with Holy Land indulgences. He thus raised an armed force with +which he cut down the tree and choked up the fountain; unfortunately, we +have no record of the fate of the nature-worshippers.[337] + +Benedict XII. was as earnest as his predecessor. Yet even Dalmatia was +still full of heresy, for in 1335 be felt obliged to write to the +Archbishop of Zara and the Bishops of Trau and Zegna, ordering them to +use every means for the extermination of heretics, and to give efficient +support to the inquisitors. The Dalmatian prelates, it is true, +prevailed upon the magistrates of Spalatro and Trau to enact laws +against heresy, but these were not enforced. A century had passed since +the Inquisition was founded, and yet the duties of persecution had not +even then been learned on the shores of the Adriatic. The work seemed +further than ever from accomplishment. The Cathari continued to multiply +under the avowed protection of Stephen and his magnates. A gleam of +light appeared, however, when, in 1337, the Croatian Count Nelipic, a +bitter enemy of Stephen, offered his services to Benedict, who joyfully +accepted them, and summoned all the Croatian barons to range themselves +under his banner in aid of the pious labors of Fabiano and his +colleagues. War ensued between Bosnia and Croatia, of the details of +which we know little, except that it brought no advantage to the faith, +until it threatened to spread.[338] + +Stephen's position, in fact, was becoming precarious. To the east was +Stephen Dusan the Great, who styled himself Emperor of Servia, Greece, +and Bulgaria, and who had shown himself unfriendly since the union of +Herzegovina with Bosnia. To the north was Charles Robert, who was +preparing to take part in the war. It is true that the Venetians, +desirous to keep Hungary away from their Adriatic possessions, were +ready to form an alliance with Stephen, but the odds against him were +too great. He probably intimated a readiness to submit, for when, in +1339, Benedict sent the Franciscan General Gherardo as legate to +Hungary, Charles Robert convoyed him to the Bosnian frontier, where +Stephen received him with all honor, and said that he was not averse to +extirpating the Cathari, but feared that in case of persecution they +would call in Stephen Dusan. If liberally supported by the pope and King +of Hungary he would run the risk. In 1340 Benedict promised him the help +of all Catholics, and he allowed himself to be converted, an example +followed by many of the magnates. It was quite time, for Catholicism had +virtually disappeared from Bosnia, where the churches were mostly +abandoned and torn down. Gherardo hastened to follow up his advantage by +sending missionaries and inquisitors into Bosnia. That there was no +place there, however, for the methods of the Inquisition, and that +persuasion, not force, was required, is seen by the legends which +recount how one of these inquisitors, Fray Juan de Aragon, made +numerous converts, after a long and bitter disputation in an heretical +assembly, by standing unhurt on a blazing pyre; and how one of his +disciples, John, repeated the experience, remaining in the flames while +one might chant the Miserere. These miracles, we are told, were very +effective, and the stories show that nothing else could have been so. +Stephen remained true to his promises, and the Catholic Church commenced +to revive. A bull of Clement VI., in 1344, recites that, deceived by the +falsehoods of the Franciscan General Gherardo, he had ordered the +Bosnian tithes paid over to the friars on the pretext of rebuilding the +churches, but on the representation of Laurence, Bishop of Bosnia, that +they belonged to him and that he had no other source of support, he is +in future to receive them. At the instance of Clement, in 1345, Stephen +consented to allow the return of Valentine, Bishop of Makarska, who for +twenty years had been an exile from his see, and the next year a third +bishopric, that of Duvno, was erected. The Catharan magnates were +restless, however, and when Dusan the Great, in 1350, invaded Bosnia +many of them joined him, but their prospects became worse when peace +followed in 1351, and when, in 1353, shortly before his death, Stephen +married his only child to Louis of Hungary, a zealous Catholic who had +succeeded his father, Charles Robert, in 1342.[339] + +Stephen Kostromanic was succeeded by his young nephew, Stephen Tvrtko, +under the regency of his mother, Helena. Under such circumstances, +dissatisfied and insubordinate Catharan magnates had ample opportunity +to produce confusion. Of this full advantage was taken by Louis of +Hungary as soon as the death of Dusan the Great, in 1355, relieved him +from that formidable antagonist. The Dominicans hastened, in 1356, to +obtain from Innocent VI. a confirmation of the letters of John XXII., of +1327, authorizing them to preach a crusade against the heretics with +Holy Land indulgences. Louis seized Herzegovina as a dower for his wife +Elisabeth, reduced Stephen Tvrtko to the position of a vassal, and +forced him to swear to extirpate the Cathari. Not content with this he +proceeded to stir up rebellion among the magnates, producing great +confusion, during which the Cathari regained their position. Then, in +1360, Innocent VI. conferred on Peter, Bishop of Bosnia, full powers as +papal inquisitor, and also ordered a new crusade, which served as a +pretext to Louis for a fresh invasion. Nothing was accomplished by this; +but in 1365 the Cathari, irritated at Tvrtko's efforts to suppress them, +drove him and his mother from Bosnia. Louis furnished him with troops, +and asked Urban V. to send two thousand Franciscans to convert the +heretics. After a desperate struggle Tvrtko regained the throne. His +brother, Stephen Vuk, who had aided the rebels, fled to Ragusa and +embraced Catholicism, after which, in 1368, he appealed for aid to Urban +V., representing that his heretic brother had disinherited him on +account of his persecuting heretics. Urban accordingly urged Louis to +protect the orthodox Vuk, and to force Tvrtko to abandon his errors, but +nothing came of it. Whether Tvrtko was Catharan or Catholic does not +clearly appear. Probably he was indifferent to all but his personal +interests, and was ready to follow whatever policy promised to serve his +ambition, and his success shows that he must have had the support of his +subjects, who were nearly all Cathari. Although, in 1368, Urban V. +congratulated Louis of Hungary on the success of his arms, aided by the +friars, in bringing into the fold many thousand heretics and +schismatics, Louis himself, in 1372, reported that Christianity was +established in but few places; in some the two faiths were commingled, +but for the most part all the inhabitants were Cathari. It was in vain +that Gregory XI. endeavored to found Franciscan houses as missionary +centres; the Bosnians would not be weaned from their creed. Had Tvrtko +followed a policy of persecution he could not have accomplished the +conquests which, for a brief period, shed lustre on the Bosnian name. He +extended his sway over a large part of Servia and over Croatia and +Dalmatia, and when, in 1376, he assumed the title of king, there was no +one to dispute it. After his death, in 1391, the magnates asserted +virtual independence under a succession of royal puppets--Stephen +Dabisa, his young son, under the regency of his widow, Helena, and then +Stephen Ostoja. The most powerful man in Bosnia was the Vojvode Hrvoje +Vukcic, who ruled the north, and next to him was his kinsman Sandalj +Hranic who dominated the south. Both of these men were Cathari, and so +was the king, Stephen, Ostoja, and all his family. Catholicism almost +disappeared, and Catharism was the religion of the State. It was +organized under a Djed (grandfather), or chief, with twelve Ucitelji, or +teachers, of whom the first was the Gost, or visitor, the deputy and +successor of the Djed, and the second was known as the Starac, or +elder.[340] + +These were state officials, and we see them occasionally acting in an +official capacity. Thus, when, in 1404, the Vojvode Paul Klesic, who had +been exiled, was recalled, it was the Djed Radomjer who sent Catharan +envoys to Ragusa to bring him home, and who wrote to the Doge of Ragusa +on the subject. Klesic was a Catharan, and his residence in Ragusa, as +well as that of many similar Catharan exiles, shows that persecution had +grown obsolete even on the coast of the Adriatic. In spite of his +Catharism, Hrvoje Vukcic was made by Ladislas of Naples, Duke of +Spalatro and lord of some of the Dalmatian islands, thus making +Catharism dominant along the shore. In the troubles which ended in the +deposition of Stephen Ostoja and the election of Stephen Tvrtko II. a +"Congregation of the Bosnian Lords" was held in 1404, in which, among +those present, are enumerated the Djed and several of his Ucitelji, but +no mention is made of any Catholic bishop. Toleration seemed to have +established itself. The Great Schism gave the Holy See abundant +preoccupation, and missionary efforts are no longer heard of, until the +Emperor Sigismund, as King of Hungary, bethought himself of +re-establishing his claim over Bosnia. Two armies sent in 1405 were +unsuccessful, but in 1407 Gregory XII. aided him with a bull summoning +Christendom to a crusade against the Turks, the apostate Allans, and +the Manichæans. Under these auspices, in 1408, he led a force of sixty +thousand Hungarians and Poles into Bosnia, defeated and captured Tvrtko +II., and recovered Croatia and Dalmatia, but the Bosnians were +obstinate, and replaced Ostoja on the throne. Another expedition, in +1410-1411, drove Ostoja to the south, and Sigismund, for a while, +retained possession of Bosnia, but when, in 1415, he released Tvrtko II. +and sent him to Bosnia as king, a civil war immediately ensued. Tvrtko +at first was successful, supported with a large Hungarian army, but +Ostoja called the Turks to his assistance, and in a decisive battle the +Hungarians were defeated. The Turks penetrated to Cillei in the +Steyermark, devastating and plundering everywhere, and on their return +carried with them thousands of Christian captives.[341] + +This shows the new factor which had injected itself into the already +tangled problem. In 1389 the fatal day of the Amselfeld had thrown open +the whole Balkan peninsula to the Turks, who since then had been +steadily winning their way. In 1392 we hear of their first incursion in +southern Bosnia, after which they had constantly taken a greater part in +the affairs of the Banate. The condition of the country was that of +savage and perpetual civil war. There was no royal power capable of +enforcing order, and the magnates were engaged in tearing each other to +pieces. Devoid of all sentiment of nationality, no one had any scruple +in calling in the aid of the infidel, in paying allegiance to him, or in +subsidizing him to prevent his joining the opposite party. It was the +same with Catholic, Catharan, and Greek. No sense of the +ever-approaching danger served to make them abandon their internecine +quarrels, and if a temporary petty advantage was to be gained there was +no hesitation in aiding the Turk to a farther advance. The only wonder +is that the progress of the Moslem conquest was so slow; there can be +little doubt that it could have been arrested by united effort, and it +may be questioned whether the rule of Islam was not, after all, an +improvement on the state of virtual anarchy which it replaced. To the +peasantry it offered itself rather as a deliverance. When, in 1461, +Stephen Tomasevic ascended the throne, in his appeal for aid to Pius II. +he describes the Turks as treating the peasants kindly, promising them +freedom, and thus winning them over, and he adds that the magnates +cannot defend their castles when thus abandoned by the peasants.[342] + +As regards the Cathari, the Turkish advance produced two contrary +effects. On the one hand there was the danger that persecution would +drive them to seek protection from the enemy. On the other hand there +was absolute need of assistance from Christendom, which could only be +obtained by submission to Rome, and obedience to her demands for their +extermination. Both of these influences worked to the destruction of +Bosnia, for when toleration was practised aid was withheld, and when at +last persecution was established as a policy the Cathari welcomed the +invader, and contributed to the subjugation of the kingdom. + +In 1420 Stephen Tvrtko II. reappeared upon the scene, and the next year +he was acknowledged. There followed a breathing-space, for the Turkish +general Isaac was defeated and killed during an incursion into Hungary, +and Mahomet I., involved in strife with Mustapha, had no leisure to +repair the disaster. This did not last long, however, for in 1424 the +sons of Ostoja endeavored, with Turkish help, to win back their father's +throne, the only result of which was a war ending with the surrender of +a portion of Bosnian territory to Murad II. Again, in 1433, when Tvrtko +was fighting with the Servian despot, George Brankovic, he was suddenly +called to the south to withstand a Turkish inroad invited by Radivoj, +one of the sons of Ostoja, and this was immediately followed by the +rising of Sandalj Hranic, the powerful magnate of Herzegovina, who drove +Tvrtko to seek refuge with Sigismund. His absence lasted three years, +during which the wildest confusion reigned in Bosnia, the Turks being +constantly called in to participate with one side or the other.[343] + +Meanwhile the rise of the Observantine Franciscans was restoring to the +Church some of its old missionary fervor, and furnishing it with the +necessary self-devoted agents. In spite of the preoccupations arising +from the contest between Eugenius IV. and the Council of Basle, an +effort was made to win back Bosnia to the faith. If anything could +accomplish this there might be hope from the fierce and inexhaustible +enthusiasm of the Observantine Friar, the Blessed Giacomo della Marca, +who had already given evidence of ruthless efficiency as inquisitor of +the Italian Fraticelli. In 1432 he was accordingly sent with full powers +to reform the Franciscan Order in Slavonia, and to turn its whole +energies to missionary work. Under this impulsion we are told that +conversions were numerous from Bosnia to Wallachia, and Eugenius IV. +stimulated rivalry by also setting the Dominicans at work. In 1434 +Giacomo was driven out, but was sent back the next year, and +distinguished himself by redoubled ardor and success, attributed, +according to his biographers, partly to his miraculous powers. Alarmed +at his progress, the wicked queen sent four assassins to despatch him, +when he extended his arms and bade them do whatever God would permit, +whereupon they became rigid and suffered agonies until he prayed for +their release. Indignant at this attempt, he bearded the king and queen +in full court, and his boldness gained him so many converts that the +king became alarmed for his throne. A sorcerer was accordingly employed +to slay the intrepid inquisitor, but Giacomo promptly rendered the man +speechless for life. Some heretics then sawed through the supports of a +platform where he was preaching. It fell, but he escaped, and to this +day, says the legend, the posterity of the perpetrators have all been +born halt and lame. These proofs of divine favor led to numerous +conversions, but he became involved in quarrels with the Catholic +clergy, caused, we are told, by envy, and they excommunicated him, so +that he was obliged to seek absolution from the pope. His triumphant +career was cut short by a summons from the Emperor Sigismund to assist +in the pacification of the Hussite troubles, and his field of action was +transferred to regions farther north, where we shall meet him hereafter. +Even there, however, he did not forget his Bosnian enemies, for at +Stuhlweissenburg, on meeting the legates of the Council of Basle, he at +once asked them to exert their influence on Sigismund. Though King +Stephen, he said, was an unbaptized heretic who would not allow his +subjects to be baptized, a command from the emperor would be sufficient +to compel him to yield. Giacomo, moreover, had left behind him worthy +disciples from among the natives. One of these, the Blessed Angelo of +Verbosa, shone also by miraculous gifts. On one occasion the heretics +gave him poison to drink, but on making the sign of the cross above the +cup it became innocuous, which brought him many converts.[344] + +This legendary extravagance has some foundation in fact. A bull of +Eugenius IV., in 1437, speaks of sixteen Franciscan churches and +monasteries destroyed by the Turks within two years, and another grants +to the friars who remained certain privileges in hearing confessions, +which show that they had been active, and had been winning their way. +Giacomo's influence at Stuhlweissenburg is, moreover, indicated by his +inducing Sigismund to compel Stephen Tvrtko to undergo baptism, and to +issue from that place, in January, 1436, an edict taking the Franciscans +under his protection, and permitting them to spread Catholicism +throughout Bosnia. In reward for this Sigismund aided his return to his +kingdom, which he found possessed partly by Servia, partly by the Turks, +and wholly devastated. For what he could obtain of this ruined land he +had to render allegiance to Murad II., and to pay him a yearly tribute +of twenty-five thousand ducats. Wretched as was this simulacrum of +royalty, it was incompatible with the favor which he had been compelled +to show to Catholicism. Southern Bosnia by this time was independent +under Stephen Vukcic, nephew and successor of Sandalj; as a Catharan, he +was regarded throughout Bosnia as the defender of the national faith, +and, in alliance with Murad II., he overthrew Stephen Tvrtko II.[345] + +In 1444 another king was elected in the person of Stephen Thomas +Ostojic, a younger natural son of Ostoja, who had carefully kept himself +in obscurity with a low-born Catharan wife, to whom he had been married +with the Catharan ceremony--a fact which subsequently served as an +excuse for a divorce. Almost the first question which the new king had +to decide was whether he would adhere to his religion or cast his +fortunes with Catholicism. The Church had not relaxed its efforts to win +over the fragments remaining of Bosnia, in spite of the fact that it +was only aiding the designs of the Turks by adding to confusion and +discord. In 1437 the vacancy left by Giacomo della Marca had been filled +by the appointment of Frà Niccolò of Trau, and since 1439 Tommaso, +Bishop of Lesina, had been in Bosnia as papal legate, busily engaged in +furthering the interests of Catholicism. He had failed in an effort to +convert Stephen Vukcic, but the advent of a new king was an incentive to +further exertions. Eugenius promptly appointed the Observantine Vicar of +Bosnia, Fabiano of Bacs, and his successors perpetual inquisitors over +the Slavonic lands, and instructed the Bishop of Lesina to promise +Stephen Thomas the recognition of his election if he would embrace the +true faith. The position was a difficult one. All his magnates, with the +exception of Peter Vojsalic, were Catharans, and to offend them would be +to invite Turkish intervention, while, so long as he held aloof from +Christendom, he could expect no aid from the West. Doubtless promises +that could not be fulfilled were made to him in plenty, for he concluded +to cast his fortunes with Catholicism, but he abstained from receiving +the crown offered to him by Eugenius for fear of offending his Catharan +subjects. He permitted the erection of two new bishoprics, he was duly +baptized, and he labored long and earnestly to induce his subjects to +follow his example. Nearly all his magnates did so, but Stephen Vukcic +was a conspicuous exception, and the common people were not so easily +moved. Even the king himself did not dare to omit the customary +"adoration" of the Perfects, for which he was duly excommunicated by +the inquisitor, but the pope recognized the difficulty of his position, +and wisely gave him a dispensation for associating with heretics.[346] + +Although many Catholic churches were built, the legate reported, on a +visit to Rome, that the land was too full of heresy for other cure than +the sword. The king's position was too insecure for him to venture on +persecution, which would infallibly have led to a revolt. In a grant, in +1446, of certain towns to Count Paul Dragisic and his brothers, who were +zealous Cathari, it is provided that, in case of their committing +treason, the gift is not to be resumed without a previous investigation +"by the Lord Djed and the Bosnian Church and good Bosnians." The +Franciscans complained of his lukewarmness to Nicholas V., when he +justified himself on the plea of necessity; he longed, he said, for the +time when he could offer to his subjects the alternative of death or +conversion, but as yet the heretics were too numerous and powerful and +his position too precarious. Nicholas calmed the Franciscans, and they +eagerly awaited the good time to come.[347] + +The defeat, in 1448, of John Hunyady, in a three days' battle on the +historic Amselfeld, led, in 1449, to a seven years' peace between him +and Murad II., in which Bosnia was included. Peace with Servia followed, +and, thus relieved from the fear of foreign aggression, Stephen Thomas +was summoned to perform his promises. Before the papal representatives +he was obliged to give a solemn pledge to John Hunyady that he would +strike heresy with a crushing blow. Nicholas V., who had sent the Bishop +of Lesina back as legate, ordered him to preach a crusade with Holy Land +indulgences, and active efforts were made in the good work. Early in +1451 the Bishop of Lesina sent most encouraging reports of the result. +Many of the nobles had sought conversion; the king in every way helped +the Franciscans, and had founded several houses for them; wherever these +houses existed the heretics melted away like wax before the fire, and if +a sufficient supply of friars could be had heresy would be extirpated. +Not quite so rose-colored was the statement of a Dominican, Frà Giovanni +of Ragusa, that in Bosnia and Servia there were very few monks and +priests, so that the people were wholly untrained in the faith. +Unmindful of the danger of conjoining the two Orders, Nicholas sent him +thither with some of his brethren on missionary work, and at the same +time despatched the Franciscan Eugenio Somma to Albania, Bulgaria, and +Servia in the double capacity of nuncio and inquisitor.[348] + +The good Bishop of Lesina had been over-sanguine. In the first pressure +of persecution forty heads of the Catharan Church, with great numbers of +the laity, sought refuge with Stephen Vukcic, who proceeded to attack +the Catholics of Ragusa, while many others fled to Servia and to the +Turks, and appealed to them for help. Those who remained prepared for +resistance, and a bloody religious war broke out, of which George +Brankovic of Servia took advantage to renew the war suspended in 1449. +This was more than Stephen Thomas could endure; he was forced to abandon +persecution and to call for help. John Hunyady was enraged at his +weakness, and ordered him to make peace with Servia. He appealed to +Nicholas V., who remonstrated with Hunyady, when the latter retorted +that Stephen Thomas was false to his promises, and, in place of +exterminating the heretics, was protecting them, to the scandal of all +Christendom.[349] + +On the fall of Constantinople, in May, 1453, Stephen Thomas promptly +sent envoys to Mahomet II. to tender his allegiance. In the +ever-deepening menace of the Turks persecution could hardly be resumed +with activity, but the popes occasionally gave him a portion of the +moneys raised for the crusade, and the Cathari were humiliated and +proscribed as far as could be ventured upon, and constituted a +discontented and dangerous element of the population. In 1459 we find +the king protesting to Pius II. that he persecuted the Cathari roundly, +and asking for more bishops; and one of his latest acts was to send the +Bishop of Nona to the pope with three Catharan magnates--George Kucinic, +Stojsav Tvrtkovic, and Radovan Viencinic--that they might be converted. +It seems incredible that any one should covet a throne so precarious, +and yet, in 1461, while Stephen Thomas was battling with the Croatian +magnates, he was murdered by his son, Stephen Thomasevic, and his +brother Radivoj. The crown which Stephen Thomasevic thus won by a +parricide was a crown of thorns. To the north Matthias Corvinus of +Hungary was estranged and unforgiving; to the west was Croatia, with +which he was at war; in the south Stephen Vukcic was his enemy; while on +the east lay Servia, now a Turkish pashalic, from which Mahomet II. only +awaited the fitting moment to reduce Bosnia to a like condition. Thus +surrounded by foes, the internal condition of the land was not +reassuring, for it was full of secret or open Cathari, who longed for +help or revenge, no matter whence it might come.[350] + +The new king recognized that his only hope lay in obtaining aid from +Christendom, to earn which he labored energetically to strengthen the +Catholic Church in his dominions, but, in the fatal perverseness of the +time, this only precipitated his downfall. From Pius II. he obtained +only barren instructions to the legate, Lorenzo, Abbot of Spalatro, to +collect money and crusaders. From Matthias Corvinus he purchased an +alliance by a heavy payment, by surrendering some castles, and by +breaking off relations with the Turks and ceasing to pay them tribute. +In all this he estranged still further his heretic subjects and drew +upon his head the vengeance of Mahomet II. Many Cathari, driven from +Bosnia, had found refuge in Moslem territory; others, especially nobles, +forced to pretend conversion, maintained constant relations with the +Turks, kept them advised of all that occurred, and were eager to aid +them, in hopes of revenge. The news of the treaty with Matthias Corvinus +was speedily conveyed to Mahomet, who, to test its truth, sent an envoy +to demand the tribute. King Stephen took him to the treasury, showed him +the money, and refused to deliver it, saying that he needed it for +self-defence, or that it would support him in exile if driven from the +kingdom, and he paid no heed to the envoy's warning that treasure +withheld in defiance of pledges would bring him no luck.[351] + +Defiance such as this left nothing to hope for from the Turk, but +preoccupations in Wallachia kept Mahomet busy during 1462, and he +postponed his revenge till the following year. It shows the blindness of +Rome to the situation and the unflagging persistency of the +determination to secure uniformity of faith, that during this respite +Pius II. sent learned friars to Bosnia with instructions that the best +mode of overcoming heresy was to promote study. The instructions were +excellent, but sadly misplaced. Through the winter and spring of 1463 +Mahomet was preparing the final blow by massing one hundred and fifty +thousand men at Adrianople. To throw Stephen Thomasevic off of his +guard, his request for a fifteen years' truce was granted, and his +envoys, returning with this welcome news, were followed, after an +interval of four days, by the Turkish host. The land was found +defenceless, and no resistance was offered till the invaders reached the +royal castle of Bobovac, a stronghold capable of prolonged defence. Its +commandant, however, was Count Radak, a Catharan who had been forced to +conversion, and on the third day he surrendered on a promise of reward. +When he claimed this, Mahomet, reproaching him with his treason, had him +promptly beheaded, and tradition still points out on the road to Sutiska +the rock Radakovica, where the traitor met his end. The capitulation of +Bobovac cast terror throughout the land. Resistance was no longer +thought of, and the only alternatives were flight or submission. The +king hurried towards the Croatian frontier, with Mahomet Pasha at his +heels, and was compelled at Kljuc to surrender on promise of life and +freedom, but, in spite of this, he was put to death, after being +utilized to order all commandants of cities and castles to surrender +them. Within eight days more than seventy towns fell into the hands of +the Turks, and by the middle of June all Bosnia was in their possession. +Then Mahomet turned southward to overrun the territories of Stephen +Vukcic, but the mountains of Herzegovina were bravely defended by the +Cathari, and by the end of June the Turkish host took its way homeward, +carrying with it one hundred thousand prisoners and thirty thousand +youths to be converted into Janissaries.[352] + +Thus abandoned by Christendom, except to hasten the end through +perpetually inflaming religious strife, Bosnia was conquered without a +struggle, while Herzegovina held out for twenty years longer. How easily +the catastrophe might have been averted is seen in the fact that before +the year 1463 was out Matthias Corvinus had reconquered a large portion +of the territory so easily won, which was held until the Hungarian power +was broken on the disastrous field of Mohacs in 1526. In the Turkish +lands the Cathari for the most part embraced Mahometanism, and the sect +which had so stubbornly endured the vicissitudes of more than a thousand +years disappeared in obscurity. The Christians had the resource of +flight, which they embraced, commencing an emigration which continued +until the middle of the eighteenth century. This was rather to escape +oppression than persecution, for the Turks permitted them the exercise +of their religion. When the blessed Angelo of Verbosa, the disciple of +Giacomo della Marca, persuaded his fellow-believers to leave the +country, Mahomet sent for him and menacingly asked him his reasons. "To +worship God elsewhere," he boldly replied, and so eloquently pleaded +his cause that the Turk ordered the Christians to be unmolested, and +gave Angelo permission to preach. Thenceforth the Franciscans were the +refuge and support of the Christians up to modern times, though they had +many cruelties to endure at the hands of the barbarous conquerors.[353] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +GERMANY. + + +In 1209 Henry of Veringen, Bishop of Strassburg, accompanied Otho IV. on +his coronation expedition to Rome. We have seen (p. 192) how some of the +ecclesiastics in the emperor's train were scandalized by the almost open +toleration of heretics in the papal city; possibly recriminations may +have passed between the German and the Italian prelates, and the former +may have been recommended to look more sharply after the orthodoxy of +their own dioceses. Be this as it may, Bishop Henry is said to have +carried home with him some theologians eager to punish aberrations from +the faith, and a little investigation showed to his horror that his land +was full of misbelievers. A searching inquest was organized, and he soon +had five hundred prisoners representing all classes of society. He was a +humane man, as the times went, and he sincerely sought their conversion, +to which end he set on foot disputations, but his clergy were no match +for the sectaries in knowledge of Scripture, and the faith gained little +by the attempt. Recourse to stronger measures was evidently requisite, +and he announced that all who were obstinate should be burned. This +brought most of them to their senses; heretic books and writings were +eagerly surrendered, and the converts abjured. About a hundred of them, +however, under the persuasion of their leader, a priest of Strassburg +named John, were obdurate, including twelve priests, twenty-three women, +and a number of nobles. So ignorant were the episcopal officials of the +method of proceeding against heretics that they were utterly at a loss +how to convict these recusants; some form of trial seems to have been +thought necessary, and resort was had to the old expedient of the +red-hot iron ordeal. The heretics protested against it as a manifest +tempting of God, but their objections were unavailing; those who denied +their heresy were subjected to it, and naturally but few escaped. One +of them, named Reinhold, appealed to Innocent III. against this form of +trial, and the pope promptly responded by forbidding its further use in +such matters, although we are told by contemporaries that its efficacy +was abundantly proved by miracles. One of the heretics who repented at +the last moment was divinely cured of his burn and was discharged. +Returning home rejoicing, his wife upbraided him with his weakness, and +under her reproof he relapsed. Immediately the burn reappeared, and a +similar one was developed on the hand of the wife, inflicting such agony +that neither could restrain their screams. Fearing to betray themselves, +they rushed to the woods, where they yelled like wild beasts; this led +to their speedy discovery, and before the ashes of their confederates +were yet cold they both shared the same fate. More fortunate was one of +a number of heretics convicted in this manner at Cambrai about the same +time. On his way to the stake he listened to the exhortations of a +priest and commenced to repent and confess. As he did so his hand began +to heal, and when he received absolution there was no trace left of the +burn. Then the priest called attention to him, pronouncing him innocent, +and on the evidence of his uninjured hand he was discharged. At +Strassburg there were eighty obstinate ones, whose heresy was proved by +the ordeal. They were all burned the same day in a ditch beyond the +walls, and in the sixteenth century the hollow was still known to the +citizens as the Ketzergrube. The property of the condemned was duly +confiscated and was divided between the magistrates and those who had +labored so successfully in vindicating the faith.[354] + +It is not to be supposed that Strassburg was a solitary centre of +heresy, and that this was the only case of contemporary persecution. +Fragmentary allusions to the detection and punishment of misbelief in +other places during the next few years show that the population of the +Rhinelands was deeply infected, and that when the ignorance and sloth of +the clergy permitted detection, heretics were ruthlessly exterminated. +The event at Strassburg, however, happens to have been reported with a +fulness of detail which invests it with peculiar importance as revealing +the methods of the episcopal inquisition of the period, and the nature +of existing religious dissidence.[355] + +The Cathari appear to have virtually disappeared from Germany, where +their foothold, at best, had been precarious. German soil seems to have +been unpropitious to this essentially Southern growth. On the other +hand, Waldenses were numerous, together with sectaries known as +Ortlibenses or Ordibarii. + +We have already seen how rapidly Waldensianism extended from Burgundy to +Franche Comté and Lorraine, and how, in 1199, Innocent III., after +vainly endeavoring to persuade the Waldenses of Metz to surrender their +vernacular Scriptures, had sent thither the Abbot of Citeaux and two +other abbots to repress their zeal. The abbots duly performed their +mission, preached to the misguided zealots, and burned all such copies +of the forbidden books as they could lay their hands on, though it is +fair to presume, from the silence of the chronicler, that no human +victims expiated at the stake their unlawful studies. The consequence of +this misplaced lenity was the emboldenment of the heretics. Some years +later when Bishop Bertrand was preaching in the cathedral he saw two +whom he recognized, and pointed them out, saying, "I see among you +missionaries of the Devil; there they are, who in my presence at +Montpellier were condemned for heresy and cast out." The unabashed +Waldenses, with a companion, replied to him with insults, and, leaving +the church, gathered a crowd, to whom they preached their doctrines. The +bishop was powerless to silence them, for, when he attempted to use +force, he found them protected by some of the most influential citizens +of the town, and they were able to disseminate their pestiferous +opinions in safety. Here, as in many other places, quarrels between the +people and the bishop paralyzed the arm of the Church, and the Waldenses +for many years continued to infect the city.[356] + +It cannot, therefore, surprise us that nearly all the heretics burned at +Strassburg in 1212 belonged to this sect. From their writings and +confessions a list of three hundred errors was compiled, afterwards +condensed into seventeen, and these were read before them to the people +while they were on their way to the place of execution. Priest John, +their leader, admitted the correctness of all save one alleging +promiscuous sexual intercourse, which he indignantly denied. Those which +he admitted show how rapidly their doctrines were developing to their +logical conclusions, and how impassable was the gulf which already +separated them from the Church. All the holy orders were rejected, and +this already led to the abolition of sacerdotal celibacy; disbelief in +purgatory was definitely adopted, with its consequences as to prayers +and masses for the dead, and there had already been invented, before St. +Francis and his followers, the dogma that Christ and his disciples held +no property.[357] + +The Ortlibenses or Ordibarii, who were also represented among the +victims of Strassburg, demand a somewhat more detailed consideration +than their immediate importance would seem to justify, because, although +comparatively few in numbers, they present the earliest indication of a +peculiar tendency in German free thought which we shall find reproduce +itself in many forms, and constitute, with almost unconquerable +stubbornness, the principal enemy with which the Inquisition had to +deal. + +Early in the century Maître David de Dinant, a schoolman of Paris, whose +subtlety of argumentation rendered him a favorite with Innocent III., +had indulged in dangerous speculations derived from the Aristotelian +philosophy, as transmitted through the Arab commentators, adulterated +with neo-Platonic elements, which transmuted the theism of the Greek +into a kind of mystic pantheism. These speculations were carried still +further by his fellow-schoolman, Amauri de Bène, a favorite of the +heir-apparent, Prince Louis. His views were condemned by the university +in 1204; he appealed to the Holy See, but was compelled to abjure in +1207, when he is said to have died of mortification. He had disciples, +however, who propagated his doctrines in secret. They were mostly men of +education and intelligence, theologians of the university and priests, +except a certain goldsmith named Guillaume, who was esteemed as the +prophet of the little sect. It was impossible that bold speculations of +this nature should remain stationary, and the theoretical premises of +David and Amauri were carried to unexpected conclusions in the effort to +reduce them into a system for proselytism among the people. Amauri had +taught that God was the essence of all creatures, and, as light could +not be seen of itself, but only in the air, so God was invisible except +in his creatures. The inevitable deduction from this was that after +death all beings would return to God, and in him be unified in eternal +rest. This swept away the doctrines of future retribution, purgatory, +and hell, and, as the Amaurians did not fail to point out, the +innumerable observances through which the Church controlled the +consciences and the wealth of men through its power over the keys and +the treasury of salvation. As this was destructive to the ecclesiastical +system, so was the doctrine equally subversive of morality, which taught +that such was the virtue of love and charity that whatever was done in +their behalf could be no sin, and, further, that any one filled with the +Holy Ghost was impeccable, no matter what crime he might commit, because +that Spirit, which is God, cannot sin, nor can man, who is nothing of +himself, so long as the Spirit of God is in him.[358] + +There was in these utterances an irresistible attraction to minds prone +to mystic exaltation. Even the orthodox Cæsarius of Heisterbach argues +that much is permitted to the saints which is forbidden to sinners; +where is the Spirit of God, there is liberty--have charity, and do what +thou pleasest.[359] When the fatal word had once been spoken, it could +not be hushed to silence, and, in spite of the most persistent and +unsparing efforts of repression, these dangerous heights of superhuman +spirituality continued to be the goal of men dissatisfied with the +limitations of frail humanity, down to the time of Molinos and the +Illuminati, and the influence of the doctrine is to be traced in the +reveries of Madame Guyon and the Quietists. + +Yet the Amaurian heresy was speedily crushed in its place of origin. In +his proselyting zeal, Guillaume the goldsmith, in 1210, approached a +certain Maître Raoul de Nemours, who feigned readiness of conviction, +and reported the matter to Pierre, Bishop of Paris, and Maître Robert de +Curzon, the papal supervisor of preaching in France. By their advice he +pretended conversion and accompanied the Amaurians on a missionary tour +which lasted for three months and extended as far as Langres. We learn +something of the habits of the sectaries when we are told that to keep +up the deception he would pretend to be wrapped in ecstasy, with face +upturned to heaven, and on recovering himself would relate the visions +which had been vouchsafed to him, though he successfully evaded the +requests that he should preach the new doctrines in public. When fully +informed as to all details, he communicated with the authorities, and +arrests were made. A council of bishops was convened in Paris which +found no difficulty in condemning all concerned; those who were in +orders were degraded, and they were all handed over to the secular +authorities. There were as yet no laws defining the punishment of +heresy, so their fate was postponed until the return of the king, who +was then absent. The result was that four of the leaders were imprisoned +for life and ten were burned, who met their fate with unshrinking +calmness. The simple folk of both sexes who had been seduced into +following them were mercifully spared. A few executions took place +elsewhere, such as that of one of the heresiarchs, Maître Godin, who was +tried and burned at Amiens; the remains of Amauri were exhumed and +exposed to the dogs, after which his bones were scattered in the fields; +the writings of the enthusiasts were forbidden to be read; the study of +natural science in the university was suspended for three years, and the +works of Aristotle, which had given rise to the heresy, were publicly +burned.[360] + +The doctrine of impeccability was likely to give loosened rein to human +passion in those whose spiritual exaltation did not lift them above the +weakness of the flesh, and there may be truth in the accusations current +against the Amaurians, that the disciples of both sexes abandoned +themselves to scandalous license, under the pretext of yielding to the +demands of Christian love. Yet the popular designation of Papelards +bestowed on the sectaries show that they at least preserved an exterior +of sanctity and devotion, and that they prudently abstained from putting +into practice their theories of the uselessness of the sacraments and of +all external cult. + +The heresy was thus crushed in its birthplace, where we hear no more of +it except that there were teachers of it in Dauphiné, where they were +confounded with the Waldenses, and that in 1225 Honorius III. ordered +the destruction of the Periphyseos of Erigena, which was thought to have +given rise to Amauri's speculations. The seed, however, was widely +scattered, to bear fruit in foreign soil. The University of Paris drew +together eager searchers after knowledge from every country in Europe, +and it could not be difficult for the Amaurians to find among those from +abroad converts who would prove useful missionaries. In 1215, Robert de +Curzon includes the works of a certain Maurice the Spaniard in his +condemnation of those of David and Amauri. Another disciple is said to +have been Ortlieb of Strassburg, the teacher of the sectaries known by +his name whose fate we have seen at Strassburg. That the heresy was +known not to be extinguished is shown by the fact that in 1215 the +great Council of Lateran still deemed it necessary to utter a formal +condemnation of the doctrines of Amauri, which it stigmatized as crazy +rather than heretical.[361] + +We know little of the faith originally professed by the Brethren of the +Free Spirit, as the followers of Ortlieb called themselves. The +principal account we have of their doctrines in the thirteenth century +concerns itself much more with the results in denying the efficacy of +sacerdotal observances than with the principles which led to those +results; but there are indications of pantheism in the assertion of the +eternity of the uncreated universe, in the promise of eternal life to +all, while denying the resurrection of the flesh, and in the mystic +representation of the Trinity by three members of the sect. No +immorality is attributed to them; nay, the severest continence was +prescribed by them, even in marriage; the only generation of children +permitted was spiritual, through conversion, while homicide, lying, and +oaths were strictly forbidden. It is quite probable that in Alsace the +prevalence of Waldensianism and the sympathies born of common +proscription may have considerably modified the opinions of the +disciples of Ortlieb. They were by no means exterminated in the +persecutions of 1212, and we hear of further pursuit against them in +1216, extending as far as Thurgau, in Switzerland. About the middle of +the century they are described as prevailing in Suabia, especially in +the neighborhood of Nördlingen and Oettingen, and Albertus Magnus +thought them of sufficient importance to draw up an elaborate list of +their errors.[362] + +It was not long before another consequence, especially shocking to the +faithful, was drawn from the fruitful premises of pantheism. If God was +the essence of all creatures, Satan himself could not be excepted; if +all were to be eventually reunited in God, Satan and his angels could +not be condemned to eternal perdition. So infinite were the conclusions +which flowed from the bold assumptions of the Amaurians, that those who +accepted their views inevitably diverged in the applications, as they +attributed greater or less importance to one series of propositions or +another. There were some who took special interest in this theory as to +Satan, and as their utterances were peculiarly exasperating to the +orthodox, they were designated as a separate sect under the name of +Luciferans. Of these we hear much but see little. Their doctrines were +exaggerated into devil-worship, and they were included in the list of +heretics to be periodically anathematized with a zeal which attributed +to them vastly greater importance than their scanty numbers deserved. +Probably this was because they were peculiarly well adapted to serve as +a stimulus for a healthy popular abhorrence of heresy. The most +extravagant and repulsive stories were circulated as to their hideous +rites, which gradually took shape under the current superstitions as to +witchcraft, which they aided to formulate and render concrete. At the +period under consideration they formed the basis of the wildest and most +ferocious epidemic of persecution that the world had yet seen. + +The first indication we have of this tendency occurs in the case of +Henry Minneke, Provost of the Cistercian nunnery of Neuwerke in Goslar, +which is further of interest as showing how utterly, at the close of the +first quarter of the thirteenth century, Germany was destitute of any +inquisitorial machinery, and how ignorant were her prelates as yet of +inquisitorial procedure. In 1222 Minneke was accused before his bishop, +the fanatic Conrad von Reisenberg of Hildesheim, of certain heretical +opinions. An assembly of prelates was held at Goslar, which took +testimony of his nuns, and found him guilty. He was simply ordered to +teach his doctrines no longer. When he disobeyed he was summoned before +Bishop Conrad, who examined him for three days and sentenced him to +return to his Premonstratensian monastery, and ordered the nuns to elect +another provost. To this, again, he paid no attention, probably +considering that his immunities as a monk exempted him from episcopal +jurisdiction, and the bishop seems to have had no resource but to +implore the intervention of Honorius III. When the pope ordered the +sentence executed, the nuns interjected an appeal back to him and to the +emperor. Both appeals were rejected; Minneke was declared a diseased +member of the Church, fit only to be cut off, and the nuns were told +that they should rejoice in being liberated from his influence. Still he +remained firm, and the bishop was obliged to consult the +Cardinal-legate, Cinthio of Porto, before he ventured to throw the +indomitable heretic into prison. From his jail, Minneke himself appealed +to the pope, asserting that he had been condemned unheard, praying for +an examination, and offering to submit to incarceration for life if he +should refuse to recant any erroneous opinions of which he might be +convicted. Honorius thereupon, in May, 1224, ordered Bishop Conrad to +bring his prisoner before the legate and an assembly of prelates for a +final hearing and judgment. About October I, at Bardewick, Cinthio met +an assembly of the bishops of North Germany, where it was decided that +Minneke was convicted of having encouraged the nuns to regard him as +greater than any other born of woman; he had on many points relaxed the +severe Cistercian discipline; in his sermons he had declared that the +Holy Ghost was the Father of the Son, and had so exalted the state of +virginity as to represent marriage as a sin; in a vision he had seen +Satan praying to be forgiven, and he had asserted that in heaven there +was a woman greater than the Virgin, whose name was Wisdom. Still +another synod, held at Hildesheim, October 22, was requisite to conclude +the matter. Minneke was brought before it, was convicted of his errors, +and degraded from the priesthood, but even yet Bishop Conrad was so +little sure of his authority that the sentence was published under the +seal of the legate. The culprit was handed over to the secular +authorities, and was duly burned in 1225. The prominence accorded to +this assertion, that Satan desired forgiveness, is shown by his being +stigmatized as a Manichæan and a Luciferan.[363] + +This case has a further interest for us, inasmuch as one of the +participators in the final judgment was a man who filled all Germany +with his fame, and who was the most perfect embodiment of the pure +fanaticism of his time--Conrad of Marburg. Though a secular priest and +holding himself aloof from both Mendicant Orders,[364] Conrad steeped +himself in the severest poverty and gained his bread by beggary. Though +he could have aspired to any dignity in the Church, which reverenced him +as its greatest apostle, and though for years all the benefices of +Thuringia were placed by the Landgrave Louis at his absolute disposal, +he never accepted a single preferment. Devoted solely to the work of the +Lord, his fiery soul and unrelaxing energies were directed with absolute +singleness of purpose to advancing the kingdom of heaven upon earth, +according to the light which was in him.[365] + +Stern in temper and narrow in mind, his bigotry was ardent to the pitch +of insanity. What were his conceptions of the duty of man to his Creator +and how his conscience led him to abuse unlimited authority can best be +judged by his course as spiritual director of St. Elizabeth of +Thuringia. The daughter of Andreas of Hungary, born in 1207, married in +1221, at the age of thirteen, to Louis of Thuringia, one of the most +powerful of German princes, a mother at fourteen, a widow at twenty, and +dying of self-inflicted austerities in her twenty-fourth year, +Elizabeth was the rarest type of womanly gentleness and self-abnegation, +of all Christian virtues and spiritual aspirations. When but eighteen +years of age she placed herself under Conrad's direction, and he +proceeded to discipline this heavenly spirit with a ferocity worthy of a +demon. Such implicit obedience did he exact that on one occasion when he +had sent for her to hear him preach, and she was unable to do so on +account of an unexpected visit from her sister-in-law, the Margravine of +Misnia, he angrily declared that he would leave her. She went to him the +next day and entreated for pardon; on his continuing obdurate, she and +her maidens, whom he blamed for the matter, cast themselves at his feet, +when he caused them all to be stripped to their shifts and soundly +scourged. It is no wonder that he inspired her with such terror that she +was wont to say "If I so much dread a mortal man, how is God to be +rightly dreaded?" After the death of Louis, whom she tenderly loved, +and when his brother Henry despoiled her and drove her out, penniless, +with her children, she submitted with patient resignation and earned her +living by beggary; and when he was forced to compound for her +dower-rights with money, she made haste to distribute it in charity. +Under the influence of the diseased pietism inculcated by Conrad, she +abandoned her children to God and devoted herself to succoring casual +outcasts and lepers; and the depth of her humility was shown when +scandal made busy with her fame in consequence of her relations with +Conrad. On being warned of this and counselled to greater prudence, she +brought forth the bloody scourge which she used, and said, "This is the +love the holy man bears to me. I thank God, who has deigned to accept +this final oblation from me. I have sacrificed everything--station, +wealth, beauty--and have made myself a beggar, intending only to +preserve the adornment of womanly modesty; if God chooses to take this +also, I hold it to be a special grace." It was this spirit, so +self-abased and humble, that Conrad's brutal fanaticism sought +systematically to break, contradicting her of set purpose in all things, +and demanding of her every possible sacrifice. Merely to add to her +afflictions he drove away, one by one, the faithful serving-women who +idolized her, finally expelling Guda, who had been her loved companion +since infancy in Hungary; as they themselves said, "He did this with a +good intention, because he feared our influence in recalling her past +splendors, and he wished to deprive her of all human comfort that she +might rely wholly on God." When she disobeyed his orders he used to +beat her and strike her, which she endured with pleasure, in memory of +the blows inflicted on Christ. Once he sent for her to come to him at +Oldenburg to determine whether he would put her into an extremely rigid +convent there. The nuns asked him to let her visit them, and he gave her +permission, expecting that she would decline in view of the +excommunication hanging over all intruders on the sacred precincts. +Supposing, however, that she had leave, she went, while her woman +Irmengard stood outside, received the key, and opened the door. For this +Conrad made them both lie down, and ordered his faithful comrade, Friar +Gerhard, to beat them with a heavy rod, so that they bore the marks of +the flogging for weeks. Well might, in the next century, the mysterious +Friend of God in the Oberland, when speaking of St. Elizabeth, remark +that she had abandoned herself, in place of to God, to a man far +inferior to herself in natural aptitudes as well as in the gifts of +divine grace.[366] + +The significance of all this lies not only in the coarse violence of +Conrad's methods, which regarded torture, mental and physical, as the +most efficient aid to salvation, but also in the arrogance of the nature +which could, without a shadow of hesitation, assume the position of an +avenging God punishing humanity for its weakness and sin. When a man of +such a temper was inflamed with the most fiery fanaticism, was armed +with irresponsible power, and believed himself to be engaged in a direct +conflict with Satan, his mad enthusiasm could lead only to a +catastrophe. For the evil which he wrought it would be unjust to hold +him responsible. The crime lay with those who could coolly select such +an instrument, work up his crazy zeal to the highest pitch, and then let +him loose to wreak his blind wrath upon defenceless populations. + +Conrad had long been a man of mark, and his qualities were well known to +those who made use of him. His burning eloquence was adapted to move the +passions of the people, and as early as 1214 he had been honored with a +commission to preach in Germany the crusade which was one of the +objects for which the great Council of Lateran was assembled. From this +time on his activity was unabated, and there is probably truth in the +assertion that he took part in the occasional persecutions of heresy +which are reported, though no details have reached us. His mission as +preacher brought him into direct relations with Rome, and his success in +inducing thousands to take the cross gave him high repute with the +curia, doubtless enhanced by the disinterestedness which asked for no +reward. He gradually came to be employed as a representative in matters +of importance, and his unwearied energy rendered him increasingly +useful. In 1220 he was intrusted with the duty of compelling, by the +censures of the Church, the Emperor Frederic to fulfil his long-delayed +vow of leading an expedition to the Holy Land, and he was further made +chief of the business of preaching in its behalf, by being empowered to +commission assistants throughout Germany. In these letters he is +addressed as "_Scholasticus_" or head of the church schools in Mainz, +showing that he then held that dignity. In 1227 still greater evidence +was given of the confidence reposed in him. In March of that year +Gregory XI. had mounted the papal throne with full resolve to crush the +rising powers of heresy, and, if possible, to deprive it of its excuse +for existence in the corruptions of the church establishment. We have +seen how, on June 20, 1227, he tried the experiment in Florence of +creating a kind of inquisition, with a Dominican to exercise its +functions. In Germany there seems to have been no one but Conrad on whom +to rely. June 12, eight days before the commission issued to Giovanni di +Salerno, Gregory wrote to Conrad commending highly the diligence with +which he was tracking and pursuing heretics--a diligence of which, +unfortunately, all details are lost to us. In order that his labors +might be more efficacious, Conrad was directed and empowered to nominate +whomsoever he might see fit as his assistants, and with them to inquire +energetically after all who were infected with heresy, so that the +extirpation of the tares from the fields of the Lord might proceed with +due authority. Though the Inquisition was scarce as yet even a +prospective conception, this was in effect an informal commission as +inquisitor-general for Germany, and it is probably no injustice to +Gregory to suggest that one of the motives prompting it was the desire +to substitute papal authority for the episcopal jurisdiction under +which the local and spasmodic persecutions had hitherto been carried +on.[367] + +Eight days later, on June 20, another commission was sent to Conrad, +which increased enormously his power and influence. The German Church +was as corrupt and depraved as its neighbors, and all efforts to purify +it had thus far proved failures. In 1225 the Cardinal-legate Cinthio had +assembled a great national council at Mainz, which had solemnly adopted +an elaborate series of searching canons of reformation, that proved as +bootless as all similar efforts before or since. Something more was +wanted, and the sternly implacable virtue of Conrad seemed to point him +out as the fitting instrument for burning out the incurable cancer which +was consuming the vitals of the German Church. Gregory, whose residence +beyond the Alps as legate had rendered him familiar with its condition, +describes its priesthood as abandoned to lasciviousness, gluttony, and +all manner of filthy living, like cattle putrescing in their own dung; +as committing habitually wickedness which laymen would abhor, corrupting +the people by their evil example, and causing the name of the Lord to be +blasphemed. To remedy these deplorable evils, he now commissioned Conrad +as reformer, with full powers to enforce the regulations of the +cardinal-legate, and the monasteries were especially designated as +objects for his regenerating hand.[368] + +Armed with almost illimitable powers, Conrad was now the foremost German +ecclesiastic of the time, and we may well understand the admiration of +Theodoric of Thuringia, who declares that he shone like a star +throughout all Germany. Yet at this time his ill-balanced impulsiveness +was concentrating his energies on the torturing of St. Elizabeth. There +is no trace of his exercising his inquisitorial functions, and the only +record of his activity as a reformer is his reorganizing the nunnery of +Nordhausen by the simple expedient of expelling the nuns, who all led +ungodly lives. Yet his services as a persecutor never were more needed. +The excommunication of the Emperor Frederic, on September 29 of the same +year, for temporarily abandoning his crusade, had set Church and State +fairly by the ears, and had inspired the heretics with fresh hopes. +Everywhere their missionary activity redoubled, and the land was said to +be full of them. In each diocese they had a bishop to whom they gave the +name of the regular incumbent, and they pretended to have a pope whom +they called Gregory, so that, under examination, they could swear that +they held the faith of the bishop and of Pope Gregory. In 1229 the +Waldenses were again discovered in Strassburg, and for several years +persecution continued there, resulting in burning many obstinate +heretics and penancing those who yielded.[369] + +Local measures such as these were manifestly insufficient, and thus far +all efforts at a comprehensive system of persecution had failed. In 1231 +Gregory was busily occupied in organizing some more efficient method, +and Germany was not forgotten. The Roman statutes of Annibaldo and the +papal edicts of that year, to which frequent allusion has been made +above, were sent to the Teutonic prelates, June 20, with letters blaming +them for their lukewarmness and lenity, and ordering them to put +vigorously into force the new edicts. Yet already there had been +sufficient persecution to occasion the necessity of settling the novel +questions arising from the confiscations, and the Diet of Worms, on June +2 of the same year, had decided that the allodial lands and the movables +should go to the heirs, the fiefs to the lord, and in case of serfs the +personalty to the master, thus excluding the Church and the persecutors +from any share. Under Gregory's earnest impulsion the sluggishness of +the bishops was somewhat stimulated. The Archbishop of Trèves made a +perquisition through his city, and found three schools of heretics in +full activity. He called a synod for the trial of those who were +captured, and had the satisfaction of burning three men, and a woman +named Leuchardis, who had borne the reputation of exceeding holiness, +but who was found, upon examination, to belong to the dreaded sect of +Luciferans, deploring the fall of Satan as unjustly banished from +heaven.[370] + +Still the results did not correspond to Gregory's desires. In October of +the same year (1231) he sought to spur Conrad on to a discharge of his +duty by praising in the most exalted terms his activity and success in +exterminating heretics, and by exhorting him, with the same wealth of +exaggeration, to redoubled energy. The need of earnest work was more +pressing than ever. The Archbishops of Trèves and Mainz had reported +that an apostle of heresy had been sowing tares through all the land, so +that not only the cities, but the towns and hamlets, were infected. Many +heresiarchs, moreover, each in his own appointed district, were laboring +to overthrow the Church. Conrad was therefore given full discretionary +powers; he was not even required to hear the cases, but only to +pronounce judgment, which was to be final and without appeal--justice to +those suspect of heresy being, apparently, of no moment. He was +authorized to command the aid of the secular arm, to excommunicate +protectors of heresy, and to lay interdict on whole districts. The +recent decrees of the Holy See were referred to as his guide, and +heretics who would abjure were to have the benefit of absolution, care +being taken that they should have no further opportunity of mischief--a +delicate expression for condemning them to lifelong incarceration. When +Conrad received these extensive powers he was so dangerously ill that +his life was despaired of, and before he had fairly recovered St. +Elizabeth died, November 29, 1231. Harsh as was his nature, her loss +affected him severely, and for a considerable time his energies were +concentrated on fruitless efforts for her canonization. In intervals of +leisure, however, he exercised his powers on such heretics as were +unlucky enough to be within easy reach. In Marburg itself many suspects +were seized, including knights, priests, and persons of condition, of +whom some recanted and the rest were burned. On one excursion to Erfurt, +moreover, in 1232, he took the opportunity to burn four more +victims.[371] + +Results so far below what might reasonably have been expected could not +but be disappointing in the extreme to Gregory. One expedient +remained--to try whether among the Dominicans there might not be found +men able and willing to devote themselves fearlessly and exclusively to +the holy work. Between the end of 1231 and that of 1232, therefore, +commissions were sent to various Dominican establishments empowering +their officials to undertake the work. The treaty of Ceperano, in 1230, +had restored peace between the empire and the papacy, and Frederic's aid +was successfully invoked to give the imperial sanction to the new +experiment. From Ravenna, in March, 1232, he issued a constitution +addressed to all the prelates and potentates of the empire, ordering +their efficient co-operation in the extirpation of heresy, and taking +under the special imperial protection all the Mendicants deputed by the +pope for that purpose. The secular authorities were commanded to arrest +all who should be designated to them by the inquisitors, to hold them +safely until condemnation, and to put to a dreadful death those +convicted of heresy or fautorship, or to imprison for life such as +should recant and abjure. Relapse was punishable with the death-penalty, +and descendants to the second generation were declared incapable of +holding fiefs or public office.[372] + +Here were laws provided and ministers for their enforcement, and the +business of vindicating the faith might at last be expected to prosper. +If Conrad was remiss, others would be found enthusiastically ready for +the work. So it proved. Suddenly there appeared on the scene a Dominican +named Conrad Tors, said to be a convert from heresy, who, without +special commission, commenced to clear the land of error. He carried +with him a layman named John, one-eyed and one-handed, of thoroughly +disreputable character, who boasted that he could recognize a heretic at +sight. Apparently with little more evidence than this, Conrad Tors +raided from town to town, condemning his victims wholesale, and those +whom he delivered to the magistrates they were compelled by popular +excitement to burn. Soon, however, a revulsion of feeling took place, +and then the Dominican shrewdly enlisted the support of the nobles by +directing his attacks against the more wealthy, and holding out the +prospect of extensive confiscations to be divided. When remonstrated +with he is said to have replied, "I would burn a hundred innocent if +there was one guilty among them." Stimulated by this shining example, +many Dominicans and Franciscans joined him, and became his eager +assistants in the work.[373] + +Whether, as reported, Conrad Tors, to strengthen himself, sought out +Conrad of Marburg and persuaded him to take part in the good work, or +whether the latter, scenting the battle from afar, was aroused from his +torpor and rushed eagerly to the fray, cannot positively be determined. +This much is certain, that at length he came forward, and not only lent +the weight of his great name to the proceedings, but urged them to a +crueller and wider development with all his vehemence of character and +implacable severity. + +The heresy of which the miserable victims of this onslaught were accused +was not Waldensian, but Luciferan. Its hideous rites were described in +full detail by Master Conrad to Pope Gregory, and are worth repeating as +illustrating the superstitions concerning witchcraft which, for +centuries, worked such cruel wrong in every corner of Europe. Indeed, it +seemed inevitable that such embroideries should be added by +inquisitorial craft or popular credulity to the tenets of heretics, for, +on the first emergence of Catharism at Orleans in 1022, very similar +stories were told of the infernal rites of the heretics, which are +repeated by Walter Mapes in the latter half of the twelfth century.[374] +That Conrad obtained these wild fictions in endless duplication from +those who stood before his judgment-seat there need be no reasonable +doubt. The reports of witch-trials in later times are too numerous and +authentic for us to question the readiness of self-accusation of those +who saw no other means of escape, or their eagerness to propitiate their +judge by responding to every incriminating suggestion, and telling him +what they found him desirous of hearing. Crude as were Conrad's methods, +the inquisitorial process proved its universal effectiveness by their +producing confessions as surely as the more elaborate refinements +invented by his successors, although he had not the advantage of the use +of torture. + +According to these revelations, when a novice is received into the sect +and first attends the assembly, there appears to him a toad, which he +kisses either on the posteriors or on the mouth; in the latter case it +deposits something in his mouth. Occasionally it has the aspect of a +goose or of a duck, and sometimes it is as large as an oven. Then there +comes to him a man of wonderful paleness, with the blackest of eyes, and +so thin that he is naught but skin and bone. Him the novice likewise +kisses, finding him ice-cold, and with that kiss all remembrance of the +Catholic faith vanishes from his heart. Then all sit down to a feast, +after which, from a statue which is always present, there descends a +black cat, as large as a dog, with the tail bent back. She comes down +backwards and her posteriors are kissed, first by the novice, then by +the master of the assembly, and finally by all who are worthy and +perfect, while those who are imperfect and feel themselves unworthy +receive peace from the master. Then each resumes his place, songs are +sung, and the master says to his next neighbor, "What does this +teach?" The answer is, "The highest peace," and another adds, "And +that we must obey." All lights are then extinguished and indiscriminate +intercourse takes place, after which the candles are relighted, each one +takes his seat, and from a dark corner appears a man shining like the +sun in his upper half, while from the hips down he is black like the +cat. He illuminates the whole place, and the master, taking a fragment +of the novice's garment, hands it to him, saying, "Master, I give this +to thee which has been given to me." To this the shining man replies, +"Thou hast served me well, thou wilt serve me more and better. I leave +to thy care what thou hast given me," and then he disappears. Each year +at Easter they receive the host, carry it home in their mouths, and spit +it out into a cesspool to show their contempt for the Redeemer. They +hold that God unjustly and treacherously cast Satan into hell; the +latter is the Creator, who in the end will overcome God, when they +expect eternal bliss with him. That which is pleasing to God is to be +avoided, and that which he hates is to be cherished. + +This transparent tissue of inventions was apparently doubted by no one, +and it excited almost to insanity the credulous old man who filled the +papal chair. He replies that he is drunk with wormwood, and in fact his +letters read like the ravings of a madman. "If against such men the +earth should rise up, and the stars of heaven reveal their iniquity, so +that not only men, but the elements, should unite in their destruction, +wiping them from the face of the earth without sparing sex or age, and +rendering them an eternal opprobrium for the nations, it would not be a +sufficient and worthy punishment of their crimes." If they cannot be +converted, the strongest remedies must be used. Fire and steel must be +applied to wounds incurable by milder applications. Conrad was +instructed forthwith to preach a crusade against them, and the bishop of +the province, the emperor, and his son, King Henry, were ordered to +exert all their powers for the extirpation of the wretches.[375] + +The means which Master Conrad took to obtain these avowals from his +victims were simple in the extreme. The processes of the Inquisition had +not yet been formulated, and the unlimited powers with which he was +clothed enabled his impatient temper to reach the desired goal by the +shortest possible course. As officially reported, after the bursting of +the bubble, to Gregory by his own penitentiary, the Dominican Bernard, +and the Archbishop of Mainz, the accused was allowed simply the option +of confessing what was demanded of him, and receiving penance, or of +being burned for denial--which, in fact, was the essence of the +inquisitorial process, reduced to its simplest terms. Conrad had no +prisons at his disposal for the incarceration of penitents, and the +infliction of wearing crosses seems to have been unknown to him, so he +devised the penance of shaving the head as a mark of humiliation for his +converts, who were moreover, of course, obliged to give the names of all +whom they had seen in the hideous nocturnal assemblies. + +At the outset he had fallen into the hands of a designing woman, a +vagrant about twenty years old who had quarrelled with her relations, +and who, coming by chance to Bingen, and observing what was going on, +saw her opportunity of revenge. She pretended to be of the sect, that +her husband had been burned, that she wished to perish likewise, but +added that if the Master would believe her she would reveal the names of +the guilty. Conrad eagerly swallowed the bait, and sent her with his +assistants to Clavelt, whence she came, where she caused the burning of +her kindred. Then there was a certain Amfrid, who finally confessed that +he had led Conrad to condemn a number of innocent men. Creatures of this +kind were sure not to be lacking, and it was even said that cunning +heretics caused themselves to be accused, and accepted penance, for the +purpose of incriminating Catholics, and thus rendering the whole +proceeding odious. As no one had the slightest opportunity of defence, +some steadfast men preferred to be burned and thus earn salvation, +rather than to confess to lies and falsely accuse others. The weaker +ones who saved their lives, when pressed to name their accomplices, +would often say, "I know not whom to accuse: tell me the names of those +you suspect;" or, when interrogated about individuals, would evasively +reply, "They were as I was; they were in the assemblies as I was," +which was apparently sufficient. "Thus," proceeds the official report +to the pope, "brother accused brother, the wife the husband, and the +master the servant. Others gave money to the shaven penitents in order +to learn from them methods of evasion and escape, and there arose a +confusion unknown for ages. I, the archbishop, first by myself and +afterwards with the two archbishops of Trèves and Cologne, warned Master +Conrad to proceed in so great a matter with more moderation and +discretion, but he refused."[376] + +From this last fact we gather that the prelates of the land, while not +interfering effectively to protect their people, had, at least, taken no +part in the insane persecution which was raging. Conrad had found plenty +of assistants among the Dominicans and Franciscans, but the secular +hierarchy had held aloof. In vain had Gregory, in October, 1232, written +to them and to the princes, telling them that the heretics who formerly +lay in hiding were now coming forward openly, like war-horses harnessed +for battle, publicly preaching their errors and seeking the perdition of +the simple and ignorant. Faith was rare in Germany, he said, and, +therefore, he ordered them to make vigorous inquisition throughout their +lands, seizing all heretics and suspects, and proceeding against them in +accordance with the papal decrees of 1231. The appeal fell upon deaf +ears. The bishops seem to have been thoroughly disturbed by the +encroachments which the papacy was making on their independence through +the new agencies which it was bringing into play. The Mendicant Orders +were already a sufficiently dangerous factor, and now came these new +inquisitors, armed with papal commissions, superseding their +time-honored jurisdiction in every spot within their dioceses. It is no +wonder that they felt alarmed, and that they held aloof. The German +prelates were great secular princes, combining civil and spiritual +authority. The three electoral archbishops--Mainz, Trèves, and +Cologne--stood on a level as temporal lords with the most powerful +princes of the empire, and the wide extent of many of the dioceses +rendered the bishops scarcely less formidable. They were always +suffering from the greed of the Roman curia, and were perpetually +involved in struggles to resist its encroachments. Frederic II., indeed, +by his constitutions of 1232, had increased their secular authority by +rendering them absolute masters of the episcopal cities, whose municipal +rights and liberties he abolished, but at the same time he had given, as +we have seen, the imperial sanction to the papal Inquisition, and had +rendered it everywhere supreme. It is no wonder that they felt aggrieved +and alarmed, that they withheld their co-operation as far as they +safely could, and that well-grounded jealousy would lead them to seize +the first safe opportunity of crushing the intruding upstarts.[377] + +Fortunately for the German people, Conrad's blind recklessness was not +long in affording them the desired chance. Beginning with the lowly and +helpless, his operations had rapidly advanced to the higher classes. In +his eyes the meanest peasant and the loftiest noble were on an equality, +and he was as prompt to assail the one as the other, but his witnesses +at first had not dared to accuse the high-born and powerful. It is quite +possible, indeed, that, as the persecution became more dreadful, some of +them may have felt that the surest mode of bringing on a crisis was to +involve the magnates of the land. Rumors were spread impugning the faith +of the Counts of Aneberg, Lotz, and Sayn. Conrad eagerly directed his +interrogatories to obtaining evidence against them, and summoned them to +appear before him. Count Sayn was an especially notable prey, as he was +one of the most powerful nobles of the diocese, whose extensive +possessions were guarded by castles renowned for strength, and whose +reputation was that of a stern and cruel man. The crime of which he was +accused was that of riding on a crab, and open defiance was expected +from him. Sigfried, the Archbishop of Mainz, to make a show of obedience +to the papal commands, had called a provincial council to assemble March +13, 1233. When it met, it deplored the prevalence of heresy, from which +scarce a village in the land was free; it prayed the prelates to labor +zealously for the suppression of the evil, commanded them to enforce in +their respective dioceses the recent decrees of the pope and of the +emperor, which were to be read and explained in the local synods, so +that the heretics might be frightened to conversion; it deprecated the +practice of seizing the property of suspects before their guilt was +determined; it ordered the bishops to provide prisons for coiners and +incorrigible clerks, without alluding to the imprisonment of heretics, +although Gregory, but a few weeks before, had specially ordered them to +employ perpetual incarceration in all cases of relapse; it endeavored to +maintain episcopal jurisdiction by enacting that inquisitors must obtain +letters from the bishop before exercising their powers in any diocese; +finally, it anticipated the resistance of Count Sayn and the other +inculpated nobles, by directing that if any magnate, relying upon the +strength of his castles and the support of his subjects, should refuse +to appear after three citations, his bishop should preach a crusade +against him with indulgences, and he should be manfully assailed.[378] + +Thus, while ostensibly obeying the commands of the pope and emperor, the +action of the bishops was practically directed to limiting the powers of +the inquisitors. As for the threat of a crusade, its significance is +seen in the steps actually taken in the case of Count Sayn. That shrewd +noble saw that he could rely upon episcopal protection if he could +promise the bishops efficient support, and he had sufficient interest +with King Henry to induce him to join with Sigfried of Mainz in calling +a council for July 25, to consider his case. The king and his princes +attended the assembly as well as the prelates, so that it was rather an +imperial diet than an ecclesiastical council. The count asserted his +innocence and offered to prove it by conjurators. Conrad, who was +present, found his position suddenly changed. The assembly was, in +reality, a national protest against the supremacy of the papal +Inquisition, and the inquisitor, in place of being a judge armed with +absolute jurisdiction, was merely a prosecutor. He presented his +witnesses, but in that august presence the hearts of some of them +failed, and they withdrew; others felt emboldened to declare that they +had been forced to accuse the count in order to save their own lives, +and those who persisted were easily shown to be personal enemies of the +accused. The whole assemblage seemed inspired with a common desire to +put an end to Conrad's arbitrary proceedings, and the prosecution broke +down totally. King Henry alone, perhaps already meditating his rebellion +against his father, and anxious not to offend either the nobles or the +papacy, desired to postpone the matter for further consideration. The +count pressed earnestly for immediate judgment, but the Archbishop of +Trèves interposed--"My lord, the king wishes the case postponed;" then +turning to the people, "I announce to you that Count Sayn departs from +here unconvicted, and as a good Catholic," Master Conrad sullenly +muttered, "If he had been convicted it would have been different," and +withdrew. The count finally agreed to allow the matter to be referred to +Rome, and ecclesiastics of distinction were appointed to lay the +proceedings before the Holy See for final decision.[379] + +Maddened by his defeat, Conrad at once proceeded to preach in the +streets of Mainz a crusade against some nobles who had been summoned and +who had not appeared. To this both the archbishop and the king objected, +and he was forced to desist. With his usual impulsiveness he then +abruptly determined to quit an ungrateful world, and to live henceforth +in retirement at Marburg. The king and archbishop offered him an armed +escort, but he would accept nothing save letters of surety, and with +these he departed to meet his fate. Those against whom his crusade had +been preached lay in wait for him near Marburg and despatched him, July +31, regardless of his entreaties for mercy. His faithful follower, Friar +Gerhard, refused the opportunity offered him to escape, threw himself on +the body of his beloved master, and perished with him. The scene of the +murder is supposed to be Kappeln on the Lahnsberg, where a chapel was +erected to commemorate it. The body was carried to Marburg and buried by +the side of St. Elizabeth, and when the latter was translated to the +magnificent Elizabethskirche, his bones were likewise carried +thither.[380] + +The immediate reputation which Conrad left behind him is shown by the +vision, related by a contemporary, which indicated that he was +hopelessly damned. Modern ecclesiastics, however, take a more favorable +view of his career, and even the amiable Alban Butler describes him as a +virtuous and enlightened priest, who rendered great service by his +preaching, and whose fervor, disinterestedness, and love of poverty and +austerity rendered him a model for his contemporaries. Yet, +unaccountably, the Church has not yet proceeded to his vindication as a +martyred saint, and has neglected to place him alongside of those +kindred spirits, St. Peter Martyr and St. Pedro Arbues.[381] + +With Conrad's withdrawal from the Council of Mainz the proceedings of +which he had been the mainspring came to an end at once. "Thus," says +a contemporary ecclesiastic, "ceased this storm, the most dangerous +persecution of the faithful since the days of Constantius the Heretic +and Julian the Apostate. People once more began to breathe. Count Sayn +was a wall for the mansion of the Lord, lest this madness should rage +further, enveloping guilty and innocent alike, bishops and princes, +religious and Catholics, like peasants and heretics." The murderers +evidently felt that they had nothing to dread from public opinion, for +they voluntarily came forward and offered to submit themselves to the +judgment of the Church as regards the heresy whereof Conrad had accused +them, and to the secular tribunals as regards the homicide, agreeing to +present themselves for examination at a diet of the empire which was +ordered for February, 1234, at Frankfort.[382] + +Gregory, who in June had been ordering a crusade preached against the +heretics, and had been stimulating prince and prelate to a yet more +ferocious persecution, was moved to regret when the envoy of the +assembly of Mainz, Conrad, the "Scholasticus" of Speier, presented +letters from the king and bishops describing the arbitrary methods of +his inquisitor. He ordered letters drawn up prescribing a more regular +form of trial for heretics; but before the envoy had permission to +depart, there arrived the originator of the trouble, Conrad Tors, with +the pitiful tale of the Master's martyrdom. At this news the emotional +pope could not contain his wrath. The letters just written were recalled +and torn up, and the unlucky envoy was threatened with the deprivation +of all his benefices. Under the remonstrances of the Sacred College, +however, Gregory's ire subsided sufficiently to allow him to renew the +letters and to enable the envoy to depart unscathed. The pope solaced +himself, however, with pouring out his grief at full length in letters +to the German prelates. The death of Conrad was a thunderclap which had +shaken the walls of the Christian sanctuary. No words were strong +enough to describe the transcendant merits and services of the martyr, +and no punishment could be invented too severe for the murderers. The +bishops were roundly rated for their indifference in the matter, and +were ordered to take immediate and effective measures. The Dominican +provincial, Conrad, was commanded, in conjunction with the bishops, to +carry on the Inquisition vigorously, and to preach a crusade against the +heretics.[383] + +In spite of this furious grief and wrath the German prelates maintained +a most provoking calmness. The fanatic Conrad, Bishop of Hildesheim, it +is true, preached a crusade as ordered by the pope, and under his +impulsion the Landgrave, Conrad of Thuringia, zealously purged his land +of heretics, and completely destroyed all their assemblies, levelling to +the ground Willnsdorf, which was reckoned their chief abiding-place; +while his brother, Henry Raspe, and Hartmann, Count of Kiburg (Zurich), +took the cross under the same auspices, and received, in consequence, +papal protection for their dominions. Even this measure of activity, +however, was regarded unfavorably in Germany, and there was no response +to the cry for vengeance. The Diet of Frankfort duly assembled February +2, 1234, and the first business recorded was an accusation brought by +King Henry himself against the Bishop of Hildesheim for having preached +the crusade; it was treated as an offence, and though he was pardoned by +unanimous request, the recalcitrance against the papal tendencies was +none the less significant. Then the memory of the martyred Conrad was +arraigned, and this, as a matter of faith, was discussed by the +ecclesiastics separately. There were twenty-five archbishops and bishops +present, who were almost unanimous in condemning him, while the Bishop +of Hildesheim and a Dominican named Otto strenuously defended him. One +of the prelates exclaimed that Master Conrad ought to be dug up and +burned as a heretic; but no conclusion seems to have been reached, for +the proceedings were interrupted by the introduction of a procession of +those whom he had shaved in penance the preceding year, who marched in +with a cross at their head, and complained of his cruelty with dolorous +cries, when a tumult arose from which his defenders were glad to escape +with their lives. On the following Monday the solemn purgation of Count +Sayn took place in the field of judgment beyond the walls. Eight +bishops, twelve Cistercian and three Benedictine abbots, twelve +Franciscan and three Dominican friars, who, with many other clerks and +numerous nobles, took part in his oath of denial, show how emphatically +the German hierarchy desired to disclaim all sympathy with Conrad's +acts. Count Solms, whom Conrad had forced to confession, went through +the same ceremony, declaring with tears in his eyes that the fear of +death alone had compelled him to admit himself guilty. The diet then +proceeded to legislate for the future, and its slender enunciation on +the subject of heresy can have carried little comfort to the wrathful +Gregory. It simply commanded that all who exercised judicial functions +should use every effort to purge the land of heresy, but at the same +time it cautioned them to prefer justice to unjust persecution.[384] + +Two months later, April 2, 1234, a council was held at Mainz for final +action. Count Sayn and others who had been accused were subjected to a +form of examination, were declared innocent, and were restored to +reputation and to their possessions. Conrad's unlucky witnesses who had +been forced to commit perjury were ordered to undergo a penance of seven +years; those who had accused the innocent were maliciously sent to the +pope for the imposition of penance, and he was, in the same spirit, +asked what should be done about those whom Conrad had unjustly burned. +As for the murderers, they were simply excommunicated.[385] + +All this was a direct challenge to the Holy See, but Gregory prudently +delayed action. He was involved in troubles with the Romans which +rendered inadvisable any trial of strength with the united Teutonic +Church. He sent his penitentiary, Bernard, who made an investigation on +the spot, and, in conjunction with Archbishop Sigfried, furnished him +with a report to which we are indebted for most of our knowledge of the +affair. On receiving this, Gregory expressed his regret that he had +intrusted to Master Conrad the enormous powers which had led to a result +so lamentable. Still his decision was delayed. Towards the end of the +year 1234 he appealed earnestly to the German bishops for aid in his +quarrel with the Romans, which continued until he made peace with them +in April, 1235. His hands were now free, but it was not until July that +he trusted himself to express his indignation. Then he scolded most +vehemently the Council of Mainz for daring, in the absence of any +defenders of the faith, to absolve those whom Conrad had prosecuted, and +for sending to him for absolution the murderers, without having first +exacted of them full satisfaction for their detestable crime. His +sentence upon them is that they shall join the crusade to Palestine when +it sets sail the following March, giving good security to insure their +obedience, and meanwhile they shall visit all the greater churches in +the region of the crime, bare-footed and naked, except drawers, with a +halter around the neck, and a rod in the hand, and, when the affluence +of people is the greatest, cause themselves to be scourged by all the +priests, while they chant the penitential psalms, and publicly confess +their guilt. After this they may be absolved.[386] + +It is satisfactory to know that the immediate author of the troubles met +with the fate which he deserved. Conrad Tors, on his return from Rome, +endeavored to resume his interrupted labors, but the temper of the +people had changed, and the victims were no longer unresisting. At +Strassburg he summoned the Junker Heinz von Müllenheim, who +unceremoniously settled the accusation by slaying him. His assistant, +the one-eyed John, met an even more ignominious fate, for he was +recognized at Freiburg and hanged.[387] + +Thus ended this terrible drama, which left an impression of horror on +the souls of the German people not easily effaced. The number of +Conrad's victims can only be guessed at. Some chroniclers vaguely speak +of them as innumerable, and one asserts that a thousand unfortunates +were burned. Although this is probably an exaggeration, for the period +of Conrad's insane activity cannot have exceeded a twelvemonth, yet the +number must have been considerable to produce so profound an impression +on a generation which was by no means susceptible.[388] + +One good result there undoubtedly was. The universal detestation excited +by Conrad's crazy fanaticism rendered it comparatively easy for the +bishops to maintain the jurisdiction which they had assumed, and to keep +the Inquisition confined within narrow limits. For a time this was +doubtless facilitated by the open quarrels between Frederic II. and the +papacy, but even after his death, during the Great Interregnum and the +reigns of emperors who were more or less dependent upon the Holy See, +more than a century was to pass away before the popes, who were so +zealously organizing and strengthening it elsewhere, made a serious +effort to establish the Inquisition in Germany. We hear of no endeavors +on their part, we meet with no appointments or commissions of German +inquisitors. It seems to have been tacitly understood that the +institution was unfitted for German soil until a period when it had +fairly entered into decadence in the lands where its growth was the +rankest. + +The excitement of Conrad of Marburg's exploits was naturally succeeded +by a reaction. In 1233 the murder of Bishop Berthold of Coire, +attributed to heretics, shows how far persecution spread, accompanied by +a dangerous tendency to resistance. Throughout 1234 both Dominicans and +Franciscans are reported as busy, with the result of numerous burnings; +but the lesson taught by the attitude of the German prelates was not +lost, and in 1235 the magistrates of Strassburg enjoined on them to seek +conversions by preaching, and not to burn people without at least giving +them a hearing. The languor and reaction continued. We have seen from +the complaints of the Count of Salins, in 1248, and the fruitless +efforts of Innocent IV. to establish the Inquisition in Besançon, that +the western borders of Germany were full of Waldenses who had little to +dread. At the same period there was a demonstration in the neighborhood +of Halle which may be reasonably regarded as Waldensian. The papacy had +succeeded in raising a rival to Frederic in the person of William of +Holland, and a crusade was on foot in his favor against Conrad, +Frederic's son. The imperialists would naturally regard with favor the +Waldensian doctrines denying the power of the keys and the obedience due +to interdicts, and they might not object further to the tenet that +sinful priests cannot administer the sacraments. Such were the dogmas +attributed to the heretics of Halle, who came boldly forward in 1248, +were eagerly listened to by the nobles, and were favored by King Conrad, +but they speedily disappeared from sight in the changeful circumstances +of that tumultuous time.[389] + +We have much more distinct indications of the existence both of heresy +and of the Inquisition in the writings of David of Augsburg, and of the +author now generally known as the Passauer Anonymus. The date of the +latter is not absolutely certain, but it cannot vary much from 1260. His +field of action was the extensive diocese of Passau, stretching from the +Iser to the Leitha, and from Bohemia to Styria, embracing eastern +Bavaria and northern Austria. His instructions seem to take for granted +the existence of an organized Inquisition with its fully developed code +of procedure, but his description of the prevalence of Waldensianism +would indicate that it was almost inoperative. He tells us that he had +often been concerned in the inquisition and examination of the +"schools," or communities, of Waldenses, of which there were forty-one +in the diocese, ten of them being in the single town of Clamme, where +the heretics slew the parish priest without any one being punished for +it. There were also forty-one Waldensian churches, organized under a +bishop residing in Empenbach, and there was a school for lepers at +Newenhoffen. All this shows a prosperous growth of heresy little +disturbed by persecution. It is observable that the places enumerated as +the seats of these churches are mostly insignificant villages, the +larger towns appear to be avoided, and the heretics belong to the +humbler classes--mostly peasants and mechanics. Their wonderful +familiarity with Scripture and their self-devoted earnestness in making +converts have already been alluded to. From the writer's long +description of the tenets of the Ordibarii and Ortlibenses it is evident +that they formed a fair proportion of the heretics with whom the +inquisitor had to deal, and their belief that the Day of Judgment would +come when the pope and the emperor should be converted to their sect, +indicates the hopefulness of a faith that is growing and spreading. Soon +afterwards we hear of Waldenses captured in the diocese of Ratisbon, and +their continued activity, in spite of persecution, through all the south +German regions.[390] + +There was little on the part of the Inquisition or the bishops to +prevent the growth and spread of heresy. During the Interregnum, in +1261, a council of Mainz seems suddenly to have awakened to a sense of +neglected duty in the premises; it vigorously anathematized all heretics +after the fashion customary in the papal bulls, and it strictly +commanded the bishops of the province to labor zealously for the +extermination of heresy in their respective dioceses, enforcing, with +regard to the persons and property of heretics, the papal constitutions +and the statutes of a former provincial council. There is here no sign +of the existence of a papal Inquisition, and the episcopal activity +which was threatened appears to have lain dormant, though the action of +the council would seem to show that heretics were numerous enough to +attract attention. It is true that, in the chancery of Rodolph of +Hapsburg, whose reign extended from 1273 to 1292, there was a formula +for acknowledging and confirming the papal commissions presented by +inquisitors, showing that this must, at least occasionally, have been +done. The emperor calls God to witness that his chief object in +accepting the crown was to be able to defend the faith; he alludes to +the exercise of inquisitorial jurisdiction over the descendants of +heretics as well as over heretics themselves, but he carefully inserts a +saving clause to the effect that the accused must be legitimately +proved guilty and be properly condemned. If, however, inquisitors +presented themselves to obtain this recognition of their powers, they +have left no visible traces of the results of their activity.[391] + +In the codes which embody the customs current in mediæval Germany there +is no recognition whatever of the existence of such a body as the +Inquisition. The Sachsenspiegel, which contains the municipal law of the +northern provinces, provides, it is true, the punishment of burning for +those convicted of unbelief, poisoning, or sorcery, but says nothing as +to the manner of trial; and the rule enunciated that no houses shall be +destroyed except when rape is committed in them, or a violated woman is +carried into them, shows that the demolition of the residences and +refuges of heretics was unknown within its jurisdiction. The code +throughout is singularly disregardful of ecclesiastical pretensions, and +richly earned the papal anathema bestowed upon it when its practical +working happened to attract the attention of the Roman curia.[392] + +The Schwabenspiegel, or code in force in southern Germany, is much more +complaisant to the Church, but it knows of no jurisdiction over heretics +save that of the bishops. It admits that an emperor rendering himself +suspect in the faith can be put under ban by the pope. It provides death +by fire for the heretic. It directs that when heretics are known to +exist, the ecclesiastical courts shall inquire about them and proceed +against them. If convicted, the secular judge shall seize them and doom +them according to law. If he neglects or refuses he is to be +excommunicated by the bishop, and his suzerain shall inflict on him the +penalty of heresy. If a secular prince does not punish heresy he is to +be excommunicated by the episcopal court; if he remains under the +censure for a year the bishop is to report him to the pope, who shall +deprive him of his rank and honors, and the emperor is bound to execute +his sentence by stripping him of all his possessions, feudal and +allodial. All this shows ample readiness to accept the received +ecclesiastical law of the period as to heresy, but utter ignorance of +the inquisitorial process is revealed in the provision which inflicts +the _talio_ on whoever accuses another of certain crimes, including +heresy, without being able to convict him. When the accuser had to +accept the chances of the stake, prosecutions were not apt to be +common.[393] + + * * * * * + +Towards the close of the thirteenth century and the opening of the +fourteenth, attention was aroused to the dangerous tendencies of certain +forms of belief lurking among some semi-religious bodies which had long +enjoyed the favor of the pious and the protection of the Church, known +by the names of Beguines, Beghards, Lollards, Cellites, etc. Infinite +learned trifling has been wasted in imagining derivations for these +appellations. The Beguines and Beghards themselves assert their descent +from St. Begga, mother of Pepin of Landen, who built a Benedictine +nunnery at Andennes. Another root has been sought in Lambert-le-Bègue, +or the Stammerer, a priest of St. Christopher at Liège, about 1180, who +became prominent by denouncing the simony of the canons of the +cathedral. Prebends were openly placed for sale in the hands of a +butcher named Udelin, who acted as broker, and when Lambert aroused the +people to a sense of this wickedness, the bishop arrested him as a +disturber, and the clergy assailed him and tore him with their nails. +His connection with the Beguines arose from his affording them shelter +in his house at St. Christopher, which has remained until modern times +the largest and richest Beguinage of the province. The soundest opinion, +however, would seem to be that both Beghard and Beguine are derived from +the old German word _beggan_, signifying either to beg or to pray, while +Lollard is traced to _lullen_, to mutter prayers.[394] + +The motives were numerous which impelled multitudes to desire a +religious life without assuming the awful and irrevocable vows that cut +them off absolutely from the world. This was especially the case among +women who chanced to be deprived of their natural guardians and who +sought in those wild ages the protection which the Church alone could +confer. Thus associations were formed, originally of women, who simply +promised chastity and obedience while they lived in common, who assisted +either by labor or beggary in providing for the common support, who were +assiduous in their religious observances, and who performed such duties +of hospitality and of caring for the sick as their opportunities would +allow. The Netherlands were the native seat of this fruitful idea, and +as early as 1065 there is a charter extant given by a convent of +Beguines at Vilvorde, near Brussels. The drain of the crusades on the +male population increased enormously the number of women deprived of +support and protection, and gave a corresponding stimulus to the growth +of the Beguinages. In time men came to form similar associations, and +soon Germany, France, and Italy became filled with them. To this +contributed in no small degree the insane laudation of poverty by the +Franciscans and the merit conceded to a life of beggary by the immense +popularity of the Mendicant Orders. To earn a livelihood by beggary was +in itself an approach to sanctity, as we have seen in the case of Conrad +of Marburg and St. Elizabeth. About 1230 a certain Willem Cornelis, of +Antwerp, gave up a prebend and devoted himself to teaching the +pre-eminent virtue of poverty. He carried the received doctrine on the +subject, however, to lengths too extravagant, for he held that poverty +consumed all sin, as fire ate up rust, and that a harlot, if poor, was +better than a just and continent rich man; and though he was honorably +buried in the church of the Virgin Mary, yet when, four years later, +these opinions came to be known, Bishop Nicholas of Cambrai caused his +bones to be exhumed and burned.[395] + +Extremes such as this show us the prevailing tendencies of the age, and +it is necessary to appreciate these tendencies in order to understand +how Europe came to tolerate the hordes of holy beggars, either wandering +or living in communities, who covered the face of the land, and drained +the people of their substance. Of the two classes the wanderers were the +most dangerous, but in both there was the germ of future trouble, +although the settled Beguines approached very nearly the Tertiaries of +the Mendicants. Indeed, they frequently placed themselves under the +direction of Dominicans or Franciscans, and eventually those who +survived the vicissitudes of persecution mostly merged into the +Tertiaries of either one Order or the other. + +The rapid growth of these communities in the thirteenth century is +easily explicable. Not only did they respond to the spiritual demands of +the age, but they enjoyed the most exalted patronage. In Flanders the +counts seem never wearied of assisting them. Gregory IX. and his +successors took their institution under the special protection of the +Holy See. St. Louis provided them with houses in Paris and other cities, +and left them abundant legacies in his will, in which he was imitated by +his sons. Under such encouragement their numbers increased enormously. +In Paris there were multitudes. About 1240 they were estimated at two +thousand in Cologne and its vicinity, and there were as many in the +single Beguinageof Nivelle, in Brabant. Philippe de Montmirail, a pious +knight who devoted himself to good works, is said to have been +instrumental in providing for five thousand Beguines throughout Europe. +The great Beguinage of Ghent, founded in 1234, by the Countesses of +Flanders, Jeanne and Marguerite, is described in the seventeenth century +as resembling a small town, surrounded with wall and fosse, containing +open squares, conventual houses, dwellings, infirmary, church, and +cemetery, inhabited by eight hundred or a thousand women, the younger +living in the convents, the older in separate houses. They were tied by +no permanent vows and were free to depart and marry at any time, but so +long as they were inmates they were bound to obey the Grand Mistress. +The guardianship of the establishment was hereditary in the House of +Flanders, and it was under the supervision of the Dominican prior of +Ghent. How large was the space that Beguinism occupied in public +estimation in the thirteenth century is shown by Philippe Mousket, who +calls Conrad of Marburg a Beguine, "_uns bégins mestre serrmonnière_."[396] + +Those who thus lived in communities could be subjected to wholesome +supervision and established rules, but it was otherwise with those who +maintained an independent existence, either in one spot or wandering +from place to place, sometimes supporting themselves by labor, but more +frequently by beggary. Their customary persistent cry through the +streets--"_Brod durch Gott_"--became a shibboleth unpleasantly familiar +to the inhabitants of the German cities, which the Church repeatedly and +ineffectually endeavored to suppress. A circumstance occurring about +1240 illustrates their reputation for superior sanctity and the +advantages derivable from it. A certain Sibylla of Marsal near Metz, we +are told, seeing how many women under the name of Beguines flourished in +the appearance of religion, and under the guidance of the Dominicans, +thought fit to imitate them. Assiduous attendance at matins and mass +gained her the repute of peculiar holiness. Then she pretended to fast +and live on celestial food, she had ecstasies and visions, and deceived +the whole region, not excepting the Bishop of Metz himself. The Beguines +who had hailed her as a saintly sister were excessively mortified when +an accident revealed the imposture; the people were so enraged that some +wanted to burn her and others to bury her alive, but the bishop shut her +up in a convent, _in pace_, where, naturally enough, she soon died.[397] + +The Church was not long in recognizing the danger inherent in these +practices when withdrawn from close supervision. On the one hand there +was simulated piety, like that of Sibylla of Marsal, on the other the +far more serious opportunity of indulgence in unlawful speculation. In +1250 and the following years the Beguines of Cologne repeatedly sought +the protection of papal legates against the oppression of both clergy +and laity. Already, in 1259, a council of Mainz strongly reproved the +pestiferous sect of Beghards and Beguttæ (Beguines), who wandered +through the streets crying "_Broth durch Gott_," preaching in caverns +and other secret places, and given to various practices disapproved by +the Church. All priests were ordered to warn them to abandon these +customs, and to expel from their parishes those who were obstinate. In +1267 the Council of Trèves forbade their preaching in the streets on +account of the heresies which they disseminated. In 1287 a council of +Liège deprived all who did not live in the Beguinages of the right to +wear the peculiar habit and enjoy the privileges of Beguines. In Suabia, +about the same period, some members of communities of Beghards and +Beguines sought to persuade the rest that they could better serve God +"in freedom of spirit," when the bishops proceeded to abolish all such +associations, and some of them asked to adopt the rule of St. +Augustin.[398] + +All this points to the adoption, by the followers of Ortlieb, who called +themselves Brethren of the Free Spirit, of the habit and appellation of +the Beghards and Beguines, and the gradual invasion among the latter of +the doctrines derived from Amaury. Comparatively few of the Lollards, +Beghards, or Beguines were contaminated with these heresies, but they +all had to share the responsibility, and the communities of both sexes, +who led the most regular lives and were inspired with the purest +orthodoxy, were exposed to unnumbered tribulations for lack of a +distinctive appellation. When heretics regarded as peculiarly obnoxious +were anathematized as Beghards and Beguines, it was impossible for those +who bore the name, without sharing the errors, to escape the common +responsibility. It became even worse when John XXII. plunged into a +quarrel with the Spiritual Franciscans, drove them into open rebellion, +and persecuted the new heresy which he had thus created with all the +unsparing wrath of his vindictive nature. In France the Tertiary +Franciscans were popularly known as Beguines, and this became the +appellation customarily bestowed on these Spiritual heretics, and +adopted by the Avignonese popes to designate them. Not only has this led +to much confusion on the part of heresiologists, but its effect, for a +time, on the fortunes of the virtuous and orthodox Beguines of both +sexes was most disastrous. The heretic Beghards, it is true, adopted for +themselves the title of Brethren of the Free Spirit; the rebellious +Franciscans insisted that they were the only legitimate representatives +of the Order, and, at most, assumed the term of Spirituals, in order to +distinguish themselves from their carnal-minded conventual brethren; but +the authorities were long in admitting these distinctions, and, in the +eyes of the Church at large, the condemnation of Beghards and Beguines +covered all alike. + +We have here to do only with the Brethren of the Free Spirit, whose +doctrines, as we have seen, were derived from the speculations of the +Amaurians carried to Germany by Ortlieb of Strassburg. Descriptions of +their errors have reached us from so many sources, covering so long a +period, with so general a consensus in fundamentals, that there can be +little doubt as to the main principles of their faith. In a sect +extending over so wide a reach of territory, and stubbornly maintaining +itself through so many generations, there must necessarily have existed +subdivisions, as one heresiarch or another pushed his speculations in +some direction further than his fellows, and founded a special school +whose aberrations there was no central authority to control. Many of +the peculiarly repulsive extravagances attributed to them, however, may +safely be ascribed to keen-witted schoolmen engaged in trying individual +heretics, and forcing them to admit consequences logically but +unexpectedly deduced from their admitted premises. There was no little +intellectual activity in the sect, and their tracts and books of +devotion, written in the vernacular, were widely distributed, and +largely relied upon as means of missionary effort. These, of course, +have wholly disappeared, and we are left to gather their doctrines from +the condemnations passed upon them. + +The foundation of their creed was pantheism. God is everything that is. +There is as much of the divinity in a louse as in a man or in any other +creature. All emanates from him and returns to him. As the soul thus +reverts to God after death, there is neither purgatory nor hell, and all +external cult is useless. Thus at one blow was destroyed the efficacy of +all sacerdotal observances and of the sacraments. Of the latter, indeed, +no terms were severe enough to express their contempt, and they were +sometimes in the habit of saying that the Eucharist tasted to them like +dung. Man being thus God by nature, has in him all that is divine, and +each one may say that he himself created the universe. One of the +accusations brought against Master Eckart was that he had declared that +his little finger created the world. Nay, more, man can so unite himself +with God that he can do whatever God does; he thus needs no God; he is +impeccable, and whatever he does is without sin. In this state of +perfection he grieves at nothing, he rejoices at nothing, he is free +from all virtue and all virtuous actions. No one is bound to labor for +his bread; as all things are in common, each one may take what his +necessities or desires may prompt.[399] + +The practical deductions from these doctrines were not only destructive +to the Church, but dangerous to the moral and social order. The lofty +mysticism of the teachers might preserve them from the evil results +which flowed from the presumption of impeccability. In their austere +stoicism they condemned all sexual indulgence save that of which the +sole object was the procurement of offspring. They taught that a woman +in marrying should deeply deplore the loss of her virginity, and that no +one was perfect in whom promiscuous nakedness could awaken either shame +or passion. That tests of this kind were not infrequent, the history of +ill-regulated enthusiasm, from the time of the early Christians, will +not permit us to doubt, and the Beghards succeeded so well in subduing +the senses that a hostile controversialist can only suggest Satanic +influence, well known to demonologists for its refrigerating power, as +an explanation of their wonderful self-control under such temptation. +Yet this rare exaltation of austerity was not possible to all natures. +It was easy for him who had not risen superior to the allurements of the +senses to imagine himself perfected, impeccable, and entitled to gratify +his passions. St. Paul, in arguing against the bondage of the Old Law, +had furnished texts which, when cited apart from their contexts, could +be and were alleged in justification: "For the law of the spirit of +life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" +(Rom. VIII. 2)--"The law is not made for a righteous man" (1 Tim. I. +9)--"But if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law" (Galat. +V. 18)--and the Brethren of the Free Spirit claimed freedom from all the +trammels of the law. Such a doctrine was attractive to those who desired +excuse and opportunity for license, and the evidence is too abundant and +confirmatory for us to doubt that, at least in some cases, the sectaries +abandoned themselves to the grossest sensuality. It is noteworthy that, +in order to describe the divine internal light which they enjoyed, they +invented for themselves the term Illuminism, which for more than three +centuries continued to be of most serious import.[400] + +As a branch of the sect may be reckoned the Luciferans, who have been +repeatedly alluded to above. Pantheism, of course, included Satan as an +emanation from God, who in due time would be restored to union with the +Godhead, and it was not difficult to assume that his fallen state was an +injustice. In 1312 Luciferans were discovered at Krems, in the diocese +of Passau, whose bishop, Bernhard, together with Conrad, Archbishop of +Salzburg, and Frederic, Duke of Austria, undertook their extirpation +with the aid of the Dominican Inquisition, which seems to have +maintained some foothold in those regions. The persecution lasted until +1315, but the sect was not exterminated, and reappeared repeatedly in +after-years. It is reported to have been thoroughly organized, with +twelve "apostles" who travelled annually throughout Germany, making +converts and confirming the believers in the faith. All the ceremonies +of external worship were rejected, but they did not enjoy the +impeccability of Illuminism, for two of their ministers were held to +enter paradise every year, where they received from Enoch and Elias the +power of absolving their followers, and this power they communicated to +others in each community. Those who were detected proved obdurate; they +were deaf to all persuasion, and met their death in the flames with the +utmost cheerfulness. One of the apostles, who was burned at Vienna, +stated, under torture, that there were eight thousand of them scattered +throughout Bohemia, Austria, and Thuringia, besides numbers elsewhere. +Bohemia was especially infected with these errors, and Trithemius, in +the opening years of the sixteenth century, states that there were still +thousands of them in that kingdom. This is doubtless an exaggeration, if +not a complete mistake, but they were again discovered in Austria in +1338 and 1395, and many of them were burned.[401] + +The tendency to mysticism which found its complete expression in the +Brethren of the Free Spirit influenced greatly the development of German +religious thought in channels which, although assumedly orthodox, +trenched narrowly upon heresy. If, as Altmeyer argues, a period of +tribulation leads to the predominance of sentiment over intellect, to +the yearning for direct intercourse between the soul and the Divine +Essence, which is the supreme aim of the mystic, the Germany of the +fourteenth century had troubles enough to justify the development of +mysticism. Yet it is rather a question of the mental characteristics of +a race than of external circumstances. Bonaventura was the father of the +mystics, yet he founded no sect at home; France, in the hundred years' +war with England, had ample experience of trial, and yet mysticism never +flourished on her soil. In Germany, however, the mystic tendency of +religious sentiment during the fourteenth century is the most marked +spiritual phenomenon of the period. Few names in the first quarter of +the century were more respected than that of Master Eckart, who stood +high in the ranks of the great Dominican Order. I have already (Vol. I., +p. 360) related how he fell under suspicion of participating in the +errors of the Beghards, how his brethren vainly strove to save him, and +how the Archbishop of Cologne won a decided victory over the feeble and +unorganized Dominican Inquisition by vindicating the subjection of a +Dominican to his episcopal Inquisition. If the twenty-eight articles +finally condemned by John XXII. as heretical be correctly extracted from +Eckart's teachings, there can be no doubt that he was deeply infected +with the pantheistic speculations of the Brethren of the Free Spirit, +that he admitted the common divinity of man and God, and shared in the +dangerous deductions which proved that sin and virtue were the same in +the eyes of God. To a hierarchy founded on sacerdotalism, moreover, +nothing could be more revolutionary than the rejection of external cult, +which was the necessary conclusion from the doctrine that there is no +virtue in external acts, but that only the internal operations of the +soul are of moment; that no man should regret the commission of sin, or +ask anything of God.[402] + +The importance of Eckart's views lies not so much in his own immediate +influence as in that of his disciples. He was the founder of the school +of German mystics, through whom the speculations of Amauri of Bene, in +various dilutions, made a deep impression on the religious development +of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. All the leaders in the +remarkable association known as the "Friends of God" drew, directly or +indirectly, their inspiration from Master Eckart, and all, to a greater +or less extent, reveal their affinity to the Brethren of the Free +Spirit, although they succeeded in keeping technically within the limits +of orthodoxy. + +John of Rysbroek, humane and gentle as he was, regarded the Brethren of +the Free Spirit with such horror that he deemed them worthy of the +stake. Yet, though he avoided their pantheism, he taught, like them, the +supreme end of existence in the absorption of the individual into the +infinite substance of God; moreover, the Perfect, inflamed by divine +love, are dead to themselves and to the world, and are thus incapable of +sin. It is no wonder that Gerson regarded as dangerous these doctrines, +so nearly akin to those of the Beghards, and though Rysbroek might +hesitate to draw from them the conclusions inevitable to hardier +thinkers, they were sufficient to render unsuccessful the attempt made, +in 1624, to canonize him, in spite of the incontestable miracles wrought +at his tomb. His most distinguished disciple was Gerard Groot, who +partially outgrew the metaphysical subtleties of his teacher and turned +his energies to the more practical directions out of which sprang the +Brethren of the Common Life. Groot was equally severe upon the +corruption of the clergy and the errors of the heretics. When the +introduction of the Inquisition into Germany drove the Brethren of the +Free Spirit to find new places of refuge, some of them came to Holland, +where the prevalence of pantheistic mysticism gave opportunity of +spreading their doctrines. Groot's own views sufficiently resembled +theirs to render their bolder speculations doubly offensive to him, and +he sought to repress them with especial zeal. The convent of Augustinian +Hermits at Dordrecht had the reputation of being tainted with the +heresy, and Groot was eager to detect and punish it. Bartholomew, one of +the Augustinians, was particularly suspected, and Groot proposed to +follow him secretly with a notary and take down his words. In this, or +some other way, evidence was obtained; there was no Inquisition in +Holland, and Groot procured his citation before Florent, Bishop of +Utrecht, about the year 1380. The case was beard before the episcopal +vicar; Bartholomew denied the expressions attributed to him and was let +off with an injunction to publicly repeat the denial in Kampen and +Zwolle, where he was said to have uttered his heresies. This unexpected +lenity excited the indignation of Groot, who had sufficient influence to +induce Bishop Florent to take up the case again and try it personally. +Bartholomew endeavored to escape his persecutor by appearing a day in +advance of the one set for his trial, but word was sent to Groot, who +threw himself into a wagon, and by travelling all night reached Utrecht +in time. On this occasion he was successful; Bartholomew was condemned +as a heretic, abjured, and was sentenced to wear crosses in the form of +scissors. The Augustinians did not lack friends, and they retaliated on +those who had busied themselves in the matter. The magistrates of Kampen +prosecuted some women who had served as witnesses and fined them, and +they also banished for ten years Werner Keynkamp, a friend of Groot, who +subsequently was thrice prior of houses of Brethren of the Common Life. +Groot himself did not escape, for soon afterwards Bishop Florent, for +the purpose of silencing him, issued an order withdrawing all +commissions to preach. Groot then endeavored to procure from Urban VI. +papal commissions as preacher and inquisitor, and sent to Rome ten +florins to pay for the bulls. Fortunately for his fame, he died, in +1384, before the return of his messenger, and Holland was spared the +effects of his inconsiderate zeal, inflamed by strife and armed with the +irresponsible power of the Inquisition. In his gentler capacity he left +his mantle to Florent Radewyns, under whom were developed the +communities of the Common Life. These spread rapidly throughout the +Netherlands and Germany, and though occasionally the subject of +inquisitorial persecution, they were covered by the decision of Martin +V., when Matthew Grabon, at the Council of Constance, endeavored to +procure the condemnation of the Beguines, of which more anon. After this +they flourished without opposition, supporting themselves by +disseminating culture, as educators and copiers of manuscripts. After +the Reformation the communities rapidly died out, although the house of +Emmerich, near Düsseldorf, remained to be closed by Napoleon, in 1811, +and the four brethren then ejected from it continued to observe the +rules, till the last one, Gerard Mulder, died at Zevenaar, March 15, +1854. One branch of the brethren, however, adopted the Rule of the +canons-regular of St. Augustin. Their convent of Windesheim became the +model which was universally followed, and the order had the honor of +training two such men as Thomas-à-Kempis and Erasmus. The Imitation of +Christ is the final exquisite flower of the moderated mysticism of John +of Rysbroek. Brought down to practical life, this mysticism contributed +largely to the spiritual movement which culminated in the Reformation, +for it taught the superfluity of external works and the dependence of +the individual on himself alone for salvation. In this the Brethren of +the Common Life were active. To them dogma became less important than +the interior discipline which should fit men to be really children of +God. Preaching among the people and teaching in the schools, such +brethren as Henry Harphius, John Brugman, Denis Van Leeuwen, Jon Van +Goch, and John Wessel of Groningen, were unwittingly undermining the +power of the hierarchy, although they virtually escaped all imputation +of heresy and danger of persecution.[403] + +Less lasting, though more noticeable at the time, was the association of +Friends of God, which formed itself in the upper Rhinelands. The most +prominent disciple of Master Eckart was John Tauler, who retained enough +of his master's doctrines to render him amenable to the charge of heresy +had there been in those days a German Inquisition in working order. That +he escaped prosecution is the most conclusive evidence that the +machinery of persecution was thoroughly out of gear. In the heights of +his illuminated quietism all the personality of the devotee was lost in +the abyss of Divinity. No human tongue could describe the resignation to +God in which the whole being is merged so that it lost all sense of +power of its own. No priestly ministrant or mediator was required. The +individual could bring his soul into relations with the Godhead so +intimate that it was virtually lost in the Divine Essence, and he could +become so thoroughly under the influence of the Holy Ghost that he was, +so to speak, inspired, and his acts were the acts of the Third Person +of the Trinity. All this was possible for the layman without sacerdotal +observance. Man was answerable for himself to himself alone, and could +make himself at one with God without the intervention of the +priest.[404] + +Great as was Tauler's renown as the foremost preacher of his day, he +bowed as a little child before the mysterious layman known as the Friend +of God in the Oberland. In the full strength of mature manhood, when at +least fifty years of age and when all Strassburg was hanging on his +words, a stranger sought his presence and probed to the bottom his +secret weaknesses. He was a Pharisee, proud of his learning and his +skill in scholastic theology; before he could be fit for the guidance of +souls he must cast off all reliance on his own strength and become as an +infant relying on God alone. Overcome by the mystic power of his +visitor, the doctor of theology subdued his pride, and in obedience to +the command of the stranger, who never revealed his name, Tauler for two +years abstained from preaching and from hearing confessions. From this +struggle with himself he emerged a new man, and formed one of the +remarkable band of Friends of God whom the nameless stranger was engaged +in selecting and uniting.[405] + +This association was not numerous, for only rare souls could rise to the +altitude in which they would surely wish only what God wishes and +dislike what God dislikes; but its adepts were scattered from the +Netherlands to Genoa, and from the Rhinelands to Hungary. Terrible were +the struggles and spiritual conflicts, the alternations of hope and +despair, of ravishing ecstasies and hideous temptations, with which God +tried the neophyte who sought to ascend into the serene atmosphere of +mystic illuminism--struggles and conflicts which form a strangely +resembling prototype of those which for long years tested the +steadfastness of John Bunyan. When at length the initiation was safely +endured, God drew them to him, he illuminated their souls so that they +became one with him; they were gods by grace, even as he is God by +nature. Then they were in a condition of absolute sinlessness, and could +enjoy the assurance that it would continue during life, so that at death +they would ascend at once to heaven with no preliminary purgatory.[406] + +In many of their tenets and practices there is a strange reverberation +of Hinduism, all the stranger that there can be no possible connection +between them, unless perchance there may be some elements derived from +mystic Arabic Aristotelianism, which so strongly influenced scholastic +thought.[407] As the old Brahmanic _tapas_, or austere meditation, +enabled man to acquire a share of the divine nature, so the interior +exercises of the Friends of God assimilated man to the Divinity, and the +miraculous powers which they acquired find their prototypes in the +Rishis and Rahats. The self-inflicted barbarities of the Yoga system +were emulated in the efforts necessary to subdue the rebellious flesh; +Rulman Merswin, for instance, used to scourge himself with wires and +then rub salt into the wounds. The religious ecstasies of the Friends of +God were the counterpart of the Samadhi or beatific insensibility of the +Hindu; and the supreme good which they set before themselves was the +same as that of the Sankhya school--the renunciation of the will and the +freedom from all passions and desires, even that of salvation. Yet these +resemblances were modified by the Christian sense of the omnipotence and +omnipresence of God, and by the more practical character of the Western +mind, which did not send its votaries into the jungle and forest, but +ordered them, if laymen, to continue their worldly life; if rich, they +were not to despoil themselves, but to employ their riches in good +works, and to discharge their duties to man as well as to God. Rulman +Merswin was a banker, and continued in active business while founding +the community of the Grün Wöhrd and writing the treatises which were the +support and the comfort of the faithful. Yet the chief of them all and +his immediate disciples founded a hermitage in the wilderness, where +they devoted themselves to propitiating the wrath of God. The +unutterable wickedness of man called for divine vengeance. Earthquakes, +pestilence, famine, had been disregarded warnings, and only the +intercession of the Friends of God had obtained repeated reprieves. The +Great Schism, in 1378, was a new and still greater calamity, and in 1379 +an angel messenger informed them that the final punishment was postponed +for a year, after which they must not ask for further delay. Still, in +1380, thirteen of them were mysteriously called to assemble in a +"divine diet," to which an angel brought a letter informing them that, +at the prayer of the Virgin, God had granted a respite of three years +provided they would constitute themselves "prisoners of God," living +the life of recluses in absolute silence, broken only two days in the +week from noon to eve, and then only to ask for necessaries or to give +spiritual counsel. To this they assented, and not long afterwards they +disappear from view.[408] + +The Friends of God are noteworthy not only as a significant development +of the spiritual tendencies of the age, but they have a peculiar +interest for us from their relations with the Church on the one hand and +with the Brethren of the Free Spirit on the other. They were an +outgrowth of the latter, though they avoided the deplorable moral +extravagances of the parent sect. The "Ninth Rock," which was the +supreme height of ascetic illuminism of the Beghards, reappears in the +same sense in the most notable of Rulman Merswin's works, attributed +until recently to Henry Suso. It is no wonder that Nider confounded the +Friends of God with the Beghards, though Merswin's "Baner Buechelin" +was written for the purpose of denouncing the errors of the latter. In +much, as we have seen, they differed from the current doctrines of the +Church, carrying their aberrations further than those which in the +seventeenth century were so severely repressed in Molinos and the +Illuminati. To these they added special errors of their own. Many Jews +and Moslems, they said, were saved, for God abandons none who seek him, +and though they cannot enjoy Christian baptism, God himself baptizes +them spiritually in the sufferings of the death-agony. In the same +spirit they refused to denounce the heretic to human justice for fear of +anticipating divine justice; they could tolerate him in the world as +long as God saw fit to do so. Yet they had one saving principle which +preserved them from the temporal and spiritual consequences of their +errors, giving us a valuable insight into the relations between the +Church and heresy. While denouncing in the strongest language the +corruptions and worldliness of the establishment, they professed the +most implicit obedience to Rome, and much could be overlooked or +pardoned so long as the supremacy of the Holy See was not called in +question. When, in June, 1377, the Friend of God in the Oberland was +inspired to visit, with a comrade, Gregory XI., and warn him of the +dangers which threatened Christendom, they spoke to him with the utmost +freedom, and though he at first was angered, he finally recognized in +them the envoys of the Holy Ghost and honored them greatly, urging them +to resume their abandoned design of founding a great institution of +their order. Gregory was relentless in the extermination of Waldenses, +Beghards, and the remnants of the Cathari, but he saw nothing to object +to in the mysticism and illuminism of his visitors. He did not even take +offence when they threatened him with death within the twelvemonth if he +did not reform the Church. In effect he died March 28, 1378; but, if we +may believe Gerson, his dying regrets were not that he had neglected +these warnings, but that by too credulously listening to the visions of +male and female prophets he had paved the way for the Great Schism, +which he foresaw would break out when he was removed from the +scene.[409] + +After this hasty review of the more orthodox developments of mysticism +we may return to the history of the Brethren of the Free Spirit, who +maintained the pantheistic doctrine in all its crudity, and did not +shrink from its legitimate deductions. Towards the close of the +thirteenth century the transcendent merits of beggary, so long +acknowledged, began to be questioned. In 1274 the Council of Lyons +endeavored to suppress the unauthorized mendicant associations. In 1286 +Honorius IV. condemned the Segarellists, and some ten years later the +persecution, by Boniface VIII., of the Celestines and stricter +Franciscans showed that poverty was no longer to be regarded as the +supreme virtue. About the same time he issued a bull ordering the active +persecution of some heretics, whose teaching that perfection required +men and women to go naked and not to labor with the hands would seem to +identify them with the Brethren of the Free Spirit. The same feeling +manifested itself contemporaneously in Germany. The first instance of +actual persecution recorded is a curt notice that, in 1290, the +Franciscan lector at Colmar caused to be arrested two Beghards and two +Beguines, and several others at Basle whom he considered to be heretics. +Two years later the Provincial Council of Mainz, held at Aschaffenburg, +emphatically repeated the condemnation of the Beghards and Beguines, +expressed by the previous council of 1259, and this was again repeated +by another council of Mainz in 1310, while other canons regulating the +recognized communities of Beguines show that the distinction was clearly +drawn between those who led a settled life under supervision and the +wandering beggars who preached in caverns and disseminated doctrines +little understood, but regarded with suspicion.[410] + +It was Henry von Virnenburg, Archbishop of Cologne, however, who +commenced the war against them which was to last so long. Elected in +1306, he immediately assembled a provincial council, of which the first +two canons are devoted to them with an amplitude proving how important +they were becoming. They wore a long tabard and tunics with cowls +distinguishing them from the people at large; they had the hardihood to +engage in public disputation with the Franciscans and Dominicans, and +the obstinacy to refuse to be overcome in argument, and, what was worse, +their persistent beggary was so successful that it sensibly diminished +the alms which were the support of the authorized Mendicants. All this +shows the absence of any papal inquisition and an enjoyment of practical +toleration unknown outside of the boundaries of Germany, but it may be +assumed that the Beghards did not publicly reveal their more dangerous +and repulsive doctrines, for the enumeration of their errors by the +council presents them in a very moderate form. Still, the archbishop +pronounced them excommunicated heretics, to be suppressed by the secular +arm unless they recanted within fifteen days. A month was given them to +abandon their garments and mode of life, after which they were to earn +their bread by honest labor. This was well-intentioned legislation, but +it seems to have remained wholly inoperative. The Beghards continued to +assail the Mendicants with such ardor and success that the Franciscans, +who were crippled by the death of their lector in 1305, applied for +succor to their general, Gonsalvo. The necessity must have been +pressing, for in 1308 he sent to their assistance the greatest schoolman +of the Order, Duns Scotus. He was received with the enthusiasm which his +eminence merited, but, unfortunately, he died in November of the same +year, and the Beghards were able to continue their proselytism without +efficient opposition.[411] + +About this time their missionary labors seem to have become particularly +active and to have attracted wide attention. We have seen how, in 1310, +the Beguine, Marguerite Porete of Hainault, was burned in Paris, and +bore her martyrdom with unshrinking firmness. In the same year occurred +the Council of Mainz already referred to, and also a council of Trèves, +in which their unauthorized exposition of Scripture was denounced, and +all parish priests were required to summon them to abandon their evil +ways within a fortnight, under pain of excommunication. In 1309 we hear +of certain wandering hypocrites called Lollards, who, throughout +Hainault and Brabant, had considerable success in obtaining converts +among noble ladies.[412] + +This missionary fervor seems to have attracted attention to the sect, +leading to special condemnation under the authority of the General +Council of Vienne, which was assembled in November, 1311. The heresy had +evidently been studied with some care, for the first tolerably complete +account which we have of its doctrines is embodied in the canon +proscribing it. Bishops and inquisitors were ordered to perform their +office diligently in tracking all who entertained it, and seeing that +they were duly punished unless they would freely abjure. Unfortunately, +Clement's zeal was not satisfied with this. The pious women who lived in +communities under the name of Beguines were not easily distinguishable +from the heretical wanderers. In another canon, therefore, the +Beguinages are described as infected with those who dispute about the +Trinity and the Divine Essence and disseminate opinions contrary to the +faith. These establishments are therefore abolished. At the same time +there was evidently a feeling that this was inflicting a wrong, and the +canon ends with the contradictory declaration that faithful women, +either vowing chastity or not, may live together in houses and devote +themselves to penitence and the service of God. There was a lamentable +lack of clearness about this which left it for the local prelates to +interpret their duty according to their wishes.[413] + +The Clementines, or book of canon law containing these provisions, was +not issued during Clement's life, and it was not until November, 1317, +that his successor, John XXII., gave them legal force by their +authoritative publication. Apparently the bishops waited for this, for +during the interim we hear nothing of persecution, until August, 1317, +just before the issue of the Clementines, when John of Zurich, Bishop of +Strassburg, suddenly took the matter up. He did not act under the canons +of Vienne, but under those of 1310 adopted by the Council of Mainz, of +which province he was a suffragan; but an allusion to the penalties +decreed by the Holy See shows that the action at Vienne was known. The +Beghards apparently had sought no concealment, for he threatened with +excommunication all who should not within three days lay aside the +distinguishing garments of the sect, and their fearless publicity is +further shown by the bishop's confiscating the houses in which their +assemblies were held, and forbidding any one to read or listen to or +possess their hymns and writings, which were to be delivered up for +burning within fifteen days. The fact that among them were many clerks +in holy orders, monks, married folks, and others, shows that their +opinions were widely held among those who were not mere wandering +beggars--the latter probably being merely the missionaries who made +converts and administered to the spiritual needs of the faithful. John +of Zurich was not content with merely threatening. He made a visitation +of his diocese, in which he found many of the sectaries. He organized an +Inquisition of learned theologians, by whom they were tried; those who +recanted were sentenced to wear crosses--the first authentic record in +Germany of the use of this penance, so long since established +elsewhere--and those who were obstinate he handed over to the secular +arm to be burned. These active proceedings may be regarded as the first +regular exercise of the episcopal Inquisition on German soil. Multitudes +of Beghards fled from the diocese, and in June, 1318, the bishop had the +satisfaction of reporting his success to his fellow-suffragans and +urging them to follow his example. Yet this persecution, if sharp, was +transitory, for in 1319 we find him again issuing letters to his clergy, +saying that the Clementines had been enforced elsewhere, but not in the +diocese of Strassburg. All incumbents are ordered, under pain of +suspension, to require the Beguines to lay aside their vestments within +fifteen days and to conform to the usages of the Church. If any refuse, +the inquisitors will be instructed to inquire into their faith.[414] + +Meanwhile the publication of the Clementines had produced results not +corresponding exactly to the intentions of Clement. The canon directed +against the heretics received little attention, and five years elapse +before we hear of any serious persecutions under it. The heretics were +poor; there were no spoils to tempt episcopal officials to the thankless +labor of tracking them and trying them, and few of the bishops had the +zeal of John of Zurich to divert them from their temporal cares and +pleasures. The Beguinages, however, were an easy prey; there was +property to be confiscated in reward of intelligent activity. Besides, +many of the establishments were under the supervision of the Mendicant +Orders, and were virtually or absolutely Tertiary houses, the +destruction of which gratified the inextinguishable jealousy between the +secular clergy and the Orders; the struggle between John XXII. and the +Franciscans, moreover, was commencing, and the Tertiaries of the latter, +who were popularly known as Beguines in France, were fair game. The +bishops for the most part, therefore, neglected the saving clause of the +canon respecting the Beguinages, and construed literally and pitilessly +the orders for their abolition. So eager were they to gratify their +vindictiveness against the Mendicants that, when these interfered to +save their Tertiaries, they were excommunicated as fautors and defenders +of heresy. Thus arose a persecution which, though bloodless, was most +deplorable. All through France and Germany and Italy the poor creatures +were turned adrift upon the world, without means of support. Those who +could, found husbands; many were driven to a life of prostitution, +others, doubtless, perished of want and exposure. Even the +quasi-conventual dress to which they were accustomed was proscribed, and +they were forced to wear gay colors under pain of excommunication. In +the history of the Church there have been many more cruel persecutions, +but few which in suddenness and extent have caused greater misery, and +none, we are safe to say, so wanton, causeless, and lacking even the +shadow of justification. The impression made on the popular mind is +seen in the current report that on his death-bed Clement bitterly +repented of three things--that he had poisoned the Emperor Henry VII. +and that he had destroyed the Orders of the Templars and of the +Beguines.[415] + +The Church had declared, in the great Council of Lateran, that no +congregations should be allowed to exist save under some approved rule. +The Beguines had gradually, almost unconsciously, grown up in practical +contravention of this canon. The solution of their present difficulties +lay in attaching themselves to some recognized Order, and John XXII., in +1319, recognizing the mischief wrought by the heedless legislation of +Vienne, promised exemption from further persecution of those who would +become Mendicant Tertiaries. Large numbers of them sought this refuge, +though their adhesion was more nominal than real. They preserved their +self-government, their habits of labor, and their ownership of +individual property. In a bull of December 31, 1320, and others of later +date, John drew the distinction between those who lived piously and +obediently in their houses, and those who wandered around disputing on +matters of faith. The former, he is told, amount to two hundred thousand +in Germany alone, and he bitterly reproached the bishops who were +disturbing them on account of the comparatively small number whose +misconduct had drawn forth the misinterpreted condemnation of Clement. +They are in future to be left in peace. This, at least, put an end, in +1321, to the persecution of those of Strassburg.[416] + +The innocent Beguines thus obtained a breathing-space, and the gaps in +their ranks were soon filled up. The obnoxious members, however, felt +the effects of the Clementine canon as severely as the habitual sloth +and indifference of the German prelates in such matters would permit. +Archbishop Henry, of Cologne, was one of the few who manifested an +active interest in the matter, and his exertions were rewarded with +considerable success. The Lollards and Beghards no longer ventured to +show themselves publicly, and in the absence of organized machinery it +was not easy to detect them, but in 1322 the archbishop had the good +fortune to capture the most formidable heresiarch of the region. Walter, +known as the Lollard, was a Hollander, and was the most active and +successful of the Beghard missionaries. He was not an educated man, and +was ignorant of Latin, but he had a keen intelligence and ready +eloquence, indefatigable enthusiasm and persuasiveness. His proselyting +labors were facilitated by his numerous writings in the vernacular, +which were eagerly circulated from hand to hand. He had been busy in +Mainz, where he had numerous disciples, and came from there to Cologne, +where he chanced to fall into the archbishop's hands. He made no secret +of his belief, refused to abjure, and welcomed death in the service of +his faith. The severest tortures were vainly employed to force him to +reveal the names of his fellow-believers; his constancy was unalterable, +and he perished in the flames with serene cheerfulness.[417] + +The episcopal Inquisition was not as efficient as the zeal of the +archbishop might wish, but, such as it was, it pursued its labors with +indifferent success. In 1323 we hear of a priest detected in heresy, who +was duly degraded and burned. In 1325 greater results followed the +accidental discovery of an assembly of Beghards. The story told is the +legend common to other places, of a husband, whose suspicions were +aroused, tracking his wife to the nocturnal conventicle and witnessing +the sensual orgies which were popularly believed to be customary in such +places. The episcopal Inquisition was rewarded with a large number of +culprits, whose trial was speedy and sure. Those who would not abjure, +about fifty in number, were put to death--some at the stake, and some +drowned in the Rhine, a novel punishment for heresy, which shows how +uncertain as yet were the dealings with heretics in Germany. It is quite +probable that some of these poor creatures may have sought to shield +their errors under the reputation of the great Dominican preacher, +Master Eckart, and thus brought upon him the prosecution which worried +him to death. It is possible, also, that pursuit of this higher game may +have diverted the archbishop from the chase of the humbler quarry, for +we hear of no further victims in the next few years, though we are told +that the heresy was by no means suppressed.[418] + +Archbishop Henry died in 1331 without further success, so far as the +records show, and his successor Waleran, Count of Juliers, took up the +cause in more systematic fashion. He endeavored to organize a permanent +episcopal Inquisition by appointing a commissioner whose duty it was to +inquire after heretics, and who had power to reconcile and absolve those +who should recant--in fact, an inquisitor under another name. The +success of this attempt did not correspond to its deserts. In March, +1335, Waleran was obliged to announce that the evil had greatly +increased in both the city and diocese, and he called upon all his +prelates and clergy to assist his Inquisition by rigidly enforcing the +statutes of Archbishop Henry. This was as ineffective as the previous +measures. The heretics were so bold that they openly wore the garments +of the sect and followed its practices; nay, more, the inquisitor was +either so negligent or so corrupt that he gave absolutions without +requiring conformity. In October of the same year, therefore, the +archbishop issued another pastoral epistle, in which he pronounced all +such absolutions void, and deplored the constant spread of the +heresy.[419] + +The zeal of the Archbishops of Cologne was not without imitators. +Throughout Westphalia, Bishops Ludwig of Munster, Gottfrid of Osnabruck, +Gottfrid of Minden, and Bernhard of Paderborn had been active in +eradicating the heresy within their dioceses. In 1335 Bishop Berthold of +Strassburg made a spasmodic effort to enforce the Clementines, and in +the same year there were some victims burned in Metz. The Magdeburg +Archbishop Otto was of more tolerant temper. In 1336 a number of +"Brethren of the Lofty Spirit" were detected in his city, who did not +hesitate, under examination, to admit their belief, which to pious ears +sounded like the most horrible blasphemy; yet he liberated them after a +few days' confinement on their simply recanting their errors verbally. +In this same year, however, we have the first instance of a papal +inquisitor at work in north Germany. Friar Jordan, an Augustinian +eremite, held a commission as inquisitor in both sections of Saxony. He +was not well versed in the inquisitorial process, for when at Angermünde +in the Uckermark he came upon a nest of Luciferans, he humanely offered +them the opportunity of canonical purgation. Fourteen of them failed to +procure the requisite number of conjurators, and were duly burned. From +Angermünde Friar Jordan seems to have hastened to Erfurt, where he was +present at the trial of a Beghard named Constantine, though the +proceedings were carried on by the vicar of the Archbishop of Mainz. +There was no desire to punish the heretic, who bore a good reputation +and was useful as a writer of manuscripts. He asserted himself to be the +Son of God, and that he would arise three days after death, so there was +ample ground for the endeavor humanely made by his judges to prove him +insane. A long respite was given him for this purpose, but he +persistently declared his sanity, refused all attempts at conversion, +and perished in the flames.[420] + +When the effort was made to find heretics there seems to have been +plenty of them to reward the search. In this same year, 1336, we hear of +the discovery in Austria of a numerous sect who, from the description, +were probably Luciferans. The rites of their nocturnal subterranean +assemblies bear a considerable resemblance to those revealed by the +penitents of Conrad of Marburg, showing how the tradition was handed +down to the outbreak of witchcraft. We are told that they had +contaminated innumerable souls, but they were exterminated by the free +use of the stake and other cruel torments. The next year, in +Brandenburg, many simple folk were seduced into demonolatry by three +evil spirits who personated the Trinity; and though these were driven +off by a Franciscan with the host, the dupes persisted in their error, +and preferred burning to recantation. Even divested of its supernatural +embroidery, the heresy, probably Luciferan, must have been one which +excited enthusiasm in its followers, for at the place of execution they +declared that the flames lighted to consume them were golden chariots to +carry them to heaven. Another instance of Luciferanism occurred at +Salzburg, in 1340, when a priest named Rudolph, in the cathedral, cast +to the ground the cup containing the blood of Christ, a sacrilege which +he had previously committed at Halle. Under examination, he denied +transubstantiation, and asserted the final salvation of Satan and his +angels. He was obstinate to the last, and consequently was burned.[421] + +The Brethren of the Free Spirit had by no means been suppressed. In 1339 +three aged heresiarchs of the sect were captured at Constance and tried +by the bishop. Disgusting practices of sensuality were proved against +them, and they described their abhorrence of the rites of the Church in +the most revolting terms. Their constancy held good until they were +brought to the place of execution, when it failed them; they recanted, +and were sentenced to imprisonment for life in a dungeon on bread and +water. In 1342, at Würzburg, two more were forced to recantation. +Persecution, however, was spasmodic, and in many places toleration +practically existed. Thus, in Suabia, in 1347, we are told that the +heresy of the Beghards spread without let or hindrance. It was +impossible to eradicate it, even had there been efforts made to suppress +it, which there were not, and it would eventually have overturned the +Church had there not finally arisen theologians able and willing to +combat it.[422] + +About this period flourished Conrad of Montpellier, a canon of Ratisbon, +one of the most learned men of the day, who wrote a tract against the +sect. In spite of the condemnation uttered by the Council of Vienne, he +says it continues to increase and multiply, as there are no prelates +found to oppose it. The heretics are mostly ignorant peasants and +mechanics, who wander around wearing the distinctive garments of the +sect, which are also frequently used as a disguise by Waldenses. They +seek hospitality of the Beguines, whom they corrupt by persuading them +that man, through piety, can become the equal of Christ. At Ratisbon, +Conrad met one of these, who was not suffered to enjoy security, for the +bishop arrested him, and, on his obstinately maintaining his errors, +cast him in a dungeon, where he perished. Another, named John of +Mechlin, preached his heresy publicly through upper Germany, where his +eloquence gained him crowds of followers, including nobles and +ecclesiastics, though Conrad declares that, on arguing with him, he +proved to be utterly ignorant. There would appear to have been equal +toleration in the Netherlands, for about this period, at Brussels, a +woman named Blomaert, who wrote several treatises on the Spirit of +Liberty and on Love, was reverenced as something more than human, and +when she went to take the Eucharist she was said by her disciples to be +attended by two seraphim. She vanquished the most learned theologians, +until John of Rysbroek succeeded in confuting her.[423] + + * * * * * + +Since the disputed election of Louis of Bavaria, in 1314, the relations +between the empire and the papacy had been strained. The victory of +Mühldorf, in 1322, which assured to Louis the sovereignty, had been +followed, in 1323, by an open rupture with John XXII., after which the +strife had been internecine. Each declared his enemy a heretic who had +forfeited all rights, and the interdicts which John showered over +Germany had been met by Louis with cruel persecution of all +ecclesiastics obeying them, wherever he could enforce his power.[424] +Such a state of affairs had not been favorable for the persecution of +heresy; it may, partially at least, explain the immunity enjoyed in so +many places by heretics, and the impossibility of introducing the +Inquisition in any form of general organization. Though the papacy +assumed that the imperial throne was vacant, and asserted that, during +such vacancy, the government of the empire devolved upon the pope, these +pretensions could not practically be made good. With the death of Louis, +in 1347, and the recognition of his rival, Charles IV.--the "priest's +emperor"--Rome might fairly hope that all obstacles would be removed; +that the opposition of the episcopate to the Inquisition would be broken +down, and that the field would be open for a persistent and systematic +persecution, which would soon relieve Germany of the reproach of +toleration. When Clement VI., in 1348, could paternally reprove the +young emperor for lack of dignity in the fashion of his garments, which +were too short and too tight for his imperial station, the youth could +surely be relied upon to obey whatever instructions might be sent him +with regard to the suppression of heresy. The same year saw the +appointment of John Schandeland, doctor of the Dominican house at +Strassburg, as papal inquisitor for all Germany.[425] + +Scarcely, however, had the pope and emperor felt their positions +assured, and preparations had been thus made to take advantage of the +situation, when a catastrophe supervened which defied all human +calculation. The weary fourteenth century was nearing the end of its +first half when Europe was scourged with a calamity which might well +seem to fulfil all that apocalyptic prophets had threatened of the +vengeance of God on the sins of man. In 1347 the plague known as the +Black Death invaded Europe from the East, making leisurely progress +during 1348 and 1349 through France, Spain, Hungary, Germany, and +England. No corner of Europe was spared, and on the high seas it is said +that vessels with rich cargoes were found floating, of which the crews +had perished to the last man. Doubtless there are exaggerations in the +contemporary reports which assert that two thirds or three quarters or +five sixths of the inhabitants of Europe fell victims to the pest; but +Boccaccio, as an eye-witness, tells us that the mortality within the +walls of Florence from March to July, 1348, amounted to one hundred +thousand souls; that in the fields the harvests lay ungathered; that in +the city palaces were tenantless and unguarded; that parents forsook +children and children parents. In Avignon the mortality was estimated at +one hundred thousand; Clement VI. shut himself up in his apartments in +the sacred palace, where he built large fires to ward off the +pestilence, and would allow none to approach him. In Paris fifty +thousand were said to have perished; in St. Denis sixteen thousand; in +Strassburg sixteen thousand. That these figures, though vague, are not +improbable, is shown by the case of Béziers, where, in 1348, Mascaro, +who was chosen _escudier_ to fill a vacancy, records in his diary that +all the consuls were carried off, all their _escudiers_ or assistants, +and all the _clavars_ or tax-collectors, and that out of every thousand +inhabitants only a hundred escaped. As though Nature did not cause +sufficient misery, man contributed his share by an uprising against the +Jews. They were accused of causing the plague by poisoning the waters +and the pastures, and the blind wrath of the population did not stop to +consider that they drank from the same wells as the Christians, and +suffered with them in the pestilence. From the Atlantic to Hungary they +were tortured and slain with sword and fire. At Erfurt three thousand +are said to have perished, and in Bavaria the number was computed at +twelve thousand.[426] + +It was not only by the massacre of the Jews that the people sought to +placate the wrath of God. The gregarious enthusiasm of which we have +seen so many instances was by no means extinct. In 1320 France had seen +another assemblage of the Pastoureaux, when the dumb population arose, +armed only with banners, for the conquest of the Holy Land, and an +innumerable multitude wandered over the land, peaceably at first, but +subsequently showing their devotion by attacking the Jews, and finally +manifesting their antagonism to the hierarchy by plundering the +ecclesiastics and the churches, until they were dispersed with the sword +and put out of the way with the halter. In 1334 the great Dominican +preacher, Venturino da Bergamo, roused the population of Lombardy to so +keen a sense of the necessity of propitiating God that he organized a +pilgrimage to Rome for the sake of obtaining pardons, variously +estimated as consisting of from ten thousand to three millions of +penitents. Clothed in white, with black cloaks bearing on one side a +white dove and olive-branch, and on the other a white cross, they +marched peaceably in bands to the holy city, though when Venturino went +to John XXII., in Avignon, to get the pardons for his followers, he was +accused of heresy, and had to undergo a trial by the Inquisition.[427] + +Such being the popular tendencies of the age, it is no wonder that the +profound emotions caused by the fearful scourge of the Black Death found +relief in a gregarious outburst of penitence. Germany had suffered less +than the rest of Europe, only one fourth of the population being +estimated as perishing, but the religious sensibilities of the people +had been stirred by the interdicts against Louis of Bavaria, and the +pestilence had been preceded by earthquakes, which were portents of +horror. It well might seem that God, wearied with man's wickedness, was +about to put an end to the human race, and that only some extraordinary +effort of propitiation could avert his wrath. In this state of mental +tension it needed but a touch to send an impulse through the whole +population. Suddenly, in the spring of 1349, the land was covered with +bands of Flagellants, like those whom we have seen nearly a century +before, expiating their sins by public scourging. Some said that the +example was set in Hungary; others attributed it to different places, +but it responded so thoroughly to the vague longings of the people, and +it spread so rapidly, that it seemed to be the result of a universal +consentaneous impulse. All the proceedings, at least at first, were +conducted decently and in order. The Flagellants marched in bands of +moderate size, each under a leader and two lieutenants. Beggary was +strictly prohibited, and no one was admitted to fellowship who would +not promise obedience to the captain, and who had not money to defray +his own expenses, estimated at four pfennige per diem, though the +hospitality universally offered in the towns through which they passed +was freely accepted to the extent of lodging and meals; but two nights +were never to be spent in the same place. Monks and priests, nobles and +peasants, women and children were marshalled together in common +contrition to placate an offended God. They chanted rude hymns-- + + "Nü tretent herzu die bussen wellen. + Fliehen wir die heissen hellen. + Lucifer ist ein bose geselle," etc.-- + +and scourged themselves at stated times, the men stripping to the waist +and using a scourge knotted with four iron points, so lustily laid on +that an eye-witness says that he had seen two jerks requisite to +disengage the point from the flesh. They taught that this exercise, +continued for thirty-three days and a half, washed from the soul all +taint of sin, and rendered the penitent pure as at birth. + +From Poland to the Rhine the processions of Flagellants met with little +opposition, except in a few towns, such as Erfurt, where the magistrates +prohibited their entrance, and in the province of Magdeburg, where +Archbishop Otho suppressed them. They spread through Holland and +Flanders, but when they invaded France, Philippe de Valois interfered, +and they penetrated no farther than Troyes. The guardians of public +order, indeed, could not look without dread upon such a popular +demonstration, which by organization might become dangerous. When the +Flagellants of Strassburg proposed to form a permanent confraternity, +Charles IV., who was in that city, peremptorily forbade it. Already +dangerous characters were attracted to the wandering bands; in many +places their zeal had led to the merciless persecution of the Jews, and +there were not lacking symptoms of a significant antagonism to the +Church, manifesting itself in attacks upon ecclesiastics and clerical +property. The Church, in fact, looked askance upon a religious +manifestation not of her prescription, and her susceptibilities were not +soothed by the daily reading, amid the flagellation, of a letter brought +by an angel to the Church of St. Peter, in Jerusalem, relating that +God, incensed at the non-observance of Sundays and Fridays, had scourged +Christendom, and would have destroyed the world but for the intercession +of the angels and the Virgin. This was accompanied by a message that +general flagellation for thirty-three and a half days would cause him to +lay aside his wrath. There was danger, indeed, of open antagonism and +insubordination. The Mendicants, who endeavored to discourage this +independent popular penitence, incurred the bitterest hostility, which +had no scruple in finding expression. At Tournay the orator of the +Flagellants denounced them as scorpions and antichrists, and on the +borders of Misnia two Dominicans, who endeavored to reason with a band +of Flagellants, were set upon with stones; one had sufficient agility to +escape, but the other was lapidated to death.[428] + +When in Basle about a hundred of the principal citizens organized +themselves into a confraternity, and made a flagellating pilgrimage to +Avignon, they excited great admiration among the citizens, and most of +the cardinals were disposed to think highly of the new penitential +discipline. Clement VI. penetrated deeper below the surface, and +recognized the danger to the Church of allowing irregular and +independent manifestations of zeal, and of permitting unauthorized +associations and congregations to form themselves. Moreover, what was to +become of the most serviceable and profitable function of the Holy See +in administering the treasures of salvation, if men could cleanse +themselves of sin by self-prescribed and self-inflicted penance? The +movement bore within it the germ of revolution, as threatening and as +dangerous as that of the Poor Men of Lyons, or of any of the sects which +had thus far been successfully combated, and self-preservation required +its prompt suppression at any cost. From the standpoint of worldly +wisdom this reasoning was unanswerable, but members of the Sacred +College were obstinate. They prevailed upon Clement not to execute his +first intention of casting the Flagellants into prison, and the +discussion on the policy to be pursued must have been protracted, for it +was not until October 20, 1349, that the papal bull of condemnation was +issued. This took the ground that it was a disregard of the power of the +keys and a contempt of Church discipline for these new and unauthorized +associations to wear distinctive garments, to form assemblies governed +by self-dictated statutes, and performing acts contrary to received +observances. Allusion was made to the cruelties exercised on the Jews, +and the invasion of ecclesiastical property and jurisdiction. All +prelates were ordered to suppress them forthwith; those who refused +obedience were to be imprisoned until further orders, and the aid of the +secular arm was to be called upon if necessary.[429] + +Clement was correct in his anticipation of the effects of the new +discipline on the minds of the faithful. When the subject came up for +discussion at the Council of Constance, in 1417, and San Vicente Ferrer +was inclined to regard it with favor, his lofty reputation and his +services in procuring the abandonment of Peter of Luna (Benedict XIII.) +by Spain rendered it impossible not to treat him with respect, but +Gerson took him delicately to task and wrote a tract to show the evils +resulting from the practice. Experience, he said, had shown that the +members of the sect of Flagellants were led to look with contempt on +sacramental confession and the sacrament of penitence, for they exalted +their peculiar form of penance, not only over that prescribed by the +Church, but even over martyrdom, because they shed their own blood, +while the blood of martyrs was shed by others. This led directly to +insubordination and to destroying the reverence due to the Church, and +was the fruitful parent of heresy. From some of his allusions, indeed, +we may gather that it frequently caused collisions between the people +and the priesthood, in which the latter were apt to be roughly +handled.[430] + +This shows how inefficient had been Clement's prohibition, and how +obstinately the practice had maintained itself until it had risen to +the rank of a new heresy. When his bull was received by the German +prelates they fully comprehended the dangers which it sought to avert, +and addressed themselves vigorously to its enforcement. The Flagellants +were denounced from the pulpit as an impious sect, condemned by the Holy +See. Those who would humbly return to the Church would be received to +mercy, while the obdurate would be made to experience the full rigor of +the canons. This thinned the ranks considerably, but there were enough +of persistent ones to furnish a new harvest of martyrs. Many were +executed, or exposed to various forms of torment, and not a few rotted +to death in the dungeons in which they were thrown. Even ecclesiastics +could not be prevented from adhering to the obnoxious sect. William of +Gennep, Archbishop of Cologne, in a provincial council excommunicated +all clerks who joined the Flagellants; yet this was so completely +disregarded that in his vernal synod of 1353 he was obliged to order all +deans and rectors of churches to assemble their chapters, read his +letters, and make provision for the public excommunication by name of +all the disobedient, to be followed within a fortnight by their +suspension. We shall see hereafter with what persistent obstinacy the +outbreak of flagellation recurred from time to time, and how it was +regarded as heresy, pure and simple, by the Church. Meanwhile, it is not +to be doubted that the Brethren of the Free Spirit took full advantage +of the excitement prevailing in men's minds, and of the upturning which +resulted, both spiritually and socially. When the bands of Flagellants +first made their appearance they were joined in many places, we are +told, by the heretics known as Lollards, Beghards, and Cellites. +Involved in common persecution, they grew to have common interests, and +they became too intimately associated together not to lend each other +mutual support.[431] + +Thus far the faith had not gained the advantage which had naturally been +expected to follow the undisputed domination of the pious Charles IV. At +the end of 1352 Innocent VI. ascended the papal throne and promptly +repeated the attempt to introduce the papal Inquisition in Germany by +renewing, in July, 1353, the commission as inquisitor of Friar John +Schandeland, and writing earnestly to the German prelates to lend him +all assistance. The pestiferous madness of the Beghards, he said, was +blazing forth afresh, and efforts were requisite for its suppression. As +in their dioceses the Inquisition had no prisons of its own, they were +required to give it the free use of the episcopal jails. We are told in +general terms that Friar John was energetic and successful, but no +records remain to prove his activity or its results, and it is fair to +conclude that the bishops, as usual, gave him the cold shoulder. There +is no proof even that he was concerned in the condemnation of the +Beghard heresiarch Berthold von Rohrback, who in 1356 expiated his +heresy in the flames. Berthold had previously been caught in Würzburg, +and had recanted through dread of the stake. He ought to have been +imprisoned for life, but the German spiritual courts, as usual, were +unversed in the penalties for heresy, and he was allowed to go free, +when he secretly made his way to Speier. There he was successful in +propagating his doctrines until he was again arrested. As a relapsed +heretic, under the rules of the Inquisition, there was no mercy for him, +but the rules were imperfectly understood in Germany, and again he was +treated more leniently than the canons allowed, and was offered +reconciliation. This time his courage did not fail him. "My faith," he +said, "is the gift of God, and I neither ought nor wish to reject his +grace." That Innocent's attempt to introduce the Inquisition proved a +failure may be gathered from the action of William of Gennep, in his +vernal synod of Cologne in 1357. While deploring the increase of the +pernicious sect of Beghards, which threatens to infect his whole city +and diocese, he makes no allusion whatever to the papal Inquisition and +the canons. The measures of his predecessors are referred to, in +accordance with which all parish priests are directed to proceed against +the heretics, under threat of prosecution for remissness, and +excommunication is pronounced against those who aid the Beghards with +alms.[432] + +Undeterred by ill-success the effort was renewed. From a MS. sentence of +June 6, 1366, printed by Mosheim, we learn that the Dominican, Henry de +Agro, was at that time commissioned as inquisitor of the province of +Mainz and the diocese of Bamberg and Basle, the latter of which belonged +to the province of Besançon. He was conducting an active inquisition in +the diocese of Strassburg, whose bishop, John of Luxembourg, had +gratified episcopal jealousy by not allowing him to perform his office +independently, but had adjoined to him his vicar, Tristram, who acted in +the matter not simply as representing the bishop in the sentence, but as +co-inquisitor. According to the rules of the Inquisition, the judgment +was rendered in an assembly of experts. The victim in this case was a +woman, Metza von Westhoven, a Beguine, who had been tried and who had +abjured in the persecution under Bishop John of Zurich, nearly half a +century before. As a relapsed heretic there was no pardon for her, and +she was duly relaxed.[433] + +Thus far whatever hopes might have been based upon the zeal of Charles +IV. had not been realized. He seems to have taken no part in the efforts +of the papacy, and without the imperial exequatur the commissions issued +to inquisitors had but moderate chance of enjoying the respect and +obedience of the prelates. In 1367 Urban V. returned to the work by +commissioning two inquisitors for Germany, the Dominicans Louis of +Willenberg and Walter Kerlinger, with powers to appoint vicars. The +Beghards were the only heretics alluded to as the object of their +labors; prelates and magistrates were ordered to lend their efficient +assistance and to place all prisons at their disposal until the German +Inquisition should have such places of its own. This was the most +comprehensive measure as yet taken for the organization of the Holy +Office in Germany, and it proved the entering wedge, though at first +Charles IV. does not seem to have responded. The choice of inquisitors +was shrewd. Of Friar Louis we hear little, but Friar Walter (variously +named Kerling, Kerlinger, Krelinger, and Keslinger) was a man of +influence, a chaplain and favorite of the emperor, who had the temper of +a persecutor and the opportunity and ambition to magnify his office. In +1369 he became Dominican Provincial of Saxony, and continued to perform +the duplicate functions until his death, in 1373. He lost no time in +getting to work, for in 1368 we hear of a Beghard burned in Erfurt, and +to his unwearied exertions is generally attributed the temporary +suppression of the sect.[434] + +Still there was at first no appearance of any hearty support from either +the spiritual or temporal potentates of Germany, and without this the +business of persecution could only languish. When, however, the emperor +made his Italian expedition, in 1368, the opportunity was utilized to +arouse him to a sense of his neglected duties. It was rare indeed for an +emperor to have the cordial support of the papacy, and we may reasonably +assume that Charles was made to see that through their union the +Inquisition might be rendered serviceable to both in breaking down the +independence of the great prince-bishops. Thus it happened that when +that institution was falling into desuetude in the lands of its birth, +it was for the first time regularly organized in Germany and given a +substantive existence. From Lucca, on June 9 and 10, 1369, the emperor +issued two edicts which excel all previous legislation in the unexampled +support accorded to inquisitors--the extravagance of their provisions +probably furnishing a measure of the opposition to be overcome. All +prelates, princes, and magistrates are ordered to expel and treat as +outlaws the sect of Beghards and Beguines, commonly known as _Wilge +Armen_ or _Conventschwestern_, who beg with the vainly prohibited +formula "_Brod durch Gott!_" At the command of Walter Kerlinger and +his vicars or other inquisitors, all who give alms to the proscribed +class shall be arrested and so punished as to serve as a terror to +others. With special significance the prelates are addressed and +commanded to use their powers for the extermination of heresy; in the +strongest language, and under threats of condign punishment to be +visited on them in person and on their temporalities, they are ordered +to obey with zeal the commands of Friar Kerlinger, his vicars, and all +other inquisitors as to the arrest and safekeeping of heretics; they are +to render all possible aid to the inquisitors, to receive and treat them +kindly and courteously, and furnish them with guards in their movements. +Moreover, all inquisitors are taken under the special imperial favor and +protection. All the powers, privileges, liberties, and immunities +granted to them by preceding emperors or by the rulers of any other +land are conferred upon them, and confirmed, notwithstanding any laws or +customs to the contrary. To enforce these privileges, two dukes (Saxony +and Brunswick), two counts (Schwartzenberg and Nassau), and two knights +(Hanstein and Witzeleyeven) are appointed conservators and guardians, +with instructions to act whenever complaint is made to them by the +inquisitors. They shall see that one third of the confiscations of +heretic Beghards and Beguines are handed over to the Inquisition, and +shall proceed directly and fearlessly, without appeal, against any one +impeding or molesting it in any manner, making examples of them, both in +person and property. Any contravention of the edict shall entail a mulct +of one hundred marks, one half payable to the fisc and one half to the +party injured. Besides this, any one impeding or molesting any of the +inquisitors or their agents, directly or indirectly, openly or secretly, +is declared punishable with confiscation of all property for the benefit +of the imperial treasury, and deprivation of all honors, dignities, +privileges, and immunities.[435] + +These portentous edicts provided for the _personnel_ of the Inquisition +and the exercise of its powers, but to render it a permanent institution +there were still lacking houses in which it could hold its tribunals, +and prisons in which to keep its captives. The imperial resources were +not adequate to this, and nothing was to be expected from the piety of +princes and prelates. Somebody must be despoiled for its +benefit--somebody too defenceless to resist, yet possessed of property +sufficient to be tempting. These conditions were exactly filled by the +orthodox Beghards and Beguines, who, since their temporary persecution +after the publication of the Clementines, had continued to prosper and +to enjoy the donations of the pious. They were accordingly marked as the +victims, and, a week after the issue of the edicts just described, +another was published in which these poor creatures are described as +cultivating a sacrilegious poverty, which they assert to be the most +perfect form of life, and their communities, if left undisturbed, will +become seminaries of error. Moreover, the Inquisition has no house, +domicile, or strong tower for the detention of the accused and for the +perpetual incarceration of those who abjure, whereby many heretics +remain unpunished and the seed of evil is scattered. Therefore the +houses of the Beghards are given to the Inquisition to be converted into +prisons; those of the Beguines are ordered to be sold and the proceeds +divided into thirds, one part being assigned to repairing roads and the +walls of the towns, another to be given to inquisitors, to be expended +on pious uses, among which is included the maintenance of prisoners. But +three days' notice is given to the victims prior to expulsion from +their homes.[436] + +If the Inquisition could have been permanently established in Germany +this unscrupulous measure would have accomplished the object. What +between the imperial favor and Kerlinger's energy it at last had a fair +start. The last edict alludes to two additional inquisitors whom +Kerlinger was authorized to appoint and to his successful labors, by +which the heretic Brethren of the Free Spirit had been completely +destroyed in the provinces of Magdeburg and Bremen, and in Thuringia, +Hesse, Saxony, and elsewhere. Probably this is exaggerated, but we learn +from other sources that Kerlinger was zealously active and that his +labors were rewarded with success. In Magdeburg and Erfurt he burned a +number of heretics and forced the rest to outward conformity or to +flight. We hear of him at Nordhausen in 1369, where he captured forty +Beghards; of these seven were obdurate and were burned, and the rest +abjured and accepted penance. This is probably a fair example of his +work, and we may believe Gregory XI. when, in 1372, he says that the +Inquisition had destroyed heresy and heretics in the central provinces +and driven them to the outlying districts of Brabant, Holland, Stettin, +Breslau, and Silesia, where they are gathered in such multitudes that +they hope to be able to maintain themselves; wherefore he earnestly +calls upon the prelates and nobles to bring the good work to an end by +efficiently supporting the Holy Office in its final labors. Apparently +Kerlinger had not been anxious to divide his authority by exercising his +power to appoint two additional colleagues, and Gregory now intervened +to relieve him of this duty and place the German Inquisition on a +permanent footing by assimilating its organization to that of the +institution elsewhere. He increased the number of Inquisitors to five +and placed their appointment and removal in the hands of the Dominican +master and provincial, or either of them. Kerlinger and Louis, however, +were to remain as two of the five, and no power, whether imperial or +episcopal, should have authority to interfere with the free exercise of +their functions.[437] + +A further extension of the power of the Inquisition granted by Charles +IV. was of no great importance at the time, but has the highest interest +to us as the first indication of what was to come. A leading feature of +the Beghard propaganda was the circulation among the laity of written +tracts and devotional works. Composed in the vernacular, they reached a +class which was not wholly illiterate and yet was unable to profit by +the orthodox works of which Latin was the customary vehicle. For the +suppression of this effective method of missionary work the Inquisition +was intrusted with a censorship of literature, to which further +reference will be made hereafter. Less interesting to us, but probably +more important at the time, was the permission granted to the +inquisitors to appoint notaries. It will be remembered how jealously +these appointments were guarded, and this concession was evidently +looked upon as a special favor. The inquisitors apparently had been +trammelled by the lack of notaries, and they were now authorized to +appoint one in each diocese, and to replace him when removed by death or +disability.[438] + +As regards the seizure of the Beguinages, it was ruthlessly carried out +by Kerlinger. Those of Mühlhausen had been very flourishing, and on +February 16, 1370, four of them were delivered by him to the magistrates +to be converted to public uses--probably the city's share of the +plunder. It would seem, however, that obstacles were thrown in his way. +The jealousy of the bishops was not likely to look with favor upon this +permanent establishment of the Inquisition in their dioceses, with +prisons and landed property that would render it independent. Mosheim +judiciously suggests that as these houses were benevolent gifts for +pious uses the bishops could assert them to be under their jurisdiction +and not subject to an imperial edict; nobles and citizens, moreover, had +been trained to regard their inoffensive inmates with favor, and were +not eager to share in the spoils. Whatever may have been their motives, +Kerlinger could not have found the way open to the general confiscation +that he desired. In 1371 he was obliged to petition Gregory XI., +reciting the existence of heretics called Beghards and Beguines, and the +imperial edict confiscating their conventicles, the confirmation of +which he desired. There was nothing to lead Gregory to suppose that +there was in this anything but the well-understood confiscation of +heretical property, and he willingly gave the desired confirmation.[439] + +Thus, after a desultory struggle lasting for nearly a century and a +half, the Inquisition finally established itself in Germany as an +organized body. For a while, at least, the office of inquisitor was kept +regularly filled as vacancies occurred. When Kerlinger died, in 1373, +his successor in the Provincialate of Saxony, Hermann Hetstede, is +qualified as being an inquisitor, and the same title is given to Henry +Albert, who followed Hetstede in 1376. The Holy Office seems to have +been almost exclusively in Dominican hands, and we rarely hear of its +functions as performed by Franciscans. The good work proceeded apace. In +1372 Kerlinger had a heretic of higher rank than usual to deal with in +the person of Albert, Bishop of Halberstadt, who publicly taught +fatalistic doctrines--possibly some form of predestination such as +Wickliff was commencing to formulate. This resulted in a great decrease +in pious works, for it struck at the root of the invocation of saints, +masses for the dead, and liberality to the clergy, and the consequences +threatened to be so serious that Gregory XI. ordered Kerlinger, together +with Hervord, Provost of Erfurt, and an Augustinian named Rodolph, to +force the bishop to an abjuration, and in case of disobedience to +transmit him to the papal court for judgment. In the same year Gregory +recounts with much satisfaction the success of the inquisitors in +driving the Beghards out of central and northern Germany; he stimulated +the emperor to support their labors with fresh zeal, and sent +encyclicals to the princes, prelates, and magistrates, commanding them +to use every effort to render the work complete, by exterminating the +heretics in the regions where they had taken refuge. Early in the next +year he commissioned the Dominican, John of Boland, an imperial +chaplain, as inquisitor in the dioceses of Trèves, Cologne, and Liège, +the Beghards and Beguines being the objects specially indicated; and +Charles hastened to invest him with all the powers specified in his +letters of 1369, ordering the Dukes of Luxembourg, Limburg, Brabant, and +Juliers, the Princes of Mons and Cleves, and the Counts of La Marck, +Kirchberg, and Spanheim to serve as conservators and guardians of the +edict.[440] + +Although the Brethren of the Free Spirit were the chief objects of all +this inquisitorial activity, the Flagellants were not neglected. In 1361 +a demonstration of these enthusiasts in far-off Naples awakened the +solicitude of Innocent VI. In 1369 we hear of an outbreak of women +coming from Hungary, which was summarily suppressed in Saxony. In 1372 +Flagellants reappeared in various parts of Germany, asserting the +peculiar efficacy of their penance as replacing the sacraments of the +Church, so that Gregory XI. felt it necessary to direct the inquisitors +to exterminate them. In 1373 and 1374 this irrepressible tendency took a +new shape, known as the Dancing Mania, which broke out at the +consecration of a church in Aix-la-Chapelle. Bands of both sexes, mostly +consisting of poor and simple folk, poured into Flanders from the +Rhinelands, dancing and singing as though possessed by the Furies. Under +intense spiritual excitement the performer would leap and dance until he +fell to earth with convulsions, when his comrades would revive him by +jumping upon him, or a cloth which he wore, tied around the belly, would +be tightly twisted with a stick. This was generally looked upon as a +kind of demoniacal possession until a multitude of these dancers +assembled at Herestal and consulted together as to the best plan for +slaying all the priests, canons, and clergy of Liège, when the madness +was recognized as no longer harmless. Still it spread over a large +portion of Germany and lasted for several years. Though not in itself a +heresy, it led in some places to heretical opinions on the sacraments, +for it was popularly explained by attributing it to defective baptism, +caused by the universal practice among priests of keeping +concubines.[441] + +Scarce had the Inquisition been fairly organized and had settled to its +work, when its arbitrary proceedings awakened active opposition. As the +heretic Beghards and Beguines were the principal objects of its +activity, and the orthodox ones of its cupidity, the sufferings of the +latter speedily awoke compassion which found expression in terms so +decided that Gregory XI. could not refuse to listen. Accordingly, in +April, 1374, he wrote to the Archbishops of Mainz, Trèves, and Cologne, +reciting these complaints and ordering a report about the life and +conversation of the persons concerned, who should be protected and +cherished if innocent, and be punished if guilty. At least from Cologne +and Worms, probably from the other prelates, came answers that the +persecuted communities were composed of faithful Catholics. In Cologne +the magistrates intervened and complained energetically to the pope that +a Dominican inquisitor was vexing the poor folk, and they asked that his +proceedings be stopped. The victims, they said, were people of little +culture, who were interrogated with questions so difficult that the most +skilful theologians could scarce answer them, while their edifying lives +had led the clergy to protect them against the threats of the +Inquisition. Proceedings were thus checked, but still the peculiar +garments which the devotees had always worn furnished an excuse for +continued persecution, and another appeal was made to Gregory, to which +he responded in December, 1377, by ordering the prelates not to permit +their molestation on this account so long as they were good Catholics +and obedient to the ecclesiastical authorities. The German bishops were +thus fully armed with papal authority to restrict the operations of the +inquisitors, and those who, like Bishop Lambert of Strassburg, were +themselves disposed to persecution, did not dare to proceed further. The +regular communities of Beghards and Beguines were assured of toleration, +and if the heretical Brethren of the Free Spirit managed to share in +this immunity, it probably did not give the prelates much concern.[442] + +All this was discouraging to the zeal of inquisitors whose institution +had hardly yet taken root in the land, but worse was still to follow. In +1378 died both Gregory XI. and Charles IV. The election of Urban VI. +gave rise to the Great Schism, and Wenceslas, the son and successor of +Charles, was notoriously indifferent to the interest of religion as +represented by the Church. Thus deprived of its two indispensable +supporters, the Inquisition could not make head against episcopal +jealousy. In 1381 there could have been no inquisitors in the extensive +dioceses of Ratisbon, Bamberg, and Misnia, for we find the Archbishop of +Prague as papal legate ordering the bishops to appoint them, and +threatening to do so himself in case of disobedience. Still the +Inquisition did not entirely pretermit its labors. In 1392 we hear of a +papal inquisitor named Martin who travelled through Suabia to Würzburg, +finding in the latter place a number of peasants and simple folk +belonging to the sect of Flagellants and Beghards. They had not in them +the stuff of martyrs, and accepted the penance imposed upon them of +joining in a crusade then preaching against the Turks--the first time +for nearly a century that we meet with this penalty. Then Martin went to +Erfurt--always a heretical centre--where he came upon numerous heretics +of the same kind. Some of these were obstinate and were duly burned, +others accepted penance, and the rest sought safety in flight. The +following year there was burned at Cologne, by the papal inquisitor, +Albert, a leading Beghard known as Martin of Mainz, a former Benedictine +monk and a disciple of the celebrated Nicholas of Basle; and in his +trial there are allusions to others of the sect executed not long before +at Heidelberg.[443] + +About this period, after a long interval, we again become cognizant of +the existence of Waldenses. The Beghards had succeeded in concentrating +upon themselves the attention of the papal and episcopal inquisitions, +and the followers of Peter Waldo had remained unnoticed, doubtless owing +their safety to outward conformity, though by absenting themselves from +their parishes about the Easter tide they sometimes managed to escape +taking communion for five or six years in succession. Thus laboring +quietly and peacefully, preaching by night in cellars, mills, stables, +and other retired places, they gained numerous converts among the +peasants and artisans, who saw in the sanctity of their lives, as sadly +admitted by the so-called Peter of Pilichdorf, the strongest contrast +with the scandalous license of the clergy.[444] Thus they multiplied +in secret until all Germany was full of them, including the +closely-related sect of Winkelers. About 1390 they were discovered in +Mainz, where for a hundred years they had lurked undisturbed. The +Archbishop, Conrad II., kept the matter in his own hands. In 1392 he +issued a commission, as episcopal inquisitors, to Frederic, Bishop of +Toul, Nicholas of Saulheim, the Dean of St. Stephen, and John Wasmod, of +Homburg, a priest of the cathedral, to whom the papal inquisitor could +adjoin himself if he so chose. These inquisitors were armed with full +authority to arrest, try, torture, sentence, and abandon to the secular +arm all heretics, and were instructed to proceed in accordance with the +practice of the Inquisition. They zealously discharged their duty. A +number of Waldenses were already in the episcopal prison, and they made +diligent perquisition after the rest. By free use of torture they +obtained the necessary avowals and evidence. Those who were obstinate +were handed over to the secular arm, and an _auto de fé_ celebrated at +Bingen in 1392, where six-and-thirty wretches were burned, proved that +the papal Inquisition itself could not have been more effective. A +little tract on the examination of Waldenses, evidently written on this +occasion, shows that the inquisitorial process was fairly well +understood, and that the episcopal officials had not much to learn from +their rivals.[445] + +When attention was once attracted to this secret heresy, it was not long +before Waldenses were discovered everywhere. In a short list of them, +dated 1391, Poland, Hungary, Bavaria, Suabia, and Saxony are +represented. The author of the tract which passes under the name of +Peter of Pilichdorf, who took an energetic part both with the pen and in +action in suppressing this suddenly discovered heresy, informs us, in +1395, that the Netherlands, Westphalia, Prussia, and Poland were not +infected with it, while Thuringia, Misnia, Bohemia, Moravia, Austria, +and Hungary numbered their heretics by thousands. Curiously enough, in +this list he omits Pomerania, where, along the Baltic regions, the +Waldenses were thickly scattered from Stettin to Königsberg. The heresy +had been deeply rooted there for at least a century, and the local +priesthood seem to have borne no ill-will to the harmless sectaries, who +conformed outwardly to the orthodox observances. Even when in confession +intimations of the heresy escaped, as sometimes happened, they were +wisely and mercifully overlooked. Yet there is evidence of previous +persecution in the confession of Sophia Myndekin, of Fleit, who said +that she had been fifty years in the sect, that her husband had been +burned at Angermünde, and that she had only escaped on account of +pregnancy, while all their little property was confiscated. They were +poor folk, mostly peasants and laborers, and though there are occasional +allusions in the trials to men of gentle blood, the tenets of the sect +excluded all who owed feudal military service, war and bloodshed being +strictly forbidden. They were visited yearly by their ministers, some of +whom were mechanics, and others learned men skilled in Holy Writ, +probably from Bohemia, who preached, heard confessions, and granted +absolution, the utmost secrecy being observed in these ministrations. +Moreover, collections were made and remitted to the headquarters of the +sect, showing that they formed part of the great Waldensian +organization.[446] + +They had long been unmolested when one of their ministers, known as +Brother Klaus, who had visited them in 1391 and had heard many +confessions, apparently became frightened at the movement against them. +He apostatized, and seems to have betrayed the names of his penitents. +The Church made haste to secure the fruits of his repentance. Brother +Peter, Provincial of the Celestinian Order, was appointed papal +inquisitor, and early in 1393 he came to Stettin armed with full powers +from the Archbishop of Prague and the Bishops of Lebus and Camin to +represent them. He issued citations, both general ones from the pulpits +of the infected region, and special summonses to individuals. This +naturally caused great excitement, and some of the suspects fled; in +Klein-Wurbiser, indeed, there was a faint demonstration made against the +inquisitorial apparitors, but there was no resistance, and the great +majority submitted to the inevitable. Friar Peter, as customary, was +lenient with those who spontaneously confessed and abjured; all took the +oaths, including that of persecuting heresy and heretics, with only an +occasional manifestation of hesitancy. Torture seems to have been +unnecessary; there was no exhibition of obstinacy, and no burnings. They +were condemned to wear crosses and perform other penance, and when, as +was usually the case, their parents had died in the sect, they were +required to indicate the place of burial, presumably for exhumation. +From January, 1393, until February, 1394, Friar Peter was engaged in +this work. One of his registers, comprising four hundred and forty-three +cases, was in the hands of Flacius Illyricus, fragments of which have +recently been discovered and described by Herr Wattenbach.[447] + +From Pomerania, Friar Peter hastened to the south, where he found +Waldenses as numerous, and less inclined to submission. He has left a +brief memorial of his labors, written in 1395, in which he expresses his +fears that the heresy would become dominant, as the Waldenses were +resorting to force, and were employing arson and homicide to intimidate +the orthodox. His only evidence of this, however, is that on September +8, those of Steyer, to punish the parish priest for receiving the +inquisitors in his house, burned his barn, and affixed to the town +gates, by night, a warning in the shape of a half-burned brand and a +bloody knife. This offence was cruelly avenged, for in 1397, at Steyer, +more than a hundred Waldenses of either sex were burned. In this +relentless persecution the case of a child of ten condemned to wear +crosses shows how unsparing were the tribunals, while others in which +the culprits were burned for relapse, having already abjured before the +inquisitor, Henry of Olmütz, indicate that this was not the first effort +made to exterminate the heresy. How extended it was, and how vigorous +its repression, may be gathered from the pseudo Peter of Pilichdorf, who +tells us that from Thuringia to Moravia a thousand converts were made in +two years, and that the inquisitors who were busy in Austria and Hungary +expected soon to have a thousand more.[448] + +About the year 1400, in Strassburg, there was active persecution against +a sect known as Winkelers, who were discovered to have four assemblies +in the city, and others in Mainz and Hagenau. In their confessions they +alluded to their comrades in many other places, such as Nordlingen, +Ratisbon, Augsburg, Tischengen, Soleure, Berne, Weissenberg, Speier, +Holzhausen, Schwäbisch-Wörth, Friedberg, and Vienna. Although, strictly +speaking, not Waldenses, they had so many traits in common that the +distinction is rather one of organization than of faith. In 1374 one of +their number returned to the Church, and the fear of his betraying the +little community led to his deliberate murder, the assassins being paid, +and undergoing penance to obtain absolution. Some years later the +inquisitor, John Arnoldi, was threatened with similar vengeance and left +the city. In the final persecution some thirty families were put on +trial, while many succeeded in remaining concealed. There was but one +noble among them, Blumstein, who abjured, and who, some twenty years +later, is found filling important civic posts. Though reference is made +in one of the trials to members of the sect who had been burned at +Ratisbon, those of Strassburg were more fortunate. The inquisitor, +Böckeln, is said to have received bribes for assigning private penance +to some of the guilty; and though the Dominicans demanded the burning of +the heretics, the magistrates interceded with the episcopal official, +and banishment was the severest penalty inflicted. Torture, however, had +been freely used in obtaining confessions. After this, nothing more is +heard in Strassburg of either Winkelers or Waldenses until the burning +of Frederic Reiser in 1458.[449] + +There evidently was ample work for the Inquisition in Germany, but it +seems to have been more anxious to repair its defeat in the contest with +the Beghards than to operate against the Waldenses. In the general +excitement on the subject of heresy it was not difficult to render the +Beghards objects of renewed suspicion and persecution. To some extent +the bishops and most of the inquisitors joined in this, but the suspects +had friends among the prelates, who wrote, towards the close of 1393, to +Boniface IX., eulogizing their piety, obedience, and good works, and +asking protection for them. To this Boniface responded, January 7, 1394, +in a brief addressed to the German prelates, ordering them to +investigate whether these persons are contaminated with the errors +condemned by Clement V. and John XXII., and whether they follow any +reproved religious Order; if not, they are to be efficiently protected. +An exemplified copy of this brief, given by the Archbishop of Magdeburg, +October 20, 1396, shows that it continued to be used and was relied upon +in the troubles which followed, soon after, through a sudden change of +policy by Boniface. The Inquisition did not remain passive under this +interference with its operations. It represented to Boniface that for a +hundred years heresies had lurked under the outward fair-seeming of the +Beghards and Beguines, in consequence of which, almost every year, +obstinate heretics had been burned in the different cities of the +empire, and that their suppression was impeded by certain papal +constitutions which were urged in their protection. Boniface was easily +moved to reversing his recent action, and by a bull of January 31, 1395, +he restored to vigor the decrees of Urban V., Gregory XI., and Charles +IV., under which he ordered the Inquisition to prosecute earnestly the +Beghards, Lollards, and _Zwestriones_. This gave full power to molest +the orthodox associations as well as the heretic Brethren of the Free +Spirit, and a severe storm of persecution burst over them. Even some of +the bishops joined in this, as appears from a synod held in Magdeburg +about this time, which ordered the priests to excommunicate and expel +them. Yet this again aroused their friends, and Boniface was induced to +reissue his bull with an addition which, like the contradictory +provisions of the Clementines, shows the perplexity caused by the +admixture of orthodoxy and heresy among the Beguines. After repeating +his commands for their suppression, he adds that there are pious +organizations known as Beghards, Lollards, and _Zwestriones_, which +shall be permitted to wear their vestments, to beg, and to continue +their mode of life, excommunication being threatened against any +inquisitor who shall molest them, unless they have been convicted by the +ordinaries of the diocese.[450] + +This left the matter very much to the discretion of the local +authorities, but the spirit of persecution was fairly revived, and the +Inquisition made haste to fortify its position. Under pretext that the +bulls of Gregory XI. were becoming worn by age and use, it procured +their renewal from Boniface IX., in 1395, though the pope is careful to +express that he grants no new privileges. In 1399 it succeeded in having +the number of inquisitors increased to six for the Dominican province of +Saxony alone, on the plea that its wide extent and populous cities +rendered the existing force insufficient. This was not without reason, +for the province embraced the great archiepiscopal districts of Mainz, +Cologne, Magdeburg, and Bremen, to which were added Rügen and Camin. +Camin belonged to the province of Gnesen, and Rügen formed part of the +diocese of Roskild, which was suffragan to the metropolitan of Lünden in +Sweden, thus furnishing the only instance of inquisitorial jurisdiction +in any region that can be called Scandinavian, save a barren attempt +made, in 1421, under the stimulus of the Hussite troubles. A few weeks +later Boniface issued another bull, ordering the prelates and secular +rulers of Germany to give all aid and protection to Friar Eylard +Schöneveld and other inquisitors, and especially to lend the use of +their prisons, as the Inquisition in those parts is said to have none of +its own, which shows that Kerlinger's scheme of obtaining them from the +property of the Beghards had not proved a success. Eylard set vigorously +to work in the lands adjoining the Baltic, which from their remoteness +had probably escaped his predecessors. At Lubec, in 1402, he procured +the arrest of a Dolcinist named Wilhelm by the municipal officials, +showing that he had no familiars of his own; the accused was examined +several times in the presence of numerous clerks, monks, and laymen, +showing that the secrecy of the inquisitorial process was unknown or +unobserved, and he was finally burned. He had a comrade named Bernhard, +who fled to Wismar, whither Schöneveld followed him and had him burned +in 1403. The same year he seized a priest at Stralsund, who rejected all +solicitations to abjure, and was burned as a persistent heretic; and at +Rostock he condemned for heresy a woman who drove away with the +bitterest reproaches her son, a Cistercian monk, when he urged her to +recant, and who likewise perished in the flames.[451] + +About this period heresy appears to have had also to contend with a +reaction on the part of the secular authorities. When, in 1400, the +Flagellants made a demonstration in the Low Countries, the magistrates +of Maestricht expelled them, and when the people took their side the +energetic interference of the Bishop of Liège put an end to the +insubordination; besides, the Sire de Perweis threw a band of +Flagellants into his dungeons and Tongres closed its gates upon them, so +that the epidemic was checked. With the year 1400 the comparative peace +which the Beguines had enjoyed for some fifteen years came to an end. +Their most dreaded enemy was the Dominican, John of Mühlberg, whose +purity of life and energy in battling with the moral and spiritual +errors of his time won him a wide reputation throughout Germany, so that +when he died in exile, driven from Basle by the clergy whom his attacks +had embittered, he was long regarded by the people as a saint and a +martyr. About 1400 he stirred up in Basle a struggle with the Beguines, +which for ten years kept the city in an uproar. Primarily an episode in +the hostility between the Dominicans and Franciscans, it extended to the +clergy and magistrates, and finally to the citizens at large. In 1405 +the Beguines were expelled, but the Franciscans obtained from the papacy +bulls ordering their restoration, and the retraction of all that had +been said against them. At last, in 1411, Bishop Humbert and the town +council, excited by a fiery sermon of John Pastoris, abolished the +associations, which were forced to abandon their living in common and +their vestments, or to leave the place. The city of Berne followed this +example, and the magistrates of Strassburg took the same course, when +some of the Beguines adopted the former alternative and some the +latter. Many of these took refuge secretly at Mainz. They were +discovered, and the archbishop, John II., holding them to be heretics, +ordered them to be prosecuted. The matter was intrusted to Master Henry +von Stein, who set vigorously about it. The refugees from Strassburg, +mostly women, were thrown into prison; we also hear of a nun who was +likewise incarcerated, and of a youth from Rotenburg, who was mounted on +a hogshead in the public square, and in the presence of the populace was +obliged to accept the penance of crosses, in an _auto de fé_ much less +impressive than those which Bernard Gui was wont to celebrate.[452] + +It was not long before this that the Brethren of the Free Spirit were +deprived of their greatest leader, Nicholas of Basle. As a wandering +missionary he had for many years been engaged in propagating the +doctrines of the sect, and had gained many proselytes. The Inquisition +had been eagerly on his track, but he was shrewd and crafty, and had +eluded its pursuit. Forced, probably about 1397, to fly to Vienna with +two of his disciples, John and James, they were discovered and seized. +The celebrated Henry of Hesse (Langenstein) undertook their conversion, +and flattered himself that he had succeeded, but they all relapsed and +were burned. As Peter, the Celestinian abbot, was at this time +Inquisitor of Passau, he probably had the satisfaction of ridding the +Church of this dangerous heresiarch, whose belief in his own divine +inspiration was such that he considered his will to be equal to that of +God. + +Not long after a similar martyrdom occurred at Constance, where a +Beghard, named Burgin, had founded a sect of extreme austerity. Captured +with his disciples by the bishop, he would not abandon his doctrines, +and was duly relaxed. Gerson's numerous allusions to the Turelupins and +Beghards show that at this period the sect was attracting much attention +and was regarded as seductively dangerous. With all his tendency to +mysticism, Gerson could recognize the peril incurred by those whom he +describes as deceived through too great a desire to reach the sweetness +of God, and who mistake the delirium of their own hearts for divine +promptings: thus disregarding the law of Christ, they follow their own +inclinations without submitting to rule, and are precipitated into guilt +by their own presumption. He was especially averse to the spiritual +intimacy between the sexes, where devotion screened the precipice on the +brink of which they stood. Mary of Valenciennes, he says, was especially +to be avoided on this account, for she applied what is set forth about +the divine fruition to the passions seething in her own soul, and she +argues that he who reaches the perfection of divine love is released +from the observance of all precepts. Thus the Brethren of the Free +Spirit were practically the same in the fifteenth century as in the +times of Ortlieb and Amauri.[453] + +Giles Cantor, who founded in Brussels the sect which styled itself Men +of Intelligence, was probably a disciple of Mary of Valenciennes, and +the name was adopted merely to cover its affiliation with the proscribed +Brethren of the Free Spirit. Its doctrines were substantially the same +in their mystic pantheism and illuminism; and their practical +application is seen in the story that on one occasion Giles was moved by +the spirit to go naked for some miles when carrying provision to a poor +person. So open a manifestation would have insured his prosecution had +there been any machinery for persecution in efficient condition in +Brabant; but he was allowed to propagate his doctrines in peace until he +died. He was succeeded in the leadership of the sect by a Carmelite +known as William of Hilderniss, and at length it attracted, in 1411, the +attention of Cardinal Peter d'Ailly, Bishop of Cambrai. Fortunately for +William, the bishop chose to direct the proceedings himself, and they +show complete disregard of inquisitorial methods. He appointed special +commissioners, who made an inquisition; both the names and the testimony +of the witnesses were submitted to William, who made what defence he +could. In rendering judgment d'Ailly called in the Dominican Prior of +St. Quentin, who was inquisitor of the district of Cambrai, and the +sentence was as irregular as the proceedings. William had no desire for +martyrdom, and abjured the heresy; he was required to purge himself with +six compurgators, after which he was to undergo the penance of three +years' confinement in a castle of the bishop's, while if he failed in +his purgation he was to be imprisoned in a convent of his order during +the archbishop's pleasure--a most curious and illogical medley. He +succeeded in finding the requisite number of compurgators, but though he +disappeared from the scene his sect was by no means extinguished, and we +hear of the persecution of a heresiarch as late as 1428.[454] + +That Clement VI. did not err when he foresaw the dangerous errors +lurking under the devotion of the Flagellants was demonstrated in 1414. +The sect still existed, and its crude theories as to the efficacy of +flagellation had gradually been developed into an antisacerdotal heresy +of the most uncompromising character. A certain Conrad Schmidt was the +constructive heresiarch who gave to its belief an organized +completeness, and his death made no diminution of the zeal of his +disciples, nor did the failure of his prophecy of the end of the world +in 1309. The curious connection between the Flagellants and the Beghards +is indicated by the fact that these Flagellant Brethren, or Brethren of +the Cross, as they styled themselves, regarded Conrad as the incarnation +of Enoch, and a certain Beghard, who had been burned at Erfurt about +1364, as Elias--an angel having brought their souls from heaven and +infused them into Schmidt and this Beghard while yet in the womb. +Schmidt was to preside at the approaching Day of Judgment, which was +constantly believed to be at hand, Antichrist being the pope and the +priests, whose reign was drawing to an end. + +When, in 1343, the letter commanding flagellation, to which I have +already alluded, was brought by an angel and laid on the altar of St. +Peter, God withdrew all spiritual power from the Church and bestowed it +on the Brethren of the Cross. Since then all sacraments had lost their +virtue, and to partake of them was mortal sin. Baptism had been replaced +by that of the blood drawn by the scourge; the sacrament of matrimony +only defiled marriage; the Eucharist was but a device by which the +priests sold a morsel of bread for a penny--if they believed it to be +the body of Christ they were worse than Judas, who got thirty pieces of +silver for it; flagellation replaced them all. Oaths were a mortal sin, +but to avoid betraying the sect the faithful could take them and receive +the sacraments, and then expiate it by flagellation. The growth of such +a belief and the mingled contempt and hatred manifested for the clergy +prove that to the people the Church was as much a stranger and an +oppressor as it had been in the twelfth century. It had learned nothing, +and was as far from Christ as ever. + +Conrad Schmidt had promulgated his errors in Thuringia, where his +sectaries were discovered, in 1414, at Sangerhausen. Thither sped the +inquisitor Schöneveld--called Henry by the chroniclers, but probably the +same as the Eylard, whom we have seen at work some years before on the +shores of the Baltic. The princes of Thuringia and Misnia were ordered +to assist him, and they were eager to share in the suppression of a +heresy which threatened to revolutionize the social order. The +proceedings must have been more energetic than regular. Torture must +have been freely used to gather into the net so many victims; nor can a +patient hearing have been given to the accused. Their shrift was short, +and before Schöneveld had left the scene of action he had caused the +burning of ninety-one at Sangerhausen, forty-four in the neighboring +town of Winkel, and many more in other villages. Yet such was the +persistence of the heresy that even this wholesale slaughter did not +suffice for its suppression. Two years later, in 1416, its remains were +discovered, and again Schöneveld was sent for. He examined the accused. +To those who abjured he assigned penances, and handed over the obstinate +to the secular arm. His assizes must have been hurried, for he did not +stay to witness the execution of those whom he had condemned, and after +his departure the princes gathered all together, both penitents and +impenitents, some three hundred in number, and burned the whole of them +in one day. This terrible example produced the profound impression that +was desired, and hereafter the sect of Flagellants may be regarded as +unimportant. Some discussion, as we have seen, took place the next year +at the Council of Constance, when San Vicente Ferrer expressed his +approbation of this form of discipline, and Gerson mildly urged its +dangers; but when, in 1434, a certain Bishop Andreas specified, among +the objects of the Council of Basle, the suppression of the heresies of +the Hussites, Waldenses, Fraticelli, Wickliffites, the Manichæans of +Bosnia, the Beghards, and the schismatic Greeks, there is no allusion in +the enumeration to Flagellants. Yet the causes which had given rise to +the heresy continued in full force and it was still cherished in secret. +In 1453 and 1454 Brethren of the Cross were again discovered in +Thuringia, and the Inquisition was speedily at work to reclaim them. +Besides the errors propagated by Conrad Schmidt, it was not difficult to +extort from the accused the customary confessions of foul sexual +excesses committed in dark subterranean conventicles, and even of +Luciferan doctrines, teaching that in time Satan would regain his place +in heaven and expel Christ; though when we hear that they alleged the +evil lives of the clergy as the cause of their misbelief we may +reasonably doubt the accuracy of these reports. Aschersleben, +Sondershausen, and Sangerhausen were the centres of the sect, and at the +latter place, in 1454, twenty-two men and women were burned as +obstinate heretics. In 1481 a few were punished in Anhalt, and the sect +gradually disappeared.[455] + + * * * * * + +The case of the Beghards and Beguines came before the Council of +Constance in several shapes. To guard themselves from the incessant +molestations to which they were exposed they had, to a large extent, +affiliated themselves, nominally at least, as Tertiaries, to the +Mendicant Orders, chiefly to the Franciscan, whose scapular they +adopted. In a project of reform, carefully prepared for action by the +council, this is strongly denounced; they are said to live in forests +and in cities, free from subjection, indulging in indecent habits, not +without suspicion of heresy, and though able of body and fit to earn +their livelihood by labor, they subsist on alms, to the prejudice of the +poor and miserable. It was therefore proposed to forbid the wearing of +the scapular by all who were not bound by vows to the Orders and +subjected to the Rules. It was also pronounced necessary to make +frequent visitations of their communities on account of the +peculiarities of their life, and magistrates and nobles were to be +ordered not to interfere with such wholesome supervision under pain of +interdict. It was possibly to meet this attack that numerous testimonial +letters from the clergy and magistrates of Germany certifying to the +orthodoxy, piety, and usefulness of the associations were sent to Martin +V., who submitted them to Angelo, Cardinal of SS. Peter and Marcellus, +and received from him a favorable report. Towards the close of the +council, in 1418, a more formidable assault was made upon them by +Matthew Grabon, a Dominican of Wismar, who laid before Martin V. +twenty-four articles to prove that all such associations outside of the +approved religious orders ought to be abolished. To accomplish this, +after the approved style of scholastic logic, he was obliged to assert +such absurd general principles as that it was equivalent to suicide, and +therefore a mortal sin, for any secular person to give away his property +in charity, and that the pope had no power to grant a dispensation in +such cases. Grabon's propositions and conclusions were referred to +Antonio, Cardinal of Verona, who submitted them to Cardinal Peter +d'Ailly and Chancellor Gerson. The former reported that the paper was +heretical and should be burned, while the jurists should be called upon +to decide what ought to be done to its writer. The latter, that the +doctrine was pestiferous and blasphemous, and that its author, if +obstinate, should be arrested. Grabon was glad to escape by publicly +abjuring some of his articles as heretical, others as erroneous, and +others as scandalous and offensive to pious ears. The triumph of the +Beguines was decisive, and they might at last hope for a respite from +persecution. The associations increased and flourished accordingly, and +under their shelter the Brethren of the Free Spirit continued to +propagate their heresy.[456] + +From this time forward the attention of the Church was mainly directed +to Hussitism, the most formidable enemy that it had encountered since +the Catharism of the twelfth century. This will be considered in a +following chapter, and meanwhile I need only say that its secret but +threatening progress throughout Germany called for active means of +repression and led to more thorough organization of the Inquisition. The +bull of Martin V., issued February 22, 1418, against Wickliffites and +Hussites, is addressed not only to prelates but to inquisitors +commissioned in the dioceses and cities of Salzburg, Prague, Gnesen, +Olmütz, Litomysl, Bamberg, Misnia, Passau, Breslau, Ratisbon, Cracow, +Posen, and Neutra. While of course this is not to be taken literally, as +though there were an organized tribunal of the Holy Office in each of +these places, still it indicates that in the districts infected or +exposed to infection the Church was arming itself with its most +effective weapons. The growing danger, moreover, was leading the bishops +to abandon somewhat their traditional jealousy. In this same year, 1418, +the council of the great province of Salzburg not only urged the bishops +to extirpate heresy and to enforce the canons against the secular powers +neglecting their duty in this respect, but commanded all princes and +potentates to seize and imprison all who were designated as suspect of +heresy by the prelates and the inquisitors. Thus at last the episcopate +recognized the Inquisition and came to its support.[457] + +Yet the attention of the persecutors was not so exclusively directed to +the Hussites as to allow the Brethren of the Free Spirit to escape, and +in their zeal they continued to molest the orthodox Beguines in spite of +the action of Martin V. at Constance. In 1431 Eugenius IV. found himself +obliged to intervene for their protection. In a bull, addressed to the +German prelates, he recites the favorable action of his predecessors and +the troubles to which, in spite of this, they were exposed by the +inquisitors. Those who wander around without fixed habitations he orders +to be compelled to dwell in the houses of the confraternity, and those +who reside quietly and piously are to be efficiently protected. This +bull affords perhaps the only instance in which the episcopal power is +rendered superior to the Inquisition, for the bishops are authorized to +enforce its provisions by the censures of the Church, without appeal, +even if those who interfere with the Beguines enjoy special immunities, +thus subjecting the inquisitors to excommunication by the prelates. This +stretch of papal power exasperated Doctor Felix Hemmerlin, Cantor of +Zurich, who detested the Beguines. He wrote several bitter tracts +against them, and explained the favor shown them by Eugenius by +irreverently stating that the pope had himself been once a Beghard at +Padua. In one of his numerous assaults upon them, written probably about +1436, he alludes to several recent cases within a limited region, which +would indicate that in spite of the papal protection of the Beguines, +the Brethren of the Free Spirit were actively persecuted, and that, if +the statistics of the whole empire could be procured, the number of +victims would be found not small. Thus in Zurich a certain Burchard and +his disciples were tried and penanced with crosses; but they were +subsequently found to be relapsed and were all burned. At Uri, Charles +and his followers were similarly burned. At Constance Henry de Tierra +was forced to abjure. At Ulm, John and a numerous company were subjected +to public penance. In Würtemberg there was a great heresiarch punished, +whose conviction was only secured after infinite pains. Then from +Bohemia there come Beghards every year who seduce a countless number to +heresy in Berne and Soleure. This leads one to think that Hemmerlin, in +his passion, may confound Hussites with Beghards, and this is confirmed +by his assertion that there is in Upper Germany no heresy save that +introduced by the foxes of this pernicious sect. Nider, in fact, writing +immediately after the Council of Basle had effected a settlement with +the Hussites, when, for a time at least, in Germany they were no longer +considered enemies of the Church, declares that heretics were few and +powerless, skulking in concealment and not to be dreaded, although he +had, in describing the errors of the Brethren of the Free Spirit, stated +that they were still by no means uncommon in Suabia. It was evidently a +member of this sect whom he describes as seeing at Ratisbon when +proceeding with the Archdeacon of Barcelona on a mission from the +Council of Basle to the Hussites. She was a young woman of spotless +character, who made no effort to propagate her faith, but she could not +be induced to recant. The archdeacon advised that she be tortured to +break her spirit, which was done without success and without forcing her +to name her confederates; but when Nider visited her in her cell during +the evening, he found her exhausted with suffering, and he readily +brought her to acknowledge her error, after which she made a public +recantation. This shows us that there could have been no Inquisition in +Ratisbon, and that the local authorities had even lost the memory of +inquisitorial proceedings.[458] + +In 1446 the Council of Würzburg found it necessary to repeat the canon +of that of Mainz in 1310, ordering the expulsion of all wandering +Beghards using the old cry of "_Brod durch Gott_" and preaching in +caverns and secret places, showing the maintenance of the traditional +customs and also the absence of more active persecution. In 1453 +Nicholas V. formally adjoined them to the Mendicant Orders as +Tertiaries. Some of them obeyed and formed a distinct class, known as +Zepperenses, from their principal house at Zepper. They diminished +greatly in number, however, and in 1650 Innocent X. united them with the +Tertiaries of Italy, under the General Master residing in Lombardy. The +female portion of the associations, which became distinctively known as +Beguines, were more fortunate. They were able to preserve their identity +and their communities, which remain flourishing to the present day, +especially in the Netherlands, where in 1857 the great Beguinage of +Ghent contained six hundred Beguines and two hundred locataires or +boarders.[459] + +Still there remained a considerable number both of heretic Brethren of +the Free Spirit and of orthodox Beghards of both sexes who recalcitrated +of being thus brought under rule and deprived of their accustomed +independence. Thus it is related of Bernhard, who was elected Abbot of +Hirsau in 1460, that among other reforms he ejected all the Beguines +from their house at Altburg, on account of their impurity of life, and +replaced them with Dominican Tertiaries. This aroused the hostility of +the Beghards who dwelt in hermitages in the forest of Hirsau, and they +conspired against the abbot, but only to their own detriment. In 1463 +the Synod of Constance complains of the unlawful wearing of the +Franciscan scapular by Lollards and Beguines; all who do so are required +to prove their right or to lay it aside, and able-bodied Lollards are +ordered to live by honest labor and not by beggary. This latter practice +was ineradicable, however, and twenty years later another synod was +compelled to repeat the command. In 1491 a synod of Bamberg refers to +the provisions of the Clementines against the Beguines as though their +enforcement was still called for; and Friar John of Moravia, who died at +Brünn in 1492, is warmly praised as a fierce and indefatigable +persecutor of Hussites and Beghards. These insubordinate religionists +continued to exist under almost constant persecution, until the +Reformation, when they served as one of the elements which contributed +to the spread of Lutheranism.[460] + + * * * * * + +It was impossible that Hussitism should triumph in Bohemia without +awakening an echo throughout Germany, or that the Hussites should +abstain from missionary and proselyting efforts, but the spread of the +heresy through the Teutonic populations was sternly and successfully +repressed. In 1423 the Council of Siena, under the presidency of papal +legates, showed itself fully alive to the danger. It sharply reproved +both inquisitors and episcopal ordinaries for the supineness which alone +could explain the threatening spread of heresy. They were urged to +constant and unsparing vigilance under pain of four months' suspension +from entering a church and such other punishment as might seem +opportune. They were further ordered to curse the heretics with bell, +book, and candle every Sunday in all the principal churches. Holy Land +indulgences were offered to all who would assist them in capturing +heretics, as well as to rulers who, unable to capture them, should at +least expel them from their territories. The earnest tone of the council +reflects the alarm that was everywhere felt, and it unquestionably led +to renewed exertions, though only a few instances of successful activity +chance to be recorded. Thus, in 1420, a priest, known as Henry Grünfeld, +who had embraced Hussite doctrines, was burned at Ratisbon, where +likewise, in 1423, another priest named Henry Rathgeber met the same +fate. In 1424 a priest named John Drändorf suffered at Worms, and in +1426 Peter Turman was burned at Speier. Even after the Council of Basle +had recognized the Hussites as orthodox, and under the Compactata they +enjoyed toleration in states where they held temporal authority, they +were still persecuted as heretics elsewhere. About 1450 John Müller +ventured to preach Hussite doctrines throughout Franconia, where he met +with much acceptance and gained a numerous following, but he was forced +to fly, and one hundred and thirty of his disciples were seized and +carried to Würzburg. There they were persuaded to recant by the Abbot +John of Grumbach and Master Anthony, a preacher of the cathedral. More +tragic was the fate of Frederic Reiser, a Suabian, educated in +Waldensianism. Under the guise of a merchant he had served as a preacher +among the Waldensian churches which maintained a secret existence +throughout Germany. At Heilsbronn he was captured in a Hussite raid, +when, carried to Mount Tabor, he recognized the practical identity of +the faiths and received ordination at the hands of the Taborite Bishop +Nicholas. He labored to bring about a union of the churches, and +wandered as a missionary through Germany, Bohemia, and Switzerland. +Finally he settled at Strassburg, which was always a heretic centre, and +gathered a community of disciples around him. He called himself +"Frederic, by the grace of God bishop of the faithful in the Roman +Church who spurn the Donation of Constantine." He was detected in 1458 +and arrested with his followers. Under torture he confessed all that was +required of him, only to withdraw it when removed from the +torture-chamber. The burgomaster, Hans Drachenfels, and the civic +magistracy earnestly opposed his execution, but they were obliged to +yield, and he was burned, together with his faithful servant, Anna +Weiler, an old woman of Nürnberg.[461] + +Reiser had been specially successful with the descendants of the +Pomeranian Waldenses who, as we have seen, abjured before the inquisitor +Peter in 1393. They appear to have by no means abandoned their heresy, +and were easily brought to the modifications which assimilated them to +the Hussites--.the adoption of bishops, priests, and deacons, the +communion in both elements, and the honoring of Wickliff, Huss, and +Jerome of Prague. In this same year, 1458, a tailor of Selchow, named +Matthew Hagen, was arrested with three disciples and carried to Berlin +for trial by order of the Elector Frederic II. He had been ordained as a +priest in Bohemia by Reiser, and had returned to propagate the doctrines +of the sect and administer its sacraments. His followers weakened and +abjured, but he remained steadfast, and was abandoned to the secular +arm. To root out the sect, Dr. John Canneman, who had tried Hagen, was +sent to Angermünde as episcopal inquisitor; he found many sectaries but +no obstinacy, for they willingly submitted and abjured.[462] + +There was, in fact, enough in common between the doctrines of the more +radical Hussites and those of the Waldenses to bring the sects +eventually together. The Waldenses had by no means been extirpated, and +when, in 1467, the remnant of the Taborites known as the Bohemian +Brethren opened communication with them, the envoys sent had no +difficulty in finding them on the confines between Austria and Moravia, +where they had existed for more than two centuries. They had a bishop +named Stephen, who speedily called in another bishop to perform the rite +of ordination for the Brethren, showing that the heretic communities +were numerous and well organized. The negotiations unfortunately +attracted attention, and the Church made short work of those on whom it +could lay its hands. Bishop Stephen was burned at Vienna and the flock +was scattered, many of them finding refuge in Moravia. Others fled as +far as Brandenburg, where already there were flourishing Waldensian +communities. These were soon afterwards discovered, and steel, fire, and +water were unsparingly used for their destruction, without blotting them +out. A portion of those who escaped emigrated to Bohemia, where they +were gladly received by the Bohemian Brethren and incorporated into +their societies. The close association thus formed between the Brethren +and the Waldenses resulted in a virtual coalescence which gave rise to a +new word in the nomenclature of heresy. When, in 1479, Sixtus IV. +confirmed Friar Thomas Gognati as Inquisitor of Vienna, he urged him to +put forth every exertion to suppress the Hussites and Nicolinistæ. These +latter, who took their name from Nicholas of Silesia, were evidently +Bohemian Brethren who adhered to the extreme doctrine common to both +sects, that nothing could justify putting a human being to death. Thus +the struggle continued, and though the danger was averted which had once +seemed threatening, of the widespread adoption of Hussite theories, +there remained concealed enough Hussite and Waldensian hostility to Rome +to serve as a nucleus of discontent and to give sufficient support to +revolt when a man was found, like Luther, bold enough to clothe in words +the convictions which thousands were secretly nursing.[463] + +Signs, indeed, were not wanting in the fifteenth century or the +inevitable rupture of the sixteenth. Prominent among those who boldly +defied the power of Rome was Gregory of Heimburg, whom Ullman well +designates as the citizen-Luther of the fifteenth century. He first +comes into view at the Council of Basle, in the service of Æneas +Sylvius, who was then one of the foremost advocates of the reforming +party, and he remained steadfast to the principles which his patron +bartered for the papacy. A forerunner of the Humanists, he labored to +diffuse classical culture, and with his admiration for the ancients he +had, like Marsiglio of Padua, imbibed the imperial theory of the +relations between Church and State. With tongue and pen inspired by +dauntless courage he was indefatigable to the last in maintaining the +rights of the empire and the supremacy of general councils. The power of +the keys, he taught, had been granted to the apostles collectively; +these were represented by general councils, and the monopoly in the +hands of the pope was a usurpation. His free expression of opinion +infallibly brought him into collision with his early patron, and the +antagonism was sharpened when Pius II. convoked the assembly of princes +at Mantua to provide for a new crusade. Gregory, who was there as +counsellor of the princes, boldly declared that this was only a scheme +to augment the papal power and drain all Germany of money. When Nicholas +of Cusa, a time-server like Pius, was appointed Bishop of Brixen and +claimed property and rights regarded by Sigismund of Austria as +belonging to himself, Sigismund, under Gregory's advice, arrested the +bishop. Thereupon Pius, in June, 1460, laid Sigismund's territories +under interdict, and induced the Swiss to attack him. Gregory drew up an +appeal to a general council, which Sigismund issued, although Pius had +forbidden such appeals, and he further had the hardihood to prove by +Scripture, the fathers, and history, that the Church was subject to the +State. It was no wonder that Gregory shared his master's +excommunication. In October, 1460, he was declared a heretic, and all +the faithful were ordered to seize his property and punish him. To this +he responded in vigorous appeals and replications, couched in the most +insolent and contemptuous language towards both Pius and Nicholas. In +October, 1461, Pius sent Friar Martin of Rotenburg to preach the faith +and preserve the faithful from the errors of Sigismund and his +heresiarch Gregory, and, professing to believe that Martin was in +personal danger, he offered an indulgence of two years and eighty days +to all who would render him assistance in his need. He also ordered the +magistrates of Nürnburg to seize Gregory's property and expel him or +deliver him up for punishment. We next find Gregory aiding Diether, +Archbishop of Cologne, in his quarrel with Pius over the unprecedented +and extortionate demand of the Holy See for annates; but Diether +resigned, Sigismund made his peace, and Gregory was abandoned to his +excommunication, even the city of Nürnburg withdrawing its protection. +He then took refuge in Bohemia with George Podiebrad, whom he served +efficiently as a controversialist, earning a special denunciation as a +heretic of the worst type from Paul II., in 1469; but Podiebrad died in +1471. Gregory then went to Saxony, where Duke Albert protected him and +effected his reconciliation with Sixtus IV. He was absolved at Easter, +1472, only to die in the following August, after spending a quarter of a +century in ceaseless combat with the papacy.[464] + +If Gregory of Heimburg embodies the revolt of the ruling classes against +Rome, Hans of Niklaushausen shows us the restless spirit of opposition +to sacerdotalism which was spreading among the lower strata of society. +Hans Böheim was a wandering drummer or fifer from Bohemia, who chanced +to settle at Niklaushausen, near Würzburg. He doubtless brought with him +the revolutionary ideas of the Hussites, and he seems to have entered +into an alliance with the parish priest and a Mendicant Friar or +Beghard. He began to have revelations from the Virgin which suited so +exactly the popular wishes that crowds speedily began to assemble to +listen to him. She instructed him to announce to her people that Christ +could no longer endure the pride, the avarice, and the lust of the +priesthood, and that the world would be destroyed in consequence of +their wickedness, unless they promptly showed signs of amendment. Tithes +and tribute should be purely voluntary, tolls and customs dues were to +be abolished, and game was no longer to be preserved. As the fame of +these revelations spread, crowds flocked to hear the inspired teacher, +from the Rhinelands, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony, and Misnia, so that at +times he addressed an audience of twenty thousand to thirty thousand +souls. So great was the reverence felt for him that those who could +touch him deemed themselves sanctified, and fragments of his garments +were treasured as relics, so that his clothes were rent in pieces +whenever he appeared, and a new suit was requisite daily. That no one +doubted the truth of the Virgin's denunciations of the clergy shows the +nature of the popular estimation of the Church, for the vast crowds who +came eagerly to listen were by no means composed of the dangerous +elements of society. They were peaceful and orderly; men and women slept +in the neighboring fields and woods and caves without fear of robbery or +violence; they had money to spend, moreover, for the offerings of gold +and silver, jewels, garments, and wax were large--large enough, indeed, +to tempt the greed of the potentates, for after the downfall of Hans the +spoils were divided between the Count of Wertheim, suzerain of +Niklaushausen, the Bishop of Würzburg, and his metropolitan, the +Archbishop of Mainz. The latter used a portion of his plunder in +building a citadel near Mainz, the destruction of which soon afterwards +by fire was generally regarded as indicating the displeasure of the +Virgin. + +Bishop Rudolph of Würzburg repeatedly forbade the pilgrimage to +Niklaushausen, but in vain, and at length he was led to take more +decided steps. The great festivity of the region was the feast of St. +Kilian, the martyr of Würzburg, falling on July 8. On the Sunday +previous, July 6, 1476, Hans significantly told his audience to return +the following Saturday armed, but to leave their women and children at +home. Matters were evidently approaching a crisis, and the bishop did +not wait for the result, but sent a party of guards, who seized Hans and +conveyed him to a neighboring stronghold. The next day about six +thousand of his deluded followers, including many women and children, +set out for the castle, without arms, believing that its walls would +fall at their demand. They refused to disperse when summoned, but were +readily scattered by a sally of men-at-arms, supported by a discharge +from the cannon of the castle, in which many were slain. Hans was easily +forced by torture to confess the falsity of his revelations and the +deceits by which he and his confederates had stimulated the excitement +by false miracles; but his confession did not avail him, and he was +condemned to be burned. At the place of execution his followers expected +divine interference, and to prevent enchantment the executioner shaved +him from head to foot. He walked resolutely to the stake, singing a +hymn, but his fortitude gave way and he shrieked in agony as the flames +reached him. To prevent his ashes from being treasured as relics, they +were carefully collected and cast into the river. The priest and Beghard +who had served as his confederates sought safety in flight, but were +caught and confessed, after which they were discharged; but two +peasants--one who had suggested the advance upon the castle and one who +had wounded the horse of one of the guards who captured Hans--were +beheaded.[460] + +If Gregory of Heimburg and Hans of Niklaushausen represent the +antagonism to Rome which pervaded the laity from the highest to the +lowest, John von Ruchrath of Wesel indicates that even in the Church the +same spirit was not wanting. One of the most eminent theologians and +preachers of whom Germany could boast, celebrated in the schools as the +"Light of the World" and the "Master of Contradictions," he was a +hardy and somewhat violent disputant, who in his sermons had no scruple +in presenting his opinions in the most offensive shape. Like Luther, of +whom he was the true precursor, he commenced by an assault upon +indulgences, moved thereto by the Jubilee of 1450, when pious Europe +precipitated itself upon Rome to take heaven by assault. Step by step he +advanced to strip the Church of its powers, and was led to reject the +authority of tradition and the fathers, recurring to Scripture as the +sole basis of authority. He even banished from the creed the word +"_Filioque_," and his predestinarian views deprived the Church of all +the treasures of salvation. How little he recked of the feelings of +those whose faith he assailed is seen in his remark that if fasting was +instituted by St. Peter, it was probably to obtain a better market for +his fish. + +It shows how rusty had become the machinery of persecution and the +latitude allowed to free speech that John of Wesel was permitted so +long, without interference, to ripen into a heresiarch and to +disseminate from the pulpit and professorial chair these opinions, as +dangerous as any emitted by Waldenses, Wickliffites, or Hussites. In +fact, but for the bitter quarrel between the Realists and Nominalists, +which filled the scholastic world with strife, it is probable that he +would have been unmolested to the end and enabled to close his days in +peace. He was a leader of the Nominalists, and the Dominican Thomists of +Mainz were resolved to silence him. The Archbishop of Mainz was Diether +of Isenburg, who had been forced to abandon his see in 1463, but had +resumed it in 1475 on the death of his competitor, Adolph of Nassau; he +did not wish another conflict with Rome, to which he was exposed in +consequence of his public denunciations of the papal auctions of the +archiepiscopal pallium; he was threatened with this unless he would +surrender John of Wesel as a victim, and he yielded to the pressure in +1479. + +In the great province of Mainz there was no inquisitor; trial by the +regular episcopal officials would be of uncertain result; and as there +was a Dominican inquisitor at Cologne, in the person of Friar Gerhard +von Elten, he was sent for. He came, accompanied by Friar Jacob +Sprenger, not yet an inquisitor, but whom we shall see hereafter in that +capacity busy in burning witches. With him came the theologians from the +universities of Heidelberg and Cologne, who were to sit as experts and +assessors, and so carefully were they selected that one of the +Heidelberg doctors, to whom we are indebted for an account of the +proceedings, tells us that among them all there was but one Nominalist. +He evidently regards the whole matter as an incident in the scholastic +strife, and says that the accused would have been acquitted had he been +allowed counsel and had he not been so harshly treated. + +The proceedings are a curious travesty of the inquisitorial process, +which show that, however much its forms had been forgotten, the +principle was rigidly maintained of treating the accused as guilty in +advance. There was no secrecy attempted; everything was conducted in an +assembly consisting of laymen as well as ecclesiastics, prominent among +whom we recognize the Count of Wertheim, fresh from the plunder of Hans +of Niklaushausen. After a preliminary meeting, when the assembly +convened for business, February 8, 1479, the inquisitor von Elten +presided, with Archbishop Diether under him, and opened the proceedings +by suggesting that two or three friends of the accused should warn him +to repent of his errors and beg for mercy, in which case he should have +mercy, but otherwise not. A deputation was thereupon despatched, but +their mission was not speedily performed; the inquisitor chafed at the +delay, and began blustering and threatening. A high official was sent to +hurry the matter, but at that moment John of Wesel entered, pallid, bent +with age, leaning on his staff, and supported by two Franciscans. He was +made to sit on the floor; von Elten repeated to him the message, and +when he attempted to defend himself he was cut short, badgered and +threatened, until he was brought to sue for pardon. After this he was +put through a long and exhausting examination, and was finally remanded +until the next day. A commission consisting principally of the Cologne +and Heidelberg doctors was appointed to determine what should be done +with him. The next day he was again brought out and examined afresh, +when he endeavored to defend his views. "If all men renounce Christ," +he said, "I will still worship him and be a Christian," to which von +Elten retorted, "So say all heretics, even when at the stake." Finally +it was resolved that three doctors should be deputed, piously to exhort +him to abandon his errors. As in the case of Huss, it was not his death +that was wanted, but his humiliation. + +On the 10th the deputies labored with him. "If Christ were here," he +told them, "and were treated like me, you would condemn him as a +heretic--but he would get the better of you with his subtlety." At +length he was persuaded to acknowledge that his views were erroneous, on +the deputies agreeing to take the responsibility on their own +consciences. He had long been sick when the trial was commenced, all +assistance was withheld from him; age, weakness, and the dark and filthy +dungeon from which he had vainly begged to be relieved broke down his +powers of resistance, and he submitted. He publicly recanted and +abjured, his books were burned before his face, and he was sentenced to +imprisonment for life in the Augustinian monastery of Mainz. He did not +long survive his mortification and misery, for he died in 1481. The +trial excited great interest among all the scholars of Germany, who +were shocked at this treatment of a man so eminent and distinguished. +Yet his writings survived him and proved greatly encouraging to the +early Reformers. Melanchthon enumerates him among those who by their +works kept up the continuity of the Church of Christ.[466] + +It is evident from this case that the Inquisition, though not extinct in +Germany, was not in working order, and that even where it existed +nominally a special effort was requisite to make it function. Still we +hear occasionally of the appointment of inquisitors, and from the career +of Sprenger we know that their labors could be fruitfully directed to +the extirpation of witchcraft. Sorcery, indeed, had become the most +threatening heresy of the time, and other spiritual aberrations were +attracting little attention. In the elaborate statutes issued by the +Synod of Bamberg, in 1491, the section devoted to heresy dwells at much +length on the details of witchcraft and magic, and mentions only one +other doctrinal error--the vitiation of sacraments in polluted +hands--and it directs that all who neglect to denounce heretics are to +be themselves treated as accomplices, but it makes no allusion to the +Inquisition. Still there is an occasional manifestation showing that +inquisitors existed and sometimes exercised their powers. I shall +hereafter have occasion to refer to the case of Herman of Ryswick, who +was condemned and abjured in 1499, escaped from prison, and was burned +as a relapsed by the inquisitor at The Hague, in 1512, and only allude +to it here as an evidence of continued inquisitorial activity.[467] + +The persecution of John Reuchlin, like that of John of Wesel, sprang +from scholastic antagonisms, but its development shows how completely, +during the interval, the inquisitorial power had wasted away. Reuchlin +was a pupil of John Wessel of Groningen; as the leader of the Humanists, +and the foremost representative in Germany of the new learning, he was +involved in bitter controversy with the Dominicans, who, as traditional +Thomists, were ready to do battle to the death for scholasticism. The +ferocious jocularity with which Sebastian Brandt dilates, in his most +finished Latinity, upon the torture and burning of four Dominicans at +Berne, in 1509, for frauds committed in the controversy over the +Immaculate Conception, indicates the temper which animated the hostile +parties, even as its lighter aspect is seen in the unsparing satire of +Erasmus and of the _Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum_. When, therefore, +Reuchlin stood forward to protect Jews and Jewish literature against the +assaults of the renegade Pfefferkorn, the opportunity to destroy him was +eagerly seized. In 1513 a Dominican inquisitor, the Prior Jacob von +Hochstraten, came from Cologne to Mainz on an errand precisely similar +to that of his predecessor von Elten. Unlike John of Wesel, however, +Reuchlin felt that he could safely appeal to Rome, where Leo X. was +himself a man of culture and a Humanist. Leo was well disposed, and +commissioned the Bishop of Speier to decide the question, which was in +itself a direct blow at the inquisitorial power. Still more +contemptuously damaging was the bishop's judgment. Reuchlin was declared +free of all suspicion of heresy, the prosecution was pronounced +frivolous, and the costs were put upon Hochstraten, with a threat of +excommunication for disobedience. This was confirmed at Rome, in 1415, +where silence was imposed on Reuchlin's accusers under a penalty of +three thousand marks. The Humanists celebrated their victory with savage +rejoicing. Eleutherius Bizenus printed a tract summoning, in rugged +hexameters, all Germany to assist in the triumph of Reuchlin, in which +Hochstraten--that thief, who as accuser and judge persecutes the +innocent--marches in chains, with his hands tied behind his back, while +Pfefferkorn, with ears and nose cut off, is dragged by a hook through +his heels, face downwards, until his features lose the semblance of +humanity. The Dominicans are characterized as worse than Turks, and more +worthy to be resisted, and the author wonders what unjust pope and +cowardly emperor had enabled them to impose their yoke on the land. +These were brave words, but premature. The quarrel had attracted the +attention of all Europe, the Dominican Order itself and all it +represented were on trial, and it could not afford to submit to defeat. +Hochstraten hastened to Rome; the Dominicans of the great University of +Cologne did not hesitate to say that if the pope maintained the sentence +they would appeal to the future council, they would refuse to abide by +his decision, they would pronounce him to be no pope and organize a +schism, and much more, which shows upon what a slender tenure the papacy +held the allegiance of its Janissaries. Leo cowered before the storm +which he had provoked, and in 1416 he issued a mandate superseding the +sentence, but the spirit of insubordination was growing strong in +Germany, and Franz von Sickingen, the free-lance, compelled its +observance. As the Lutheran revolt grew more threatening, however, the +support of the Dominicans became more and more indispensable, and in +1420 Leo settled the matter by setting aside the decision of the Bishop +of Speier, imposing silence on Reuchlin, and laying all the costs on +him. Hochstraten, moreover, was restored to his office.[468] + +The reparation came too late to render the Inquisition of any service, +now that its efficiency was more sorely needed than ever before. Had it +existed in Germany in good working order, Luther's career would have +been short. When, October 31, 1517, he nailed his propositions +concerning indulgences on the church-door of Wittenberg, and publicly +defended them, an inquisitor such as Bernard Gui would have speedily +silenced him, either destroying his influence by forcing him to a public +recantation, or handing him over to be burned if he proved obstinate. +Hundreds of hardy thinkers had been thus served, and the few who had +been found stout enough to withstand the methods of the Holy Office had +perished. Fortunately, as we have seen, the Inquisition never had struck +root in German soil, and now it was thoroughly discredited and useless. +Hochstraten's hands were tied; Doctor John Eck, inquisitor for Bavaria +and Franconia, was himself a Humanist, who could argue and threaten, but +could not act. + +In France the University had taken the place of the almost forgotten +Inquisition, repressing all aberrations of faith, while a centralized +monarchy had rendered--at least until the Concordat of Francis I.--the +national Church in a great degree independent of the papacy. In Germany +there was no national Church; there was subjection to Rome which was +growing unendurable for financial reasons, but there was nothing to +take the place of the Inquisition, and a latitude of speech had become +customary which was tolerated so long as the revenues of St. Peter were +not interfered with. This perhaps explains why the significance of +Luther's revolt was better appreciated at Rome than on the spot. After +he had been formally declared a heretic by the Auditor-general of the +Apostolic Chamber at the instance of the promoter fiscal, the legate, +Cardinal Caietano, wrote that he could terminate the matter himself, and +that it was rather a trifling affair to be brought before the pope. He +did not fulfil his instructions to arrest Luther and tell him that if he +would appear before the Holy See, to excuse himself, he would be treated +with undeserved clemency. After the scandal had been growing for a +twelvemonth, Leo again wrote to Caietano to summon Doctor Martin before +him, and, after diligent examination, to condemn or absolve him as might +prove requisite. It was now too late. Insubordination had spread, and +rebellion was organizing itself. Before these last instructions reached +Caietano, Luther came in answer to a previous summons, but, though he +professed himself in all things an obedient son of the Church, he +practically manifested an ominous independence, and was conveyed away +unharmed. The legate trusted to his powers as a disputant rather than to +force; and had he attempted the latter, he had no machinery at hand to +frustrate the instructions given by the Augsburg magistrates for +Luther's protection. In the paralysis of persecution the inevitable +revolution went forward.[469] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BOHEMIA. + + +There is no historical foundation for the legend that Peter Waldo's +missionary labors carried him into Bohemia, where he died, but there can +be no question that the Waldensian heresy found a foothold among the +Czechs at a comparatively early date. Bohemia formed part of the great +archiepiscopal province of Mainz, whose metropolitan could exercise but +an ineffective supervision over a district so distant. The supremacy of +Rome pressed lightly on its turbulent ecclesiastics. In the last decade +of the twelfth century a papal legate, Cardinal Pietro, sent thither to +levy a tithe for the recovery of the Holy Land, was scandalized to find +that the law of celibacy was unknown to the secular priesthood; he did +not venture to force it on those already in orders, and his efforts to +make postulants take the vow of continence provoked a tumult which +required severe measures of suppression. In a Church thus partially +independent the abuses which stimulated revolt elsewhere might perhaps +be absent, but the field for missionary labor lay open and +unguarded.[470] + +We have seen how the Inquisitor of Passau, about the middle of the +thirteenth century, describes the flourishing condition of the +Waldensian churches in Austria, along the borders of Bohemia and +Moravia, and the intense zeal of propagandism which animated their +members. Close to the west, moreover, they were to be found in the +diocese of Ratisbon. That the heresy should cross the boundary line was +inevitable, and it ran little risk of detection and persecution by a +worldly and slothful priesthood, until it gained strength enough to +declare itself openly. The alarm was first sounded by Innocent IV. in +1245, who summoned the prelates of Hungary to intervene, as those of +Bohemia apparently were not to be depended upon, and there was evidently +no inquisitorial machinery which could be employed. Innocent describes +the heresy as established so firmly and widely that it embraced not only +the simple folk, but also princes and magnates, and it was so +elaborately organized that it had a chief who was reverenced as pope. +These are all declared excommunicate, their lands confiscated for the +benefit of the first occupant, and any who shall relapse after +recantation are to be abandoned to the secular arm without a hearing, in +accordance with the canons.[471] + +We have no means of knowing whether any action was taken in consequence +of this decree, but if efforts were made they did not succeed in +eradicating the heresy. In 1257 King Premysl Otokar II. applied to +Alexander IV. for aid in its suppression, as it continued to spread, and +to this request was due the first introduction of the Inquisition in +Bohemia. Two Franciscans, Lambert the German and Bartholomew lector in +Brünn, received the papal commission as inquisitors throughout Bohemia +and Moravia. It is fair to assume that they did their duty, but no +traces of their activity have reached us, nor is there any evidence that +their places were filled when they died or retired. The Inquisition may +be considered as non-existent, and when, after a long interval, we again +hear of persecution, it is in a shape that shows that the Bishop of +Prague, like his metropolitan of Mainz, was not disposed to invite papal +encroachments on his jurisdiction. In 1301 a synod of Prague deplored +the spread of heresy and ordered every one cognizant of it to give +information to the episcopal inquisitors, from which we may infer that +heretics were active, that they had been little disturbed, and that the +elaborate legislation elsewhere in force for the detection and +punishment of heresy was virtually unknown in Bohemia.[472] + +In 1318 John of Drasic, the Bishop of Prague, was summoned to Avignon by +John XXII. to answer accusations brought against him by Frederic of +Schönberg, Canon of Wyschehrad, as a fautor of heresy. The complaint set +forth that heretics were so numerous that they had an archbishop and +seven bishops, each of whom had three hundred disciples. The description +of their faith would seem to indicate that there were both Waldenses and +Luciferans--the latter forming part of the sect which we have seen +described about this time as flourishing in Austria, where they are said +to have been introduced by missionaries from Bohemia--and that their +doctrines have been commingled. They are described as considering oaths +unlawful; confession and absolution could be administered indifferently +by layman or priest; rebaptism was allowed; the divine unity and the +resurrection of the dead were denied; Jesus had only a phantasmic body; +and Lucifer was expected finally to reign. Of course there were also the +customary accusations of sexual excesses committed in nocturnal +assemblies held in caverns, which only proves that there was sufficient +dread of persecution to prevent the congregations from meeting openly. +The good bishop, it appears, only permitted these wretches to be +arraigned by his inquisitors after repeated pressure from John of +Luxembourg, the king. Fourteen of them were convicted and handed over to +the secular arm, but the bishop interfered, to the great disgust of the +king, and forcibly released them, except a physician named Richard, who +was imprisoned; the bishop, moreover, discharged the inquisitors, who +evidently were his own officials and not papal appointees. These were +serious offences on the part of a prelate, and he expiated his lenity by +a confinement of several years in Avignon. Possibly his hostility to the +Franciscans may have rendered him an object of attack.[473] + +Papal attention being thus called to the existence of heresy in the +east of Europe, and to the inefficiency of the local machinery for its +extermination, steps were immediately taken for the introduction of the +Inquisition. In 1318 John XXII. commissioned the Dominican Peregrine of +Oppolza and the Franciscan Nicholas of Cracow as inquisitors in the +dioceses of Cracow and Breslau, while Bohemia and Poland were intrusted +to the Dominican Colda and the Franciscan Hartmann. As usual, the +secular and ecclesiastical powers were commanded to afford them +assistance whenever called upon. Poland, doubtless, was as much in need +as Bohemia of inquisitorial supervision, for John Muscata, the Bishop of +Cracow, was as negligent as his brother of Prague, and drew upon himself +in 1319 severe reprehension from John XXII. for the sloth and neglect +which had rendered heresy bold and aggressive in his diocese. This does +not seem to have accomplished much, for in 1327 John found himself +obliged to order the Dominican Provincial of Poland to appoint +inquisitors to stem the flood of heresy which was infecting the people +from regions farther west. Germany and Bohemia apparently were sending +missionaries, whose labors met with much acceptance among the people. +King Ladislas was especially asked to lend his aid to the inquisitors; +he promptly responded by ordering the governors of his cities to support +them with the civil power, and their vigorous action was rewarded with +abundant success.[474] + +Among these heretics there may have been Brethren of the Free Spirit, +but they were probably for the most part Waldenses, who at this time had +a thoroughly organized Church in Bohemia, whence emissaries were sent to +Moravia, Saxony, Silesia, and Poland. They regarded Lombardy as their +headquarters, to which they sent their youth for instruction, together +with moneys collected for the support of the parent Church. All this +could not be concealed from the vigilance of the inquisitors appointed +by John XXII. No doubt active measures of repression were carried out +with little intermission, though chance has only preserved an indication +of inquisitorial proceedings about the year 1330. Saaz and Laun are +mentioned as the cities in which heresy was most prevalent. With the +open rupture between the papacy and Louis of Bavaria its repression +became more difficult, although Bohemia under John of Luxembourg +remained faithful to the Holy See. Heretics increased in Prague and its +neighborhood; after a brief period of activity the Inquisition seems to +have disappeared; John of Drasic, whose tolerance we have seen, was +still Bishop of Prague, and fresh efforts were necessary. In 1335 +Benedict XII. accordingly appointed the Franciscan Peter Naczeracz as +inquisitor in the diocese of Olmütz and the Dominican Gall of Neuburg +for that of Prague. As usual, all prelates were commanded to lend their +aid, and King John was specially reminded that he held the temporal +sword for the purpose of subduing the enemies of the faith. His son, the +future Emperor Charles IV., at that time in charge of the kingdom, was +similarly appealed to.[475] + +In the subject province of Silesia, about the same period, a bold +heresiarch known as John of Pirna made a deep impression. He was +probably a Fraticello, as he taught that the pope was Antichrist and +Rome the Whore of Babylon and a synagogue of Satan. In Breslau the +magistrates and people espoused his doctrines, which were openly +preached in the streets. Breslau was ecclesiastically subject to Poland, +and in 1341 John of Schweidnitz was commissioned from Cracow as +inquisitor to suppress the growing heresy. The people, however, arose, +drove out their bishop and slew the inquisitor, for which they were +subsequently subjected to humiliating penance, and John of Pirna's bones +were exhumed and burned. The unsatisfied vengeance of Heaven added to +their punishment by a conflagration which destroyed nearly the whole +city, during which a pious woman saw an angel with a drawn sword casting +fiery coals among the houses.[476] + +Bohemia and its subject provinces were thus thoroughly infected with +heresy, mostly Waldensian, when several changes took place which +increased the prominence of the kingdom and stimulated vastly its +intellectual activity. In 1344 Prague was separated from its far-off +metropolis of Mainz and was erected into an archbishopric, for which the +piety of Charles, then Margrave of Bohemia, provided a zealous and +enlightened prelate in the person of Arnest of Pardubitz. Two years +later, in 1346, Charles was elected King of the Romans by the Electors +of Trèves and Cologne in opposition to Louis of Bavaria, as the +supporter of the papacy; and a month later he succeeded to the throne of +Bohemia through the knightly death of the blind King John at Crécy. +Still more influential and far-reaching in its results was the founding +in 1347 of the University of Prague, to which the combined favor of pope +and emperor gave immediate lustre. Archbishop Arnest assumed its +chancellorship, learned schoolmen filled its chairs; students flocked to +it from every quarter, and it soon rivalled in numbers and reputation +its elder sisters of Oxford, Paris, and Bologna.[477] + +During the latter half of the century, Bohemia, under these auspices, +was one of the most flourishing kingdoms of Europe. Its mines of the +precious metals gave it wealth; the freedom enjoyed by its peasantry +raised them mentally and morally above the level of the serfs of other +lands; culture and enlightenment were diffused from its university. It +was renowned throughout the Continent for the splendor of its churches, +which in size and number were nowhere exceeded. At the monastery of +Königsaal, where the Bohemian kings lay buried, around the walls of the +garden the whole of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelations, was +engraved, with letters enlarging in size with their distance from the +ground, so that all could be easily read. In the bitter struggles of +after generations the reign of King Charles was fondly looked back upon +as the golden age of Bohemia. Wealth and culture, however, were +accompanied with corruption. Nowhere were the clergy more worldly and +depraved. Concubinage was well-nigh universal, and simony pervaded the +Church in all its ranks, the sacraments were sold and penitence +compounded for. All the abuses for which clerical immunity furnished +opportunity nourished, and the land was overrun by vagrants whose +tonsure gave them charter to rob and brawl, and dice and drink. The +influences from above which moulded the Bohemian Church may be estimated +from a single instance. In 1344 Clement VI. wrote to Arnest, then simple +Bishop of Prague, calling attention to the numerous cases in his +diocese wherein preferment had been procured for minors either by force +or simony. The horror which the good pope expresses at this abuse is +significantly illustrated by his having not long before issued +dispensations to five members of one family in France, aged respectively +seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven years, to hold canonries and other +benefices. Apparently the Bohemians had not taken the proper means to +obtain the sanction of the curia for such infraction of the canons, so +Clement ordered Arnest to dispossess the incumbents in all such cases, +and to impose due penance on them. But he was also instructed, in +conjunction with the papal collector, to force them to compound with the +papal camera for all the revenues which they had thus illegally +received, and after they had undergone this squeezing process he was +authorized to reinstate them.[478] + +Such unblushing exhibitions of rapacious simony did not tend either to +the purity of the Bohemian Church, or to enhance its respect for the +Holy See, especially as the frequently recurring papal exactions +strained to the last degree the relations between the papacy and the +German churches. When, in 1354, Innocent VI., to carry on his Italian +wars, suddenly demanded a tenth of all the ecclesiastical revenues of +the empire, it threw, for several years, the whole German Church into an +uproar of rage and indignation. Some prelates refused to pay, and, when +legal proceedings were commenced against them, formulated appeals which +were contemptuously rejected as frivolous. The Bishops of Camin and +Brandenburg were only compelled to yield by the direct threat of +excommunication. Others pleaded poverty, and were mockingly reminded of +the large sums which they had succeeded in exacting from their miserable +subjects; others made the best bargain they could, and compounded for +yearly payments; others banded together and formed associations mutually +pledged to resist to the last. Frederic, Bishop of Ratisbon, took the +audacious step of seizing the papal collector and conveying him away to +a convenient castle. An ambush was laid for the Bishop of Cavaillon, the +papal nuncio charged with the business, and his life, and that of his +assistant, Henry, Archdeacon of Liége, were only saved by the active +interposition of William, Archbishop of Cologne. When, in 1372, the levy +was repeated by Gregory XI., the same spirit of resistance was aroused. +The clergy of Mainz bound themselves to each other in a solemn +engagement not to pay it, and Frederic, Archbishop of Cologne, promised +his clergy to give them all the assistance he safely could in their +refusal to submit. Trifling incidents such as these afford us a valuable +insight into the complex relations between the Holy See and the churches +of Christendom. On the one hand, there was the superstitious awe +generated by five centuries of unquestioned domination as the +representative of Christ, and there was, moreover, the dread of the +material consequences of unsuccessful revolt. On the other, there was +the indignation born of lawless oppression ever exciting to rebellion, +and the clear-sighted recognition of the venality and corruption which +rendered the Roman curia a source of contagion for all Europe. There was +ample inflammable material, which the increasing friction might at any +moment kindle into flame.[479] + +Bohemia was peculiarly dangerous soil, for it was thoroughly +interpenetrated with the leaven of heresy. We hear nothing of papal +inquisitors after those commissioned by Benedict XII. in 1335, and it is +presumable that for a while the heretics had peace. Archbishop Arnest, +however, soon after his accession, set resolutely to work to purify the +morals of his Church and to uproot heresy. He held synods frequently, he +instituted a body of Correctors whose duty it was to visit all portions +of the province and punish all transgressions, and he organized an +episcopal Inquisition for the purpose of tracking out and suppressing +heresy. In the fragmentary remains of his synodal acts, the frequency +and earnestness with which this latter duty is insisted upon serve as a +measure of its importance, and of the numbers of those who had forsaken +the Church. In the earliest synod whose proceedings have reached us the +first place is given to this subject; the archdeacons were directed to +make diligent perquisition in their respective districts, both +personally and through the deans and parish priests, without exciting +suspicion, and all who were found guilty or suspect of heresy were to be +forthwith denounced to the archbishop or the inquisitor. Similar +instructions were issued in 1355; and after Arnest's death, in 1364, his +successor, John Ocko, was equally vigilant, as appears from the acts of +his synods in 1366 and 1371. The neighborhood of Pisek was especially +contaminated, and from the acts of the Consistory of 1381 it appears +that a priest named Johl, of Pisek, could not be ordained because both +his father and grandfather had been heretics. What was this heresy that +thus descended from generation to generation is not stated, but it was +doubtless Waldensian. In this same year Archbishop John, as papal legate +for his own province and for the dioceses of Ratisbon, Bamberg, and +Misnia, held a council at Prague, in which he mournfully described the +spread of the Waldenses and Sarabites--the latter probably Beghards. He +sharply reproved the bishops who, through sloth or parsimony, had not +appointed inquisitors, and threatened that if they did not do so +forthwith, he would do it himself. When, ten years later, the Church +took the alarm and acted vigorously, the Waldenses of Brandenburg, who +were prosecuted, declared that their teachers came from Bohemia.[480] + +In all this activity for the suppression of heresy it is worthy of note +that the episcopal Inquisition alone is referred to. In fact there was +no papal Inquisition in Bohemia. The bull of Gregory XI., in 1372, +ordering the appointment of five inquisitors for Germany, confines their +jurisdiction to the provinces of Cologne, Mainz, Utrecht, Magdeburg, +Salzburg, and Bremen, and pointedly omits that of Prague, although the +zeal of Charles IV. might have been expected to secure the blessings of +the institution for his hereditary realm.[481] This is the more curious, +moreover, since the intellectual movement started by the University of +Prague was producing a number of men distinguished not only for learning +and piety, but for their bold attacks on the corruptions of the Church, +and their questioning of some of its most profitable dogmas. The +appearance of these precursors of Huss is one of the most remarkable +indications of the tendencies of the age in Bohemia, and shows how the +Waldensian spirit of revolt had unconsciously spread among the +population. + +Conrad of Waldhausen, who died in 1369, is reckoned the earliest of +these. He maintained strict orthodoxy, but his denunciation in his +sermons of the vices of the clergy, and especially of the Mendicants, +created a deep sensation. More prominent in every way was Milicz of +Kremsier, who, in 1363, resigned the office of private secretary to the +emperor, the function of Corrector intrusted to him by Archbishop +Arnest, and several rich preferments, in order to devote himself +exclusively to preaching. His sermons in Czech, German, and Latin were +filled with audacious attacks on the sins and crimes of clergy and +laity, and the evils of the time led him to prophesy the advent of +Antichrist between 1365 and 1367. In the latter year he went to Rome in +order to lay before Urban V. his views on the present and future of the +Church. While awaiting Urban's advent from Avignon, he affixed on the +portal of St. Peter's an announcement of a sermon on the subject, which +led the Inquisition to throw him into prison, but in October, on the +arrival of the pope, he was released and treated with distinction. On +his return to Prague he preached with greater violence than ever. To get +rid of him the priesthood accused him to the emperor and archbishop, but +in vain. Then they formulated twelve articles of accusation against him +to the pope, and obtained, in January, 1374, from Gregory XI., bulls +denouncing him as a persistent heresiarch who had filled all Bohemia, +Poland, Silesia, and the neighboring lands with his errors. According to +them, he taught not only that Antichrist had come, that the Church was +extinct, that pope, cardinals, bishops and prelates showed no light of +truth, but he permitted to his followers the unlimited gratification of +their passions. Milicz undauntedly pursued his course until an +inquisitorial prosecution was commenced against him, when he appealed to +the pope. In Lent, 1374, he went to Avignon, where he readily proved +his innocence, and on May 21 was admitted to preach before the +cardinals, but he died June 29, before the formal decision of his case +was published. It is highly probable that he was a Joachite--one of +those who, as we shall see hereafter, reverenced the memory and believed +in the apocalyptic prophecies of the Abbot Joachim of Flora.[482] + +The spirit of indignation and disquiet did not confine itself to +denunciations of clerical abuses. Men were growing bolder, and began to +question some of the cherished dogmas which gave rise to those abuses. +In the synod of 1384 one of the subjects discussed was whether the +saints were cognizant of the prayers addressed to them, and whether the +worshipper was benefited by their suffrages--the mere raising of such a +question showing how dangerously bold had become the spirit of inquiry. +The man who most fitly represented this tendency was Mathias of Janow, +whom the Archbishop John of Jenzenstein utilized in his efforts to +reform the incurable disorders of the clergy. Mathias was led to trace +the troubles to their causes, and to teach heresies from the +consequences of which even the protection of the archbishop could not +wholly defend him. In the synod of 1389 he was forced to make public +recantation of his errors in holding that the images of Christ and the +saints gave rise to idolatry, and that they ought to be banished from +the churches and burned; that relics were of no service, and the +intercession of saints was useless; while his teaching that every one +should be urged to take communion daily foreshadowed the eucharistic +troubles which play so large a part in the Hussite excitement. Yet he +was allowed to escape with six months' suspension from preaching and +hearing confessions outside of his own parochial church, a mistaken +lenity which he repaid by continuing to teach the same errors more +audaciously than ever, and even urging that the laity be admitted to +communion in both elements. Mathias was not alone in his heterodoxy, for +in the same synod of 1389 a priest named Andreas was obliged to revoke +the same heresy respecting images, and another named Jacob was suspended +from preaching for ten years for a still more offensive expression of +similar beliefs, with the addition that suffrages for the dead were +useless, that the Virgin could not help her devotees, and that the +archbishop had erred in granting an indulgence to those who adored her +image, and that the utterances of the holy doctors of the Church are not +to be received.[483] + +Other earnest men who prepared the way for what was to follow were Henry +of Oyta, Thomas of Stitny, John of Stekno, and Matthew of Cracow. Step +by step the progress of free thought advanced, and when, in 1393, a +papal indulgence was preached in Prague, Wenceslas Rohle, pastor of St. +Martin's in the Altstadt, ventured to denounce it as a fraud, though +only under his breath, for fear of the Pharisees. All this, it is +evident, could only be favorable to the growth of Waldensianism, as is +seen in the activity of the sectaries. It was missionaries from Bohemia +who founded the communities in Brandenburg and Pomerania; and, as we +have seen, a well-informed writer, in 1395, asserts that they were +numbered by thousands in Thuringia, Misnia, Bohemia, Moravia, Austria, +and Hungary, notwithstanding that a thousand of them had been converted +within two years in the districts extending from Thuringia to +Moravia.[484] + +While Bohemia was thus the scene of an agitation the outcome of which no +man could foretell, a similar movement was running a still more rapid +course in England, which was destined to exercise a decisive influence +on the result. The assaults of John Wickliff were the most serious +danger encountered by the hierarchy since the Hildebrandine theocracy +had been established. For the first time a trained scholastic intellect +of remarkable force and clearness, informed with all the philosophy and +theology of the schools, was led to question the domination which the +Church had acquired over the life, here and hereafter, of its members. +It was not the poor peasant or artisan who found the Scriptures in +contradiction to the teaching of the pulpit and the confessional, and +with the practical examples set by the sacerdotal class; but it was a +man who stood in learning and argumentative power on a level with the +foremost schoolmen of the Middle Ages; who could quote not only Christ +and the apostles, but the fathers and doctors of the Church, the +decretals and the canons, Aristotle and his commentators; who could +weave all these into the dialectics so dear to students and masters of +theology, and who could frame a system of philosophy suited to the +intellectual wants of the age. It is true that William of Ockham had +been bold in his attacks on the overgrown papal system, but he was a +partisan of Louis of Bavaria, and, with Marsiglio of Padua, his aim had +merely been to set the State above the Church. With the subjection of +the empire to the papacy the works of both had perished and their labors +had been forgotten. The infidelity of the Averrhoists had never taken +root among the people, and had been wisely treated by the Church with +the leniency of contempt. It was the secret of Wickliff's influence that +he had worked out his conclusions in single-hearted efforts to search +for truth; his views developed gradually as he was led from one point to +another; he spared neither prince nor prelate; he labored to instruct +the poor more zealously perhaps than to influence the great, and men of +all ranks, from the peasant to the schoolman, recognized in him a leader +who sought to make them better, stronger, more valiant in the struggle +with Apollyon. It is no wonder that his work proved not merely +ephemeral; that his fame as a heresiarch filled all the schools and +became everywhere synonymous with rebellion against the sacerdotal +system; that simple Waldenses in Spain and Germany became thereafter +known as Wickliffites. Yet the endurance of his teachings was due to his +Bohemian disciples; at home, after a brief period of rapid development, +they were virtually crushed out by the combined power of Church and +State. + +As the heresy of Huss was in nearly all details copied from his master, +Wickliff, it is necessary, in order to understand the nature of the +Hussite movement, to cast a brief glance at the views of the English +reformer. About four years after his death, in 1388 and 1389, +twenty-five articles of accusation were brought against his followers, +whose reply gives, in the most vigorous English, a summary of his +tenets. Few documents of the period are more interesting as a picture of +the worldliness and corruption of the Church, and of the wrathful +indignation aroused by the hideous contrast between the teaching of +Christ and the lives of those who claimed to represent him. It is +observable that the only purely speculative error admitted is that +concerning the Eucharist; all the others relate to the doctrines which +gave to the Church control over the souls and purses of the faithful, or +to the abuses arising from the worldly and sensual character of the +clergy. It was an essentially practical reform, inspired for the most +part with rare common-sense and with wonderfully little exaggeration, +considering the magnitude of the evils which pressed so heavily upon +Christendom. + +The document in question shows the Wickliffite belief to be that the +popes of the period were Antichrist; all the hierarchy, from the pope +down, were accursed by reason of their greed, their simony, their +cruelty, their lust of power, and their evil lives. Unless they give +satisfaction "thai schul be depper dampned then Judas Scarioth." The +pope was not to be obeyed, his decretals were naught, and his +excommunication and that of his bishops were to be disregarded. The +indulgences so freely proffered in return for money or for the services +of crusaders in slaying Christians were false and fraudulent. Yet the +power of the keys in pious hands was not denied--"Certes, as holy +prestis of lyvynge and cunnynge of holy writte han keyes of heven and +bene vicaris of Jesus Crist, so viciouse prestis, unkonnynge of holy +writte, ful of pride and covetise, han keyes of helle and bene vicaris +of Sathanas." Though auricular confession might be useful, it was not +necessary, for men should trust in Christ. Image-worship was unlawful, +and representations of the Trinity were forbidden--"Hit semes that this +offrynge ymages is a sotile cast of Antichriste and his clerkis for to +drawe almes fro pore men.... Certis, these ymages of hemselfe may do +nouther gode nor yvel to mennis soules, but thai myghtten warme a man's +body in colde if thai were sette upon a fire." The invocation of saints +was useless; the best of them could do nothing but what God ordained, +and many of those customarily invoked were in hell, for in modern times +sinners stood a better chance of canonization than holy men. It was the +same with their feast-days; those of the apostles and early saints might +be observed, but not the rest. Song was not to be used in divine +service, and prayer was as efficient anywhere as in church, for the +churches were not holy--"all suche chirches bene gretely poluted and +cursud of God, nomely for sellynge of leccherie and fals swering upon +bokus. Sithen tho chirches bene dunnus of thefis and habitacionis of +fendis." Ecclesiastics must not live in luxury and pomp, but as poor +men "gyvynge ensaumple of holynes by ther conversacion." The Church +must be deprived of all its temporalities, and whatever was necessary +for the support of its members must be held in common. Tithes and +offerings were not to be given to sinful priests; it was simony for a +priest to receive payment for his spiritual ministrations, though he +might sell his labor in honest vocations, such as teaching and the +binding of books, and though no one was forbidden to make an oblation at +mass, provided he did not seek to obtain more than his share in the +sacrifice. All parish priests and vicars who did not perform their +functions were to be removed, and especially all who were non-resident. +All priests and deacons, moreover, were to preach zealously, for which +no special license or commission was required. + +All these tenets of which they were accused the Wickliffites admitted +and defended in the most incisive fashion, but there were two articles +which they denied. Wickliff's teaching so closely resembled that of the +Waldenses that it was natural that the orthodox should attribute to him +the two Waldensian errors which regarded all oaths as unlawful, and held +that priests in mortal sin could not administer the sacraments. To the +former, his followers replied that, though they rejected all unnecessary +swearing, they admitted that "If hit be nedeful for to swere for a +spedful treuthe men mowe wele swere as God did in the olde lawe." As to +the latter, they said that the sinful priest can give sacraments +efficient to those who worthily receive them, though he receive +damnation unto himself. The prominence of the Fraticelli also suggested +the imputation that the Wickliffites believed the entire renunciation of +property to be essential to salvation; but this they denied, saying that +a man might make lawful gains and hold them, but that he must use them +well.[485] + +All these antisacerdotal teachings flowed directly from the +resoluteness with which Wickliff carried out to its logical conclusion +the Augustinian doctrine of predestination, thus necessarily striking at +the root of all human mediation, the suffrages of the saints, +justification by works, and all the machinery of the Church for the +purchase and sale of salvation. In this, as in the rest, Huss followed +him, though the distinction between his principles and the orthodox ones +of the Thomists and other schoolmen was too subtle to render this point +one which the Church could easily condemn.[486] + +The one serious speculative error of Wickliff lay in his effort to +reconcile the mystery of the Eucharist with the stubborn fact that after +consecration the bread remained bread and the wine continued to be wine. +He did not deny conversion into the body and blood of Christ; they were +really present in the sacrifice, but his reason refused to acknowledge +transubstantiation, and he invented a theory of the remanence of the +substance coexisting with the divine elements. Into these dangerous +subtleties Huss refused to follow his master. It was the one point on +which he declined to accept the reasoning of the Englishman, and yet, as +we shall see, it served as a principal excuse for hurrying him to the +stake. + +Wickliff's career as a heresiarch was unexampled, and its peculiarities +serve to explain much that would otherwise be incomprehensible in the +growth and tolerance of his doctrines in Bohemia, and in the simplicity +with which Huss refused to believe that he could himself be regarded as +a heretic. Although, as early as 1377, the assistance which Wickliff +rendered to Edward III. in diminishing the papal revenues moved Gregory +XI. to command his immediate prosecution as a heretic, yet the political +situation was such as to render ineffectual all efforts to carry out +these instructions; he was never even excommunicated, and was allowed to +die peacefully in his rectory of Lutterworth on the last day of the year +1384. No further action was taken by Rome until the question of his +heresy was raised in Prague. Although, in 1409, Alexander V. ordered +Archbishop Zbinco not to permit his errors to be taught or his books to +be read, yet when, in 1410, John XXIII. referred his writings to a +commission of four cardinals, who convoked an assembly of theologians +for their examination, a majority decided that Archbishop Zbinko had not +been justified in burning them. It was not until the Council of Rome, in +1413, that there was a formal and authoritative condemnation pronounced, +and it was left for the Council of Constance, in 1415, to proclaim +Wickliff as a heresiarch, to order his bones exhumed, and to define his +errors with the authority of the Church Universal. Huss might well, to +the last, believe in the authenticity of the spurious letters of the +University of Oxford, brought to Prague about 1403, in which Wickliff +was declared perfectly orthodox, and might conscientiously assert that +his books continued to be read and taught there.[487] + +The marriage of Anne of Luxembourg, sister of Wenceslas of Bohemia, to +Richard II., in 1382, led to considerable intercourse between the +kingdoms until her death, in 1394. Many Bohemians visited England during +the excitement caused by Wickliff's controversies, and his writings were +carried to Prague, where they found great acceptance. Huss tells us that +about 1390 they commenced to be read in the University of Prague, and +that they continued thenceforth to be studied. No orthodox Bohemian had +hitherto ventured as far as the daring Englishman, but there were many +who had entered on the same path, to say nothing of the secret +Waldensian heretics, and the general feeling excited throughout Germany +by the reckless simony and sale of indulgences which marked the later +years of Boniface IX. Thus the movement which had been in progress since +the middle of the century received a fresh impulsion from the +circumstances under which the works of Wickliff were perused and +scattered abroad in innumerable copies. All of his treatises were +eagerly sought for. A MS. in the Hofbliothek of Vienna gives a catalogue +of ninety of them which were known in Bohemia, and it is to those +regions that we must look for the remains of his voluminous labors, the +greater part of which were successfully suppressed at home. In time he +came to be reverenced as the fifth Evangelist, and a fragment of stone +from his tomb was venerated at Prague as a relic. Still more suggestive +of his commanding influence is the fidelity with which Huss followed his +reasoning, and oftentimes the arrangement, and even the words, of his +treatises.[488] + +John of Husinec, commonly known as Huss, who became the leading exponent +and protomartyr of Wickliffitism in Bohemia, is supposed to have been +born in 1369, of parents whose poverty forced him to earn his own +livelihood. In 1393 he obtained the degree of bachelor of arts; in 1394 +that of bachelor of theology; in 1396 that of master of arts; but the +doctorate he never attained, though in 1398 he was already lecturing in +the university; in 1401 he was dean of the philosophical faculty, and +rector in 1402. Curiously enough, he embraced the Realist philosophy, +and won great applause in his combats with the Nominalists. So little +promise did his early years give of his career as a reformer that, in +1392, he spent his last four groschen for an indulgence, when he had +only dry crusts for food. In 1400 he was ordained as priest, and two +years later he was appointed preacher to the Bethlehem chapel, where his +earnest eloquence soon rendered him the spiritual leader of the people. +The study of Wickliff's writings, begun shortly after this, quickened +his appreciation of the evils of a corrupted Church, and when Archbishop +Zbinco of Hasenburg, shortly after his consecration in 1403, appointed +him as preacher to the annual synods, Huss improved the opportunity to +address to the assembled clergy a series of terrible invectives against +their worldliness and filthiness of living, which excited general +popular hatred and contempt for them. After one of peculiar vigor, in +October, 1407, the clamor among the ecclesiastics grew so strong that +they presented a formal complaint against him to Archbishop Zbinco, and +he was deprived of the position. By this time he was recognized as the +leader in the effort to purify the Church, and to reduce it to its +ancient simplicity, with such men as Stephen Palecz, Stanislas of Znaim, +John of Jessinetz, Jerome of Prague, and many others eminent for +learning and piety as his collaborators. To some of these he was +inferior in intellectual gifts, but his fearless temper, his unbending +rectitude, his blameless life, and his kindly nature won for him the +affectionate veneration of the people and rendered him its idol.[489] + +Discussion grew hot and passions became embittered. Old jealousies and +hatreds between the Teutonic and Czech races contributed to render the +religious quarrel unappeasable. The vices and oppression of the clergy +had alienated from them popular respect, and the fiery diatribes of the +Bethlehem chapel were listened to eagerly, while the Wickliffite +doctrines, which taught the baselessness of the whole sacerdotal system, +were welcomed as a revelation, and spread rapidly through all classes. +King Wenceslas was inclined to give them such support as his indolence +and self-indulgence would permit, and his queen, Sophia, was even more +favorably disposed. Yet the clergy and their friends could not submit +quietly to the spoliation of their privileges and wealth, although the +Great Schism, in weakening the influence of the Roman curia, rendered +its support less efficient. Preachers who assailed their vices were +thrown into prison as heretics and were exiled, and the writings of +Wickliff, which formed the key of the position, were fiercely assaulted +and desperately defended. The weak point in them was the substitution of +remanence for transubstantiation; and although this was discarded by +Huss and his followers, it served as an unguarded point through which +the whole position might be carried. The synod of 1405 asserted the +doctrine of transubstantiation in its most absolute shape; any one +teaching otherwise was pronounced a heretic, and was ordered to be +reported to the archbishop for punishment. In 1406 this was repeated in +a still more threatening form, showing that the Wickliffite views had +obstinate defenders; as, indeed, is to be seen by a tract of Thomas of +Stitny, written in 1400. Already, in 1403, a series of forty-five +articles extracted from Wickliff's works was formally condemned by the +university. Around these the battle raged with fury; the condemnation +was repeated in 1408, and in 1410 Archbishop Zbinco solemnly burned in +the courtyard of his palace two hundred of the forbidden books, while +the populace revenged itself by singing through the streets rude rhymes, +in which the prelate is said to have burned books which he could not +read; for his ignorance was notorious, and he was reported to have first +acquired the alphabet after his elevation.[490] + +In the strife between rival popes it suited the policy of King +Wenceslas, in 1408, to maintain neutrality, and he induced the +university to send envoys to the cardinals who had renounced allegiance +to both Benedict XIII. and Gregory XII. In this mission were included +Stephen Palecz and Stanislas of Znaim, but the whole party fell, in +Bologna, into the hands of Balthasar Cossa, the papal legate (afterwards +John XXIII.), who threw them all in prison as suspect of heresy, and it +required no little effort to secure their release. This adventure cooled +the zeal of Stephen and Stanislas; they gradually changed sides, and +from the warmest friends of Huss they became, as we shall see, his most +dangerous and implacable enemies.[491] + +In this affair the university had not seconded the wishes of the king +with the alacrity which he had expected, and Huss took advantage of the +royal displeasure to effect a revolution in that institution, which had +hitherto proved the chief obstacle in the progress of reform. It was +divided, in the ordinary manner, into four "nations." As each of these +nations had a vote, the Bohemians constantly found themselves +outnumbered by the foreigners. It was now proposed to adopt the +constitution of the University of Paris, where the French nation had +three votes, and all the foreign nations collectively but one. The +vacillation of Wenceslas delayed decision, but in January, 1409, he +signed the decree which ordered the change. The German students and +professors bound themselves by a vow to procure the revocation of the +decree or to leave the university. Failing in the former alternative, +they abandoned the city in vast numbers, founding the University of +Leipsic, and spreading throughout Europe the report that Bohemia was a +nest of heretics. The dyke was broken down, and the flood of +Wickliffitism poured over the land with little to check its progress. In +vain did Alexander V. and John XXIII. command Archbishop Zbinco to +suppress the heresy, and in vain did the struggling prelate hold +assemblies and issue comminatory decrees. The tide bore all before it, +and Zbinco at last, in 1411, abandoned his ungrateful see to appeal to +Wenceslas's brother Sigismund, then recently elected King of the Romans, +but died on the journey.[492] + +This removed the last obstacle. The new archbishop, Albik of Unicow, +previously physician to Wenceslas, was old and weak, and more given to +accumulating money than to defending the faith. He was said to carry the +key of his wine-cellar himself, to have only a wretched old crone for a +cook, and to sell habitually all presents made to him. Thoroughly +unfitted for the crisis, he resigned in 1413, and was succeeded by +Conrad of Vechta, who, after some hesitation, cast his lot with the +followers of Huss. Yet, during these troubles, the papal Inquisition +seems to have been established in Prague, and, strangely enough, to have +seen nothing in the Hussite movement to call for its interference, +though it could act against Waldenses and other recognized heretics. +When, in 1408, the king ordered Archbishop Zbinco to make a thorough +perquisition after heresy, Nicholas of Vilemonic, known as Abraham, +priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Prague, was tried before the +inquisitors Moritz and Jaroslav for Waldensianism, and was thrown into +prison for asserting that he could preach under authority from Christ +without that of the archbishop. Huss interposed in his favor, but his +liberation was postponed through his refusal to repeat, on the Gospels, +an oath which he had already sworn by God. One of the accusations +brought against Huss at Constance was the favor which he showed to +Waldensian and other heretics; and yet, when he was about to depart on +his fateful journey to Constance, the papal inquisitor Nicholas, Bishop +of Nazareth, gave him a formal certificate, attested by a notarial act, +to the effect that he had long known him intimately, and had never heard +an heretical expression from him, and that no one had ever accused him +of heresy before the tribunal. The Hussite and Waldensian movements were +too nearly akin for Huss not to sympathize with the acknowledged +heretics, and in the virtual spiritual anarchy of these tumultuous years +Waldensian influence must have made itself more and more felt, and the +sectaries must have been emboldened to show themselves ever more +openly.[493] + +Everything thus conspired to accelerate the progress of the revolution. +Huss, who had hitherto, for the most part, confined himself to assaults +upon the local ecclesiastical establishment, began to direct his attacks +at the papacy itself, and in the writings of Wickliff he found ample +store of arguments, which he used with great effect. He also made use of +another of Wickliff's methods by the employment of itinerant priests. +This was peculiarly well adapted to accomplish the object in view, for +the Bohemians were given to listening to sermons, and the unlicensed +preaching for which the negligence of the established clergy gave +opportunity had been a frequent source of complaint since the year 1371. +The repetition of the prohibitions shows their ineffectiveness; the +popular craving for spiritual instruction, which the Church could have +turned to such good account, was abandoned to the agitators; the people +flocked in crowds to hear them, in spite of priestly anathemas, and the +great mass of the nation, from nobles to peasants, eagerly adopted the +new doctrines, and were prepared to support them to the death.[494] + +Matters were rapidly tending to an open rupture with Rome. In 1410 John +XXIII., soon after his accession, referred to Cardinal Otto Colonna the +complaints which came to Rome against Huss. On September 20 Colonna +summoned him to appear in person. He sent deputies, who appealed from +the cardinal to the pope, but they were thrown into prison and severely +handled; and while the appeal was pending, in February, 1411, Colonna +excommunicated him. On March 15 the excommunication was published in all +the churches of Prague save two; the people stood by Huss, and an +interdict was extended over the city, which was generally disregarded, +and Huss continued to preach. While affairs were in this threatening +position a new cause of trouble led to an explosion. Just as Wickliff +had been stirred to fresh hostility against the papacy by the crusade +which, under orders from Urban VI., the Bishop of Norwich had preached +against France for its support of the rival pope Clement VII.; just as +Luther was to be aroused from his obscurity by the indulgence-selling of +Tetzel when Leo X. wanted money, so the Bohemians were stimulated to +active opposition when John XXIII., towards the close of 1411, +proclaimed a crusade with Holy Land indulgences against Ladislas of +Naples, who upheld the claims of Gregory XII. Stephen Palecz, till then +associated with Huss, was dean of the theological faculty. His +experience of the Bolognese prison rendered him timorous about +withstanding John XXIII., and he declared that there was no authority to +prevent the publication of the indulgence. Huss was bolder, and a +controversy arose between them which converted their former friendship +into an enmity destined to bear bitter fruits. June 16, 1412, he held in +the Carolinum a disputation which was a very powerful and eloquent +attack upon the power of the keys, which lay at the foundation of the +whole papal system. Absolution was dependent on the subjective condition +of the penitent; as many popes who concede indulgences are damned, how +can they defend their pardons before God? the sellers of indulgences are +thieves, who take by cunning lies that which they cannot seize by +violence; the pope and the whole Church Militant often err, and an +unjust papal excommunication is to be disregarded. This was followed by +other tracts and sermons which aroused popular enthusiasm to a lofty +pitch. Wenceslas Tiem, the Dean of Passau, to whom the preaching of the +crusade in Bohemia was confided, farmed out the indulgences to the +highest bidders, and their sale to the people was accompanied by the +usual scandals, which were well calculated to excite indignation.[495] + +A few days after the disputation a crowd led by Wok of Waldstein, a +favorite of King Wenceslas, carried the papal bulls of indulgence to the +pillory and publicly burned them. The well-known legend attributes to +Jerome of Prague a leading part in this, and relates that the bulls were +strung around the neck of a strumpet mounted on a cart, who solicited +the favor of the mob with lascivious gestures. No punishment was +inflicted on the participants, and Wok of Waldstein continued to enjoy +the royal favor. The defiance of the pope was complete, and the temper +of the people was shown on July 12, when in three several churches three +young mechanics named Martin, John, and Stanislas, interrupted the +preachers proclaiming the indulgences, and declared them to be a lie. +They were arrested and beheaded in spite of Huss's intercession; many +others were imprisoned, and some were exposed to torture. Then the +people assumed a threatening aspect; the three who had been executed +were reverenced as martyrs; tumults occurred, and the prisoners were +released. Soon afterwards a Carmelite was begging at the doors of his +church with an array of relics displayed upon a table, with the +indulgences attached to them to excite the liberality of the pious. A +disciple of Huss denounced the affair as a fraud and kicked over the +table, and when he was seized by the friars a band of armed men broke +into the house and released him, not without bloodshed.[496] + +John XXIII. could not avoid taking up the gage of battle thus thrown +down. The Bohemian clergy appealed to him piteously, representing the +oppression to which they were subjected, and stating that many of them +had been slain. He promptly responded. The major excommunication, to be +published in all its awful solemnity in Prague, was pronounced against +Huss; the Bethlehem chapel was ordered to be levelled with the earth; +his followers were excommunicated, and all who would not within thirty +days abjure heresy were summoned to answer in person before the Roman +curia. In spite of this Huss continued to preach, and when an attempt +was made to arrest him in the pulpit the threatening aspect of the +congregation prevented its execution. He appealed to a general council, +and then to God, in a protest which, in lofty terms, asserted the +nullity of the sentence pronounced against him. In his treatise "De +Ecclesia," which followed not long after, he attacked the papacy in +unmeasured language borrowed from Wickliff. The pope is not a pope and a +true successor of Peter unless he imitates Peter; a pope given to +avarice is the vicar of Judas Iscariot. So of the cardinals; if they +enter save by the door of Christ they are thieves and robbers. Yet the +clergy, for the most part gladly, obeyed the bull of excommunication, +and Huss's presence in Prague led to a cessation of all church +observances; divine service was suspended, the new-born were not +baptized, and the dead lay unburied. At the request of the king, to +relieve the situation of its tension, Huss left Prague and retired to +Kosi hradek, whence he directed the movements of his adherents in the +city and busied himself in active controversial writing, the chief +product of which was the "De Ecclesia," which was publicly read in the +Bethlehem chapel on July 8, 1413.[497] + +King Wenceslas had vainly tried to bring about a pacification of the +troubles in which passions were daily growing wilder, complicated by the +race hatred between Teuton and Czech. A confused series of disputations +and conferences and controversial tracts occupied the first half of the +year 1413, which only embittered those who took part in them and +rendered harmony more distant than ever. In fact there was no possible +middle term, no compromise in which the disputants could unite. It was +no longer a question of reforming the morals of the clergy, as to the +necessity of which all were agreed. The controversy had drifted to the +causes of clerical corruption, springing, as Wickliff and Huss and their +disciples clearly saw, from the very principles on which the whole +structure of Latin Christianity was based. Either the power of the keys +was a truth vital to the salvation of mankind, or it was a lie cunningly +invented and boldly utilized to gratify the lust of power and the greed +of avarice. Between these two antagonistic postulates dialectic subtlety +was powerless to frame a project of reconciliation, and argument only +hardened each side in its belief. One or the other must triumph utterly, +and force alone could decide the controversy. Wearied at last with his +unavailing efforts, Wenceslas finally cut the matter short by banishing +the leaders of the conservatives, Stephen Palecz, Stanislas of Znaim, +Peter of Znaim, and John Elias. Stanislas retired to Moravia, where, +after incredible industry in controversial writing, he died on the road +to the Council of Constance; Stephen survived him and revenged them +both.[498] + +Huss and his adherents were now masters of the field; and though he +abstained from returning to Prague, except an occasional visit +incognito, until his departure for Constance, he could truly say, when +he stood up in the council to meet his accusers, "I came hither of my +own free will. Had I refused to come neither the king nor the emperor +could have forced me, so numerous are the Bohemian lords who love me and +who would have afforded me protection." And when the Cardinal Peter +d'Ailly indignantly exclaimed, "See the impudence of the man," and a +murmur ran around the whole assembly, John of Chlum calmly arose and +said, "He speaks the truth, for though I have little power compared +with others in Bohemia, I could easily defend him for a year against the +whole strength of both monarchs. Judge, then, how much more could they +whose forces are greater and whose castles are stronger than +mine."[499] + + * * * * * + +While thus in Bohemia the upholders of the old order of things were +silenced and reformation in the morals of the clergy was enforced with +no gentle hand, the news spread around Christendom that the long-desired +general council was to be convoked at last for the settlement of the +Great Schism, the reformation of the Church from its head downwards, and +the suppression of heresy. Many strivings had there been to effect +this, but the policy of the Italian popes, as at Pisa, had thus far +successfully eluded the dreaded decision. The pressure grew, however, +until it became overwhelming. With the rival vicars of Christ each +showering perdition upon the adherents of the others, the spiritual +condition of the faithful was most anxious and a solution of the +tremendous question was the most pressing necessity for all who believed +what the Latin Church had assiduously taught for a thousand years. The +politics of Europe, moreover, were hopelessly complicated by the strife, +and no peace was to be expected while so dangerous an element of discord +continued to exist. This was especially the case in Germany, where +independent princes and prelates each selected for himself the pope of +his preference, leading to bitter and intricate quarrels. Second only in +importance to this was the reform of the abuses and corruption, the +venality and license of the clergy, which made themselves felt +everywhere, from the courts of the pontiffs to the meanest hamlet. +Heresy likewise was to be met and suppressed, for though England could +deal single-handed with the Lollardry within her shores, the aspect of +matters in Bohemia was threatening, and Sigismund, the emperor-elect, as +the heir of his childless brother Wenceslas, was deeply concerned in the +pacification of the kingdom. In vain John XXIII. endeavored to have the +council held in Italy, where he could control it. The nations insisted +on some place where the free parliament of Christendom could convene +unshackled and debate unchecked. Sigismund selected the episcopal city +of Constance; John, hard pressed by Ladislas of Naples and driven from +Rome, was forced to yield, and, December 9, 1413, issued his bull +convoking the assemblage for the first of the following November. Not +only were all prelates and religious corporations ordered to be +represented, but all princes and rulers were commanded to be there in +person or by deputy. Imperial letters from Sigismund, which accompanied +the bull, gave assurance that the powers of State and Church would be +combined to reach the result desired by all.[500] + +No such assemblage had been seen in Christendom since Innocent III., two +centuries before, in the plenitude of his power, had summoned the +representatives of Latin Christianity to sit with him in the Lateran. +The later council might boast fewer mitred heads than the earlier, but +it was a far more important body. Called primarily to sit in judgment on +the claims of rival popes, its mere convocation was a recognition of its +supremacy over the successor of Peter. From its decision there could be +no appeal, and the questions to be submitted to it were far more weighty +than those which had tasked the consciences of the Lateran fathers. From +every part of Europe the Church sent its best and worthiest to take +counsel together in this crisis of its fate--men like Chancellor Gerson +and Cardinal Peter d'Ailly of Cambrai, as earnest for reform and as +sensible of existing wrongs as Wickliff or Huss themselves. The +universities poured forth their ablest doctors of theology and canon +law. Princes and potentates were there in person or by their +representatives, and crowds of every rank in life, from the noble to the +juggler. The mere magnitude of the assemblage produced a powerful effect +on the minds of all contemporaries, and the wildest estimates were +current of the numbers present. One chronicler assures us that there +were, besides members of the council, sixty thousand five hundred +persons present, of whom sixteen thousand were of gentle blood, from +knights and squires up to princes. The same authority informs us that +there were four hundred and fifty public women, but an official census +of the council, carefully taken, reports that the number was not less +than seven hundred, and even _succubi_ were popularly said to have +joined in the nefarious trade. Thus the strength and the weakness, the +virtue and the vice of the fifteenth century were gathered together to +find relief as best they might for the troubles which threatened to +overwhelm the Church. After many doubts and much hesitation John XXIII. +fulfilled his promise to be present, relying upon his stores of gold to +win a triumph over his adversaries and over the council itself.[501] + +It was inevitable that Huss should tempt his fate at Constance. To both +Sigismund and Wenceslas it was of the utmost importance that some +authoritative decision should put an end to the strife within the +Bohemian Church. The reformers had always professed their desire to +submit their demands to a free general council, and Huss himself had +appealed to such a council from the papal sentence of excommunication. +To hesitate now would be to abandon his life's work, to admit that he +dared not face the assembled piety and learning of the Church, and to +confess himself a heretic. The host of adversaries in the Bohemian +clergy whom his bitter invectives had inflamed and whose preferment had +been forfeited through the agitation which he had led would surely be +there to blacken him and to misrepresent his cause, and all would be +lost if he were not present to defend it in person. They had long jeered +him for not daring to present himself to the Holy See in obedience to +its summons, and had pronounced blasphemous his appeal to Christ from +its excommunication. To hesitate to submit his cause to the council +would give his adversaries an inestimable advantage. Besides, incredible +as it may seem in view of the violence of his assaults upon the doctrine +which rendered the high places in the hierarchy profitable, and his +persistent denial of the validity of his excommunication, he believed +himself to be in full communion with the Church, that he would find the +council in sympathy with his views, and that certain sermons which he +had prepared would, when delivered before the assembled prelates, be +efficient in bringing about the reforms which he advocated. In his +singleness of mind he could not comprehend that men who had thundered as +vehemently as himself against current abuses and corruptions, but who +had not dared to assail the principles from which those evils sprang, +would shrink back aghast from his bolder doctrinal aberrations, and +would regard him as a heretic subject to the inquisitorial rule +prescribing the naked alternative of recantation or the stake.[502] + +When, therefore, the imperial and royal wishes for his presence at +Constance were signified to him, with a promise of safe-conduct and full +security, he willingly assented, and so anxious was he to be present at +the opening of the council that he did not even wait for the promised +safe-conduct, which reached him only after his arrival there. That some +discussion took place among his friends as to the danger to be incurred +there can be no doubt. Jerome of Prague, when on his trial, asserted +that he had persuaded Huss to go, and Huss in one of his letters from +prison alludes to the warnings which he had received. He himself was +evidently not wholly without misgivings. A sealed letter left with his +disciple, Master Martin, not to be opened till news should be received +of his death, alludes to the persecution which he had suffered for +restraining the inordinate lives of the clergy, and his expectation that +it would soon reach its consummation. He makes disposition of his +slender effects--his gray gown, his white gown, and sixty grossi, which +comprise the whole of his worldly gear--and expresses his remorse for +the time wasted before his ordination, when he used to play chess to the +loss of his own temper and that of others. The unaffected simplicity and +pure-heartedness of the man shine like a divine light through the brief +words of his last request. A letter in the vernacular to his disciples +also announces his fear that his enemies may seek in the council to take +his life by false testimony. He asks the prayers of his friends that he +may have eloquence to uphold the truth and constancy to endure to the +last. Still, he did not wholly neglect precautions. Not only did he +procure from the inquisitor Nicholas, Bishop of Nazareth, the +certificate of his orthodoxy already alluded to, but he posted, August +26, throughout Prague a notice in Latin and Bohemian that he would +appear before the archbishop, then holding a convocation of the Bohemian +clergy, and challenged all who impugned his faith to come forward and +accuse him either there or at Constance, asserting his readiness to +submit to the punishment of heresy in case he was convicted, but that +accusers who failed should be subjected to the talio. When John of +Jessinetz, his representative, presented himself the next day at the +door of the convocation, he was refused admission on the pretext that +the body was deliberating on national affairs, and he was told to come +back another time. In the assembly of nobles, however, Huss obtained an +audience of the archbishop, who was also papal legate, and who declared +that he knew of nothing to render Huss guilty except that he ought to +purge himself of the excommunication. Of this a certified notarial +instrument was sent to Sigismund by Huss with the statement that under +the imperial safe-conduct he was ready to go to Constance to defend +publicly the faith for which he was prepared, if necessary, to die.[503] + +Huss set out, October 11, 1414, under the escort and protection of John +and Henry of Chlum and Wenceslas of Duba, all his friends, and delegated +for the purpose by Sigismund. The cavalcade consisted of more than +thirty horse and two carriages. It was preceded, a day in advance, by +the Bishop of Lubec, who announced that Huss was being carried in chains +to Constance, and warned the people not to look at him, as he could read +men's minds. Already his name had filled all Germany, and this +advertisement was an additional incentive for crowds to gather and gaze +on him as he passed. His reception served to foster the fatal illusions +which he nursed. Everywhere, he wrote to his friends, he was treated as +an honored guest and not as an excommunicate; no interdict was +proclaimed where he stopped to rest, and he held discussions with +magistrates and ecclesiastics. In all cities he posted notices on the +church-doors that he was on his way to Constance to defend his faith, +and that any one who desired to assail it was invited to do so before +the council. On reaching Nuremburg, October 19, in place of deflecting +to seek King Sigismund and obtain the promised safe-conduct, he +proceeded direct to Constance, while Wenceslas of Duba went to the court +and brought the document to him there a few days after his arrival. It +was dated October 18.[504] + +On November 2 Huss reached Constance, to be greeted by a crowd of twelve +thousand men assembled to look upon the dreaded reforming heretic. The +council had not yet been opened. On the 10th a letter from one of the +party states that as yet no ambassadors from any of the kings had +arrived, and though John XXIII. was there with his cardinals, no +representatives from his rivals, Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII., had +presented themselves. What to do with the Bohemian Wickliffite was a +problem which puzzled pope and cardinal, and after much discussion it +was determined to suspend his excommunication, and permit him to +frequent the churches freely, at the same time requesting him not to be +present at the solemnities of the council, lest it might lead to +disorder. Considerable apprehension, moreover, was felt as to a sermon +to the clergy which he was understood to propose delivering. Huss +himself was utterly blind as to the position which he occupied. On +November 4, the day before the council was opened, he wrote to his +friends at home that overtures had been made to him to settle matters +quietly, but that he expected to win a great victory after a great +fight. On the 16th he mentioned that when the pope was celebrating mass +every one but himself had assigned to him some function in the ceremony, +and he characterized the omission as neglect, evidently considering that +his position entitled him to recognition and distinction.[505] + +He knew that his opponents had not been idle, but he did not fear them. +He had been preceded in Constance by two of his bitterest +enemies--Michael of Deutschbrod, known as de Causis, and Wenceslas Tiem, +Dean of Passau--and these, in a few days, were reinforced by a more +formidable antagonist, Stephen Palecz, fully equipped with most +dangerous extracts from Huss's writings. Wenceslas Tiem had been the +bearer to Prague of the bull offering indulgences for the crusade +against Ladislas of Naples, and his profitable trade had been broken up +by Huss. Michael de Causis had been priest of the Church of St. Adalbert +in the Neustadt of Prague; he had gained the confidence of King +Wenceslas by pretending that he could render profitable some abandoned +gold-mines near Iglau, and the king had intrusted him with a +considerable sum of money for the purpose. After working a few days at +the mines he decamped to Rome with the funds, which enabled him to +purchase a commission as papal procurator "_de causis fidei_," whence +his appellation. He had already, in 1412, sent to Rome charges against +Huss, which the latter pronounced to be lies. The day after Huss's +arrival in Constance, Michael posted on the church-doors that he would +accuse him to the council as an excommunicate and suspect of heresy, but +Huss treated the matter very lightly, and adopted the advice of his +friends to take no notice of it until the arrival of Sigismund, who was +not expected until Christmas. Meanwhile Huss himself gave ample cause +for adverse comment. So perfect was his sense of innocence and security +that he could not be content with prudent obscurity. Almost immediately +on his arrival he began to celebrate mass in his lodgings. This +attracted the people in crowds, and was necessarily a cause of scandal. +Otto, Bishop of Constance, sent John Tenger, his vicar, and Conrad +Helye, his official, to request Huss to cease, as he had long been under +papal excommunication; but he refused, saying that he did not consider +himself excommunicated, and that he would celebrate mass as often as he +pleased. Although thus defied, the bishop, to avoid disturbance, +contented himself with forbidding the people from attendance. Soon after +this Huss placed himself, with some provisions, in a covered +forage-wagon which was to be sent for hay. When the knights who were +responsible for him could not find him, Henry of Lastenbock (Chlum) +rushed to the burgomaster and demanded that he be searched for. The city +was in an uproar; the gates were closed, horse and foot were sent in +every direction to find him, and the circumstance was easily magnified +into an attempt to escape.[506] + +The sturdy Bohemian was evidently a troublesome subject to deal with. In +the eyes of the faithful it was quite scandal enough to see at liberty a +priest who had openly defied a papal excommunication, and had defended +the recognized errors of Wickliff; there was, moreover, every +probability that he would carry out his audacious design of preaching to +the clergy a sermon in which the vices of the papal court and the +shortcomings of the whole ecclesiastical body would be pitilessly and +eloquently exposed, and it would be proved from Scripture that the whole +system had no warrant in the law of Christ. The path which the pope and +his cardinals had to tread in managing the council was likely to be +tortuous and thorny enough without this additional element of +disturbance and turbulence. It was far safer to disarm him at once, to +anticipate his attacks by treating him legally as one accused of heresy +and awaiting trial. Stephen Palecz and Michael de Causis, and a crowd of +other Bohemian doctors and priests whom Huss had roughly handled, had +already furnished ample material for his indictment, and in the +inquisitorial process the first step was to make sure that the accused +should not escape. Even had the case been one in which bail could be +taken, Huss had the whole kingdom of Bohemia at his back; bail to any +amount would be furnished and forfeited, and, once safe at home, he +would have laughed to scorn a condemnation for contumacy. Such might +reasonably be the arguments of the cardinals when the resolve was taken +to arrest him, but the execution of the design was either inexcusably +insidious, or the manifestation of irresolution which reached its +conclusion only by degrees. On November 28 the cardinals, in consistory +with the pope, sent to Huss's lodgings the Bishops of Augsburg and +Trent, with Henry of Ulm, the burgomaster of Constance, to summon him at +once before them to defend his faith. The envoys greeted him kindly, and +though both he and John of Chlum protested that the summons was a +violation of the safe-conduct, he immediately consented to go, although +he said he had come to Constance to appear openly in the council, and +not secretly before the cardinals. He added that he could not be +imprisoned because he had a safe-conduct. John of Chlum and some friends +accompanied him to the palace occupied by the pope. When the cardinals +told him he was accused of disseminating many heresies, he replied that +he would rather die than be convicted of a single one; he had come with +alacrity to Constance, and if he was found in error he would willingly +abjure. To this the cardinals said, "You have answered well." No +further examination was had, but John XXIII., whose policy was to +embroil the council with Sigismund, took occasion to ask John of Chlum +whether Huss had an imperial safe-conduct, to which Chlum replied, +"Holy father, you know that he has." Again the pope asked the question +and received the same answer, but none of the cardinals requested to see +the document. When the morning session was over, guards were placed over +Huss and John of Chlum. The weary afternoon wore away in suspense, while +the cardinals held another session in which Stephen Palecz and Michael +de Causis were busy. The tedium of detention was only broken by a +simple-looking Franciscan, who accosted Huss and asked for instruction +on the subject of transubstantiation, and, on being satisfactorily +answered, inquired about the union of humanity and divinity in Christ. +Huss recognized that he was no simple inquirer, for he had asked the +most difficult question in theology; he declined further colloquy, and +on the retiring of the friar was informed by the guards that he was +Master Didaco, renowned as the subtlest theologian of Lombardy. About +nightfall John of Chlum was allowed to depart, while Huss was detained, +and soon after Stephen and Michael came exultingly and told him that he +was now in their power, and should not escape till he had paid the last +penny. He was taken under guard to the house of the precentor of the +cathedral, in charge of the Bishop of Lausanne, regent of the apostolic +chamber, and after eight days was transferred to the Dominican convent +on the Rhine. Here he was confined in a cell adjoining the latrines, +where a fever soon caused his life to be despaired of. His sudden death +would have been a most untoward event, and the pope sent his own +physicians to restore him. It was in vain that his friends in Prague +procured from Archbishop Conrad a declaration affirming that he had +never found Huss to vary from the faith in a single word. His fate had +already been virtually decided.[507] + +John of Chlum's first thought on regaining his liberty was to hasten to +the pope and to expostulate with him. When the safe-conduct had reached +Constance, Chlum had at once exhibited it to John XXIII., who is +reported to have declared, on reading it, that if his own brother had +been slain by Huss the latter should be safe while in Constance so far +as he was concerned. Now he disclaimed all responsibility and threw the +blame on the cardinals.[508] This question as to the safe-conduct and +its violation has been the subject of so warm a discussion, and it +illustrates so completely a phase of the relations between the Church +and heretics, that its brief consideration here is not out of place. + +The imperial safe-conduct issued to Huss was in the ordinary form, +without limitation or condition. It was addressed to all the princes and +subjects of the empire, ecclesiastical and secular, and to all nobles +and magistrates and officials, informing them that Huss was taken into +the protection of the king and of the empire, and ordering that he be +permitted to pass, remain, and return without impediment, and that all +help which he might require should be extended to him. Thus it was not a +simple _viaticum_ for protection during the journey from Bohemia, and it +was not so regarded by any one. That it was intended as a safeguard +during the council and the return home is shown by its issue, October +18, after Huss's departure from Prague, and its reaching him in +Constance after his arrival there. That his imprisonment was at once +looked upon as a gross violation of the imperial pledge is seen in the +protests which John of Chlum affixed to the church doors on December 15, +probably as soon as Sigismund could be heard from, and again on the +24th, when the king was near Constance and was to arrive the next day. +This paper recited that Huss had come under the imperial protection and +safe-conduct to answer in public audience all who might question his +faith. That, in the absence of Sigismund, who would not have permitted +it, and in contempt of his safe-conduct, Huss had been thrown into +prison. That the imperial ambassadors had vainly demanded his release, +and that when Sigismund comes he should plainly make known to all men +his grief and indignation at this violation of the imperial pledge.[509] + +The suggestion that the safe-conduct was a mere passport designedly +insufficient to protect Huss is a recent discovery which would not have +been left to the ingenuity of modern times if it could have been alleged +during the warm debate which raged over the question at Constance. That +nobody thought of it then is sufficient proof that such an excuse is +untenable. Such an assertion would have been all-sufficient when, May +13, 1415, the Bohemians in Constance presented a memorial to the council +in which they referred to the treatment of Huss as a violation of the +safe-conduct. Yet in its answer the council had no thought of making +such an allegation, while at the same time Sigismund's services in the +quarrel with John XXIII. were too recent, and still too necessary, for +the good fathers to inflict on him the disgrace of publicly declaring +that they had righteously overruled his attempt to protect a heretic. +They therefore had recourse to a lie manufactured for the occasion, by +asserting, in spite of the notorious existence of the safe-conduct in +Constance at the time of Huss's arrest, that witnesses worthy of credit +had proved that it had not been procured until fifteen days after that +occurrence, and therefore that no public faith had been violated in the +proceedings. This argument, which Sigismund himself asserted to be false +in the public session of June 7, is an admission that the public faith +was violated. A single fact such as this outweighs all the special +pleadings of modern apologists.[510] + +Sigismund at first fully justified the confidence reposed in him by Huss +and John of Chlum. He made no attempt to say that his letters were not +intended to protect Huss from prosecution, but treated them as having +been wrongfully violated. As soon as he had heard of the arrest he had +ordered Huss's release with a threat to break open the prisons in case +of refusal. On his arrival at Constance, on Christmas Day, his +indignation was boundless and there was consequently great excitement. +He protested that he would leave Constance, and, in fact, made a show of +doing so; he even threatened to withdraw the imperial protection from +the council, but was plainly told by the cardinals that they would +themselves break it up unless he yielded. The hopes of Christendom had +been raised to too high a pitch as to the results expected from the +assemblage for him to venture on such a risk. Naturally faithless, his +insistence was a matter of pride, and self-interest easily won the day. +We have better materials for estimating his character than that of any +other prince of the century, and from first to last we find fully +justified the opinion of his contemporaries that he was wholly unworthy +of trust. During the long negotiations between the Council of Basle and +the Hussites, in which he took part, we see him endeavoring impartially +to deceive both sides, making solemn engagements with no intention of +fulfilling them, and regarded by all parties as utterly devoid of honor. +Unfortunate in war and chronically impecunious, he was ever ready to +adopt any temporary expedient to evade a difficulty, and to sacrifice +his plighted word to obtain an advantage.[511] + +It cost him little, therefore, to withdraw from the assertion of his own +honor, and the matter was so speedily arranged that when on January 1, +1415, the council formally asked him that free course of justice be +allowed in the case of Huss, in spite of the pretext of safe-conduct, he +at once issued a decree declaring the council free in all matters of +faith and capable of proceeding against all who were defamed for heresy; +moreover, he pledged himself to set at naught the threats which were +freely uttered of defending Huss at all hazards. Yet the discussion +still continued during January, and the pressure on him from Bohemia was +so strong that for a while he still fluctuated irresolutely, but, April +8, he formally revoked all letters of safe-conduct. Huss himself had no +hesitation in declaring that he had been betrayed and that Sigismund had +promised his safe return. His friends took the same position. In +February an assembly of the magnates of Bohemia and Moravia, gathered at +Mezeritz, sent an address to Sigismund pointing out in language more +forcible than courtly the disgrace and humiliation attendant upon the +disregard of the imperial faith. Again, in May, after the flight of +John XXIII. had inspired new hopes as to the action of the council, two +similar assemblages held at Brünn and Prague approached him with even +stronger representations. It was all in vain. Sigismund had finally +taken his position, and he redeemed his hesitation with great show of +zeal. When, on June 7, Huss had his second hearing before the council, +Sigismund thanked the prelates for their consideration for him as shown +in their leniency to Huss, whom he sternly advised to submit, for he +could look for no human help; "We will never protect you in your errors +and pertinacity. Rather, indeed, than do so we will prepare the fire for +you with our own hands." In the final session of July 6, Huss declared, +"I came freely to the council under the public faith promised by the +emperor, here present, that I should be free from all constraint, to +bear witness to my innocence and to answer for my faith to all who call +it in question." With this he fixed his eyes on Sigismund, who blushed +deeply. The impression made in Bohemia by Sigismund's calculated +faithlessness was ineffaceable. When, in 1433, the legates of the +Council of Basle sought to throw the responsibility of the result at +Constance on the false witnesses, John Rokyzana pertinently asked them +how, if the council was inspired by the Holy Ghost, it could have been +misled by perjurers, and he alluded to the violation of the safe-conduct +in terms showing that it had been neither forgotten nor forgiven. This +had been practically manifested a year earlier, in September, 1432, when +the Council of Basle was eager to have Hussite deputies come to it, and +the Bohemians would not stir without the most exaggerated provisions to +guarantee their safety. Three safe-conducts had been furnished them--one +from Sigismund, one from the council, and one from the city of Eger, but +they still required others, from the city of Basle, the Margrave of +Brandenburg, and the Counts Palatine Dukes of Bavaria, one of whom was +the protector of the council. These were very different from that which +had satisfied the simplicity of Huss. Thus Frederic of Brandenburg and +John of Bavaria pledged themselves to furnish sufficient troops to +conduct the Bohemians safely to Basle, to guard them while there, and to +bring them back to any designated place in Bohemia. The princes, +moreover, guaranteed the safe-conducts of Sigismund and the council, and +agreed to forfeit honors and lands, to be entered upon and taken in +possession by the Bohemians in case of any unredressed violation of the +pledge. These precautions were superfluous, for the envoys had at their +back the terrible Bohemian levies which could enforce respect for +plighted faith; but when reconciliation had taken place and Sigismund +was seated on the throne of his fathers, his guarantees were again +regarded as valueless. In April, 1437, he urged John Rokyzana to visit +the council, and on the latter alleging fear that he might be treated as +was Huss at Constance, the emperor was greatly moved and exclaimed, "Do +you think that for you or for this city I would do aught against mine +honor? I have given a safe-conduct and so also has the council;" but +Rokyzana was not to be tempted by this appeal to the forfeited imperial +honor, and steadfastly refused to go.[512] + +The explanation of the controversy over the violation of the +safe-conduct is perfectly simple. Germany and especially Bohemia knew so +little about the Inquisition and the systematic persecution of heresy +that surprise and indignation were excited by the application to the +case of Huss of the recognized principles of the canon law. The council +could not have done otherwise than it did without surrendering those +principles. To allow a heresiarch who had become conspicuous to all +Christendom, like Huss, to evade the punishment due to his crimes on so +flimsy a pretext as that of his having confided himself to them on a +promise of safety to which the public faith was pledged, would have +seemed to the most conscientious jurists of the council the most absurd +of solecisms. In point of fact, the best men who were there--the +Gersons, the Peter d'Aillys, the Zabarellas--were as unflinching as the +worst creatures of the curia. It had been, as we have seen, too long a +principle of inquisitorial practice that the heretic had no rights, and +that the man accused of heresy by sufficient witnesses was to be treated +as a heretic until he could clear himself, for any one to hesitate about +putting it in force in this case. When Sigismund complained that he was +dishonored by the imprisonment of Huss, the canonists of the council +promptly assured him, in the words of a contemporary orthodox burgher of +Constance, that "it could not and might not be in any law that a +heretic could enjoy a safe-conduct," and though this was prejudging the +case, we have seen how customary that was in all inquisitorial trials. +These words Sigismund himself virtually repeated in his address to Huss +in the session of June 7: "Many say that we cannot, under the law, +protect a heretic or one suspect of heresy." When Huss's execution +aroused the wildest indignation throughout Bohemia, expressed to the +council in missives of scant courtesy, the council asserted its position +in a decree formally adopted September 23, 1415, that no safe-conduct +from any secular potentate could work prejudice to the Catholic faith, +or could prevent any competent tribunal from trying, judging, and +condemning a heretic or suspected heretic, even though, if trusting to +the safe-conduct, he had come to the place of judgment and would not +have come without it. So thoroughly did the council cause this to be +recognized that, in 1432, in the Convention of Eger, stipulating the +bases of negotiation between the Hussites and the Council of Basle, it +was expressly agreed that no canons or decretals should be alleged to +derogate, infringe, or annul the safe-conducts under which the Bohemian +envoys were to appear before the council.[513] + +The trial of Huss has been the subject of much indignant eloquence. It +is the most conspicuous instance of an inquisitorial process on record, +and to those unacquainted with the system of procedure which had grown +up in the development of the Holy Office, its practical denial of +justice has seemed a wilful perversity on the part of the council, while +the sublimely pathetic figure of the sufferer has necessarily awakened +the warmest sympathy. Yet, in fact, the only deviations of the council +from the ordinary course of such affairs were special marks of lenity +towards the accused. He was not subjected to the torture, as in the +customary practice in such cases he should have been, and, at the +instance of Sigismund, he was thrice permitted to appear before the +whole body and defend himself in public session. When, therefore, we see +how inevitable was his condemnation, how he could have saved himself +only at the cost of burdening his soul with perjury and converting his +remaining years into a living lie, we obtain a measure of the infamy of +the system, and can in some degree estimate the innumerable wrongs +inflicted on countless thousands of obscure and forgotten victims. In +this aspect the trial is worthy of examination, for though it presents +no novel points of procedure, except the concessions made to Huss, it +affords an instructive example of the manner in which the inquisitorial +process described in preceding chapters was practically applied. + +The case against Huss was rendered stronger, almost at the outset, by +the action of his friends at home. It must have been shortly after his +arrival in Constance that Jacobel of Mies, who had succeeded Michael de +Causis in the Church of St. Adalbert, commenced to administer communion +in both elements to the laity, and thus gave rise to the most +distinguishing and obstinate feature of Bohemian heresy. Zeal for the +Eucharist had long been a marked peculiarity of religious devotion in +Bohemia. The synod of 1390 promised an indulgence of forty days to all +who bent the knee on the elevation of the host; and the frequent +partaking of the sacrament was repeatedly and strenuously urged by those +who have been classed as the precursors of Huss. Mathias of Janow had +even ventured to recommend that the cup should be restored to the laity, +but the question had never reappeared during the stormy years in which +Huss and his friends had been battling for the Wickliffite doctrines. +According to Æneas Sylvius, a certain Peter of Dresden, infected with +Waldensian errors, had left Prague with the other Germans in 1409, but +was driven from home on account of his heresy and took refuge again in +Prague, where he supported himself as a teacher of children. He it was +who suggested to Jacobel the return to the ancient practice of the +Church; the heretics, delighted to find a question in which they were +clearly in the right, eagerly embraced it. The custom spread to the +churches of St. Michael, St. Martin, the Bethlehem Chapel, and +elsewhere, in spite of the opposition of King Wenceslas and Archbishop +Conrad, who vainly threatened secular punishments and ecclesiastical +interdicts. Huss was speedily communicated with. He approved of the +custom, as indeed he could not well help doing, and his tract in its +favor, when conveyed to the disciples, gave a fresh impetus to the +movement. It was in vain that on June 15, 1415, the council condemned +the use of the cup by the laity, pronounced heretics all priests so +administering the sacrament, ordered them to be handed over to the +secular arm, and commanded all prelates and inquisitors to prosecute as +heretics those who denied the propriety of communion in one element. For +more than a century the Utraquists, or Calixtins, as they called +themselves, were the ruling party in Bohemia. The consciousness of being +in the wrong and of having to justify itself by all manner of trivial +excuses rendered the council additionally eager to crush the +insubordination of which Huss was the representative. [514] + +We have seen that Huss was arrested November 28, 1414. Michael de +Causis, Stephen Palecz, and others of his enemies had presented formal +articles of accusation against him. These, drawn up in the name of +Michael, accused him of maintaining the remanence of the substance in +the Eucharist after consecration, of asserting the vitiation of the +sacraments in the hands of sinful priests and denying the power of the +keys under the same conditions, of holding that the Church should have +no temporal possessions, of disregarding excommunication, of granting +the cup to the laity, of defending the forty-five condemned articles of +Wickliff, of exciting the people against the clergy, so that if he were +allowed to return to Prague there would be a persecution such as had not +been seen since the days of Constantine, and of other errors and +offences. This was more than sufficient to justify his trial, and the +process was commenced without delay by the appointment, December 1, of +commissioners to examine him. These commissioners were, in fact, +inquisitors, and the council at large served as the assembly of experts +in which, as it will be remembered, final assent was given to the +judgment. One of the commissioners at least, Bernardo, Bishop of Città +di Castello, was already familiar with the matter, for only the year +before, as papal nuncio in Poland, he had assisted in driving away +Jerome of Prague. In addition to the articles of Michael de Causis there +was a kind of indictment against Huss presented to the commissioners by +the procurators and promoters of the council, reciting the troubles at +Prague, his excommunication, and his teaching of Wickliffite +heresies.[515] + +At first the proceedings were pushed with a vigor which seemed to +promise a speedy termination of the case. As soon as Huss recovered from +his first sickness there was submitted to him a series of forty-two +errors extracted from his writings by Palecz. To these he replied +_seriatim_ in writing, explaining the false constructions which he +asserted had been placed on some passages, defending some, and limiting +and conditioning others. As he was denied the use of books, even of the +treatises which were the source of the charges, these answers manifest a +wonderful retentiveness of memory and quickness and clearness of +intellect. Sometimes he was visited in his prison by the commissioners +and personally interrogated. A Carthusian, writing from Constance, May +19, relates that the day before he had been present at such an +examination and had never seen so bold and audacious a scoundrel or one +who could so cautiously conceal the truth. On the other hand, we have +his own account of one of these interviews. The commissioners were +accompanied by Michael and Stephen to prompt them. Each article was read +to him and he was asked if such was his belief; he replied, explaining +the sense in which he held it. Then he would be asked if he would defend +it, and he would answer no, but that he would stand to the decision of +the council. Nothing could well seem more submissive or more orthodox, +and under any other system of jurisprudence conviction might well appear +impossible. Heresy, however, as we have seen, was a crime; once +committed, even through ignorance, a simple return to the Church was not +enough; belief in the errors must be admitted and then abjured, before +the criminal could be considered as penitent and entitled to the +substitution of perpetual imprisonment for the death-penalty. Huss was +condemned on heresies which he had not held rather than those which he +had taught.[516] + +Thousands of miserable wretches had been convicted on a tithe of the +evidence now brought against him. Stephen Palecz, a man of the highest +repute, swore before the commissioners that since the birth of Christ +there had been no more dangerous heretics than Wickliff and Huss, and +that all who customarily attended the sermons of the latter believed in +the remanence of the substance of bread in the Eucharist. What Palecz +testified there were scores of others to substantiate and amplify. +Witnesses were there in abundance to prove that he believed in the +remanence of the bread, that the sacraments were vitiated in the hands +of sinful priests, that indulgences were of no avail, that the Church of +Rome was the synagogue of Satan, that heresy was to be overcome by +disputation and not by force, that a papal excommunication was to be +disregarded. Many of these errors he indignantly denied having +entertained, but it was in vain. In vain he wrote out in prison, as +early as March 5, 1415, his tract, "_De Sacramento Corporis et +Sanguinis_," in which he declared that full transubstantiation took +place; that God worked the miracle irrespective of the merits of the +celebrant; that the body and blood of Christ were both in the bread and +in the wine, and that he had taught this doctrine since 1401, before he +was a priest. In vain, shortly before his execution, his devotion burst +forth in a hymn in which he exclaimed: + + "O quam sanctus panis iste, + Tu es solus Jesu Christe, + Caro, cibus, sacramentum, + Quo non majus est inventum!" + +In vain during his public audience of June 8 he disputed earnestly in +favor of the same belief. The witnesses swore to the contrary. He had no +right to call rebutting testimony, and could only appeal to God and his +conscience. He was proved a heretic who must confess and abjure or be +burned.[517] + +His only possible line of defence, as has been shown above (Vol. I. p. +446) would have lain in disabling the witnesses for mortal enmity--for +enmity such as would lead them to seek his life--and even this would not +have been available against the errors which the commissioners had +extracted, falsely, as he asserted, from his writings. As regards the +witnesses, the commissioners made an unusual concession to him when, +during his sickness in December, some fifteen of them were taken to his +cell that he might see them sworn. Some of them, it is said, declared +that they knew nothing; others were bitterly hostile to him. To this +extent he knew some of the names, and others he was acquainted with +because they were attached to depositions taken in advance at Prague for +Michael de Causis, which by some means had fallen into the hands of Huss +before he started for Constance. Some of these names, probably on this +account, were attached to the article on the subject of remanence +presented in the hearing of June 7, but in the final sentence no names +are mentioned; the witnesses to each article are designated simply by +titles, such as a canon of Prague, a priest of Litomysl, a master of +arts, a doctor of theology, etc., and when Huss asked the name of one of +them it was refused. This was strictly in accordance with rule.[518] + +Yet the hostility of those who testified against him was notorious. At +the place of execution he declared that he was convicted of errors which +he did not entertain, on the evidence of false witnesses. The Bohemians +in Constance, in their memorial of May 31, 1415, to the council, +declared that the testimony against him was given by those who were his +mortal enemies. At one time he or his friends thought of disabling them +on this account, but when he asked the commissioners to permit him to +employ an advocate who could take the necessary exceptions to the +evidence, although they at first assented they finally refused, saying +that it was against the law for any one to defend a suspected heretic. +This, as we have seen, was strictly true, and if the maintenance of the +rule may seem harsh, we must remember on the other hand that the friends +of Huss were allowed unexampled liberty in working in his behalf. Their +repeated memorials to the council and their efforts with Sigismund made +them guilty of the crime of fautorship, and if there had been any +disposition to enforce the law they could have been reduced to instant +silence and have been grievously punished.[519] + +It had not taken long to secure evidence more than ample for Huss's +conviction, and if his burning had been the object desired it might have +been speedily accomplished. We have seen, however, how much the +Inquisition preferred a penitent convert to a cremated heretic, and in +this case, perhaps more than in any other on record, confession and +submission were supremely desirable. Huss, as a self-confessed +heresiarch, would be deprived of all importance, and his disciples might +be expected to follow his example: as a martyr, there was no predicting +whether the result would be terror or exasperation. The milder customary +methods of the Inquisition were therefore brought to bear to break down +his stubborn obstinacy by procrastination, solitude, and despair. Had +his judges desired to be harsh they could have had recourse to torture, +which was the ordinary mode of dealing with similar cases. In this they +would have been fully justified by law and custom. The less violent but +equally efficient device of prolonged starvation could likewise have +been employed, but was mercifully forborne. Yet the slower but not less +wearing torture of indefinite imprisonment was not spared him. He was +kept in the Dominican convent until March 24. Although his petition to +be allowed to see his friends was refused, they were permitted to +furnish him with writing materials, and he employed his enforced leisure +in composing a number of tracts which, written without the aid of books, +show his extensive and accurate acquaintance with Scripture and the +Fathers. His sweet temper won the good-will of all who were brought in +contact with him, and he gratefully alludes to the kindness with which +he was treated both by his guards and by the clerks of the papal +chamber. The winning nature of the man, as well as the gold of his +friends, probably explains the correspondence which at this period he +was able to maintain with them, though all communication with him was +forbidden. Letters were conveyed back and forth clandestinely, sometimes +carried in food, in spite of the vigilance of his enemies. Michael de +Causis hovered around the gate, saying, "By the grace of God we shall +burn that heretic who has cost me so many florins," and procuring that +the wives of the guards, whom he suspected as letter-carriers, should be +excluded. All this ceased when the quarrel between pope and council +culminated. On March 20 John XXIII. secretly fled from Constance, when +the guards placed over Huss delivered the keys to Sigismund and followed +their master. The council then handed Huss over to the custody of the +Bishop of Constance, who carried him in chains by night to the castle of +Gottlieben, some miles from the city across the Rhine. His friends had +requested that he should have a more airy prison, and the request was +more than granted, for he was now confined in a room at the top of a +tall tower. Though his feet were fettered he was able to move about +during the day, but at night his arm was chained to the wall. As escape +was impossible, the confinement was evidently intended to be punitive. +Here he was completely isolated from all intercourse with his +fellow-beings and left to his own dreary introspection. Disease added to +the harshness of his prison. From the foul Dominican cell to the windy +turret-room of Gottlieben, he was exposed to every variety of +unwholesome conditions. Stone, an affection hitherto unknown to him, +tormented him greatly. Toothache and headache combined to increase his +sufferings. On one occasion a severe attack of fever, accompanied by +excessive vomiting, so prostrated him that his guards carried him out of +his cell thinking him about to die. Yet throughout all his letters from +prison the beautiful patience of the man shines forth. For the enemies +who were pursuing him to the death there is only forgiveness; for the +trials with which God has seen fit to test his servant there is only +submission. He overflows with gratitude for the steadfast affection of +his friends, and sends touching requests of remembrance to them all; he +teaches charity and gently points out the way to moral and spiritual +improvement. There is neither the pride of martyrdom nor the desire for +retribution; all is pious resignation and love and humility. Since +Christ, no man has left behind him a more affecting example of the true +Christian spirit than John Huss, while fearlessly awaiting the time when +he should suffer for what he believed to be truth. He was one of the +chosen few who exalt and glorify humanity. Yet he was but human, and the +final victory was not won without the agony of self-conquest; while at +times he comforted himself with dreams that God would not suffer him to +perish, but that like Daniel and Jonah and Susannah he would be rescued +when all help seemed vain.[520] + +Hope seemed justified when the rupture occurred between the pope and the +council. No sooner was Huss made aware of the flight of John XXIII. than +he begged his friends to see Sigismund instantly and procure his +liberation. The answer was his transfer to the tower of Gottlieben. When +the pope was brought back a prisoner to the same castle of Gottlieben, +and the council proceeded to try and condemn him as a simonist and +dilapidator who was ruining the Church, while his personal vices and +crimes, unfit for description, were a scandal to Christendom, such +confirmation of all that the Wickliffites had urged might well seem to +justifiy the expectation that Huss would be released with honor. John +XXIII., however, with the wisdom of the children of the world, essayed +no defence; he confessed all that was laid to his charge, submitted to +the council, and was eventually, after a few years of imprisonment, +rewarded by Martin V. with the lofty post of Dean of the Sacred College. +Huss, with the constancy of the children of light, refused to perjure +himself by confession, and there could be no escape for him.[521] + +The council had been assembled to reform the Church, and was performing +its duty in its own way, but nothing could be further from the thoughts +of its most zealous members than the revolutionary reform of Wickliff +and Huss, which would reduce the Church to apostolic poverty and deprive +it of all temporal power. Besides the doctrinal errors, attested by +abundant witnesses, there was ample material in Huss's writings to prove +him a most dangerous enemy of the whole ecclesiastical system. He had +written his tract "_De Ablatione Bonorum_" in defence of one of the +forty-five condemned Wickliffite articles which asserted that the +temporal lord could at will deprive of their temporalities ecclesiastics +who were habitual delinquents. His tract "_De Decimis_" defended +another of the articles, contending that no one in mortal sin could be a +temporal lord, a prelate, or a bishop. John Gerson, one of the leading +members of the council, had, as Chancellor of the University of Paris, +before coming to Constance, drawn up a series of twenty such dangerous +errors, extracted from Huss's treatise "_De Ecclesia_," and had urged +Archbishop Conrad of Prague to extirpate the Wickliffite heresy by +calling in the secular arm. Huss, in his deductions from the Wickliffite +doctrines of predestination, had overthrown the very foundations of the +hierarchical system. Among the cardinals in the council, Ottone Colonna +had fulminated the papal excommunication which Huss had disregarded; +Zabarella and Brancazio had been actively concerned in the proceedings +against him before the curia--all of these and many others were +thoroughly familiar with his revolutionary doctrines. What was to become +of the theocracy founded by Hildebrand if such teachings were to pass +unreproved, if their assertor was to be allowed to defend them and was +only to be adjudged a heretic when overcome in scholastic disputation? +The whole structure of sacerdotalism would be undermined and the whole +body of canon law would be disregarded if so monstrous a proposition +should be conceded. To the fathers of the council nothing could well +seem more preposterous. Then Michael de Causis had intercepted a letter, +written by Huss from prison, in which the ministers of the council were +alluded to as the servants of Antichrist, and when this was brought to +him by the commissioners he acknowledged its authenticity. Besides all +this, he had remained under excommunication for suspicion of heresy +during long years, during which he had constantly performed divine +service, and he had called the pope an Antichrist whose anathema was to +be disregarded. This of itself, as we have seen, constituted him a +self-convicted heretic.[522] + +It thus was idle to suppose that the council, because it had deposed +John XXIII., would set free so contumacious a heretic, whose very +virtues only rendered him the more dangerous. The inquisitorial process +must go on to the end. Even during the bitterest and most doubtful +portion of the contest, before the pope had been brought back to +Constance, the successive steps of the trial received due attention. On +April 17 four new commissioners were appointed to replace the previous +ones, whose commissions from the pope were held to have expired, and the +new commission was expressly granted power to proceed to final sentence. +The only doubt arising was whether the condemnation of Wickliff, with +which the case of Huss was inextricably related, should be uttered in +the name of the pope or in that of the council, and its publication, May +4, in the latter form, showed that the assembly had no hesitation as to +its duty in stamping out the heresy of the master and of the disciple. +The active measures also, which during this period were taken against +Jerome of Prague, were an indication not to be mistaken of the purposes +of the council. Yet how little the friends of Huss understood the real +position of affairs, and how false hopes had been excited by the rupture +with the pope, is seen in their efforts at this juncture to press the +trial to a conclusion. Under the procrastinating policy of the +Inquisition it is quite possible that Huss would have been left to his +solitary musings for a time indefinitely longer, in hopes that his +resolution would at last give way, but for the efforts of his friends, +who hoped to secure his release. On May 13 they presented a memorial +complaining of his treatment, imprisoned in irons and perishing of +hunger and thirst, without trial or conviction, in violation of the +safe-conduct and of the pledged faith of the empire. They also +remonstrated against the stories which were circulated to prejudice the +case, that in Bohemia the blood of Christ was carried around in bottles, +and that cobblers heard confession and celebrated mass. On May 16 the +council replied to the effect that as far back as 1411 Huss had had a +hearing before the Holy See and had been excommunicated, and had since +then not only proved himself a heretic, but a heresiarch, by remaining +under excommunication and preaching forbidden doctrines, even in +Constance itself. As for the safe-conduct, we have seen how it was +pretended to have been procured after the arrest. This elusive answer +might have shown how the case was already prejudged by those who were to +decide it; yet again, on May 18, the Bohemians presented a rejoinder +urging promptitude. It was fully expected in Constance that a session +would be held on the 22d, at which Huss would be condemned; but about +this time attention was engrossed by the trial of John XXIII., who was +at length deposed, May 29, and notified of his deposition on the 31st. +Sigismund was now preparing for the voyage to Spain, which was expected +to take place in June, and if anything was to be done with Huss before +his departure further delay was inadmissible. Probably the Bohemians +imagined that in some indefinable way he would yet save their leader. On +May 31, therefore, they presented another memorial, reiterating their +complaints about the safe-conduct and asking for a speedy public +hearing. Sigismund entered during the discussion and strenuously urged +the public audience, which was finally promised. Huss's friends further +urged that he should be brought from his prison and be allowed a few +days to recover from his harsh incarceration, and a show was made of +complying with the request. On the same day John of Chlum had the +satisfaction of forwarding to Gottlieben an order for the transmission +of Huss to Constance. The next day, June 1, a special deputation from +the council followed and presented to him the thirty articles which had +been proved against him. They reported that he submitted himself to the +council; but he maintained that he only agreed to do so on such points +as he could be proved to have taught erroneously. At last he was brought +to Constance in chains and confined in the Franciscan convent.[523] + +In the routine of the inquisitorial process there was no necessity for +further parley with the accused. The articles of heresy were proved +against him, and if he continued obstinately to deny them delivery to +the secular arm was a matter of course. There had been no intention of +permitting such an innovation on the regular procedure as a public +audience, but Sigismund could see, if the council could not, that its +denial would have a most unfortunate influence on public opinion in +Bohemia, where, in the prevailing ignorance as to the inquisitorial +rules, it would be claimed that the council was afraid to face their +champion and was forced to condemn him unheard. It could, in reality, +have no influence on the result, for the case was already virtually +decided, but Huss's friends could not recognize this, and an attempt was +made, without success, to speculate on their eagerness, by a demand for +two thousand florins to defray the alleged expenses. The audiences which +followed were thus wholly irregular, and may be briefly dismissed as in +no sense entitled to the importance which has commonly been ascribed to +them.[524] + +On June 5 a congregation of the council was held in the Franciscan +convent. At first the intention was to carry out the ordinary +inquisitorial procedure by considering, in the absence of Huss, the +articles proved against him, but Peter Mladenowic hastened to John of +Chlum and Wenceslas of Duba, who forthwith appealed to Sigismund. The +latter at once sent the Palsgrave Louis and Frederic Burggrave of +Nuremberg to the council, with orders that nothing should be done until +Huss was present and his books were before them for verification. At +length, therefore, he had the long-desired opportunity of meeting his +adversaries, and defending himself in public debate. The books from +which his errors had been extracted were laid before him--his treatise +"_De Ecclesia_" and his tracts against Stephen Palecz and Stanislaus +of Znaim--and he acknowledged them to be his. The articles were taken up +in succession. He was required to answer to each a simple yea or nay, +and when he desired to explain anything a scene of indescribable +confusion arose. When he asked to be taught wherein he had erred he was +told that he must first recant his heresies, which was strictly in +accordance with the law. The day wore away in the discussion, and it had +to be renewed on the 7th, and again on the 8th--Sigismund being present +on these latter occasions. Huss defended himself gallantly, with +wonderful quickness of thought and dialectical skill, but nothing could +be more unlike the free debate which he had deluded himself into +anticipating when he left Prague. Although the Cardinal of Ostia, who +presided, endeavored to show fairness, the assembly at times became a +howling mob with shouts of "Burn him! Burn him!" Interruptions were +incessant, he was baited on all sides with questions, and frequently his +replies were drowned in clamor. As a judicial act it was a mockery, but +it served the purpose desired by Sigismund, and the Church had shown +itself not afraid of public discussion with the heresiarch. At the end +of the third day of this tumultuous wrangling Huss was exhausted almost +to fainting. The night before toothache had deprived him of sleep, an +attack of fever supervened, and six months of harsh imprisonment had +left him little physical endurance. The proceedings terminated with the +cardinals urging him to recant and promising him merciful treatment if +he would throw himself upon the mercy of the council. He asked for +another hearing, saying that he would submit if his arguments and +authorities were insufficient. To this Cardinal Peter d'Ailly replied +that the unanimous decision of the doctors was that he must confess his +error in publishing the articles ascribed to him, he must swear never in +future to believe or teach them, and must recant them publicly. Huss +begged the council for the love of God not to force him to wrong his +conscience, for abjuration meant the renunciation of an error previously +entertained, and many of those brought against him he had never held. +Sigismund asked him why he could not renounce errors which he said had +been ascribed to him through perjury, and Huss had to explain to him the +technical meaning of abjuration. One member of the council even objected +to the accused being admitted to recantation, because he was not to be +trusted, but this would have been wholly illegal. Even in the case of +relapse the heretic always had a right to confess and recant, and the +council was not to be betrayed into so manifest a denial of justice. It +was impossible, in such a crowd of eager persecutors, to maintain the +legal forms in all strictness, and there followed a number of volunteer +accusations by individuals, on which an irregular discussion could not +be repressed. Finally, as Huss was withdrawn, John of Chlum succeeded in +giving him a friendly grasp of the hand and a word of sympathy. To the +forlorn and despised heretic that touch and voice were a solace which +nerved him for the yet harder trials of the succeeding weeks.[525] + +His conscientious endurance was now to be tested to the uttermost. The +wise general policy of the Inquisition, which preferred a confessed +penitent to a martyr, was specially applicable in this case, for though +Sigismund and the council underestimated the Bohemian fervor and +obstinacy, the dullest could see that Huss confessing to having taught +heresy and humbly seeking reconciliation would dispirit his followers, +while no one could guess the extent of the conflagration which might +spread from his pyre. Accordingly efforts were redoubled to induce him +to confess and recant. Sigismund had prepared the way by assuring him +during the public audience that no mercy would be shown him and that +persistent denial would bring him to the stake, while he was not +notified that behind the bland promises of mercy for submission there +lay a sentence, which, while expressing joy at his humbly seeking +absolution, pronounced him to be pernicious, scandalous, and seditious, +and condemned him to degradation from the priesthood and to perpetual +imprisonment. The council could do no otherwise, for this, as we have +seen, was the punishment provided by the canons for repentant heretics, +and yet in estimating the noble firmness of Huss we must bear in mind +that no intimation of it seems to have been made to him.[526] + +The obstacle in the way of Huss's abjuration lay not so much in the +heresies which he had taught, as in those which he had not taught. On +legal testimony his judges had found him guilty of all, but the worst of +them, such as the remanence of the substance and the vitiation of the +sacraments in polluted hands, he denied energetically ever to have held +or expressed. Many of the errors extracted from his works, moreover, he +repudiated, asserting that the passages had been garbled and perverted. +In the eye of the law this denial was mere contumacy which only +aggravated his guilt. The first condition of reconciliation was +confessing under oath that he was guilty of having held these errors and +then abjuring them. This was committing perjury to God in the most +solemn fashion, and to a tender conscience like that of Huss it was +worse than death. From this dilemma there was no escape. On the one hand +lay the legal system, contrived with Satanic ingenuity and unalterable; +on the other lay the purity of character which led Huss to reject +without hesitation all the specious subterfuges suggested to beguile +him.[527] + +For a month the struggle continued, and no human soul ever bore itself +with loftier fortitude or sweeter or humbler charity. He asked for a +confessor, and intimated that he would prefer Stephen Palecz, the enemy +who had hounded him to the death. Palecz came and heard his confession, +and then urged him to abjure, saying that he ought not to mind the +humiliation. "The humiliation of condemnation and burning is greater," +replied Huss, "how then can I fear humiliation? But advise me: what +would you do if you knew for certain that you did not hold the errors +imputed to you? Would you abjure?" Palecz burst into tears and could +only stammer, "It is difficult." He wept again freely when Huss begged +his pardon for harsh words used in the heat of strife, and especially +for calling him a falsifier. Another confessor was sent to him, who +listened to him kindly and gave him absolution without insisting on +preliminary abjuration, which was a most irregular concession--indeed, +almost incredible. Many others were allowed to visit him in the hope of +persuading him to confess and recant. One learned doctor urged his +submission, saying, "If the council told me I had but one eye, I would +confess it to be so, though I know I have two," but Huss was impervious +to such example. An Englishman adduced the precedent of the English +doctors who had, without exception, abjured the heresies of Wickliff +when required to do so; but when Huss offered to swear that he had never +held or taught the heresies imputed to him, and that he would never hold +or teach them, his baffled advisers withdrew.[528] + +The most formidable effort, however, was of an official character. At +the final hearing of June 8, Cardinal Zabarella had promised him that a +recantation in a form strictly limited would be submitted to him, and +the promise was fulfilled in a paper skilfully drawn up, so as to +satisfy his scruples. It represented him as protesting anew that much +had been imputed to him which he had never believed, but that +nevertheless he submitted himself in everything to the correction and +orders of the council in abjuring, revoking, and retracting, and in +accepting whatever merciful penance the council might prescribe for his +salvation. Carefully as this was phrased to elude the difficulty, Huss +rejected it without hesitation. In some matters, he said, he would be +denying the truth, in others he would be perjuring himself. It were +better to die than to fall into the hands of the Lord in the effort to +escape momentary suffering. Then one of the fathers of the +council--supposed to be the Cardinal of Ostia, the highest in rank of +the Sacred College--addressed him as his "dearest and most cherished +brother," with the most honeyed persuasiveness, begging him not to +confide too absolutely in his own judgment. In making the abjuration it +will not be he that condemns truth, but the council; as for perjury, if +perjury there be, it will fall on the heads of those who exact it. Yet +Huss was not to be enticed with such allurements; he could not quiet his +conscience with casuistry such as this, and he deliberately chose death. +In daily expectation of the dreadful sentence, he quietly put his simple +affairs in order. Peter Mladenowic, the notary, had rendered him +zealous service and should be paid out of his sixty grossi. His little +debts were to be settled, and his books, apparently his only other +property, were to be distributed. Kind remembrances were sent to his +numerous friends, and they were told if they had learned any good of him +to hold fast to it; if they had seen in him aught reprehensible to cast +it aside. It was not that he was insensible, for he describes in moving +terms the mental conflicts and agony which he endured in his hopeless +prison, expecting each day to be led forth to an agonizing death, but +the spirit rose superior to the flesh and remained victor in the +struggle. Solicitous to retain the good opinion of his disciples, he +managed to transmit to them, on June 18, a copy of the articles proved +against him, together with a report of what his defence had been. Of +those drawn from his writings he retracted none, although many he +declared to be false and garbled. Those alleged against him by witnesses +he mostly asserted to be lies, and he pathetically concluded, "It only +remains for me to abjure and revoke and undergo fearful penance or to +burn. May the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost grant me the spirit of wisdom +and fortitude to persevere to the end and to escape the snares of +Satan!"[529] + +In hope of his weakening, the end was postponed until the approaching +departure of Sigismund rendered further delay impossible. Yet effort was +not abandoned till the last. On July 1 a deputation of prelates +endeavored to persuade him that he could reasonably recant, but he +handed them a written confession calling God to witness that he had +never taught many of the articles; as for the rest, if there were error +in them he detested it, but he could not abjure any of them. Puzzled by +his unexpected tenacity of purpose, and earnestly desirous of avoiding +the catastrophe, a final and unprecedented concession was agreed upon. +On July 5 Zabarella and Peter d'Ailly sent for him and offered to let +him deny the heresies proved by witnesses if he would abjure those +extracted from his books. This was, in fact, an abandonment of all +inquisitorial precedent, but Huss had persistently declared that most +of the latter were fraudulently drawn, so as to attribute to him errors +which he had never held, and he was immovable. As a last resource, later +in the same day, Sigismund sent his friends John of Chlum and Wenceslas +of Duba, with four bishops, to ask him whether he would persevere or +recant, but his answer was as firm as ever. To the friendly adjuration +of John of Chlum he replied with tears that he would willingly revoke +anything in which he could be proved to have erred. The bishops +pronounced him obstinate in error and left him.[530] + +Thus the extraordinary efforts of the council to save itself and him +were vain, and nothing remained but the inevitable final act of the +tragedy. The next day, July 6, saw the most gorgeous _auto de fé_ on +record. The cathedral of Constance was crowded with Sigismund and his +nobles, the great officers of the empire with their insignia, the +prelates in their splendid robes. While mass was sung, Huss, as an +excommunicate, was kept waiting at the door; when brought in he was +placed on an elevated bench by a table on which stood a coffer +containing priestly vestments. After some preliminaries, including a +sermon by the Bishop of Lodi, in which he assured Sigismund that the +events of that day would confer on him immortal glory, the articles of +which Huss was convicted were recited. In vain he protested that he +believed in transubstantiation and in the validity of the sacrament in +polluted hands. He was ordered to hold his tongue, and on his persisting +the beadles were told to silence him, but in spite of this he continued +to utter protests. The sentence was then read in the name of the +council, condemning him both for his written errors and those which had +been proved by witnesses. He was declared a pertinacious and +incorrigible heretic who did not desire to return to the Church; his +books were ordered to be burned, and himself to be degraded from the +priesthood and abandoned to the secular court. Seven bishops arrayed +him in priestly garb and warned him to recant while yet there was time. +He turned to the crowd, and with broken voice declared that he could not +confess the errors which he had never entertained, lest he should lie to +God, when the bishops interrupted him, crying that they had waited long +enough, for he was obstinate in his heresy. He was degraded in the usual +manner, stripped of his sacerdotal vestments, his fingers scraped; but +when the tonsure was to be disposed of an absurd quarrel arose among the +bishops as to whether the head should be shaved with a razor or the +tonsure be destroyed with scissors. Scissors won the day, and a cross +was cut in his hair. Then on his head was placed a conical paper cap, a +cubit in height, adorned with painted devils and the inscription, "This +is the heresiarch." In accordance with the universal custom no +proceedings by the secular authorities were regarded as necessary. As +soon as the ecclesiastical court had pronounced him a heretic and handed +him over, the laws against heresy operated of themselves. Sigismund, it +is true, might have delayed the execution for six days, but this would +have been so unusual as to have excited most unfavorable comment. There +had already been afforded ample opportunity for resipiscence, and the +convict could always still recant up to the lighting of the fagots. +Nothing could reasonably be hoped from further postponement, and +Sigismund's approaching departure counselled promptitude. He therefore +briefly ordered the Palsgrave Louis to take charge of the culprit and to +do to him as to a heretic. Louis called to Hans Hazen, the imperial vogt +of Constance, "Vogt, take him as judged of both of us and burn him as a +heretic." Then he was led forth, and the council calmly turned to other +business, unconscious that it had performed the most momentous act of +the century.[531] + +The place of execution was a meadow near the river, to which he was +conducted by two thousand armed men, with Palsgrave Louis at their +head, and a vast crowd, including many nobles, prelates, and cardinals. +The route followed was circuitous, in order that he might be carried +past the episcopal palace, in front of which his books were burning, +whereat he smiled. Pity from man there was none to look for, but he +sought comfort on high, repeating to himself, "Christ Jesus, Son of the +living God, have mercy upon me!" and when he came in sight of the stake +he fell on his knees and prayed. He was asked if he wished to confess, +and said that he would gladly do so if there were space. A wide circle +was formed, and Ulrich Schorand, who, according to custom, had been +providently empowered to take advantage of any final weakening, came +forward, saying, "Dear sir and master, if you will recant your unbelief +of heresy, for which you must suffer, I will willingly hear your +confession; but if you will not, you know right well that, according to +canon law, no one can administer the sacrament to a heretic." To this +Huss answered, "It is not necessary: I am no mortal sinner." His paper +crown fell off and he smiled as his guards replaced it. He desired to +take leave of his keepers, and when they were brought to him he thanked +them for their kindness, saying that they had been to him rather +brothers than jailers. Then he commenced to address the crowd in German, +telling them that he suffered for errors which he did not hold, sworn to +by perjured witnesses; but this could not be permitted, and he was cut +short. When bound to the stake and two cartloads of fagots and straw +were piled up around him the palsgrave and vogt for the last time +adjured him to abjure. Even yet he could have saved himself, but he only +repeated that he had been convicted by false witnesses of errors never +entertained by him. They clapped their hands and then withdrew, and the +executioners applied the fire. Twice Huss was heard to exclaim, "Christ +Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me!" then a wind +springing up and blowing the flames and smoke into his face checked +further utterance, but his head was seen to shake and his lips to move +while one might twice or thrice recite a paternoster. The tragedy was +over; the sorely-tried soul had escaped from its tormentors, and the +bitterest enemies of the reformer could not refuse to him the praise +that no philosopher of old had faced death with more composure than he +had shown in his dreadful extremity. No faltering of the voice had +betrayed an internal struggle. Palsgrave Louis, seeing Huss's mantle on +the arm of one of the executioners, ordered it thrown into the flames +lest it should be reverenced as a relic, and promised the man to +compensate him. With the same view the body was carefully reduced to +ashes and thrown into the Rhine, and even the earth around the stake was +dug up and carted off; yet the Bohemians long hovered around the spot +and carried home fragments of the neighboring clay, which they +reverenced as relics of their martyr. The next day thanks were returned +to God, in a solemn procession in which figured Sigismund and his queen, +the princes and nobles, nineteen cardinals, two patriarchs, +seventy-seven bishops, and all the clergy of the council. A few days +later Sigismund, who had delayed his departure for Spain to see the +matter concluded, left Constance, feeling that his work was done.[532] + +The long-continued teaching of the Church, that persistent heresy was +the one crime for which there could be no pardon or excuse, seemed to +deprive even the wisest and purest of all power of reasoning where it +was concerned. There was no hesitation in admitting that the pestilent +heresy of the Hussites was caused by the simoniacal corruptions of the +Roman curia, whereby many Christian souls were led to eternal perdition, +and that it could not be eradicated until a thorough reformation was +effected. Yet in place of drawing from this the necessary deduction, the +feeling of the council is reflected by its historian in the blasphemous +representation of Christ as recording with satisfaction the hideous +details of the execution, and as saying that the wicked soul of the +heretic commenced in temporal flame the torment which it would suffer +through eternity in hell. The trial, in fact, had been conducted in +accordance with the universally received practice in such cases, the +only exceptions being in favor of the accused. If the result was +inevitable, it was the fault of the system and not of the judges, and +their consciences might well feel satisfied.[533] + +Great was the disgust of the orthodox when they learned that this pious +view of the matter was not entertained in Prague, and it required the +most positive assurances of eye-witnesses to make them believe the +incredible fact that, from king to peasant in Bohemia, there was +practical unanimity in the belief that he who had been condemned and +executed as a heretic was a martyr; that the popular songs sung in the +streets represented him as one who had shed his blood for Christ, and +that he was inserted in the calendar of saints, with his feast on July +6, the day of his execution. The good fathers, however, were not long in +finding, from indubitable evidence, that they had made a grave mistake +as to the Bohemian temper, and that they had only succeeded in inflaming +the disease which they had sought to eradicate. As soon as the defiance +excited in Bohemia could be learned in Constance, the council made haste +to write, July 26, to the authorities there, protesting that Huss and +Jerome of Prague had been treated with all tenderness, that the +persistent heresy of the former had forced his delivery to the secular +court for judgment, and that all similar heretics would be treated in +the same manner. The Bohemians were exhorted to justify, by similar +persecution, the good opinion of their orthodoxy which the council had +formed from the report of the Bishop of Litomysl, whose popular name of +Iron John sufficiently indicates his inflexibility. This good opinion +was not sustained when a protest was received from the barons of Bohemia +and Moravia, hastily drawn up as soon as the news of the execution had +reached them--a protest which the council promptly ordered to be burned. +Its letter of July 26 led to the convocation of a national assembly, in +which an address was framed and received the signatures of nearly five +hundred barons, knights, and gentlemen. In this they asserted their +belief in Huss's purity and orthodoxy; that he had unjustly been put to +death without confession or lawful conviction; that Jerome they supposed +had shared the same fate; that the defamation of the kingdom for heresy +was the work of liars, and that any one who asserted it, saving +Sigismund, lied in his throat, was the vilest of traitors and the worst +of heretics, and as such they would prosecute him before the future +pope. A more dangerous symptom of rebellion was a pledge signed by the +magnates, agreeing that all priests should be allowed to preach freely +the truths of Scripture, that no bishop should be permitted to interfere +with them unless they taught errors, and that no excommunications or +interdicts from abroad should be received or observed.[534] + +This was firing at long range with no result but mutual exacerbation, +and it was probably the stimulus of Bohemian disaffection which led the +council about this time to act vigorously in the case of Jerome of +Prague, whom the Bohemian nobles had erroneously believed to have shared +the fate of Huss. + +Jerome of Prague stands before us as one of those meteoric natures which +would be dismissed by the student as half mythical, if the substantial +facts which are on record did not fix the details of his career with an +exactness leaving no room for doubt. Born at Prague, his early training +was received at a time when men's minds were beginning to waver in the +confusion of the Great Schism, and under the impulsion of the +Wickliffite writings. About the year 1400 he was brought under the +influence of Huss, and thereafter he continued to be the steadfast +adherent and supporter of the great protestant against the corruptions +of the Church. Already, at Paris, Cologne, Heidelberg, and Cracow--at +all of which he had been decorated with the honors of the +universities--he had disturbed the philosophic calm of the schools with +his subtleties on the theory of universals; at Paris, indeed, the +disturbance had gone so far that John Gerson, the chancellor of the +university, had driven him forth, perhaps retaining a grudge which +explains his zeal in the prosecution of his old antagonist. His restless +spirit left scarce a region of the known civilized world unvisited. At +Oxford, attracted by the reputation of Wickliff, he had copied with his +own hand the Dialogus and the Trialogus, and had carried those +outpourings of revolt to Prague, where they added fresh fuel to the +rapidly rising fires of Bohemian insubordination. On a second visit he +had been seized as a heretic, and had escaped through the intervention +of the University of Prague. In Palestine he had trodden in the +footsteps of the Saviour and had bent in reverence at the Holy +Sepulchre. In Lithuania he had sought to convert the heathen. In Russia +he had endeavored to win over the schismatic Greek. In Poland and +Hungary he had scattered the doctrines of Wickliff and Huss. Driven out +of Hungary, in 1410, he was arrested and thrown in prison in Vienna, by +the papal inquisitor and episcopal official, for teaching Hussitism and +infecting with it the university of that city. His trial was commenced +and a day was set for its hearing, prior to which he was allowed his +liberty on his oath not to leave the city, under pain of +excommunication. Claiming that an extorted oath was of no force, he +escaped, and from Olmütz wrote a free-and-easy letter to the Bishop of +Passau, suggesting that the prosecutors and witnesses may be sent to +Prague, where the trial can be finished. The excommunication, indeed, +followed him to Prague, but in the tumultuous condition of Bohemia it +gave him no trouble, though the University of Vienna wrote to the +University of Prague that by remaining more than a year under the +excommunication he had incurred the guilt of heresy, for which he ought +to be condemned; and meanwhile the converts whom he had made in Vienna +continued to give occupation to the Inquisition, and the university +which interfered in their behalf incurred the suspicion of heresy. In +the stirring events which followed, his restless and aggressive spirit +would not allow him to be inactive, and the popular impression of his +reckless audacity is shown in the story of his hanging the papal bulls +of indulgence around the neck of a strumpet and carrying her to the +place where they were to be burned. In 1413 he again visited Poland, +where in a short time he succeeded in causing an unprecedented +excitement, and was speedily sent back to Prague. His whole life had +been spent in intellectual digladiation, from his youthful philosophic +contests to the maturer struggles with the overwhelming forces of the +hierarchy. A layman, not in holy orders and unfurnished with priestly +gown and tonsure, he had preached to admiring crowds of Majjars, Poles, +and Czechs; nor was he wholly unskilled in the use of the arms of the +flesh. On his trial he admitted that he had once been drawn into a +quarrel with some monks in a monastery, when two of them attacked him +with swords, and he defended himself successfully with a weapon hastily +snatched from the hand of a bystander. His enemies, indeed, accused him +of having, on another occasion, drawn a dagger on a Dominican friar, and +of having been only prevented by force from stabbing him to the death. +All of his contemporaries bear testimony to his wonderful powers. His +commanding presence, his glittering eyes, his sable hair and flowing +beard, his deep and impressive voice, his persuasive accents, enabled +him to throw his influence over all with whom he came in contact; while +his miraculous stores of learning, his unmatched readiness, and the +subtlety of his intellect, rendered him an enemy of the Church only one +degree less dangerous than the steadfast and irreproachable Huss.[535] + +Jerome had watched from Prague the fate of his friend with daily +increasing anxiety, and when the rupture between pope and council seemed +to promise immunity for the opponents of hierarchical corruption he +could not resist the temptation to aid in his rescue, and to assist in +what appeared to be the approaching overthrow of the evils which he had +so long combated. April 4, 1415, he came secretly to Constance, but +speedily found how groundless were his hopes and how dangerous was the +atmosphere of the place. Christann of Prachaticz, one of Huss's chief +disciples, had recently ventured to visit Constance, had been arrested, +and articles of accusation had been presented against him, when on the +intervention of the Bohemian ambassadors he had been liberated under +oath to present himself when summoned--an oath which he had forfeited by +promptly escaping to Bohemia. Jerome contented himself with posting a +notice on the walls affirming the orthodoxy of Huss; he withdrew at once +to Ueberlingen and asked for a safe-conduct. The response was ambiguous, +but, like a moth hovering around the fatal candle-flame, he returned to +Constance, where, April 7, he affixed another notice on the church +doors addressed to Sigismund and the council. It stated that he had come +of his own free will to answer all accusations of heresy, and if +convicted he was ready to endure the penalty, but he asked a +safe-conduct in coming and going, and if incarcerated or treated with +violence during his stay the council would be committing injustice of +which he could not suspect so many learned and wise men. This senseless +bravado is only to be explained by his erratic temperament, and it did +not prevent him from taking precautions as to his safety. He suddenly +changed his mind, and on April 9, after obtaining from the Bohemians at +Constance testimonial letters, he escaped from the city, none too soon, +for the officials were in search of his lodgings, which they discovered +a few days after at the Gutjar, in St. Paul Street, where in his haste +he had left behind him the significant memento of a sword. This time he +no longer trifled with fate, but travelled rapidly towards Bohemia. At +Hirsau, however, his impetuous temper led him into a discussion in which +he stigmatized the council as a synagogue of Satan. He was seized April +24, and the papers found upon him betrayed him. John of Bavaria threw +him into the castle of Sulzbach, notified the council of his capture, +and in obedience to its commands he was forthwith carried thither in +chains.[536] + +Meanwhile the council had responded to his appeal by publishing, April +18, a formal inquisitorial citation summoning him, as a suspected and +defamed heretic, the suppression of whom was its chief duty, to appear +for trial within fifteen days, in default of which he would be proceeded +against in contumacy. A safe-conduct was offered him, but it was +expressly declared subject to the exigencies of the faith. Unaware of +his capture, on May 2 a new citation was published and his trial as +contumacious was ordered, and this was repeated on the 4th. On May 24 +his captors brought him to the city loaded with chains, and took him to +the Franciscan convent, where a tumultuous congregation of the council +greeted his arrival. Here Gerson gratified his rancor against his old +opponent, loudly berating him for having taught falsely at Paris, +Heidelberg, and Cologne, and the rectors of the two latter universities +corroborated the accusations. His replies were sharp and ready, but were +drowned in the roar of fresh charges, mingled with shouts of "Burn him! +Burn him!" Thence he was carried to a dungeon in the Cemetery of St. +Paul, where he was chained hand and foot to a bench too high for him to +sit on, and for two days he was fed on bread and water, until his +friends ascertained his place of imprisonment and made interest with the +jailer to give him better food. He soon fell dangerously sick and asked +for a confessor, after which he was less rigorously fettered, but he +never left the prison except for audience and execution.[537] + +Stephen Palecz, Michael de Causis, and the rest were ready with their +accusations, nor could there be difficulty in accumulating a mass of +testimony sufficient to convict twenty such men as Jerome. His trial +proceeded according to the regular inquisitorial process, the +commissioners finding him much more learned and skilful than Huss; but, +brilliant as was his defence when under examination, his nervous +temperament unfitted him to bear, like Huss, the long-protracted agony. +Sometimes with dialectic subtlety he turned his examiners to ridicule, +at others he vacillated between obduracy and submission. Finally he +weakened under the strain, while the rebellious attitude of the +Bohemians doubtless led the council to increase the pressure. On +September 11 he was brought before the assembly, where he read a long +and elaborate recantation. Huss's sweetness of temper, he said, had +attracted him, and his earnest exposition of Scripture truths had led +him to believe that such a man could not teach heresy. He could not +believe that the thirty articles condemned by the council were really +Huss's, until he had obtained a book in Huss's own hand-writing, and on +comparing them article by article he found them to be so. He therefore +spontaneously and of free will condemned them, some of them as +heretical, others as erroneous, others as scandalous. He also condemned +the forty-five articles of Wickliff; he submitted himself wholly to the +council, he condemned whatever it condemned, and he asked for fitting +penance to be assigned him. He did not even shrink from a deeper +degradation. He wrote to Bohemia that Huss had been justly executed, +that he had become convinced of his friend's errors and could not +defend them.[538] + +This was not a strictly formal abjuration such as was customarily +required of prisoners of the Inquisition, yet it might have sufficed. It +was read before a private congregation of the council, and some more +public humiliation was needed. At the next general session, therefore, +September 23, Jerome was placed in the pulpit, where he repeated his +recantation, with an explanation of an expression in it, adding a +recantation of his theory of Universals, and winding up by a solemn oath +of abjuration in which he invoked an eternal anathema on all who +wandered from the faith and on himself if he should do so. He had been +told that he would not be allowed to return to Bohemia, but might select +some Swabian monastery in which to reside, on condition that he should +write home, over his hand and seal, that his teaching and that of Huss +were false and not to be followed. This he promised to do, as, indeed, +he had already done, but he was remanded to his prison, though his +treatment was somewhat less harsh than before.[539] + +Had the council been wise, it would have treated him as leniently as +possible. A dishonored apostate, his power of evil was gone, and +generosity would have been policy. The canons, however, prescribed harsh +prison for converted heretics, whose conversion was always regarded as +doubtful, and the assembled fathers were too bigoted to be wise. The +zealots converted the apostate to a martyr, whose steadfast constancy +redeemed his temporary weakness, and regained for him the forfeited +influence over the imagination of his disciples. + +His remorse was not long in showing itself. Stephen Palecz, Michael de +Causis, and his other enemies who were still hovering around his prison, +soon got wind of his self-accusation. John Gerson, whose hostility +seems to have been insatiable, readily made himself their mouthpiece, +and in a learned dissertation on the essentials of revocations called +the attention of the council, October 29, to the unsatisfactory +character of that of Jerome. Some Carmelites, apparently arriving from +Prague, furnished new accusations, and demands were made that he be +required to answer additional articles. Some of the Cardinals, +Zabarella, Pierre d'Ailly, Giordano Orsini, Antonio da Aquileia, on the +other hand, labored with the council to procure his liberation, but on +being actively opposed by the Germans and Bohemians and accused of +receiving bribes from the heretics and King Wenceslas, they abandoned +the hopeless defence. Accordingly, February 24, 1416, a new commission +was appointed to hold an inquisition on him. The whole ground was gone +over again in examining him, from the Wickliffite heresies to his +exciting rebellion in Prague and contumaciously enduring the +excommunication incurred in Vienna. April 27 the commissioners made +their report, and the _Promotor Hæreticæ Pravitatis_, or prosecutor for +heresy, accompanied it with a long indictment enumerating his offences. +Jerome, resolved on death, had recovered his audacity; he not only, in +spite of his recantation, denied that he was a heretic, but complained +of unjust imprisonment and claimed to be indemnified for expenses and +damages. His marvellous dialectical dexterity had evidently nonplussed +the slower intellects of his examiners, who had found themselves unable +to cope with his subtlety, for the council was asked, in conclusion, to +diminish the diet on which he was described as feasting gluttonously, +and by judicious starvation, the proper torment of heretics, to bring +him to submission. Moreover, authority was asked to use torture and to +force him to answer definitely yes or no to all questions as to his +belief. If then he continues contumaciously to deny what has been or may +be proved against him, he is to be handed over to the secular arm, in +accordance with the canon law, as a pertinacious and incorrigible +heretic. Thus with Jerome, as with Huss, the invariable principle of +inquisitorial procedure was applied, that the denial of heretical +opinions was simply an evidence and an aggravation of guilt.[540] + +In this case, more than in that of Huss, the council seems to have taken +upon itself the part of an inquisitorial tribunal, with its +commissioners simply as examiners to take testimony, possibly because +Jerome had refused to accept them as judges on account of enmity towards +him. There is no evidence that it consented to the superfluous infamy of +torturing, or even of starving its victim. The commissioners were left +to their own devices as to extracting a confession, and May 9 they made +another report of the whole case from beginning to end, for what object +is not apparent, unless to demonstrate their helplessness. Having thus +wearied them out, Jerome finally promised to answer categorically before +the council. Perhaps it was curiosity to hear him, perhaps the precedent +set in the case of Huss weighed with the fathers. The concession was +made to him, and at a general session held May 23 he was brought in and +the oath was offered to him. He refused to take it, saying that he would +do so if he would be allowed to speak freely, but if he was only to say +yes or no he would not. As the articles were read over he remained +silent as to a portion, while to the rest he answered affirmatively or +negatively, occasionally making a distinction, and answering with +admirable readiness the clamors and interruptions which assailed him +from all sides. The day wore away in this, and the completion of the +hearing was adjourned till the 26th. Again the same scene occurred till +the series of articles was exhausted, when the chief of the +commissioners, John, Patriarch of Constantinople, summed up, saying that +Jerome was convicted of fourfold heresy; but as he had repeatedly asked +to be heard he should be allowed to speak, in order to silence absurd +reflections on the council; moreover, if he was prepared to confess and +repent, he still would be received to mercy, but if obdurate, justice +must take its course.[541] + +Of the scene which followed we have a vivid account in a letter to +Leonardo Aretino from Poggio Bracciolini, who attended the council as +apostolic secretary. Poggio had already been profoundly impressed with +the quickness and readiness of a man who for three hundred and forty +days had lain in the filth and squalor of a noisome dungeon, but now he +breaks forth in unqualified admiration--"He stood fearless, undaunted, +not merely despising death, but longing for it, like another Cato. O man +worthy of eternal remembrance among men! If he held beliefs contrary to +the rules of the Church I do not praise him, but I admire his learning, +his knowledge of so many things, his eloquence, and the subtlety of his +answers." In the midst of that turbulent and noisy crowd, his eloquence +was so great that Poggio evidently thinks he would have been acquitted +had he not courted death.[542] + +His address was a most skilful vindication, gliding with seemingly +careless negligence over the dangerous spots in his career--for his +whole life had been made the subject of indictment--and giving most +plausible explanations of that which could not be suppressed, as though +the Bohemian troubles had been solely due to political differences. As +for his recantation, his judges had promised him kindly treatment if he +would throw himself on the mercy of the council. He was but a man, with +a human dread of a dreadful death by fire; he had weakly yielded to +persuasion, he had abjured, he had written to Bohemia as required, he +had condemned the teaching of John Huss. Here he rose to the full height +of his manly and self-devoted eloquence. Huss was a just and holy man, +to whom he would cleave to the last; no sin that he had ever committed +so weighed upon his conscience as his cowardly abjuration, which now he +solemnly revoked. Wickliff had written with a profounder truth than any +man before him, and dread of the stake alone could have induced him to +condemn such a master, saving only the doctrine on the sacrament, of +which he could not approve. Then he burst forth into a ringing invective +on the vices of the clergy, and especially of the Roman curia, which had +stimulated Wickliff and Huss to their efforts for reform. The good +fathers of the council might be stunned for a moment by the fierce +self-sacrifice of the man who thus deliberately threw away his life, but +they soon recovered themselves, and quietly assigned the following +Saturday for his definite sentence. Although, as a self-confessed +relapsed, he was entitled to no further consideration, they proposed, +with unusual mercy, to give him four days to reconsider and repent, but +he had been addressing an audience far beyond the narrow walls of the +Cathedral of Constance, and his words were seeds which sprouted forth in +armed warriors.[543] + +On May 30 the final acts of the tragedy were hurried through; the +council assembled early, and by ten o'clock Jerome was at the stake. +After the mass, the Bishop of Lodi preached a sermon. He had been +selected to perform the same office at the condemnation of Huss, and the +brutality of his triumph over the unfortunate prisoner on this occasion +even exceeded his former effort. The charity and tenderness with which +Jerome had been treated ought to have softened his heart, even had the +recollection of his crimes failed to do so. A comparison was drawn +between the favor shown him and the severity customary with suspected +heretics. "You were not tortured--I wish you had been, for it would +have forced you to vomit forth all your errors; such treatment would +have opened your eyes, which guilt had closed." The nobles present were +called upon to mark how Huss and Jerome, two base-born men, plebeians of +the lowest rank and unknown origin, had dared to trouble the noble +kingdom of Bohemia, and what evils had sprung from the presumption of +those two peasants. Then Jerome in a few dignified sentences replied, +asserting his conscientiousness and deploring his condemnation of +Wickliff and Huss. Cardinal Zabarella, he said, was winning him over +when his judges were changed and he would not plead to new ones. His +abjuration was read to him; he acknowledged it; he said it had been +extorted by the dread of fire. Then the prosecutor asked for a definite +sentence in writing against him, and the head commissioner, John of +Constantinople, read a long one condemning him as a supporter of +Wickliff and Huss, and ending with the declaration that he was a +relapsed heretic and anathematized excommunicate. To this the council +unanimously responded "_Placet_." There was no pretence of asking +mercy for him. He was handed over to the secular power with a command +that it should do its duty under the sentence rendered. Not being in +orders, there was no ceremony of degradation to be performed, but a tall +paper crown with painted devils was brought. He tossed his cap among the +prelates and put on the crown, saying, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, when +about to die for me, wore a crown of thorns. In place of that, I gladly +bear this for his sake," and with this he was hurried off to execution +on the same spot where Huss had suffered.[544] + +The details of the execution were much the same, except that Jerome was +stripped and a cloth tied around his loins. He sang the Creed and a +litany, and when his voice could no longer be heard in the flames his +lips were still seen to move as though praying to himself; after his +beard was burned off, a blister the size of an egg was seen to form +itself, showing that he still was alive, and his agony was unusually +prolonged, through his extraordinary strength and vitality. One +eye-witness says that he shrieked awfully, but other unfriendly +witnesses declare that he continued praying till his voice was checked +by the fire, and Poggio, who was present, was much impressed with his +cheerful courage to the last. When bound to the stake, the executioner +offered to light the fire from behind, where he could not see it, but he +refused: "Come forward," he said, "and light the fire where I can see +it. Had I feared this, I would not have been here." Æneas Sylvius +likewise couples him with Huss for the unsurpassed constancy of his +death. After it was over, his bedding, shoes, cap, and all his personal +effects were brought from his dungeon and thrown upon the pile, that no +relic of him might be left, and the ashes were cast into the Rhine.[545] + +It only remained to secure the submission of John of Chlum, the +courageous defender of Huss. He had remained in Constance and was in the +power of the council. What means were adopted for his abasement do not +appear, but, on July 1, he swore to maintain the faith, admitted that +Huss and Jerome had suffered justly, and desired letters of his +declaration to be made, that he might send them to Bohemia.[546] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE HUSSITES. + + +The Council of Constance, after eighteen months of labor, had disposed +of Huss and Jerome. The methods employed had been the only ones known to +the Church, the only ones possible to the council. Two centuries earlier +the corruptions of the Church were recognized as the cause and excuse of +the revolt of the Albigenses and Waldenses, but the revolt was +ruthlessly put down without an effective effort to remove the cause. Now +again unchecked corruption had produced another revolt and the same +policy was followed--to leave untouched the profitable abuses and punish +those who refused to tolerate them, and who rejected the principles out +of which such abuses inevitably sprang. The council could do no +otherwise; the traditions of procedure established in the subjugation of +the Albigenses and the succeeding heresies furnished the only precedent +and machinery through which it could act. Again a religious revolt had +been provoked, and again that revolt was nursed and intensified till its +only recognized cure lay in the sword of the crusader. + +The prelates and doctors assembled in Constance could not hesitate for a +moment as to their duty. Canon law and inquisitorial practice had long +established the principle that the only way to meet heresy--and +opposition to the constituted authorities of the Church was heresy--was +by force, as soon as argument was found ineffective. The disobedient son +of the Church who would not submit was to be cast out, after due +admonition, and casting out meant that he should have in this world a +wholesome foretaste of the wrath to come, in order to serve as an +edifying example. Accordingly the council addressed itself, as a matter +of course, to the task of widening the breach with Bohemia, of +consolidating and intensifying the indignation caused by the execution +of Huss and Jerome, and to stigmatizing as heresy the belief which was +now professed by the majority of Bohemians. + +The council had proposed to follow up the execution of Huss by an +immediate application of inquisitorial methods to the whole Bohemian +kingdom, but, at the instance of John, Bishop of Litomysl, it had +commenced by the expedient of giving notice in its letter of July 26, +1415. This, as we have seen, only added to the exasperation of Bohemia, +and on August 31 it issued to Bishop John letters commissioning him with +inquisitorial powers to suppress all heresy in Bohemia; if he could not +perform his office in safety elsewhere he was authorized to summon all +suspect to his episcopal seat at Litomysl. Wenceslas dutifully issued to +him a safe-conduct, but the irate Bohemians were already ravaging his +territories, and he consulted prudence in not venturing his person +there. The canons evidently could not be enforced amid a people so +exasperated; so, on September 23, after listening to the recantation of +Jerome, the council tried a further expedient, by a decree appointing +John, Patriarch of Constantinople, and John, Bishop of Senlis, as +commissioners (or, rather, inquisitors) to try all Hussite heretics. +They were empowered to summon all heretics or suspects to appear before +them in the Roman curia by public edict, to be posted in the places +frequented by such heretics, or in the neighboring territories if it +were dangerous to attempt it at the residences of the accused, and such +edicts might be either general in character or special. This was +strictly according to rule, and if the object had been to secure the +legal condemnation _in absentia_ of the mass of the Bohemian nation, it +was well adapted for the purpose; but as the nation was seething in +revolt, and was venerating Huss and Jerome with as much ardor as was +shown in Rome to St. Peter and St. Paul, its only effect was to +strengthen the hands of the extremists. This was seen when, on December +30, 1415, an address was delivered to the council, signed by four +hundred and fifty Bohemian nobles, reiterating their complaints of the +execution of Huss, and withdrawing themselves from all obedience. This +hardy challenge was accepted February 20, 1416, by citing all the +signers and other supporters of Huss and Wickliff to appear before the +council within fifty days and answer to the charge of heresy, in default +of which they were to be proceeded against as contumacious. As it was +not safe to serve this citation on them personally, or, indeed, +anywhere in Bohemia, it was ordered to be affixed on the church doors at +Constance, Ratisbon, Vienna, and Passau. This was followed up with all +the legal forms; the citations were affixed to the church doors, and +record made in Constance May 5, in Passau May 3, in Vienna May 10, and +in Ratisbon June 14, 21, and 24. On June 3 the offenders were declared +to be in contumacy, and on September 4 the further prosecution of the +matter was intrusted to John of Constantinople.[547] + +Here the affair seems to have dropped, for it had long been evident that +the inquisitorial methods were of no avail when the accused constituted +the great body of a nation. As early as March 27, 1416, the council had, +without waiting to see the result of its judicial proceedings, resolved +to appeal to force, if yet there was sufficient zeal for orthodoxy in +Bohemia to render such appeal successful. The fanatic John of Litomysl +was armed with legatine powers, and despatched with letters to the lords +of Hazemburg, John of Michaelsburg, and other barons known as opponents +of the popular cause. The council recited in moving terms its patience +and tenderness in dealing with Huss, who had perished merely through his +own hardness of heart. In spite of this, his followers had addressed to +the council libellous and defamatory letters, affording a spectacle at +once horrible and ludicrous. Heresy is constantly spreading and +contaminating the land, priests and monks are despoiled, expelled, +beaten, and slain. The barons are therefore summoned, in conjunction +with the legate, to banish and exterminate all these persecutors, +regardless of friendship and kinship. Bishop John's mission was a +failure, in spite of letters written by Sigismund, March 21 and 30, in +which he thanked the Catholic nobles for their devotion, and warned the +Hussite magnates that, if they persisted, Christendom would be banded +against them in a crusade. The University of Prague responded, May 23, +with a public declaration, certifying to the unblemished orthodoxy and +supereminent merits of Huss. His whole life spent among them had been +without a flaw; his learning and eloquence had been equalled by his +charity and humility; he was in all things a man of surpassing sanctity, +who sought to restore the Church to its primitive virtue and simplicity. +Jerome, also, whom the university seems to have supposed already +executed, was similarly lauded for his learning and strict Catholic +orthodoxy, and was declared to have in death triumphed gloriously over +his enemies. In this the university represented with moderation the +prevailing opinion in Bohemia. The more earnest disciples did not +hesitate to declare that the Passion of Christ was the only martyrdom +fit to be compared with that of Huss.[548] + +There was evidently no middle term which could reconcile conflicting +opinions so firmly entertained; and, as the Catholic nobles of Bohemia +could not be stimulated to undertake a devastating civil war, the +council naturally turned to Sigismund. In December, 1416, a doleful +epistle was addressed to him, complaining that the execution of Huss and +Jerome, in place of repressing heresy, had rendered it more violent than +ever. As though men condemned to Satan by the Church were the chosen of +God, the two heretics were venerated as saints and martyrs, their +pictures shrined in the churches, and their names invoked in masses. The +faithful clergy were driven out, and their lot rendered more miserable +than that of Jews. The barons and nobles refuse obedience to the +mandates of the council, and will not allow them to be published. +Communion in both elements is taught to be necessary to salvation, and +is everywhere practised. Sigismund is therefore requested to do his +duty, and reduce by force these rebellious heretics. Sigismund replied +that he had forwarded the document to Wenceslas, and that if the latter +had not power to suppress the heretics he would assist him with all his +force. Sigismund was in no position to undertake the task, but after +waiting for nine months he saw an opportunity of attacking his brother, +who had been utterly powerless to control the storm. In a circular +letter of September 3, 1417, addressed to the faithful in Bohemia, he +drew a moving picture of the excesses committed on the Bohemian clergy, +compelled by Neronian tortures to abjure their faith. His brother was +suspected of favoring the heretics, as no one could conceive that such +wickedness could be committed under so powerful a king without his +connivance, and the council had decided to proceed against him, but had +consented to delay at the instance of Sigismund, who for three years had +been strenuously endeavoring to avert the prosecution. He warns every +one, in conclusion, not to aid the heresy, but to exert themselves for +its suppression.[549] + +Shortly after this, November 11, 1417, the weary schism was closed by +the election to the papacy of Martin V. Under the impulsion of a capable +and resolute pontiff, who, as Cardinal Ottone Colonna, had, in 1411, +condemned and excommunicated Huss, the reunited Church pressed eagerly +forward to render the conflict inevitable. In February, 1418, the +council published a series of twenty-four articles as its ultimatum. +King Wenceslas must swear to suppress the heresy of Wickliff and Huss. +Minute directions were given to restore the old order of things +throughout Bohemia; priests and Catholics who had been driven out were +to be reinstated and compensated; image and relic worship to be resumed, +and the rites of the Church observed. All infected with heresy were to +abjure it, while their leading doctors, John Jessenitz, Jacobel of Mies, +Simon of Rokyzana, and six others, were to betake themselves to Rome for +trial. Communion in both elements was to be specially abjured, and all +who held the doctrines of Wickliff and Huss, or regarded Huss and Jerome +as holy men, were to be burned as relapsed heretics; that is, without +opportunity of recantation or hope of pardon. Finally, every one was +required to lend assistance to the episcopal officials when called upon, +under pain of punishment as fautors of heresy. It was simply the +application of existing laws, as we have so many times already seen them +brought to bear on offending communities. To enforce it, Sigismund +promised to visit the rebellious region with four bishops and an +inquisitor, and to burn all who would not recant.[550] + +This was speedily followed, February 22, 1418, by a bull of Martin V., +addressed to the prelates and inquisitors, not only of Bohemia and +Moravia, but of the surrounding territories, Passau, Salzburg, Ratisbon, +Bamberg, Misnia, Silesia, and Poland. The pope expressed his grief and +surprise that the heretics had not been brought to repentance by the +miserable deaths of Huss and Jerome, but had been excited by the devil +to yet greater sins. The prelates and inquisitors were ordered to track +them out and deliver them to the secular arm; and such as proved +themselves remiss in the work were to be removed, and replaced with more +energetic successors. Secular potentates were commanded to seize and +hold in chains all heretics, and to punish them duly when convicted, and +a long series of instructions was given as to trials, penalties, and +confiscations, in strict accordance with the inquisitorial practice +which had so long been current. If this was intended to give countenance +to Sigismund's promised expedition it proved useless, for the royal +promise ended as Sigismund's were wont to do, and the next we hear of +him is a letter of December, 1418, to Wenceslas, threatening that +unlucky monarch with a crusade if he shall not suppress heresy.[551] + +The glimpse into the condition of Bohemia afforded by these documents +is, perhaps, somewhat highly colored, yet on the whole not incorrect. +The kingdom was almost wholly withdrawn from obedience to the Church, +although the German miners in the mountains of Kuttenberg were already +slaying the native heretics. The Wickliffite doctrines adopted by Huss +were triumphant, and the pressure of central authority being removed, +men were naturally using the unaccustomed liberty to develop further and +further the ruling hostility to the sacerdotal system. Utraquism, or +communion in both elements, had been received with a frenzy of welcome +which seems almost inexplicable; it aroused universal enthusiasm, which +was only stimulated by the interdict pronounced on it by Archbishop +Conrad, November 1, 1415, and repeated February 1, 1416. When, in 1417, +the University of Prague issued a solemn declaration in its favor and +pronounced void any human ordinance modifying the command of Christ and +the custom of the early Church, it speedily became the distinguishing +mark which separated the Hussite from the Catholic. Other innovations +had already been introduced, and it was impossible that all should +agree on the bounds to be set between conservatism and progress. As +early as 1416 Christann of Prachatitz remonstrated with Wenceslas +Coranda for denying purgatory and the utility of prayers for the dead +and the suffrages of saints, for refusing adoration to the Virgin, for +casting out relics and images, for administering the Eucharist to +newly-baptized infants, for discarding all rites and ceremonies, and +reducing the Church to the simplicity of primitive times. Others taught +that divine service could be celebrated anywhere as well as in +consecrated churches; that baptism could be performed by laymen in ponds +and running streams. Already there was forming the sect which, in +carrying out the views of Wickliff, came to be known as Taborites. The +more conservative element, which adopted the name of Calixtins, or +Utraquists, satisfied with what had been acquired, endeavored to set +bounds to the zeal which threatened to remove all the ancient landmarks. +Parties were beginning to range themselves, and on January 25, 1417, +probably not long before its declaration in favor of Utraquism, the +University issued a letter reciting that there were frequent disputes as +to the existence of purgatory and the use of benedictions and other +church observances; to put an end to these it pronounced obligatory on +all to believe in purgatory and in the utility of suffrages, prayers, +and alms for the dead, of images of Christ and the saints, of incensing, +aspersions, bell-ringing, the kiss of peace, of benediction of the holy +font, salt, water, wax, fire, palms, eggs, cheese, and other eatables. +Any one teaching otherwise was not to be listened to until he should +prove the truth of his doctrine to the satisfaction of the University. +In September, 1418, it was obliged to renew the declaration, with the +addition of condemning the doctrines which pronounced against all oaths, +judicial executions, and sacraments administered by sinful priests, +showing that Waldensian tenets were making rapid progress among the +Taborites.[552] + +All this indicates the questions which were occupying men's minds and +the differences which were establishing themselves. Opinions were too +strongly held, and mutual toleration was too little understood for +peaceful discussion, and excitement daily grew higher, leading to +tumults and bloodshed. In the spirit of unrest which was abroad, men and +women of the more advanced views from all parts of the kingdom began +assembling on a mountain near Bechin, to which they gave the name of +Tabor, where they received the sacrament in both kinds. These +assemblages were larger on feast days, and on the day of Mary Magdalen, +July 22, 1419, the multitude was computed at forty thousand. Numbers +gave courage, and there was even talk of deposing King Wenceslas and +replacing him with Nicholas Lord of Hussinetz, whose popularity had been +increased by his banishment for advocating their cause with the monarch. +From this they were dissuaded by their chief spiritual leader, the +priest Wenceslas Coranda, who pointed out that as the king was an +indolent drunkard, permitting them to do what they liked, they would +scarce benefit themselves by a change. The abandonment of this project, +however, did not assure peace. On July 30 there was a tumult in the +Neustadt of Prague; at command of the king, the authorities endeavored +to prevent the progress of a procession bearing the sacrament; the +people rose, and under the lead of John Ziska, whose fiery zeal and cool +audacity were rapidly bringing him to the front, they rushed into the +town-hall and cast out of the windows such of the magistrates as they +found there, who were promptly slain by the mob below. The agitation and +alarm caused by this affair brought on King Wenceslas an attack of +paralysis, of which he died August 15.[553] + +Feeble as had been the royal authority, it yet had served as a restraint +upon the hostile sects eager to tear each other to pieces. With the +death of the king the untamable passions burst forth. Two days +afterwards the churches and convents were mobbed, the images and organs +were broken, and those in which the cup had been refused to the laity +were the objects of special vengeance. Priests and monks were taken +prisoners, and within a few days the Dominican and Carthusian convents +were burned. Queen Sophia endeavored, in vain, to maintain order with +such of the barons as remained loyal; civil war broke forth, until, on +November 13, the queen concluded with the cities of Prague a truce to +last until April 23, 1420, the queen promising to maintain the law of +God and communion in both elements, while the citizens pledged +themselves to refrain from image-breaking and the destruction of +convents. Mutual exasperation, however, was too great to be restrained. +Ziska came to Prague and destroyed churches and monasteries in the city +and neighborhood; Queen Sophia laid siege to Pilsen; a neighborhood war +broke out in which shocking cruelties were perpetrated on both sides; +German miners of Caurzim and Kuttenberg threw into abandoned mines all +the Calixtins on whom they could lay their hands, and some Bavarians who +were coming to the assistance of Rackzo of Ryzmberg tied to a tree and +burned the priest Naakvasa, a zealous Calixtin. Ziska was not behindhand +in this, and in burning convents not infrequently allowed the monks to +share the fate of their buildings. In the desultory war which raged +everywhere both sides cut off the hands and feet of prisoners.[554] + +Sigismund was now the lawful King of Bohemia, and he came to claim his +inheritance. As a preliminary step he sent envoys to Prague offering to +leave the use of the cup as it had been under Wenceslas, to call a +general assembly of the nation, and after consultation to refer any +questions to the Holy See. A meeting of the barons and clergy was held +which agreed to accept the terms. On Christmas Day, 1419, he came to +Brünn, and thither flocked the magnates and representatives of the +cities to tender their allegiance. The envoys of Prague, it is true, +persisted in using the cup, and there was an interdict in consequence +placed on Brünn during their stay, but when he ordered them to remove +the chains from the streets of Prague, and destroy the fortifications +which they had raised against the castle, there was no refusal, and on +their return, January 3, 1420, his commands were obeyed. His natural +faithlessness soon showed itself. He changed all the castellans and +officials who were favorable to the Hussites; the Catholics who had fled +or been expelled returned and commenced to triumph over their enemies; +and a royal edict was issued, in obedience to the decrees of Constance, +commanding all those in authority to exterminate the Wickliffites and +Hussites and those who used the sacramental cup. Still, the kingdom made +no sign of organized opposition to him, except that the provident Ziska +and his followers, seeing the wrath to come, diligently set to work to +fortify Mount Tabor. Strong by nature, it soon was made virtually +impregnable, and for a generation it remained the stronghold of the +extremists who became renowned throughout the world as Taborites. Mostly +peasant-folk, they showed to the chivalry of Europe what could be done +by freemen, animated by religious zeal and race hatred; their rustic +wagons made a rampart which the most valiant knights learned not to +assail; armed sometimes only with iron-shod flails, the hardy zealots +did not hesitate to throw themselves upon the best-appointed troops, and +often bore them down with the sheer weight of the attack. Wild and +undisciplined, they were often cruel, but their fanatic courage rendered +them a terror to all Germany.[555] + +Nothing, probably, could have averted an eventual explosion; but, for +the moment, it seemed that Sigismund was about to enter on peaceable +possession of his kingdom, and any subsequent rebellion would have been +attempted under great disadvantages. Suddenly, however, an act of +inconsiderate and gratuitous fanaticism set all Bohemia aflame. Some +trouble in Silesia had called Sigismund to Breslau, where he was joined +by a papal legate armed by Martin V. with power to proclaim a crusade +with Holy Land indulgences. John Krasa, a merchant of Prague, who +chanced to be there, talked over boldly about the innocence of Huss; he +was arrested, persisted in his faith, and was condemned by the legate +and prelates who were with Sigismund to be dragged by the heels at a +horse's tail to the place of execution and burned. While lying in prison +he was joined by Nicholas of Bethlehem, a student of Prague, who had +been sent by the city to Sigismund to offer to receive him if he would +not interfere with the use of the cup to the laity. In place of +listening to him he was tried as a heretic and thrown into prison to +await the result. Krasa encouraged him to endure to the last, and both +were brought forth on March 15, 1420, to undergo the punishment. As the +feet of Nicholas were about to be attached to the horse, his courage +gave way and he recanted. Krasa was undaunted; the legate followed him, +as he was dragged to the place of execution, exhorting him to repent, +but in vain; he was attached half-dead to the stake and duly burned. Two +days later, March 17, the legate proclaimed the crusade. The die was +cast; the Church so willed it, and a new Albigensian war was +inevitable.[556] + +There was wavering no longer in Bohemia. The events at Breslau united +all, with the exception of a few barons and such Germans as were left, +in resistance against Sigismund. The preachers thundered against him as +the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse. By April 3 the citizens of Utraquist +Prague had bound themselves by a solemn oath with the Taborites to +defend themselves against him to the last, and were busy in preparations +to sustain a siege. Sigismund's forces were wholly inadequate for the +conquest of a virtually united kingdom. After an advance to Kuttenberg +he was forced to withdraw and await the assembling of the crusade, which +took long to organize, and did not burst in its fury over Bohemia until +the following year, 1421. It was on a scale to crush all resistance. In +its mass of one hundred and fifty thousand men all Europe was +represented, from Russia to Spain and from Sicily to England. The +reunited Church aroused all Christendom to stamp out the revolt, and the +treasures of salvation were poured lavishly forth to exterminate those +who dared to maintain the innocence of Huss and Jerome, and to take the +Eucharist as all Christians had done until within two hundred years. The +war was waged with desperation. Five times during 1421 the crusaders +invaded Bohemia, and five times they were beaten back disastrously. The +gain to the faith was scarce perceptible, for Sigismund stripped the +churches of all their precious ornaments, declaring that he was not +impelled by lack of reverence, but by a prudent desire to prevent their +falling into the hands of the Hussites. Both sides perpetrated cruelties +happily unknown save in the ferocity of religious wars. During the siege +of Prague all Bohemians captured were burned as heretics whether they +used the cup or not; and on July 19 the besieged demanded of the +magistrates sixteen German prisoners, whom they took outside of the +walls and burned in hogsheads in full sight of the invading army. We can +estimate the mercilessness of the strife when it was reckoned among the +good deeds of George, Bishop of Passau, who accompanied Albert of +Austria, that by his intercession he saved the lives of many Bohemian +captives.[557] + +It is not our province to follow in detail this bloody struggle, in +which for ten years the Hussites successfully defied all the forces that +Martin and Sigismund could raise against them. When the crusaders came +they presented a united front, but within the line of common defence +they were torn with dissensions, bitter in proportion to their +exaltation of religious feeling. The right of private judgment when once +established, by admitting the doctrines of Wickliff and Huss, was not +easily restrained, nor could it be expected that those who were +persecuted would learn from persecution the lesson of tolerance. In the +wild tumult, intellectual, moral, and social, which convulsed Bohemia, +no doctrines were too extravagant to lack believers. + +In 1418 it is related that forty Pikardi with their wives and children +came to Prague, where they were hospitably received and cared for by +Queen Sophia and other persons of rank. They had no priest, but one of +their number used to read to them out of certain little books, and they +took communion in one element. They vanish from view without leaving a +trace of their influence, and were doubtless Beghards driven from their +homes and seeking a refuge beyond the reach of orthodoxy. Yet their name +remained, and was long used in Bohemia as a term of the bitterest +contempt for those who denied transubstantiation. Subsequently, however, +there was a more portentous demonstration of the Brethren of the Free +Spirit. A stranger, said to come from Flanders, whose name, +"Pichardus," shows evidently that he was a Beghard, disseminated the +doctrine of the Brethren, and among other things that nakedness was +essential to purity, which we have seen was one of the extravagances of +the sect. The practice was one which in a more settled state of society +could not have been ventured on, but in Bohemia he found little +difficulty in obtaining quite a large following of both sexes, with whom +he settled on an island in the river Luznic, and dignified them with the +name of Adamites. Perhaps they might have flourished undisturbed had not +fanaticism, or possibly retaliation for aggression, led them to make a +foray on the mainland and slay some two hundred peasants, whom they +styled children of the devil. Ziska's attention being thus drawn to +them, he captured the island and exterminated them. Fifty of them, men +and women, were burned at Klokot, and those who escaped were hunted down +and gradually shared the same fate, which they met with undaunted +cheerfulness, laughing and singing as they went to the stake.[558] + +In the sudden removal of ecclesiastical repression of free thought it +was inevitable that unbalanced minds should riot in extravagant +speculation. Among the zealots who subsequently developed into the sect +of the Taborites there was at first a strong tendency to apocalyptic +prophecy suited to the times. First, there was to be a period of +unsparing vengeance, during which safety could be found only in five +specified cities of refuge, after which would follow the second advent +of Christ, and the reign of peace and love among the elect, and earth +would become a paradise. At first, the destruction of the wicked was to +be the work of God, but as passions became fiercer it was held to be the +duty of the righteous to cut them off without sparing. These Chiliasts +or Millenarians had for their leader Martin Huska, surnamed Loquis, on +account of his eloquence, and numbered among them Coranda and other +prominent Taborite priests. Waldensian influence is visible in some +features of their faith, and they rendered themselves peculiarly +obnoxious by the denial of transubstantiation. For this they were +exposed to pitiless persecution wherever their adversaries could +exercise it. One of their leading members, a cobbler of Prague, named +Wenceslas, was burned in a hogshead, July 23, 1421, for refusing to rise +at the elevation of the host, and soon afterwards three priests shared +the same fate because they refused to light candles before the +sacrament. Martin Loquis himself was arrested in February of the same +year, but was released at the intercession of the Taborites, and set out +with a companion to seek Procopius in Moravia. At Chrudim, however, the +travellers were arrested, and were burned at Hradisch after two months +of torture vainly inflicted to wean them from their errors and force +them to reveal the names of their associates. As a distinct sect the +Chiliasts speedily disappear from view, but their members remained a +portion of the Taborites, the development of whose opinions they +profoundly influenced. In the delegation sent to Basle, in 1433, Peter +of Zatce, who represented the Orphans, had been a Chiliast.[559] + +Thus these minor sects vanished as parties organized themselves in a +permanent form, and the Bohemian reformers are found divided into two +camps--the moderates, known as Calixtins or Utraquists, from their chief +characteristic, the administration of the cup to the laity, and the +extremists, or Taborites. + +The Calixtins virtually regarded the teachings of Huss and Jacobel of +Mies, as a finality. When, after the death of Wenceslas, the necessity +of some definite declaration of principles was felt, the University of +Prague, on August 1, 1420, adopted, with but one dissenting voice, four +articles which became for more than a century the distinguishing +platform of their sect. As concisely enunciated by the University they +appeared simple enough: I. Free preaching of the Word of God; II. +Communion in both elements for the laity; III. The clergy to be deprived +of all dominion over temporal possessions, and to be reduced to the +evangelical life of Christ and the apostles; IV. All offences against +divine law to be punished without exception of person or condition. +These four articles were speedily accepted by the strongly Calixtin +community of Prague, and were proclaimed to the world in various forms +which added to their completeness and rendered their purport definite. +Any one was declared a heretic who did not accept the Apostles', +Athanasian, and Nicene creeds, the seven sacraments of the Church, and +the existence of purgatory. Offences against the law of God were +declared to be worthy of death, both of the offender and those who +connived at them, and were defined to be, among the people, fornication, +banqueting, theft, homicide, perjury, lying, arts superfluous, +deceitful, and superstitious, avarice, usury, etc.: among the clergy, +simoniacal exactions, such as fees for administering the sacraments, for +preaching, burying, bell-ringing, consecration of churches and altars, +as well as the sale of preferment; also concubinage and fornication, +quarrels, vexing and spoiling the people with frivolous citations, +greedy exactions of tribute, etc.[560] + +Upon this basis the Calixtin Church proceeded to organize itself in a +council held at Prague in 1421. Four leading doctors, John of Przibram, +Procopius of Pilsen, Jacobel of Mies, and John of Neuberg, were made +supreme governors of the clergy throughout the kingdom, with absolute +power of punishment. No one was to teach any new doctrine without first +submitting it to them or to a provincial synod. Transubstantiation was +emphatically affirmed as well as the seven sacraments. The daily use of +the Eucharist was recommended to all, including infants and the sick. +The canon of the mass was simplified and restored to primitive usage. +Auricular confession was prescribed, as well as the use of the chrism +and of holy water in baptism. Clerks were to be distinguished by +tonsure, vestments, and conduct. Every priest was to possess a copy of +the Scriptures, or at least of the New Testament, and stringent +regulations were adopted for the preservation of priestly morality, +including the prohibition of their protection by any layman after +conviction.[561] + +Thus the Calixtin Church kept as close as possible to the old lines. It +accepted all Catholic dogmas, even the power of the keys in sacramental +penance, and only was a protest and revolt against the abuses which had +grown out of the worldly aspirations of the clergy. It was a Puritan +reform, and it founded a Puritan society. When, after the reconciliation +effected at Basle, on the basis of the four articles, Sigismund, in +1436, held his court in Prague, the Bohemians speedily complained that +the city was becoming a Sodom with dicing, tavern-haunting, and public +women. It must have sounded strange to them to be coolly told by a +Christian prelate, the Bishop of Coutances, who was the legate of the +council empowered to enforce the settlement, that it would be well if +public sins could be eradicated, but that strumpets must be tolerated to +prevent greater evils.[562] + +The Calixtins thus sought to keep themselves strictly within the pale of +orthodoxy, and deemed themselves greatly injured and insulted by the +appellation of heretic. After the reconciliation of 1436 one of their +most constant causes of complaint was that they were still stigmatized +as heretics, and that the Council of Basle would not issue letters +proclaiming to Christendom that they were regarded as faithful sons of +the Church. In 1464, after successive popes had repeatedly refused to +ratify the pacification of Basle and had excommunicated as hardened +heretics George Podiebrad and all who acknowledged him as king, when +George sent an embassy to Louis XI. of France, Kostka of Postubitz, the +envoy, and his attendants were more than once surprised and annoyed to +find that the people of the towns through which they passed were +disposed to regard them as heretics. The position of the Bohemian +Calixtins was an anomalous one which has no parallel in the history of +mediæval Christendom.[563] + +In the intellectual and spiritual excitement which stirred Bohemia to +the depths, it was impossible that all earnest souls should thus pause +on the threshold. The old Waldensian heretics, who had hailed the +progress of Wickliffite and Hussite doctrines, would naturally seek to +prevent the arrested development of the Calixtins from prevailing, and, +as we have seen, there were plenty of zealots who were ready to throw +aside all the theology of sacerdotalism. Under the energetic leadership +of Ziska, Coranda, Nicholas of Pilgram, and other resolute men, the +progressive elements were rapidly moulded into a powerful party, which +after sloughing off impracticable enthusiasts presented itself with a +definite creed and purpose, and became known as the Taborites. Of late +years there has been an active controversy as to whether the Waldenses +were the teachers or the disciples of the Taborites. Without denying +that the fearless vigor of the latter lent added strength to the +development of the former, I cannot but think that the secret +Waldensianism of Bohemia had much to do both with the revolt of Huss and +with the carrying out of that revolt to its logical consequences. +Certain it is that there were close and friendly relations between +Waldensian and Taborite, while the very name of the former was regarded +by all other Bohemians as a term of reproach--in fact there was so much +in common between Wickliffite and Waldensian doctrine that this could +scarce be otherwise. I have already alluded to the contributions made to +the Hussites in 1432 by the Waldensian churches of Dauphiné, and to the +virtual coalescence of Hussitism and Waldensianism throughout Germany. +When Procopius the Great, in 1433, was taking leave of the Council of +Basle, he had the hardihood to inject into his address a good word for +the Waldenses, saying that he had heard them well spoken of for +chastity, modesty, and similar virtues. Persecution in 1430 so thinned +them out that they had neither bishop nor priests; Nicholas of Pilgram, +the Taborite bishop, had enjoyed consecration in the Roman Church, and +thus had the right to transmit the apostolic succession, and he, in +1433, in Prague consecrated for the Waldenses as bishops two of their +number, Frederic the German, and John the Italian. When, in 1451, Æneas +Sylvius passed a night in Mount Tabor, and wrote a picturesque +description of what he observed, he states that while all heresies had a +refuge there, the Waldenses were held in chief honor as the vicars of +Christ and enemies of the Holy See.[564] + +When the Calixtins, in 1421, defined their position, the Taborites did +the same. Various special Waldensian errors were attracting attention +and obtaining currency among the people--the denial of purgatory, the +vitiation of the sacrament in sinful hands, the absolute rejection of +the death-punishment and of the oath--showing the influences at work. +The position assumed by the Taborites was so strikingly similar to the +beliefs ascribed in 1395 to the Waldenses in Austria by the Celestinian +inquisitor, Peter, that it is impossible not to recognize the connection +between them. While the Taborites accepted the four articles of the +Calixtins they reduced the Church to a state of the utmost apostolic +simplicity. Tradition was wholly thrown aside; all images were to be +burned; there was no outward sign of distinction between layman and +priest, the latter wearing beards, rejecting the tonsure, and using +ordinary garments; all priests, moreover, were bishops, and could +perform the rite of consecration; they baptized in running water, +without the chrism, celebrated mass anywhere, reciting the simple words +of consecration and the Paternoster in a loud voice and in the +vernacular, administering the body in fragments of bread and the blood +in any vessel which might be handy; all consecrations of sacred vessels, +oil, and water was forbidden; purgatory, which Huss had accepted, was +denied, and to manifest their contempt for the suffrages of the saints +they ate more than usual on fast-days and saints'-days; auricular +confession was derided--for venial sins confession to God sufficed, for +mortal ones, public confession before the brethren, when the priest +would assign a penalty commensurate with the offence. At the same time +the rude and uncultured vigor of the Taborites led them to regard all +human learning as a snare. Those who studied the liberal arts were +regarded as heathen and as sinning against the Gospel, and all writings +of the doctors, save what were expressly contained in the Bible, were to +be destroyed.[565] + +What were their views with respect to the Lord's Supper cannot be stated +with precision. Laurence of Brezowa, a Calixtin bitterly hostile to +them, says that they consecrated the elements in a loud voice and in the +vulgar tongue, that the people might be assured that they were receiving +the real body and the real blood, which infers belief in +transubstantiation. In 1431 Procopius the Great and other leaders of the +Taborites issued a proclamation defining their position, in which they +asserted their disbelief in purgatory, in the intercessory power of the +Virgin and saints, in masses for the dead, in absolution through +indulgences, etc., but said nothing against transubstantiation. When, in +1436, the legates of the Council of Basle complained of the +non-observance of the Compactata, one of their grievances was that +Bohemia still sheltered Wickliffites who believed in the remanence of +the substance of the bread, but they said nothing about the existence of +any worse form of belief. On the other hand, the Taborite Bishop, +Nicholas of Pilgram, strongly asserted that Christ was only present +spiritually, that no veneration was due to the consecrated elements, and +that there was less idolatry in those who of old adored moles and bats +and snakes than in Christians who worshipped the host, for those things +at least had life. During the negotiations, in January, 1433, the +legates of the council presented a series of twenty-eight articles, +attributed to the Bohemians, and asked for definite answers, yea or nay. +One of these was a denial of transubstantiation, and the Bohemians could +never be induced to make the desired reply. Peter Chelcicky reproached +the Taborites with concealing their belief on the subject, but it is +probable that there was no absolute accord among them. The Chiliast +leaven doubtless spread the denial of transubstantiation; others +probably adopted the Wickliffite doctrine of remanence; others again may +have preserved the orthodox faith, and all resented the appellation of +Pikards, with which the Bohemians designated those who disbelieved in +the absolute conversion of the elements. Certain it is that the question +did not come up with any prominence in the negotiations with the +Council of Basle; and in the description which Æneas Sylvius gives, in +1451, of the Taborites of Mount Tabor he simply says that some of them +are so foolish that they hold the doctrine of Berenger, that the body of +Christ is only figuratively in the sacrament.[566] + +It was impossible that harmony could be preserved between Taborite and +Calixtin when there was so marked a divergence of religious conviction. +They quarrelled and held conferences and persecuted each other, but they +presented a united front to the levies of crusaders which Europe +repeatedly sent against them, and Sigismund's hope of reconquering the +throne of his fathers grew more and more remote. The death of Ziska, in +1424, made little difference, save that his immediate followers +organized themselves into a separate party under the name of Orphans, +but continued in all things to co-operate with the Taborites. He was +succeeded in the leadership by the warrior-priest Procopius Rasa, or the +Great, whose military skill continued to hold banded Europe at bay. +Hussitism, moreover, was spreading into the neighboring lands, +especially to the south and east, requiring, as we shall see hereafter, +the strenuous efforts of the Inquisition to eradicate it from Hungary +and the Danubian provinces. In Poland its missionary efforts called +forth an edict from King Ladislas V., April 6, 1424, ordering all his +subjects to join in exterminating heretics; every Pole who returned from +a sojourn in Bohemia was subjected to examination by the inquisitors or +episcopal officials, and all who should not return by June 1 were +declared heretics, their estates confiscated, and their children +subjected to the customary disabilities.[567] The Church was completely +baffled. It had triumphed over a similar revolt in Languedoc, and had +shown the world, in characters of blood and fire, how it utilized its +triumphs. It now had a different problem to solve. Force having failed, +it was obliged to discover some formula of reconciliation which should +not too nearly peril its claim to infallibility. + +To do it justice, it did not yield without compulsion. Tired of standing +on the defensive against assaults whose repetition seemed endless, +Procopius, in 1427, adopted the policy of aggression. He would win peace +by making the coterminous states feel the miseries of war, and in a +series of relentlessly destructive raids, continued till 1432, he +carried desolation into all the surrounding provinces. Thus in a foray +of 1429, which cut a swath through Franconia, Saxony, and the Vogtland, +over a hundred castles and fortified towns were captured, and an immense +booty was carried back to Bohemia. Misnia, Lusatia, Silesia, Bavaria, +Austria, and Hungary in turn felt the weight of the Hussite sword, while +the prompt retirement of the invaders in every case showed that +retaliation and not conquest was their object. It was no wonder that a +general cry for peace went up among those who bore the brunt of the +effort to reassert the papal supremacy.[568] + +Meanwhile the Church was perplexed with another yet more vexatious +question. Christendom never ceased to clamor for the reform of which it +had been cheated at Constance. Skilful procrastination had wearied the +reforming fathers, and they had consented, in 1418, to the dissolution +of the council, hoping that the promises made in the election of Martin +V. would be fulfilled. They took the precaution, however, to provide for +an endless series of councils, which might be expected to resume and +complete their unfinished work, and the plan which they laid out shows +how deep-seated was the distrust entertained of the papacy. Another +general council was ordered to be held in five years, then one in seven +years thereafter, and finally a perpetual succession at intervals of ten +years, with careful provisions to nullify the expected evasions of the +popes.[569] + +As far as relates to Germany, Martin endeavored to perform the two +duties for which he had been elected--the suppression of heresy and the +reformation of the Church--by sending, in 1422, Cardinal Branda thither +as legate. To accomplish the former object the legate was directed to +preach another crusade, that of 1421 having ended so disastrously. As +regards the latter feature of his mission, the papal commission and the +decree issued in conformity with it by Branda describe the vices of the +German clergy in terms quite as severe as those employed by Huss and his +followers, and furnish a complete justification of the Bohemian revolt. +The only wonder is that pope or kaiser could expect the populations to +rest satisfied with the ministrations of men who assumed to be gifted +with supernatural power and to speak in the name of the Redeemer, while +steeped to the lips in every form of greed, uncleanness, and lust. The +constitution which Branda issued to cure these evils only prescribed a +repetition of remedies which had vainly been applied for centuries. It +simply attacked the symptoms and not the cause of the disease, and it +consequently remained inoperative.[570] + +Five years had elapsed since the ending of the Council of Constance. +Nothing had been accomplished to suppress heresy or reform the Church, +and when in due time the Council of Siena assembled, in 1423, it +remained to be seen whether the unfinished work of Constance could be +completed. Under the presidency of four papal legates it was held that +the attendance of prelates and princes was too small to permit the work +of reformation to be undertaken, but it was sufficient to justify the +council in confirming the promises made by Martin of forgiveness of sins +for all who should assist in exterminating the heretics. All Christian +princes were summoned to lend their aid in the good work without delay +if they wished to escape divine vengeance and the penalties provided by +law. All commerce of every kind with the heretics was forbidden, +especially in victuals, cloth, arms, gunpowder, and lead; every one +trading with them, or any prince permitting communication with them +over his lands was pronounced subject to the punishments decreed against +heresy. Bohemia was to be isolated and starved into submission by a +material blockade enforced by spiritual censures.[571] + +As for reformation, it was found that all efforts seriously to consider +it were skilfully blocked by the legates. This is not surprising, as the +Church was to be reformed in its head as well as in its members, and the +head was recognized as the chief source of infection. A project +presented by the Gallican deputies described in indignant bitterness the +abuses of the curia--the sale of preferments and dignities to the +highest bidder, irrespective of fitness, with the consequent destruction +of benefices and plunder of the people; the papal dispensations which +enabled the most incongruous pluralities to be held by individuals, and +the other devices whereby Rome was enriched at the cost of religion; the +centralizing of all jurisdiction in Rome to the spoliation of the +indigent who dwelt at a distance; the papal decrees which set aside the +salutary regulations of general councils--showing how nugatory had been +the reformatory regulations wherewith Martin, when elected, had parried +the attacks of the Council of Constance. The disappointment of the +Council of Siena at the baffling of its efforts was leading to a tension +of feeling that grew dangerous. A French friar, Guillaume Joselme, +preached a sermon in which he demonstrated that the pope was the servant +and not the master of the Church. The legates denounced him as a +heretic, and ordered the magistrates of Siena to arrest him, but they, +unlike Sigismund, replied that they had given a safe-conduct to all the +members of the council, and could not go behind it. Finally, finding +that under the control of the papacy no reformatory action was possible, +the attempt was made to shorten to two or three years the seven years' +interval that was to elapse before the next council. All the several +nations had agreed to it when its enactment was prevented by the legates +suddenly dissolving the council, March 8, 1424, in spite of a protest +intimating very plainly that they had prevented all reformatory +legislation. The seven years' interval was preserved, and the next +council was indicated for Basle, in 1431. The reformers consoled +themselves by pointing out that, of the four papal representatives +concerned in thus strangling the council, three died within a year, of +terrible deaths, manifestly the divine vengeance on their wickedness. +Martin made a show of supplementing this lack of performance by +appointing a commission of three cardinals to carry on the work of +reform, and requested all complaints and suggestions to be sent to +them--a measure which was as profitless in result as it was intended to +be. Equally illusory was a constitution issued shortly after, +restraining the ostentation and extravagance of the cardinals, and +prohibiting them from assuming the "protection" of any prince or +potentate, or asking favors except for the poor or for their own +retainers and kindred, thus reducing the importance of the Sacred +College as a factor of the Holy See and exalting his own.[572] + +The time fixed for the assembling of the Council of Basle, March, 1431, +was rapidly drawing nigh without any action on the part of Martin +looking to its convocation. He who owed his election to a general +council was notorious for abhorring the very name of council. At length, +on November 8, 1430, there appeared on the doors of the papal palace, +and in the most conspicuous places in Rome, an anonymous notice, +purporting to be issued by two Christian kings, reciting the necessity +of holding a council in obedience to the decrees of Constance, and +appending some conclusions of a threatening character, to the effect +that if the pope and cardinals impede it, or even evade promoting it, +they are to be held as fautors of heresy; that if the pope does not open +the council himself or by his deputies, those who may be present will be +compelled by divine law to withdraw obedience from him, and Christendom +will be bound to obey them, and that they will be forced to proceed +summarily to his deposition and that of the cardinals as fautors of +heresy. It was evident that Christendom was determined to have the +council, with the pope or without him, and Martin, after holding out +till the last moment, was compelled to yield. He had appointed, January +11, 1431, Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini as legate to preach another crusade +with plenary indulgences against the Hussites, and to him he issued, +February 1, a commission to open and preside at the council. One of +those most earnest in bringing this about was the Cardinal of Siena. Had +he been able to forecast the future he would have tempered his zeal. +Within three weeks Martin was dead, and on March 3 the Cardinal of Siena +was elected his successor, taking the name of Eugenius IV.[573] + +Cardinal Giuliano went on his double mission and preached the fifth +crusade against the Hussites. The Bohemian forays had stimulated Germany +to an earnest effort to crush the troublesome rebels, and he found +himself at the head of an army variously estimated at from eighty +thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand men. The Bohemians applied +to the Emperor Sigismund for a safe-conduct to Basle, offering to submit +the questions at issue to debate on the basis of Scripture. This was +refused, and they were told that they must agree to stand to the +decisions of the council without limitation. They preferred the +arbitrament of arms, and issued a protest to the Christian world in +which, with coarse good sense, they defined their position, attacked the +temporal power of the papacy, and ridiculed the indulgences issued for +their subjugation. This document was received by the council on August +10, very nearly on the day on which, at Taas, the crusaders fled without +striking a blow, on hearing the battle-hymn of the dreaded Hussite +troops. As a military leader Cardinal Giuliano was evidently a failure, +and it only remained for him to try peaceful measures. The German +princes, alarmed and exhausted, showed evident signs of determination to +come to terms with their unconquerable neighbors. It was a hard +necessity, but there was no alternative, and on October 15 the council +resolved to invite the Bohemians to a conference and to give them a +safe-conduct, although the letters were not forwarded until November +26.[574] + +Meanwhile the inevitable quarrels between pope and council had broken +out with bitterness. But three weeks after the invitation to the +Bohemians had been despatched, on December 18, Eugenius took the extreme +step of dissolving the council and calling another to be held in +eighteen months at Bologna, where he would preside in person. At this +action Germany was aghast. Sigismund remonstrated energetically, and the +council, assured of his support, refused to obey. Cardinal Giuliano was +won over and made himself its mouthpiece. He had had an opportunity of +observing the condition of men's minds north of the Alps, and he knew to +what a storm the bark of St. Peter would be exposed. It may safely be +said that since the papacy became dominant over the Church few popes +have received from a subordinate so vigorous a reproof as that in which +Giuliano gave his reasons for disobedience, and it contains so vivid a +picture of the times that a brief abstract of it cannot well be spared. +Clerical wickedness, he says, in Germany is such that the laity are +irritated to the last degree against the Church, wherefore it is greatly +to be feared that if there is no reformation they will execute their +public threats of rising, like the Hussites, against the clergy. This +turpitude has given great audacity to the Bohemians and lends color to +their heresy, and if the clergy cannot be reformed the suppression of +this heresy would lead only to the breaking-out of another. The +Bohemians have been invited to the council; they have replied and are +expected to come. If the council is dissolved, what will the heretics +say? Will not the Church confess herself defeated when she dares not +await those whom she has invited? Will not the hand of God be seen in +it? A host of warriors has fled before them, and now the Church +universal flies! Behold, they cannot be overcome either by arms or +arguments! Alas for the wretched clergy wherever they be! Will they not +be deemed incorrigible and determined to live in their filth? So many +councils have been held in our days from which no reformation has come! +From this one the nations have expected some fruit. If it be thus +dissolved, we shall be said to laugh at God and man, and when there is +no hope of our correction the laity will justly assail us, like the +Hussites. Already there are reports of it, already they begin to spit +forth the venom which is to destroy us. They will think to offer a +welcome sacrifice to God when they slay or despoil us, who will then be +odious both to God and man, and whereas now there is little respect for +us, there will then be none. The council was some restraint upon them, +but when they lose all hope they will persecute us publicly, and the +whole blame will be thrown upon the Roman curia, which breaks up the +assembly convened to effect reform. Latterly the city of Magdeburg has +expelled her archbishop and clergy; the citizens march with wagons like +the Bohemians, and are said to have sent for a Hussite captain, and they +have, moreover, a league with many other communities of those parts. The +people of Passau have driven out their bishop and are besieging one of +his castles. Both cities are near to Bohemia, and if, as is to be +feared, they unite they will have a following of many other towns. At +Bamberg there is fierce discord between the citizens on the one side and +the bishop and chapter on the other, which is especially dangerous by +reason of the neighborhood of the heretics. If the council is dissolved +these quarrels will increase, and many other communities will be drawn +in.[575] + +Making due allowance for inevitable rhetorical exaggeration this picture +is a true one. Hussite ideas were rapidly spreading through Germany, and +finding a congenial soil in the aversion born of incurable clerical +corruption. About this time Felix Hemmerlin complains of the countless +souls seduced to heresy by the emissaries who, every year, come from +Bohemia to Berne and Soleure. Numerous executions of heretics are +recorded at this period in Flanders, where persecution had been for +centuries almost unknown, and we may be sure that Hussite missionaries +were busily carrying on an equally successful propaganda elsewhere. If +the hopes which were built on the council were destroyed, the Church +might well expect a general revolt. Sustained by the united support of +Cismontane Christendom, the council resolutely went its way. Sigismund +urged it to stand firm, and in November, 1432, he issued an imperial +declaration that he would sustain it against all assailants. Eugenius +held out until February, 1433, when he assented to its continuance, but +in July he again dissolved it, and in September repeated the command. +Then the council commenced active proceedings to arraign and try him, +and in December he revoked these bulls. In the subsequent quarrel the +council decreed his suspension in January, 1439, and his deposition in +June, while the election of Amedeo of Savoy as Felix V. was confirmed in +November of the same year.[576] + +Into the details of the interminable negotiations which followed between +the council and the Hussites it is not worth while to enter. The latter +carried their point, and, in a conference held at Eger, May 18, 1439, it +was agreed that the questions should be debated on the basis of the +Scriptures and the writings of the early fathers. The four articles +which were the common ground of Calixtins and Taborites were put forward +as their demands, and to these they steadily adhered through all the +dreary discussions in Basle, Prague, Brünn, Stuhlweissenberg, to the +final conference of Iglau in July, 1436. The discussions were ofttimes +hot and angry, and the good fathers of Basle were sometimes scandalized +at the freedom of speech of the Bohemian delegates. When John of Ragusa +alluded to the Hussites as heretics, John Rokyzana, one of the Calixtin +delegates, indignantly denied it, and demanded that if any one accused +them of heresy he should offer the _talio_ and prove it. Procopius, who +represented the Taborites, joined in and declared that he would not have +come to Basle had he known that he would be thus insulted. Time and +skill were required to pacify the Bohemians, and John of Ragusa and the +Archbishop of Lyons were forced to apologize formally. On another +occasion the Inquisitor Henry of Coblentz, a Dominican doctor, +complained that Ulric of Znaim, a deputy of the Orphans, had said that +monks were introduced by the devil. Ulric denied it, and Procopius +intervened, saying that he had remarked to the legate that if the +bishops came from the apostles, and priests from the seventy-two +disciples, the others could have had no other source but the devil. This +sally raised a general laugh, which was increased when Rokyzana called +to the inquisitor, "Doctor, make Dom Procopius provincial of your +order." These trifles have their significance when compared with the +shouts of "Burn him! Burn him!" which assailed Huss at Constance. In +fact the Hussites were urged to incorporate themselves with the council, +but they were too shrewd to fall into the snare.[577] + +By unbending firmness the Bohemians carried their point, and secured the +recognition of the four articles, which became celebrated in history as +the Compactata--the Magna Charta of the Bohemian Church until swept away +by the counter-Reformation. This was agreed to in Prague, November 26, +1433, and confirmed by mutual clasp of hands between the legates of the +council and the deputies of the three Bohemian sects, but matters were +by no means settled. The four articles were brief and simple +declarations which admitted of unlimited diversity of construction. The +dialecticians of the council had no difficulty in explaining them away, +until they practically amounted to nothing; the Hussites, on the other +side, with equal facility, expanded them to cover all that they could +possibly wish to claim. Hardly was the handclasping over when it was +found that the Bohemians asserted that the permission of communion in +both elements meant that they were to continue to administer it to +infants, and to force it proscriptively on every one--positions to which +the council could by no means assent. This will serve as an illustration +of the innumerable questions which kept the negotiators busy during yet +thirty dreary months. So far, indeed, was the matter as yet from being +settled, that, in April, 1434, the council levied a half-tithe on +Christendom for a crusade against the Hussites, which enabled it to +stimulate with liberal payments the zeal of the Bohemian Catholic +nobles.[578] + +It is not likely that any results would have been reached but for events +which at first seemed to threaten the continuance of the negotiations. +The Taborites could only have consented to treat on the basis, so +inadequate to them, of the four articles, in the confidence that the +practical application would cover a vastly wider sphere. After the +preliminary agreement of November 26, the construction assumed by the +legates of the council made them draw back. The affair was reaching a +conclusion, and it was necessary to have a definite understanding of +that to which they were binding themselves. After the departure of the +legates from Prague, in January, 1434, hot discussions arose between +them and the Calixtins as to the continuance of the negotiations. There +were political as well as religious differences between them. The +Taborites were mostly peasants and poor folk; they wanted no nobles or +gentlemen in their ranks, and seem to have had republican tendencies, as +they desired to add to the four articles two others, providing for the +independence of Bohemia and for the retention of all confiscated +property. Both parties became exasperated, and flew to arms for a +contest decisive as to their respective mastery. The Taborites had for +some time been besieging Pilsen, a city which held out for Sigismund. +Learning that their friends in the Neustadt of Prague had been +slaughtered without distinction of age or sex, to the number, it is +said, of twenty-two thousand, they raised the siege, May 9, to take +vengeance on the city, but after a demonstration before it, they +withdrew towards Moravia. Meanwhile the Calixtins had formed an alliance +with the Catholic barons, who had been liberally subsidized by the +council, and followed them with a formidable force. The shock came at +Lipan, on Sunday, May 30. All day and night the battle raged, and until +the third hour of Monday morning. When it was over, Procopius, Lupus, +and thirteen thousand of the bravest Taborites lay dead upon the field, +and the murderous nature of the strife is seen in the fact that but +seven hundred prisoners were taken, though we may question the claim of +the victors that the battle cost them but two hundred men, and we may +hope that there is exaggeration in the boast that they burned several +thousand of those whom they subsequently captured. The power of the +Taborites was utterly broken. It is true that they continued to hold +Mount Tabor until finally crushed by George Podiebrad, in 1452; and that +in the December following the battle their unconquerable spirit was +again contemplating an appeal to arms, but after Lipan they were only a +troublesome element of insubordination, and not a factor in the +political situation. The congratulatory letters sent by some of the +victors to Sigismund, and the effusive joy with which he communicated +the news to the council, show that the victory was one for the +Catholics.[579] + +Even after the virtual elimination of the Taborites there were ample +subjects of dispute, and at one time the prospect seemed so unpromising +that preliminary arrangements were set on foot, in August, 1434, for +organizing a new crusade on the proceeds of the half-tithe levied +shortly before. One source of endless trouble sprang from the personal +ambition of Rokyzana. Learned, able, a hardy disputant, and a skilled +man of affairs, he had determined to be Archbishop of Prague, and this +object he pursued with unalterable constancy. He bore a leading part in +the negotiations, and made himself as conspicuous as possible, shifting +his ground with dexterity, interposing objections and smoothing them as +the interest of the moment might dictate. At first he endeavored to have +a clause inserted that the people and the clergy should be empowered to +elect an archbishop, who should be acknowledged and confirmed by the +emperor and the pope. This being rejected, he procured of Sigismund a +secret agreement that the election should be held, and that the emperor +would do all in his power to secure the confirmation by the pope, +without cost for pallium, confirmation, or notarial fees. Although this, +when discovered, was protested against by the legates of the council and +refused by the council itself, he proceeded, in 1435, to obtain an +election by the national assembly of Bohemia, to the great disgust of +the orthodox, who reasonably dreaded this example of a return of the +primitive methods of selecting prelates. Again Sigismund secretly +accepted this, while the legates declared it to be invalid, and that, as +an infraction of the Compactata, it must be annulled. On this question +the whole negotiation was nearly wrecked, and it was only settled by +Sigismund and his son-in-law and heir, Albert of Austria, promising to +issue letters recognizing Rokyzana as archbishop, and to compel +obedience to him as such. After this it required but a fortnight more of +quarrelling to bring the matter to a termination, and signatures to the +Compactata were duly exchanged July 5, 1436, amid general rejoicings. +Sigismund, restored to the throne of his fathers, made a show of +complying with his promise, by writing to the council a letter asking +Rokyzana's confirmation, at the same time explaining to the legates that +he considered the council ought to refuse, but that he did not wish to +break with his new subjects too suddenly. Of course the confirmation +never came, and although Rokyzana called God to witness that he did not +wish the archbishopric, the policy of his long life was devoted to +obtaining it. With all convenient speed Sigismund forgot the pledge to +enforce obedience to him. His position became so dangerous that he +secretly fled from Prague, June 16, 1437, and remained in exile until +after the deaths of Sigismund and Albert, when he returned in 1440, and +speedily became the most powerful man in Bohemia. This position he +retained until his death, in 1471, administering the archbishopric, +constantly seeking confirmation at the hands of successive popes, and +subordinating the policy of the kingdom, internal and external, so far +as he dared, to that object--not the least anomalous feature of the +anomalous Calixtin Church.[580] + +A peace in which all parties distrusted each other and placed radically +different interpretations on its conditions was not likely to heal +dissensions so profound. The very day after the solemn ratification of +the Compactata an ominous disturbance showed how superficial was the +reconciliation. In the presence of an immense crowd, at the high altar +of the church of Iglau, where the final conferences were held, the +Bishop of Coutances, chief of the legation of the council, celebrated +mass and returned thanks to God. After this the letters of agreement +were read in Bohemian, and Rokyzana commented upon them in the same +language, much to the discomfort of the legates. He had been celebrating +mass at a side altar, and when the reading was finished he called out, +"If any one wishes communion in both elements let him come to this +altar and it will be given to him." The legates rushed over to him and +twice forbade him, but he quietly disregarded them and administered the +sacrament to eight or ten persons. The incident excited intense feeling +on both sides. The Bohemians demanded that a church be assigned to them +in Iglau where during their stay they could receive the sacrament in +both kinds; the legates refused the request, although urged by the +emperor, and finally, after threats of departure, the Bohemians were +forced to content themselves with celebrating, as they had previously +done, in private houses.[581] + +When Sigismund was fairly seated on the throne, there followed an +endless series of bickerings, as the rites and ceremonies and usages of +the Roman Church were restored, supplanting the simpler worship which +had prevailed for twenty years. Consecrations, confirmations, images, +relics, holy water, benedictions, were one by one introduced--even the +hated religious orders were surreptitiously smuggled in. The canonical +hours and chants were renewed in the churches, and every effort was made +to accustom the people to a resurrection of the old order of things. On +Corpus Christi day, May 30, 1437, a gorgeous procession swept through +the streets of Prague bearing the host on high; the legate, the +Archbishop of Kalocsa, and the Bishop of Segnia headed it, and were +dutifully followed by the emperor and empress, the nobles and a mass of +citizens. As a mute protest, Rokyzana met the splendid array, attended +only by three priests, and bearing both host and cup. To the stern +puritans who had so long struggled against the Scarlet Woman the +imposing ceremony must have seemed a bitter mockery, for the Empress +Barbara, who occupied a conspicuous position in the ranks, was a woman +notorious for shameless licentiousness, and, moreover, was an avowed +atheist, who disbelieved in the immortality of the soul.[582] + +Within three weeks of this celebration, Rokyzana was a fugitive, seeking +the protection of George Podiebrad at Hradecz, not without reason, if +Æneas Sylvius is correct in saying that Sigismund was about to arrest +him and punish him condignly. Then the process of reaction went on +apace. Had Sigismund lived, he might have overcome all resistance, and +reduced the land to obedience to Rome. His power was constantly growing. +In March the surrender of the Taborite stronghold of Konigingrätz filled +the Hussites with consternation. Not long after siege was laid to Zion, +the fastness of John Rohacz, a powerful baron who had refused +submission. He was finally captured in it, brought to Prague, and hanged +in the presence of the emperor with sixty of his followers and a priest. +Tradition relates that on that very day Sigismund was attacked with an +ulcer which grew constantly worse and ended his days in December. Almost +simultaneous with this was the decision by the Council of Basle on the +question of communion in both elements, in which it skilfully evaded the +inconsistency of the prohibition of the cup, and pronounced it to be the +law of the Church, not to be modified without authority. As Albert of +Austria, the son-in-law and successor of Sigismund, was a zealous +Catholic prince, the council was emboldened in January, 1438, to issue +an edict reciting and ordering the strict enforcement of the implacable +bull of February 22, 1418, by Martin V., directed against the errors of +Wickliff, Huss, and Jerome. This evidence of what they were to expect as +the outcome of the Compactata gave the Taborites and the disaffected +parties in Bohemia new energy. After a fruitless appeal to the council +an alliance was made with Poland, whose boy-king, Casimir, was elected +as a competitor. Thus strengthened they offered effective resistance to +Albert, who up to his sudden death, October 27, 1439, was unable to +occupy the whole of his kingdom. Four months later, Ladislas, his +posthumous son, was born, and a long minority, with its accompanying +turbulence, enabled the Calixtins again to get the upper hand, over both +the Taborites and the Catholics. In 1441 a council held at Kuttenberg +organized the national Church on a Calixtin basis. Several conferences +were held with the Taborites, and the points at issue were referred to +the national diet held in January, 1444. Its emphatic decision in favor +of the Calixtin doctrine broke up the Taborite organization. The cities +still held by them surrendered one by one, and the members were +scattered, for the most part joining the Calixtins. As a separate sect +they may be said to have disappeared when, in 1452, George Podiebrad +captured Mount Tabor and dispersed their remains.[583] + +After the death of Albert what central authority there was in Bohemia +was lodged in the hands of two governors, Ptacek representing the +Calixtins, and Mainhard of Rosenberg, the victor of Lipan, the +Catholics. In October, 1443, we hear of the Emperor Frederic III. as +about starting for Bohemia where he expected to receive the regency, but +his hopes were frustrated. Ptacek died in 1445, when the choice for his +succession fell upon George Podiebrad, a powerful baron, who, though +only twenty-four, had acquired a high reputation for military ability +and sagacity. He was largely under the influence of Rokyzana, to whom +doubtless his election was due. After a long interval, Rome again +appeared upon the scene. Nicholas V., who ascended the papal throne in +1447, sent, in 1448, John, Cardinal of Sant' Angelo, to Prague as +legate. The Bohemians earnestly urged him to ratify the Compactata and +confirm Rokyzana as archbishop. He promised an answer, but finding the +situation embarrassing, he secretly left Prague with Mainhard of +Rosenberg. Popular indignation enabled George by a _coup d'état_, in +which there was considerable bloodshed, to render himself master of +Prague and to cast Mainhard into prison, where he died soon after. +George thus became the undisputed master of Bohemia. When Ladislas, in +1452, was recognized as king, George secured the regency, and when the +young monarch died towards the close of 1457, at the early age of +eighteen, George's coronation as king soon followed. Under him, until +just before his death in 1471, Rokyzana's influence was almost +unbounded.[584] + +The situation of Bohemia, as a member of the Latin Church, was +unprecedented. After the first break between Eugenius IV. and the +Council of Basle the name of the pope disappears in the negotiations for +the restoration of unity. These were carried on by both sides as though +the conciliar authority was supreme, and the papal assent or +confirmation was a matter of no moment, although a papal legate was +present in January, 1436, at the conference at Stuhlweissenberg, where +the matter was virtually settled. As the council drew to its weary end, +powerless and discredited, the triumphant Eugenius was not disposed to +recognize the validity of its acts or to ratify them gratuitously. The +Bohemians alleged that he had confirmed the Compactata, but no positive +evidence was forthcoming. To purchase the submission of Germany, in +1447, he had ratified a portion of the acts of the council, but the +Compactata could not be included in his carefully. guarded decrees. On +the accession of Nicholas V., in 1447, the Bohemians sent to him a +deputation offering him their allegiance, but we have seen how wary was +the legate whom he despatched in return to Prague. It is true that to +obtain the abdication of Felix V., Nicholas issued a bull, June 28, +1449, approving all the acts of the council which might strictly be held +to confirm the Compactata, but the character of the bull shows that it +had in view rather the material interests involved in benefices and +preferment. Whatever doubt the Bohemians may have had as to the papal +intentions towards them was speedily dissipated.[585] + +Rome, in fact, had never proposed to recognize the compromise made by +the council. While the latter was busy in endeavoring to win back the +Hussites, Eugenius IV. was laboring for their extermination by the usual +methods, in such regions as he could reach. The relations between +Bohemia and Hungary had long been close, and Hussitism had spread widely +throughout the latter kingdom as well as in the Slavic territories to +the south. As early as 1413 we hear complaints of Wickliffite doctrines +carried into Croatia by students returning from the University of +Prague. As Sigismund was King of Hungary, the Compactata were supposed +to cover the Hungarian Hussites, and were published in Hungarian as well +as in Bohemian, German, and Latin. We have seen, however, how false he +was to his Bohemian subjects, and those of Hungary he cheerfully +abandoned to Rome. Six weeks after the signature of the Compactata at +Iglau, on August 22, 1436, Eugenius commissioned the indefatigable +persecutor, Frà Giacomo della Marca, as Inquisitor of Hungary and +Austria. He was already on the ground, for in January of that year we +catch a glimpse of him as present in the conference at Stuhlweissenberg. +Frà Giacomo lost no time. Before the close of the year he had traversed +Hungary from end to end, with merciless severity. The Archbishop of +Gran, the Chapter of Kalocsa, the Bishop of Waradein, were loud in his +praises. Their dioceses, they said, had been infected with heretics so +numerous that a rising was anticipated which would have exceeded in +horror the Bohemian wars, but this holy man had exterminated them. The +numbers whom he put to death are not enumerated, but they must have been +considerable from the expressions employed, and from the terror +inspired, for his associates declared that in this expedition he had +received the submission of fifty-five thousand converts. As the Bishop +of Waradein rapturously declared, had the Apostle Paul accompanied him +he could not have effected more. Earnestly the Bishops of Csanad and +Transylvania appealed to him to visit their dioceses, which abounded in +heretics; and as the latter prelate speaks of the Hussites having +penetrated to his bishopric from Moldavia, it shows how widely the +heresy had been diffused through southeastern Europe.[586] + +Suddenly, in 1437, Frà Giacomo's career was interrupted. He had crushed +the Fraticelli of Italy, the wild Cathari of Bosnia, and the fiercer +Hussites of Hungary, but when he attacked the orthodox concubinary +priests of Fünfkirchen, and strove to force them to abandon the illicit +partners who were universally kept, they proved too strong for even his +iron will and seasoned nerves, backed though he was by the power of pope +and kaiser and the awful authority of the Inquisition. They raised such +a storm at this attempted invasion of their accustomed privileges that +he was obliged to abandon his work and fly for his life. He appealed to +Eugenius, and Eugenius to Sigismund. The latter wrote to Henry, the +Bishop of Fünfkirchen, peremptorily ordering him to recall Giacomo and +give him every aid, and also to Giacomo, assuring him of support. Thus +assailed, Bishop Henry gave instructions that Giacomo should be supplied +with all necessaries, but the attempt to enforce chastity on the +priesthood seems to have been abandoned. The customary penalty in +Hungary for such offences was five marks, and the synods of Gran in 1450 +and 1480 complain that the archdeacons not only keep these fines for +themselves, but encourage the criminals in order to derive profit from +them; in fact, they issued in Hungary, as in many other places, licenses +to sin, which may, perhaps, explain the indignation caused by Giacomo's +interference and its lack of success.[587] + +He appears to have meddled no longer with the private lives of the +orthodox clergy, but to have devoted his energies to the easier work of +exterminating heretics. Early in 1437 we hear of him south of the +Danube, where the Bishop of Sreim praised his effective work; by putting +to death all who could not be converted, he had saved the diocese from a +rising of the Hussites, in which all the clergy would have been slain. +Eugenius rewarded him by describing him as "a vigorous and most +ruthless extirpator of heresy," and granting him the power of +appointing subordinate inquisitors, thus rendering him an +inquisitor-general in all the wide region confided to him. It was +probably a result of the quarrel over the priestly concubines that led, +in 1438, Simon of Bacska, Archdeacon of Fünfkirchen, to excommunicate +him; but that official was speedily forced to withdraw the anathema by +the Emperor Albert and the Archbishop of Gran. For a while his labors +were interrupted by a call to attend the Council of Ferrara, held in +1438 by Eugenius IV., to offset the hostile assemblage at Basle, but he +speedily returned to Hungary. It was doubtless owing to his efforts that +in Poland the barons and cities entered into a solemn league and +covenant to suppress heresy, April 25, 1438--just before Poland +intervened in Bohemia to protect the Hussites from the Emperor Albert. +In 1439 Giacomo's zeal received a check on the more immediate fields of +his labors. In Sreim he delivered to the secular arm, as convicted +heretics, a priest and three associates; their friends assembled in +force, broke open the prison and carried off the culprits, and, what is +difficult to understand, unless the heresy was merely concubinage, the +Archbishop of Kalocsa, when appealed to, protected the criminals. +Giacomo had recourse to the Emperor Albert, who wrote sharply to the +archbishop in June; and this proving ineffectual, again in August. What +was the result of the affair is not known, but Albert, as we have seen, +died in October, to the great detriment of religion; and in 1440 Giacomo +left Hungary on account of ill-health. He seems not to have been +immediately replaced, and, in the absence of organized persecution, the +tares speedily began to multiply again among the wheat. In January, +1444, Eugenius IV., deploring the spread of Hussitism throughout the +Danubian regions, appointed the Observantine Vicar Fabiano of Bacs as +inquisitor for the whole Slavonian vicariate, which included Hungary, +with power to appoint inquisitors under him. These were authorized to +act in complete independence of the local prelates; Holy Land +indulgences were promised to all who would aid them, and +excommunication, removable only by pope or inquisitor, against all +withholding assistance. In July, 1446, Eugenius again alludes to the +flourishing condition of Hussitism in Hungary and Moldavia, in spite of +the labors of the friars, and he recurs to the question which baffled +Giacomo della Marca. Many parish priests, he says, in these regions not +only keep concubines publicly, but teach that there is no sin in +intercourse between unmarried persons; the question has been asked him +whether this is heresy, justiciable by the Inquisition; this he answers +in the affirmative, and authorizes Fabiano and his deputies to treat it +as such. Apparently it was not the practice itself, but the +justification of it, which was so heinous.[588] + +If Rome was thus active in repressing Hussitism, and thus regardless of +the Compactata while crippled by the quarrel with the fathers of Basle, +it may readily be imagined that, after the abdication of Felix V. and +the restoration of unquestioned supremacy, Nicholas V. was not disposed +to respect the bargain made by the council or to regard the Calixtins in +any light but that of heretics. It was in vain that the Bohemians +proffered obedience if only the Compactata were confirmed, with a tacit +condition that Rokyzana's claims to the archbishopric should be +recognized. Ostensibly the sole difficulty in the way of reunion lay in +the use of the cup by the laity and the communion of infants; save this +there was by this time but little to distinguish the Calixtins from the +rest of the Latin churches, although occasionally the question of the +sequestrated church lands emerged into view. The papacy had taken its +position, however, and it would have plunged all Christendom into war, +as, in fact, it more than once attempted, rather than admit that the +Council of Basle had been justified in purchasing peace by conceding +communion in both elements. Behind this, however, was the question of +Rokyzana's confirmation. Æneas Sylvius informs us that in 1451 he +convinced George Podiebrad of the impossibility of effecting this, and +secured a promise that the attempt should be abandoned, he pledging +himself that if George would present the names of several suitable +persons the pope would select one, and peace would then be established. +This treated the Compactata as of minor importance, and was doubtless +wholly unauthorized. Neither George nor Rokyzana gave up their hopes; +the effort was renewed again and again, now with the pope, now with the +Emperor Frederic III., and now with the German Diet, but all to no +purpose. Occasionally when there was an object to be gained hopes would +be held out, only to be withdrawn. The papal emissaries represented +Rokyzana to Rome as the most wicked and perfidious of heresiarchs, whose +recognition would be the destruction of what remained of Catholicism in +Bohemia, and there never was the slightest idea of confirming him.[589] + +When the overthrow of Mainhard of Rosenberg and the concentration of +power in the hands of George Podiebrad showed that no further hopes were +to be built on the Catholic party in Bohemia, Nicholas V. fell back upon +the old methods and resolved to try what could be done by a missionary +inquisitor. He had at hand an instrument admirably fitted for the work. +Giovanni da Capistrano, vicar-general of the Observantine Franciscans, +had commenced his career as an inquisitor in 1417; he was now in his +sixty-sixth year, vigorous and implacable as ever. Small and +insignificant in appearance, shrivelled by austerities until he seemed +to consist only of skin and bone and nerves, he rarely tasted meat and +allowed himself but four hours of sleep out of the twenty-four, the +remainder being all too few for his restless and indefatigable activity. +His saintly and self-denying life had gained him enviable powers as a +thaumaturge, and his reputation as a preacher drew crowds to listen to +his eloquence. In 1451 he was busy in exterminating the Fraticelli, but +he suspended his bloody work at the call of Nicholas to undertake the +conversion of the Hussites. Nothing was omitted that could contribute to +the dramatic effect of his mission. Before assuming it he sought the +divine assent by consulting the Virgin at Assisi, when the heavenly +light diffused around him was a sign that his apostolate was confirmed; +he accepted the enlarged powers which extended his inquisitorial +commission to the Bohemian territories, and set forth. Everywhere on his +road multitudes assembled to see and listen to the man of God, and +everywhere his miraculous powers manifested the authenticity of his +mission. At Brescia he addressed an assembly computed at one hundred and +twenty thousand souls, and, though walls and trees were broken down by +the masses of men gathered thickly upon them, not a human being was +injured. At the crossing of the River Sile, near Treviso, the party, +with true Observantine austerity, had no money to pay ferriage, and the +surly ferryman refused free transportation; but Capistrano quietly took +the habit of San Bernardino, which he carried with him, laid it upon the +waters, and they shrank away till all had passed dry-shod, when they +resumed their former volume. Thus heralded, his way through Venice and +Vienna was a triumphal progress; crowds of sixty thousand or one hundred +thousand to hear him preach were common; men came from a distance of +five hundred miles to listen to him; at Vienna three hundred thousand +were reckoned present; the sick were brought before him in thousands, +and the miraculous cures which he wrought were computed by hundreds. The +ecclesiastical machinery was evidently well-devised and effectively +worked, and the desired impression was produced.[590] + +In vain the emperor asked permission for him to visit Prague. Podiebrad +and Rokyzana refused it peremptorily, and Capistrano's zeal for +martyrdom was not sufficient to prompt him to disregard their wishes. +Furnished with imperial letters to the Catholic nobles and to their +leader, Ulric Mainhard of Rosenberg, he turned in July to the safer +region of Moravia, where presumably the influence of Podiebrad and +Rokyzana was not so strong. Here his career indicates how little +foundation there was for the persistent Catholic complaints of the +proscriptive intolerance of the Calixtins. Though on Bohemian territory, +Catholic and Hussite seem to have been dwelling together in mutual +harmony; the Bishop of Olmütz was a Catholic, and no hindrance seems to +have been experienced by Capistrano in his labors for the conversion of +the so-called heretics. Beginning at Brünn, August 1, 1451, there is a +register containing names and dates of more than eleven thousand +conversions made by him up to May, 1452. Yet at the same time he was +restricted to persuasion, and was not allowed to use inquisitorial +methods. As his converts were voluntary, he smoothed the path of the +repentant heretic, reconciling him to the Church with only the +infliction of a salutary penance, and allowing him to retain all his +possessions and dignities. Where the heretic was hardened, he was +powerless, except through such miraculous power as he could wield. The +situation was an anomalous one--unexampled, in fact, in the Middle +Ages--of heretic and Catholic dwelling together in peace, the heretic in +the ascendant, yet not only tolerating the Catholic, but allowing a man +like Capistrano to wander through the land denouncing heretics and +making conversions unmolested. To Capistrano the position was irritating +in the extreme, insomuch as he was limited to the arts of persuasion, +and was unable to enforce his arguments with the dungeon and the stake. +This peculiar state of things is well illustrated by an adventure +related of him at Breslau. Though Silesia had a Catholic bishop, it +belonged to Bohemia, and mutual tolerance was established. In the summer +of 1453 Capistrano came there and labored to convert the Hussites, but +these sons of Belial, to ridicule his miraculous powers, placed a young +man in a bier, carried him to where the inquisitor was preaching, and +asked the latter to resuscitate the dead. Capistrano sternly replied, +"Let him have his portion with the dead in eternity!" and went his +way. Then the heretics said to the crowd, "We have holier men among +us;" and one of them went to the coffin, calling to its inmate, +"Peter, arise!" and then whispering, "It is time to get up;" but +there was no response, and the unfortunate youth was found to be really +dead. Yet at this very time Capistrano had no difficulty in exercising +his inquisitorial office pitilessly when the victims were unfortunate +Jews. A country priest was said to have sold them eight consecrated +hosts for use in their infernal rites. Capistrano seized those +implicated, tortured them to confession, and burned them, while a woman +who was implicated was torn with red-hot pincers. An old Jewess embraced +Christianity, and soon afterwards was slain. The Jews were accused of +the murder, and also of that of a Christian boy. Capistrano made another +onslaught on them, and this time burned no less than forty-one. It is +easy to gather from this incident what would have been the fate of the +Hussites had he been able to wreak his will on them. Those of Moldavia +and Poland, whither he despatched three of his associate inquisitors +under Ladislas the Hungarian, probably felt the full rigor of the +canons.[591] + +During all this the Calixtin leaders had not been wholly indifferent. At +the commencement of Capistrano's mission Rokyzana wrote to him in a +friendly tone, remonstrating with him for condemning as a heresy the +communion in both elements, which the Council of Basle had permitted to +the Bohemians. Some correspondence ensued, in which Capistrano took high +ground as to the use of the cup and the papal supremacy; there were +negotiations for a conference, and at one time hopes were entertained of +an accommodation. Capistrano, however, skilfully eluded a disputation on +various pretexts, but really, as we learn from his confidential letter +to the cardinal-legate, Nicholas of Cusa, because he knew that the +Calixtins had on their side the weight of authority and tradition. Both +parties gradually lost their temper and published against each other +letters filled with scurrility. Having thus rendered amicable +negotiations impossible, Capistrano could safely, in 1452, ask Podiebrad +for a safe-conduct to Prague, and on its refusal summon him to render +the aid and service due to him as apostolic commissioner and +inquisitor.[592] + +When the German princes assembled in the Diet of 1452 the Bohemians +addressed them, complaining that although they were living in peace and +obedience to the Holy See, the provisions of the Compactata, which +declared that no one should be stigmatized as a heretic for partaking in +both elements, were violated by a friar named Capistrano, who, under the +guise of an apostolic commissioner and inquisitor, was traversing their +territories proclaiming that all Utraquists were heretics. The agreement +which had cost so much blood was thus plainly infringed, and, +notwithstanding their desire for peace, a persistence in this would +revive all the old troubles. This was significant of strife, and +Capistrano, on his side, was eagerly engaged in stimulating it. He wrote +to the pope that certain propositions of accommodation entertained by +the cardinal-legate were disgraceful, and spoke hopefully of +negotiations which he was carrying on with the German princes for a new +crusade against the Hussites. Nicholas of Cusa was effectually snubbed +for daring to talk of conferences and terms of accommodation. He +promptly threw himself on the other side and contributed his share +towards provoking a fresh conflict, by issuing, in June, 1452, an +encyclical to the Bohemians, in which he plainly told them that those +who were not with the Church must be against it; that the Compactata +must be thrown aside, as they had not effected the union for which they +were designed, and that nothing save pure and simple obedience to the +Holy See could be entertained. To render the irritation complete needed +only the exquisite insolence with which he assured them that the Church +was too pious a mother to concede to her children what she knew to be +injurious.[593] + +Capistrano's busy mischief-making was bearing its fruits. The breach +between Rome and Bohemia was constantly widening, and if the zeal of the +German princes could be brought to correspond to the ardor of the +missionary of strife, the horrors of the old Hussite wars might be +hopefully looked for again. During the remainder of the year 1452 we +find him travelling through Germany, probably with this charitable +object, though at Leipsic he paused long enough for his eloquence to win +for his rigid Order sixty professors and students.[594] His efforts to +raise a crusade against Bohemia, however, were frustrated by the +capture of Constantinople in May, 1453. The immense impression which +this produced throughout Christendom, the universal alarm at the +progress of the Turk, and the necessity of defending Europe against his +approach, speedily threw into the shade all minor questions. A new +crusade was imperatively wanted, but it could not be wasted upon Bohemia +and the Utraquists. + +During the summer of 1453, as we have seen, Capistrano was tranquilly +employing his enforced leisure in burning Jews at Breslau. Thence he +went to Poland, where we find him at Cracow throwing into prison a +physician, Master Paul, whom he suspected of being an emissary of +Rokyzana. He applied again to Podiebrad for a safe-conduct to Prague, +which was curtly refused on the ground that when it had been previously +offered it had not been accepted, and that Ladislas did not want the +peace of his kingdom disturbed. He left Cracow May 15, 1454, for Breslau +and Olmütz, whence he still hoped to accomplish something within the +charmed circle of Bohemia, into which he had not been allowed to +penetrate. Rokyzana at this time was inspired with hopes that the terror +of the Turk and the need for Christian unity would enable him to realize +his dream of the archbishopric. He made the large concessions alluded to +above on many of the points of dissidence, and used every effort with +the emperor to procure through him the papal confirmation. A letter from +Ladislas, of June 13, to the Bishop of Olmütz, asking him to restrain +Capistrano from using such violent terms in denouncing Bohemians, as he +was doing more harm than good, was evidently a move in the same game. +Yet even the paramount interests of Christendom could not win for +Rokyzana the coveted confirmation, although those interests soon +diverted Capistrano's fiery energies from the heretic to the +infidel.[595] + +A brief and clear-cut letter of Æneas Sylvius to Capistrano, dated July +26, 1454, tells him to give up the dream of getting to Prague and go to +Frankfort, where he will be useful. An assembly of princes had been held +in Ratisbon, where a crusade had been agreed upon, and Philip of +Burgundy had consented to lead it. Final arrangements were to be made in +Frankfort in October, and there Æneas Sylvius wanted the aid of +Capistrano's tireless ardor. Their correspondence at this juncture shows +the terror which existed lest Europe should be overrun; the confusion +and uncertainty which prevailed, and the selfish differences which +threatened to neutralize effort. At Frankfort their worst fears were +realized. The zeal of the princes had cooled, and they declared the +purpose of the pope and emperor was to steal their money and not to +fight. They demanded that the business should be conducted by a general +council which should at the same time repress the Holy See--in fact, +both parties were selfishly endeavoring to turn the agony of Europe to +account; the pope to raise money, and the princes to recover their +independence. All that Æneas and Capistrano could obtain was a promise +that at the Pentecost of 1455 they would meet the emperor and determine +what could be done. In February and March, 1455, they began to assemble +at Neuburg, near Vienna, where Podiebrad again used every effort to +procure Rokyzana's confirmation. As for the crusade, the energies of +Christendom seemed paralyzed by the petty jealousies and ambitions of +its rulers. At last, under the unflagging eloquence of Æneas and +Capistrano, things appeared to be taking shape, when the news was +received of the death of Nicholas V. on March 22. Everything fell to +pieces, and the princes departed, postponing action until the next year. +It was a forcible example of the utility of the papacy, which supplied a +common head to the discordant forces of the time.[596] + +Capistrano's impetuous energies were now fairly enlisted in the strife +with the Turk, and the Hussites had a respite. In fact, the situation +was too alarming to permit of their persecution, and it is a remarkable +instance of the unbending rigidity of Rome, that even in this perilous +juncture the overtures and concessions of Podiebrad and Rokyzana availed +them nothing. + +Calixtus III. was elected April 8, with a speed which showed how +dangerous a papal interregnum was considered. He at once sent legates +to preach the crusade throughout Europe, and commenced to build +war-ships on the Tiber. The Hungarians, who were justly excited at the +impending invasion of Mahomet II. begged Capistrano to come to them and +use his eloquence. Calixtus gave him permission, confirmed all the +powers conferred on him by Nicholas, and he undertook the task which was +to complete his life's work. Yet even these new duties, which wrought +his fiery soul to a higher tension than ever, did not wholly distract +his attention from the hated Hussites. The juncture seemed favorable for +a reconciliation, which every motive of policy dictated. Besides, Æneas +Sylvius had just been promoted to the cardinalate, and that crafty +diplomat had succeeded in making the Bohemians look upon him as their +friend. They not only hoped to obtain the confirmation of the +Compactata, but the cardinal's hat for Rokyzana. Hearing of this, +Capistrano wrote, March 24, 1456, from Buda to Calixtus dissuading him +in the most vigorous terms. The Hussites are the worst of mankind, +fearing neither God nor man; the heart can scarce conceive the errors +which they believe, or the abominations which they practise in secret. +The Compactata are their sole bulwark; if these are confirmed, the +Hussites, who abound secretly, not only in Bohemia but in Hungary, +Transylvania, Moldavia, and the neighboring regions, will rise and +declare themselves. The warning was sufficient and the overtures were +rejected.[597] + +Suddenly the news came that the dreaded Mahomet II. was advancing, and +had laid siege to Belgrade. Ladislas, who was King of Hungary as well as +of Bohemia, was at Buda-Pesth, and with his uncle, the Count of Cillei, +on pretext of a hunting-excursion, basely fled to Austria. John Hunyady, +Count of Transylvania, who had been regent of the kingdom, organized the +Hungarian forces, with some German crusaders who had come to his +assistance, while Capistrano marched with him as papal commander of the +crusade. Glorious in the annals of Hungary is the victory of Belgrade. +"With a flotilla of boats on the Danube, Hunyady, on July 14, 1456, cut +his way into the town through the beleaguering forces. Furious were the +attack and the defence until the 22d, when a fierce assault by the Turks +was repulsed, and the besieged followed the retreating enemy, burned +one of their camps, spiking some of their cannon and carrying the rest +back into the town, where they did good service during the rest of that +memorable day. Mahomet gathered together his forces for a last desperate +attempt, which was a failure, and during the night he fled, leaving +twenty-four thousand men upon the field, and three hundred cannon. His +army was utterly dispersed, and this disaster, aided by the heroic +resistance of Scanderbeg in Albania, arrested the Turkish invasion and +gave Europe a breathing-spell. It cost, however, the lives of the two +heroes to whom it was due. The stench of the dead bodies sickened the +army of the victors, and John Hunyady fell a victim, August 11, to the +epidemic, which prevented the following up of the advantage. Capistrano +had thrown himself into the work with all his self-forgetful enthusiasm. +His eloquence had wrought the Christians up to the highest pitch of +religious exaltation; the crusaders would obey no one but him, and his +labors were incessant. He passed days without time for food, and nights +without rest; for seventeen days, it is said, before the victory, he +slept but seven hours in all. He was in his seventy-first year, with a +frame weakened by habitual austerities, and when the strain was past +exhausted nature paid the penalty. A slow fever set in, August 6, under +which he wasted away, and died, October 23. He was perhaps the most +perfect type which the age produced of the ideal son of the Church; a +purely artificial creation, in which the weakness of humanity +disappeared with some of its virtues, and the whole nature, with its +rare powers, was concentrated in unselfish devotion to a mistaken +purpose. Such men are the tools of the worldly and unscrupulous who know +how to use them, and for forty years Capistrano had been thus employed +to bring misery on his fellow-beings, unconscious of the evil which he +wrought. Yet, as Æneas Sylvius shrewdly points out, there was one weak +spot left in his nature. In the letters in which he and Hunyady +described the victory of Belgrade neither chief gave credit to the +other. As Æneas says, "Capistrano had despised the pomps of the world, +he had fled from its delights, he had trampled down avarice, he had +overcome lust, but he could not contemn glory."[598] + +No one could be found worthy to replace Capistrano but his friendly +rival, Giacomo della Marca, who was accordingly despatched, in 1457, to +the scene of his labors of twenty years previous, armed with the same +powers, as inquisitor and crusader. The danger from the Turk was still +too pressing for him to waste thought on the former function, and he +devoted himself to stimulating and organizing the war against the Moslem +until his health gave way, and he returned to Italy, where, as we have +seen, he not long afterwards had to defend himself from a charge of +heresy brought by his zealous Dominican brethren. He was replaced by his +disciples, Giovanni da Tagliacozza and Michele da Tussicino, who were +followed in 1461 by Frà Gabriele da Verona; but though Franciscans still +continued for a generation to labor for the conversion of the Calixtins, +they had little success in the absence of power to employ the customary +inquisitorial methods, of which more hereafter.[599] + +In fact, the prospects of reducing Bohemia to obedience were steadily +diminishing. In the wildest uproar of the Hussite wars there were +powerful barons and cities who steadily held out for the pope and +kaiser, and under the interregnum there had at first been a dual +government, shared equally by Catholic and Calixtin. Under the firm hand +of George Podiebrad the orthodox communities submitted one by one, and +in spiritual matters Rokyzana was supreme. It is true that there was now +little to distinguish the churches in doctrine or practice save the use +of the cup; but independence served as a protection against the greed of +the Roman curia, and there was small encouragement for a surrender of +this independence in the clamor which was now going up from Germany. The +Basilian regulations, confirmed by Eugenius, had for a time served as a +safeguard to some extent, but now these were coolly treated as obsolete, +and complaints were loud that all the old abuses were flourishing as +vigorously as ever. Elections were set aside, or heavy sums were +extorted for their confirmation, while the country was drained of money +by the exaction of tenths and the sale of indulgences. Secure in their +isolation, the Bohemians might well submit to some inconvenience to be +spared the costly blessing of apostolic paternal care. The only hope of +Rome lay in the approaching majority of the Catholic youth Ladislas; but +when, on the eve of his marriage with the daughter of Charles VII. of +France, he suddenly died, towards the close of 1457, not without +suspicions of foul play, and George Podiebrad soon afterwards was +elected and crowned, it might well seem that, short of Divine +interposition, the peaceful return of Bohemia was not to be looked +for.[600] + +Yet at first it looked as though an accommodation might be reached. +Ladislas, shortly before his death, had proposed to send an embassy to +Rome for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation, and Calixtus III. +had asked of Podiebrad to gratify his vehement desire of seeing +Rokyzana, whose high reputation was well known in Rome. Podiebrad, +moreover, caused himself to be crowned according to the Roman rite; +having no bishop of his own, he borrowed from his son-in-law, Matthias +Corvinus of Hungary, those of Raab and Bacs, to perform his +consecration; in his coronation oath he swore obedience to Calixtus and +his successors, to restore the Catholic religion, and to persecute +heretics; he wrote to Calixtus as a faithful son of the Church, and +obtained from him letters recognizing him as King of Bohemia; he sent +envoys to Rome, who held out promises that Rokyzana would follow, and +settle on a lasting basis the submission of Bohemia. All this was mere +skirmishing for position; but when, a few months later, Calixtus died, +and was succeeded by Æneas Sylvius, who took the name of Pius II., men +might hope that some reasonable accommodation could be reached. Since he +had gone to Basle in the suite of Cardinal Capranica, and had become the +mouth-piece of the antipapal party, influenced, as he himself says, by +cupidity rather than by truth, and inspired by the hostility to the +Church usually felt by the laity, the new pope had been occupied almost +exclusively with German and Bohemian affairs, which he knew better than +any living man; he had taken part in the negotiations resulting in the +Compactata; he was shrewd, clear-headed, and troubled with few scruples, +and, sharing fully in the papal anxiety to unite Christendom against the +Turks, he might be expected to recognize the vital importance of +reconciliation with Bohemia. George made haste to send an embassy to +renew his protestations of obedience, and to ask for the confirmation of +the Compactata. Pius, who took no shame in issuing a solemn bull +condemning and disavowing all his early opinions uttered during his +service with the council, was prepared to break with his own traditions +rather than with those of his predecessors. He gave a dubious response; +George could win his recognition as king by extirpating heresy, and he +promised to send legates. They came, but the pope, although he addressed +George as king and as his dearest son when soliciting his co-operation +in the crusade, shortly afterwards took a step which, with his knowledge +of Bohemia, he knew could not but provoke a rupture. Wenceslas, Dean of +Prague, was a Catholic, and a bitter enemy of Rokyzana, and this man +Pius appointed as administrator of the archbishopric, thus ousting +Rokyzana. All at once was in uproar. Wenceslas endeavored to assert +himself, but the power remained in Rokyzana's hands. George threw into +prison Fantinus, who had been his procurator in the curia, and who had +been sent with a commission as papal orator, and detained him there for +three months. Frederic III., whom George, by a stroke of happy audacity, +had recently liberated from a siege by his rebellious subjects in the +castle of Vienna, interposed, and delayed the explosion of the papal +wrath; but to his earnest request that George should be acknowledged as +king Pius returned an absolute refusal. George was a heretic, incapable +of the crown, and his subjects' oaths of allegiance were void; only by +returning to the Church could he hope to be fitted for the royal +dignity. In June, 1464, Pius, in full consistory, published a bull +reciting all the griefs of the Church against Bohemia, pronouncing the +Compactata void, as never having been confirmed by the Holy See, and +summoning George before him to stand trial for heresy within three terms +of sixty days each. In two months Pius was dead, but his successor, Paul +II., carried forward the proceedings with the old inquisitorial weapons. +Three cardinals were appointed in 1465 to try George as a relapsed +heretic, and summoned him in August, as a private person, to appear +before them within six months for judgment. Without waiting for the +expiration of the term, early in December, Paul issued a bull absolving +all George's subjects from their allegiance, alleging as a reason for +haste that the sentence would grow more difficult by delay. The papal +wrath increased with the obstinacy of the assumed heretic. In 1468 +another summons was issued to him to appear before the cardinals for +judgment; and in February, 1469, his name was placed as that son of +perdition, the Hussite George Podiebrad, together with those of Rokyzana +and Gregory of Heimburg, in the curse of the Coena Domini, to be +anathematized thrice a year, in the solemnities of the mass, in all +cathedrals, both in Latin and in the vernacular.[601] + +All this was not a mere _brutum fulmen_. It was not difficult to excite +rebellion among turbulent subjects and attacks from ambitious neighbors. +With all his vigor and capacity George found the maintenance of his +position by no means easy. When, in 1468, the German princes had agreed +upon a five years' truce in order to concentrate their energies against +the Moslem, Paul II. threw the empire into confusion by sending the +Bishop of Ferrara to preach a crusade with plenary indulgences against +Bohemia, adding the special favor that all who joined in the preaching +should have the privilege of choosing a confessor, and receiving from +him plenary absolution and indulgence. The kingdom was bestowed upon +Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who took the cross, and with an army of +crusaders occupied Moravia. A long war ensued, during which George died, +in 1471, released from excommunication on his death-bed, and Ladislas +II., son of Casimir of Poland, was elected as his successor. In 1475 the +rivals came to terms; both were recognized as kings of Bohemia, while +Matthias was to have for life Moravia, Silesia, and the greater part of +Lusatia, and the survivor was to enjoy the whole kingdom. On the death +of Matthias, in 1490, Ladislas recovered the three provinces, and +shortly afterwards added Hungary to his dominions.[602] + +Ladislas was a good Catholic, and Sixtus IV., who had aided in his +election, hoped that the opportunity had at last arrived to break down +the stubbornness of the Calixtins. The king made the attempt, but bloody +tumults in Prague, which nearly cost him his life, showed that, slight +as was the difference between Catholic and Utraquist, the old fanaticism +for the cup survived. At length, in 1485, at the Diet of Kuttenberg, +mutual toleration was agreed upon, and Ladislas, who was of easy +disposition, ran no further risks. Thus the anomalous position of +Bohemia, as a member of Latin Christendom, became more remarkable than +ever. The great majority of the people were Calixtins and therefore +heretics, but the Church had to abandon the attempt to coerce them to +salvation. Missionary inquisitors were commissioned from time to time, +but practically their efforts were limited to persuasion and +controversy. Even Pius II., in 1463, felt obliged to caution Zeger, the +Observantine Vicar-general, that his brethren, in dealing with +heretics, should restrain their zeal from the customary curses and +insults, and should try the effect of gentleness and argument. That +these missionaries were mostly Franciscans perhaps explains why the +toleration accorded to Catholics could not be enforced against the +popular prejudices of which the Order was the object. Even George +Podiebrad, in 1460, had permitted the Franciscans to return to Prague, +but their zeal was not to be restrained, and they were expelled in 1468. +Under Ladislas they came again, in 1482, but in the disturbances of the +following year they were glad to escape, their house was levelled to the +ground, and was not rebuilt until 1629. From time to time other +communities were founded at Hradecz, Glatz, and Neisse, but they were +short-lived, and were speedily destroyed by the fanaticism of the +people. As the invention of printing facilitated controversy, polemical +zeal multiplied treatises to prove the iniquity of the Utraquist heresy, +but the Utraquists were not to be converted. They maintained the +Compactata as the charter of their religious independence. When, in +1526, King Louis fell in the disastrous day of Mohacz, and the House of +Austria, in the person of Ferdinand I., obtained the Bohemian throne, +good Catholic though Ferdinand was, he was obliged to pledge himself to +preserve the Compactata.[603] + + * * * * * + +It is not to be imagined that the teachings of Wickliff and Huss were +wholly forgotten in Utraquist degeneracy. Their real inheritors were the +Taborites, and although these, in their disorderly enthusiasm, vainly +contended against the spirit of the age and disappeared from sight under +the strong hand of Podiebrad, the seed which they had nurtured was not +wholly lost. The profound religious convictions which animated these +poor and simple folk are visible through the satire with which Æneas +Sylvius requited their hospitality in 1451, on the eve of their +suppression. Travelling with some nobles, on a mission from Frederic +III., he was benighted near Mount Tabor, and thought it safer to trust +himself with the enemies of his faith than to pass the hours of darkness +in the open villages. In return for the simple kindliness of his +reception the polished scholar and courtier describes them with the +liveliest ridicule, and with brutal sneers at their poverty. They were +mostly peasants, and as they came forth to greet him in the cold and +rain, many were almost naked, having nothing but a shirt or a sheepskin +to protect them; one had no saddle, another no reins, another no spurs; +this one had lost an eye, that one an arm. Ziska was their patron saint, +whose portrait was painted on the city gates. Though they ridiculed the +consecration of churches, they were very earnest in listening to the +word of God, and if any one was too busy or too lazy to go to the wooden +house where they assembled for preaching he was compelled by stripes. +Though they paid no tithes, they filled their priests' houses with +corn, beer, wood, vegetables, meat, and all the necessaries of life. +Firm as they were in defence of their religious independence, they were +not intolerant, and wide diversity of opinion was allowed among +them.[604] + +When such men as these were driven forth and scattered among the people +they were much more likely to make converts than to be converted, and +though lost to sight they were assuredly not false to their convictions. +The reactionary course of Rokyzana and Podiebrad during the succeeding +years could hardly fail to provoke discontent among the more earnest +even of the Calixtins and to furnish fresh disciples and teachers. +Materials existed for a sect representing the doctrines which, a +generation earlier, had set Bohemia aflame; and although when that sect +timidly appeared it prudently and sedulously disavowed all affiliation +with the hated and dreaded Taborites, there can be no doubt that it was, +to a great extent, composed of the same elements. + +These new sectaries first present themselves in an organized form in +1457. Earnest, humble Christians, who sought to carry out the doctrines +of Jesus, they differed from the Taborites in a yet closer approach to +Waldensianism, due probably to the influence of Peter Chelcicky, who, +without belonging to them, was yet to some extent their teacher. Like +the Waldenses, they rejected the oath and the sword--nothing would +justify the taking of human life, and consequently they were +non-resistants. Since the time of Constantine and Silvester the Roman +Church had gone astray in the pursuit of wealth and worldly power. The +sacraments were worthless in polluted hands. Priests might hear +confessions and impose penances, but they could not absolve; they could +only announce the forgiveness of God. Purgatory was a myth invented by +cunning priests. As for the mystery of the Eucharist, they prudently +adopted the formula of Peter Chelcicky, which eluded the difficulty by +affirming that the believer receives the body and blood of Christ, +without pretending to explain or daring to discuss the matter. They +ridiculed the superstition of the Calixtins, which exaggerated in the +absurdest fashion the sanctity of the Eucharist, which carried the +sacrament through the streets for adoration, and which held that he +whose eye chanced to fall on it was safe from evil happening for that +day; and they sometimes incurred martyrdom by publicly reproving the +fanatic zeal which regarded the Eucharist as the holiest of idols. On +this basis was founded the brotherhood of love and charity, of patient +endurance and meekness, which represented more nearly the Christian +ideal than anything the world had seen for thirteen centuries. With +extreme simplicity of life there was no exaggeration of asceticism. +Heaven was not to be stormed by mortification of the flesh, but was to +be won by the sedulous discharge of the duties imposed on man by his +Creator, in humble obedience to the divine will, and in pious reliance +on Christ. Such was the "Unitas Fratrum"--the Bohemian or Moravian +Brotherhood--and that a society thus defenceless and unresisting should +endure the savage vicissitudes of that transitional period, and maintain +itself through four hundred years to the present time, shows that force +is not necessarily the last word in human affairs, and that average +human nature is capable of a higher moral development than it has been +permitted to reach under prevailing influences, secular and +spiritual.[605] + +At first they seem to have enjoyed the favor of Rokyzana, whose +doctrines they claimed to follow, and whose nephew Gregory was one of +their earliest leaders, along with Michael, priest of Zamberg. +Rokyzana's fluctuating policy, as the archbishopric seemed to approach +or recede, soon led him to hold aloof, and when they drew apart from the +Calixtins and organized themselves as a separate body he had no +objection to see them persecuted. In vain they declared that they were +neither Waldenses nor Taborites--the one was a word of bitter reproach, +the other a terror. When, about 1461, Gregory, with a few companions, +ventured secretly to Prague, they were betrayed as conspiring Taborites +and put to the torture. It shows their state of religious exaltation +that Gregory swooned on the rack and had a beatific vision. It may be +put to the credit of Rokyzana that when he saw his nephew insensible +from the torture he burst into tears, exclaiming, "O my Gregory, I +would I were where thou art!" and that he soon afterwards obtained from +Podiebrad permission for them to settle at Liticz. Here they prospered +amid alternate peace and persecution, their numbers rapidly +increasing.[606] + +In retaining all the sacraments they retained belief in the necessity of +apostolical succession for that of ordination; but as the sacraments +were vitiated in unworthy hands, they became oppressed with misgivings +as to the efficacy of the sacerdotal character of their priests, derived +as it was through the Church of Rome. Some of them proposed sending to +the legendary Christians of India, but they met with two men who had +been in the East, and the accounts they received of the Oriental +churches satisfied them that the succession there had been lost. Then +they bethought them of the Greeks, but they met some Greeks in Prague, +and many Bohemians had been in the Levant and Danubian provinces, from +whom they learned that fees were required for ordination, thus rendering +it void through simony; moreover, they heard of three Bohemians who had +been ordained without inquiry as to their morals, which satisfied them +that no true ordination was to be obtained there. Finally they turned to +the Waldenses, of whom there was a community on the Austrian border. +These claimed to descend from the primitive Church; that their ancestors +had separated from Rome when the papacy was secularized under Silvester +by the donation of Constantine, and that they had preserved the +apostolic succession untainted. It remained for the brethren to see +whether it was the will of God that they should organize themselves by +means of these Waldenses. At Lhotka, in 1467, an assembly of about sixty +chosen deputies was held. After fasting and earnest prayer, recourse was +had to the lot, to decide whether they should separate themselves from +the Roman priesthood. The result was affirmative. Then they selected +nine men, from among whom three or two or one should be drawn, or none, +if God so willed it. Twelve cards were taken, on three of which was +written "is," and on nine "is not." These were mingled together, and +a youth was directed to distribute nine of them among the men selected. +All three with "is" proved to have been distributed, and the assembly +devoutly thanked God for showing them the path to follow. Michael of +Zamberg was sent to the Waldensian Bishop Stephen, who investigated his +faith and life, and thanked God, with tears, that it had been vouchsafed +him before he died to see such pious men. After episcopal consecration +Michael returned; careful inquiry was made as to the antecedents of one +of the three elect, named Matthias, and he was duly consecrated as +bishop by Michael, who thereupon laid down both his Waldensian +episcopate and Catholic priesthood, and was again ordained anew by +Matthias.[607] + +Thus all connection with Rome was sundered, and intimate relations were +established with the Waldenses. Mutual sympathy and the identity of +their faith drew the two sects together, although the austere virtue of +the Brethren reproached the older heretics with concealing their faith +by attending Catholic mass, with accumulating wealth, and with +neglecting the poor. The Waldenses took the reproof kindly, promised +amendment, and in a short time the two sects united and formed one body. +Although the official name remained the "Unity of the Brethren," +gradually the despised term of Waldenses came to be recognized, and was +freely used by the body to designate themselves, in their confessions of +faith and apologetic tracts. I have already alluded to the mission which +was sent in 1498 to the Brethren of Italy and France, and to the +increased spirit of vigor and independence which the old Alpine +communities drew from the resolute steadfastness of their new +associates.[608] + +Gregory had moulded the Church of the Brethren on the strictest basis. +Members on entering were not, it is true, obliged to contribute their +property to the common fund, but this was frequently done. The closest +watch was kept on the conduct of each, and any dereliction was visited +with expulsion, not to be revoked without evidence of change of heart. +No one was allowed to take an oath, even in court, to hold an office, to +keep an inn, to follow any trade except in the necessaries of life. Any +noble desiring to join was required to lay aside his rank and resign +whatever offices he might hold. In 1479 two barons and several knights +applied for admission, when the rules were strictly enforced, and some +submitted while others withdrew. This rigor at last caused violent +dissensions, and in 1490 the Synod of Brandeis relaxed the rules. The +puritan party recalcitrated and were strong enough to cause a revocation +of this action in a subsequent synod. Much ill-feeling was generated, +until, in 1495, at the Synod of Reichenau, there was mutual forgiveness +and a moderation of the rules. Yet two of the puritan leaders, Jacob of +Wodnan and Amos of Stekna, refused to accept the compromise, and founded +the sect known as Amosites, or the Little Party, which maintained a +separate existence for forty-six years.[609] + +During this period the Brethren had been subjected to repeated and +severe persecution. Sometimes driven for refuge to the mountain and +forest, whence they earned the name of Jamnici, or cave-dwellers, they +counted their roll of martyrs who had testified in the dungeon or at the +stake to the strength of their convictions. Yet the little band steadily +grew. In the year 1500 it was deemed necessary to increase the number of +bishops to four. In Bohemia and Moravia they counted between three +hundred and four hundred churches with nearly two hundred thousand +members. There were few villages and scarce any towns in which they were +not to be found, and they had powerful protectors among the nobility, +who, by the enslavement of the peasants in 1487, had become practically +independent and able to shelter them during periods of persecution. The +Brethren were active in education and in the use of the press. Every +parish had its school, and there were higher institutions of learning, +especially at Jungbunzlau and Litomysl. Of the six Bohemian +printing-offices they possessed three, while the Catholics had but one +and the Calixtins two. Of the sixty books issued in Bohemia between 1500 +and 1510, fifty were printed by the Brethren.[610] + +From this period until the death of Ladislas, in 1516, they were +subjected to intermittent but severe persecution, especially in Bohemia. +Ladislas, in his will, left instructions for their extermination "for +the sake of his soul's salvation and of the true faith;" but the +minority of his son Louis, only ten years old, the breaking-out of +disturbances, and the feuds between Catholic and Calixtin brought them +peace. The exiled pastors returned, the churches were reopened, and +public service was resumed. With the rise of Lutheranism and the +negotiations between the Bohemians and the German Protestants their +history passes beyond our present horizon, except to allude to the +fidelity with which they endured the shocks of the counter-Reformation, +and succeeded in transmitting to our own time the lessons which they had +learned from Peter Waldo and John Wickliff. They brought across the +Atlantic the union of fearless zeal with the gentler Christian virtues, +and in the annals of Pennsylvania the name of Moravian came to represent +all that serves as the firmest and surest foundation of social +organization. Parkman has well indicated the contrast between the +civilizing influence of the kindly Moravian missionaries and the manner +in which their Jesuit rivals were content to substitute the cross as a +fetich in place of the medicine-bag. The same well-directed enthusiasm +endures to the present day. Small as is the Moravian Church, it +maintained in 1885 no less than three hundred and nineteen missionaries +scattered among the remote places of the earth, with over eighty-one +thousand native converts as church members; and the more rugged and +inhospitable the fields of labor the more earnest the zeal of the good +Brethren. But for them the savage coasts of Greenland would be almost +destitute of Christian teaching, and in their truly apostolic work we +may recognize that the blood of the martyrs of Constance was not shed in +vain.[611] + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + I. + + EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE MAGISTRATES OF TOULOUSE, JULY 24, 1237. + (Doat, XXI. fol. 146.) + + Manifestum eit omnibus tam presentibus quam futuris quod nos frater + Stephanus de ordine fratrum Minorum et frater Guilhelmus A. de + ordine fratrum Predicatorum inquisitores instituti ad faciendam + inquisitionem contra hereticos, fautores, receptatores et + deffensores hereticorum Tholose et in tota diocesi Tholosana; cum + per diligentem inquisitionem a nobis factam constiterit nobis R. + Centulli et Sicardum de Tholosa et R. Rogerii et Alamannum de + Roaxio et R. Embruni et Ondradam uxorem Arnaldi Petrarii infectos + esse heretica pravitate, per sententiam diffinitivam eos esse + hereticos condemnaverimus. Petrum de Tholosa vicarium Tholose et + capitularios Tholose diligenter et legitime tam per nos quam per + alios admonuimus ut dictos hereticos caperent et de dictis + hereticis facerent quod est de hereticis faciendum; cumi gitur + vicarius et capitularii, neglectis et contemptis omnibus + supradictis admonitionibus a nobisfactis, non solum non ceperunt + eos nec de terra eos fugaverunt, vel eorum bona occupaverunt ut + tenentur, sed etiam in periculum animarum suarum et in prejudicium + fidei, pacis et ecclesie R. Rogerii et Alamannum de Roaxio + predictos hereticos condemnatos tolerant et sustinent in stratis + publicis circa Tholosam et aliis locis eotum jurisdictioni + subditis, capere viros religiosos et clericos ac eorum bonis + propriis spoliare et ad redemptionem compellere, et vulnerare et + injuriis eos afficere, necnon et viros Catholicos cum clericis + commorantes occidere mutilare et alia mala ceclesiis et + ecclesiasticis viris inferre, maxime cum nos dicti inquisitores + publice excommunicaverimus omnem hominem tam virum quam mulierem + tanquam fautorem et deffensorem hereticorum qui eis consilium vel + auxilium aliquod eis occulte vel manifeste prestaret, et vicarius + et capitularii supradicti contra prohibitionem nostram temere + supradictos hereticos in supradictis malitiis fovent nequiter et + sustentant; et cum insuper ipsi sacramento et constitutionibus + ecclesie teneantur hereticos ubique capere et totam terram eorum + jurisdictioni subjectam a pravitate heretica extirpare, non + attendentes quod scriptura dicit, non est grandis differentia utrum + letum admittas vel differas quoniam mortem languentibus probatur + infligere qui hanc, cum possit, non excludit et alibi dicatur + canone, quod error cui non resistitur probatur, et negligere cum + possit arguere perversos nihil aliud est quam fovere, nec caret + scrupulo societatis occulte qui manifesto facinori distulit + obviare, maxime cum vicarius et capitularii supradicti alia vice + tanquam fautores et deffensores hereticorum fuerint excommunicati, + predictos vicarium et capitularios, habito diligenti consilio et + tractatu, assidentibus nobis venerabili patre R. Dei gratia + episcopo Tholosano et B. abbate Mansi sub Verduno, et P. preposito + Sancti Stephani, et P. priore ecclesie beate Marie desurate, + tanquam fautores et sustentatores hereticorum auctoritate qua + fungimur excommunicationis vinculo innodamus. + + Lata fuit hec sententia publice in ecclesia sancti Stephani + Tholose, coram multis viris religiosis et capellanis parochialium + ecclesiarum Tholose et aliis viris ecclesiasticis, IX Kal. Augusti + anno Domini MCCXXXVII. + + + II. + + ARGUMENT OF BERNARD DÉLICIEUX BEFORE PHILIPPE LE BEL, TOULOUSE, + 1304. + + (Bib. Nat. MSS., fonds latin. No. 4270, fol. 138.) + + Dixit etiam se dixisse tunc ipse frater Bernardus quod Deus fecerat + magnam gratiam patriæ in adventu ipsius domini regis, eo quod + dictus frater Guilhelmus Petri, ordinis prædicatorum, tunc prior + provincialis, præsentibus inquisitoribus Tolosæ et Carcassonæ et + multis aliis fratribus ejusdem ordinis, dixit et confessus est + loquens in personam inquisitorum prædictorum, in præsentia ipsius + regis et plurium quam quingentarum personarum in aula superiori + ipsius domini regis existentium, quod in tota lingua occitana non + erant hæretici nisi tantummodo in burgo Carcassonæ, Albiæ vel + Corduæ, vel in circuitu per unam leucam vel duas, et quod illi non + erant quadraginta, et si erant quadraginta non erant quinquaginta, + et quod hoc dictus frater Guilhelmus dixit bis in præsentia + prædictorum; et ideo intulit tunc ipse frater Bernardus, ut dixit, + quod patria quæ hactenus fuerat diffamata testimonio ipsorum + inquisitorum ab infamia prædicta in adventu ipsius domini regis + fuerat relevata, et sperabat frater Bernardus, ut dixit tunc se + dixisse, quod ex quo tunc secundum verba eorum tota patria erat + sana, excepta sex leucis et quinquaginta personis, quod leucæ illæ + et personæ ac tres villæ prædictæ adhuc invenientur immunes a labe + hæresis prædicta. Dixit etiam tunc se dixisse, quod si hodie + viverent beati Petrus et Paulus, et contra eos impingeretur quod + hæreticos adorassent, si procederetur contra eos super hujusmodi + adoratione, sicut per aliquos inquisitores istarum partium + aliquando contra multos fuit processum nee pateret eis via + deffensionis. Si enim de fide interrogarentur, responderent sicut + magistri et doctores, ubi autem diceretur eis quod hæreticos + adorassent, et quærerent quos hæreticos, et dicerentur eis sola + nomina dictorum hæreticorum (quæ quidem nomina et cognomina multis + conveniunt) et ipsi beati Petrus et Paulus dicerent "Istos nunquam + novimus. Dicatis nobis ubi sunt vel unde venerunt et quo iverunt, + cujus linguæ, staturæ aut conditionis erant" et nihil eis + diceretur per quod notitia dictorum hæereticorum, qui dicuntur + adorati haberi posset: si etiam quærerent quo tempore facta fuerit + hæc adoratio, et non diceretur dies, mensis nec annus: si etiam + quærerent nomina testium et non darentur eis, non est qui possit + exprimere, ut dixit tunc se dixisse ipse frater Bernardus quod hi + apostoli qui tam sancti sunt, a tali macula coram hominibus se + possent deffendere, maxime cum si quis vellet eos deffendere statim + impingeretur quod erat fautor hæreticorum, sicut ipse frater + Bernardus in se ipso et dicto vicedomino probavit. + + + III. + + SUPPLICATION OF THE CHURCH OF ALBI TO THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS + (1304-5). + + (Archives de l'Hôtel-de-ville d'Albi.--Doat, XXXIV. fol. 42.) + + Illustrissimæ Dominationis Patribus venerabilibus Dominis + Cardinalibus sacrosanctæ Romanæ ecclesiæ sacroque coetui eorumdem. + Capitulum et Canonici ecclesiæ Albiensis et Capitulum et Canonici + ecclesiæ Sti. Salvii de Albia, Abbasque et monachi monasterii de + Galliaco Albiensis diocesis, et alii religiosi quorum sigilla + inferius sunt appensa, suarum sublimitatum imperiis subjectionem + debitam et devotam. Juste pater supplicatur a filiis dum cernunt + fluctus tumescere et undis insiliantibus ventis et flantibus ex + adverso naufragium imminere formidant, præsertim dum necessarium + exigente qualitate causaram salus non pateat aut auxilium aliunde. + Verum nostra patria quantis sit exposita præcipitiis et ruinis + propter quæstiones et dissensiones quibus ad invicem se collidunt + patria et inquisitores hæreticæ pravitatis novit ille qui nihil + ignorat, et adeo excrevit turbatio ut idem populus ad iracundian + concitatus non videatur aliud anhelare nisi ut discriminibus se + committens deducat in ore gladii, nedum quos sibi putat adversarios + sed et alios, ac ad talia se convertat quæ non poterunt aliquatenus + reparari. Vestræ igitur Paternitatis pedibus provoluti humiliter + supplicanus ut circa præmissa sic salutifere et celeriter + succurratis quod, præclusa via periculis et ruinis, patria + restituatur paci debitæ et quieti. Constet enim vobis quod dictus + populus et patria est catholica et fidelis, quantum nos humana + fragilitas nosse sinit, et populus civitatis Albiæ et patriæ fidem + catholicam corde credens ore profitetur eamdem ut sic perveniat ad + salutem et bonis operibus astruit et confirmat.... Paternitatem + vestram conservet altissimus ecclesiæ suæ sanctæ per tempora + longiora. (Signed with seventeen seals.) + + + IV. + + BULL OF CLEMENT V. IN FAVOR OF THE INQUISITION. + + (Doat, XXXIV. fol. 112.) + + Clemens episcopus servus servorum Dei ad perpetuam rei memoriam. + Dudum venerabili fratri Petro episcopo Prenestino, tunc tituli + Sancti Vitalis, et dilecto filio nostro Berengario titulo sanctorum + Nerei et Achillei presbyteris cardinalibus, per nostros sub certa + forma litteras duximus committendum ut ipsi circa negotium + inquisitionis heretice pravitatis in partibus Carcassonensi, + Albiensi et Cordue super certis articulis seu dependentibus ab + eisdem diligenter inquireretur et nonnulla etiam ordinarent; qui + auctoritate litterarum hujusmodi quadam cura dictum officium + ordinasse noscuntur. Quia vero nostre intentionis non extitit nec + existit ut occasione dicte commissionis seu alicujus mandati nostri + super hiis Cardinalibus ipsis facti, Inquisitoribus pravitatia + predicte inquirendi vel conjunctim vel divisim cum episcopo seu + episcopis ordinariis, aut sine ipsis, prout eis licet secundum + canonicas sanctiones facultas aliquatenus restringatur; Nos + ordinationem per quam dicti Cardinales facultatem inquirendi per se + divisim inquisitoribus ipsis restrinxisse dicuntur utpote + intentioni nostre et juri contrariam, juribus carere decernimus et + nullatenus observandam, ordinatione ipsorum Cardinalium circa + ceteros alios articulos in omnibus et per omnia in suo robore + duratura. Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam nostre + constitutionis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario contraire. Si quis + autem hec attemptare presumpserit, indignationem omnipot. Dei et + beatorum Petri et Pauli apostolorum ejus se noverit incursurum. + Datum Pictavis, secundo Idus Augusti, Pontificatus nostri anno + tertio. (12 Aug. 1308.) + + + V. + + BRIEF OF CLEMENT V. CONCERNING THE PRISONERS OF ALBI.[612] + + (Doat, XXXIV. fol. 89.) + + Venerabili fratri Geraldo episcopo Albiensi et dilectis filiis + inquisitoribus heretice pravitatis in partibus Albiensibus. Dudum + venerabili fratri nostro Bertrando tunc episcopo Albiensi et + inquisitoribus dictis nostros direximus litteras in hec verba: + + Clemens episcopus, servus servorum Dei venerabili fratri Bertrando + episcopo Albiensi et dilectis filiis inquisitoribus heretice + pravitatis in partibus Albie, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. + Significarunt nobis Isarnus Colli, P. Fransa, Jo. de Porta, Joannes + Pays, Petrus de Raissaco, B. Casas, G. Salavert, G. de Landas, + Isarnus de Cardalhaco, G. Borrelli, cives Albienses, quod ipsi olim + de mandato venerabilis fratris B. Aniciensis, tunc Albiensis, + episcopi et inquisitoris seu inquisitorum qui erant tunc in + partibus illis, occasione criminis hereseos, fuerint carceri + mancipati, et jam per octo annos et amplius, tam Albie quam + Carcassone, diu carceris angustias sustulerunt, sicut adhuc + sustinent, quamvis nulla super hoc facta fuerit condempnatio de + eisdem; cum autem ex parte dictorum civium pluries fuerimus cum + instantia requisiti, ut ad condempnationem vel absolutionem + eorumdem, prout jus exigit faceremus procedi: Nos volentes quod + circa illos vestri officii debitum exequamini, sicut decet, + discretioni vestre per Apostolica scripta mandamus, quatenus apud + Albiam tu frater episcope per te vel per alium seu alios idoneos, + vos vero inquisitor vel inquisitores prefati, personaliter + predictos cives ubicumque detineantur, adduci ad vestram, + presentiam sub fida custodia facientes, in eodem negotio + quibuscumque processibus factis seu inchoatis per venerabiles + fratres Leonardum Albanensem, nunc Prenestinum tunc tituli S. + Vitalis et Berengarium Tusculanum episcopum, tunc tituli sanctorum + Nerei et Achillei, et dilectos filios nostros Johannem tituli + sanctorum Marcellini et Petri presbyteros ac Richardum sancti + Eustachii diaconum Cardinales, seu per dilectum filium Arnaldum + abbatem Fontisfrigidi Cisterciensis ordinis, Narbonensis diocesis, + nunc Sancte Romane Ecclesie Vicecancellarium seu alios quoscumque, + commissionum vigore per nos vel per felicis recordationis + Benedictum papam undecimum predecessorem nostrum super facto + heresis dictos cives tangente factarum, ab subrogatione prefati + abbatis et predicti Albiensis episcopi facta, nequaquam + obstantibus, in eodem negotio solum Deum habentes pre oculis, ad + inquirendum contra illos contra quos inquisitum non est, et contra + illos etiam contra quos inquisitum extitit, sed non plene, + diligenter ac plenarie secundum formam que consuevit in talibus + observari, contra illos vero contra quos plenarie inquisitum est, + et contra predictos alios cum plene fuerit inquisitum, ad + sententiam ratione previa procedatis, et alias contra illos vestri + officii debitum exequamini, prout fuerit rationis, communicato + tamen processu prius et inquisitione predictis prefatis Prenestino + et Tusculano episcopis, eorum consiliis inherentes; per hoc tamen + quoad alios ordinationi facte dudum de mandato nostro, tam + Carcassone quam Albie per dictos Prenest. et Tuscul. episcopos + tunc, ut predicitur, presbyteros Cardin. ex commissione seu + commissionibus tam per nos quam per predecessorem nostrum factis + predictis quibuscumque aliis Cardinalibus, et processibus habitis + per eosdem super facto hominum illorum de Albia et de diocesi + Albiensi, contra quos per dictum Bernardum Aniciensem tunc + Albiensem episcopum, et inquisitorem seu inquisitores predictos, + condempnationis sententia lata fuit, nullatenus volumus prejudicium + generari. Datum Avenione, sexto Idus Februarii pontificatus nostro + anno V. (8 Feb. 1310). + + Verum sicut accepimus presentatis prefato episcopo et + inquisitoribus litteris supradictis, et quibusdam dicentibus quod + dicte littere fuerant a nobis subrepticie impetrate, pro eo + videlicet quod aliqui ex dictis civibus ante tempus date litterarum + ipsarum decesserant, reliqui vero ipso tempore in carcere + permanebant, et sic predicta non potuerunt intimasse, et in prefato + negotio huc usque procedere neglexerant. Nos itaque nolentes quod + propter hoc justitia retardetur, discretioni vestre per apostolica + mandamus, quatenus premissis non obstantibus, nec obstante etiam + quod aliqui de predictis querelantibus non sint cives Albie, licet + sint de diocesi Albie, nec si aliquem de predictis mori contingat, + vel ante decessisset quam inquirere inchoaveritis vel + inchoavissetis, vel post eorumdem mortem, in aliquo non obstante, + tam de mortuis quam de vivis inquirere, et in eodem negotio + procedere minime postponatis, juxta predictarum nostrarum tenorem + litterarum. Quod si forsan vos filii inquisitores, his nolueritis, + aut non potueritis, aut non curaveritis interesse, tu frater + episcope, solus per te vel per alium seu alios in negotio eodem + procedas, juxta litterarum continentiam earumdem. + + + VI. + + WITHDRAWAL OF SECURITY FROM CITIZENS OF ALBI. + + (Archives de l'Inquisition de Carcassonne.--Doat, XXXII. fol. 138.) + + Joannes episcopus servus servorum Dei dilectis filiis + inquisitoribus hæreticæ pravitatis in partibus Carcassonæ + constitutis salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Ut commissum + vobis negotium Catholicæ fidei autore Domino prosperetur in vestris + manibus libenter apostolicæ sollicitudinis partes apponimus et + quæque obstantia submovemus. Olim quidem felicis recordationis + Clementi papæ quinto prædecessori nostro pro parte quorumdam + hominum de partibus Carcassonæ suggesto quod inquisitores + pravitatis hæreticæ illarum partium qui tunc erant et pro tempore + fuerant multa illis gravamina et injurias irrogarunt, iniquos + contra eos et alios illarum partium processus contra justitiam + facientes, idem prædecessor hujusmodi suggestionibus aurem + accommodans, bonæ memoriæ Petro episcopo Prænestinensi tunc tituli + Sancti Vitalis et venerabili fratri nostro Berengario episcopo + Tusculanensi, tunc tituli SS. Nerei et Achillei presbiteris + cardinalibus qui partium illarum notitiam habebant et per partes + illas transitum facere tunc habebant, suis dedit litteris in + mandatis ut de præmissis suggestionibus et aliis incidentibus se + plenius informarent, et nihilominus interim personis prosequentibus + negotium memoratum de securitate idonea, pendente dicto negotio, + auctoritate apostolica providerent nec permitterent eos per eosdem + inquisitores aliquatenus molestari; præfati quoque cardinales + hujusmodi commissionis prætextu Aymerico de Castro burgensi + Carcassonæ et quibusdam aliis tunc negotium prosequentibus + supradictum securitatem hujusmodi, pendente dicto negotio, + apostolica auctoritate præstantes, illos sub sua protectione et + sedis apostolica receperunt; quam receptionem idem prædecessor + noster ratam habens et gratam mandavit illam inviolabiliter + observari, eisdem inquisitoribus districtius inhibendo ne contra + præfatum Aymericum et alios officii eorum prætextu procederent + quoquomodo, donec præfatum negotium esset per sedem apostolicam + terminatum et a sede ipsa aliud reciperent in mandatis. Quia vero + præfati Aymericus et alii circa proposita et objecta per eos + ulterius coram prædecessore præfato ac etiam coram nobis negotium + ipsum prosequi neglexerunt et quasi negligunt, præfata protectione + securi, nos nolentes sicut etiam non debemus propterea vestrum + officium impediri, securitatem ipsam penitus revocantes discretioni + vestræ per apostolica scripta mandamus quatinus contra eumdem + Aymericum et alios in decreta vobis provincia, Deum et justitiam + habendo præ oculis, procedentes, non obstantibus securitate + prædicta et aliis securitatibus, protectionibus, confirmationibus, + ordinationibus, et inhibitionibus quibuscumque dicti prædecessoris + aut aliorum quorumlibet, juxta formam vobis traditam ac canonicas + sanctiones et de peritorum consilio officii vestri debitum curetis + exequi diligenter. Datum Avenione, tertio Kalendas Aprilis, + pontificatus nostri anno secundo (30 Mart. 1318). + + + VII. + + Exequatur of on Inquisitor for Champagne. + + (Archives de l'Inquisition de Carcassonne.--Doat, XXXII. fol. 127.) + + Philippus regis Franciæ primogenitus Dei gratia rex Navarræ, + Campaniæ et Briæ comes palatinus dilectis et fidelibus suis + universis baillivis, castellanis, vasallis, præpositis, + communitatibus villarum et earum rectoribus, cæterisque communia + officia gerentibus in nostris comitatibus Campaniæ et Briæ, ad quos + præsentes litteræ pervenerint salutem et dilectionem. Tenore + præsentium bovis districte præcipitiendo mandamus, quatenus dilecto + fratri Guillelmo Altissiodorensi ordinis fratrum prædicatorum + præsentium exhibitori domini Papæ inquisitori hæreticorum ac + perfidorum Judæorum in regno Franciæ sine mora et qualibet + difficultate plenarie obediatis, sicut vobis in citando, capiendo, + detinendo, ad eos mittendo seu etiam ducendo et puniendo tam + Christianos quam Judæos, quos idem frater inquisitor invenerit + culpabiles contra statuta ecclesiæ et fidem Domini nostri Jesu + Christi, ipsum nihilominus familiam et res ipsius custodientes et + defendientes sicut nos et familiam et res nostras. In cujus rei + testimonium præsentibus litteris nostrum fecimus apponi sigillum. + Actum et datum Parisius, die Dominica in crastino Sancti Matthiæ + apostoli, anno Domini MCC. octuagesimo quarto, mense Februarii (25 + Feb. 1285). + + + VIII. + + Sentence of Marguerite la Porete. + + (Archives nationales de France.--J. 428, No. 15.) + + In Christi nomine amen. Anno ejusdem MCCC decimo, indictione + octava, die dominica post Ascensionem Domini (31 Maii), + pontificatus beatissimi patris domini C. divina providentia Pape + quinti anno quinto, in Gravia Parisius, facta ibidem congregatione + sollempni, assistentibus mihi reverendo in Christo patre domino + Parisiensi episcopo, magistris Johanne de Frogerio officiali + Parisiensi, C. de Chenat, Johanne de Domnomartino, Xaverio de + Charmoia, Stephano de Bercondicuria, fratribus Martino de + Abbatisvilla bachalario in theologia, Nicolao de Avessiaco ordinis + predicatorum, Johanne Marchandi preposito Parisiensi, G. de Choques + et pluribus aliis ad hoc specialiter evocatis, presentibus etiam + pluribus processionibus ville Parisius et populi multitudine + copiosa, et me notario publico infrascripto, religiosus vir et + honestus frater G. de Parisius, ordinis predicatorum, inquisitor + heretice pravitatis in regno Francie auctoritate apostolica + deputatus in scriptis tulit sententias infrascriptas sub hac forma: + + In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritua Sancti amen. Quia nobis + fratri Guillelmo de Parisius ordinis predicatorum inquisitori + heretice pravitatis in regno Francie auctoritate apostolica + deputato, constat et constitit evidentibus argumentis te, + Margaritam de Hannonia dictam Perete, super labe heretice + pravitatis vehementer esse suspectam, propter quod citari te + fecimus ut compareas in judicio coram nobis, in quo existens + personaliter a nobis ortata pluries canonice et legitime ut coram + nobis juramentum prestares de plena pura et integra veritate + dicenda de te et aliis super hiis que ad nobis commissum + inquisitionis officium pertinere noscuntur, que facere + contempsisti, licet a nobis fueris pluries super hoc et locis + pluribus requisita, in hiis fuisti semper contumax et rebellis, pro + quibus contumaciis et rebellionibus evidentibus et notoriis hoc + exigentibus de multorum peritorum consilio, in te sic rebellem et + contumacem sententiam majoris excommunicationis tulimus et in + scriptis, quam, licet te notificata fuisset, post notificationem + predictam fere per annum et dimidium in tue salutis dispendium + sustinuisti animo pertinaci, licet tibi pluries obtulerimus nos + tibi absolutionis beneficium impensuros secundum formam ecclesie si + hoc humiliter postulares, quod usque nunc petere contempsisti nec + jurare nec respondere nobis super premissis hactenus voluisti, + propter que secundum sanctiones canonicas pro convicta et confessa, + et pro lapsa in heresim seu pro heretica te habemus et habere + debemus: Porro dum tu Margarita in istis rebellionibus obstinata + maneres, ducti conscientia volentes officii nobis commissi debitum + exercere inquisitionem contra te et processum fecimus super + predictis, prout exegit ordo vite, ex quibus inquisitione et + processu nobis constitit evidenter quondam composuisse te librum + pestiferum continentem heresim et errores, ob quam causam fuit + dictus liber per bone memorie Guidonem olim Cameracensem + episcopum[613] condemnatus et de mandato ipsius in Valencenis in + tua combustus presentia publice et patenter; a quo episcopo tibi + fuit sub pena excommunicationis expresse inhibitum ne de cetero + talem librum componeres vel haberes aut eo vel simili utereris, + addens et expresse ponens dominus episcopus in quadem littera suo + sigillata sigillo, quod si de cetero libro utereris predicto vel si + ca que continebantur in eo verbo vel scripto de cetero attemptares, + te condempnabat tanquam hereticam et relinquebat justiciandam + justicie seculari. Post vero dicta omnia dictum librum contra + dictam prohibitionem pluries habuisti et pluries usa es, sicut et + ejus patet recognitionibus factis nedum coram inquisitore + Lotharingie et coram reverendo patre et domino, domino Johanne tunc + Cameracensi episcopo, nunc archiepiscopo Senonensi,[614] dictum + eumdem librum, preter condempnationem et combustionem predictas, + sicut bonum et licitum communicasti reverendo patri domino Johanni + Cathalonensi episcopo et quibusdam personis aliis, prout ex + fidedignorum juratorum et super hiis coram nobis evidentibus + testimoniis nobis liquet. Nos igiter super premissis omnibus + deliberatione prehabita diligenti communicatoque multorum peritorum + in utroque jure consilio, Deum et sancta evangelia pre oculis + habentes, de reverendi patris et domini Domini G. Dei gratia + Parisiensis episcopi consilio et assensu, te Margaritam non solum + sicut lapsum in heresim sed sicut relapsam finaliter condempnamus, + et te relinquimus justicie seculari, rogantes eam ut citra mortem + et membrorum mutilationem, tecum agat misericorditer quantum + permictunt canonice sanctiones; dictum etiam librum tanquam + hereticum et erroneum upote errores et heresim continentem, judicio + magistrorum in theologia Parisius existentium et de eorumdem + consilio finaliter condempnamus ac demum excommunicari volumus et + comburi; universis et singulis habentibus dictum librum + precipientes districte et sub pena excommunicationis quod infra + instans festum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli nobis vel priori fratrum + predicatorum Parisius, nostro commissario, sine fraude reddere + teneantur. Actum Parisius in Gravia, presente predicto patre + reverendo Parisiensi episcopo, clero et populo dicte civitatis + ibidem sollempniter congregate, Dominica infra Ascensionem Domini, + anno Domini MCCC decimo. + + + CONSULTATION OF CANON LAWYERS ON THE CASE OF MARGUERITE LA PORETE, + HELD MAY 30, 1310. + + Universis presentes litteras inspecturis, Guillelmus dictus Frater + archidiaconus Laudonie in ecclesia Sancti Andree in Scocia, Hugo de + Bisuncio canonicus Parisiensis, Johannes de Tollenz canonicus + Sancti Quintini in Veromandua, Henricus de Bitunia canonicus + Furnensis et Petrus de Vallibus curatua Sancti Germani + Altissiodorensis de Parisius, et etiam regentes Parisius in + decretis, salutem in actore salutis. Noveritis virum venerabilem + devotum et discretum fratrem Guillelmum de Parisius ordinis + predicatorum inquisitorem heretice pravitatis in regno Francie + auctoritate sedis apostolice deputatum, inque processum qui + sequitur nobis intimasse, consultationemque nobis fecisse inferius + annotatam. Processus equidem talis est: Tempore quo Margarita dicta + Porete suspecta de heresi fuit in rebellione et in inobedientia, + nolens respondere nec jurare coram inquisitore de hiis que ad + inquisitionis sibi commisse officium pertinent, ipse inquisitor + contra eam nihilominus inquisivit et etiam depositione plurium + testium invenit quod dicta Margarita librum quemdam composuerat + continentem hereses et errores qui de mandato reverendi patris + domini Guidonis condam Cameracensis episcopi publice et + sollempniter tanquam talis fuit condempnatus et combustus et per + litteram dicti episcopi fuit ordinatum quod si talia sicut ea que + continebantur in libro de cetero attemptaret verbo vel scripto earn + condempnabat et relinquebat justiciandam justicie seculari. Invenit + etiam idem inquisitor quod ipsa recognovit in judicio semel coram + inquisitore Lotharingie et semel coram reverendo patre Domino + Philippe tunc Cameracensi episcopo, se post condempnationem + predictam librum dictum habuisse et alios: invenit etiam idem + inquisitor quod dicta Margarita dictum librum in suo consimili + eosdem continentem errores post ipsius libri condempnationem + reverendo patri Domino Jo. Dei gratia Catbalaunensi episcopo + communicavit ac nedum dicto domino sed et pluribus aliis personis + simplicibus, begardis et aliis tanquam bonum. Consultatio autem ex + predictis resultans per prefatum inquisitorem ut pertactum est + nobis facta talis est: Videlicet, utrum in talibus dicta beguina + debeat relapsa judicari? Nos autem fidei catholice zelatores, + veritatisque canonice professores qualescumque consultationi + predicte respondentes, dicimus quod ipsa beguina. supposita + veritate facti precedentis, judicanda est relapsa et merito + relinquenda est curie seculari. In cujus rei testimonium sigilla + nostra presentibus apposuimus. Datum anno Domini MCCC decimo + sabbato post festum beati Joannis ante portam latinam.[615] + + + IX. + + EXEQUATUR OF AN INQUISITOR ISSUED BY PHILLIPE LE BON OF BURGUNDY. + + (MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds Moreau, 444 fol. 10.) + + Philippus universis et singulis seneschallis, baillivis, scultetis, + officiariis et justiciariis nostris præsentibus et futuris, et + locatenentibus eorumdem per ducatus et diatrictus nostras infra + dyoceses Cameracensis et Leodiensis constitutos, ad quos præsentes + nostræ litteræ pervenerint salutem et omne bonum. Cum religiosus + dilectusque noster frater (Henricus) Kaleyser sacræ theologiæ + professor ordinis fratrum prædicatorum inquisitor bæreticæ + pravitatis per provincialem provinciæ Theotoniæ in prædictis + Cameracensi et Leodiensi dyocesibus auctoritate apostolica + specialiter deputatus pro Dei servitio et cultu seu exaltatione + sanctæ fidei orthodoxæ utque ipsum hæresis crimen a dictis partibus + quibus presidemus si forsan alicubi vigeat seu inoleat valeat + extirpare ad loca seu partes nostræ jurisdictioni subjectas et + vobis commissas declinare quisquam habeat seu etiam proficisci, + nosque velut princeps catholicus qui de manu altissimi multa bona + variosque honores recognoscimus recipisse in prædictis et aliis qui + divinum continuo obsequium complacere ut convenit plurimum + cupiantes intendimus ymo et volumus favorabilem dare locum, + ipsumque inquisitorem tanquam Dei specialem ministrum nostris + prosequi gratiis et favoribus optamus ideo vobis et cuilibet vestum + qui super hoc fueritis requisiti seu fuerit requisitus, districte + præcipiendo mandamus sub obtentu gratiæ nostra quatenus dictum + fratrem Henricum inquisitorem quotiescumque ad exercendum dictum + officium ad dicta loca seu partes vobis commissas contigerit se + transferre et supra prædictis sæculare brachium invocando vestrum + auxilium postulare, eumdem inquisitorem favorabiliter admittatis, + et eidem in et supra prædictis sæculare brachium invocando vestrum + auxilium impendatis, capiendo seu capi faciendo quoscumque ipse + inquisitor debita informatione seu inquisitione prævia et juris + ordine alias desuper observato de memorato facinore suspectos vel + diffamatos noverit et hæreticos quosque vobis duxerit nominandos, + et captos etiam detinendo, et infra jurisdictionem vestram ad locum + de quo dictus inquisitor vobis dixerit deducendo, necnon poena + debita plectendo eosdem sicut ipse decreverit et est fieri + consuetum, si videlicet quando et quotiens ac prout ipse inquisitor + vos duxerit requirendos. Ut autem inquisitor præfatus suum + inquisitionis officium securius et liberius exercere valeat, nostro + suffultus presidio et favore, inquisitorem eumdem ipsiusque socium + ac ejus notarium et familiam, res et bona eorum, sub nostris + protectione, defensione et salvagardia speciali atque securo + conductu recepimus et recipimus per præsentes, mandantes vobis + omnibus et singulis supradictis ut vestrum cuilibet quatenus + nostras protectionem, defensionem et salvagardiam securumque + conductum hujusmodi dicto inquisitori ejusque socio ac notario, + familiæ, bonis et rebus eorum inviolabiliter observando, nullam + injuriam nullumque dispendium, gravamen aut dampnum aliquod ipsis + inferre in personis ac bonis a quocumque permittatis, quinnymo + provideatis eisdem de securo transitu et salvo conductu si et prout + per dictum inquisitorem inde fueritis requisiti. Datum in oppido + nostro Bruxellensi mensis novembria die nona, anno Domini MCCCC + tricesimo primo. + + + X. + + WALDENSIANISM IN THE SENTENCES OF PIERRE CELLA. + + (Doat, XXI.) + + I select a few of the sentences of Pierre Cella in 1241-2, + illustrating the development of Waldensianism at that period, and + the relations between it and Catharism. The sects were perfectly + distinct, but frequently the people, in their antagonism to the + established Church, looked favorably on both, and considered them + equally as "_boni homines_." It will be borne in mind that, in + the language of the Inquisition, "heretic" always means Catharan. + The following cases are all from Gourdon and Montauban. + + Galterus Archambaut vidit hereticos pluries in diversis locis, + audivit predicationes eorum, et comedit cum eis sepe, et adoravit + eos sepe, et pacis osculum more hereticorum pluries recepit et + interfuit hereticationibus duabus, et adduxit Valdenses ad + hereticos in domum suam, ubi disputaverunt, et conduxit hereticos, + et fuit depositarius eorum, multociens adoravit eos et comedit cum + eis, et dedit eis de bonis suis, et audivit predicationes eorum + tociens quod non recordatur, et credebat quod essent boni homines + et quod esset salus cum eis, et si moreretur vellet mori in manibus + eorum.--Stabit Constantinopoli per quinque annos, de cruce et via + sicut alii, et tenebit pauperem quamdiu vixerit (fol. 196-7). + + B. Bonaldi vidit P. de Vallibus Valdensem, et audivit predicationem + ejus, et credidit aliquando quod non debet homo jurare, et in domo + sua propria recepit Joset de Noguer hereticum, et disputavit cum + eo, et ipse commendavit sectam Valdensem.--Idem quod proxima, + excepta cruce (id est, Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum + Jacobum, Sanctum Salvatorem de Asturia, Sanctum Marcialem, Sanctum + Leonardum, Sanctum Dyonisium, Sanctum Thomam Cantuariensem) (fol. + 201). + + Petrus de Verniolo habuit hereticos et Valdenses in fortia sua, et + locutus est alteri eorum, consuluit Valdenses de infirmitate + sua.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium et Sanctum Jacobum (fol. + 202). + + Pana tociens recepit Valdenses quod non recolit, et fuit hospes + Valdensium, et misit eis tociens panem, vinum, et alia comestibilia + quod non nescit numerum, et fuit in domo sua facta disputatio inter + Valdenses et credentes hereticis, et diligebat P. de Vallibus + tanquam angelum Dei:--Sicut proxima, excepto paupere et cruce (i.e. + Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Salvatorem de Asturia, + Sanctum Marcialem, Sanctum Leonardum, Sanctum Dyonisium, Sanctum + Thomam Cantuariensem) (fol. 203). + + Petrona uxor Raimundi Joannis, adduxit P. de Vallibus Valdensem ad + domum suam, et tenuit per octo dies, et dedit ad comedendum et + bibendum, et audivit eum ibi, et tenuit per tres septimanas + Geraldam Valdensem, et credebat quod esset bona mulier, et dedit ei + de bonis suis, et vidit hereticos et audivit predicationem eorum, + et misit eis panem, vinum, et nuces.--Sicut Huga, excepta cruce + (i.e. Ibit ad Podium, ad Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum et + Sanctum Salvatorem de Asturia, Sanctum Marcialem Lemovicensem, + Sanctum Leonardum, Sanctum Dyonisium et Sanctum Thomam + Cantuariensem), et tenebit pauperem per annum (fol. 204). + + G. de Pradels vidit hereticos, audivit predicationem eorum, dedit + eis de bonia suis, et pluries vidit et in diversis locis hereticos, + et credebat quod boni homines essent, pluries vidit Valdensem, et + credidit quod bonus homo esset, et dedit ei ad comedendum semel, et + audivit predicationem ejus.--Portabit crucem per biennium (fol. + 208). + + G. Ricart pluries vidit hereticos et in diversis locis et sepe + audivit predicationem eorum, et interfuit appareilhamento, recepit + osculum pacis ab eis, comedit cum eis, recepit pluries eos in domum + suam, dedit eis ad comedendum, recepit ab eis forcipes, dedit eis + unam capam, unam camisiam, unam tunicam, unam quartam frumenti, + duxit Valdenses ad hereticos ad disputandum in die Pasche, + associavit hereticos, fuit depositarius eorum, et multociens + audivit predicationem hereticorum, credebat quod essent boni + homines, et, si moreretur, vellet mori in manibus eorum, tociens + adoravit eos quod non recordatur.--Stabit Constantinopoli per tres + annos, de cruce et via sicut alii, et tenebit pauperem quamdiu + vixerit (fol. 208). + + P. de Gaulenas viciit Valdenses et hereticos et locutus est cum eis + in quadam navi, et cum audisset hereses quas dicebant, recessit ab + eis.--Ibit ad Sanctum Jacobum (fol. 230). + + P. Baco vidit Valdenses multociens et dedit eis eleemosynas et + audivit predicationem Valdensium, et diligebat eos, et credebat + quod essent boni homines, et frequenter dabat eis de suo, et + interfuit cene Valdensium, et comedit de pane benedicto, vino et + piscibus hereticorum et accepit pacem ab eis; item dedit + Valdensibus ad comedendum in domo sua; item interfuit disputationi + hereticorum et Valdensium, et dedit eis duodecim denarios.--Idem + quod proximus (i.e. Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum + Jacobum et Sanctum Thomam) et amplius ad Sanctum Dyonisium (fol. + 231). + + P. R. Boca dixit quod vidit multociens Valdenses et in diversis + locis, et etiam habuit eos in domo sua, et audivit ibi monitiones + eorum; item credebat quod essent boni homines; item pluries venit + ad hereticos et audivit predicationem eorum, et alibi vidit + hereticos et accepit pacem ab ipsis hereticis; item tercio vidit + hereticos et adoravit eos; item quarto vidit hereticos et audivit + predicationem eorum et adoravit eos; item recepit in porticu suo + hereticum, et duxit eum inde ad quemdam locum, et dedit cuidam + heretico unam capam; item credidit a principio quod Valdenses erant + boni homines, et idem credidit postea de hereticis.--Stabit + Constantinopoli tribus annis, de cruce et via sicut alii (fol. + 232). + + P. Lanes senior dixit quod vidit Valdenses et dedit eis + eleemosinam, et uxor sua dedit se Valdensibus in morte et fuit + sepulta in cimiterio eorum, ipse tamen absens erat, ut dixit, et + vidit alibi Valdenses.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium et Sanctum + Jacobum (fol. 232). + + Johannes Toset dixit quod multociens vidit hereticos et in diversis + locis, et fuit presens quando quidam fecit se hereticum apud + Rabastens, et tunc vidit multos hereticos ibi; item audivit + predicationem hereticorum et adoravit eos bis; item dedit sorori + sue heretice pluries denarios; item associavit hereticos; item + associavit avunculum suum quando fecit se hereticum apud Villamur; + item consuluit Valdensibus pro infirmitate sua, et credidit quod + essent boni homines.--Stabit tribus annis Constantinopoli, de + cruce et via sicut alii (fol. 232-33). + + Ramon Carbonel vidit multos Valdeuses et in diversis locis, et + induxit fratrem suum ut solveret solidos ducentos Valdensibus + legatos eis; item, interfuit disputationi Valdensium et + hereticorum; item, interfuit cene Valdensium et comedit de pane et + piscibus benedictis ab eis, de vino bibit, et audivit predicationem + eorum.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum, Sanctum + Dyonisium et Sanctum Thomam (fol. 234). + + Jacobus Carbonel dixit quod frequenter venit ad scholas Valdensium + et legebat cum eis; item interfuit disputationi hereticorum et + Valdensium et comedit de pane et pisce benedictis ab eis, de vino + bibit, et tunc erat duodecim annorum vel circa, et credidit quod + Valdenses erant boni homines usque ad tempus quo ecclesia + condemnavit eos.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum + et Sanctum Dyonisium (fol. 234). + + Bartholomeus de Posaca dixit quod adduxit quemdam Valdensem ad + uxorem suam infirmam, qui curam illius egit, et audivit + predicationem Valdensium, et ex tunc dilexit eos, et venerunt + pluries ad domum ejus, et faciebat eis eleemosinas dando eis panem + et vinum et multociens et in diversis locis audivit predicationem + eorum; item interfuit cene Valdensium et comedit ut supra; item + pluries (accepit) pacem ab eis.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, + Sanctum Jacobum et Sanctum Thomam (fol. 236). + + Guillelmus de Catus dixit quod cum frater suus et filia ejus + infirmarentur adduxit Valdenses ad domum suam ut haberent curam + eorum; item, audivit expositionem evangelii a quodam Valdensi; item + aliquando iverunt Valdenses ad restringendum dolium suum et tunc + dedit eis ad comedendum; item aliquando volebat eis facere + eleemosinas sed nolebant accipere; item aliquando accepit pacem ab + eis et audivit admonitiones eorum; item credidit quod essent boni + homines, et ea quæ dicebant et faciebant placebant ei.--Ibit ad + Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum et Sanctum Dyonisium (fol. + 236). + + P. Austores audivit multociens predicationem Valdensium dum + predicarent publice in viis; item quidam apportavit sibi de pane + pisceque benedicto a Valdensibus et comedit; item credidit quod + essent boni homines et quod homo posset salvari cum ipsis; item + dixit quod postquam audivit quod ecclesia condamnaverat eos non + dilexit eos.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium et Sanctum Jacobum + (fol. 237-8). + + Domina de Coutas vidit Valdenses publice predicantes, et dabat eis + eleemosinas, et venit ad domum in qua manebant et audivit + predicationem eorum, et multociens ivit ad eos pro quodam infirmo; + item in die Parasceves venit bis ad Valdenses et audivit + predicationem eorum, et confessa fuit Valdensi cuidam peccata sua, + et accepit peniteutiam a Valdense; item credebat quod esseut boni + homines; item vidit hereticos et comedit cum eis cerasa; et + dicebatur quod esset reconciliata; item vidit alibi pluries + hereticos; item comedit de pane signato a Valdensibus.--Idem quod + proxima excepta cruce (i.e. Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, + Sanctum Jacobum, Sanctum Thomam) (fol. 241). + + B. Remon vidit Valdenses, et audivit predicationem eorum et + credebat quod essent boni homines; item, ivit ad hereticos volens + tentare qui essent meliores, Valdenses vel heretici, et ibi audivit + predicationem eorum; item alibi locutus est cum hereticis, et + adoravit eos postquam fuerat confessus quedam de predictis fratri + Guillelmo de Belvais; item adduxit sororem suam hereticatam a + Tholosa usque ad Montemalbanum, et conduxit eam et alias hereticas + usque ad quemdam mansum; item venit ad ipsas et portavit eis piscem + et bibit cum eis; item rogavit quemdam quod reciperet illas + hereticas in manso suo, quod et fecit, et promisit ei quinquaginta + solidos; item, alia vice comedit cum hereticis; item fecit donum + dictis hereticis et audivit predicationem eorum et comedit cum eis; + item, apportavit hereticis fructus; item, fecit tunicam et capam + sorori sue heretice; item, vidit hereticis et credebat quod essent + boni homines et haberent bonam fidem, et comedit de pane signato ab + eis; item, disputavit cum quodam de fide hereticorum et Valdensium, + et approbavit fidem hereticorum.--Stabit Constantinopoli tribus + annis, de cruce et via sicut alii (fol. 242). + + G. Macips vidit Valdenses qui habuerunt curam ejus in infirmitate + sua, et pluries venerunt ad domum ipsius et audivit admonitiones + eorum, et dedit eis pluries eleemosinas, et credebat quod essent + boni homines; item, posuit fidejussorem quemdam hereticum pro eo + pro quindecim solidis; item, vidit hereticos et audivit + admonitionem eorum; item, vidit hereticos et audivit predicationem + eorum, et promisit cuidam heretico servitium suum.--Ibit ad Podium, + Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum, Sanctum Salvatorem, Sanctum + Dyonisium et Sanctum Thomam (fol. 246). + + Guillelmus Laurencii vidit hereticos predicantes, et interfuit + disputationi hereticorum et Valdensium, et fecit sibi fieri + emplastrum a Valdensibus.--Ibit ad Podium, Egidium et Sanctum + Jacobum (fol. 250). + + J. Austores vidit hereticos multociens et adoravit eos multociens, + et audivit predicationem eorum multociens. et comedit de pane + benedicto ab hereticis et de nucibus; item vidit hereticos alibi; + item dixit quod multociens vidit et in diversis locis et + temporibus, et quotiens videbat hereticos adorabat eos semel; item, + vidit Valdenses et audivit predicationem eorum multociens, et dedit + eis panem et vinum multociens, et credebat quod essent boni + homines.--Stabit Constantinopoli tribus annis, de cruce et via + sicut alii (fol. 256). + + A. Capra dixit quod multociens duxit quemdam Valdensem ad domuin + suam pro infirmitate sue uxoris et dedit Valdensibus multociens + panem et vinum et carnes; item, dixit quod portavit panem et piscem + Valdensibus ad domum suam; item, dixit quod audivit predicationem + Valdensium; item, dixit se audivisse predicationem eorum in platea + multociens; item, in die Pasche dedit Valdensibus carnes et comedit + de cena Valdensium.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum + Jacobum et Sanctum Thomam (fol. 257). + + B. Clavelz vidit Valdenses et audivit predicationem eorum in + plateis et interfuit cene Valdensium et cenavit cum eis in die + Jovis cene, et audivit ibi predicationem eorum, et dedit eis + multociens panem et vinum, et credebat quod essent boni + homines.--Ibit ad Podium, Sanctum Egidium, Sanctum Jacobum et + Sanctum Dyonisium (fol. 258). + + + XI. LETTERS OF CHARLES I. OF NAPLES. + + + 1. + + (Archivio di Napoli, Anno 1269, Reg. 3, Letters A, fol. 64.) + + Scriptum est comitibus, marchionibus, baronibus, potestatis et + consulibus civitatum et villarum comitatibus, ac omnibus aliis + potestatem et jurisdictionem habentibus et aliis amicis et + fidelibus suis ad quos presentes littere pervenerint salutem et + omne bonum. Cum dilecti nobis in Christo fratres predicatores in + terris carissimi domini et nepotis nostri illustris regis Francie + inquisitores heretice pravitatis auctoritate apostolica deputati in + Lombardia et ad alias partes ytalie sane intelleximus proficisci + intendant seu mittere nuncios speciales ad explorandos ibi + hereticos et alios pro heresi fugitivos qui de terris predictis + aufugerent et se ad partes ytalie transtulerunt et pro ipsis + hereticis et fugitivis ad loca unde aufugerint per se vel per + eosdem nuncios reducendis, rogamus et requerimus quatenus eisdem + fratribus vel predictis eorum nuntiis presentium portatoribus in + exigendis predictis vestrum impendatis consilium auxilium et + favorem ut per terras et potestates vestras ipsos salvo et secure + cum rebus societatis et familia suis conducatis et conduci faciatis + eundo redeundo et morando. Ad salvamentum et liberationem eorum + efficaciter intendentes quocies sibi necesse fuerit et vos inde + credederint requirendos. Datum apud urbem veterem penultimo madii + primæ indictionis. + + + 2. + + (Anno 1269, Registro 4, Letters B, fol. 47.) + + Scriptum est universis justitiariis secretis baiulis judicibus + magistris juratis ceterisque officialibus atque fidelibus suis per + regnum sicilie constitutis etc. Cum religiosus vir frater + benvenutus ordinis Minorum inquisitor heretice pravitatis + Regebatium et Jacobucium familiares suos latores presentium pro + capiendis quibusdam hereticis per diversas partes regni nostri + morantibus quorum nomina inferius continentur mittat ad presens et + petiverit nostrum sibi ad hoc favorem et auxilium exhiberi + fidelitati tue precipiendo mandamus quatenus ad requisitionem + dictorum nunciorum vel alterius eorumdem omnes hujusmodi hereticos + cum bonis eorum omnibus tam stabilibus quam mobilibus seseque + moventibus capientes faciatis personas illorum in locis tutis cum + summa diligentia custodiri. Bona vero ipsorum ad opus nostre curie + fideliter et solliciter conservari. Attentius provisuri ne in hoc + aliquem adhibeatis negligentiam vel defectum sicut divinam et + nostram indignationem cupitis evitare et nihilominus de hiis que + ceperitis faciatis fieri quatuor publica consimilia instrumenta, + quorum uno penes vos retento alio penes eum qui bona ipsa + custodierit dimisso. tercium ad cameram nostram et quartum ad + magistros rationales magne nostre curie destinetis. Nomina vero + hereticorum ipsorum sunt hec (sequuntur nomina 67). Datum in + obsidione lucerie XII. Augusti decime secunde indictionis. + + + 3. + + (Anno 1269, Reg. 6, Lettera D, fol. 135.) + + Karolus etc. Berardo de Rajona militi etc. Cum te ad justitiariatum + aprutii et comitatue molisii pro inveniendis et capiendis patarenis + hereticis ac receptatoribus et fautoribus eorum specialiter duximus + destinandum fidelitati tue districte precipiendo mandamus quatenus + ad partes illas etc. personaliter conferens in inveniendis et + capiendis ipsis omnem curam quam poteris et diligentiam et + sollicitudinem studeas adhibere, ita quod possis exinde in + conspectu nostre celsitudinis commendabili merito apparere. Nos + enim scribimus omnibus officialibus nostris ceterisque in eisdem + partibus constitutis ut super hiis celeriter exequendis dent tibi + consilium et auxilium opportunum. Datum Neapoli XIII. Decembris + XIII. indictionia. + + + 4. + + (Anno 1270. Reg. 9, Lettera C, fol. 39.) + + Xiiij Martii Neapoli scriptum cst Johannutio de Pando magistro + portuiano et procuratori curie in principatu et terra laboris etc. + Qnia ex insinuatione fratris Mathei de Castro Maris inquisitoris in + regno Sicilie heretice pravitatis intelleximus quod idem frater + Matheus nuper invenerit in civitate beneventana tres patarenos, + unum videlicet lombardum nomine Andream de Vivi Mercato, alium + nomine Judicem Johannem de zeccano, et tertium Thomasium Russum + nomine de Maula saracena quos judicavit relapsos et tradi fecit + ignibus et comburi, quorum bona omnia sunt regie curie tanquam bona + Patarenorum juste et rationabiliter applicanta, Devotioni tue etc. + quatenus statim receptis presentibus de bonis omnibus tam + stabilibus quam mobilibus et semoventibus ipsorum Paterenorum cum + omni diligentia inquirere studeas, quibus inventis et captis debeas + ea pro parte curie fideliter procurare, faciens redigi in quaterno + uno transumptum inquisitionis ipsius in quo quaterno contineantur + etiam bona omnia que ceptris, quantitatem et qualitatem ipsorum in + quibuscumque consistant et ubi ac valorem annuum eorumdem; quem + quaternum cum litteris tuis continentibus processum tuum totum quem + in premissis hujusmodi sub sigillo tuo etc. sine dilatione + transmittas, in quo quaterno similiter redigi facias formam + presentium litterarum. Datum Neapoli ut supra. + + + 5. + + (Anno 1271, Reg. 10, Lettera B, fol. 96.) + + Pro fratre Trojano inquisitore heretice pravitatis.--Item scriptum + est cabellotis seu credentiariis super ferro, pice, et sale + Neapolis ut cum scriptum fuerit eis alias ut de pecunia curie etc. + fratri Trojano inquisitori heretice pravitatis in justitiariatu + provincie terre laboris et aprutii de proventibus ferri picis et + salis Neapolis ad requisitionem suam pro expensia suis, alterius + socii fratis sui et unius notarii et trium aliarum personarum et + equorum suorum pro mensibus martii aprilis madii junii julii et + augusti presentis XIIII indictionis ad rationem de augustali uno + per diem uncias auri XLVII ponderia generalis in principio + videlicet dicti mensis martii deberent ecclesie exhibere etiam + mandatum est sub pena dupli ut dictam pecuniam juxta continentiam + predictarum litterarum eidem fratri Trojano vel nuncio etc. + persolvant. Datum ut supra (apud Montem Flasconem XVIII Martii, XIV + indictionis). + + + XII. + + LETTERS OF CHARLES II. OF NAPLES ORDERING THE PROSECUTION OF A + REPLAPSED HERETIC. + + (MSS. Chioccarelli, T. VIII.) + + Scriptum est religioso viro Fratri Roberto de Sancto Valentino + Inquisitori in Regno Siciliæ post salutem. Olim religiose viro + Fratri Benedicto prædecessori tuo in eodem inquisitionis officio + post salutem scripsisse dicimur in hæc verba. Veridica nuper + accepimus relatione quod te ex officio tuo contra hæreticæ + pravitatis infectos inquirente Petrus de Bucclanico ipsius castri + archipresbyter de pluribus articulis contra fidem Catholicam + inventus est labefactus, cumque satis expediat in contemptæ + religionis vindictam ad reprimendum tam damnabile exemplum hæreticæ + pravitatis te satis insurgere viribus ad celerem punitionem tam + enormis criminis fidelitati tuæ mandamus quatenus statim receptis + presentibus sic omni specie corruptionis procul ejecta in præmissis + contra dictum archipresbyterum tam fideliter proscquaris processum + quod inde Deo placens honori ordinis tui deservias et apud nos qui + dicti negotii plenam habemus fidem et notitiam dignas tibi laudes + valeas vindicare. Datum apud Monasterium Regalis Vallis die 10 + mensis Martii 4 Indict (1306).--Noviter autem facta nobis assertio + continebat quod memoratus archipresbyter ad vomitum rediens in + ejusdem hæreticæ pravitatis laqueum est relapsum, quod si veritate + fulcitur de tanta profecto obstinatione turbati devotionem tuam + attenta exhortatione requirimus ut tam ex processu dicti + prædecessoris tui contra dictum archipresbyterum ab olim habito + quam habendo per te ut cupimus denuo contra eum meritis (?) sive + indagine in prædictis sic tuæ disciplinæ virga in dictum + archipresbyterum proinde desæviat aspere ut impunitate non gaudeat + hostis fidei orthodoxæ. Tuque propterea digua apud Deum et nos + laude attolaris. Datum Neapoli apud Bartholomæum de Capua militem + Logothetam et Prothonotarium Regni Siciliæ anno Domini 1307 (1308) + die ultimo Augusti, 6 Indict. Regnorum nostrorum anno 24. + + + XIII. + + OATH OF THE DOGE OF VENICE IN 1249. + + (Archivio di Venezia. Codice ex Brera No. 277.) + + Promissio Domini Marini Mauroceno. + + In nomine dei eterni amen. Anno ab incarnatione domini nostri Jesu + Christi millesimo ducentesimo quadragesimo nono mense Junii die + terciodecimo intrante indictione septima Rivoalto. In palatio + ducatus Veneciarum feliciter amen.... Ad honorem dei et sacrosancte + matris Ecclesie et robur et defensionem fidei catholice studiosi + erimus cum consilio nostrorum consiliariorum vel maioris partis + quod probi et discreti et catholici viri eligantur et constituantur + super inquirendis hereticis in venecia. Et omnes illos qui dati + erunt pro hereticis per dominum Patriarchum Gradensem, Episcopum + Castellanum vel per alios episcopos provincie duchatus Veneciarum a + Grado videlicet usque ad caput aggeris comburi faciemus de consilio + nostrorum consiliariorum vel maioris partis ipsorum.... Ego Marinus + Maurocenus Dei gratia Dux manu mea subscripsi. + + + CAPITULARE SUPER PATARENIS ET USURARIIS (1256). + + (Dal Registro intitulato, Capitolari di più Magistrati riformato + nell' anno 1376. Miscellanea Codici, No. 133, p. 121.) + + Item juro quod amodo usque ad unum annum et per totum ipsum annum + simul cum meis vel cum altero eorum studiosus ero bona fide sine + fraude ad inquirendum et inveniendum patarenos hereticos et + suspectos de heresi tam venetos quam forinsecos in civitate + Rivoalti et si quem talem vel tales invenero secretum aput me + habebo et quam cito potero bona fide sine fraude denunciabo domino + Duci et consiliariis ejus vel aliis quibus per dominum ducem et + suum consilium fuerint hoc commissum. Hec autem omnia observabo + bona fide sine fraude remote odio vel amore prece vel precio, et + servitium inde non tollam nec faciam tolli. Item attendam et + observabo ea que continentur in capituiari maioris consilii.--Si + autem secundo in eodem crimine quis fuerit depreensus penam + predictam incurrat et bannizetur et expellatur de veneciis si + forinsecus fuerit venetus autem quociens inventus fuerit penam + incurrat predictam excepto quod de veneciis non bannizetur nec + expellatur. Post anno domini millesimo ducentesimo quinquagesimo + quinto (1256) indictione XIIII. mense februarii fuit hoc additum in + presente capitulare. + + + END OF VOL. II. + + * * * * * + +The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext +transcriber: + +Behind them now, moreover, was Gregory XI., the implacable and +indefatigable persecutor of heresy=>Behind them now, moreover, was +Gregory IX., the implacable and indefatigable persecutor of heresy + +chair of St. Peter to be filled, and in 1216 Louis Hutin sent his=> +chair of St. Peter to be filled, and in 1316 Louis Hutin sent his + + * * * * * + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Diez, Leben und Werke der Troubadours, pp. 450, 576.--Millot, Hist. +Littéraire des Troubadours, III. 244-50. + +[2] Teulet, Layettes, II. 185, 226-8. + +In 1239 we find Raymond asking for six months' delay in the payment of +one of the instalments (Ib. p. 406). + +[3] Concil. Tarraconens. ann. 1238 c. 11 (Mart. Ampl. Coll. VII. +134).--Ripoll I. 120, 145, 165.--Potthast No. 9452, 11092, 11094, +11515.--Vaissette, III. Pr. 365.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 262.--Arch. des +Frères Prêcheurs de Toulouse (Doat, XXXI. 19)--C. 1 Sexto v. +2.--Raynald. ann. 1243, No. 30.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXI. +69).--Bern. Guidon, de Trib. Grad. Prædicat. (Bouquet, XXI, +739).--Practica super Inquisit. (MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 14930, +fol. 224). + +When Cardinal Wolsey sought to reform the English Church he found the +same difficulty in obtaining bishops to degrade clerical criminals, and +he obtained from Clement VII. the same remedy (Rymer, XIV. 239). + +[4] Coll. Doat, XXI. 149, 153, 156, 158.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, +No. 9992. + +[5] Practica super Inquisit. (MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 14930, +fol. 224).--Guill. Pelisso Chron. (Ed. Molinier. Anicii, 1880, pp. 6, +15).--Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 688 (Monument. Hist. +German.).--Bern. Guidon. Vit. Gregor. PP. IX. (Muratori S. R. I. III. +573). + +One of the complaints made by Gregory IX. against Raymond, in 1236, was +that he had neglected to pay the salaries of the professors, and that +the school of Toulouse was dissolved (Teulet, Layettes, II. 315). In +1239, however, a receipt in full for them was exhibited to the papal +legate (Ib. p. 397), and in 1242, when Raymond was under peril of death +in the Agenois, his chief physician was Loup of Spain, the professor of +medicine in the University (Ib. p. 466). + +[6] Pelisso Chron. pp. 7-8. + +[7] Ibid. pp. 9-10. + +[8] Pelisso Chron. pp. 10-11.--Preger, Vorarbeiten zu einer Geschichte +der deutschen Mystik, p. 17. + +[9] Pelisso Chron. p. 13. Cf. Bern. Guidon. Vit. Gregor. PP. IX. +(Muratori S. R. I. III. 573). + +[10] Pelisso pp. 10-17. + +[11] Ibid. pp. 17-20. + +[12] Pelisso Chron. pp. 20-1. + +[13] Ibid. p. 22. + +[14] Pelisso Chron. pp. 23-5. + +[15] Millot, Troubadours, II. 65-77.--Mary-Lafon, Histoire du Midi de la +France, III. 396-99. + +[16] Vaissette, III. 403.--Martene Thesaur. I. 985.--Pelisso Chron. pp. +13-14, 52-9. + +Chabanaud (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. 330) thinks it probable that this +Arnaud Catala is the troubadour of the same name, developing, like +Folquet of Marseilles and others, from a poet to a persecutor. + +[17] Vaissette, III. 402-3, 406; Pr. 370-1, 379-81.--Coll. Doat, XXXI. +33.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 321, 334. + +[18] + + "Car del pejors homes que son + Se defen et de tot le mont; + Que Franses ni clergia + Ni las autras gens ne l'affront; + Mas als bos s'humilia + Et l'mal confond." + +(Peyrat, Les Albigeois et l'Inquisition, II. 394). + +[19] Bern. Guidon. Vit. Gregor. PP. IX. (Muratori, S. R I. III. +573)--Archives Nat. de France J. 430, No. 17, 18.--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. +42.--Peyrat, Hist. des Albigeois, I. 287.--Harduin. Concil. VII. +203-8.--D'Achery Spicileg. III. 606.--Potthast No. 9771.--Epistt. Sæculi +XIII. T. I. No. 577 (Mon. Germ. Hist.).--Matt. Paris ann. 1334, p. +280.--Vaissette, III. 399-400, 406.--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. pp. +485, 799-802. + +[20] Pelisso Chron. pp. 25-8. + +[21] Pelisso Chron. pp. 30-40.--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Fundat. Convent. +Præidicat. (Martene Thesaur. VI. 460-1).--Epistt. Sæculi XIII. T. I. No. +688 (Mon. Germ. Hist.).--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. 43. + +[22] Martene Thesaur. I. 992.--Epistt. Sæculi XIII. T. I. No. 688 (Mon. +Germ. Hist.)--Teulet, Layettes, II. 314. + +The subordination of the bishop to the inquisitors is further shown in +the excommunication of the viguier and consuls of Toulouse, July 24, +1237, in which Bishop Raymond and other prelates are mentioned as +assessors to the inquisitors (Doat, XXI. 148). + +[23] Potthast No. 10152.--Epistt. Sæcul. XIII T. I. No. 700 (Mon. Germ. +Hist.).--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. P. II. p. 912.--Vaissette, III. +408.--Pelisso Chron. pp. 40-1. + +[24] Pelisso Chron. p. 41-2. + +[25] Coll. Doat, XXI. 163. + +[26] Pelisso Chron. pp. 43-51.--Coll. Doat, XXI. 149.--It is probable +that among these victims perished Vigoros de Bocona, a Catharan bishop. +Alberic de Trois Fontaines places his burning in Toulouse in 1233 +(Chron. ann. 1233), but there is evidence of his being still alive and +active in 1235 or 1236 (Doat, XXII. 222). He was ordained a "filius +major" in Montségur about 1229, by the Catharan bishop, Guillabert de +Castres (Doat, XXII. 226), and his name as that of a revered teacher +continues for many years to occur in the confessions of penitents. + +[27] Guill. Pod. Laur. c. 43.--Arch, de l'Évêché de Béziers (Doat, +XXXI. 35).--Bern. Guidon. Libell. de Magist. Ord. Prædic. (Martene Ampl. +Coll. VI. 422).--Raynald. ann. 1237, No. 32. + +[28] Epistt. Sæculi XIII. T. I. No. 706 (Mon. Germ. Hist).--Potthast No. +10357, 10361.--Raynald. ann. 1237, No. 33, 37.--Teulet, Layettes, II. +339, No. 2514.--Vaissette, III. 410.--Coll. Doat, XXI. 146. + +A deposition of Raymond Jean of Albi, April 30, 1238 (Doat, XXIII. 273), +probably marks the term of the activity of the Inquisition before its +suspension. + +[29] Teulet, Layettes, II. 377, 386.--Epistt. Sæculi XIII. T. I. No. 731 +(Mon. Germ. Hist.).--Raynald. ann. 1239, No. 71-3.--Arch. du Vatican T. +XIX. (Berger, Actes d'Innocent IV. p. xix.). + +[30] Arch. Nat. de France J. 430. No. 19, 20.--Guill. Pod. Laurent, c. +43.--Vaissette, III. 411. + +[31] Guill. Pod. Laur. c. 43.--Guill. Nangiac. Gest. S. Ludov. ann. +1239.--Vaissette, III. 420.--Bern. Guidon. Vit. Gregor. PP. IX. +(Muratori S. R. I. III. 574).--Teulet, Layettes, II. 457. It was not +until 1247 that Trencavel released the consuls of Béziers from their +allegiance to him.--Mascaro, Libre de Memorias, ann. 1247. + +[32] A. Molinier (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, VII. 448-61).--Douais, Les +Albigeois, Paris, 1879; Pieces justif. No. 4. + +[33] D'Achery Spicileg. III. 621.--Vaissette, III. 424; Pr. 400. + +[34] Guillem de Tudela V. 8980, 9183.--Trésor des Chartes du Roi à +Carcassonne (Doat, XXII. 34-49).--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, VIII. +975.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 252, No. 2241.--Vaissette, III. 383, 422-3; +Pr. 385, 397-99.--Ripoll VII. 9.--Potthast No. 9024.--Pelisso Chron. pp. +28-9.--Coll. Doat, XXI. 163-164, 166; XXIV. 81. + +[35] The document is in the Collection Doat, XXI. 185 sqq.--Although it +does not specify that the cases are of voluntary penitents within the +time of grace, there is no risk in assuming this. The penances are all +of the kind provided for such penitents; and in one case (fol. 220) it +is mentioned that the party had not come in within the time, which would +infer that the rest had done so. Besides, the extraordinary speed with +which the business was transacted is wholly incompatible with +prosecutions of accused persons striving to maintain their innocence. + +[36] Coll. Doat, XXI. 210, 215, 216, 227, 229, 230, 238, 265, 283, 285, +293, 299, 300, 301, 305, 307, 308, 310. + +[37] Concil. Narbonn. ann. 1244 c. 19. + +[38] Pelisso Chron. pp. 49-50.--Coll. Doat, XXII. 216-17, 224, +228.--Schmidt, Cathares I. 315, 324. + +[39] Coll. Doat, XXI. 153, 155, 158. + +[40] Vaissette, III. 431; Pr. 438-42.--Doat, XXIV. 160.--Guill. Pod. +Laur. c. 45.--Peyrat, Les Albigeois et l'Inquisition, II. 304.--Diez, +Leben und Werke der Troubadours, p. 491.--Ripoll I. 117.--Analecta +Franciscana, Quaracchi, 1887, II. 65. + +The Catholic tradition at Avignonet was that some of the inquisitors' +followers escaped to the church, where they were massacred with a number +of Catholic inhabitants who had sought refuge there. In consequence of +this pollution the church remained unused for forty years, and the +anniversary of its reconciliation, on the first Tuesday in June, was +still, in the last century, celebrated with illuminations and rejoicing +as a local feast (Bremond _ap._ Ripoll l.c.) + +[41] Vaissette, III. 456.--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. 45.--Molinier _ap._ +Pelisso Chron. p. 19.--Molinier, L'Ensevelissement de Raimond VI. p. +21.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, VIII. 1258. + +[42] Teulet, Layettes, II. 466.--Maj. Chron. Lemovicens. ann. 1242 +(Bouquet, XXI. 765).--Vaissette, III. Pr. 410.--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. +45.--Schmidt. Cathares, I. 320.--Bern. Guidon. Vit. Coelestin. PP. IV. +(Muratori S.R.I. III. 589). + +[43] Vaissette, III. 434-7, 439.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 470, 481-2, 484, +487, 488, 489, 493, 495, etc. + +[44] Vaissette, III. Pr. 425.--Ripoll I. 118. Innocent's bull is dated +July 10, 1243, within a fortnight after his election. The deputation had +evidently been sent to Celestin IV., and the bull had been prepared in +advance, awaiting the election of a successor. + +[45] Archives de l'Évêché d'Albi (Doat, XXXI. 47).--Archives de l'Inq. +de Carcassonne (Doat, XXXI. 63, 65, 97).--Berger, Registres d'Innocent +IV. No. 31, 102. + +[46] Vaissette, III. 443; Pr. 411, 433-4.--Potthast No. 10943, 11187, +11218, 11390, 11638.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 523, 524, 528, +534.--D'Achery, III. 621.--Berger, Registres d'Innocent IV. No. 21, 267, +360, 364, 594, 697, 1283.--Douais. Les sources de l'histoire de +l'Inquisition (loc. cit. p. 415). + +[47] Guill. Pod. Laur. c. 46.--Coll. Doat, XXII. 204, 210; XXIV. 76, 80, +168-72, 181.--Schmidt, Cathares, I. 325.--Peyrat, Les Albigeois et +l'Inquisition, II. 363 sqq. + +[48] Collection Doat, XXII. 202, 214, 237; XXIV. 68, 160, 182, 198. + +[49] Millot, Troubadours, II. 77.--Berger, Registres d'Innocent IV. No. +37. + +[50] Concil. Biterrens. ann. 1246, Consil. ad Inquis. c. 1.--Ripoll, I. +179. + +[51] Doat, XXII. 217.--Molinier, L'Inquisition dans le midi de la +France, pp. 186-90.--See also Peyrat, Les Albigeois et l'Inq. III. +467-73.--Vaissette, III. Pr. 446-8.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 566. + +M. l'Abbé Douais (loc. cit. p. 419) tells us that the examinations in +the inquest of Bernard de Caux number five thousand eight hundred and +four. + +[52] Vaissette, III. 457, 459; Pr. 467.--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. +48.--Baluz. et Mansi I. 210.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carcassonne (Doat, +XXXI. 105, 149).--Ripoll, I. 184. + +[53] Vaissette, III. 455-6; Pr. 468, 469.--Arcli. de l'Inq. de Carc. +(Doat, XXXI. 77, 79, 80).--Martene Thesaur. I. 1040. + +[54] Martene Thesaur. I. 1044.--Vaissette, III. 465.--Vaissette, Éd. +Privat, VIII. 1255, 1292, 1333, 1583.--Guill. Pod. Laur. c. +48--Mary-Lafon, Hist. du midi de la France, III. 33, 49--Arch. de l'Inq. +de Carcass. (Doat, XXXI. 250). + +[55] Rainer. Summa (Mart. Thesnur. V. 1768).--Molinier, L'Inquis. dans +le midi de la France, pp. 254-55.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. +11847.--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 13, 14.--See also the curious +account of Ivo of Narbonne in Matt. Paris, ann. 1243, p. 412-13 (Ed. +1644). + +The Abbé Douais, in his analysis of the fragments of the "Registre de +l'Inquisition de Toulouse" of 1254 and 1256, tells us that it contains +the names of six hundred and thirteen accused belonging to the +departments of Aude, Ariège, Gers, Aveyron, and Tarne-et-Garonne, the +greater part of whom were Perfects. That this is evidently an error is +shown by the statistics of Rainerio Saccone, quoted in the text. At this +time, in fact, the whole Catharan Church, from Constantinople to Aragon, +contained only four thousand Perfects. Still the number of accused shows +the continued existence of heresy as a formidable social factor and the +successful activity of the Inquisition in tracking it. In this register +eight witnesses contribute one hundred and seven names to the list of +accused (Sources de l'hist. de l'Inquisition, loc. cit. pp. 432-33). + +[56] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, Nouv. Acquis. 139.--Molinier, op. cit. +p. 404.--Ripoll I. 273-4.--Arch. Nat. de France, J. 431, No. 34.--Arch. +de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXI. 239, 250, 252).--Vaissette, III. Pr. +528, 536.--Arch. di Napoli, Regestro 6, Lettere D, fol. 180. + +[57] Concil. Biterrens. ann. 1255.--Vaissette, III. 482-3; IV. 17.--A. +Molinier (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, VI. 843).--Peyrat, op. cit. III. 54. + +[58] Miguel del Verms, Chronique Bearnaise.--P. Sarnaii Hist. Albigens. +c. 6.--Guill. Pod. Laur., c. 8.--Schmidt, Cathares, I. 299.--Vaissette, +III. 426, 503; Pr. 383-5, 392-3.--Teulet, Layettes, II. 490.--Bern. +Guidon. Vit. Coelestin. PP. IV. (Muratori, S. R. I. III. 589).--Berger, +Registres d'Innocent IV. No. 3530. + +[59] Vaissette, III. Pr. 551-3. + +[60] Vaissette, III. Pr. 575-77; IV. Pr. 109. + +[61] Coll Doat, XXV. XXVI.--Martene Thesaur. V. 1809. + +[62] Vaissette, IV. 3-5, 9-11, 16, 24-5.--Baudouin, Lettres inédites de +Philippe le Bel, Paris, 1886, p. 125. + +[63] Raynald ann. 1303, No. 41.--Vaissette, IV. Note xi.--Guill. +Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1303, 1309, 1310.--Nich. Trivetti Chron. ann. +1306.--La Faille, Annales de Toulouse I. 284. + +The irresistible encroachment of the royal jurisdiction, in spite of +perpetual opposition, is most effectively illustrated in the series of +royal letters recently printed by M. Ad. Baudouin (Lettres inédites de +Philippe le Bel, Paris, 1886). + +[64] Bern. Guidon. Gravam. (Doat, XXX. 93, 97).--Molinier op. cit. p. +35.--Doat, XXVI. 197, 245, 265, 266.--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. p. 282. + +Sanche Morlana, the archdeacon of Carcassonne, who is represented as +bearing a leading part in the conspiracy, belonged to one of the noblest +families of the city. His brother Arnaud, who at one time was Seneschal +of Foix, was likewise implicated, and died a few years later in the +bosom of the Church. In 1328 Jean Duprat, then inquisitor, obtained +evidence that Arnaud had been hereticated during a sickness, and again +subsequently on his death-bed (Doat. XXVIII. 128). This would seem to +lend color to the charge of heresy against the conspirators, but the +evidence was considered too flimsy to warrant condemnation. + +[65] Doat, XXVI. 254.--Bern. Guidon. Gravam. (Doat, XXX. 93).--Arch. de +l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 132). + +[66] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin. No. 11847.--Doat, XXVI. 197.--Lib. +Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 54, 109, 111, 130, 137, 138, 139, 143, 144, +146, 147. + +[67] There has been great confusion as to the date of Philippe's action. +The Ordonnance as printed by Laurière and Isambert is of 1287. As given +by Vaissette (IV. Pr. 97-8) it is of 1291. A copy in Doat, XXXI. 266 +(from the Regist. Curiæ Franciæ de Carcass.), is dated 1297. Schmidt +(Cathares I. 342) accepts 1287; A. Molinier (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, IX. +157)confirms the date of 1291. The latter accords best with the series +of events. 1287 would seem manifestly impossible, as Philippe was +crowned January 6, 1286, at the age of seventeen, and would scarcely, in +fifteen months, venture on such a step so defiant of all that was held +sacred; nor would Nicholas IV. in 1290 have praised his zeal in +furthering the Inquisition (Ripoll II. 29), while 1297 seems +incompatible with his subsequent action on the subject. + +In 1292 Philippe prohibited the capitouls of Toulouse from employing +torture on clerks subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop, a +prohibition which had to be repeated in 1307.--Baudouin, Lettres +inédites de Philippe le Bel, pp. 16, 73. + +[68] Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 251).--Chron. Bardin ann. +1293 (Vaissette IV. Pr. 9). + +[69] In 1278 the inquisitors of France applied to Nicholas III. for +instructions, stating that some time previous, during a popular +persecution of the Jews, many of them through fear, though not +absolutely coerced, had received baptism and allowed their children to +be baptized. With the passing of the storm they had returned to their +Jewish blindness, whereupon the inquisitors had cast them in prison. +They were duly excommunicated, but neither this nor the "_squalor +carceris_" had been of avail, and they had thus remained for more than +a year. The nonplussed inquisitors thereupon submitted to the Holy See +the question as to further proceedings, and Nicholas ordered them to +treat such Jews as heretics--that is to say, to burn them for continued +obstinacy.--Archives de l'Inq. de Carcassonne (Doat, XXXVII. 191). + +[70] Mag. Bull. Roman. I. 151, 155, 159.--Archivio di Napoli, Registro +20, Lett. B, fol. 91.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 14930, fol. +227-8.--Wadding, ann. 1290, No. 5, 6.--C. 13, Sexto V. 2--Coll. Doat, +XXXII. 127; XXXVII. 193, 206, 209, 242, 255, 258.--Wadding, ann. 1359, +No. 1-3.--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. p. 230. + +In 1288 Philippe had already ordered the Seneschal of Carcassonne to +protect the Jews from the citations and other vexations inflicted on +them by the ecclesiastical courts (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, IX. Pr. 232). +Yet in 1306 he had all the Jews of the kingdom seized and exiled, and +forbidden to return under pain of death (Guill. Nangiac. Contin. ann. +1306). + +[71] Regist. Curiæ Franciæ de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 254, 267, 268, +269).--Vaisette, IV. Pr. 99. + +[72] Du Puy, Histoire du Differend, etc. Pr. 14, 15, 23, +24.--D'Argentré, Collect. Judic. de novis Error. I. I. 125.--Vaissette, +IV. Pr. 99.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 264).--Faucon, +Registres de Boniface VIII. No. 2140. + +[73] Du Puy, op. cit. Pr. 39, 41, 42, 44.--Faucon, Registres de Boniface +VIII. No. 1822-3, No. 1829, No. 1830-1, No. 1930.--C. 18 Sexto v. +2.--Isambert, Anc. Loix Franç. II. 718.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. Pr. +347.--Archives de l'Évêché d'Albi (Doat, XXXII. 275). + +[74] C. Molinier, L'Inq. dans le midi de la France, p. 92.--A. +Molinier(Vaissette, Éd. Privat, IX. 307). The character and power of the +bishops of Albi are illustrated in a successor of Bernard de Castanet, +Bishop Géraud, who in 1312, to settle a quarrel with the Seigneur de +Puygozon, raised an army of five thousand men with which he attacked the +royal Château Vieux d'Albi, and committed much devastation.--Vaissette, +IV. 160. + +[75] Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conv. Prædic. (Martene Coll. Ampl. VI. +477-8).--Ejusd. Gravam. (Doat, XXX. 94). + +[76] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 18, 119-23, 129, 135-6, +292.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 283).--Vaissette, IV. 91; +Pr. 100-2.--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 282-5.--Coll. Doat, XXXIV. +21. + +[77] Concil. Biterrens. ann. 1299, c. 3 (Vaissette, IV. 96).--MSS. Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 264, 270.--Archives de l'Evêché d'Albi +(Doat, XXXV. 69).--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 11847.--Lib. +Sententt. Inquis. Tolos. p. 266. + +[78] Du Puy, Hist. du Differend, Pr. 633 sqq. 653-4.--Martene Thesaur. +I. 1320-36. + +[79] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 125-8, 139. + +[80] In a series of confessions extracted from Master Arnaud Matha, a +clerk of Carcassonne, in 1285, there are two, of October 4 and 10, in +which he describes all the details of the heretication of Castel Fabri +on his death-bed, in 1278 (Doat, XXVI. 258-60). While these cannot be +positively said to be interpolations, they have the appearance of being +so, and it may safely be assumed as impossible that such a matter would +have been allowed to lie dormant for fifteen years with so rich a prize +within reach. The case is doubtless one of the forged records which, as +we have seen, were popularly believed to be customary in the +Inquisition. + +[81] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 14-16, 29-30, 35, 120, +148.--Coll. Doat, XXVII. 178; XXXIV. 123, 189. + +As late as 1338 the confiscated house of Castel Fabri at Carcassonne was +the subject of a reclamation by Pierre de Manse who claimed that +Philippe le Bel had given it to his queen, through whom it had come to +him. The royal officials asserted that the gift had only been for life, +and had seized it again, but Philippe de Valois abandoned it to the +claimant.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat. X. Pr. 831-3. + +[82] Historia Tribulationum (Archiv für Litteratur. u. +Kirchengeschichte, 1886, p. 148).--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. +4270, fol. 231.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. 268. + +[83] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 9, 19, 22, 24, 26, 32, +40, 63, 70, 73, 81, 82, 84, 119, 128, 149, 155, 163.--Bern. Guidon. +Hist. Conv. Albiens. (D. Bouquet, XXI. 748).--Coll. Doat, XXXIV. 26. + +[84] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 163.--Guillel. Nangiac. +Contin. ann. 1303.--Grandes Chroniques, T. V. pp. 156-7.--Girard de +Fracheto Chron. contin. ann. 1203 (D. Bouq. XXI. 23).--Vaissette, IV. +112.--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Fund. Conv. (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. 514). + +When, long years afterwards, in 1319, Bernard Délicieux was carried from +Avignon to Toulouse for the trial which led to his death, one of the +convoy, a notary named Arnaud de Nogaret, chanced to allude to a report +that Pequigny had been bribed with one thousand livres to oppose the +Inquisition. Then the old man's temper flashed forth in defence of his +departed friend--"Thou liest in the throat: the Vidame was an honest +man!"--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 263. + +[85] Bern. Guidon. Hist. Fund. Conv. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. +510-11).--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXVII. 7).--MSS. Bib. Nat., +fonds latin, No. 4270. fol. 6, 7, 11, 42, 45, 48, 71, 161, 270.--Arch. +de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat. XXXIV. 169).--Vaissette, IV. 143. + +[86] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 16, 149. + +[87] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 121, 125, 132, 150, +159, 165.--Vaissette, IV. Pr. 118-20.--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conv. Prædic. +(Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. 510).--Arch. de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, +XXXIV. 169). + +[88] Vaissette, IV. Pr. 118-21.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No, 4270, +fol. 69.--Isambert, Anc. Loix Franç. II. 747, 789. + +[89] Arch, de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 169).--MSS. Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 16, 70, 134, 151.--Coll. Doat, XXXIII. +207-72; XXXIV. 189. + +[90] Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. Pr. 409.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, +No. 4270, fol. 165.--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conr. Prædic. (Martene Ampl. +Coll. VI. 511). + +[91] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 8, 17, 19, 20, 32, 44, 49, +58, 156, 162, 229.--Pequigny is also said to have arrested some of the +friars connected with the Inquisition (La Faille, Annales de Toulouse I. +34), but I think this impossible. + +[92] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 27, 272.--Arch. de l'Inq. +de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 114).--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conv. Prædic. (Martene +Ampl. Coll. VI. 511).--Vaissette, IV. Pr. 128.--Coll. Doat, XXXIV. 26. + +The Dominican party declared that the statements purporting to come from +the prisoners were fraudulent, and Bernard Gui relates with savage +satisfaction that a monk named Raymond Baudier, who was concerned in +getting them up, hanged himself like Judas (l. c. p. 514). + +[93] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 63, 153-55, +272-3.--Hauréau, Bern. Délicieux pp. 187, 190. + +[94] Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXI. 10; XXXII. 114).--Bern. +Guidon. Hist. Conv. Prædic. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. 510-11).--MSS. Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 88, 109, 122. + +[95] Arch. de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 45).--Arch. de +l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXIV. 14).--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, +fol. 23, 25, 31, 86, 132, 137, 140-1, 152, 153. + +[96] Grandjean, Registres de Benoit XI. No. 1253-60, 1276.--MSS, Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 21, 73, 74, 158, 162, 278.--Molinier, +L'Inq. dans le midi de la France pp. 126-7.--Geoffroi d'Ablis had +sufficient influence with the king to persuade him to found the +Dominican convent of Poissy. + +[97] Vaissette, IV. Pr. 130-1.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. +139. + +[98] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 26, 74-8, 88-9, 98, 103-8, +198, 200-3, 226, 233, 265, 279.--Mascaro, Memorias de Bezes, ann. 1336, +1389. + +For the tenure of Montpellier by the Kings of Majorca, see Vaissette, +IV. 38, 42, 77-8, 151, 235-6. It was not until 1349 that Philippe de +Valois bought out the rights of Jayme II., and in 1352 his son Jean was +obliged to extinguish the claims still asserted by Pedro IV. of Aragon +(Ib. 247, 268, Pr. 219). + +Bernard's attention was probably drawn to the House of Majorca by its +strong adhesion to the Franciscan Order. Ferrand's older brother died in +1304, in the Franciscan habit, under the name of Fray Jayme. Another +brother, Felipe, became a "Spiritual Franciscan," as we shall see +hereafter. + +[99] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 78-80, 90-1, 196, 247, +252-3, 257-9.--Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conv. Prædic. (Martene Ampl. Coll. +VI. 479-80).--Vaissette, IV. 129-30.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. Pr. +461.--Bernard Gui's allusion refers to the insults offered to the +Dominicans during the troubles of Carcassonne, when those who ventured +into the streets were followed with cries of "Coac, Coac!" "_ad modum +corvi_"--MS. No. 4270, fol. 281. + +[100] Arch. de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 42).--Arch, de +l'Évêché d'Albi (Doat, XXXII. 81). + +[101] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, 4270, fol. 10-11, 84, 128, +160-7.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXII. 83). + +Geoffroi's stay at Lyons was prolonged. November 29, we find him issuing +commissions to those appointed by his deputies (Doat, XXXII. 85). Jean +de Faugoux had been connected with the Inquisition for at least twenty +years (Doat, XXXII. 125). + +[102] MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 254.--Arch, de +l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 45).--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. +(Doat, XXXIII. 48). + +[103] Arch. de l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 45).--Arch. de +l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXIV. 89, 112).--Bern. Guidon Gravam. (Doat, +XXX. 95-6.)--Ripoll II. 112. + +I designed printing in the Appendix the Gravamina of Bernard Gui and the +report of the Cardinals. M. Charles Molinier, however, I understand, is +engaged on an edition of these documents, to be accompanied with a +complete apparatus, which will render any other publication superfluous. + +[104] Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXXI. 74; XXXIV. 89).--MSS. Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, No. 11847.--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 228, +266-7, 282-5.--Coll. Doat, XXXII. 309, 316.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. +Pr. 526. + +[105] Archives de l'Inq. de Carcassonne (Doat, XXXVII. 255). + +The Inquisition seems to have by some means acquired jurisdiction over +the Jews of Languedoc. In 1279 there is a charter granted by Bernard, +Abbot of S. Antonin of Pamiers, to the Jews of Pamiers, approving of +certain statutes agreed upon among themselves concerning their internal +affairs, thus showing them subjected to the abbatial jurisdiction. Yet +in 1297 we have a letter from the inquisitor, Frère Arnaud Jean, +ordering the Jews of Pamiers to live according to the customs of the +Jews of Narbonne, and promising not to introduce "_aliquas graves et +insolitas novitates_." During the interval they had thus passed into +the hands of the Inquisition.--Coll. Doat, XXXVII. 156, 160. + +[106] Martin Fuldens. Chron. ann. 1312.--C. 1, 2, 3, Clement, V. +iii.--Bern. Guidon. Gravam. (Doat, XXX.).--Bern. Guidon. Practica, P. +IV. c. 1. + +It is due to Clement to say that doubtless he devised a much more +thorough reform, and the meagreness of the outcome is probably +attributable to the final revision under John XXII. Angelo da Clarino, +writing from Avignon in 1313, about the new canons, which were then +supposed to be ready for issue, says: "_Inquisitores etiam heretice +pravitatis restringuntur et supponuntur episcopis_"--which would argue +something much more decisive than the regulations as they finally +appeared.--Franz Ehrle, Archiv. für Litteratur-u. Kirchengeschichte, +1885, p. 545. + +[107] Du Puy, Histoire du Differend, Preuves, pp. 522-602. + +[108] Joann. Canon. S. Victor. Chron. ann. 1314-16.--Rymer, Foedera, III. +494-5.--Grandes Chroniques, ann. 1314-16--Bern. Guidon. Vit. Joann. PP. +XXII.--Ptolmaei Lucens. Append. + +John XXII. has always passed as the son of a cobbler of Cahors. Recent +researches, however, render it probable that he belonged to a well-to-do +burgher family.--A. Molinier (Vaissette, Éd. Privat. X. 363.) + +[109] Joann. Can. S. Victor. Chron. ann. 1311, 1316-19.--Historia +Tribulationum (Archiv. für Litteratur-u. Kirchengeschichte, 1886, pp. +145-8).--Wadding. ann. 1318, No. 26-7.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. +4270, fol. 1, 39. + +[110] MSS. Bib. Nat, fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 5, 81, 103-4, 146-7, +169. + +Arnaud Garsia and Pierre Probi were kept in prison until 1325, when they +were released on payment of two thousand gold florins, and such penance +as Jean Duprat, the inquisitor, might impose on them. Their sequestrated +property was ordered to be restored.--Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. Pr. 645. + +[111] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolosan. pp. 268-73.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds +latin, No. 4270, fol. 186-92.--Jo. a S. Victore Memor. Historiale ann. +1319 (Bouquet, XXI. 664). + +[112] Isambert, Anc. Loix Franç. III. 123.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. +(Doat, XXXII. 138).--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 11847.--Lib. +Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 228, 244-8, 266-7, 277-81.--Arch, de +l'hôtel-de-ville d'Albi (Doat, XXXIV. 169, 185). + +[113] Bern. Guidon. Gravam. (Doat, XXX. 97). + +[114] Ibid. (Doat, XXX. 96, 98).--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, +fol. 138-9, 213. + +[115] Molinier, L'Inq. dans le midi de la France, p. 111--MSS. Bib. +Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 285. + +[116] Bern. Guidon. Hist. Conv. Præedic. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. +469).--Touron, Hommes illustres de l'Ordre de S. Dominique, II. 94. + +[117] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 2, 3, 12, 13, 32, 68, 76, 81, +159.--Molinier, L'Inq. dans le midi de la France, pp. 145-56. + +[118] Molinier, op. cit. p. 157--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos, p. 102. + +[119] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. p. 37. + +[120] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 59, 60, 64, 73, 74, 75, 92-3, 132. + +[121] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 341-2.--Coll. Doat, XXVII. 198-200, +248; XXVIII. 128, 158. + +The entire disappearance of a sect once so numerous and powerful as the +Cathari has appeared so unlikely that there has been a widespread belief +that their descendants were to be found in the Cagots--the accursed race +of the Pyrenees who in French Navarre were only admitted to common legal +rights in 1709, and in the Spanish province in 1818, some of them still +existing in the latter. The Cagots themselves even assumed this to be +their origin in an appeal to Leo X., in 1517, to be restored to human +society, and claimed that their ancestral errors had been long atoned +for. Yet among all the conjectures as to the origin of this mysterious +class, the descent from Catharans would seem to be the least admissible, +and M. de Lagrèze's opinion that they are descendants of lepers is +sustained by arguments which appear to be convincing.--Lagrèze, La +Navarre Française I. 53-60. Cf. Vaissette, Liv. XXXIV. c. 79. + +[122] Coll. Doat, XXVII. 216-25, 234. + +[123] Vaissette, III, 362, 496; IV. 104-5, 211.--Archives de l'Évêché +de Béziers (Doat, XXXI. 35).--Beugnot, Les Olim I. 1029-30.--Les Olim I. +580.--Coll. Doat, XXXIII. 1. + +The extent of the change of the proprietorship is well illustrated by a +list of the lands and rents confiscated for heresy to the profit of +Philippe de Montfort from his vassals. It embraces fiefs and other +properties in Lautrec, Montredon, Senegats, Rabastain, and Lavaur. The +knights and gentlemen and peasants thus stripped are all named, with +their offences--one died a heretic, another was hereticated on his +death-bed, a third was condemned for heresy, and a fourth was burned at +Lavaur, while in other cases the mother, or the father, or both were +heretics (Doat, XXXII. 258-63). + +Many examples of donations and sales are preserved in the Doat +collection. I may instance T. XXXI. fol. 171, 237, 255; T. XXXII. fol. +46, 53, 55, 57, 64, 67, 69, 244, etc. + +In the possessions of the English crown in Aquitaine the same process +was going on, though in a minor degree (Rymer, Foedera, III. 408). + +[124] Coll. Doat, XXXII. 309, 316. + +[125] Joinville, P. I. (Ed. 1785. p. 23). + +[126] Alberic. Triun. Font. Chron. ann. 1236.--Gregor. PP. IX. Bull. +_Gaudemus_. 19 Ap. 1233 (Ripoll I. 45-6).--Raynald. ann. 1233, No. 59. + +[127] Greg. PP. IX. Bull. _Olim_, 4 Feb. 1234; Ejusd. Bull. _Dudum_, 21 +Aug. 1235; Ejusd. Bull. _Quo inter coeteras_, 22 Aug. 1235; Ejusd. Bull. +_Dudum_, 23 Aug. 1235 (Ripoll I. 80-1).--Potthast No. 9386.--Chron. +breve Lobiens. ann. 1235 (Martene Thes. III. 1427).--D. Bouquet, XXII. +570.--Chron. Rimée de Philippe Mousket, v. 28871-29025.--Alberic. Trium +Font. ann. 1235. + +[128] Chron. S. Medardi Suessionens. (D'Achery, II. 491).--Conc. +Trevirens. ann. 1238, c. 31 (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 130).--Wadding. +Annal. ann. 1236, No. 3.--Meyeri Annal. Flandrens. Lib. VIII. ann. +1236.--Raynald. ann. 1238, No. 52.--Matt. Paris ann. 1236, 1238, pp. +293, 326 (Ed. 1644).--Chron. Gaufridi de Collone ann. 1239 (Bouquet, +XXII. 3).--Alberic. Trium Font. Chron. ann. 1239.--Chron. Riméc de Phil. +de Mousket, v. 30525-34. + +Frère Bremond endeavors to clear Robert's fame from the accusations +brought against him by Matthew Paris, and states that he died in the +convent of St. Jacques in Paris in 1235. + +[129] Concil. Turonens. ann. 1239, c. 1.--D. Bouquet, XXI. 262, 264, +268, 273, 274, 276, 280, 281.--Ripoll I. 273-4. + +[130] Coll. Doat, XXXI. 68.--Martene Coll. Ampl. I. 1284.--Wadding. +Annal. ann. 1288, No. 14, 15; ann. 1290, No. 3, 5, 6; ann. 1292, No. 3. + +[131] Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat. XXXI. 90; XXXII. 41).--Wadding. +Annal. ann. 1255, No. 14.--Raynald. ann. 1255, No. 33.--Arch. Nat. de +France, J. 431, No. 30, 31, 34, 35, 36.--Ripoll I. 273-4, 291, 362, 472, +512; II. 29.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds latin. No. 14930. fol. 226.--Martene +Thesaur. V. 1814, 1817. + +[132] Ripoll I. 179, 183; II. 29.--Potthast No. 15995.--Lib. Sentt. Inq. +Tolos. pp. 252-4. + +[133] Martene Thesaur. V. 1809, 1811-13.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carcass. +(Doat, XXXII. 127). + +[134] Ripoll II. 1.--Guill. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1307, 1310. + +[135] Martene Ampl. Collect. VII. 1325-7. Cf. Concil. Trident. Sess. +xxv. Decret. Reform, c. 3. + +[136] Arch. Nat. de France, J. 428, No. 15, 19 _bis_.--Guillel. Nangiac. +Contin, ann. 1308, 1310.--Grandes Chroniques, V. 188. + +[137] Guillel. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1323.--Grandes Chroniques, V. +273-4.--Chron. Johann. S. Victor. Contin. ann. 1323 (Bouquet, XXI. 681). + +[138] Coll. Doat, XXVII. 119, 132, 140, 146, 156, 178, 192, 198, +232.--Vaissette, IV. Pr. 23. + +[139] Vaiseette, Éd. Privat, X. Pr. 782-3, 792, 802, 813-14.--Arch, de +l'Évêché d'Albi (Doat. XXXV. 120).--Vaissette, IV. 184.--Martene Ampl. +Coll. VI. 433. + +[140] Ripoll II. 236. + +[141] Raynald. ann. 1365, No. 17; ann. 1373, No. 19, 21.--Gaguini Hist. +Francor. Lib. IX. c. 2. (Ed. 1576, p. 158).--Meyeri Annal. Flandr. Lib. +XIII. ann. 1372.--Du Cange s. v. _Turlupini_.--Gersoni de Consolat. +Theolog. Lib. IV. Prosa 3; Ejusd. de Mystica Theol. Specul. P. I. +Consid. 8; Ejusd. de Distinctione verarum Visionum Signum, 5.--Altmeyer, +Précurseurs de la Réforme aux Pays-Bas, I. 85. + +Probably there may be some connection between the Turelupins and certain +wandering bands known as "_de Pexariacho_" and suspected of heresy. A +member of these, named Bidon de Puy-Guillem, of the diocese of Bordeaux, +was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and was liberated by Gregory +XI. in 1371 (Coll. Doat, XXXV. 134). + +[142] Grandes Chroniques, ann. 1380-1.--Religieux de S. Denis, Hist. de +Charles VI. Liv. I. c. 13, liv. II. c. 1. + +[143] Religieux de S. Denis, op. cit. Liv. IV. ch. 13.--D'Argentré, +Collect. Judic. de novis error. I. II. 151. + +[144] Chron. Bardin, ann. 1322 (Vaissette, IV. Pr. 21-22). + +[145] Isambert, Anc. Lois Franç. IV. 364-5.--Coll. Doat, XXVII. +118.--Vaissette, IV. Pr. 23. + +[146] Chron. Bardin, ann. 1340, 1368 (Vaissette, IV. Pr. 27, 31). + +[147] Chron. Bardin, ann. 1364 (Vaissette, IV. Pr. 30. Cf. A. Molinier, +Éd. Privat. X. 763). + +[148] Martene Thesaur. I. 1399. + +[149] Arch. Administratives de Reims, III. 637-45.--Meyeri Annal. +Flandr. Lib. XVI. ann. 1419.--Lafaille, Annales de Toulouse I. +183.--Chron. Bardin, ann. 1423 (Vaissette. IV. Pr. 38). + +[150] Arch. Administratives de Reims, III. 639-43. + +[151] Isambert, Anc. Lois Franç. IX. 3; X. 393, 396-416, 477.--Bochelli +Decret. Eccles. Gallican. Lib. IV. Tit. 4, 5.--Bull. de la Soc. de +l'Hist. du Protestantisme en France, 1860, p. 121.--D'Argentré Coll. +Judic. de novis Error. I. II. 357.--Fascic. Rer. Expetend. et Fugiend. +I. 63 (Ed. 1690). + +The feelings with which the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction in 1461 +was received are well expressed in the "_Pragmaticæ Sanctionis +Passio_," Baluz. et Mansi, IV. 29. + +Pius II. is singularly candid in his account of the simoniacal +transaction through which he purchased the abrogation by giving the +cardinal's hat to Jean, Bishop of Arras. The suggestion at first +provoked the liveliest remonstrances from the members of the Sacred +College, who, through their spokesman, the Cardinal of Avignon, warned +Pius that there would be no peace in the Consistory, for the bishop +would set them all by the ears, and that his unquiet spirit showed that +he must be the offspring of an Incubus. Pius admitted all this, but +argued that it was an unfortunate necessity; both Louis XI. and Philippe +le Bon had asked for his promotion; unless the request was granted the +Pragmatic Sanction would not be abolished, for the fury of the +disappointed man would convert him into its supporter, and, as he was +learned, he would readily find ample Scriptural warrant to adduce in its +favor, which would be decisive, as he was the only man in France who +urged the abrogation, and he could readily lead the king to change his +mind. These arguments were convincing, and Pius enjoyed the supreme +triumph of destroying the last relic of the reforms of Constance and +Basle. He paid dearly for it, however, in the annoyances inflicted on +him by the new cardinal, whom he describes as a liar and a perjurer, +avaricious and ambitious, a glutton and a drunkard, and excessively +given to women. He was so irascible that at meals he would frequently +throw the silver plates and vessels at the servants, and occasionally +would push the whole table over, to the dismay of his guests.--Æn. +Sylvii Opp. inedd. (Atti della Accad. dei Lincei, 1883, pp. 531, 546-8). + +[152] Juvenal des Ursins, ann. 1411, 1413.--Religieux de S. Denis, Hist. +de Charles VI. Liv. XXXII. ch. 14; XXXIII. ch. 1, 15, 16; XXXV. ch. 18. + +[153] D'Argentré, op. cit. I. II. 370. + +[154] Ibid. I. II. 340. + +[155] Ibid. I. II. 346. + +[156] Wadding, ann. 1375, No. 17; 1418, No. 1, 2; 1419, No. 2; 1434, No. +2, 3; 1472, No. 24.--Ripoll II. 522, 566-9, 637, 644; III. 487; IV. 6. + +[157] Wadding. ann. 1409, No. 13; 1418, No. 1, 2, 4. + +[158] Baluz. et Mansi I. 288-93,--Arch. Gén. de Belgique, Papiers +d'État, v. 405.--MSS. Bib. Nat., fonds Moreau, 444, fol. 10.--Ripoll +II. 533; III. 6, 8, 21, 193. + +[159] Ripoll III. 301.--Wadding, ann. 1458, No. 12. + +[160] Wadding, ann. 1458, No. 13; 1461, No. 3.--Ripoll III. 317, 423, +487; IV. 103, 217, 303, 304, 356, 373. + +A MS. of Bernard Gui's _Practica_, now in the Municipal Library of +Toulouse, bears a marginal note that it was lent by the Inquisition of +Toulouse, in 1483, to the Dominicans of Bordeaux to be transcribed, thus +showing that there was an Inquisition in operation in the latter city of +which the members required instruction in their duties (Molinier, l'Inq. +dans le midi de la France, p. 201). + +[161] Memoires de Jacques du Clercq, Liv. III. ch. 43.--D'Argentré, op. +cit. I. II. 308-18, 319-20, 323, 347. + +[162] Bremond, _ap_. Ripoll IV. 373.--Ripoll IV. 390. + +[163] Ripoll IV. 376.--Wieri de Præstig. Dæmon. Lib. VI. c. 11. + +[164] Coll. Doat, XXI. 197, 203, 208, 223, 225, 232, 233, 234, 236, 238, +241, 244, 250, 252, 254, 261-2, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 269, 270, 271, +275, 276, 281, 282, 289, 296. + +It is perhaps worthy of note that Raymond de Péreille, the Castellan of +Montségur, and his companions, when on trial, while freely giving +evidence about innumerable Cathari, declared that they knew nothing +whatever about Waldenses, which would seem to indicate that there was +little communication between the sects (Doat, XXII. 217; XXIII. 344; +XXIV. 8). + +[165] Statut. Synod. Odonis Tullensis ann. 1192, c. ix., x. (Martene +Thesaur. IV. 1180).--Ripoll I. 183.--Douais, Les sources de l'histoire +de l'Inq. (Revue des Questions Historiques, Oct. 1881, p. 434).--Peyrat, +Les Alb. et l'Inquis. III. 74.--Chabrand, Vaudois et Protestants des +Alpes, Grenoble, 1886, p. 34.--Havet, L'heresie et le bras seculier +(Bib. de l'École des Chartes, 1880, p. 585).--Vaissette, IV. 17.--A. +Molinier (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, VI. 819).--Wadding, ann. 1288, No. +14-15; 1292, No. 3.--Raynald. ann. 1288, No. 27-8. + +[166] Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolos. pp. 200-1, 207-8, 216-43, 252-4, 262-5, +289-90, 340-7, 352, 355, 364-66.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carcass. (Doat, +XXVII. 7 sqq.). + +[167] Bernard. Guidon. Practica P. v. (Doat. XXX.). + +[168] Wadding. ann. 1321, No. 21-4. + +[169] Arch. de l'Inq. de Carcass. (Doat, XXVII. 119 sqq.).--Raynald. +ann. 1335, No. 63; 1344, No. 9; 1352, No. 20.--Chabrand. op. cit. pp. +36-7.--Wadding ann. 1352, No. 14, 15; 1363, No. 14, 15; 1364, No. 14, +15; 1365, No. 3.--Lombard, Pierre Valdo et les Vaudois du Briançonnais, +Genève, 1880, pp. 17. 20, 23-7. + +[170] Raynald. ann. 1372, No. 34; ann. 1373, No. 19. + +[171] Wadding. ann. 1375, No. 11-19.--D'Argentré, op. cit. I. I. +394.--Ripoll II. 289.--Raynald. ann. 1375, No. 26.--Gautier, Hist, de la +Ville de Gap, p. 39. + +[172] Lombard, op. cit. pp. 27-8.--Wadding, ann. 1375, No. +21-3.--Isambert, Anc. Loix Franç. IV. 491. + +[173] Wadding. ann. 1376, No. 3. + +[174] Wadding. ann. 1375, No. 24; ann. 1376, No. 2.--Arch. de l'Inq. de +Carcass. (Doat, XXXV. 163). + +[175] Perrin's Waldenses, translated by Lennard, London, 1624, Bk. 2 pp. +18, 19.--Leger, Hist. des Églises Vaudoises II. 26.--Chabrand, op. cit. +pp. 39, 40. + +[176] Miroir de Souabe, ch. 89 (Ed. Matile, Neuchatel, 1843). + +[177] Wadding. ann. 1409, No. 12. + +[178] Mary-Lafon, Hist. du midi de la France, III. 384.--C. Bituricens. +ann. 1432 (Harduin. VIII. 1459).--Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 161-3. + +[179] Leger, Hist. des Églises vaudoises, II. 24.--Duverger, La Vauderie +dans les États de Philippe le Bon, Arras, 1885, p. 112. + +Even in the eariy part of the sixteenth century, Robert Gaguin, in +speaking of riding on a broomstick and worshipping Satan, adds "_quod +impietatis genus Valdensium esse dicitur_" (Rer. Gallican. Annal. Lib. +X. p. 242. Francof. ad M. 1587). + +[180] Martene Ampl. Collect. II. 1506-7. + +[181] Isambert, Anc. Loix Franç. X. 793-4. + +[182] Chabrand, op. cit. pp. 43, 48-52, 70.--Herzog, Die romanischen +Waldenser pp. 277-82.--D'Argentré I. I. 105.--Leger, Hist. des Églises +Vaudoises II. 23-5.--Filippo de Boni, I Calabro-Valdesi p. 71.--Comba, +Histoire des Vaudois d'Italie, Paris, 1887, I. 160-66, 169. + +The Waldensian legend relates that in the cavern of Aigue-Fraide the +number of victims was three thousand, of whom four hundred were +children, but I think that M. Chabrand has sufficiently demonstrated its +exaggerated improbability (Op. cit. pp. 53-9). + +[183] Herzog, op. cit. pp. 283-5.--Perrin, Hist. Waldens. B. II. ch. +3.--Chabrand, op. cit. pp. 73-4. + +[184] Matt. Paris ann. 1234 (p. 270, Ed. 1644).--Reinerii Summa (Martene +Thesaur. V. 1767-8). + +[185] Archives Nat. de France, J. 426, No. 4.--D'Achery Spicileg III. +598.--Paramo de Orig. Offic. S. Inquis. p. 177.--Zurita, Añales de +Aragon, Lib. III. c. 94.--Ripoll I. 38. (Cf. Llorente, Ch. III. Art. i. +No. 3).--Marca Hispanica, pp. 1425-6. + +[186] Llorente, Ch. III. Art. i. No. 5--Ripoll I. 91-2. + +[187] Vaissette, III. Pr. 383-5, 392-3.--Doat, XXII. 218; XXIV. 184. + +[188] Wadding, ann. 1238, No. 6.--Doat, XXIV. 182.--Pet. Rodulphii Hist. +Seraph. Lib. II. fol. 285_b_.--Berger, Registres d'Innoc. IV. No. +2257.--Monteiro, Hist. da Inquisição, P. I. Liv. ii. ch. 36. + +[189] Llorente, Ch. III Art. 1. No. 7, 8, 19.--Concil. Tarraconens. ann. +1242.--Paramo, pp. 110, 177-8. + +[190] Berger, Registres d'Innocent IV. No. 799, 3904.--Baluz. et Mansi +I. 208.--Ripoll I. 245, 427, 429; II. 235.--Eymeric. Direct. Inquis. pp. +129-36.--Paramo, p. 132. + +[191] Llorente, Ch. III. Art. i. No. 14, 17.--Monteiro, Hist. da +Inquisição, P. I. Liv. ii. ch. 10.--Pelayo, Heterodoxos Españoles, I. +492.--Zurita, Añales de Aragon, Lib. II. c. 76.--Paramo, p. 178. + +[192] Concil. Tarraconens. ann. 1291, c. 8 (Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. +294). + +[193] Llorente, Ch. III. Art. ii. No. 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14.--Eymeric. +Direct. Inquis. p. 265.--Ripoll II. 245.--Zurita, Añales, Lib. VI. c. +61.--Raynald. ann. 1344, No. 9. + +[194] Eymeric. Direct. Inq. p. 262.--Ripoll. III. 421; VII. +90.--Wadding. ann. 1351, No. 16, 18, 21; ann. 1462, No. 1-18; 1463, No. +1-5; 1464, No. 1-6.--D'Argentré, I. I. 372; II. 250, 254.--Gradonici +Pontif. Brixianorum Series, Brixiæ, 1755, pp. 348-51.--Æn. Sylvii +Comment. Lib. XI.; Ejusd. Lib. de Contentione Divini Sanguinis. + +[195] Eymeric. Direct. Inquis. pp. 44, 266, 314-6, 351, 357-8, +652-3.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 263.--Ripoll II. 268, 269, 270.--Martene +Thesaur. II. 1181-2, 1182 _bis_, 1189.--Raynald. ann. 1398, No. +23.--Wadding, ann. 1371, No. 14-24.--Paramo, p. 111.--Pelayo, +Heterodoxos Españoles, I. 499-500, 528. + +[196] Dameto, Mut, y Alemany, Historia General de Mallorca (Ed. 1840, I. +101-3, II. 652).--Libell. de Magist. Ord. Prædic. (Martene Ampl. Coll. +VI. 432).--Paramo, pp. 179, 186-7.--Ripoll II. 579, 594; III. 20, +28.--Monteiro, P. I. Liv. ii. c. 30.--Llorente, Ch. III. Art. iii. No. +4, 8. + +[197] Ripoll II. 613. + +[198] Ripoll III. 347.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carcass. (Doat, XXXV. 192). + +[199] Llorente, Ch. III. Art. iii. No. 11.--Albertini Repertor. Inquis. +s. v. _Deficiens_.--Ripoll III. 397, 415, 572. + +[200] Llorente, Ch. VII. Art. ii. No. 2.--Herculano, Da Origem, etc., da +Inquisição em Portugal, I. 44.--Ripoll III. 422.--Paramo, p. 187. + +[201] Monteiro, P. I. Liv. i. c. 38, 44, 46, 48-51; Liv. ii. c. +5-12.--Chron. Eccles. Hamelens. (Scriptt. Rer. Brunsv. II. +508).--Herculano, I. 39.--Baluz. et Mansi, I. 208.--Paramo de Orig. +Offic. S. Inquis. p. 131. + +[202] Lucæ Tudens. de altera Vita, Lib. III. c. 7, 9. Cf. c. 18, +20.--Florez, España Sagrada, XXII. 120-22, 126-30. + +[203] Lucæ Tudens. Lib. III. c. 12.--Raynald. ann. 1236, No. +60.--Rodrigo. Hist. Verdadera de la Inquisicion, II. 10. + +[204] Las Siete Partidas, P. I. Tit. vi. I. 58; P.VII. Tit. xxiv. I. 7; +Tit. XXV. II. 2-7.--El Fuero real, Lib. IV. Tit. i. II. 1, 2. + +[205] Coll. Doat, XXX. 132 sqq.--Archbishop Rodrigo's letter is dated +1315. This I presume to be an error of a copyist, probably misled by the +use of the Spanish era in which 1355 is equivalent to 1317. + +[206] Ripoll II. 421, 433.--Monteiro, P. I. Liv. ii. c. 35, +36.--Ordenanzas Reales, Lib. VIII. Tit. iv. I. 4. + +[207] Monteiro, P. I. Liv. ii. c. 30.--Rodrigo, II. 11, 14-15.--Paramo, +p. 136.--Raynald. ann. 1453, No. 19.--Alphons. de Spina Fortalic. Fidei +Prolog, fol. 56_b_ (Ed. 1494). + +[208] Alphons. de Castro adv. Hæreses Lib. III. s.v. +_Confessio_.--Illescas, Historia Pontifical, Lib. VI. c. 18.--Aguirre +Concil. Hispan. V. 351-8.--D'Argentré, I. II. 298-302. + +[209] Herculano, I. 40.--Monteiro. P. I. Liv. ii. c. 34.--Pelayo, +Heterodoxos Españoles, I. 782-3. + +[210] Llorente, Ch. III. Art. ii. No. 24.--Monteiro, P. I. Liv. ii. c. +35, 37, 38, 39.--Wadding, ann. 1394, No. 4; 1413, No. 4.--Ripoll II. +389. + +[211] Herculano, Da Origem, etc., da Inquisição, I. 163-5. + +[212] Cæsar. Heisterbacens. Dial. Mirac. Dist. V. c. 25.--Muratori +Antiq. Ital. Diss. LX. (T. XII. p. 447). + +[213] D'Argentré, Coll. Judic. de novis Error. I. i. 86.--Reinerii Summa +(Martene Thesaur. V. 1767). + +[214] Matt. Paris. ann. 1236, p. 293; ann. 1243, pp. 412-13 (Ed. +1644)--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1230.--Innoc. PP. III. Regest. XV. +189.--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. p. 881. + +[215] Montet, Hist. litt. des Vaudois du Piémont, pp. 40-1.--Innoc. PP. +III. Regest. IX. 18, 19, 204; XII. 17; XIII. 63.--Kaltner, Konrad v. +Marburg, pp. 42, 44.--Annal. Marbacens. ann. 1231 (Urstisii Germ. Hist. +Scriptt. II. 90). + +[216] Böhmer, Regest, Imp. V. 110.--Comba, La Riforma in Italia, I. +254-57.--Ejusd. Histoire des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 124 sqq., +140.--Charvaz, Origine dei Valdesi, App. No. XXII. + +Giuseppe Manuel di S. Giovanni (Un' Episodia della Storia del Piemonte, +Torino, 1874, pp. 15-21) argues that the letter of Otho IV. is only the +draft of one which the bishop desired to procure, but the question is +merely of archæological interest, for in either case it was equally +ineffective. + +[217] Rescript. Heres. Lombard. (Preger, Beiträge, München, 1875, pp. +56-63).--Reinerii Summa (Martene Thesaur. V. 1775). + +[218] Campi, Dell' Historia Ecclesiastica di Piacenza, P. II.. pp. 92 +sqq.--Innoc. PP. III. Regest. IX. 131, 166-9; X. 54, 64, 222.--Tocco, +L'Heresia nel Medio Evo, pp. 364, 366 (Firenze, 1884).--Cf. +Pseudo-Joachim de septem temporibus Ecclesiæ P. V. + +[219] Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 451 (Mon. Hist. Germ.).--Potthast +No. 7672. + +[220] Epistt. Sæc. XIII. T. I. No. 264-66, 275, 295 (Mon. Hist. +Germ.).--Havet, Bibl. de l'École des Chartes, 1880, p. 602. + +[221] Epistt. Sæc. XIII. T. I. No. 355. + +[222] Raynald. Annal. ann. 1231, No. 13-18.--Constit. Sicular. Lilt. I. +Tit. i.--Rich. S. Germ. Chron. (Muratori, S. R. I. VII. 1026).--Vit. +Gregor. PP. IX. (Ib. III. 578).--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. pp. +299-300, 409-11.--Verri, Storia di Milano, I. 242.--Bern. Corio, Hist. +Milanese, ann. 1228. + +[223] Ripoll. 41. + +[224] Epistt. Sæc. XIII. T. I. No. 559.--Raynald. ann. 1233, No. +40.--Ripoll I. 69, 71. + +Probably about this period may have occurred the incident related of +Moneta, the disciple of St. Dominic, whose efforts against the heretics +of Lombardy are said to have aroused their animosity to the point that a +noble named Peraldo hired an assassin to despatch him. Word was brought +to Moneta, who seized a crucifix and assembled a band of the faithful, +with whom he captured Peraldo and the bravo, delivered them to the +secular authorities, and they were both burned alive.--Ricchini Vit. +Monetæ, p. viii. + +[225] Ripoll I. 48, 56-9.--Matt. Paris, ann. 1238, p. 320.--Chron. +Veronens. ann. 1233 (Muratori, S.R.I. VIII. 67).--Gerardi Maurisii Hist. +(Ib. pp. 37-9).--Barbarano de' Mironi, Hist. Eccles. di Vicenza, II. +79-84. + +[226] Barbarano de' Mironi, op. cit. II. 90-1. + +[227] Ripoll I. 60-1--Barbarano de' Mironi op. cit. II. 86, 91-2. + +[228] Greg. PP. IX. Bull. _Ille humani generis_, 20 Maii, 1230 (Ripoll +I. 95. gives this in 1237, probably a reissue).--Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. +I. No. 693, 700, 702, 704.--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. P. II. pp. +907-8.--Schmidt, Cathares, I. 161. + +[229] Ripoll I. 174-5.--Barbarano de' Mironi, op. cit. II. 94-6. + +[230] Jac. de Voragine Legenda Aurea s. V.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 94. + +[231] Campana, Storia di San Piero-Martire, Milano, 1741, pp. 28-39. + +[232] Bern. Corio, Hist. Milanese, ann. 1233, 1242.--Verri, Storia di +Milano, I. 241-3.--Ripoll I. 65.--Annal. Mediolanens. c. xiv. (Muratori, +S.R.I. XVI. 651).--Sarpi, Discorso (Ed. Helmstad. 1763, IV. 21). + +[233] Lami, Antichità Toscane, pp. 497, 500. + +[234] Ripoll I. 79-80.--Raynald. ann. 1235, No. 15.--Vit. Gregor. PP. +IX. (Muratori, S.R.I. III. 581).--Lami op. cit. pp. 554, 557. + +[235] Lami, op. cit. pp. 560-85.--Lami's account of these troubles, +based upon original sources, is so complete that I have followed it +without reference to other authorities. Most of the documents are still +in the Archives of Florence (Archiv. Diplom., Prov. S. Maria Novella, +ann. 1245). + +The Compagnia della Fede, known subsequently as del Bigallo, was changed +in the middle of the fifteenth century, by Sant' Antonino, Prior of San +Marco, into a charitable association for the care of orphans (Villari, +Storia di Girol. Savonarola, Firenze, 1887, I. 37). + +[236] Ripoll I. 192-3, 199, 205, 208-14, 231.--Berger, Registres +d'Innoc. IV. No. 5065, 5345.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 91. + +[237] Campana, Vita di San Piero-Martire, pp. 100-1. + +[238] Bern. Corio, Hist. Milanese, ann. 1252.--Gualvaneo Flamma c. 286 +(Muratori, S. R. I. XI. 684).--Ripoll I. 224, 244, 389.--Campana, Vita +di San Piero Martire, pp. 118-20, 125, 128-9, 132-33.--Annal. +Mediolanens. c. 24 (Muratori, XVI. 656).--Tamburini, Storia dell' +Inquisizione, I. 492-502.--Wadding Annal. ann. 1284, No. 3.--Rodulphii +Hist. Seraph. Relig. Lib. I. fol. 126.--Raynald. Annal. ann. 1403, No. +24. + +There is a Daniele da Giussano who appears as inquisitor in Lombardy in +1279 (Ripoll I. 567), and who may very probably be the same as the +accomplice in the murder. + +[239] Ripoll I. 212.--Campana, op. cit. 126, 149, 151, 257, 259, +262-3.--Jac. de Vorag. Legenda Aurea s. v.--Mag. Bull. Roman. I. +94.--Wadding Annal. ann. 1291, No. 24.--Juan de Mata, Santoral de los +dos Santos, Barcelona, 1637, fol. 28.--Gualvaneo Flamma, Opusc. +(Muratori, S. R. I. XII. 1035). + +Frà Tommaso's disgrace was not perpetual. We shall meet him hereafter as +inquisitor, alternately protecting and persecuting the Spiritual +Franciscans. If the accounts of the latter be true, his death in 1306 +was a visitation of God for the frightful cruelties inflicted upon them +(Hist. Tribulationum, _ap_. Archiv für Litteratur-und Kirchengeschichte, +1886, p. 326). + +The question of the Stigmata was always a burning one between the two +Orders. The Dominicans at first refused to accept the miracle until +forced to submit by energetic papal measures (Chron. Glassberger ann. +1237--Analecta Franciscana II. 58, Quaracchi, 1887), and when at length +they claimed the same honor for St. Catharine of Siena the Franciscans +were equally incredulous. In 1473, at Trapani, the two Orders preached +against each other on this subject with so much violence as to raise +great disorders between their respective partisans among the laity, +until the Viceroy of Sicily was obliged to interfere (La Mantia, +L'Inquisizione in Sicilia, Torino, 1886, p. 17); and, as already +mentioned, Sixtus IV., in 1475, prohibited the ascription of the +Stigmata to St. Catharine. + +[240] Ripoll VIII. 113.--Chron. Parmens. ann. 1286 (Muratori, S.R.I. IX. +810).--Campana, op. cit. p. 63.--Bernardi Comens. Lucerna Inquis. s. VV. +_Bona hoereticor_. No. 6, _Crucesignati. Indulgentia._ + +[241] Ripoll I. 144, 168.--Campi, Dell' Hist. Eccles. di Piacenza, P. +II. pp. 208-9. + +[242] Molinier, Thesis de Fratre Guillelmo Pelisso, Anicii, 1880, pp. +lix.-lx. + +[243] Ripoll I. 238, 242-3; VII. 31.--Bern. Corio, Hist. Milanese, ann. +1269. + +[244] Ripoll I. 254.--Campana, op. cit. p. 114. + +[245] Bern. Guidon. Vit. Innocent. PP. IV. (Muratori, S.R.I. III. +592).--Wadding, ann. 1254, No. 8.--Ripoll I. 246.--Sclopis, Antica +Legislazione del Piemonte, p. 440. + +[246] Ripoll I. 285.--Raynald. ann. 1255, No. 31--Campi, Dell' Hist. +Eccles. di Piacenza. P. II. pp. 212-13, 402. + +[247] Ripoll I. 300, 326, 327, 399.--Potthast No. 16292. + +[248] Campi, Deli' Hist. Eccles. di Piacenza, P. II. pp. +214-15.--Barbarano de Mironi, Hist. Eccles. di Vicenza, II. 99, 104. + +[249] Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 451.--Raynald. ann. 1231, No. +20-22. + +[250] Chabaneau (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. 314).--Monach. Patavin. +Chron. (Muratori, S. R. I. VIII. 707-9).--Frederic II. is similarly +described by the papal scribes as a monster delighting in objectless +cruelty. See Vit. Gregor. PP. IX. (Muratori, S. R. I. III. 583-4). + +[251] Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 453, 741, 757-9.--Ripoll I. 59, +135, 193.--Potthast No. 12899.--Berger, Registres d'Innocent IV. No. +4095.--Raynald. Annal. ann. 1248. No. 25-6.--Harduin. Concil. VII. 362. + +[252] Ripoll I. 230, 247, 249-51, 286, 391.--Mag. Bull. Rom. +1.102-4.--Pegnæ Append. Eymeric. p. 77.--Harduin. Concil. VII. 362. + +[253] Raynald. ann. 1357, No. 38-9; 1258, No. 1-4; 1259, No. +1-3.--Rolandini Chron. Lib. IX.-XII. (Muratori, S. R. I. VIII. +299-352).--Monach. Patavin. Chron. (Ib. VIII. 691-705).--Nic. Smeregi +Chron. (Ib. VIII. 101).--Wadding, ann. 1258, No. 6.--Mag. Bull. Rom, I. +118. + +The ferocity of the age is seen in the treatment bestowed on Ezzelin's +brother Alberico, when captured with his family. He was gagged and tied +to a tree, his wife and daughters were burned alive before his eyes, his +sons were slain and their limbs thrown in his face, and then he was +deliberately hacked in pieces.--Laurentii de Monacis Ezerinus III. +(Muratori, S. R. I. VIII. 150). Alberico was a man of culture, a +troubadour, and a patron of the _gai science_ (Vaissette, Éd. Privat, X. +313). + +[254] Raynald. ann. 1259, No. 6-9. + +[255] Ripoll I. 398.--Bern. Corio, Hist. Milanese, ann. 1259. + +[256] Arch. de l'Inquis de Carcassonne (Doat. XXXI.).--Ripoll I. 400. + +[257] Potthast No. 17984-5.--Arch. de I'Inquis. de Carc. (Doat, XXXI. +216).--Ripoll I. 402, 460, 462, 466, 469, 478.--Raynald. ann. 1260, No. +12.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 119. + +The bull threatening the people of Bergamo with interdict for their +legislation is by Urban IV. and dated in 1264, as found in the archives +of the Inquisition of Carcassonne (Doat, XXX. 288), while Ripoll (I. +499) gives it as by Clement IV. in 1265, showing that the Bergamese were +obstinate. Bergamo had been under interdict for adhering to Frederic and +Conrad, and had only been reconciled after the death of the latter in +1255 (Ripoll I. 268). + +[258] Epistt. Urbani PP. IV. (Martene Thesaur. II. 9-50, 74-9, 116-18, +220-37.)--Epistt. Clement. PP. IV. (Ibid. pp. 176, 186, 196-200, 213, +218, 241-5, 250, 260, 274). + +[259] Epistt. Clem. PP. IV. (Martene Thesaur. II. 174, 319, +327).--Raynald. ann. 1266, No. 23. + +[260] Ripoll I. 427, 514.--Campi, Dell' Hist. Eccles. di Piacenza, P. +II. pp. 218-31.--Philippi Bergomat. Supplem. Chron. ann. 1261. + +[261] Wadding, ann. 1254, No. 7, 8, 11, 16; 1261, No. 2.--Grandjean, +Registres de Benoît XI. No. 1167.--Ripoll II. 87. + +[262] Wadding, ann. 1259, No. 3.--Barbarano de' Mironi, Hist. Eccles. +di Vicenza, II. 95, 105, 108, 113, 121. + +[263] Annal. Mediolanens. cap. 31 (Muratori, S. R. I. XVI. +662).--Muratori Antiq. Ital. XII. 513.--Wadding, ann. 1277, No. 10, 11; +1278, No. 33; 1289, No. 18. + +[264] Grandjean, Registres de Benoit XI. No. 508. + +[265] Paramo, p. 264.--Verri, Storia di Milano, I. 244.--Ripoll I. +567.--Raynald. ann. 1278, No. 78.--In Doat, XXXII. 160, is the letter to +the authorities of Bergamo, which Bremond (Ripoll ubi sup.) says is not +to be found. + +[266] Memor. Protestat. Regiens. ann. 1279, 1282 (Muratori, S.R.I. VIII. +1146, 1150).--Bern. Corio, Hist. Milanese, ann. 1279.--Paramo Lib. II. +Tit. ii. cap. 30, No. 13.--Pegnæ Append. ad Eymeric. p. 55--Salimbene +Chron. pp. 274, 276, 342.--Chron. Parmens. ann. 1279, 1282, 1286, 1287 +(Muratori, IX. 792, 799, 809-11).--Sarpi, Discorso (Opere, IV. +21).--Concil. Mediolanens. ann. 1287, c. xi. + +[267] Ripoll I. 241-2.--Wadding. ann. 1258, No. 3, 5; ann. 1278, No. 33; +ann. 1279, No. 29; Regest. Nich. PP. III. No. 11.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. +118.--Martene Thesaur. II. 191.--Raynald. ann. 1278, No. 78. + +[268] Muratori Antiq. Ital. XII. 513-14, 521-3, 537-8.--Lib. Sententt. +Inq. Tolosan. pp. 2, 3, 12, 13, 32, 68, 75, 76, 81, etc. + +[269] Muratori Antiq. Ital. XII. 508-55.--Bern. Guidon. Vit. Bonif. +VIII. (S.R.I. III. 671-2).--Barbarano de' Mironi, Hist. Eccles. di +Vicenza II. 153.--Salimbene Chron. ann. 1279, p. 276.--Paramo, p. 299. + +The wide attention attracted by the case of Armanno is shown by the +allusion to it in the German chronicles.--Trithem Chron. Hirsaug. ann. +1299.--Chron. Cornel. Zanfliet (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. 142-3). + +[270] Introductio ad Zanchini Tract. de Hæres, ed. Campegii, Romæ, 1568. +(I owe a copy of this document to the kindness of Prof. Felice Tocco, of +Florence.) + +[271] Cod. Epist. Rodulphi I. Lipsiæ, 1807, pp. 266-9.--Wadding. ann. +1289, No. 20.--Lami, Antichità Toscane, pp. 497, 536-7. + +[272] Faucon, Registres de Boniface VIII. No. 1673, p. 632.--Wadding. +ann. 1298, No. 3.--Arch. de l'Inq. de Carc. (Doat, XXVI. 147). + +[273] Wadding. ann. 1285, No. 9, 10. + +[274] Tocco, L'Eresia nel Medio Evo, p. 403.--Renerii Summa (Martene +Thesaur. V. 1767).--Ripoll I. 74. + +[275] Raynald. ann. 1231, No. 19.--Rich. de S. German. Chron. ann. +1233.--Giannone, Ist. Civ. di Napoli, Lib. XVII. c. 6, Lib. XIX. c. +5.--Vaissette, IV. 17. + +[276] Archivio di Napoli, MSS. Chioccarello T. VIII.--Ib. Regist. 3 +Lett. A, fol. 64; Reg. 4 Lett. B, fol. 47; Reg. 5 Lett. C, fol. 224; +Reg. 6 Lett. D, fol. 35, 39, 174; Reg. 10 Lett. B. fol. 6, 7, 96; Reg. +11 Lett. C, fol. 40; Reg. 13 Lett. A, fol. 212; Reg. 113 Lett. A, fol. +385; Reg. 154 Lett. C, fol. 81; Reg. 167 Lett. A, fol. 324. + +[277] Archivio di Napoli, Reg. 6 Lett. D, fol. 135; Reg. 253 Lett. A, +fol. 68.--Giannone, Ist. Civ. di Napoli Lib. XIX. c. 5. + +[278] Archivio di Napoli, Regist. 3 Lett. A, fol. 64; Regist. 4 Lett. B, +fol. 47; Reg. 9 Lett. C, fol. 39.--MSS. Chioccarello, T. VIII. + +[279] Lombard, Jean Louis Paschal et les Martyrs de Calabre, Geneve, +1881, pp. 22-32.--Filippo de Boni, L'Inquisizione e i Calabro-Valdesi, +Milano, 1864, pp. 73-77.--Perrin, Hist. des Vaudois, Liv. II. ch. +7.--Comba, Hist. des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 128, 181-6, 190.--Rorengo, +Memorie Historiche, Torino, 1649, pp. 77 sqq.--Martini Append. ad +Mosheim de Beghardis, p. 638. + +Vegezzi-Ruscalla (Rivista Contemporanea, 1862) has shown the identity of +the dialects of the Calabrian Guardia and of the Val d'Angrogna, proving +the reality of the emigration. + +[280] Salimbene, p. 330.--Grandjean, Registries de Benoît XI. No. +834-5.--Pelayo Heterodoxos Españoles, I. 730.--La Mantia, Origine e +Vicende dell' Inquisizione in Sicilia, Torino, 1886, p. 12. + +[281] Sarpi, Discorso (Opere, Ed. Helmstadt, IV. 20). + +[282] Archivio Generale di Venezia, Codice ex Brera, No. 277, Carte 5. + +[283] Ripoll VII. 25.--Arch. di Venez. Miscellanea, Codice No. 133, p. +121; Cod. ex Brera, No. 277, Carte 5. + +[284] Albizio, Risposta al P. Paolo Sarpi, pp. 20-3.--Wadding ann. 1288. +No. 23. + +[285] Albizio, op. cit. pp. 24-7.--Wadding. ann. 1289, No. 15.--Sarpi. +op. cit. p. 21.--Arch. di Venez. Codice ex Brera, No. 277, Carte 41; +Maggior Consiglio, Carte 67. + +[286] Wadding. ann. 1292, No. 5.--Albanese, L'Inquisizione nella +Repubblica di Venezia, 1875, pp. 52-3.--Sarpi, loc. cit.--Cecchetti, La +Repubblica di Venezia e la Corte di Roma, Venezia, 1874, I. 18. + +[287] Wadding. ann. 1340, No. 10; ann. 1369, No. 4; ann. 1373, No. 7; +Regest. Gregor. PP. XI. No. 45-7; Tom. VII. p. 481.--Raynald. ann. 1372, +No. 35. + +[288] Archivio Storico Italiano, 1865, No. 39, pp. 46-61. + +[289] Archivio Storico Italiano, 1865, No. 39, pp. 33-5. + +[290] Archivio Storico Italiano, 1865, No. 39, pp. 4-45.--G. Manuel di +S. Giovanni, Un Episodio della Storia del Piemonte, Torino, 1874, pp. 75 +sqq. + +[291] Raynald. ann. 1403, No. 24.--Archiv. Stor. Ital. 1865, No. 38, p. +22.--Comba, Les Vaudois d'Italie, I. 120. + +[292] Processus contra Valdenses (Archivio Storico Italiano, 1865, No. +38, pp. 39-40).--Comba, Hist. des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 354-7. + +[293] Comba, Hist. des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 141.--Herzog, Die +romanischen Waldenser, p. 273.--Wadding. ann. 1332, No. 6. + +[294] Rorengo, Memorie Historiche, Torino, 1649, p. 17.--Wadding. ann. +1364, No. 14, 15.--Cantù, Eretici, I. 86.--D'Argentré, Collect. Judic. +I. I. 387.--Comba, Rivista Cristiana, 1887, pp. 65 sqq. + +[295] Raynald. ann. 1375, No. 26.--Filippo de Boni, L'Inquiz. e i +Calabro-Valdesi, p. 70. + +[296] Processus contra Valdenses (Archivio Storico Italiano, 1865, No. +38, pp. 18-52). + +There is some confusion as to the dates of these events which I cannot +remove. Gregory XI., in his letter of April 20, 1375, to Amadeo VI., +speaks of the recent murder at "Bricherasio" of the inquisitor +Antonius Salvianensis (Raynald. ann. 1375, No. 26). According to the +records of Antonio Secco, Antonio Pavo da Savigliano received in 1384 +the abjuration of Lorenzo Bandoria (loc. cit. p. 23), and his murder +must have taken place the same year, from the evidence of the son of one +of his murderers, Giov. Gabriele of "Bricherasio" (Ib. p. 31). Rorengo +places the martyrdom of Antonio Pavo in 1374, and tells us that he was +honored in Savigliano with a local cult as one of the blessed. Another +Dominican, Frà Bartolomeo di Cervere was also slain, and his assistant +Ricardo desperately wounded, but the date is not certain (Rorengo, +Memorie Historiche, p. 17). + +[297] Chabrand, Vaudois et Protestants des Alpes, Grenoble, 1886, p. 39. + +[298] Raynald. ann. 1403, No. 24.--Melgares Marin, Procedimientos de la +Inquisicion, Madrid, 1886, I. 50. + +[299] Rorengo, Memorie Historiche, pp. 18-20.--E. Comba, Rivista +Cristiana, Giugno, 1882, p. 204.--Ripoll III. 359. + +[300] Hahn, Geschichte der Ketzer im Mittalalter, II. 705.--Rorengo, +Memorie Historiche, pp. 22-5.--Martene Ampl. Coll. II. 1510-11.--Leger, +Hist. des Églises Vaudoises, II. 8-15, 26, 71.--Perrin, Hist. des +Vaudois, L. II. c. 4.--Filippo de Boni, op. cit. p. 71.--Comba, Les +Vaudois d'Italie, I. 167, 175-8.--Herzog, Die roman. Waldenser, p. +274.--Montet, Hist. Litt. des Vaudois, pp. 152-55.--D'Argentré, Coll. +Judic. I. I. 105-7. + +[301] Filippo de Boni, op. cit. pp. 79-81.--Lombard, Jean-Louis +Paschale, pp. 29-33.--Perrin, Hist. des Vaudois, B. II. ch. 7, +10.--Comba, La Reforma, I. 269.--Vegezzi-Ruscalla, Rivista +Contemporanea, 1862.--Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthodox. p. 120. + +[302] Bremond in Ripoll II. 139.--Raynald. ann. 1344, No. 9, +70.--Antiqua Ducum Mediolani Decreta, Mediolani, 1654.--Albanese, +L'Inquisizione religiosa nella Repubblica di Venezia, Venezia, 1875, p. +167.--Giuseppe Cosentino, Archivio Storico Siciliano. 1885, p. 92. + +[303] Ripoll II. 351; III. 368.--Wadding. ann. 1452, No. 14.--Raynald. +ann. 1457, No. 90: ann. 1459, No. 31. + +[304] Wadding. ann. 1447, No. 8, 47; ann. 1450, No. 2.--Raynald. ann. +1446. No. 8. + +[305] Ripoll IV. 6, 102, 103, 158, 339.--Brev. Hist. Magist. Ord. +Prædic. (Martene Coll. Ampl. VI. 393). + +[306] Wadding, ann. 1356, No. 12-19.--Arch. di. Venez. Misti, Conc. X. +Vol. VI. p. 26. + +[307] Wadding. ann. 1373, No. 15-16; ann. 1376, No. 4-5; ann. 1433, No. +15; ann. 1434, No. 4, 6; ann. 1437, No. 24-8; ann. 1456, No. +108.--Archiv. di Venez. Misti, Cons. X. No. 9, pp. 84, 85.--Cecchetti, +La Repubblica di Venezia, etc. I. 18. + +[308] Archiv. di Venez. Misti, Cons. X. Vol. XIII. p. 192; Vol. XIX. p. +29.--Wadding. ann. 1455, No. 97.--Mag. Bull. Rom. I. 617.--Albizio, +Riposto al P. Paolo Sarpi, pp. 64-70. + +[309] Wadding. ann. 1494, No. 6.--When Frà Bernardo endeavored to +establish a _mont de piété_ at Florence the moneyed interests were +strong enough to drive him from the city (Burlamacchi, Vita di +Savonarola, Baluz. et Mansi I. 557). + +[310] Prediche di Frà Giordano da Rivalto, Firenze, 1831, I. +172.--Wadding. ann. 1340, No. 11.--Archivio di Firenze, Riformagioni, +Diplomatico, 27; Classe V. No. 129, fol. 46, 54. + +[311] Wadding. T. III. App. p. 3--Ughelli, Italia Sacra, Ed. 1659, II. +1075.--Archiv. di Firenze, Riformag. Classe V. No. 129, fol. 55. + +[312] Archiv. di Firenze, Riformag. Atti Pubblici, Lib. XVI. de' +Capitolari, fol. 15.--Villani Chron. XI. 138; XII. 55, 58. + +[313] Archiv. delle Riformag. Atti Pubblici, Lib. XVI. de' Capitolari, +fol. 22; Classe V. No. 129, fol. 62 sqq.--Archiv. Diplomatico XXXVII., +XXXVIII., XL., XLI., XLII.--Villani, XII. 58. + +The amount involved was not small. The revenue of Florence at this +period was only three hundred thousand florins (Sismondi, Rep. Ital. ch. +36), and Florence was one of the richest states in Europe. Villani (XI. +92) boasts that France alone enjoyed a larger revenue; that of Naples +was less, and the three were the wealthiest in Christendom. + +[314] Archiv. delle Riformag. Classe IX., Distinzione i. No. 39; Classe +V. No. 129, fol. 62 sqq.; Prov. del Convento di S. Croce, 23 Ott. +1354.--Villani, XII. 58.--Ughelli VII. 1015. + +[315] Archiv. delle Riformag. Classe II. Distinz. I. No. 14.--Archiv. +Diplom. LXXVIII.-IX., LXXX.-I.; Prov. del Convento di S. Croce, 1371 +Febb. 18, Ott. 8, 14; 1372, Marz. 15; 1375, Marz. 9; 1380, Genn. 12; +1380, Dic. 1; 1381, Nov. 18; 1383, Lugl. 12; 1384, Dic. 13.--Werunsky +Excerptt. ex Registt. Clement. VI. et Innoc. VI. p. 95.--Villani, XII. +58.--Wadding. ann. 1372, No. 35; ann. 1375, No. 32.--Raynald. ann. 1375, +No. 13-17; ann. 1376, No. 1-5.--Poggii Hist. Florentin. Lib. II. ann. +1376.--A document of 1374 (Archiv. Fior. Prov. S. Croce, 1374, Nov. 17) +allows that Frà Piero di Ser Lippo, at that time Inquisitor of Florence, +was defendant in an action brought against him in the papal curia by the +Dominican Frà Simone del Pozzo, Inquisitor of Naples, in which Frà Piero +seems to have obtained what was equivalent to a nonsuit. + +[316] Wadding. ann. 1377, No. 4-23. + +[317] Tamburini, Storia Gen. dell' Inquisizione, II. 433-6.--Raynald. +ann. 1418, No. 11.--Archiv. di Firenze, Prov. S. Maria Novella, 1424, +Ap. 24.--Wadding. ann. 1437, No. 33; ann. 1438, No. 26; ann. 1439, No. +57; ann. 1440, No. 26; ann. 1441, No. 61; ann. 1452, No. 30; ann. 1471, +No. 11; ann. 1496, No. 7.--Ripoll VII. 89, 100. + +Frà Gabriele, the Inquisitor of Bologna, in the same year, 1461, in +which he was sent to Rome, expended twenty-three lire ten sol. in having +a copy made of Eymerich's _Directorium Inquisitionis_.--Denifle, Archiv +für Litteratur-etc. 1885, p. 144. + +[318] Paramo de Orig. Office S. Inq. p. 113. + +[319] MSS. Chioccarello, T. VIII.--Raynald. ann. 1344, No. 9; ann. 1368, +No. 16; ann. 1372, No. 36; ann. 1375, No. 26.--Tocco. Archivio Storico +Napolitan. Ann. XII. (1887), Fasc. 1.--Ripoll II. 311, 324, +364.--Guiseppe Cosentino, Archivio Storico Siciliano, 1885, pp. 74-5, +87.--La Mantia, Dell' Inquisizione in Sicilia, Torino, 1886, pp. 13-15. + +[320] Wadding. T. III. Regesta, p. 392.--Ripoll II. 689. + +When, in 1447, Nicholas V. issued a cruel edict subjecting the Jews to +severe disabilities and humiliations, Capistrano was likewise appointed +conservator to enforce its provisions (Wadding. ann. 1447, No. 10). + +[321] Giannone, Ist. Civ. di Napoli, Lib. XXXII. c. 5.--Wadding. ann. +1449, No. 13.--Ripoll III. 240, 441, 501. + +[322] Paramo, pp. 197-99.--Ripoll III. 510.--La Mantia, L'Inquisizione +in Sicilia, pp. 16-18. + +Giuseppe Cosentino says (Archivio Storico Siciliano, 1885, p. 73) that +the confirmation in 1451 by King Alonso of the diploma of Frederic II. +is not to be found in the archives of Palermo, but that the royal +letters of 1415 allude to a privilege granted by Frederic. See also La +Mantia, pp. 8-10, 13, 15. + +[323] Pirro, Sicilia Sacra, I. 185-6.--G. Cosentino, loc. cit. p. +76.--Caruso, Memorie Istoriche di Sicilia, P. II. T. i. p. +92.--Giannone, op. cit. Lib. XXXII. c. 5.--Paramo, pp. 191-4.--Zurita, +Hist. del Rey Hernando, Lib. V. c. 70; Lib. IX. c. 36.--Mariana, Hist. +de España, Lib. XXX. c. 1. + +[324] Schmidt, Histoire des Cathares, I. 104-9.--Gregor. PP. VII. +Regist. VII. 11.--Batthyani Legg. Eccles. Hung. II. 274, 289-90, +415-17.--Raynald. ann. 1203, No. 22.--Innocent. PP. III. Regest. II. +176. + +[325] Innoc. PP. III. Regest. II. 176; III. 3; V. 103, 110; VI. 140, +141, 142, 212. + +[326] Schmidt, I. 112-13. + +[327] Potthast No. 6612, 6725, 6802.--Raynald. ann. 1225, No. +21.--Klaic, Geschichte Bosniens, nach dem Kroatischen von Ivan v. +Bojnicic, Leipzig, 1885, pp. 89-91. + +[328] Monteiro, Historia da Sacra Inquisição P. I. Liv. 1, c. +59.--Paramo, p. 111.--Raynald. ann. 1257, No. 13.--Hist. Ord. Prædic. c. +8. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. 338).--Ripoll I. 70.--Klaic, pp. 92-4. + +[329] Epist. Sæc. XIII. T. I. No. 574, 601.--Ripoll I. 70.--Potthast No. +9726, 9733-8, 10019, 10052.--Klaic, p. 96.--Batthyani Legg. Eccles. +Hung. I. 355.--Matt. Paris ann. 1243 (Ed. 1644, pp. 412-13). + +[330] Bishop John succeeded in resigning his bishopric, and became Grand +Master of his Order. A contemporary, who knew him personally, describes +him as a man of apostolic virtue, who distributed in alms the revenue of +his see, amounting to 8000 marks, and performed his journeys on foot, +with an ass to carry his books and vestments. After his death at +Strassburg he shone in miracles.--Thomæ Cantimprat. Bonum universale +Lib. II. c. 56. + +[331] Potthast No. 10223-6, 10507, 10535, 10631-9, 10688-93, 10822-4, +10842.--Ripoll I. 102-4, 106-7.--Schmidt, I. 122.--Klaic, pp. 97-107. + +[332] Ripoll I. 175-6.--Klaic, pp. 107-13.--Kukuljevic, Jura Regni +Croatiæ, Dalmatiæ et Slavoniæ, Zagrabiæ, 1862, I. 67. + +[333] Rainerii Summa (Martene Thesaur. V. 1768).--Klaic, p. +153.--Theiner Monumenta Slavor. Meridional. I. 90. + +[334] Raynald. ann. 1280, No. 8, 9; ann. 1291, No. 42-44.--Klaic, pp. +116-9.--Wadding. ann. 1291, No. 12. + +[335] Wadding. ann. 1298, No. 2.--Klaic, pp. 123-4.--Raynald. ann. 1319, +No. 24. + +[336] Klaic, pp. 124-5, 139-40, 154-6.--Theiner Monument. Slavor. Merid. +I. 157, 234.--Raynald. ann. 1325, No. 28; ann. 1327, No. 48.--Wadding. +ann. 1325, No. 1-4; ann. 1326, No. 3-7; ann. 1329, No. 16; ann. 1330, +No. 10. + +[337] Archivio di Venezia, Fontanini MSS. III. 560. + +[338] Theiner Monument. Slavor. Merid. I. 174, 175--Wadding. ann. 1331, +No. 4; ann. 1337, No. 1.--Raynald. ann. 1335, No. 62.--Klaic, pp. 157-8. + +[339] Klaic, pp. 159-61, 181-3.--Wadding. ann. 1340, No. 6-10.--Theiner, +op. cit. + +[340] Klaic, pp. 184-5, 187-8, 190-5, 200-1, 223, 262, 268-77, 287, +369.--Theiner Monument. Slavor. Merid. I. 233, 240.--Wadding. ann. 1356, +No. 7; ann. 1368, No. 1-3; ann. 1369, No. 11; ann. 1372, No. 31-33; ann. +1373, No. 17; ann. 1382, No. 2.--Raynald. ann. 1368, No. 18; ann. 1372, +No. 32.--Pet. Ranzani Epit. Rer. Hung. XIX. (Schwandtner Rer. Hung. +Scriptt, p. 377). + +In 1367 we find the people of Cattaro appealing to Urban V. for aid +against the schismatics of Albania, and the heretics of Bosnia who were +endeavoring to convert them by force (Theiner, op. cit. I. 259), which +probably refers to some enterprise of the restless Sandalj Hranic. Yet +when, in 1383, we hear of a Bishop of Bosnia, recently dead, who had +lent 12,000 florins to Louis of Hungary, and had then bequeathed the +debt to the Holy See (Ib. p. 337), we can only conclude that the +orthodox Bosnian Church continued to exist and was not wholly penniless. + +[341] Klaic, pp. 275, 287-8, 291, 297-8, 304-5, 312-13, 324. + +[342] Klaic, p. 416. + +[343] Ibid. pp. 335-8, 344-6, 351-3. + +[344] Wadding, ann. 1433, No. 12-13; ann. 1435, No. 1-7, 9; ann. 1476, +No. 39-40; ann. 1498. No. 2.--Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legationibus +(Monument. Concil. General. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 676). + +[345] Theiner Monument. Slavor. Merid. I. 375, 376.--Klaic, pp. 354-6, +364-5, 369. + +[346] Klaic, pp. 366-7, 369-70, 372-3.--Wadding, ann. 1437, No. 2-3; +ann. 1444, No. 42-3.--Ripoll III. 91.--Raynald. ann. 1444, No. 2; ann. +1445, No. 23: ann. 1447, No. 21.--Theiner, op. cit. I. 388, 389, 395. + +[347] Klaic, pp. 373-4.--Raynald. ann. 1449, No. 9. + +[348] Klaic, pp. 376-77, 379.--Raynald. ann. 1449, No. 9; ann. 1450, No. +13; ann. 1461, No. 136.--Wadding. ann. 1451, No. 47, 52-3.--Ripoll III. +286. + +[349] Theiner, op. cit. I. 408.--Klaic, pp. 380-2. + +[350] Klaic, pp. 398, 408-9, 412, 414-15.--Theiner, I. 432. + +[351] Klaic, pp. 424-6. + +[352] Klaic, pp. 427-8, 432-6.--Wadding. ann. 1462, No. 82. + +[353] Klaic, pp. 437-9, 443.--Wadding. ann. 1478, No. 67; ann. 1498, No. +2-3; ann. 1500, No. 44. + +There was at least one humorous incident connected with the conquest of +Bosnia. On the occupation by the Turks of the capital, Jaicza, the +Franciscans fled to Venice, carrying with them the body of St. Luke, +which had been translated thither from Constantinople. The possession of +so important a relic brought them great consideration, but involved them +in a troublesome contest. For three hundred years the Benedictine house +of St. Justina at Padua had rejoiced in owning the body of St. Luke, +which was the source of much profit. The Benedictines objected to the +intrusion of the döppelganger; and as no trustworthy tradition assigned +two bodies to the saint, there was no chance of compromise. They +appealed to Pius II., who referred the case with full powers of decision +to his legate at Venice, Cardinal Bessarion. A trial in all legal form +was held, lasting for three months and resulting in the victory of the +Franciscans. The Paduan Luke, as an impostor, was forbidden to enjoy in +future the devotion of the faithful, but no provision was made to +compensate those who for three centuries had wasted on him their prayers +and offerings, in the belief that they were securing the suffrages of +the genuine Evangelist. The Paduans for years vainly endeavored to get +Bessarion's decision set aside, and they were finally obliged to submit. +Their strongest argument was that, about the year 580, the Emperor +Tiberius II. had given to St. Gregory, then apocrisarius of Pelagius II. +in Constantinople, the head of St. Luke, which was still exhibited and +venerated in the Basilica of the Vatican. Now the Benedictine St. Luke +was a headless trunk, while the Franciscan one was perfect, and they +argued with reason that it was highly improbable that St. Luke had +possessed two heads. This logic was more cogent than successful, though +the Vatican clergy did not feel called upon to discredit their own +valuable relic, which they continued to exhibit as genuine. The question +was still further complicated by a superfluous arm of the Evangelist +which was preserved in the Basilica of S. Maria ad Præsepe (Wadding. +ann. 1463, No. 13-23). + +[354] Kaltner, Konrad von Marburg, Prag, 1882, pp. 41-5.--Frag. Hist. +(Urstisii Scriptt. P. II. p. 89).--Chronik des Jacob v. Königshofen +(Chroniken der deutchen Städte, IX. 649).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. +1215.--H. Mutii Chron. Lib. XIX. ann. 1212.--Innoc. PP. III. Regest. +XIV. 138.--Cæsar. Heisterb. Dist. III. cap. 16, 17. + +On the authority of Daniel Specklin, a Strassburg annalist who died in +1589, Bishop Henry is said to have met St. Dominic in Rome, to have +promised him and Innocent III. to introduce the Dominican Order in +Strassburg, and to have taken some members home with him, who speedily +multiplied to about a hundred, and distinguished themselves by the +persecution related in the text (Kaltner, loc. cit.; cf. Hoffman. +Geschichte der Inquisition II. 365-71). At this period, as we have seen +in a former chapter, Dominic was laboring obscurely in Languedoc, and it +was not until 1214 that the liberality of Pierre Cella suggested to him +the idea of assembling around him in Toulouse half a dozen kindred +spirits. It was not until 1224 that the Dominican convent in Strassburg +was founded (Kaltner, p. 45). + +[355] Kaltner, p. 45.--Hoffmann, II. 371-2.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. +ann. 1215. + +[356] Innoc. PP. III. Regest. II. 141, 142, 235.--Alberic. Trium Font. +ann. 1200.--Cæsar. Heisterb. Dist. V. c. 20. + +[357] Kaltner, op. cit. pp. 69-71.--I am rather inclined to believe that +honest Daniel Specklin has drawn to some extent upon his own convictions +for this list of errors. Among them he enumerates lay communion in both +elements. As the cup at this time had not been withdrawn from the laity, +its administration would not have been characterized as a heresy. + +[358] Tocco, L'Heresia nel Medio Evo, p. 21.--D'Argentré, Collect. +Judic. I. I. 127.--Cæsar. Heisterbac. v. 22.--Nich. Trivetti Chron. ann. +1215 (D'Achery Spicileg. III. 185.)--Rigord. de Gest. Phil. Aug. ann. +1210.--Guillel. Nangiac. ann. 1210.--Eymeric. Direct. Inquis. P. II. Q. +vii.--Cf. Renan, Averroès et l'Averroïsme, 3d Ed. pp. 220-4. + +[359] Cæsar. Heisterb. VI. 5. + +[360] Rigordus de Gest. Phil. Aug. ann. 1210.--Chron. Canon Laudunens. +ann. 1212.--Chron. de Mailros ann. 1210.--Chron. Turonens. ann. +1210.--Cæsar. Heisterb. V. 22.--Chron. Breve S. Dionys. ann. +1209.--Grandes Chroniques, IV. 139.--Guillel. Brito (Bouquet XVII. 82 +sqq.).--D'Argentré, Coll. Judic. I. I. 128-33.--Harduin. Concil. VI. II. +1994.--Chron. Engelbusii (Leibnitz, S. Rer. Brunsv. II. 1113). + +William the goldsmith, under the title of Gulielmus Aurifex, retains his +place in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum to the present day (Migne, +Dictionnaire des Hérésies, II. 1056). Cf. Reusch, Der Index der +verbotenen Bücher. I. 17. + +[361] Steph. de Borbone (D'Argentré I. I. 88).--Potthast No. +7348.--Pelayo, Heterodoxos Españoles, I. 410,--Concil. Lateran. IV. c. +2. + +For the connection between the speculations of Erigena and those of +Amauri see Poole's "Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought," +London, 1884, p. 77. + +[362] Anon. Passaviens. c. 6 (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 300-2).--Kaltner, pp. +64-5.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 1885, p. 507. + +[363] Kaltner, pp. 90-5.--Hartzheim Concil. German. III. +515-16.--Potthast No. 7260.--Chron. Mont. Sereni ann. 1222 (Menken. +Scriptt. Rer. Germ. II. 265).--Chron. Sanpetrin. Erfurt, ann. 1222 (Ib. +III. 250). + +[364] Conrad of Marburg was too shining a light not to be earnestly and +persistently claimed by the Dominicans as an ornament of their Order. +Their legend relates that he was miraculously drawn into it in 1220 by +St. Dominic himself, who earnestly desired him as a colleague, and who +promptly sent him to Germany with a commission as inquisitor (Monteiro, +Historia da Sacra Inquisição, P. I. Liv. i. c. 48.--Jac. de Voragine +Legend. Aur. fol. 90_a_, Ed. 1480.--Paramo, pp. 248-9), and Ripoll +assumes it as a matter of course, though he failed to furnish us with +the promised dissertation to prove it (Bull. Domin. I. 20, 52). See also +Kaltner, pp. 76-82. The claim is based upon his inquisitorial activity, +his voluntary poverty, and the title of _prædicator_, which he bore in +virtue of a papal commission--arguments flimsy enough, but better than +that of his latest champion, Hausrath, who cites an expression in a +letter of Gregory IX. characterizing Conrad as the watch-dog of the +Lord--"_Dominicus canis_" (Hoffman, Geschichte d. Inq,. II. 392). Of +course a negative, such as the present, can only be proved by negatives, +but these are sufficient. In numerous letters to him from Honorius III. +and Gregory IX. he is never addressed as "_Frater_," the term +invariably used by the Mendicants. The superscription always is +"_Magistro Conrado de Marburo prædicatori Verbi Dei_, or the +equivalent--Conrad being presumably a master in theology (Epistt. Sæc. +XIII. T. I. No. 51, 117, 118, 126, 361, 362, 484, 533, 537). Similarly +in the chronicles of the time he is never spoken of as "_Frater_," but +always as "_Magister Conradus_." Besides, Theodoric of Thuringia, +himself a Dominican, and almost a contemporary, in his life of St. +Elizabeth describes Conrad in the moat exalted terms, without claiming +him for his Order, which he could not have avoided doing had there been +ground for it (Canisii Thesaur. IV. 116). + +[365] Theod. Thuring, de S. Eliz. Lib. III. c. 10 (Canisii Thesaur. IV. +130).--Potthast No. 7930.--Epistt. Sæc. XIII. T. I. No. 361. + +[366] Kaltner, pp. 96, 121.--De Dictis IV. Ancillarum (Menken. Scriptt. +Rer. Germ. II. 2017, 2023, 2029)--Theodor. Vit. S. Eliz. (Ib. +2000-1).--Jundt, Les Amis de Dieu, p. 95 + +[367] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1214.--Chron. Sanpetrin. Erfurtens. +(Menken. III. 242).--Kaltner, pp. 86-7.--Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. +117, 118, 126, 362. + +[368] Hartzheim III. 521. Cf. Concil. Frizlar. ann. 1246, ib. p. +574.--Ripoll I. 21. + +[369] Vit. S. Eliz. (Canisii Thesaur. I. 116).--Johann Rohte, Chron. +Thuring. (Menken. II. 1715).--Kaltner, pp. 108, 130-33.--Gesta Treviror. +Episcopp. c. 172.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1230. + +[370] Hartzheim III. 539, 540.--Potthast No. 8073-4.--Hist. Diplom. +Frid. II. T. III. p. 466.--Gest. Treviror. Archiepp. c. 170. 172. + +[371] Kaltner, pp. 135-6, 143.--Theod. Vit. S. Eliz. VII. 1.--Vit. +rythmic. S. Eliz. (Menken. II. 2090).--Thür. Fortsetzung d. Sächs. +Weltchronik (Pertz, Scriptt. Vernac. II. 292).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. +ann. 1232.--Erphurdian. Variloq. (Menken. II. 484). + +[372] Kaltner. p. 134.--Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. pp. 300-2. + +[373] Annal. Wormatiens. (Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. p. +616).--Kaltner, p. 138.--Sächsiche Weltchronik ann. 1232.--Gest. +Treviror. Archiepp. c. 170. + +[374] Pauli Carnotens. Vet. Aganon. Lib. VI. c. 3.--Adhemar. Cabannens. +ann. 1022 (Bouquet, X. 159).--Gualteri Mapes de Nugis Curialium Dist. I. +c. XXX. + +[375] Raynald. ann. 1233, No. 41-6.--Epistt. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 533, +537.--Gest. Treviror. Archiepp. c. 171. + +[376] Alberic Trium Font. ann. 1234.--Godefrid S. Pantaleon. annal. ann. +1233. + +It would seem from this that Henry, Archbishop of Cologne, was +performing his functions at this period, although he had been suspended +by Gregory IX. in December, 1231, pending an investigation into his +criminal turpitude, which the pope declared to be a shame to describe +and a horror to hear. In April, 1233, Gregory tried to make him resign, +to which he responded in June by an appeal to the Holy See. The +immediate consequence of this was a papal levy on the clergy of Cologne +of three hundred sterling marks to defray expenses. In March of the next +year further provision for the expenses was requisite. In April, 1235, +we find him still under excommunication and deprived of his functions. +After this he seems to have re-established himself, and in March, 1238, +he was condemned to pay thirteen hundred sterling marks to a Roman +banker for expenses incurred many years before by his predecessor. In +May, 1239, we find his successor, Conrad von Hochstaden, in Rome as +archbishop-elect, and Gregory ordering a levy of eight thousand marks on +the province to pay the debts due there by the see (Epistt. Select. +Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 457, 472, 523, 529-30, 555, 579, 637, 723, 748). +This serves to illustrate the relations between the Roman curia and the +great German bishoprics, the insatiable greed of the former, and the +fruitless efforts at emancipation of the latter. + +[377] Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. IV. pp. 285-7, 300-2. + +[378] Annal. Wormatiens. (Hist. Dip. Frid. II. T. IV. pp. +616-17).--Kaltner, pp. 19, 146-8.--Epistt. Select. Sæc. XIII. No. 514. + +[379] Gest. Treviror. Archiepp. c. 174.--Sächsische Weltchronik, ann. +1233 (Pertz, II. 292).--Annal. Wormatiens. (loc. cit.).--Godefrid. S. +Pantaleon. Annal. ann. 1233. + +[380] Sächsische Weltchronik, loc. cit.--Gest. Treviror. loc. +cit--Alberic. Trium Font. ann. 1233.--Erphurdian. Variloq. ann. +1233.--Chron. Erfordiens. ann. 1233 (Schannat Vindem. Literar. I. +93).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1233.--Kaltner, pp. 160-1. + +[381] Alberic. Trium Font. ann. 1233.--Alban Butler, Vies des Saints, 19 +Novbre. + +[382] Gest. Treviror. c. 174.--Hartzheim III. 549. + +[383] Epistt. Select. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 533, 537, 558, +560-1.--Chron. Erfordiens. ann. 1234 (Schannat Vindem. Literar. I. 94). + +[384] Epistt. Select. Sæcul. XIII. T. I. No. 503, 572.--Chron. +Erfordiens. (Schannat Vindem. Literar. I. 94).--Alberic. Trium Font. +ann. 1234.--Gest. Treviror. c. 175. + +[385] Alberic. Trium Font. ann. 1233. + +[386] Alberic. Trium Font. ann. 1233.--Epistt. Select. Sæcul. XIII. T. +I. No. 607, 611-12, 636, 647. + +There would appear not to be ground for the story told by Philippe +Mousket (Chronique Rimée, 28831-42.--Bouquet, XXII. 55) that Gregory +sent a cardinal Otho to Germany, who proceeded to degrade sundry +ecclesiastics concerned in the matter, and raised such a tempest that he +was obliged to escape by night to Tournay, and thence return to Rome. +Even if baseless, however, the very circulation of such a report shows +the antagonism excited between Rome and Germany. + +[387] Kaltner, p. 173.--Annal Wormatiens. (Hist. Diplom. Frid. II. T. +IV. p. 617). + +[388] Tritbem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1232.--Erphurdian. Variloq. ann. +1232 (Menken. II. 484).--Chron. Sanpetrin. Erfurt. (Ib. III. +254).--Anon. Saxon. Hist. Impp. (Ib. III. 125).--Chron. Erfordiens. ann. +1232 (Schannut Vindem. Literar. I. 92). + +[389] Kaltner, pp. 171, 173.--Annal. Dominican. Colmar. ann. 1233 +(Urstisii Germ. Hist. II. 6).--Potthast No. 13000, 15995.--Albert. +Statdens. Chron. ann. 1248. + +[390] Anon. Passaviens. contra Waldens. c. 3, 6, 9, 10 (Mag. Bib. Pat. +XIII. 299, 301-2, 308-9).--W. Preger, Beiträge, pp. 9, 49.--Ejusd. Per +Tractat des David von Augsburg. + +[391] Concil. Mogunt. ann. 1261 c. 1 (Hartzheim III. 596).--Cod. Epist. +Rodolph. I. pp. 148-9, Lipsiæ, 1806. + +[392] Sachsenspiegel, II. iii., III. i.--Raynald. ann. 1374, No. 12. + +The papal condemnation was probably elicited by a passage in the +Sachsenspiegel (II. 3) declaring that the pope could not issue decretals +in prejudice of the local laws and constitutions. The Saxon legists were +in no wise disconcerted, and proceeded to reassert and prove their +position (Richstich Lnndrecht, II. 24). + +[393] Schwabenspiegel, Ed. Senck. c. 29, 116 § 12, 351; Ed. Schilt. c. +111, 166, 308. + +[394] Hist. Monast. S. Laurent. Leodiens. Lib. V. c. 54.--Mag. Chron. +Belgic. p. 193.--Mosheim de Beghardis, Lipsiae, 1790, pp. 98-100, 114. + +In popular use the words Lollard and Beghard were virtually convertible, +and yet there is a difference between them. The associations of Lollards +were founded during a pestilence at Antwerp about the year 1300. They +were laymen who devoted themselves to the care of the sick and insane, +and specially to the burial of the dead, supplying the funds partly by +labor and partly by begging. The name was derived from the low and soft +singing of the funeral chants, but they called themselves Alexians, from +their patron, St. Alexis, and Cellites from dwelling in cells. They were +also known as Matemans, and in Germany as Nollbrüder. The word Lollard +gradually grew to have the significance of external sanctity covering +secret license, and was promiscuously applied to all the mendicants +outside of the regular Orders. The Cellite associations spread from the +Netherlands through the Rhinelands and all over Germany. Constantly the +subject of persecution, along with the Beghards, their value was +recognized by the magistrates of the cities who endeavored to protect +them. In 1472 Charles the Bold obtained from Sixtus IV. a bull receiving +them into the recognized religious orders, thus withdrawing them from +episcopal jurisdiction; and in 1506 Julius II. granted them special +privileges. The associations of Alexian Brothers still exist, devoted to +the care of the sick, and have flourishing hospitals in the United +States, as well as in Europe. (Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 461, +469.--Martini Append. ad Mosheim pp. 585-88.--Hartzheim IV. +625-6.--Addis & Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, New York, 1884, p. 886.) + +[395] Miræi Opp. Diplom. II. 948 (Ed. Foppens).--D'Argentré, Coll. +Judic. I. I. + +[396] Miræi Opp. Diplom. I. 429; II. 998, 1013; III. 398, 523.--Mosheim +de Beghardis pp. 43, 105, 127, 131-2.--Wadding, ann. 1485, No. 27.--B. +de Jonghe Beigium Dominican, ap. Ripoll II. 170.--Chron. Rimée de Ph. +Mousket, 28817 (Bouquet. XXII. 54). + +[397] Chron. Senonens. Lib. IV. c. 18 (D'Achery II. 634-6). + +The cry of "_Brod durch Gott_ was already of old usage. It was the +first German speech acquired by the Franciscans sent to Germany, in +1221, by St. Francis.--Frat. Jordani Chron. c. 27 (Analecta Franciscana +I. 10). + +[398] Haupt, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 1885, p. 544.--Hartzheim +III. 717; IV. 577.--Concil. Trevirens. ann. 1257 c. 66 (Martene Ampl. +Coll. VII. 114-5).--Mosheim p. 199. + +[399] C. 3 Clement. V. 3.--Johann. de Ochsenstein (or of Zurich) +(Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 255-61).--Concil. Colon. ann. 1306 c. 1, 2 +(Hartzheim IV. 100-2).--Vitodurani Chron. ann. 1344 (Eccard. Corp. Hist. +I. 1906-7).--Alvar. Pelag. de Planctu Eccles. Lib. II. art. 52.--Conr. +de Monte Puellarum contra Begehardos (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. +342-3).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1356.--D'Argentré, Coll. Judic. +I. I. 377.--Nider Formicar. III. v.--W. Preger, Meister Eckart u. d. +Inquisition, pp. 45-7.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 1885, +557-8. + +[400] Nider. Formicar. III. vi.--Concil. Colon, ann. 1306 c. 1 +(Hartzheim IV. 101).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1356. + +Poggio states that in his time a number of ecclesiastics in Venice +corrupted many women with this theory of impeccability and of nakedness +as an evidence of a state of grace.--Poggii Dial. contra Hypocrisim. + +[401] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1315.--Schrödl, Passavia Sacra, +Passau, 1879, pp. 242-3, 247, 284. + +[402] Altmeyer, Les Précurseurs de la Réforme aux Pays-Bas, I. +94.--Raynald. ann. 1329, No. 71. + +For the relations of Master Eckart with the Brethren of the Free Spirit, +see Preger, Vorarbeiten zu einer Geschichte der deutschen Mystik +(Zeitschrift für die hist. Theol. 1869. pp. 68-78). The fact that the +bull of John XXII., "_In agro Dominico_" (Ripoll VII. 57; cf. Herman. +Corneri Chron. _ap._ Eccard. Corp. Hist. II. 1036-7), condemning Master +Eckart's errors, has until within a few years passed as a general bull +against the Brethren, sufficiently shows the connection. + +[403] Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 305, 433-57.--Jundt, Les Amis de Dieu, +pp. 65-66.--Gersoni Opp. Ed. 1494, xv. Z-xvi.B.--D'Argentré, Coll. +Judic. I. II. 152.--Altmeyer, Les Précurseurs de la Réforme aux +Pays-Bas, I. 107-117, 166-188.--Acquoy, Gerardi Magni Epistolæ, +Amstelod. 1857, pp. 28, 32-5, 37-8, 40-2, 48-9, 52-4, 57-60, 69, 83, +101.--Von der Hardt, III. 107-20.--Bonet-Maury, Gérard Groot, pp. 37-8, +49-54, 62-4, 83-5. + +[404] J. Tauleri Institt. c. 12.--Vitæ D. Johannis Tauleri Historia. + +It is no wonder that Tauler's writings have been the subject of +contradictory opinion and action on the part of the Church. Their +tendencies to Illuminism and Quietism were recognized, and, in 1603, the +Congregation of the Index proposed to prepare an expurgated edition of +his works and of those of Savonarola, but the project was never +executed.--Reusch, Der Index der verbotenen Bücher, I. 370, 469, 523, +589. + +[405] Vitæ Tauleri Historia. + +M. Jundt, as the result of a series of elaborate and ingenious +investigations, feels himself authorized to assume that the mysterious +Friend of God in the Oberland, who has given rise to so much discussion, +was John of Rutberg; that he was a resident of Coire, and that his final +hermitage was in the parish of Ganterschwyl, Canton of St. Gall (Jundt, +Amis de Dieu, Paris, 1879, pp. 334-42). Prof. Ch. Schmidt, however, +still considers that the mystery has not been solved.--Précis de +l'Histoire de l'Église de l'Occident, Paris, 1885, p. 304. + +[406] Jundt, pp. 37-9, 60-2, 83, 106-7, 166, 313. + +[407] See Rénan, Averroès et l'Averroïsme, 3e Éd. pp. 95, 144-6. + +[408] Jundt, pp. 143, 164, 308-9, 312-13, 316-17. + +[409] Mosheim de Beghardis p. 256.--Jundt, pp. 13, 42-3, 147, 155-60, +282-7, 347.--Nider Formicar. III. 2.--Gerson. de Exam. Doctrinarum P. +II. Consid. 3. + +There is nothing improbable in the freedom of speech attributed to the +Friends of God in their interview with Gregory. Apocalyptic inspiration +was common at the period, and St. Birgitta of Sweden, and St. Catharine +of Siena, were not particularly reticent in their language to the +successors of St. Peter. + +[410] Raynald. ann. 1296, No. 34.--Annal. Domin. Colmar. ann. 1290 +(Urstisii Germ. Histor. II. 25).--Hartzheim IV. 54, 201. + +[411] Concil. Colon, ann. 1306, c. 1, 2 (Hartzheim IV. 100-2).--Wadding, +ann. 1305, No. 12.--Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 232-4. + +[412] Concil. Trevirens. ann. 1310 c. 51 (Martene Thesaur. IV. +250).--Hocsemii Gest. Pontif. Lend. Lib. I. c. 31 (Chapeaville, II. +350). + +[413] C. 3, Clement. V. iii.; C. 1, III. xi. + +[414] Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 255-61, 268-9.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für +K.G. 1885, pp. 561-4. + +Many of the decrees of the Council of Vienne were circulated at the +time, but Clement, desiring a revision, ordered them to be destroyed or +surrendered. After recasting them, they were adopted by a consistory +held March 21, 1314, and copies were sent to some of the universities; +but Clement's death, on April 20, caused new delay. John XXII. subjected +them to another revision, and they were finally published October 25, +1317.--Franz Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur-u. Kirchengeschichte, 1885, +pp. 541-2. + +The contradictory character of the provisions concerning the Beguines is +doubtless attributable to these repeated revisions. + +The manner in which John of Zurich obtained the bishopric of Strassburg +is highly illustrative of the methods of the papal curia. On the death +of Bishop Frederic, the chapter divided and elected four aspirants, +among whom was John of Ochsenstein, a favorite of the Emperor Albert, +who, to secure his confirmation, sent to Clement V. his chancellor, John +of Zurich, Bishop of Eichstedt, and the Abbot of Pairis. The envoys +returned bringing papal briefs, one appointing the chancellor to the +contested see, and another filling that of Eichstedt with the +abbot.--Closener's Chronik (Chron. der deutschen Städte, VIII. 91). + +[415] Guill. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1317.--Ripoll II. 169.--Wadding, ann. +1319, No. 11; Ejusd. Regest. Johann. PP. XXII. No. 81.--Vitodurani +Chron. ann. 1317 (Eccard. Corp. Hist. I. 1785-6).--Chron. Sanpetrin. +Erfurt, ann. 1315 (Menken. III. 325).--Chron. Magdeburgens. ann. 1317 +(Meibom. Rer. German. II. 337).--Chron. Egmondan. ann. 1317 (Matthæi +Analect. IV. 161).--Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 251, 269. + +[416] Mosheim, pp. 189-90.--Martini Append. ad Mosheim, pp. 630-2, +638-40.--C. 1 Extrav. Commun. III. 9.--Ripoll II. 169-70.--Haupt, +Zeitschrift für K. G. 1885, pp. 517, 524. + +[417] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1322. + +[418] Gesta Treviror. ann. 1323 (Martene Ampl. Coll. IV. 410).--Chron. +Egmondan. (Matthæi Analect. IV. 233-4)--Vitodurani Chron. (Eccard. Corp. +Histor. I. 1814-15). + +[419] Hartzheim IV. 436, 438. + +[420] Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 272, 298-300.--Martini Append. ad +Mosheim, p. 537.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für K. G. 1885, p. 534.--Chron. de +S. Thiebaut de Metz (Calmet, II. Pr. clxxi.).--Erphurdian. Variloq. ann. +1350 (Menken. II. 507). + +[421] Vitodurani Chron. (Eccard. Corp. Hist. I. 1833-4, +1839-40).--Dalham Concil. Salisburg. p. 157. + +[422] Vitodurani Chron. (Eccard. I. 1906-7, 1767-8).--Ullman, Reformers +before the Reformation, Menzies' Translation, I. 383. + +[423] Conrad, de Monte Puellar. contra Begehardos (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. +342).--Mosheim de Beghardis p. 307. + +[424] Carl Müller, Der Kampf Ludwigs des Baiern mit der römischen Curie, +Tubingen, 1879, I. 234 sqq. + +When that bold thinker, Marsiglio of Padua, endeavored, for the benefit +of his patron, the Emperor Louis, to introduce into Germany the +principles of the Roman jurisprudence which had enabled the French +monarchs to triumph over their feudatories and to become independent of +the Church, he handled the subject of the persecution of heresy in a +manner which has led some writers to regard him as an advocate of +toleration. This is an error. It is true that he denies all Scriptural +or apostolical authority for the temporal punishment of infractions of +the divine law, and asserts that Christ alone is the judge thereof, and +his punishments are reserved for the next world, but this is only to +serve as a premise to his conclusion that the persecution of heresy is a +matter of human law, to be ordained and enforced by the secular ruler. +Though the heretic, he argues, sins against the divine law, he is +punished for transgressing a human law; the priest has nothing to do +with it, except as an expert to determine the commission of the crime, +and has no claim upon the consequent confiscations (Defensor. Pacis P. +II. c. ix., x.; P. III. c. ii. Conclus. 3, 30). All this is simply part +of his general scheme to exclude the Church from control in secular +affairs. Louis was never in a position to give these theories practical +effect; they had no influence either on the current of opinion or on the +course of events, and are only interesting as an episode in the +development of political thought. + +[425] Werunsky Excerpta ex Registris Clement. VI. et Innoc. VI., +Innsbruck, 1885, pp. 8, 40, 63.--Schmidt, Päbstliche Urkunden und +Regesten, Halle, 1886, p. 383. + +[426] Boccaccio, Decamerone, Giorn. I--Alberti Argentinens. Chron, ann. +1348-9 (Urstisius, II. 147).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. +1248.--Aventinus, Annal. Boiorum Lib. VII. c. 20.--Grandes Chroniques V. +485-6.--Guillel. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1348-9.--Froissart, Lib. I. P. +ii. ch. 5.--Meyeri Annal. Flandr. ann. 1349.--Henrici Rebdorff. Chron. +ann. 1347.--Alberti Argent. de Gestis Bertold. (Urstisius, II. +177).--Mascaro, Memorias de Bezes, ann. 1348.--Gesta Treviror. ann. +1349.--Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. +253-4).--Erphurd. Variloq. ann. 1348-9 (Menken. II. 506-7). + +Accusations such as were brought against the Jews were no new thing. In +1321 all the lepers throughout Languedoc were burned on the charge that +they had been bribed by the Jews to poison the wells. Doubtless torture +was employed to obtain the confessions which were freely made. The story +went that the King of Granada, finding himself hard pressed by the +Christians, gave great sums to leading Jews to effect in this way the +desolation of Christendom. The Jews, fearing that they would be +suspected, employed the lepers. Four great councils of lepers were held +in various parts of Europe, where every lazar-house was represented +except two in England; there the attempt was resolved upon, and the +poison was distributed. King Philippe le Long was in Poitou at the time; +when the news was brought him he returned precipitately to Paris, whence +he issued orders for the seizure of all the lepers of the kingdom. +Numbers of them were burned, as well as Jews. At the royal castle of +Chinon, near Tours, an immense trench was dug, and filled with blazing +wood, where, in a single day, one hundred and sixty Jews were burned. +Many of them, of either sex, sang gayly as though going to a wedding, +and leaped into the flames, while mothers cast in their children for +fear that they would be taken and baptized by the Christians present. +The royal treasury is said to have acquired one hundred and fifty +thousand livres from the property of Jews burned and exiled.--Guillel. +Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1321.--Grandes Chroniques V. 245-51.--Chron. +Cornel. Zantfliet. ann. 1321. + +[427] Amalr. Augerii Hist. Pontif. Roman. ann. 1320 Muratori, S. R. I. +III. II. 475.--Johann. S. Victor. Chron. ann. 1320 (Ib. p. 485).--Chron. +Anon. ann. 1330 (Ib. p. 499).--Pet. de Herentals ann. 1320 (Ib. p. +500).--Guillel. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1320.--Grandes Chroniques, V. +245-6.--Cronaca di Firenze ann. 1335 (Baluz. et Mansi IV. +114).--Villani, Lib. XI. c. 23.--Lami, Antichità Toscane, p. 617. + +Venturino was acquitted of the charge of heresy, but his free speech +offended the pope; he was forbidden to preach or hear confessions, and +was sentenced to live in retirement at Frisacca, in the mountains of +Ricondona (Villani l. c.). He died in 1346, at Smyrna, whither he had +gone as a missionary. He had preached with wonderful success in all the +countries of Europe, including Spain, England, and Greece. His face, +when preaching, shone with celestial light, and his miracles were +numerous (Raynald. ann. 1346, No. 70). + +[428] Erphurdian. Variloq. ann. 1349.--Chron. Magdeburgens. ann. 1348 +(Meibom. Rer. German. II. 342).--Alberti Argentinens. Chron. ann. +1349.--Closener's Chronik (Chron. der deutschen Städte, VIII. 105 +sqq.).--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1348--Hermann. Corneri Chron. ann. +1350.--Guillel. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1349.--Grandes Chroniques, V. +492-3.--Froissart, Liv. I. P. II. ch. 5.--Gesta Treviror. ann. +1349.--Meyeri Annal. Flandriæ ann. 1349.--Chron. Ægid. Li Muisis (De +Smet, Corp. Chron. Flandr. II. 349-51).--Henr. Rebdorff. Annal. ann. +1347. + +[429] Alberti Argentinens. Chron. ann. 1349.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. +ann. 1348. + +[430] Von der Hardt. T. III. pp. 95-105. + +[431] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1348.--Hartzheim IV. 471-2.--Meyeri +Ann. Flandr. ann. 1349. + +[432] Raynald, ann. 1353, No. 26, 27.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. +1356.--Naucleri Chron. ann. 1356.--Hartzheim IV. 483. + +[433] Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 333-4. + +[434] Mosheim de Beghardis, pp. 335-7.--Chron. Magdeburg. (Leibnitii +Scriptt. R. Brunsv. III. 749).--Herm. Korneri Chron. (Eccard. II. +1113).--Cat. Prædic. Prov. Saxon. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. +344).--Böhmer, Regest. Karl IV. No. 4761. + +[435] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 343-55. + +[436] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 356-62.--Mosheim suggests that the +distinction between the houses of the Beghards and the Beguines probably +arose from the former being larger and situated in the cities, the +latter smaller, more numerous, and scattered among the towns and +villages. + +[437] Chron. Magdeburg. (Leibnitii S. R. Brunsv. III. 749).--Herm. +Corneri Chron. (Eccard. Corp. Hist. III. 1113-4).--Raynald. ann. 1372, +No. 34.--Ripoll II. 275.--Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 380-3. + +[438] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 368-74, 378-9.--Böhmer, Regest. Karl. IV. +No. 4761. + +[439] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 364-66.--Martini Append. ad Mosheim pp. +541-2. + +[440] Cat. Prædic. Prov. Saxon. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. 344).--Raynald. +ann. 1372, No. 33, 34.--Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 388-92.--Martini +Append. ad Mosheim pp. 647-8. + +[441] Martene Thesaur. II. 960-1.--Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet (Martene +Ampl. Coll. V. 293, 301-2).--Raynald. ann. 1372, No. 33.--Meyeri Annal. +Flandriæ ann. 1373.--Mag. Chron. Belgic. ann. 1374.--Trithem. Chron. +Hirsaug. ann. 1374.--P. de Herentals Vit. Gregor. XI. ann. 1375 +(Muratori S. R. I. III. ii. 674-5). + +[442] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 394-8.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für K.G. 1885, +pp. 525-6, 553-4, 563-4.--Hæmmerlin Glosa quarumd. Bullar. per Beghardos +impetratar. (Basil. 1497, c. 4 sqq.). + +[443] Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 26-7.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. +1392.--Jundt, Les Amis de Dieu, p. 3.--Haupt, ubi sup. p. 510. + +[444] There has recently been discovered at St. Florian, in Austria, an +epistle written in 1368 by the Waldenses of Lombardy to some of their +German brethren on the occasion of the withdrawal of certain members of +the sect, who alleged in justification that the Waldenses were ignorant, +that they had no divine authority, and that they were mercenary. +Evidently the local church had appealed to the Lombards as to a central +head, for an answer to these accusations, and the reply, together with a +rejoinder by one of the apostates, throws valuable light upon the +current beliefs of the sectaries. It appears that they carried their +origin back to the primitive Church, claiming that their predecessors +had opposed the reception of the Donation of Constantine, and that when +Silvester refused to reject the perilous gift a voice sounded from +heaven, "This day hath poison been spread in the Church of God." As +they were unyielding, they were driven out and persecuted, since when +they had preserved the genuine tradition of the Church in obscurity and +affliction. They asserted that Peter Waldo had been ordained to the +priesthood, and that they possessed full authority, transmitted from +God, but nothing is said as to the apostolical succession, and the +apostate, Sigfried, reproaches them with only hearing confessions and +sending their disciples to the Catholic churches for the other +sacraments. There is no word as to transubstantiation, which must +therefore have been an accepted doctrine among them, and their frequent +quotations from Augustine and Bernard show that they admitted the +authority of the doctors of the Church. They allude to two Franciscans +who had recently joined the sect, to a priest who had done so and had +been burned, and to a Bishop Bestardi, who, for the same offence, had +been summoned to Rome, whence he had never returned.--Comba, Histoire +des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 243-55. + +[445] Index Error. Waldens. (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 340).--Petri Herp +Annal. Francofurt. ann. 1389 (Senckenberg Select. Juris II. 19).--Gudeni +Cod. Diplom. III. 598-600.--Serrarii Hist. Mogunt. Lib. v. p. +707.--Hist. Ordin. Carthus. (Martene Ampl. Coll. VI. 214).--Modus +examinandi Hsereticos (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 341-2). + +John Wasmod subsequently wrote a tract against the Beghards which has +been printed by Haupt (Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, 1885, pp. +567-76). Its chief interest lies in its attributing to the Beghards the +tenets of the Waldenses. There is no allusion to pantheism, to union +with God, to refusal of the sacraments, to the denial of hell and +purgatory. Either he confounds the sects, or else the Waldenses +concealed themselves under the guise of Beghards, or else there were +among the Beghards a certain number who constituted a church separate +from that of Rome without adopting the distinctive principles of +Amaurianism. Wasmod tells us that they do not easily receive applicants, +whose obedience they test by making them eat putrid flesh, drink water +foul with maggots, etc., at the risk of their lives. One of their +strongest arguments is found in the corruption of the Church, which is +thus deprived of the power of the keys. Distinctively referable to +Beghardism is the assertion that these heretics are greatly favored and +defended by the magistrates of the cities; and not very flattering to +Rome is the explanation that the bulls in favor of the Beguines were +obtained by the use of money. + + +[446] Gretseri Prolegom. c. 6 (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 292).--Refutat. +Waldens. (Ib. p. 335).--P. de Pilichdorf. c. 15 (Ib. p. +315).--Wattenbach, Sitzungsberichte der Preuss. Akad. 1886, pp. 49-9, +51. + + +[447] Wattenbach, op. cit. pp. 49-50, 54-55.--Flac. Illyr. Cat. Test. +Veritatis Lib. XV. pp. 1506, 1524; Lib. XVIII. p. 1803 (Ed. 1608). + +[448] W. Preger, Beiträge, pp. 51, 53-4, 68, 72.--P. de Pilichdorf c. 15 +(Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 315). + +[449] Hoffmann, Geschichte der Inquisition, II. 384-90.--C. Schmidt, +Real-Encyklop. s. V. Winkeler. + +[450] Martini Append, ad Mosheim pp. 652-66, 674-5.--Mosheim pp. 409-10, +430-1.--Hartzheim V. 676--Haupt. Zeitschrift für K. G. 1885, pp. 565-7. + +[451] Mosheim de Beghardis pp. 225-8, 383-4.--Martini Append, ad Mosheim +pp. 656-7.--Herm. Corneri Chron. ann. 1402-3 (Eccard. Corp. Hist. II. +1185-6).--Raynald. ann. 1403, No. 23. + +[452] Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet ann. 1400 (Martene Amplis. Coll. V. +358.)--Haupt. Zeitschrift für K. G. 1885, pp. 513-15.--Chron. +Glassberger ann. 1410 (Analecta Franciscana II. 233-5).--Martini Append. +ad Mosheim p. 559.--Mosheim p. 455.--Serrarii Lib. V. (Scriptt. Rer. +Mogunt. I. 724). + +In 1399 an outbreak very similar to that of the Flagellants took place +in Italy, stimulated by a pestilence which was ravaging the land. The +pilgrims were known as _Bianchi_, from the white linen vestments which +they wore, and they first brought to popular notice the "Stabat +Mater," which was their favorite hymn. The only reference to +flagellation, however, is that in Genoa they were joined by the old +fraternities of the Verberati or guilds, founded in 1306, which publicly +used the scourge. The Archbishop of Genoa and many of the Lombard +bishops lent the movement their countenance; universal peace was +proclaimed, enemies forgave each other, and even the strife of Guelf and +Ghibelline for a moment was forgotten. When we are told that twenty-five +thousand Modenese made the pilgrimage to Bologna, we can readily +understand why suspicious rulers, such as Galeazzo Visconti and the +Signory of Venice, forbade the entry of their states to such armies. +Boniface IX. probably felt the same alarm when the movement reached +Rome, and the whole population, including some of the cardinals, put on +white garments and marched in procession through the neighboring towns. +He caused one of the leaders to be seized at Aquapendente; the free use +of torture brought a confession that the whole affair was a fraud, and +the poor wretch was burned, when the movement collapsed.--Georgii Stella +Annal. Genuens. ann. 1399 (Muratori, S. R. I. XVII. 1170).--Mattæi de +Griffonibus Memor. Historial. ann. 1399 (Ib. XVIII. 207).--Cronica di +Bologna ann. 1399 (Ib. XVIII. 565).--Annal. Estens. ann. 1398 (Ib. +XVIII. 956-8).--Conrad Urspurgens. Chron. Contin. ann. 1399.--Theod. a +Niem de Schismate, Lib. II. c. 26. + +[453] Nider Formicar. Lib. III. c. 2.--Haupt, Zeitschrift für K. G. +1885, pp. 510-11.--Gersoni de Consolat. Theolog. Lib. IV. Prosa iii.; +Ejusd. de Mystica Theol. speculat. P. I. consid. viii.; Ejusd. de +Distinct, verar. Vision. a falsis, Signum V. + +[454] Baluz. et Mansi I. 288-93.--Altmeyer, Les Précurseurs de la +Réforme aux Pays-Bas, I. 84. + +[455] Theod. Vrie, Hist. Concil. Constant. Lib. IV. Dist. 13.--Marieta, +Los Santos de España, Lib. XI. c. xxviii.--Gobelini Person. Cosmodrom. +Æt. VI. c. 93.--Chron. S. Ægid. in Brunswig (Leibnitii S. R. Brunsv. +III. 595).--Gieseler, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, II. III. +317-18.--Herm. Corneri Chron. ann. 1416 (Eccard. Corp. Hist. II. +1206).--Andreæ Gubernac. Concil. P. IV. c. 11 (Von der Hardt VI. +194)--Chron. Magdeburgens. ann. 1454 (Meibom. Rer. German. II. +363).--Haupt, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 1887, 114-18.--Herzog, +Abriss. II. 405. + +In 1448, when pestilence and famine in Italy brought men to a sense of +their sins, the eloquence of Frà Roberto, a Franciscan, excited +multitudes to repentance, and the streets of the cities were again +filled with Flagellants, disciplining themselves and weeping (Illescas, +Historia Pontifical, II. 130). + +[456] Conc. Constant. Decret. Reform. Lib. III. Tit. X. c. 13; Tit. V. +c. 5 (Von der Hardt, I. 715-17).--Hemmerlin Glosa quarund. Bullar. (Opp. +c. d.).--De Rebus Malthæi Grabon (Von der Hardt, III. 107-20). + +[457] Von der Hardt, IV. 1518.--Concil. Salisburg. XXXIV. c. 32 (Dalham, +Concil Salisb. p. 186). + +[458] Hemmerlin Glosa quarund. Bullar; Ejusd. Lollardorum +Descriptio.--Nider Formicar. III. 5, 7, 9. + +[459] Concil. Herbipolens. ann. 1446 (Hartzheim V. 336).. Mosheim de +Beghardis pp. 173-9, 190, 194-5.--Addis and Arnold's Catholic +Dictionary, p. 73. + +[460] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1460.--.Hartzheim V. 464, 507, 560, +578.--Wadding, ann. 1492, No. 8.--Martini Append, ad Mosheim p. 579. + +[461] Concil. Senens. ann. 1423 (Harduin. VIII. 1016-17).--.Ullumnn's +Reformers before the Reformation, Menzies' Transl. I. 383-4.--Flac. +Illyr. Catal. Test. Veritatis Lib. XIX. p. 1836 (Ed. 1608).--Comba, +Histoire des Vaudois d'Italie, I. 97.--Hoffmann, Geschichte der +Inquisition, II. 390-1. + + +[462] Wattenbach, Sitzungsberichte der Preuss. Akad. 1886, pp. 57-8, + +[463] Hist. Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. pp. 71-2 (s. 1. 1648). Camerarii +Hist. Frat. Orthodox, pp. 116-17 (Heidelbergæ, 1605).--Ripoll +III. 577.] + +[464] Ullmann, op. cit. I. 195-207.--Æn. Sylvii Epist. 400 (Opp. 1571, +p. 932).--Fasciculus Rerum Expetendarum et Fugiendarum II. 115-28 (Ed. +1690).--Freber et Struv. II. 187-266.--Wadding. ann. 1461, No. +5.--Ripoll III. 466.--Chron. Glassberger ann. 1462. + +[465] Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1476.--Ullmann, op. cit. I. 377 sqq. + +[466] D'Argentré I. II. 291-8.--Ullmann, op.cit. I. 258-9, 277-94, +356-7.--Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug. ann. 1479.--Conr. Ursperg. Chron. +Continuat. ann. 1479,--Melanchthon. Respons. ad Bavar. Inquis., +Witebergæ, 1559, Sig. B 3. + +[467] Ripoll IV. 5.--Synod Bamberg. ann. 1491, Tit. 44 (Ludewig Scriptt. +Rer. Germ. I. 1242-44).--D'Argentré I. II. 342. + +[468] Pauli Langii Chron. Citicens. (Pistorii Rer. Germ. Scriptt. I. +1276-6.)--Gieseler, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte II. IV. 532 +sq.--Herzog, Abriss, II. 397-401.--Spalatini Annal. ann. 1515 (Menken. +II. 591).--Eleuth. Bizeni Joannis Reuchlin Encomion (sine nota. sed c. +ann. 1516).--II. Corn. Agrippæ Epist. II. 54 + +[469] Ripoll IV. 378.--Lutheri Opp., Jenæ, 1564, I. 185 sqq.--Henke, +Neuere Kirchengeschichte, I. 42-6. + +[470] Dubrav. Hist. Bohem. Lib. 14 (Ed. 1587, pp. 380-1). + +[471] Palacky, Beziehungen der Waldenser, Prag, 1869, p. 10.--Potthast +No. 11818. + +Palacky (pp. 7-8) conjectures that these heretics were Cathari, but his +reasoning is quite inadequate to overcome the greater probability that +they were of Waldensian origin. He is, however, doubtless correct in +suggesting that the allusion to princes and magnates may properly +connect the movement with the commencement of the conspiracy which +finally dethroned King Wenceslas I. in 1253. Wenceslas was a zealous +adherent of the papacy and opponent of Frederic II., and the connection +between antipapal politics and heresy was too close for us to +discriminate between them without more details than we possess. + +[472] Wadding. ann. 1257, No. 16.--Potthast No. 16819.--Höfler, Prager +Concilien. Einleitung, p. xix. + +[473] Palacky. op. cit. pp. 11-13.--Schrödl, Passavia Sacra, Passau, +1879, p. 242.--Dubravius (Hist. Bohem. Lib. 20) relates that in 1315 +King John burned fourteen Dolcinists in Prague. Palacky (ubi sup.) +argues, and I think successfully, that this relates to the above affair +and that there were no executions. + +[474] Wadding. ann. 1318, No. 2-6.--Ripoll II. 138-9, 174-6.--Gustav +Schmidt, Päbstliche Urkunden und Regesten, Halle, 1886, p. +105.--Raynald. ann. 1319, No. 43. + +[475] Palacky, op. cit. pp. 15-18.--Flac. Illyr. Catal. Test. Veritatis +Lib. XV. p. 1505 (Ed. 1608).--Raynald. ann. 1335, No. 61-2.--Wadding. +ann. 1335, No. 3-4. + +[476] Krasinsky, Reformation in Poland, London, 1838, I. 55-6.--Raynald. +ann. 1341, No. 27. + +[477] Werunsky Excerptt. ex Registt. Clem. VI. pp. 28, 47.--Raynald. +ann. 1347, No. 11. + +[478] OEn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 36.--Naucleri Chron. ann. +1360.--Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7.--Loserth, Hus und +Wicklif, Prag, 1884, pp. 261 sqq.--Werunsky Excerptt. ex Registt. Clem. +VI. pp. 1, 2, 3, 13, 25. + +Dispensations for children to hold preferment were an abuse of old date, +as we have seen in a former chapter. In 1297 Boniface VIII. authorized a +boy of Florence, twelve years old, to take a benefice involving the cure +of souls.--Faucon, Registres de Boniface VIII. No. 1761, p. 666. + +[479] Werunsky op. cit. pp. 89, 94, 98, 99, 102, 111, 120, 135, 136, +140, 141.--Gudeni Cod. Diplom. III. 509.--Hartzheim Concil. Germ. IV. +510. + +[480] Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 2, 5, 12, 14, 26-7.--Loserth, Hus +und Wiclif, pp. 32-33, 37.--W. Preger, Beiträge, p. 51.--Flac. Illyr. +Catal. Test. Veritatis Lib. xv. p. 1506 (Ed. 1608). + +[481] Mosheim de Beghardis p. 381. + +[482] Loserth, Hus und Wiclif, pp. 49, 50-2.--Lechler (Real +Encyklopädie, X. 1-3).--Raynald. ann. 1374, No. 10-11. + +[483] Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 33, 37-9.--De Schweinitz, History of +the Unitas Fratrum (Bethlehem, Pa., 1885, pp. 25-6). + +[484] Loserth, Hus und Wiclif, pp. 54, 56-7, 63-4, 68-9.--Montet, Hist. +Lit. des Vaudois, p. 150.--Pseudo-Pilichdorf Tract. contra Waldens. c. +15 (Mag. Bib. Pat. XIII. 315). + +[485] Arnold's English Works of Wyclif, III. 454-96. Cf. Væ Octuplex +(Ib. II. 380); Of Mynystris in the Chirch (Ib. II. 394); Vaughan's +Tracts and Treatises, p. 226; Trialogi III. 6, 7; Trialogi Supplem. c. +2.--Losertb, Mittheilungen des Vereines für Gesch. der Deutschen in +Böhmen, 1886, pp. 384 sqq. + +[486] Trialogi II. 14; IV. 22.--Jo. Hus de Ecclesia, c. 1 (Monument. I. +fol. 196-7, Ed. 1558).--Wil. Wodford adv. Jo. Wiclefum (Fascic. Rer. +Expetend. et Fugiend. I. 250, Ed. 1690).--In the condemnation of the +innovations by the Council of Prague, in 1412, predestination is not +among the errors enumerated (Höfler, Prager Concilien, p. 72), though it +appears in the final proceedings against Huss in the Council of +Constance (P. Mladenowic Relatio, Palacky Documenta. p. 317). + +[487] Raynald. ann. 1377, No. 4-6.--Lechler's Life of Wickliff, +Lorimer's Translation, II. 288-90, 343-7.--Loserth, Hus und Wiclif, pp. +101-2, 121.--Palacky Documenta Mag. Johannis Hus, p. 189, 203, 313, +374-6, 426-8, 467.--Harduin. Concil. VIII. 203.--Von der Hardt III. XII. +168; IV. 153, 328.--Jo. Hus Replica contra P. Stokes (Monument. I. 108 +_a_).--Höfler, Prager Concilien. p. 53. + +[488] Loserth, op. cit. pp. 79, 114, 161 sqq.--Mittheilungen des +Vereines für Gesch. d. Deutschen in Böhmen, 1886, 395 sqq.--Jo. Hus +Monument. I. 25_a_, 108_a_.--Nider Formicar. Lib. III. c. 9. fol. +50_a._--Von der Hardt IV. 328.--Gobelin. Personæ Cosmodrom. Ætat. VI. c. +86-7 (Meibom. Rer. German. I. 319-21). + +[489] Loserth, op. cit. pp. 13, 75-8, 98-100.--Jo. Hus Monument. II. +25-52. + +Even Æneas Sylvius (Hist. Bohem. c. 35) speaks of Huss as distinguished +for the purity of his life; and the Jesuit Balbinus says that his +austerity and modesty, his kindness to all, even to the meanest, won for +him universal favor. No one believed that so holy a man could deceive or +be deceived, so that the memory of the thief was worshipped at Prague as +that of a saint (Bohuslai Balbini Epit. Rer. Bohem. Lib. V. C. V. p. +431). + +[490] Palacky Documenta, pp. 3, 56.--Berger, Johannes Hus u. König +Sigmund, p. 5.--Loserth, op. cit. pp. 82, 98-100, 103-5, 111-12, +270.--Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 43-6, 51-3, 57, 60, 61-2.--Hist. +Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. p. 29. + +Wickliff continued to the end to be the chief authority of the Hussites. +A half a century later he is appealed to by both factions into which +they were divided. See Peter Chelcicky's reply to Rokyzana, in Goll, +Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder, II. +83-4. + +[491] Loserth, pp. 105-6.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 345-6, 363-4. + +[492] Loserth, op. cit. pp. 106-10, 123-4.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 181, +347, 350--62.--Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 64-70.--Raynald. ann. 1409, +No. 89. + +[493] Æneæ; Sylv. Hist. Bohem. c. 35.--Loserth, op. cit. p. +137.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 184-5, 342-3.--Palacky, Beziehungen, pp. +19-20--Jo. Hus Monument. I. 2-3. + +[494] Loserth, op. cit. pp. 120, 123-4.--Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. +5, 15, 18, 31, 32, 46, 57. + +[495] Loserth, op. cit. pp. 121-3, 130.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 19-21, +191, 233.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky p. 319).--Jo. Hus Disputatio +contra Indulgent. (Monument. I. 174-89); Ejusd. contra Bull. PP. Joannis +(Ib. I. 189-91); Ejusd. Serm. XXII. de Remissione Peccatorum (Ib. II. +74-5). + +[496] Loserth, op. cit. p. 131.--Palacky Documenta, p. 640.--De +Schweinitz, Hist. of the Unitas Fratrum, pp. 41-2.--Stephani Cartus. +Antihussus c. 5 (Pez Thesaur. Anecd. IV. II. 380, 382). + +[497] Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 73, 110.--Loserth, op. cit. pp. +132-5.--J. Hus Monument. I. 17; Ejusd. de Ecclesia c. 14 (Monument. I, +223. Cf. Wicklif. de Eccles. c. 18, _ap._ Loserth, p. 188).--Palacky +Documenta, pp. 458, 464-66. + +[498] Höfler, Prager Concilien, pp. 73-100.--Loserth, op. cit. pp. +142-5.--Palacky Documenta, p. 510.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky +Documenta, p. 246). + +[499] Von der Hardt IV. 313. + +[500] Leonardi Aretini Comment. (Muratori S.R.I. XIX. 927-8). --Harduin. +VIII. 231.--Theod. a Niem Vit. Joann. XXIII. Lib. II. c. 37 (Von der +Hardt II. 384).--Palacky Documenta, pp. 512-18. + +For the confusion existing in Germany, caused by the Schism, see Haupt, +Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 1883, pp. 356-8. + +[501] Jo. Fistenport. Chron. ann. 1415 (Hahn. Coll. Monum. I. +401).--Dacherii Hist. Magnatum (Von der Hardt V. II. 50).--Theod. a Niem +Vita Joann. XXIII. Lib. I. c. 40 (Ib. II. 388).--Nider Formicar. Lib. V. +c. ix. + +[502] Stephani Cartus. Dial. Volatilis c. 11, 14, 21 (Pez Thesaur. +Anecd. IV. II. 465, 473, 492).--The three sermons prepared for this +purpose are printed in Huss's works (Monument. I. 44-56). The first is +on the sufficiency of the law of Christ for the government of the +Church: the second is an elaborate exposition of his belief; the third +on Peace, in which he attributes the schisms and troubles of the Church +to the pride and greed and vices of the clergy. + +[503] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky Documenta, p. 237).--Von der Hardt IV. +754.--Jo. Hus Monument. I. 2-4, 57, 68.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 70, 73. + +[504] Richentals Chronik des Constanzer Concils p. 76 (Tübingen, +1882).--Jo. Hus Epistt. iii. vi. (Monument. I. 57-8).--Monument. I. 4_a_ + +[505] Richentals Chronik p. 58.--Jo. Hus Epistt. iv. vi. vii. (Monument. +I. 58-9). + +[506] Hus Epistt. v. vi. (Monument. I. 58).--Monument. I. 4 _b._--Laur. +Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. ann. 1414 (Ludewig Reliq. MSS. VI. +124).--Palacky Document. p. 170.--Richentals Chronik pp. +76-77.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, pp. 247-8).--Naucleri Chron. ann. +1414. + +[507] Richentals Chronik p. 77.--Jo. Hus Monument. I. 5 _b._--Von der +Hardt IV. 22, 32, 212.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky Document. pp. +246-52). + +The special rigor of confinement near the latrines was well understood. +In 1317, when John XXII. delivered some Spiritual Franciscans to their +brethren for safe-keeping, Friar François Sanche "_posuerunt fratres in +quodum carcere juxta latrinas_."--Historia Tribulationum (Archiv. für +Litteratur-u. Kirchengeschichte, 1886, p. 146). + +[508] Von der Hardt IV. 11-12, 22.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, p. +251). + +[509] Palacky Documenta, p. 238.--Von der Hardt IV. 12, 28.--Richentals +Chronik p. 76.--Jo. Hus Epist. lvii. (Monument. I. 75).--Mladenowic +Relatio (Palacky, p. 253). + +[510] Von der Hardt IV. 189, 209. + +Berger's labored collection of safe-conducts and their comparison with +the one given to Huss (Johann Hus u. König Sigmund pp. 180-208) prove +nothing but his own industry. Huss went to Constance as an excommunicate +to defend himself and his faith. Sigismund. knowing this, gave him a +safe-conduct without limitation or condition. The only contemporaneous +documents with which this can fairly be compared are those offered by +the council and by Sigismund to John XXIII. when they summoned him back +to Constance, May 2, 1415, and the one offered by the council to Jerome +of Prague, April 17. Of these the first was limited by the clause +"_justitia tamen semper salva_," the second by "_in quantum idem +dominus rex tenetur sibi dare de jure et servare alios salros conductus +sibi datos_," the third by "_quantum in nobis est et fides exegit +orthodoxa_" (V. d. Hardt IV. 119, 143, 145). No ingenious reasoning can +explain this away. The allusion in Sigismund's safe-conduct to other +letters already given by him to the pope refers to those which John had +required of him and of the city of Constance before he would trust +himself there (Raynald. ann. 1413, No. 22-3). These the council set +aside as coolly as it did that of Huss. + +Sigismund, as we shall see, had no power to give a safe conduct that +would protect a heretic, but Berger's argument that he therefore could +not have designedly issued an unlimited one to Huss (Berger, op. cit. +92-3, 109) is worthless in view of his readiness, which Berger freely +concedes (p. 85), to enter into engagements which he knew he could not +fulfil. From his indignation it is evident that he was unacquainted with +the niceties of the canon law; but even if he were, his giving the +letters is easily explicable by the fact, which Berger has well pointed +out (pp. 100-1), that Huss's certificates of orthodoxy, obtained in +August, were laid before him (Palacky Document, p. 70). He could thus +easily persuade himself that there was no risk of his pledge causing him +trouble. It was of the greatest moment to him that Huss should be +reconciled to the Church, and to a man of his temperament it was +inconceivable that Huss's delicate conscientiousness would in the end +render martyrdom inevitable. + +Hefele (Conciliengeschichte VII. 234), following Palacky, calls +attention to the absence, in the letter of the Bohemian magnates to the +council, September 2, 1415, of any reproach for violating the +safe-conduct, and he argues thence that they admitted that it could not +protect Huss from judgment as a heretic. So little is this the case that +they emphatically declare that Huss was not a heretic, and if there is +no allusion to the safe-conduct this is evidently attributable to their +referring to certain previous letters to Sigismund which the council had +ordered burned, and which they defiantly desired to be considered as +embodied and repeated in the present one (Monument I. 78). Anything they +might have to say on the subject must have been said in those letters, +which presumably were the occasion of the projected decree of September +23, 1415, punishing as fautors of heresy all who vilified Sigismund for +permitting the violation of his safe-conduct. + +[511] Martene Thesaur. II. 1611.--Von der Hardt II. x. 255; IV. +26.--Palacky Documenta, p. 612.--Berger, Johann Hus u. König Sigmund, +pp. 133, 136.--Fistenport. Chron. ann. 1419 (Hahn Collect. Monument. I +.404).--Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legationibus (Monument. Conc. General. +Sæc. XV. T. I. pp. 531, 536-7, 595-6, 612-13, 662-73, 680-4, 688-93, +695-7).--Thomæ Ebendorferi Diar. (Ib. p. 767).--Jo. de Turonis Regestr. +(Ib. pp. 834-5). + +Even in France Sigismund was reproached for surrendering Huss after +giving him a safe-conduct, and was accused of disregarding other +engagements of the same kind.--(Martene Ampl. Coll. II. 1444-5.) Yet had +he persisted he would have been liable to excommunication and heavy +penalties as an impeder of the Inquisition; and had he carried out his +threat of forcibly liberating Huss, under the bull _Ad extirpanda_ he +would have been punishable by perpetual relegation and the forfeiture of +all his dominions (Mag. Bull. Rom. Ed. Luxemb. 1742, I. 92, 149). + +[512] Von der Hardt IV. 32, 311-13, 329.--Martene Thesaur. II. +1611.--Berger, Johann Hus u. König Sigmund, p. 138.--Palacky Documenta, +541, 543, 546-53.--Jo. Hus Epistt. xxxiii., liv., lix., lx.(Monument. I. +68-9, 74-77).--Mladenowic Relat. (Palacky, p. 314-15).--Narr. Hist, de +Condemnatione (Monument. II. 346 _a_; Von der Hardt IV. 393).--Ægid. +Carlerii Lib. de Legat. (Monument. Concil. Gen. Sæc. XV. Tom. I. p. +435).--Martene Ampl. Coll. VII. 174-6, 179-83.--Jo. de Turonis Regestrum +(Monument. Con. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 860). + +The incident of Sigismund's blush has been disputed by some recent +writers. It is a matter not worth controversy, but as the only evidence +to his credit in the whole affair it may be hoped to be true. + +[513] Richentals Chronik p. 78.--Von der Hardt IV. 313, 521-22.--Chron. +Glassberger ann. 1415.--Martene Ampl. Collect. VIII. 131-33. Cf. Noel +Alexander's justification of the decree of September 23 (Hist. Eccles. +Ed. Paris, 1699. T. VIII. p. 496). + +It is customary with modern Catholic writers to stigmatize as a +Protestant calumny the assertion that the Church held the doctrine that +faith is not to be kept with heretics. See, for instance, Van Ranst, +Regent of the College of Antwerp, in his "Historia Hæreticorum" (4th. +Ed. Venet. 1759, p. 263), together with his ingenious endeavor to argue +away the case of Huss. I have already alluded to this subject (Vol. I. +p. 228), and have shown that it was a recognized principle of the Church +that faith and oaths pledged to heretics were void. It has also been +seen how the efforts of the popes procured the insertion in the public +law of Europe of the principle that suspicion of heresy in the lord +released the vassal from the most binding engagement known to the Middle +Ages--the oath of allegiance (Lib. V. Extra, VII. xiii. § 3). When thus +the basis on which society itself was founded was destroyed by heresy +all minor pledges were necessarily invalidated. The Church did not allow +this to become obsolete. When, in 1327, John XXII. sentenced the Emperor +Louis of Bavaria as a heretic, he not only released all his vassals from +their oaths of allegiance, but declared void all compacts and agreements +made with him (Martene Thesaur. II. 702, 775-6, 791). So, in 1463, when +it pleased Pius II. to declare George Podiebrad a heretic, he released +the communities of Breslau and Namslau from their allegiance, and +excommunicated all who should lend their aid or service to their monarch +(Æn. Sylvii Epist. 401); and when Frederic III. asked him to compel +Breslau to submit to George, he replied by arguing that heresy dissolved +compacts as effectually as death (Martene Ampl. Coll. I. 1598-99). When, +in 1469, Paul II. again declared George a heretic he pronounced that +each and every obligation, promise, and oath made to that heretic was +null and void, for faith was not to be kept with him who kept not faith +with God. Acting under this, when George released from prison Wenceslas +of Biberstein, on bail of six thousand florins furnished by John and +Ulric of Hazemburg, the papal legate Rudolph incontinently ordered the +bailors neither to surrender the accused nor to pay the forfeit (Ludewig +Reliq. MSS. VI. 77). + +The play upon the double meaning of the word faith by which this was +epigrammatically justified was seriously accepted by Christendom. In +April, 1415, Fernando of Aragon wrote to Sigismund earnestly +remonstrating with him for the delay in judging Huss, and expressing the +hope that the safe-conduct would not be allowed to protect him +"_quoniam non est frangere fidem in eo qui Deo fidem +frangit_."--Andreæ Ratisponens Chron. ann. 1414 (Pez Thesaur. Anecd. +IV. III. 626.--Palacky Documenta, p. 540). + +All statutes and laws impeding the free action of the Inquisition, +directly or indirectly, were null and void _ipso jure_, as we have +repeatedly seen above (see also Farinaccii de Hæresi Quæst. 182 No. 76); +and what Sigismund could not have done at the head of the Imperial Diet, +he certainly could not do by a simple safe-conduct, and no +ecclesiastical jurisdiction was bound to respect it. + +If the Church thus disregarded the pledges of laymen, it was equally +unmindful of its own when heretics were concerned. Even late in the +sixteenth century the bull _Multiplices inter_ of Pius V. annulled all +letters of absolution and decrees of acquittal for heresy issued by +inquisitors, bishops, popes, and even by the Council of Trent, showing +how scant was the ceremony customarily used in such cases, and how +completely suspicion of heresy deprived a man of all rights (Lib. V. in +Septimo III. x.). + +Even without this general principle, however, there would have been no +difficulty in soothing Sigismund's scruples of conscience, if, +perchance, he had any. The system of the mediæval Church so completely +confused the ideas of right and wrong that the ordinary notions of +morality were superseded. The power of the keys was such that a papal +dispensation could release any one from an inconvenient vow or promise, +no matter how binding might be its form. Sigismund's father, Charles, +when Margrave of Moravia, was released, in 1346, by Clement VI. from a +troublesome oath which he had taken (Werunsky Excerptt. ex Regist. Clem. +VI. p. 44); and the sin of perjury was one for which the popes were +accustomed to grant efficacious pardons when it was committed in their +interest (Ludewig op. cit. VI. 14). It was deemed only a reasonable +precaution in compacts for the parties to pledge themselves that they +would not seek a release by a papal dispensation (Hartzheim IV. 329; +Preger, Der kirchenpolitische Kampf unter Ludwig dem Baier, p. 59). +Sigismund, in the case of Huss, admitted that his pledge was dissolved +by heresy and a dispensation was superfluous, but it could have been had +for the asking. In view of these facts all attempts to argue away the +betrayal of Huss are useless, nor is it possible to accuse the good +fathers of Constance of conscious bad faith. They but accepted and +enforced the principles in which they were trained. + +[514] Mandata Synodalia ann. 1390 (Höfler, Prager Concilien, p. +40).--Æn. Sylvii. Hist. Bohem. cap. 35.--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. +Hussit. ann. 1414 (Ludewig Reliq. MSS. VI. 125, 128-9).--Von der Hardt +III. 335 sqq.; IV. 288-91, 334, 342.--Jo. Hus Monument. I. 42-44, 62, +72. + +The relentless obstinacy with which the Church of the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries refused the use of the cup to the laity at the cost +of Christian unity and unnumbered troubles is perhaps the most +impressive example on record of the perversity of sacerdotalism in +sacrificing essentials to non-essentials. No one denied that in the +early Church communion in both elements was administered to all the +faithful, as it continued to be without interruption in the Greek +Church. The refusal of the cup to the laity was originally a Manichæan +custom, in imitation of the corresponding ancient Izeshne rite of the +Mazdeans. Communion in one element thus became a mark of heresy, and was +condemned as such by Leo the Great (Leon. PP. I. Serm. XLII. cap. 5), +about the middle of the fifth century, and again towards its end by +Gelasius I., whose decretal on the subject is embodied, without comment +or contradiction, by Gratian in the Decretum (P. II. Dist. ii. c. 12), +showing that it was still good law in the twelfth century. + +When, however, in the tenth and eleventh centuries the belief in +transubstantiation became the accepted dogma of the Church, the supreme +veneration felt for the consecrated elements naturally gave rise to the +necessity of the utmost care in handling them and to excessive dread as +to any accidents which might occur to them; and the penitentials grew +full of all manner of penalties inflicted on priests who, through +carelessness, let fall a crumb of the body or a drop of the blood, for +which, by forged decretals of the early popes, a false antiquity was +claimed (Decreti III. ii. 27). Of course the liquid was much more +subject to these accidents, and to decomposition, than the solid, and +the ministering priests were sorely tried to avert such profanation and +its consequences to themselves. At first they adopted the ready +expedient of dipping the host in the wine-and-water, and thus +administering both elements together, which was conducive both to safety +and comfort. This innovation was condemned by the Church, but was +suppressed with great difficulty. Under Gregory VII. the author of the +Micrologus devotes a chapter to its prohibition (Micrologi c. 19). In +1095 the great Council of Clermont forbade it, except in cases where it +was demanded by prudence or necessity for the avoidance of accidents +(Conc. Claromont. ann. 1095, c. 28); and some twenty years later Paschal +II. laid down the rule that it was only admissible in the communion of +infants and the sick who could not swallow the bread (Paschal PP. II. +Epist. 535). In a Bohemian document dating about the close of the +twelfth century the priest carrying the viaticum to the dying is +directed to dip the wafer in the wine so as to avoid accidents and yet +be able to administer both elements (Höfler, Prager Concilien, +Einleitung, p. ix.). When this resource was denied, while the veneration +of the sacrament as the flesh and blood of Christ continued to develop, +the custom was gradually introduced of restricting the laity to the +solid element, in administering which there was less liability to +accident, while the priest continued to partake in both. About 1270 +Thomas Aquinas tells us that in some churches the bread only is given to +the laity, as a matter of prudence, to avoid spilling, and his +dialectics are equal to the task of proving that both body and blood are +contained in the wafer (Summa III. lxxx. 12). The convenience of the +innovation led to its extension, but it was left to the individual +churches, and no authoritative decree was issued withdrawing the cup +from the laity until the Bohemian controversy led to the action of the +Council of Constance. How universal the custom had become without +authority of law is shown by the special privilege granted, about 1345, +by Clement VI. to John, Duke of Normandy, son of Philip of Valois, to +receive both elements (Martene Ampl. Coll. I. 1456-7). When the question +was exhaustively debated before the Council of Basle, the orator of the +council, John of Ragusa, freely admitted that the Hussite practice was +in accordance with the traditions of the Church, but argued that it +could be changed if convenience or other reasons demanded it (Harduin. +Concil. VIII. 1712, 1740); and the Cardinal of St. Peter told William, +Baron of Kostka, the Bohemian chief, that the cup was refused to +children and common people simply as a precaution, adding. "If you were +to ask of me I would give it, but not to the careless" (Petri +Zaticensis Liber Diurnus; Mon. Concil. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 315). The +final decision of the Council of Basle, in December, 1437, admits that +there is no precept on the subject, but lay communion in one element is +a laudable custom, the law of the Church, and not to be modified without +authority (Conc. Basiliens. Sess. XXX.; Harduin. VIII. 1234). How +thoroughly indefensible the Church felt its position to be, yet how +arbitrarily and despotically it was resolved to enforce that position, +is most clearly shown by the inquisitor Capistrano, in 1452, when he +heard that the cardinal legate, Nicholas of Cusa, was thinking of giving +Rokyzana a hearing on the subject at Ratisbon. Capistrano expressed his +mind freely to the legate: "If we excuse the heretics we condemn +ourselves.... I have always avoided a debate with the Bohemians under +the ordinary rules, for they study to justify their heresy from the +ancient Scriptures and observances, and they have a perfect knowledge of +the texts, which certainly are numerous, in favor of communion in both +elements." Capistrano then quotes to the legate the bulls of Nicholas +V. sent to him, in which the Bohemians are denounced as schismatics, +heretics, and disobedient to the Roman Church, pointedly adding that the +disciple is not above the teacher, nor the servant superior to the +master; he had never read in the law that heretics were to be rewarded, +but were to be sharply punished with confiscation and the bitterest +penalties (Wadding. Annal. ann. 1452, No. 12). So it had come to this, +that those who admittedly followed the practices of the Church current +until the thirteenth century were to be condemned and exterminated as +heretics. Disobedience was heresy, and Rome, for a century, endeavored +to convulse Europe on this simple punctilio. + +An episode of this question was the communion of infants. This was the +practice of the early Church (Cyprian. de Lapsis c. 25), and St. +Innocent I. and St. Gelasius I. had both declared that as soon as +infants were baptized the sacrament was necessary to secure them eternal +life (Innocent PP. I. Epist. XXX. c. 5; Gelasii PP. I. Ep. VII.). The +epistle of Paschal II., quoted above, shows that this was still +customary in the twelfth century, but the same causes which led to the +withdrawal of the cup from the laity induced the withholding of the +sacrament from infants, who were liable at any moment unconsciously to +commit sacrilege with the body and blood of Christ. In their enthusiasm +for the Eucharist the Bohemians naturally recurred to infantile +communion, and their obstinacy in this gave the fathers of Basle +infinite trouble. After the reconciliation of 1436 the question still +remained disputed. The feeling about it is well defined by the Bishop of +Coutances, legate of the Council of Basle in Prague, who was +horror-stricken when, April 28, 1437, Rokyzana administered communion to +a number of infants, and one of them ejected the wafer from its mouth, +forcing Rokyzana quietly to replace it. This incident was evidently +regarded as the most convincing argument, and the terms in which it is +alluded to show how profound was the terror which it was expected to +create (Jo. de Turonis Regestrum; Monument. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. +863). At the Council of Constance it was gravely argued that if a layman +allowed the wine to moisten his beard he ought to be burned with his +beard (Von der Hardt III. 369). Gerson was not quite so absurd, but he +did not shrink from alleging such reasons as the expensiveness of wine +and its liability to turn sour (ib. 771 sqq.). In 1391, when John +Malkaw, in preaching against the concubinary priesthood, hotly declared +that he would rather place reverently on the ground a consecrated wafer +than violate his vow of chastity, Böckeler, the Strassburg inquisitor, +in trying him, made this the ground of a charge of heresy with respect +to the sacrament of the altar (Haupt, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, +1883, pp. 366-7). + +In older times the Church had felt no such exaggerated reverence for the +elements. In 646 Pope Theodore, when he excommunicated Pyrrhus, the +refugee Patriarch of Constantinople, mingled consecrated wine from the +cup with the ink with which he signed the sentence; and in 869 the +Council of Constantinople adopted the same device in condemning +Photius.--Chr. Lupi Dissert. de Sexta Synodo c. V. (Opp. III. 25). + +As a matter of course the vilest stories were circulated to inspire the +faithful with abhorrence for the Bohemian innovations. It was said that +the wine was consecrated in bottles and barrels; that the sectaries held +conventicles in cellars, where they would partake of it to intoxication +and then commit all manner of sexual abominations (Laur. Byzyn. Diar. +Bell. Hussit,; Ludewig VI. 129-30). + +[515] Palacky Documenta, pp. 194-204, 506.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, +p. 252). + +The council itself recognized that its proceedings were inquisitorial. +In the sentence of Jerome of Prague it uses the phrase "_Hæc sancta +synodus Constantiensis in causa inquisitionis hæreticæ pravitatis per +eamdem sanctum synodem mota_."--Von der Hardt IV. 766. + +[516] Palacky, pp. 204-24.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, p. +254).--Martene Thesaur. II. 1635.--Jo. Hus Epist. xlviii. (Monument. I. +72). + +[517] Epist. xxxii. (Monument. I. 68).--Von der Hardt IV. 20-8.--Jo. Hus +Monument. I. 39-41.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, pp. 276-8, 303, 318). + +Already in 1411 Huss energetically disclaimed to John XXIII. belief in +remanence and in the vitiation of sacraments (Palacky, p. 19. Cf. pp. +164-5, 170, 174-85). + +[518] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, pp. 252-3).--Palacky, pp. 73, 174, +318, 560.--Von der Hardt IV. 308, 420-8. + +[519] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky. pp. 253, 323).--Von der Hardt IV. +188, 212, 289.--Epist. xlix. (Monument. I. 73 _a_). + +[520] Von der Hardt IV. 47.--Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, p. +255).--Palacby, p. 541.--Jo. Hus Monument. I. 7, 29-42.--Epistt. xi., +xxvii., xxx., xxxi., xxxii., xxxvi., xlvii., li., lii., lvi. (Monument. +I. 60, 65-9, 72-5).--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig Reliq. +MSS. VI. 128-9). + +[521] Epist. lii. (Monument. I. 75).--Theod. a Niem de Vit. Joann. +XXIII. Lib. III. c. 5.--Raynald. ann. 1419, No. 5. + +[522] Jo. Hus Monument. I. 118, 128.--Epist. xliii. (Ib. 71 +_a_).--Palacky Documenta, pp. 60, 185, 523-8.--Mladenowic Relatio +(Palacky, p. 301). + +[523] Von der Hardt IV. 100, 118, 136, 153, 189, 209, 212-13, 288-90, +296, 306.--Martene Thesaur. II. 1635.--Harduin. VIII. 280.--Mladenowic +Relatio (Palacky, pp. 256-72). + +[524] Epistt. xliii., xlvii. (Monument. I. 71, 72).--Von der Hardt IV. +291, 306-7. + +[525] Jo. Hus Monument. I. 25 _b._--Von der Hardt IV. 307, +311-29.--Epistt. xii., xv., xxxvi. (Monument. I. 60-2, 69),--Palacky, +pp. 275, 308-15. + +The attempt to deny to Huss the inalienable privilege of recantation was +based upon a mistranslated passage of his Bohemian address to his +disciples, in which he was made to assure them that if he was forced to +abjure, it would only be with the lips and not with the heart (Palacky, +pp. 274, 311). In such matters the council was at the mercy of Huss's +Bohemian enemies. + +[526] Von der Hardt IV. 432-33. + +[527] Huss was by no means the first to suffer from this technical +necessity of confession in abjuring. In the case of the English +Templars, William de la More, Preceptor of England, and Humbert Blanc, +Preceptor of Aquitaine, refused to abjure because they would not confess +to heresies which they had never entertained.--Wilkins, Concil. II. 390, +393. + +[528] Epistt. xxx., xxxi., xxxii. (Monument. I. 67-8).--Von der Hardt +IV. 342-5. + +[529] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, p. 309).--Epistt. xxvii., xxix., +xxx., xxxviii., xxxix., xl., xli. (Monument. I. 63-66, 67, 70).--Von der +Hardt IV. 329-30.--Palacky, pp. 225-34. + +[530] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, pp. 316-17).--Von der Hardt IV. +345-6, 386.--Palacky, p. 560. + +To appreciate properly the extent of the concessions offered to Huss it +is necessary to bear in mind the elaborately careful formulas of +abjuration which the inquisitors were accustomed to use, so as to allow +no loophole for the avoidance of the penalties of relapse, and to force +the penitent to betray his fellow-heretics. See Modus Procedendi +(Martene Thesaur. V. 1800-1).--Lib. Sententt. Inq. Tolosan. p. +215.--Bern. Guidon. Practica pp. 92-3 (Éd. Douais). + +[531] Mladenowic Relatio (Palacky, pp. 318-21).--Von der Hardt IV. +389-96, 432-40.--Harduin. VIII. 408-10.--Richentals Chronik p. +80.--Richental says that Huss was delivered to the secular arm with the +customary adjuration for mercy, but the text of the sentence as printed +by Von der Hardt contains no such clause. It may well have been omitted +at Sigismund's request, as he had already incurred sufficient obloquy, +but the same omission is noticeable in the sentence of Jerome of Prague +(Von der Hardt IV. 771). + +[532] Richentals Chronik pp. 80-2.--Von der Hardt IV. 445-8.--Mladenowic +Relatio (Palacky, pp. 321-4).--Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 36.--Laur. +Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 135-6).--Andrew Ratispon. Chron. +(Pez Thes. Anecdot. IV. III. 627). + +[533] P. d'Ailly (Theod. a Niem) de Necess. Reform. c. 28, 29 (Von der +Hardt I. VI. 306-9).--Theod. Vrie Hist. Concil. Constant. Lib. VI. Dist. +11; Lib. VII. Dist. 3 (Ibid. I. 170-1, 181-2). It is simply a lack of +familiarity with the ecclesiastical jurisprudence of the Middle Ages +that has led historians to regard the cases of Huss and Jerome as +exceptional. Even so well informed an authority as Lechler does not +hesitate to say "Hussens Verbrennung war, mit dem Massstab des +damaligen Rechts gemessen, ein warer Justizmord" (Herzog's +Real-Encyklop. VI. 392). + +[534] Loserth, Huss u. Wiclif p. 156.--Epistt. lxi., lxii., lxiv. +(Monument. I. 77-9, 81).--Von der Hardt IV. 489-90, 494-7.--Palacky +Documenta, pp. 580-4, 593-4.--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig +VI. 136). + +The temper of the Bohemians had been excited, a few days before the +burning of Huss, by the news that in Olmütz a student of Prague named +John, described as a zealous follower of God, had been, within the short +space of twelve hours, arrested, tortured, convicted, and +burned.--Palacky Documenta, p. 561. + +[535] Von der Hardt IV. 634-91, 756.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 63, 336-7, +408-9, 417-20, 506, 572.--Loserth, Mittheilungen des Vereins für Gesch. +der Deutschen in Böhmen, 1885, pp. 108-9.--Schrödl, Passavia Sacra, pp. +284-5. + +[536] Von der Hardt IV. 103-5, 134_bis_.--Palacky Documenta, p. +541-2.--Richentals Cronik, p. 78.--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. ann. +1415 (Ludewig VI. 132). + +[537] Von der Hardt IV. 119, 134, 139, 142, 148-9, 216-18. + +[538] Richentals Cronik p. 70.--Theod. Vrie Hist. Concil. Constant. Lib. +VI. Dist. 12.--Theod. a Niem de Vita Joann. PP. XXIII. Lib. III. c. +8.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 596-9. + +[539] Von der Hardt IV. 501-7.--Richentals Cronik p. 79.--In the final +official articles drawn up against Jerome by the _Promotor Hæreticæ +Pravitatis_, his absolute refusal to write to Bohemia, after promising +to do so, is made a special point of accusation. Yet his letter to that +effect, of September 12, is still on record, and in his last defiant +address to the council he speaks of having written it under fear of +burning, and now desires to withdraw it (V. d. Hardt IV. 688, 761). + +[540] Von der Hardt III. IV. 39; IV. 634-91.--Laur. Byzyn Diar. Bell. +Hussit (Ludewig VI. 137-8). + +[541] Von der Hardt IV. 600-1, 732-33, 748-56. + +[542] Von der Hardt III. 64-9. + +[543] Ibid. IV. 754-62. + +[544] Von der Hardt III. 55-60; IV. 763-71.--Theod. Vrie Hist. Conc. +Constant. Lib. VII. Dist. 4. + +[545] Von der Hardt III. 64-71; IV. 771-2.--Richentals Cronik p. +83.--Theod. Vrie Hist. Conc. Constant. Lib. VII. Dist. 3.--Laur. Byzyn. +Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 141).--Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 36. + +[546] Chron. Glassberger ann. 1416. + +[547] Palacky Documenta, pp. 566-7, 572-9, 602-3.--Von der Hardt IV. +528, 609-12, 724, 781-2, 823-40.--Æn. Sylvii. Hist. Bohem. c. +35.--Theod. a Niem Vit. Joann. PP. XXIII. Lib. III. c. 12. + +[548] Epistt. lxiii., lxv. (Jo. Hus Monument. I. 79-80, 82).--Palacky +Documenta, pp. 611-14, 621.--Ludewig Rel. MSS. VI. 69.--Stepbani Cartus. +Epist. ad Hussitas P. I. c. 5 (Pez Thesaur. Anecd. IV. II. 521). + +[549] Von der Hardt IV. 1077-82, 1410-13.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 652-4. +Doubtless there was much ill-treatment of such of the clergy as remained +faithful to Rome. In 1417 Stephen of Olmütz complains that they were +driven from their benefices, beaten, and slain.--Steph. Cartus. Epist. +ad Hussit. P. I. c. 3 (Pez Thesaur. Anecd. IV. II. 517). + +[550] Von der Hardt IV. 1514-18.--Palacky Documenta, pp. 676-77. + +[551] Von der Hardt IV. 1518-31.--Palacky pp. 684-6. + +[552] Palacky Documenta, pp. 631-2, 633-8, 654-6, 679.--Laur. Byzyn. +Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 138-9).--Jo. Hus Monument. II. +364.--Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation. (Monument Concil. General. Sæc. +XV. T. I. pp. 385-6). + +[553] Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. pp. 142-44).--Æn. +Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 36, 37. + +[554] Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 145-52, +154-56).--Hist. Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. pp. 37-8.--Camerarii Hist. +Frat. Orthod. p. 49. + +[555] Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation. (Mon. Concil. General. Sæc. XV. +T. I. p. 387).--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 152-4, +157-8, 168, 172). + +[556] Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 159).--Raynald. ann. +1420, No. 13.--Hist. Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. pp. 39-40.--Ægid. Carlerii +Lib. de Legation. loc. cit. + +There was warning also to the democratic party among the Bohemians in +the vengeance taken by Sigismund on citizens of Breslau who had been +concerned in an uprising similar to that of Prague. On March 7 he caused +twenty-three of them to be beheaded.--Bezold, König Sigmund und die +Reichskriege gegen die Husiten, München, 1872, p. 37. + +[557] Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 161-3, 167-70, +181).--Andreæ Ratispon. Chron. (Eccard. Corp. Hist. I. 2147).--Schrödl, +Passavia Sacra, p. 289.--Naucleri Chron. p. 933 (Ed. 1544).--Hist. +Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. pp. 43-44. + +[558] Palacky, Beziehungen, pp. 20-1.--Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. +41.--Dubravii Hist. Bohem. Lib. 27. + +[559] Laur. Byzyn. Diar. Bell. Hussit. (Ludewig VI. 202-7).--Palacky, +Beziehungen, p. 31.--J. Goll, Quellen u. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte +der Böhmischen Brüder, Prag, 1882, II. 10-11, 57-60.--Hist. Persecut. +Eccles. Bohem. pp. 46-8.--Palacky, Præf. in Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. p. +xx. + +[560] Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation. (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. +p. 389).--Epistt. lxvi. lxvii. (Jo. Hus Monument. I. 82-4).--Laur. +Byzyn. Diar. (Ludewig VI. 175-81). + +[561] Conciliab. Pragens. ann. 1421 (Hartzheim V. 199-201). Cf. Johann. +de Przibram Profess. Cath. Fidei (Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. pp. 501 sqq.). + +[562] Jo. de Turonis Regestrum (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 833, +858). + +Yet these Puritans were represented to Europe in the papal bulls for the +crusades as not only subverting all political and social order, but as +condemning marriage and abandoning themselves to all manner of license +and bestiality.--Martini PP. V. Bull. _Permisit Deus_, 25 Oct. 1427 +(Fascic. Rer. Expetendarum et Fugiend, II. 613). + +[563] Jo. de Turonis Regestrum (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. pp. 843, +858, 865).--Wratislaw, Diary of an Embassy from George of Bohemia, +London, 1871. + +[564] Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 35; Ejusd. Epist. 130 (Opp. Ed. 1571, +p. 678).--Pet. Zatecens. Lib. Diurnus (Monument. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. +I. p. 352).--Concil. Bituricens. ann. 1432 (Harduin. VIII. 1459).--Goll, +Quellen u. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder, I. 106. + +[565] Goll, Quellen u. Untersuchungen, II. 40-1.--Preger, Beiträge zur +Geschichte der Waldesier, pp. 68-71.--Laur. Byzyn. Diar. (Ludewig VI. +183-4, 194-202).--Johann. de Przibram Profess. Fidei (Cochlæi Hist. +Huss. p. 507).--Huss, Sermo de Exequiis (Monument. II. 50). + +See also Æneas Sylvius's statement of the identity between the +Waldensian and Hussite teachings (Hist. Bohem. c. 35). + +[566] Laur. Byzyn. (loc. cit. p. 195).--Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 19-27, +249-51, 596-99.--Jo. de Turonis Regest. (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. +p. 842, 846).--Jo. de Ragusio Tractatus (Ibid. T. I. pp. 272-4, 278, +285).--Goll, Quellen, II. 17-18, 61-1.--Æn. Sylvii Epist. 130 (Ed. 1571, +p. 661). + +Even Rokyzana, in 1436, was with great difficulty forced to express his +disbelief in the remanence of the substance of the bread.--Jo. de +Turonis Regest. (loc. cit. pp. 426-7). Yet nothing can exceed the +strength of his affirmation of the existence of the body and blood, in +his _Tractatus de Septem Sacramentis_ (Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. pp. 473-4). +In view of the exaggerated superstitious adoration of the Eucharist by +the Calixtins, the assertion of Cardinal Giuliano, in 1431, that the +Hussites were wont to manifest their contempt for it by trampling it in +the blood of the slain, is a good illustration of the stories invented +to stimulate popular abhorrence (Cochlæi op. cit. p. 240). + +[567] Herburt. de Fulstin Statut. Regni Poloniæ, Samoscii, 1597, p. 191. + +[568] Balbin. Epit. Rer. Hung. pp. 475-6.--Sommersberg Silesiac. Rer. +Scriptt. L. 75.--A popular rhyme of the period described: + + "Meissen und Sachsen verderbt, Oesterreich verhergt, + Schliesien und Laussnitz zerscherbt, Mähren verzerht, + Bayern aussgenehrt, Böheimb umbgekehrt." + (Balbin. p. 478.) + + +[569] C. Constant. Decr. _Frequens_ (Von der Hardt IV. 1435). + +[570] Ludewig Reliq. MSS. XI. 385, 409. + +[571] Concil. Senens. ann. 1423 (Harduin. VIII. 1015). + +[572] Jo. de Ragusio Init. et Prosec. Conc. Basil. (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. +XV. T. I. pp. 28-30, 32-35, 53-61, 64).--Concil. Senens. (Harduin. VIII. +1025-6).--Act. Conc. Basil. (Harduin. VIII. 1108-10).--Raynald. ann. +1425, No. 3, 4. + +John of Ragusa was the delegate of the University of Paris to Siena, and +subsequently played an active part at Basle. + +[573] Jo. de Ragusio Init. etc. (Mon. Con. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. pp. +66-7).--Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. pp. 237-9. + +The repulsion of the papacy for general councils was not unnatural. On +June 3, 1435, the Council of Basle, with virtual unanimity, abrogated +the annates and decreed that in future no charges should be made for +sealing collations and confirmations of sees and benefices, except the +scrivener's moderate fees. The Bishops of Otranto and Padua protested in +the name of the pope, and finding this unheeded arose and left the +council, followed by a few others, while the rest gave themselves up to +rejoicing and thanking God.--Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation, (op. cit. +I. 568). + +[574] Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 15-18.--Chron. Concil. Zantfliet (Ibid. +V. 425-7).--Jo. de Ragusio Tractatus (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. pp. +135, 138). + +[575] Harduin VIII. 1575-8.--Raynald. ann. 1431, No. 26.--Epist. Card. +Juliani (Æn. Sylv. Opp. Ed. 1571, pp. 66-9). + +The letter of Cardinal Giuliano and Æneas Sylvius's Commentaries on the +Council of Basle were subsequently put in the Index Expurgatorius +(Reusch, Der Index der verbotenen Bücher, I. 40). + +[576] Hemmerlin Lollardor. Descriptio.--Duverger, La Vauderie dans les +États de Philippe le Bon, Arras, 1885, p. 24--Harduin. VIII. 1141, +1172-82, 1263, 1280, 1582. 1606.--Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 80-2. + +[577] Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 131-33.--Pet. Zatecens. Lib. Diurn. +(Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 304-5, 324, 328-31, 348).--Naucleri +Chron. ann. 1434. + +[578] Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation (Ibid. T. I. pp. 447-71, +495-7).--Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 305-40, 356-415, 698-704.--Hartzheim +V. 768-9.--Kukuljevic, Jura Regni Croatiæ, Zagrabiæ, 1862, I. +192.--Batthyani Legg. Eccles. Hung. III. 419. The question of infantile +communion affords an illustration of the skilful casuistry of the +orthodox. After the reconciliation, when Sigismund was ruling in Prague, +infantile communion was forbidden by the legate of the council, on the +ground that the Compactata only guaranteed the privilege to those who +had been accustomed to it, and that infants born since then were +therefore not entitled to it.--Jo. de Turonis Regest. (Mon. C. Gen. Sæc. +XV. T. I. p. 865). + +[579] Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 710-19.--Harduin. VIII. 1604, +1650-2.--Ægid. Carlerii Liber de Legationibus (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. +T. I. pp. 522, 529-39, 544).--Raynald. ann. 1435, No. 22-3.--Naucleri +Chron. ann. 1434. + +The democratic insubordination characteristic of the Taborites is seen +in an incident occurring in September, 1433. Procopius sent a detachment +to invade Bavaria, and appointed as leader a captain named Pardus. The +men mutinied before setting out, and, on Procopius interposing, one of +them felled him to the ground with a blow on the head with a stool. The +man who struck him was elected leader, and under his guidance the +Taborites lost two thousand of their best veterans.--Ægid. Carlerii l.c. +pp. 466-7. + +The reduction to serfdom of the Bohemian peasantry, in 1487, may be +regarded as the final result of the overthrow of the Taborites. + +[580] Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 354-6.--Ægid. Carlerii Lib. de +Legationibus (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. pp. 368-9, 516-17, 519, +595, 597, 600, 632-4, 662-4, 674-6, 678, 684-6, 688).--Th. Ebendorferi +Diar. (Ib. pp. 767-9, 776-9, 782-3).--Jo. de Turonis Regest. (Ib. 834-5, +837-8, 848, 868). + +[581] Th. Ebendorferi Diar. (loc. cit. 82).--Jo. de Turonis Regest. (Ib. +821-22).--Naucleri Chron. ann. 1436. + +[582] Jo. de Turonis Regest. (loc. cit. pp. 862, 865).--Æn. Sylvii Hist. +Bohem. c. 59.--Naucleri Chron. ann. 1437. + +[583] Æn. Sylvii Epist. lxxi. (Opp. inedd. _ap._ Atti della Accademia +dei Lincei, 1883, p. 465).--Jo. de Turonis Regest. (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. +XV. T. I. pp. 855, 857).--Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthod. pp. +57-8.--Naucleri Chron. ann. 1436, 1438. + +Concil. Basiliens. Sess. XXX. (Harduin. VIII. 1244).--Petitiones +Bohemorum (Fascic. Rer. Expetend. et Fugiend. I. 319, Ed. +1690).--Martene Ampl. Coll. VIII. 942-3--Æn. Sylvii Epist. 101 (Ed. +1571, p. 591).--Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. +445).--De Schweinitz, Hist. of Unitas Fratrum, pp. 91-2, 94. + +[584] Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 58.--Ejusd. Epist. xix. (Opp. inedd. p. +397).--Raynald. ann. 1448, No. 3-5. + +[585] Ægid. Carlerii. Lib. de Legation. (Monument. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. +T. I. pp. 691, 694).--Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. Lib. XII. ann. +1462.--Wadding, ann. 1452, No. 1-4.--Raynald. ann. 1446, No. 3, 4; ann. +1447, No. 5-7.--Harduin. VIII. 1307-9. + +The papal view of the permission to use the cup, as set forth by Pius +II. (Æneas Sylvius) in 1464, was that it was only conceded to those +accustomed to it until the Council of Basle should decide the question. +Had this been observed those who used it would in time have died out, +and it was an infraction of the agreement to give it to children and new +communicants, through whom the custom was perpetuated.--Æn. Sylvii +Epist. lxxi. (Opp. inedd. pp. 465). + +[586] Loserth, Mittheilungen des Vereins für Gesch. der Deutschen in +Böhmen, 1885, pp. 102-4, 107.--Wadding. ann. 1436, No. 1-11.--Ægid. +Carlerii. Lib. de Legation. (Mon. Conc. Gen. Sæc. XV. T. I. p. 691). + +[587] Wadding. ann. 1437, No. 6-12.--Synodd. Strigonens. ann. 1450, 1480 +(Batthyani Legg. Eccles. Hung. III. 481, 557). + +[588] Wadding. ann. 1437, No. 13-21; ann. 1438, No. 12-16; ann. 1439, +No. 41-6; ann. 1440, No. 7; ann. 1444, No. 44; ann. 1446, No. +10.--Herburt de Fulstin Statuta Regni Poloniæ, Samoscii, 1597, p. +192.--Raynald. ann. 1446, No. 10.--Theiner Monument. Slavor. Meridian. +I. 394. + +[589] Æn. Sylvii. Epistt. 130, 246-7, 259, 404 (Ed. 1571, pp. 667, +782-3, 788, 947).--Wadding. ann. 1455, No. 2; ann. 1456, No. 11-12. + +In George Podiebrad's letter of 1468 to his son-in-law Matthius +Corvinus, complaining of his treatment by the Holy See, he says, "In +truth there were formerly in Bohemia many errors concerning the +sacrament, and also concerning the ornaments and vestments in +administering the rite, and the veneration of saints, but by divine +grace these have been so reduced that there is scarcely any difference +now existing with the Roman Church. By comparing what was customary +thirty or forty years ago with the present, it will be seen that little +remains to do in comparison with what has been accomplished."--D'Achery +Spieileg. III. 834. + +A notable part of this retrogression occurred in 1454, when edicts were +issued in the name of Ladislas, with the consent of Rokyzana, ordering +that the epistles and gospels, in the canon of the mass, should be +recited in Latin and not in the vulgar tongue; that confession should be +a prerequisite to communion; that children should not receive communion +without due preparation; that the blood of the Eucharist should not be +carried beyond the churches for fear of accidents; that no one should +administer it without letters authenticating his priesthood; that no +marriage should be celebrated without banns published in full +church.--Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet. ann. 1454 (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. +486-7). + +[590] Wadding. ann. 1451, No. 1-16; ann. 1452, No. 34. + +[591] Wadding. ann. 1451, No. 17-20; ann. 1452, No. 18, 26; ann. 1453, +No. 2-8. + +[592] Wadding. ann. 1451, No. 24-36; ann. 1452, No. 1, 12,--Sommersberg +Silesiac. Rer. Scriptt. I. 84-5.--Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. Lib. X. ann. +1451. + +[593] Wadding. ann. 1452, No. 2-4, 13-14.--Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. Lib. +XI. ann. 1452. + +[594] Chron. Glassberger ann. 1452. + +[595] Wadding, ann. 1453, No. 9-10; ann. 1254, No. 12-13, 17-19--Chron. +Cornel. Zantfliet (Martene Ampl. Coll. V. 486-7).--Æn. Sylvii Epist. 404 +(Ed. 1571, p. 947). + +[596] Wadding, ann. 1254, No. 7-12; ann. 1255, No. 2-7--Æn. Sylv. Epist. +405 (p. 947).--Ejusd. Epistt. xxxix.-xliii., xlvi., lviii., lx. (Opp. +inedd. pp. 415-24. 426-9, 440-1, 448). + +[597] Wadding, ann. 1455, No. 8-13; ann. 1456, No. 9-12. + +[598] Wadding. ann. 1456, No. 16-67, 83-4.--Æn. Sylv. Hist. Bohem. cap. +lxv. Six several attempts were made, at various times, to canonize +Capistrano, but the fates were against it. The earlier efforts were +neutralized by the opposition of the legate, Nicholas of Cusa, and the +jealousy of the rival orders of Dominicans and Conventual Franciscans. +Repeated requests came from Germany, but they remained unheeded. In 1462 +urgent letters were written by Frederic III., the Margrave of +Brandenburg, and innumerable bishops and magistrates of cities from +Cracow to Ratisbon; these were intrusted to a Franciscan friar to take +to Rome, but he died on the road, and confided them to a knight of +Assisi. The latter brought them to his home, and then departed for +Germany, where he died. The trunk containing them was piously preserved +by his descendants until, towards the middle of the seventeenth century, +Wadding chanced to see it, and took the letters to Rome, in the hopes of +their still accomplishing their object. At the inquest held by Leo X. a +classified record of the miracles wrought by the thaumaturge shows, of +dead brought to life, more than thirty; of deaf made to hear, three +hundred and seventy; of blind restored to sight, one hundred and +twenty-three; of cripples and gouty persons cured, nine hundred and +twenty, and miscellaneous cases innumerable. This resulted in his +admission to the inferior order of the Blessed, to be worshipped by the +Franciscans of the diocese of Capistrano. In 1622 Gregory XV. enlarged +his cult to the whole Franciscan Order; and in 1690 Alexander VIII. +enrolled him in the calendar of saints.--Wadding, ann. 1456, No. 114-22; +ann. 1462, No. 29-78.--Weizfäcker, ap. Herzog's Real Encyklop. s. v. + +[599] Wadding, ann. 1457, No. 5, 10; ann. 1461, No. 1-2; ann. 1465, No. +6; ann. 1467, No. 5. + +[600] Æn. Sylvii Epist. 162, 324, 334-5, 337-40, 356, 369, 387 (Ed. +1571, pp. 714, 815, 821-22, 825, 831, 837, 840).--Ejusd. Hist. Bohem. c. +71-2. + +Pius II. did not hesitate to publish to Christendom a positive assertion +that George poisoned Ladislas, and said that, though the facts were +obscure, the Viennese physicians in attendance attributed his death to +poison.--Æn. Sylv. Epist. lxxi. (Opp. inedd. p. 467). + +[601] Æn. Sylvii Hist. Bohem. c. 69.--Ejusd. Epist. lxxi. (Opp. inedd. +pp. 461-70).--Ejusd. Tractatus (Ib. pp. 566, 581).--Raynald. ann. 1457, +No. 69; ann. 1458, No. 20-8; ann. 1459, No. 18-23; ann. 1463, No. +96-102.--Cochlæi Hist. Lib. XII.--Dubrav. Hist. Bohem. Lib. +30.--Wadding, ann. 1462, No. 87.--Pii PP. II. Bull. _In +minoribus_.--Sommersberg Silesiac. Rer. Scriptt. II. 1025-6, +1031.--Wadding, ann. 1456, No. 12; ann. 1469, No. 4, 6.--Ludewig Reliq. +MSS. VI. 61.--Martene Ampl. Coll. I. 1598-9.--D'Achery Spicileg. III. +830-4.--Ripoll III. 466. + +[602] Raynald. ann. 1468, No. 1-14.--Chron. Glassberger ann. +1468.--Dubrav. Hist. Bohem. Libb. XXX.-XXXI.--Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. Lib. +XII. ann. 1471. + +[603] Wadding, ann. 1460, No. 55; ann. 1462, No. 87; ann. 1471, No. 5; +ann. 1475, No. 28, 37-9; ann. 1489, No. 21; ann. 1491, No. 8, +78.--Chron. Glassberger ann. 1463, 1466, 1479, 1483.--Dubrav. Hist. +Bohem. Lib. XXXI.--De Schweinitz, Hist. of Unitas Fratrum, p. +168.--Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthod. pp. 72-3.--Georgisch Regest. Chron. +Diplom. III. 158. + +[604] Æn. Sylvii Epist. 130 (Ed. 1571 pp. 661-2). + +[605] Goll, Quellen u. Untersuchungen, I. 10, 32-33, 92, 99; II. 72, +87-88, 94.--De Schweinitz, Hist. of Unitas Fratrum, pp. 111-12, 159, +204-5.--Von Zezschwitz, Real-Encyklop. II. 652-3.--Hist. Persecutionum +pp. 58-60, 90.--Palacky, Die Beziehungen der Waldenser, pp. +32-33.--Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthod. pp. 59-66.--For the Calixtin views +on the Eucharist see the treatises of Rokyzana and of John of Przibram +in Cochlæi Hist. Hussit. pp. 474, 508; also the latter's articles +against Peter Payne (Ib. 230). + +When the Brethren undertook to explain their views on the Eucharist they +become somewhat difficult to understand. The bread and wine became the +body and blood, and they would have believed it had the bread been +stone, but still the substance remained, and Christ was not +present.--Fascic. Rer. Expetend. et Fugiend. I. 165, 170, 174, 183, 185. + +[606] Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthod. pp. 84-9.--Hist. Persecut. p. +65.--Von Zezschwitz, I. c. p. 653-4. + +[607] Wie sich die Menschen u.s.w. (Goll, II. 99-100).--Das Buch der +Prager Magister (Ib. 104-5). + +The Calixtins had the same trouble about the apostolic succession. A +letter from the Church of Constantinople, in 1451, warmly urging union, +and offering to supply spiritual pastors, shows that overtures had been +made to the Greek Church to remove the difficulty; but apparently the +Bohemians were not prepared to cut loose definitely from Catholicism +(Flac. Illyr. Catal. Test. Veritatis, Lib. XIX. p. 1834-5, Ed. 1608). +The trouble was renewed after the death of Rokyzana. At length, in 1482, +Agostino Luciano, an Italian bishop, came to Prague in search of a purer +religion, and was joyfully received. He served them until 1493, when he +died. Then Filippo, Bishop of Sidon, came, but after three years he was +recalled by the pope. In 1499 a mission was sent to Armenia, where some +of them were ordained.--Hist. Persecutionum pp. 95-6. + +[608] Goll. op. cit. II. 101.--De Schweinitz, op. cit. p. 156, +200-1.--Édouard Montet, Hist. Litt. des Vaudois, pp. 152, 156. + +[609] De Schweinitz, op. cit. pp. 122-7, 172-5, 180-1. + +[610] Hist. Persecut. Eccles. Bohem. pp. 63-66, 73-4.--Ripoll III. +577.--Camerarii Hist. Frat. Orthod. pp. 104-22.--De Schweinitz, op. cit. +170, 225-6.--Von Zezschwitz, Real-Encyklop. II. 656-7, 660. + +[611] Parkman's Montcalm, II. 144-5.--I owe to the kindness of Bishop De +Schweinitz the statistics of the Moravian Missions. + +[612] Hauréau (Bernard Délicieux, p. 194) prints the bull of 1210 (Doat, +XXXII. fol. 60), contained in the above, but has apparently overlooked +the subsequent and far more significant one. The earlier bull also +appears in T. V. p. 40, of the Regestum Clementis PP. V. just issued in +Rome. + +In the same publication, received too late for reference to be made in +the proper place (see above, p. 78), there arc several letters throwing +light on the troubles of Bernard de Castanet, Bishop of Albi. In 1307 +two of his cathedral canons, Sicard Aleman and Bernard Astruc, accused +him before the pope of numerous crimes. Berenger, Cardinal of SS. Nereo +and Achille, to whom the matter was referred, after examining the +articles of accusation, suspended him from all his functions during an +investigation. "Executors" were ordered to proceed to Albi to take +testimony, giving three months to the prosecution, then two to the +defence, and finally two more to the prosecution in rebuttal. A +vicar-general was appointed, July 31, to take charge of the see, and +three procurators to collect its revenues. One of the "executors" was +Arnaud Novelli, Abbot of Fontfroide, whom we have seen (p. 87) +replacing, by order of Philipe le Bel, the bishop in his inquisitorial +capacity. Arnaud was soon afterwards appointed vice-chancellor of the +curia; this, with other impediments, delayed the investigation, and on +November 20 two additional months were granted to the prosecution. +Nothing apparently came of the trial except that it probably quickened +Bernard's desire to abandon his thorny seat. There is a papal brief of +October 31, 1308, addressed to Bertrand de Bordes as Bishop of Albi, in +which Bernard is alluded to as late of Albi and now of Puy (Ibid. T. II. +pp. 52, 165; T. III. pp. 3, 255). + +[613] Gui II., Bishop of Cambrai from 1296 to 1305. + +[614] Philippe de Marigny, Bishop of Cambrai in 1306, transferred to +Sens in April, 1310, in time to burn the Templars who retracted their +confessions. + +[615] In the Register of Clement V., received since the text of this +volume was in type, there is a brief addressed September 3, 1310, to the +Inquisitor of Langres ordering him to proceed vigorously against the +heretics of that diocese who have been reported by the bishop as +multiplying so that, unless prompt measures are taken, grave injury to +the faith is to be apprehended. The nature of the heresy is not +described, but it was probably that of the Brethren of the Free Spirit +which Marguerite la Porete had been disseminating throughout that +region. + +The incident has further interest as showing how completely the French +episcopate had transferred to the Inquisition its jurisdiction over +heresy, in spite of its renewed activity at the moment in the affair of +the Templars. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of The Inquisition of The +Middle Ages; volume II, by Henry Charles Lea + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION 2/3 *** + +***** This file should be named 39458-8.txt or 39458-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/4/5/39458/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Chuck Greif and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe +(http://dp.rastko.net); produced from images of the +Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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