A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume ILea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume I
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- History
Other special motives contributed in this case to render the crusade
attractive. There was antagonism of race, jealousy of the wealth and
more advanced civilization of the South, and a natural desire to
complete the Frankish conquest so often begun and never yet
accomplished. More than all, the pardon to be gained was the same as
that for the prolonged and dangerous and costly expedition to Palestine,
while here the distance was short and the term of service limited to
forty days. Paradise, surely, could not be gained on easier terms, and
the preachers did not fail to point out that the labor was small and the
reward illimitable. With Christendom fairly aroused by the murder of the
legate, there could be no doubt, therefore, as to the result. Whether
Philip Augustus contributed, in men or money, is more than doubtful, but
he made no opposition to the service of his barons, and endeavored to
turn his acquiescence to account in the affair of his divorce, while he
declined personal participation on the ground of the threatening aspect
of his relations with King John and the Emperor Otho. He significantly
warned the pope, however, that Raymond's territories could not be
exposed to seizure until he had been condemned for heresy, which had not
yet been done, and that when such condemnation should be pronounced it
would be for the suzerain, and not for the Holy See, to proclaim the
penalty. This was strictly in accordance with existing law, for the
principle had not yet been introduced into European jurisprudence that
suspicion of heresy annulled all rights--a principle which the case of
Raymond went far to establish, for the Church without a trial stripped
him of his possessions and then decided that he had forfeited them,
after which the king could only acquiesce in the decision. Scruples of
this kind, however, did not dampen the zeal of those whom the Church
summoned to defend the faith. Many great nobles assumed the cross--the
Duke of Burgundy and the Counts of Nevers, St. Pol, Auxerre, Montfort,
Geneva, Poitiers, Forez, and others, with numerous bishops. With time
there came large contingents from Germany, under the Dukes of Austria
and Saxony, the Counts of Bar, of Juliers, and of Berg. Recruits were
drawn from distant Bremen on the one hand, and Lombardy on the other,
and we even hear of Slavonian barons leaving the original home of
Catharism to combat it in its seat of latest development. There was
salvation to be had for the pious, knightly fame for the warrior, and
spoil for the worldly; and the army of the Cross, recruited from the
chivalry and the scum of Europe, promised to be strong enough to settle
decisively the question which had now for three generations defied all
the efforts of the faithful.[121]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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