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
His teaching was simply antisacerdotal--to some extent a revival of the
errors of Claudius of Turin. Pædo-baptism was useless, for the faith of
another cannot help him who cannot use his own--a far-reaching
proposition, fraught with immeasurable consequences. For the same reason
offerings, alms, masses, prayers and other good works for the dead are
useless and each will be judged on his own merits. Churches are
unnecessary and should be destroyed, for holy places are not wanted for
Christian prayer, since God listens to those who deserve it, whether
invoked in church or tavern, in temple or market-place, before the altar
or before the stable; and the Church of God does not consist of a
multitude of stones piled together, but in the united congregation of
the faithful. As for the cross, as a senseless thing it is not to be
invoked with foolish prayers, but is rather to be destroyed as the
instrument on which Christ was cruelly tortured to death. His most
serious error, however, was his rejection of the Eucharist.
Transubstantiation had not yet had time to become immovably fixed in the
perceptions of all men, and Pierre de Bruys went even further than
Berenger of Tours. His only recorded utterance is his vigorous rejection
of the sacrament: "O people, believe not the bishops, the priests, and
the clerks, who, as in much else, seek to deceive you as to the office
of the altar, where they lyingly pretend to make the body of Christ and
give it to you for the salvation of your souls. They plainly lie, for
the body of Christ was but once made by Christ in the supper before the
Passion, and but once given to the disciples. Since then it has been
never made and never given."[52]
There was evidently nothing to do with such a man but to burn him, but
even this did not suffice to suppress his heresy. The Petrobrusians
continued to diffuse his doctrines, secretly or openly, and, some five
or six years after his death, Peter the Venerable of Cluny considered
them still so formidable as to require his controversial tract, to which
we are indebted for almost all we know about the sect. This is dedicated
to the bishops of Embrun, Arles, Die, and Gap, and urges them to renewed
efforts for the suppression of the heresy by preaching and by the arms
of the laity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account