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
Though the immediate influence of Arnald of Brescia was evanescent, his
career has its importance as a manifestation of the temper with which
the more spiritually minded received the encroachments and corruption of
the Church. Yet, though he failed in his attempt to revolutionize
society, and perished through miscalculating the tremendous forces
arrayed against him, his sacrifice was not wholly in vain. His teachings
left a deep impress in the minds of the population, and his followers in
secret cherished his memory and his principles for centuries. It was not
without a full knowledge of the position that the Roman curia scattered
his ashes in the Tiber, dreading the effect of the veneration which the
people felt for their martyr. Secret associations of Arnaldistas were
formed who called themselves "Poor Men," and adopted the tenet that the
sacraments could only be administered by virtuous men. In 1184 we find
them condemned by Lucius III. at the so-called Council of Verona; about
1190 they are alluded to by Bonaccorsi, and even until the sixteenth
century their name occurs in the lists of heresies proscribed in
successive bulls and edicts. Yet the complete oblivion into which they
fell is seen in the learned glossator Johannes Andreas, who died in
1348, remarking that perhaps the name of the sect may be derived from
some one who founded it. When Peter Waldo of Lyons endeavored, in more
pacific wise, to carry out the same views, and his followers grew into
the "Poor Men of Lyons," the Italian brethren were ready to welcome the
new reformers and to co-operate with them. Though there were some
unimportant points of difference between the two schools, yet their
resemblance was so great that they virtually coalesced; they were
usually confounded by the Church, and were enveloped in a common
anathema. Closely connected with them were the Umiliati, described as
wandering laymen who preached and heard confessions, to the great
scandal of the priesthood, but who were yet not strictly heretics.[56]
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