A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume IILea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume II
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- History
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]
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