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
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]
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