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
There was in these utterances an irresistible attraction to minds prone
to mystic exaltation. Even the orthodox Cæsarius of Heisterbach argues
that much is permitted to the saints which is forbidden to sinners;
where is the Spirit of God, there is liberty--have charity, and do what
thou pleasest.[359] When the fatal word had once been spoken, it could
not be hushed to silence, and, in spite of the most persistent and
unsparing efforts of repression, these dangerous heights of superhuman
spirituality continued to be the goal of men dissatisfied with the
limitations of frail humanity, down to the time of Molinos and the
Illuminati, and the influence of the doctrine is to be traced in the
reveries of Madame Guyon and the Quietists.
Yet the Amaurian heresy was speedily crushed in its place of origin. In
his proselyting zeal, Guillaume the goldsmith, in 1210, approached a
certain Maître Raoul de Nemours, who feigned readiness of conviction,
and reported the matter to Pierre, Bishop of Paris, and Maître Robert de
Curzon, the papal supervisor of preaching in France. By their advice he
pretended conversion and accompanied the Amaurians on a missionary tour
which lasted for three months and extended as far as Langres. We learn
something of the habits of the sectaries when we are told that to keep
up the deception he would pretend to be wrapped in ecstasy, with face
upturned to heaven, and on recovering himself would relate the visions
which had been vouchsafed to him, though he successfully evaded the
requests that he should preach the new doctrines in public. When fully
informed as to all details, he communicated with the authorities, and
arrests were made. A council of bishops was convened in Paris which
found no difficulty in condemning all concerned; those who were in
orders were degraded, and they were all handed over to the secular
authorities. There were as yet no laws defining the punishment of
heresy, so their fate was postponed until the return of the king, who
was then absent. The result was that four of the leaders were imprisoned
for life and ten were burned, who met their fate with unshrinking
calmness. The simple folk of both sexes who had been seduced into
following them were mercifully spared. A few executions took place
elsewhere, such as that of one of the heresiarchs, Maître Godin, who was
tried and burned at Amiens; the remains of Amauri were exhumed and
exposed to the dogs, after which his bones were scattered in the fields;
the writings of the enthusiasts were forbidden to be read; the study of
natural science in the university was suspended for three years, and the
works of Aristotle, which had given rise to the heresy, were publicly
burned.[360]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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