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
human if he did not feel special gratification when, at command of his
master, he appeared before Clement V. with a formal accusation of heresy
against Boniface, and demanded that the dead pope’s bones be dug up and
burned. The citizens of Toulouse recognized him as an avenger of their
wrongs when they placed his bust in the gallery of their illustrious men
in the Hôtel-de-ville.[63]
It was to the royal power, thus rising to supremacy, that the people
instinctively turned for relief from the inquisitorial tyranny which was
becoming insupportable. The authority lodged in the hands of the
inquisitor was so arbitrary and irresponsible that even with the purest
intentions it could not but be unpopular, while to the unworthy it
afforded unlimited opportunity for oppression and the gratification of
the basest passions. Dangerous as was any manifestation of discontent,
the people of Albi and Carcassonne, reduced to despair by the cruelty of
the inquisitors, Jean Galande and Jean Vigoureux, mustered courage, and
in 1280 presented their complaints to Philippe le Hardi. It was
difficult to sustain their charges with specific proofs, and after a
brief investigation their reiterated requests for relief were dismissed
as frivolous. In the agitation against the Inquisition thus commenced,
it must be borne in mind that heretics had little to do. By this time
they were completely cowed and were quite satisfied if they could enjoy
their faith in secret. The opposition arose from good Catholics, the
magistrates of cities and substantial burghers, who saw the prosperity
of the land withering under the deadly grasp of the Holy Office, and who
felt that no man was safe whose wealth might arouse cupidity or whose
independence might provoke revenge. The introduction of the use of
torture impressed the popular imagination with special horror, and it
was widely believed that confessions were habitually extorted by
insufferable torment from rich men whose faith was unblemished. The
cruel provisions which brought confiscation on the descendants of
heretics, moreover, were peculiarly hard to endure, for ruin impended
over every one against whom the inquisitor might see fit to produce from
his records evidence of ancestral heresy. It was against these records
that the next attempt was directed. Foiled in their appeal to the
throne, the consuls of Carcassonne and some of its prominent
ecclesiastics, in 1283 or 1284, formed a conspiracy to destroy the books
of the Inquisition containing the confessions and depositions. How far
this was organized it would be difficult now to say. The statements of
the witnesses conflict so hopelessly on material points, even as to
dates, that there is little dependence to be placed on them. They were
evidently extracted under torture, and if they are credible the consuls
of the city and the archdeacon, Sanche Morlana, the episcopal Ordinary,
Guillem Brunet, other episcopal officials and many of the secular clergy
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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