The matter, however, did not rest here; it was not yet concluded in
all its parts. The secular arm had done what was required of it,
having burned the criminal in effigy, failing his person, along with
his heretical book; but the ecclesiastical authorities must also
have their say in the case. When the utterance came, and it came not
until six months after the civil trial and sham execution, it was in
every particular confirmatory of the sentence already delivered, the
grounds of the decision however being gone into with greater minuteness
than before. Among other matters particularly mentioned now, are
the marginal notes in the handwriting of the culprit on two printed
leaves, cut out of a copy of Calvin’s ‘Institutions;’ Seventeen letters
addressed to John Calvin and acknowledged by Villeneuve to be from
him; his answers to the Inquisitor Ory, the Vibailly, and the rest,
and the minutes which had been made of his escape from the prison;
finally, his books, one entitled ‘Christianismi Restitutio,’ and
another in two parts: ‘De Trinitatis Erroribus, Libri septem,’ and ‘De
Trinitate, Dialogi duo.’ ‘From all that has been brought to light,’ the
judgment proceeds, ‘it is made manifest that the said Villeneuve is a
most egregious heretic, and as such is hereby adjudged, convicted and
condemned, his body to be burned, and his goods to be confiscated, the
judicial expenses incurred and yet to be incurred to be defrayed out
of the proceeds of the sale.’ All the books written by Villeneuve are
further ordered to be diligently searched for, and wherever found, to
be seized and burned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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