It is applicable only to those who are accused by the public voice--_i.e._ who have acquired the “reputation” of heresy--without yet having been detected in any act or speech that might cause them to be suspected of heresy in any of the defined degrees of such suspicion. It almost amounts to a distinction without a difference, and is an excellent instance of the almost laboured equity in which this tribunal indulged in matters of detail whilst flagrantly outraging equity in the main issues. For Canonical Purgation, says Eymeric,[90] the accused must find a certain number of sureties or _compurgatores_, the number required being governed by the gravity of the (alleged) offence. They must be persons of integrity and of the same station in life as the accused, with whom they must have been acquainted for some years. The accused shall make oath upon the Gospels that he has never held or taught the heresies stated, and the _compurgatores_ shall swear to their belief that this is the truth. This Purgation must be made in all cities where the accused has been defamed. The accused shall be given a certain time in which to find his _compurgatores_, and should he fail to find the number required he shall at once be convicted and condemned as a heretic. And Pegna adds, in his commentary upon this, that any who shall be found guilty of heresy after having once been in this position is to be regarded as a “relapso” and delivered to the secular arm. For this reason he enjoins that Canonical Purgation should not lightly be ordered, as it is so largely dependent upon the will of third parties. Eymeric adds, further, that sometimes Canonical Purgation may be ordered to those who are defamed by the public voice but who are not in the hands of the inquisitors. Should they refuse to surrender, the inquisitors shall proceed to excommunicate them, and if they persist in their excommunication for one year they shall be deemed heretics, and subject to the penalties entailed by such a sentence. ARTICLE XX If any writings or trials should bring to light the heresy of a person deceased, let proceedings be taken against him--even though forty years shall have elapsed since the offence--let the fiscal accuse him before the tribunal, and if he should be found guilty the body must be exhumed. His children or heirs may appear to defend him; but should they fail to appear, or, appearing, fail to establish his innocence, sentence shall be passed upon him and his property confiscated.