The Inquisition - A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the Church

E. (Elphège) Vacandard

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Inquisition, by E. VacandardThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.orgTitle: The Inquisition A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the ChurchAuthor: E. VacandardTranslator: Bertrand ConwayRelease Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #26329]Language: English*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INQUISITION ***Produced by David McClamrockTHE INQUISITIONA CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE COERCIVE POWER OF THE CHURCHBY E. VACANDARDTRANSLATED FROM THE SECOND EDITION BY BERTRAND L. CONWAY, C.S.P.NEW EDITIONLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORKLONDON, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1915Nihil Obstat. THOMAS J. SHAHAN, S.T.D.Imprimatur. + JOHN M. FARLEY, D.D Archbishop of New York.NEW YORK, June 24, 1907.Copyright, 1907, by BERTRAND L. CONWAYAll Rights ReservedFirst Edition, February, 1908 Registered, May, 1908 New and CheaperEdition, September, 1915NOTE TO THIS ELECTRONIC EDITIONIn the print edition of this book, footnote numbers began with 1 on each page, and the footnotes appeared at the bottomof each page. In this electronic edition, the footnotes have been re-numbered beginning with 1 for each paragraph, andthey appear directly below the paragraph that refers to them. ...

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• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
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Produced by David McClamrock

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NOTE TO THIS ELECTRONIC EDITION In the print edition of this book, footnote numbers began with 1 on each page, and the footnotes appeared at the bottom of each page. In this electronic edition, the footnotes have been re-numbered beginning with 1 for each paragraph, and they appear directly below the paragraph that refers to them. A very few ascertainable errors have been caught and corrected. All else is intended to correspond as closely as possible to the contents of the print edition.

THE INQUISITION A CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL STUDYOFTHECOERCIVEPOWER OFTHECHURCH BY E. VACANDARD TRANSLATED FROM THESECOND EDITION BYBERTRAND L. CONWAY, C.S.P. NEW EDITION LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK LONDON, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1915 Nihil Obstat. THOMAS J. SHAHAN, S.T.D. Imprimatur. + JOHN M. FARLEY, D.D Archbishop of New York. NEW YORK, June 24, 1907. Copyright, 1907, by BERTRAND L. CONWAY All Rights Reserved First Edition, February, 1908 Registered, May, 1908 New and Cheaper Edition, September, 1915

Title: The Inquisition A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the Church Author: E. Vacandard Translator: Bertrand Conway Release Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #26329] Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INQUISITION ***

RPFE

THERE are very few Catholic apologists who feel inclined to boast of the annals of the Inquisition. The boldest of them defend this institution against the attacks of modern liberalism, as if they distrusted the force of their own arguments. Indeed they have hardly answered the first objection of their opponents, when they instantly endeavor to prove that the Protestant and Rationalistic critics of the Inquisition have themselves been guilty of heinous crimes. "Why," they ask, "do you denounce our Inquisition, when you are responsible for Inquisitions of your own?" No good can be accomplished by such a false method of reasoning. It seems practically to admit that the cause of the Church cannot be defended. The accusation of wrongdoing made against the enemies they are trying to reduce to silence comes back with equal force against the friends they are trying to defend. It does not follow that because the Inquisition of Calvin and the French Revolutionists merits the reprobation of mankind, the Inquisition of the Catholic Church must needs escape all censure. On the contrary, the unfortunate comparison made between them naturally leads one to think that both deserve equal blame. To our mind, there is only one way of defending the attitude of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages toward the Inquisition. We must examine and judge this institution objectively, from the standpoint of morality, justice, and religion, instead of comparing its excesses with the blameworthy actions of other tribunals. No historian worthy of the name has as yet undertaken to treat the Inquisition from this objective standpoint. In the seventeenth century, a scholarly priest, Jacques Marsollier, canon of the Uzès, published at Cologne (Paris), in 1693, a Histoire de l'Inquisition et de son Origine . But his work, as a critic has pointed out, is "not so much a history of the Inquisition, as a thesis written with a strong Gallican bias, which details with evident delight the cruelties of the Holy Office." The illustrations are taken from Philip Limborch's Historia Inquisitionis .[1] [1] Paul Fredericq, Historiographie de l'Inquisition , p. xiv. Introduction to the French translation of Lea's book on the Inquisition. Henry Charles Lea, already known by his other works on religious history, published in New York, in 1888, three large volumes entitled A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages. This work has received as a rule a most flattering reception at the hands of the European press, and has been translated into French.[1] One can say without exaggeration that it is "the most extensive, the most profound, and the most thorough history of the Inquisition that we possess."[2] [1] Histoire de l'Inquisition au moyen âge , Solomon Reinach. Paris, Fischbacher, 1900-1903. [2] Paul Fredericq, loc. cit., p. xxiv. It is far, however, from being the last word of historical criticism. And I am not speaking here of the changes in detail that may result from the discovery of new documents. We have plenty of material at hand to enable us to form an accurate notion of the institution itself. Lea's judgment, despite evident signs of intellectual honesty, is not to be trusted. Honest he may be, but impartial never. His pen too often gives way to his prejudices and his hatred of the Catholic Church. His critical judgment is sometimes gravely at fault.[1] [1] The reader may gather our estimate of this work from the various criticisms we will pass upon it in the course of this study. Tanon, the president of the Court of Cassation, has proved far more impartial in his Histoire des Tribunaux de l'Inquisition en France. [1] This is evidently the work of a scholar, who possesses a very wide and accurate grasp of ecclesiastical legislation. He is deeply versed in the secrets of both the canon and the civil law. However, we must remember that his scope is limited. He has of set purpose omitted everything that happened outside of France. Besides he is more concerned with the legal than with the theological aspect of the Inquisition. [1] Paris, 1893. On the whole, the history of the Inquisition is still to be written. It is not our purpose to attempt it; our ambition is more modest. But we wish to picture this institution in its historical setting, to show how it originated, and especially to indicate its relation to the Church's notion of the coercive power prevalent in the Middle Ages. For, as Lea himself says: "The Inquisition was not an organization arbitrarily devised and imposed upon the judicial system of Christendom by the ambition or fanaticism of the Church. It was rather a natural—one may almost say an inevitable—evolution of the forces at work in the thirteenth century, and no one can rightly appreciate the process of its development and the results of its activity, without a somewhat minute consideration of the factors controlling the minds and souls of men during the ages which laid the foundation of modern civilization."[1] [1] Preface, p. iii. We must also go back further than the thirteenth century and ascertain how the coercive power which the Church finally confided to the Inquisition developed from the beginning. Such is the purpose of the present work. It is both a critical and an historical study. We intend to record first everything that relates to the suppression of heresy, from the origin of Christianity up to the Renaissance; then we will see whether the attitude of the Church toward heretics can not only be explained, but defended. We undertake this study in a spirit of absolute honesty and sincerity. The subject is undoubtedly a most delicate one. But no consideration whatever should prevent our studying it from every possible viewpoint. Cardinal Newman, in his

 honesty but goo dopilycr qeiuer s hiasre won hi e tt kn tah tonylno l be wilthei by meei rnerot .sF hoo whr  llystne rof kooyeht ,ti sdo  fhtehf irne will noe Churchas eb s di w ro lli Wh.  tate omy…da ihgnrety .vEtc…sid, n sa bee has eht llet ot su fae thl ald rlwo riehrow w sd llicoisryveth,  tatrc yvoret ehrid make such an out t dnA .slliw yehhey  bstieemenr erda epsdaacb orntiot mell bn wi ea frar h;utut bo thrt feht gil o-day ofafraid t totb  euohg tone  Ws.ar t e esafde eht etartenep ds anrnere coemottsr  eom hhterca  hant enfat eson fo gnictcaf ehte ous. W o dr ght tonhtae domerni g ev rl eainth wgsen e revaerd demof, our prejudicsem su ton trpve vY syas ",dnatsr[1c,deerQue  Les eraf rof yuo" ] hwt wid nos dither er eaorpaht ht n awe are tcht hat eht urrfia dfocan undeth. "We  re w eyew   ,oforgn I bens. e thliev nac tahtserp eb qul alr s onties 'n simdn sybp alsh to disturb merec niateuq oitsngcief be oremth ose y thly bfair tndeerestop ern   on,ioutol suetr eht ssessop ohw e presensarily blln ceseneet diwthf  aeyheot Ir.yad  ro  detemos ar desknerthhe tna sre dfo seil  ]  Univer rors." [1,21 09.6, s J nu e  bhe td,or w aInpa fo dohtem tse to s iseticologelt w oht ehetllhturnI .ruo nim  ad,lopotige acsdnh siotyra ert wo sisters, with emas eht:ecived  ui qNe  " i lsfad ta ,uaediu denq  nonverieat  aud D  erOtaC cire,o ."[1] [1] historia .15e or, ii

CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER I FIRST PERIOD (I-IV CENTURIES): THEEPOCH OFTHEPERSECUTIONS. The Teaching of St. Paul on the Suppression of Heretics The Teaching of Tertullian The Teaching of Origen The Teaching of St. Cyprian The Teaching of Lactantius Constantine, Bishop in Externals The Teaching of St. Hilary CHAPTER II SECOND PERIOD (FROM VALENTINIAN I TO THEODOSIUS II). THECHURCH AND THECRIMINAL CODEOFTHECHRISTIAN EMPERORS AGAINST HERESY. Imperial Legislation against Heresy The Attitude of St. Augustine towards the Manicheans St. Augustine and Donatism The Church and the Priscillianists The Early Fathers and the Death Penalty CHAPTER III THIRD PERIOD (A.D. 1100-1250). THEREVIVAL OFTHEMANICHEAN HERESIES. Adoptianism and Predestinationism The Manicheans in the West Peter of Bruys Henry of Lausanne Arnold of Brescia Éon de l'Étoile Views of this Epoch upon the Suppression of Heresy CHAPTER IV FOURTH PERIOD (FROM GRATIAN TO INNOCENT III). THEINFLUENCEOFTHECANON LAW, AND THEREVIVAL OFTHEROMAN LAW. Executions of Heretics The Death Penalty for Heretics Legislation of Popes Alexander III and Lucius III and Frederic Barbarossa against Heretics Legislation of Innocent III The First Canonists CHAPTER V THECATHARAN OR ALBIGENSIAN HERESY: ITS ANTI-CATHOLIC AND ANTI-SOCIAL CHARACTER. The Origin of the Catharan Heresy Its Progress It Attacks the Hierarchy, Dogmas, and Worship of the Catholic Church It Undermines the Authority of the State The Hierarchy of the Cathari The Convenenza The Initiation into the Sect Their Customs Their Horror of Marriage The Endura or Suicide CHAPTER VI FIFTH PERIOD (GREGORYIX AND FREDERIC II). THEESTABLISHMENT OFTHEMONASTIC INQUISITION. Louis VIII and Louis IX Legislation of Frederic II against Heretics Gregory IX Abandons Heretics to the Secular Arm The Establishment of the Inquisition CHAPTER VII SIXTH PERIOD. DEVELOPMENT OFTHEINQUISITION. (INNOCENT IV AND THEUSEOFTORTURE.) The Monastic and the Episcopal Inquisitions Experts to Aid the Inquisitors Ecclesiastical Penalties The Infliction of the Death Penalty The Introduction of Torture CHAPTER VIII THEOLOGIANS, CANONISTS AND CASUISTS.

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