The Inquisitions of the Middle Ages were a series of judicial procedures led by the Roman Catholic Church in the later Middle Ages in response to movements that the Church considered heretical. Here, Jeb Smith starts a series looking at the Inquisitions of the Middle Ages.
Pope Gregory IX, who started the Papal Inquisition.
Introduction
Medieval historians will be the first to tell you that what they believe about the period is not what occurred. Monty Python movies are not an authentic source! There are numerous subjects on which we are misinformed. These inaccuracies paint a darker and more dreadful picture of medieval European society than what really existed. Common stereotypes involve superstitious monks, tyrannical kings, mistreatment of women, bloodthirsty and racist Crusaders, bigotry against outsiders, and rampant disease and death. In contrast, we tend to view our modern society as superior, enlightened, and advanced. Today's society has undoubtedly progressed in sanitation, medical care, and many modern conveniences. However, we have also experienced a loss of valuable things like personal freedom, self-rule, satisfaction, leisure, celebrations, strong community bonds, family, morality, connection to God, and much else.
In the 13th century, Europe began a significant transformation that marked the end of the Middle Ages.[1] The way of life for peasants and lords in the mid-14th century was vastly different from what it was at the beginning of the 12th. Whenever I refer to the Middle Ages, I am referring to this period, the era I describe as "Christendom," spanning from approximately 700 to 1300 A.D. A main focal point of my book Missing Monarchy: What Americans Get Wrong About Monarchy, Democracy, Feudalism, And Liberty was to dispel many myths we hold regarding medieval kingship and the political systems of the medieval period in general. Other topics are also addressed, such as life expectancy, health, the condition of serfs, and the work rate of peasants, but there are still many issues that need to be clarified about the period.
The Medieval Inquisitions
The modern American perception of the Inquisitions is a myth! Professor and historian Edward Peters wrote, “the myth was originally devised to serve variously the political purposes of a number of early modern political regimes, as well as Protestant reformers, proponents of religious and civil toleration, philosophical enemies of the civil power of organized religions, and progressive modernists, but the myth remained durable, widely adaptable, and useful.”[2]Protestants were all too eager to exaggerate the evils of medieval Catholicism and believe lies and exaggerations that seemed to justify their separation from the Catholic Church. and modern secular, democratic societies seize on the chance to portray preceding, "unenlightened" cultures as inferior to their own. Moderns, says Edwards, are often influenced by movies such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, historical novels, past propaganda and inaccurate journalism, and thus still hold on to the many myths and misconceptions surrounding the Inquisition. Among scholars, though, there is no dispute about the Inquisition; it is well-known and researched.[3] However, these myths serve a function in a secular society. Professor Rodney Stark wrote, “Great historical myths die hard... writers continue to spread traditional myths... even though they are fully aware of the new findings. They do so because they are determined to show that religion, and especially Christianity, is a dreadful curse upon humanity.”[4]
The Inquisitions are often erroneously thought of as a medieval phenomenon. Although they did exist then, they were not as frequent or deadly as the later and more infamous Inquisitions of the Renaissance era, such as the Spanish Inquisition. As medieval scholar and professor Thomas Madden stated, "Our understanding of heresy and inquisition is not really in sync with the way things were in the Middle Ages. It has much more to do with the early modern concept of Spanish inquisitions which is a completely different thing."[5] Likewise, the witch hunts occurred almost wholly during the "Age of Reason." Nevertheless, I will discuss the Medieval and Spanish Inquisitions (in a later article) to highlight their similarities and differences and clarify misunderstandings of them.
In the medieval era, the Church generally had a different approach to handling heretics than in later times. It's important to note that the Inquisition only had jurisdiction over former Catholics and not Jews or Muslims, who could not be accused or put on trial.[6] Initially, their response towards individuals who previously held Catholic beliefs but had now adopted heretical views was to convince them through discussion and argumentation.[7] Professor Rosemary Morris wrote, "The response of the western Church authorities to heresy was, at first, to mobilize the forces of persuasion." The 12th century Saint Bernard criticized the people of Cologne for killing heretics, stating that faith cannot be forced upon them and must be born of persuasion.[8]
When the Pelagian heresy that was "blasphemous against the grace of Christ" was converting Catholics in Britain, the medieval scholar Saint Bede records that in response bishops from Gaul came to the land "and the word of God was by them daily administered, not only in the churches, but even in the streets and fields, so that the Catholics were everywhere confirmed, and those who had gone astray, corrected."[9]As a result, the heretics were forced into hiding and out of public areas where they once preached. Eventually, they did return to public discourse, and were allowed to make their case by the Catholic priests. The priests responded to the heretics in front of people during the debate and refuted the heresy once again. This helped the people to judge fairly, and the heresy was defeated.
In part, there was little persecution of heretics because the early heretics were less evangelistic, they kept to themselves and thus avoided the wrath of the Church. In the 9th century, Agobard of Lyon wrote that recently the heretics "no longer practice their wickedness in secret, as others do, but proclaim their error publicly and draw the simple and weak to join them" and due to their misleading the simple, those heretics and their supporters, says Agobard, should be under "anathema" only.[10]
Severe Inquisitors
The excessively severe Inquisitors were thoroughly examined and, if necessary, dismissed.[11] In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council condemned bishops who became heretics and removed them from their position.[12] During the "dark ages" of Christendom, heretics and other religions were tolerated more than they were by eastern Byzantines; and it wasn't until the 13th century, when secular Roman law returned, that heretics were punishable by death.[13] In 1162, Cathars were sent to Pope Alexander III, who refused to condemn or persecute them, stating, "it was better to pardon the guilty than to take the lives of the innocent."[14] In 1216, during the fourth Lateran Council, the Church condemned unrepentant heretics to excommunication but not death. Professor Edward Peters informs us that during the medieval period, "patience, instruction, and toleration" were applied to manage "religious dissent."[15] Further, during Christendom a centralized Inquisition suppressing opposition never existed.[16] Before the 13th century, it was up to each local bishop to handle heretics. There was no widespread effort to counter heresy. The heretics' persecution increased in the 13th century when Pope Innocent III cited Roman law and the Church (and, due to the return of Roman law in governance, society as a whole) centralized, weakening the power of local bishops.
The Inquisition was not a medieval or even Christian invention. Instead, it utilized Roman law and practices, such as torture, which were widely adopted during the 13th century.[17] The origin of the inquisition is often attributed to the Catholic Church, but it actually stemmed from secular law, not Christianity. As historian Thomas F. Madden explains, "The Inquisition itself is a product of Roman law. And that means a legal code that had nothing at all to do with Christianity. That developed over many centuries before Christ was even born."[18] Not especially devout secular leaders, such as Emperor Frederick I, were known to be ruthless towards heretics.[19] And, as Catholic apologist Steve Weidenkopf wrote, "The death sentence was handed down and carried out by the state. The church itself never executed any heretics."[20]
Sorcery
Likewise, before the 13th century sorcery received little attention and was only practiced in remote regions. In the 9th century, the bishop Agobard of Lyon came across some locals who believed that humans could produce hail and thunder through witchcraft.[21] He described their beliefs as foolish and crazy, stating that they were utterly ignorant of God. In response to this belief, Agobard suggested using proofs from Scripture to judge the matter and allow Truth itself to overcome the most foolish errors. In 906, Regino of Prum said the locals were "beyond a doubt infidels" who returned to pagan beliefs, claiming witches could travel via midnight rides through the air and that sorcerers could transform people into animals.[22] C.S Lewis wrote, "There was very little magic in the Middle Ages; the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are the high noon of magic."[23]
During Christendom as I define it, practices such as sorcery, magic, and witchcraft were rare. The British Isles had its first Inquisition in 1309, with no convicted individuals.[24] The first witch was not burned at the stake until 1275. She was accused of having sex with a demon among other abominable practices. Professor Richard C. Hoffmann wrote, "early medieval Christian authorities debunked such superstitions and reserved all power to God alone.”[25] It wasn't until the 13th century that the Church began associating sorcery with heresy.
During the Middle Ages, the church had a more laid-back approach towards certain superstitious practices that didn't directly impact church doctrine or individual salvation. They were more accepting of pagan "magic" and sorcery, and even universities taught occult practices and astrology.[26] The Anglo-Saxon Dooms, written between 590 and 975, instructed witches and other groups to be expelled from the land, not killed or tortured, but only sent away.[27] It is likely that most of Europe, perhaps three quarters of it, never experienced witchcraft or a witch hunt. These practices seemed to be robust in some areas and non-existent in others.[28]
The significant reaction to the heresy of the medieval period occurred in 1209 in southern France. During the early 13th century, the Albigensian Crusade was launched against these heretics in southern France. It was falsely attributed to the Inquisitions, but it was actually called in response (in part) to the murder of papal legate Peter of Castelnau.[29] Professor Burman wrote, “the spark that set off the so called Albigensian crusade was the murder in January 1208 of Peter of Castelnau...Peter was more than a mere legate – he was ‘an alter ego of the Pope.’”[30]Heretics denied the divinity of Jesus and claimed that a phantom was on the cross. The Cathars believed that sex, children, and marriage were evil, and they sanctioned homosexuality, bestiality, abortion, and suicide.[31] They believed the material world was evil and that our souls were trapped inside our physical bodies, thus suicide freed the spirit from its prison. They believed that the Old Testament God was evil and created matter to trap souls. According to them, the purpose of life was to free oneself from the corrupt physical body. The Church responded by holding councils and condemning the false teachings, but this did not stop the spread of the heresy. The Popes sent missionaries to the areas to preach and teach the truth, but when a papal legate was murdered in response, the Pope called a Crusade, not an Inquisition. While many heretics were killed during the crusade, others were massacred by locals who had no tolerance for their beliefs. The Church and the Pope, who called the crusade, were unable to prevent this happening.[32] The heretics attempted to replace Catholicism rather than coexist with it. The purpose and desire of the Pope in calling the crusade was to reform the heretical clergy and lay people.
Persecution of witches
The persecution of witches did not begin in earnest until the second half of the 15th century with the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus and the publication of the "Hammer of Witches."[33] The witch craze and witch hunts did not originate in the medieval period but emerged during the 16th and 17th centuries and occurred at the same time as the rise of modern science and nationalism.[34] The first execution for witchcraft in England was in 1563. The first trial in Scotland was in the second half of the 16th century.[35]The witch hunts were conducted as much by secular as by religious authorities, and were supported by significant thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean Bodin.[36] Even later, during the witch craze, skeptics of some of the claims of witchcraft said they really saw "visions or dreams, for frantic men think they see marvelous things, such as beats and other horrors, when in actual fact they see nothing."[37] According to Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger in the Hammer of Witches holy men are not deceived like the "maniacs" are.[38]
In the following article, we will cover myths surrounding the Inquisitors themselves and the origins, purpose, and results of the Inquisitions.
Jeb Smith is the author of Missing Monarchy: What Americans Get Wrong About Monarchy, Democracy, Feudalism, And Liberty (Amazon US | Amazon UK) and Defending Dixie's Land: What Every American Should Know About The South And The Civil War (written under the name Isaac. C. Bishop) - Amazon US | Amazon UK
You can contact Jeb at jackson18611096@gmail.com
Bibliography
-Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. New York, London: J.M. Dent; E.P. Dutton, 1910.
-Burman, Edward. The Inquisition: The Hammer of Heresy. Dorset Press, 1992.
-Carroll, Warren H. 1993. The Glory of Christendom. N.p.: Christendom Press.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church: Complete and Updated. Crown Publishing Group, 1995.
-Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, editors. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 2001.
-Davis, Michael Warren. The Reactionary Mind: Why Conservative Isn't Enough. Regnery Gateway, 2021.
-Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. The Age of Faith (The Story of Civilization, Volume 4) (Story of Civilization). Simon & Schuster, 1980.
-Ferrara, Christopher A. 2012. Liberty, the God That Failed: Policing the Sacred and Constructing the Myths of the Secular State, from Locke to Obama. N.p.: Angelico Press.
-Hoffmann, Richard. An Environmental History of Medieval Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
-Holmes, George, ed. 1988. The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe. N.p.: Oxford University Press.
-Jarrett, Bede. 2007. Social Theories of the Middle Ages, 1200-1500. N.p.: Archivum Press.
-Jones, Andrew W. 2017. Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of St. Louis IX. N.p.: Emmaus Academic.
-Kamen, Henry. The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. Yale University Press, 2014.
-Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, editors. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 2001
-L. PLUNKET, IERNE L. 1922. EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. London Edinburgh Glasgow Copenhagen New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Calcutta Madras Shanghai, England: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.
-Madden, Thomas, director. “The Modern Scholar: Heaven or Heresy: A History of the Inquisition.” 2008.
-Madden, Thomas. “The Medieval World, Part II: Society, Economy, and Culture.” The Great Courses Series, 2019.
-The following citation were derived from Medieval Sourcebook Fordham University (“Confession of Arnaud Gélis, also called Botheler "The Drunkard" of Mas-Saint-Antonin”)(“Confession of Baruch, once a Jew, then baptized and now returned to Judaism”) (GUI, BERNARD, and Translation by David Burr. “BERNARD GUI: INQUISITOR'S MANUAL.”.)(Schroeder, H. J., translator. The Disciplinary Decrees of the Ecumenical Counci,. St. Louis:, B. Herder Book Co., 1937).(Agobard of Lyons, and Translated by W. J. Lewis (aided by the helpful comments and suggestions of S. Barney) from the Latin text in p. 3-15 of: Agobardi Lugdunensis Opera Omnia, edidit L. Van Acker. Turnholt: Brepols, 1981 (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis, 52);.Agobard of Lyons (9th Century): On Hail and Thunder.”)
-Pernoud, Regine. Glory of the Medieval World. Dobson Books Ltd, 1950.
-Peters, Edward. Inquisition. University of California Press, 1989.
-Rawlings, Helen. The Spanish Inquisition. Wiley, 2006.
-Smith, Jeb. 2024. Missing Monarchy: What Americans Get Wrong About Monarchy, Democracy, Feudalism, And Liberty.
-Smith, Jeb. 2023. The Road Goes Ever On and On. N.p.: Christian Faith Publishing, Incorporated.
-Stark, Rodney. Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History. Templeton Press, 2017.
-Thatcher, Oliver J. “The Library of Original Sources - Vol. IV: The Early Medieval World, pp. 211-239.” Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co, 1901.
-Tierney, Brian, and Sidney Painter. Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 300-1475: Formerly entitled a History of the Middle Ages, 284-1500. 4th ed., Knopf, 1983.
-Weidenkompf, Steve, director. The Real Story of the Inquisitions. Catholic Answers.
-Weidenkopf, Steve. The Real Story of Catholic History: Answering Twenty Centuries of Anti-Catholic Myths. Catholic Answers, Incorporated, 2017
-Wickham, Chris. Medieval Europe. Yale University Press, 2017.
[1] (Smith 2024)
[2] (Peters 1-2)
[3] (Peters 295, also see 308)
[4] (Stark)
[5] (Madden)
[6] (Holmes 1988, 203)
[7] (Tierney and Painter 362-363) (Durant 1950, 67) (Pernoud 1950, 113)
[8] (Pernoud 1950, 114)
[9] (Bede, Book 1 chapter 17)
[10] (Agobard of Lyons and Translated by W. J. Lewis (aided by the helpful comments and suggestions of S. Barney) from the Latin text in p. 3-15 of: Agobardi Lugdunensis Opera Omnia, edidit L. Van Acker. Turnholt: Brepols, 1981 (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis, 52);)
[11] (Wickham 169)
[12] (Schroeder)
[13] (Durant 1950, 776-777) For the return of Roman law during the period see cite monarchy
[14] (Burman 25)
[15] (Peters 46)
[16] (Peters 3, 68)
[17] (Wickham 157-158) ((Burman 31) (Peters)
[18] (Madden 2008)
[19] (Pernoud 114)
[20] (Weidenkopf 2017)
[21] (Agobard of Lyon translated by W. J. Lewis (aided by the helpful comments and suggestions of S. Barney) from the Latin text in p. 3-15 of: Agobardi Lugdunensis Opera Omnia, edidit L. Van Acker. Turnholt: Brepols, 1981 (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis, 52);)
[22] (Smith 2023 103)
[23] (Smith 2023 101)
[24] (Burman 98)
[25] (Hoffmann 339)
[26] (Burman 119)
[27](Thatcher)
[28] (Weidenkopf 2017)
[29] (Tierney and Painter 359-360)
[30] (Burman 27-28)
[31] (Carroll 1993, 165)(Tierney and Painter 355-356)
[32] (Peters 50-51)
[33] (Burman 123)
[34] (Burman 115-116) (Durant 1950, 567) (Durant 1950, 567)
[35] (Kors and Peters 303, 318)
[36] (Weidenkopf 2017, 131)
[37] (Kors and Peters 201-203)
[38] (Kors and Peters 201, 237)
