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121-701: The Cathars were first noted in the 1140s in Southern France, and the Waldensians around 1170 in Northern Italy. Before this point, individual heretics such as Peter of Bruis had often challenged the Church. However, the Cathars were the first mass organization in the second millennium that posed a serious threat to the authority of the Church. This article covers only these early inquisitions, not

242-811: A papal bull entitled Ad extirpanda , which authorized the limited use of torture by inquisitors. Much of the brutality commonly associated with the Inquisition was actually previously common in secular courts, but prohibited under the Inquisition, including torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, miscarriages, mutilation or death. Also, torture could be performed only once, and for a limited duration. Waldensians Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The Waldensians , also known as Waldenses ( / w ɔː l ˈ d ɛ n s iː z , w ɒ l -/ ), Vallenses , Valdesi , or Vaudois , are adherents of

363-687: A "church within the Church", likely not going further, although they were accused of seeing the Catholic church as the Babylonian harlot. The Waldensians would, later in their history, adopt a number of doctrines from the Reformed churches due to the French Reformer Guillaume Farel , who introduced Reformation theology to Waldensian leaders. They officially adopted Reformed theology at a conference at Cianforan 1532. As

484-489: A Church court headed by Bishop Pierre Cauchon, a supporter of the English. The trial was politically motivated. Cauchon, although a native of France, had served in the English government since 1418, and he was therefore hostile to a woman who had worked for the opposing side. The same was true of the other tribunal members. Ascribing a diabolic origin to her victories would be an effective way to ruin her reputation and bolster

605-640: A better understanding of society. Such theorists would be preoccupied with obtaining the "truth" and "reality", seeking to develop theories which contained certainty and predictability. Modernist theorists therefore understood discourse to be functional. Discourse and language transformations are ascribed to progress or the need to develop new or more "accurate" words to describe discoveries, understandings, or areas of interest. In modernist theory, language and discourse are dissociated from power and ideology and instead conceptualized as "natural" products of common sense usage or progress. Modernism further gave rise to

726-719: A church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the late twelfth century, the movement spread to the Cottian Alps in what is today France and Italy . The founding of the Waldensians is attributed to Peter Waldo , a wealthy merchant who gave away his property around 1173, preaching apostolic poverty as

847-608: A formal way of thinking that can be expressed through language. Discourse is a social boundary that defines what statements can be said about a topic. Many definitions of discourse are primarily derived from the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault . In sociology , discourse is defined as "any practice (found in a wide range of forms) by which individuals imbue reality with meaning". Political science sees discourse as closely linked to politics and policy making. Likewise, different theories among various disciplines understand discourse as linked to power and state , insofar as

968-635: A former Cathar who converted to Catholicism, published together in 1254 as Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno ( On the Cathars and the Poor of Lyon ). Waldensians held and preached a number of doctrines as they read from the Bible. These included: They also rejected a number of concepts that were widely held in Christian Europe of the era. For example, the Waldensians held that temporal offices and dignities were not meant for preachers of

1089-439: A group of orthodox laymen concerned about the increasing wealth of the Church. As time passed, however, they found their beliefs at odds with Catholic teaching. In contrast with the Cathars and in line with the Church, they believed in only one God , but they did not recognize a special class of priesthood, believing in the priesthood of all believers. They also objected to the veneration of saints and martyrs , which were part of

1210-614: A large percentage of the remaining English forces at the battle of Patay . A series of military setbacks eventually led to her capture in the Spring of 1430 by the Burgundians, who were allied with the English. They delivered her to them for 10,000 livres. In December of that same year she was transferred to Rouen, the military headquarters and administrative capital in France of King Henry VI of England, and placed on trial for heresy before

1331-546: A more symbolic view of the bread and wine. Reinerius Saccho gave the following charges against the Waldensians: The Waldensians were associated by councils and papal decrees with the Cathars ; however they differed radically from them: the Waldensians never accepted Gnostic views, they did not reject the sacraments in total and did not believe in mysticism . The Waldensians saw themselves as

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1452-573: A number of illegalities in Joan's first trial in which she had been convicted. The papal inquisition developed a number of procedures to discover and prosecute heretics. These codes and procedures detailed how an inquisitorial court was to function. If the accused renounced their heresy and returned to the Church, forgiveness was granted and a penance was imposed. If the accused upheld their heresy, they were excommunicated and turned over to secular authorities. The penalties for heresy, though not as severe as

1573-479: A person may speak; and determines which persons are allowed to speak. That knowledge is both the creator of power and the creation of power, Foucault coined " power/knowledge " to show that it is "an abstract force which determines what will be known, rather than assuming that individual thinkers develop ideas and knowledge." Interdiscourse studies the external semantic relations among discourses, as discourses exists in relation to other discourses. There

1694-411: A public place. The inquisitors would provide an opportunity for anyone to step forward and denounce themselves in exchange for leniency. Legally, there had to be at least two witnesses, although conscientious judges rarely contented themselves with that number. At the beginning of the trial, defendants were invited to name those who had "mortal hatred" against them. If the accusers were among those named,

1815-511: A reaction to the increasing moral corruption of the clergy, which included illegal marriages and the possession of extreme wealth. In the Middle Ages, the Inquisition's main focus was to eradicate these new sects. Thus, its range of action was predominantly in Italy and France, where the Cathars and the Waldensians , the two main heretic movements of the period, were. Bishops had always

1936-450: A result of the conference, the Waldensians officially modified some of their previous positions such as their rejection of secular courts. According to legend, Peter Waldo renounced his wealth as an encumbrance to preaching, which led other members of the Catholic clergy to follow his example. Because of this shunning of wealth, the movement was early known as The Poor of Lyon and The Poor of Lombardy. Although they rose to prominence in

2057-527: A sign of outward penance. Others undertook obligatory pilgrimages, many for the purpose of fighting against Muslims . Another common punishment, including for returned pilgrims, was visiting a local church naked once each month to be scourged. Cathars who were slow to repent suffered imprisonment and, often, the loss of property. Others who altogether refused to repent were burned. The Waldensians were mostly in Germany and North Italy . The Waldensians were

2178-528: A strong resistance to allowing the creation of an Inquisition, and the kingdom's general willingness to accept heretics seeking refuge from prosecution in France. In the spring of 1429 during the Hundred Years' War , in obedience to what she said was the command of God, Joan of Arc inspired the Dauphin's armies in a series of stunning military victories which lifted the siege of Orleans and destroyed

2299-526: A trial. According to historian Thomas Madden : "The Inquisition was not born out of desire to crush diversity or oppress people; it was rather an attempt to stop unjust executions. ...Heresy was a crime against the state . Roman law in the Code of Justinian made heresy a capital offense" (emphasis in original). In the early Middle Ages, people accused of heresy were judged by the local lord, many of whom lacked theological training. Madden claims that "The simple fact

2420-454: Is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication . Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology , anthropology , continental philosophy , and discourse analysis . Following work by Michel Foucault , these fields view discourse as a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our world experience. Since control of discourse amounts to control of how

2541-471: Is exemplified in the APA 's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , which tells of the terms that have to be used in speaking about mental health, thereby mediating meanings and dictating practices of professionals in psychology and psychiatry. Modernist theorists focused on achieving progress and believed in natural and social laws that could be used universally to develop knowledge and, thus,

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2662-519: Is more than one type of discourse analysis , and the definition of "discourse" shifts slightly between types. Generally speaking, discourse analyses can be divided into those concerned with "little d" discourse and "big D" Discourse. The former ("little d") refers to language-in-use, such as spoken communication; the latter ("big D") refers to sociopolitical discourses (language plus social and cultural contexts). Common forms of discourse analysis include: In formal semantics and pragmatics , discourse

2783-530: Is pessimistic regarding universal truths and realities. Hence, it has attempted to be fluid, allowing for individual differences as it rejects the notion of social laws. Postmodern theorists shifted away from truth-seeking and sought answers to how truths are produced and sustained. Postmodernists contended that truth and knowledge are plural, contextual, and historically produced through discourses. Postmodern researchers, therefore, embarked on analyzing discourses such as texts, language, policies, and practices. In

2904-402: Is that the medieval Inquisition saved uncounted thousands of innocent (and even not-so-innocent) people who would otherwise have been roasted by secular lords or mob rule" (emphasis in original). Madden argues that while medieval secular leaders were trying to safeguard their kingdoms, the Church was trying to save souls. The Inquisition provided a means for heretics to escape death and return to

3025-829: The Bishop of Mauriana , was involved in reaching a peaceful agreement between Catholics and Waldensians. When the news of the Reformation reached the Waldensian Valleys, the Tavola Valdese decided to seek fellowship with the nascent Protestantism. At a meeting held in 1526 in Laus, a town in the Chisone valley, it was decided to send envoys to examine the new movement. In 1532, they met with German and Swiss Protestants and ultimately adapted their beliefs to those of

3146-629: The Piedmont region of Northern Italy ), South America, and North America. Organizations, such as the American Waldensian Society, maintain the history of the movement and declare their mission as "proclaiming the Christian Gospel, serving the marginalized, promoting social justice , fostering inter-religious work, and advocating respect for religious diversity and freedom of conscience." Most modern knowledge of

3267-680: The Rescriptum of Bergamo Conference (1218). Earlier documents that provide information about early Waldensian history include the Will of Stefano d'Anse (1187); the Manifestatio haeresis Albigensium et Lugdunensium (c.   1206–1208); and the Anonymous chronicle of Lyon (c.   1220). There are also the two reports written for the Inquisition by Reinerius Saccho (died 1259),

3388-637: The Roman Inquisition of the 16th century onwards, or the somewhat different phenomenon of the Spanish Inquisition of the late 15th century, which was under the control of the Spanish monarchy using local clergy. The Portuguese Inquisition of the 16th century and various colonial branches followed the same pattern. An inquisition was a process that developed to investigate alleged instances of crimes. Its use in ecclesiastical courts

3509-591: The episcopal inquisition and the papal inquisition . All major medieval inquisitions were decentralized, and each tribunal worked independently. Authority rested with local officials based on guidelines from the Holy See , but there was no central top-down authority running the inquisitions, as would be the case in post-medieval inquisitions. Early Medieval courts generally followed a process called accusatio , largely based on Germanic practices. In this procedure, an individual would make an accusation against someone to

3630-682: The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and affirmed the necessity of priests for the offering of the Mass . However they denied the right of sinful priests to give the Eucharist. Early forms of the Waldensian Mass sought to recover the early Christian liturgy and contained a sevenfold repetition of the Lord's Prayer , with the Eucharistic elements being consecrated through the sign of

3751-597: The "Arrêt de Mérindol", and assembled an army against the Waldensians of Provence . The leaders in the 1545 massacres were Jean Maynier d'Oppède , First President of the parliament of Provence , and the military commander Antoine Escalin des Aimars , who was returning from the Italian Wars with 2,000 veterans, the Bandes de Piémont . Deaths in the Massacre of Mérindol ranged from hundreds to thousands, depending on

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3872-522: The "ablution which is given to infants profits nothing". Thus there seems to have been an understanding among the Waldensians that infants could be saved without baptism. They rejected confession to priests, the practice of venerating the saints, the use of oaths, secular courts and prayers for the dead. They however accepted the Trinity , and the earliest Waldensians staunchly defended the Eucharist. However, at least some of them later began to develop

3993-484: The "individual elements of a system only have significance when considered about the structure as a whole, and that structures are to be understood as self-contained, self-regulated, and self-transforming entities". In other words, it is the structure itself that determines the significance, meaning, and function of the individual elements of a system. Structuralism has contributed to our understanding of language and social systems. Saussure's theory of language highlights

4114-485: The 10 commandments which put forth their own explanation on the 4th commandment which defended sabbath keeping. Many among the Waldensians claimed that people such as Claudius of Turin and Berengar of Tours were first representatives of the sect, but in modern times claims of the Waldenses to high antiquity are no longer accepted. One school of thought attempts to associate Vigilantius with proto-Waldensians in

4235-577: The 14th century, the census and wedding records show an absolute lack of concern with avoiding intermarriage or blood mixture. Such laws were now common in most of central Europe. Both the Roman Inquisition and neighbouring Christian powers showed discomfort with Aragonese law and lack of concern with ethnicity, but to little effect. High-ranking officials of Judaism were not as common as in Castile, but were not unheard of either. Abraham Zacuto

4356-599: The 1598 Edict of Nantes , which had guaranteed freedom of religion to his Protestant subjects in France. French troops sent into the French Waldensian areas of the Chisone and Susa Valleys in the Dauphiné forced 8,000 Vaudois to convert to Catholicism and another 3,000 to leave for Germany. In the Piedmont, the cousin of Louis, the newly ascended Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II , followed his uncle in removing

4477-650: The Catholic Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse . They rejected what they perceived as the idolatry of the Catholic Church and considered the papacy as the Antichrist of Rome. La nobla leyczon ( The Noble Lesson ), written in the Occitan language, gives a sample of the medieval Waldensian belief. Once it was believed that this poem dated between 1190 and 1240, but there is evidence that it

4598-446: The Catholic community from infection, would have suspects handed over to civil authorities, since public heresy was a crime under civil law as well as Church law. The secular authorities would apply their own brands of punishment for civil disobedience which, at the time, included burning at the stake. Over centuries the tribunals took different forms, investigating and stamping out various forms of heresy, including witchcraft. Throughout

4719-488: The Church's orthodoxy. They rejected the sacramental authority of the Church and its clerics and encouraged apostolic poverty . These movements became particularly popular in Southern France as well as Northern Italy and other parts of Holy Roman Empire . One reason for Pope Gregory IX's creation of the Inquisition was to bring order and legality to the process of dealing with heresy, since there had been tendencies by mobs of townspeople to burn alleged heretics without much of

4840-583: The Crown was also deeply in debt to the Templars and, probably on that basis, the Templars were also persecuted in England, their lands forfeited and taken by others, (the last private owner being the favorite of Edward II, Hugh le Despenser). Many Templars in England were killed; some fled to Scotland and other places. The Beguines were mainly a women's movement, recognized by the Church since their foundation in

4961-662: The European Alps. The Catholic Church viewed the Waldensians as unorthodox, and in 1184 at the Synod of Verona , under the auspices of Pope Lucius III , they were excommunicated. Pope Innocent III went even further during the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, officially denouncing the Waldensians as heretics . In 1211 more than 80 Waldensians were burned as heretics at Strasbourg ; this action launched several centuries of persecution that nearly destroyed

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5082-470: The Gospel; that relics were no different from any other bones and should not be regarded as special or holy; that pilgrimage served only to spend one's money; that meat might be eaten any day if one's appetite served one; that holy water was no more efficacious than rain water; and that prayer was just as effectual if offered in a church or a barn. They were accused, moreover, of speaking blasphemously of

5203-463: The Inquisition's history, it was rivaled by local ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions. No matter how determined, no pope succeeded in establishing complete control over the prosecution of heresy. Medieval kings, princes, bishops, and civil authorities all had a role in prosecuting heresy. The practice reached its apex in the second half of the 13th century. During this period, the tribunals were almost entirely free from any authority, including that of

5324-399: The Inquisition. Although Raymond of Penyafort was not an inquisitor, James I of Aragon had often consulted him on questions of law regarding the practices of the Inquisition in the king's domains since Penyafort was a canon lawyer and royal advisor. ...[T]he lawyer's deep sense of justice and equity, combined with the worthy Dominican's sense of compassion, allowed him to steer clear of

5445-555: The Reformed Church. The Swiss and French Reformed churches sent William Farel and Anthony Saunier to attend the meeting of Chanforan, which convened on 12   October 1532. Farel invited them to join the Reformation and to emerge from secrecy. A Confession of Faith, with Reformed doctrines, was formulated and the Waldensians decided to worship openly in French. The French Bible, translated by Pierre Robert Olivétan with

5566-640: The Rhine into Germany. Procedures began to be formalized by time of Pope Gregory IX . The Cathars were a group of dissidents mostly in the South of France, in cities like Toulouse . The sect developed in the 12th century, apparently founded by soldiers from the Second Crusade , who, on their way back, were converted by a Bulgarian sect, the Bogomils . The Cathars' main heresy was their belief in dualism:

5687-543: The Roman Curia welcomed them. They had to explain their faith before a panel of three clergymen, including issues that were then debated within the Church, such as the universal priesthood, the gospel in the vulgar tongue, and the issue of voluntary poverty. The results of the meeting were inconclusive; in that same year, the Third Lateran Council condemned Waldo's ideas, but not the movement itself, while

5808-600: The Sabbath according to the custom of the Jews." Likewise in the twelfth century, Inquisitor Moneta of Cremona railed against the Waldenses for seventh day sabbath keeping after the manner of Jews. Johann Gottfried Hering in 1756 in his Compendieuses Church and Heretic Lexicon defined Sabbatati (a sect of the Waldenses) as those who kept the sabbath with the Jews. In the early Waldenses prose tracts there existed an exposition on

5929-515: The Scriptures, contrary to the teachings of the Church, publicly avowed, and obstinately defended." The fault was in the obstinate adherence rather than theological error, which could be corrected; and by referencing scripture Grosseteste excludes Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians from the definition of heretic. There were many different types of inquisitions depending on the location and methods; historians have generally classified them into

6050-667: The Vaudois remained resistant. After the fifteen days, an army of 9,000 French and Piedmontese soldiers invaded the Valleys against the estimated 2,500 Vaudois, but found that every village had organized a defense force that kept the French and Piedmontese soldiers at bay. Discourse 1800s: Martineau · Tocqueville  ·  Marx ·  Spencer · Le Bon · Ward · Pareto ·  Tönnies · Veblen ·  Simmel · Durkheim ·  Addams ·  Mead · Weber ·  Du Bois ·  Mannheim · Elias Discourse

6171-410: The Vaudois to choose the former; however, the bulk of the populace instead chose the latter, abandoning their homes and lands in the lower valleys and removing to the upper valleys. It was written that these targets of persecution, including old men, women, little children and the sick "waded through the icy waters, climbed the frozen peaks, and at length reached the homes of their impoverished brethren of

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6292-514: The Waldensians as early forerunners of the Reformation, in a manner similar to the way the followers of John Wycliffe and Jan Hus , also persecuted by authorities, were viewed. Although the Waldensian church was granted some rights and freedoms under French King Henry   IV, with the Edict of Nantes in 1598, persecution rose again in the seventeenth   century, with an extermination of

6413-592: The Waldensians attempted by the Duke of Savoy in 1655. This led to the exodus and dispersion of the Waldensians to other parts of Europe and even to the Western Hemisphere. In January 1655, the Duke of Savoy commanded the Waldensians to attend Mass or remove to the upper valleys of their homeland, giving them twenty days in which to sell their lands. Being in the midst of winter, the order was intended to persuade

6534-415: The Waldensians of teaching innumerable errors. Waldo and his followers developed a system whereby they would go from town to town and meet secretly with small groups of Waldensians. There they would confess sins and hold service. A traveling Waldensian preacher was known as a barba . The group would shelter the barba and help make arrangements to move on to the next town in secret. Waldo possibly died in

6655-728: The Waldensians of the Middle Ages could be seen as proto-Protestants , but they mostly did not raise the doctrinal objections characteristic of sixteenth-century Protestant leaders. They came to align themselves with Protestantism: with the Resolutions of Chanforan  [ fr ] on 12 September 1532, they formally became a part of the Calvinist tradition. They are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and its affiliates worldwide. They were nearly annihilated in

6776-487: The Waldensians the chance to return to the Church, and many did, taking the name " Poor Catholics ". However, many did not, and were subjected to intense persecution and were confronted with organised and general discrimination in the following centuries. In the sixteenth century, the Waldensians were absorbed into the Protestant movement, under the influence of early Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger . In some aspects

6897-401: The arms of their mothers, clasped by their tiny feet, and their heads dashed against the rocks; or were held between two soldiers and their quivering limbs torn up by main force. Their mangled bodies were then thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. Some had their hands and arms and legs lopped off, and fire applied to

7018-418: The authority to look into alleged heretical activity, but as it wasn't always clear what constituted heresy they conferred with their colleagues and sought advice from Rome. Legates were sent out, at first as advisors, later taking a greater role in the administration. During the pontificate of Innocent III , papal legates were sent out to stop the spread of the Cathar and Waldensian heresies to Provence and up

7139-412: The beginning of the fourteenth century, two other movements attracted the attention of the Inquisition, the Knights Templar and the Beguines . It is not clear if the process against the Templars was initiated by the Inquisition on the basis of suspected heresy or if the Inquisition itself was exploited by the king of France, Philip the Fair , who owed them money and wanted the knights' wealth. In England

7260-476: The community. The complaints of the two main preaching orders of the period, the Dominicans and the Franciscans , against the moral corruption of the Church, to some extent echoed those of the heretical movements, but they were doctrinally conventional, and were enlisted by Pope Innocent III in the fight against heresy. In 1231 Pope Gregory IX appointed a number of Papal Inquisitors ( Inquisitores haereticae pravitatis ), mostly Dominicans and Franciscans , for

7381-469: The concepts of discourse. The sociologist Iara Lessa summarizes Foucault's definition of discourse as "systems of thoughts composed of ideas, attitudes, courses of action, beliefs, and practices that systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of which they speak." Foucault traces the role of discourse in the legitimation of society's power to construct contemporary truths, to maintain said truths, and to determine what relations of power exist among

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7502-450: The constructed truths; therefore discourse is a communications medium through which power relations produce men and women who can speak. The interrelation between power and knowledge renders every human relationship into a power negotiation, Because power is always present and so produces and constrains the truth. Power is exercised through rules of exclusion (discourses) that determine what subjects people can discuss; when, where, and how

7623-675: The control of discourses is understood as a hold on reality itself (e.g. if a state controls the media, they control the "truth"). In essence, discourse is inescapable, since any use of language will have an effect on individual perspectives. In other words, the chosen discourse provides the vocabulary, expressions, or style needed to communicate. For example, two notably distinct discourses can be used about various guerrilla movements, describing them either as " freedom fighters " or " terrorists ". In psychology , discourses are embedded in different rhetorical genres and meta-genres that constrain and enable them—language talking about language. This

7744-538: The counselor, treasurer or secretary for the crown. During most of the medieval period, intermarriage with converts was allowed and encouraged. Intellectual cooperation between religions was the norm in Castile. Some examples are the Toledo School of Translators from the 11th century. Jews and Moors were allowed to hold high offices in the administration (see Abraham Seneor , Samuel HaLevi Abulafia , Isaac Abarbanel , López de Conchillos, Miguel Pérez de Almazán , Jaco Aben Nunnes and Fernando del Pulgar). A tightening of

7865-445: The court. However, if the suspect was judged innocent, the accusers faced legal penalties for bringing false charges. This provided a disincentive to make any accusation unless the accusers were sure it would stand. Later, a threshold requirement was the establishment of the accused's publica fama , i.e., the fact that the person was widely believed to be guilty of the offense charged. By the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, there

7986-403: The cross . The Waldensians observed the forty-day fast of Lent and practiced Friday abstinence. Both Waldensian and Catholic sources, however, imply that the Waldensians rejected infant baptism, at least to some extent. This is seen from The Noble Lesson , which refers to Christ specifically calling to baptize those who believed, and Reinerius Saccho mentioning how the Waldensians believed that

8107-540: The decisive role of meaning and signification in structuring human life more generally. Following the perceived limitations of the modern era, emerged postmodern theory. Postmodern theorists rejected modernist claims that there was one theoretical approach that explained all aspects of society. Rather, postmodernist theorists were interested in examining the variety of experiences of individuals and groups and emphasized differences over similarities and shared experiences. In contrast to modernist theory, postmodern theory

8228-459: The defendant was set free and the charges dismissed; the accusers would face life imprisonment. This option was meant to keep the inquisition from becoming involved in local grudges. Early legal consultations on conducting inquisition stress that it is better that the guilty go free than that the innocent be punished. Gregory IX urged Conrad of Marburg: " ut puniatur sic temeritas perversorum quod innocentiae puritas non laedatur " – i.e., "not to punish

8349-438: The early fourteenth century. Pope Gregory's original intent for the Inquisition was a court of exception to inquire into and glean the beliefs of those differing from Catholic teaching, and to instruct them in the orthodox doctrine. It was hoped that heretics would see the falsity of their opinion and would return to the Roman Catholic Church. If they persisted in their heresy, however, Pope Gregory, finding it necessary to protect

8470-459: The early thirteenth   century, possibly in Germany; he was never captured, and his fate remains uncertain. Early Waldensians belonged to one of three groups: They were also called Insabbatati , Sabati , Inzabbatati , or Sabotiers —Some historians such as the Jesuit Jacob Gretser claimed this designation arose from the unusual type of sabot they used as footwear. However, he admitted that his reasoning on this etymology did not have

8591-449: The estimates, and several villages were devastated. The treaty of 5 June 1561 granted amnesty to the Protestants of the Valleys, including liberty of conscience and freedom to worship . Prisoners were released and fugitives permitted to return home, but despite this treaty, the Vaudois, with the other French Protestants, still suffered during the French Wars of Religion in 1562–1598. As early as 1631, Protestant scholars began to regard

8712-404: The evil God created the materialistic world and the good God created the spiritual world. Therefore, Cathars preached poverty, chastity, modesty and all those values which in their view helped people to detach themselves from materialism . The Cathars presented a problem to feudal government by their attitude towards oaths, which they declared under no circumstances allowable. Therefore, considering

8833-498: The excesses that were found elsewhere in the formative years of the inquisitions into heresy. Despite its early implantation, the Papal Inquisition was greatly resisted within the Crown of Aragon by both population and monarchs. With time, its importance was diluted, and, by the middle of the fifteenth century, it was almost forgotten although still there according to the law. Regarding the living conditions of minorities,

8954-402: The faithful and punishment of transgressors, always under the direction of the king. During the Middle Ages in Castile, the Catholic ruling class and the population paid little or no attention to heresy. Castile did not have the proliferation of anti-Jewish pamphlets as England and France did during the 13th and 14th centuries—and those that have been found were modified, watered-down versions of

9075-645: The gospel from father to son in the same purity and simplicity as it was preached by St Paul. The Waldensian movement was characterized from the beginning by lay preaching, voluntary poverty, and strict adherence to the Bible. Between 1175 and 1185, Waldo either commissioned a cleric from Lyon to translate the New Testament into the vernacular—the Arpitan (Franco-Provençal) language —or was himself involved in this translation work. In 1179, Waldo and one of his disciples went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III and

9196-495: The heads of their sons suspended round their necks. Parents were compelled to look on while their children were first outraged [raped], then massacred, before being themselves permitted to die. This massacre became known as the Piedmont Easter. An estimate of some 1,700 Waldensians were slaughtered; the massacre was so brutal it aroused indignation throughout Europe. Protestant rulers in northern Europe offered sanctuary to

9317-584: The help of Calvin and published at Neuchâtel in 1535, was based in part on a New Testament in the Waldensian vernacular. The churches in Waldensia collected 1500 gold crowns to cover the cost of its publication. Outside the Piedmont, the Waldenses joined the local Protestant churches in Bohemia, France, and Germany. After they came out of seclusion and reports were made of sedition on their part, French King Francis   I on 1   January 1545 issued

9438-506: The heretics and by the selling of absolutions. Because of their corruption, they were eventually forced by the Pope to suspend their activities in 1302. In southern Europe, Church-run courts existed in the kingdom of Aragon during the medieval period, but not elsewhere in the Iberian peninsula or some other kingdoms, including England . In Scandinavian kingdoms it had hardly any impact. At

9559-578: The kingdom experienced after the 14th-century crisis, which clearly worsened the living conditions of non-Catholics in Castile, it remained one of the most tolerant kingdoms in Europe. The kingdom had serious tensions with Rome regarding the Church's attempts to extend its authority into the kingdom. A focus of conflict was Castilian resistance to truly abandon the Mozarabic Rite , and the refusal to grant Papal control over Reconquest land (a request Aragon and Portugal conceded). These conflicts added to

9680-490: The kings of Aragon and other monarchies imposed some discriminatory taxation of religious minorities, so false conversions were a way of tax evasion. In addition to the above discriminatory legislation, Aragon had laws specifically targeted at protecting minorities. For example, crusaders attacking Jewish or Muslim subjects of the King of Aragon while on their way to fight in the reconquest were punished with death by hanging. Up to

9801-521: The laws to protect the right of Jews to collect loans during the Medieval Crisis was one of the causes of the revolt against Peter the Cruel and catalyst of the anti-semitic episodes of 1391 in Castile, a kingdom that had shown no significant antisemitic backlash to the black death and drought crisis of the early 14th century. Even after the sudden increase in hostility towards other religions that

9922-438: The leaders of the movement were not excommunicated for the moment. The Waldensians proceeded to disobey the Third Lateran Council and continued to preach according to their own understanding of the Scriptures. In 1184, Waldo and his followers were excommunicated and forced from Lyon. The Catholic Church declared them heretics , stating that the group's principal error was contempt for ecclesiastical power. Rome also accused

10043-410: The liberal discourses of rights, equality, freedom, and justice; however, this rhetoric masked substantive inequality and failed to account for differences, according to Regnier. Structuralist theorists, such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Jacques Lacan , argue that all human actions and social formations are related to language and can be understood as systems of related elements. This means that

10164-441: The local populace complied with. But the quartering order was a ruse to allow the troops easy access to the populace. On 24   April 1655, at 4   a.m., the signal was given for a general massacre. The Duke's forces did not simply slaughter the inhabitants. They are reported to have unleashed an unprovoked campaign of looting, rape, torture, and murder. According to one report by a Peter Liegé: Little children were torn from

10285-632: The medieval history of the Waldensians originates almost exclusively from the records and writings of the Roman Catholic Church, the same body that was condemning them as heretics . Because of "the documentary scarcity and unconnectedness from which we must draw the description of Waldensian beliefs", much of what is known about the early Waldensians comes from reports like the Profession of faith of Valdo of Lyon (1180); Liber antiheresis by Durando d'Osca (c.   1187–1200); and

10406-590: The model of the free Royal Villas, mayors and the population of border areas had the right to create their own fueros (law) that varied from one villa to the next. In general, the Castilian model was parallel to the initial model of Islamic Spain. Non-Catholics were subject to discriminatory legislation regarding taxation and some other specific discriminatory legislation—such as a prohibition on wearing silk or "flashy clothes"—that varied from county to county, but were otherwise left alone. Forced conversion of minorities

10527-444: The morale of English troops. Thus the decision to involve the Inquisition, which did not initiate the trial and in fact showed a reluctance throughout its duration. Seventy charges were brought against her, including accusations of heresy and dressing as a male (i.e., wearing soldiers' clothing and armor). Eyewitnesses later said that Joan had told them she was wearing this clothing and keeping it "firmly laced and tied together" because

10648-407: The movement. Waldensians briefly ruled Buda, the capital of Hungary from 1304 to 1307. The Waldensians in turn excommunicated Pope Benedict XI . In 1487 Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull Id Nostri Cordis for the extermination of the Vaudois. Alberto de' Capitanei , archdeacon of Cremona , responded to the bull by organizing a crusade to fulfill its order and launched a military offensive in

10769-411: The original stories. Jews and Muslims were tolerated and generally allowed to follow their traditional customs in domestic matters. The legislation regarding Muslims and Jews in Castilian territory varied greatly, becoming more intolerant during the period of great instability and dynastic wars that occurred by the end of the 14th century. Castilian law is particularly difficult to summarize since, due to

10890-516: The pope. Therefore, it was almost impossible to eradicate abuse. For example, Robert le Bougre, the "Hammer of Heretics" ( Malleus Haereticorum ), was a Dominican friar who became an inquisitor known for his cruelty and violence. Another example was the case of the province of Venice , which was handed to the Franciscan inquisitors, who quickly became notorious for their frauds against the Church, by enriching themselves with confiscated property from

11011-484: The protection of Protestants in the Piedmont . In the renewed persecution, and in an echo of the Piedmont Easter Massacre of only three decades earlier, the Duke issued an edict on 31 January 1686 that decreed the destruction of all the Vaudois churches and that all inhabitants of the Valleys should publicly announce their error in religion within fifteen days under penalty of death and banishment. But

11132-423: The provinces of Dauphiné and Piedmont . Charles I, Duke of Savoy , eventually interfered to save his territories from further turmoil and promised the Vaudois peace, but not before the offensive had devastated the area and many of the Vaudois had fled to Provence or south to Italy. The theologian Angelo Carletti di Chivasso , whom Innocent VIII in 1491 appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Commissary conjointly with

11253-509: The purpose of doing away with." It was a response to the growing Catharist movement in southern France . This inquisition was called the "episcopal" inquisition, because it was administered by a local bishop, also known in latin as episcopus . This inquisition obliged bishops to visit their diocese twice a year in search of heretics. The methods of dealing with heretics were revised gradually. Practices and procedures of episcopal inquisitions could vary from one diocese to another, depending on

11374-443: The religious homogeneity of that age, heresy was an attack against social and political order, besides orthodoxy. The Albigensian Crusade resulted in the defeat of the Cathars militarily. After this, the Inquisition played an important role in finally destroying Catharism during the 13th and much of the 14th centuries. Punishments for Cathars varied greatly. Most frequently, they were made to wear yellow crosses atop their garments as

11495-485: The remaining Waldensians. Oliver Cromwell , then ruler in England, began petitioning on behalf of the Waldensians, writing letters, raising contributions, calling a general fast in England and threatening to send military forces to the rescue. The massacre prompted John Milton 's poem on the Waldenses, " On the Late Massacre in Piedmont ". Swiss and Dutch Calvinists set up an "underground railroad" to bring many of

11616-490: The residents of Cambrai because a mob had seized and burned a Cathar determined by the bishop to have been a heretic. A similar occurrence happened in 1114 during the bishops absence in Strassburg. In 1145 clergy at Liège managed to rescue victims from the crowd. The first medieval inquisition, the episcopal inquisition, was established in the year 1184 by a papal bull of Pope Lucius III entitled Ad abolendam , "For

11737-440: The resources available to individual bishops and their relative interest or disinterest. Convinced that Church teaching contained revealed truth, the first recourse of bishops was that of persuasio . Through discourse , debates, and preaching, they sought to present a better explanation of Church teaching. This approach often proved very successful. The spread of other movements from the 12th century can be seen at least in part as

11858-490: The secular courts of Europe at the time, were codified within the ecclesiastic courts as well (e.g. confiscation of property, turning heretics over to the secular courts for punishment). Additionally, the various "key terms" of the inquisitorial courts were defined at this time, including, for example, "heretics," “believers," “those suspect of heresy," “those simply suspected," “those vehemently suspected," and "those most vehemently suspected". The townspeople would be gathered in

11979-923: The seventeenth century . The main denomination within the movement was the Waldensian Evangelical Church , the original church in Italy . In 1975, it merged with the Methodist Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches —a majority Waldensian church, with a minority of Methodists. Another large congregation is the Evangelical Waldensian Church of Río de la Plata in Argentina , Paraguay , and Uruguay . Congregations continue to be active in Europe (particularly in

12100-483: The severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. Some were flayed alive, some were roasted alive, some disemboweled; or tied to trees in their own orchards, and their hearts cut out. Some were horribly mutilated, and of others the brains were boiled and eaten by these cannibals . Some were fastened down into the furrows of their own fields, and ploughed into the soil as men plough manure into it. Others were buried alive. Fathers were marched to death with

12221-525: The signs (semiotic sequences) . The term discursive formation identifies and describes written and spoken statements with semantic relations that produce discourses. As a researcher, Foucault applied the discursive formation to analyses of large bodies of knowledge, e.g. political economy and natural history . In The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969), a treatise about the methodology and historiography of systems of thought ("epistemes") and knowledge ("discursive formations"), Michel Foucault developed

12342-587: The support of the literature of his day because these sources, he said, contained many errors. Other historians such as Melchior Goldast stated that the name insabbatati was because of Sabbath keeping in the manner of Jews. Jesuit Inquisitor Francis Pegne cited in Nicholas Eymerich famous work the Directorium Inquisitorium stated that "many used to think it [insabbatati] came from Sabbath, and that they [Waldenses] observed

12463-550: The survivors north to Switzerland and even as far as the Dutch Republic, where the councillors of the city of Amsterdam chartered three ships to take some 167 Waldensians to their City Colony in the New World (Delaware) on Christmas Day 1656. Those that stayed behind in France and the Piedmont formed a guerilla resistance movement led by a farmer, Joshua Janavel , which lasted into the 1660s. In 1685 Louis XIV revoked

12584-408: The thirteenth century. Marguerite Porete wrote a mystical book known as The Mirror of Simple Souls . The book provoked some controversy, because of statements which some took to mean that a soul can become one with God and that when in this state it can ignore moral law, as it had no need for the Church and its sacraments, or its code of virtues. The book's teachings were easily misconstrued. Porete

12705-464: The time of Sylvester , others, from the time of the Apostles." In the seventeenth century, Waldensian Pastor Henri Arnaud stated that "the Vaudois are, in fact, descended from those refugees from Italy, who, after St Paul had there preached the gospel abandoned their beautiful country, like the woman mentioned in the apocalypse and fled to those wild mountains where they have to this day, handed down

12826-466: The tunic could be tied to the long boots to keep her guards from pulling her clothing off during their occasional attempts to rape her. Joan was first condemned to life imprisonment and the deputy-inquisitor, Jean Le Maitre (whom the eyewitness said only attended because of threats from the English), obtained from her assurances of relinquishing her male clothes. However, after four days, during which she

12947-659: The twelfth century, some evidence suggests that the Waldenses may have existed even before the time of Peter Waldo , perhaps as early as 1100. In 1179, at the Third Council of the Lateran , Pope Alexander III lamented that the Waldenses were a "pest of long existence". While the Inquisitor Reinerius Saccho in the thirteenth century also spoke about the dangers of the Waldenses for among other reasons its antiquity "some say that it has lasted from

13068-405: The upper Valleys, where they were warmly received." By mid-April, when it became clear that the Duke's efforts to force the Vaudois to conform to Catholicism had failed, he tried another approach. Under the guise of false reports of Vaudois uprisings, the Duke sent troops into the upper valleys to quell the local populace. He required that the local populace quarter the troops in their homes, which

13189-441: The various regions of Europe. As mendicants , they were accustomed to travel. Unlike the haphazard episcopal methods, the papal inquisition was thorough and systematic, keeping detailed records. Some of the few documents from the Middle Ages involving first-person speech by medieval peasants come from papal inquisition records. This tribunal or court functioned in France, Italy and parts of Germany and had virtually ceased operation by

13310-557: The way to perfection . Waldensian teachings came into conflict with the Catholic Church and by 1215 the Waldensians were declared heretical , not because they preached apostolic poverty, which the Franciscans also preached, but because they were not willing to recognize the prerogatives of local bishops over the content of their preaching, nor to recognize standards about who was fit to preach. Pope Innocent III offered

13431-491: The wicked so as to hurt the innocent". There was no personal confrontation of witnesses, neither was there any cross-examination. Witnesses for the defense hardly ever appeared, as they would almost infallibly be suspected of being heretics or favorable to heresy. At any stage of the trial the accused could appeal to Rome. Like the inquisitorial process itself, torture was an ancient Roman legal practice commonly used in secular courts. On May 15, 1252, Pope Innocent IV issued

13552-438: The works of the philosopher Michel Foucault , a discourse is "an entity of sequences, of signs, in that they are enouncements ( énoncés )." The enouncement ( l’énoncé , "the statement") is a linguistic construct that allows the writer and the speaker to assign meaning to words and to communicate repeatable semantic relations to, between, and among the statements, objects, or subjects of the discourse. Internal ties exist between

13673-438: The world is perceived, social theory often studies discourse as a window into power . Within theoretical linguistics , discourse is understood more narrowly as linguistic information exchange and was one of the major motivations for the framework of dynamic semantics . In these expressions, ' denotations are equated with their ability to update a discourse context. In the humanities and social sciences , discourse describes

13794-470: Was a professor at the university of Cartagena. Vidal Astori was the royal silversmith for Ferdinand II of Aragon and conducted business in his name. And King Ferdinand himself was said to have remote Jewish ancestry on his mother's side. There was never a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition in Castile , nor any inquisition during the Middle Ages. Members of the episcopate were charged with surveillance of

13915-646: Was a shift away from the accusatorial model toward the legal procedure used in the Roman Empire. Instead of an individual making accusations based on first-hand knowledge, judges now took on the prosecutorial role based on information collected. Under inquisitorial procedures, guilt or innocence was proved by the inquiry ( inquisitio ) of the judge into the details of a case. The common people tended to view heretics "...as an antisocial menace. ...Heresy involved not only religious division, but social upset and political strife." In 1076 Pope Gregory VII excommunicated

14036-484: Was against the law, and so was the belief in the existence of witchcraft, oracles or similar superstitions. In general, all "people from the book" were permitted to practice their own customs and religions as far as they did not attempt proselytizing on the Christian population. Jews particularly had surprising freedoms and protections compared with other areas of Europe and were allowed to hold high public offices such as

14157-674: Was eventually tried by the Dominican inquisitor of France and burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic in 1310. The Council of Vienne of 1311 proclaimed them heretics and the movement went into decline. The medieval Inquisition paid little attention to sorcery until Pope John XXII was the victim of an assassination attempt via poisoning and sorcery. In a letter written in 1320 to the Inquisitors of Carcassonne and Toulouse, Cardinal William of Santa Sabina states that Pope John declared witchcraft to be heresy, and thus it could be tried under

14278-616: Was not at first directed to matters of heresy, but a broad assortment of offenses such as clandestine marriage and bigamy. French historian Jean-Baptiste Guiraud (1866–1953) defined Medieval Inquisition as "... a system of repressive means, some of temporal and some others of spiritual kind, concurrently issued by ecclesiastical and civil authorities in order to protect religious orthodoxy and social order, both threatened by theological and social doctrines of heresy." Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste , defined heresy as "an opinion chosen by human perception, created by human reason, founded on

14399-466: Was put in charge of the new trial, which opened in Notre Dame de Paris on 7 November 1455. After analyzing all the proceedings, including Joan's answers to the allegations and the testimony of 115 witnesses who were called to testify during the appellate process, the inquisitor overturned her condemnation on 7 July 1456. Joan of Arc was eventually canonized in 1920. Historian Edward Peters identifies

14520-476: Was said to have been subjected to attempted rape by English soldiers, she put her soldier's clothing back on because (according to the eyewitnesses) she needed protection against rape. Cauchon declared her a relapsed heretic, and she was burned at the stake two days later on 30 May 1431. In 1455, a petition by Joan of Arc's mother Isabelle led to a re-trial designed to investigate the dubious circumstances which led to Joan's execution. The Inquisitor-General of France

14641-598: Was written in the first part of the fifteenth century. The poem exists in four manuscripts: two are housed at the University of Cambridge, one at Trinity College in Dublin, and another in Geneva. The Waldensians taught certain doctrines also held by the Catholic Church, but came into conflict with the Catholic Church by denying some of its sacraments or the manner in which they were performed; The earliest Waldensians taught

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