and an obedient Servant of the Pope as having been educated in the Church of Rome in the which he was resolved to live and die That if he was offended that such Persons as were Enemies to the Pope had been tolerated in his Territories that this ought not to be imputed to him because he had no other Subjects but such as his deceased Father had left him and that in this his Minority and during the short time that he had been Master of his Estate he had neither been able by reason of his Incapacity to discern the Evil or to suit a Remedy to it though indeed this was his Intention and that he hoped for the time to come to give all manner of Satisfaction to the Pope and the Church of Rome as became an obedient Son of both The Pope's Legat's Answer was That all his Excuses should be of no Use to him and that he might shift for himself the best he could The Earl of Beziers being returned to the City called the People together and represented to them that after having submitted himself to the Pope's Legate he had interceded for them without being able to obtain any thing but a Pardon upon condition that those who professed the Faith of the Albigenses should abjure their Religion and promise to live according to the Laws of the Church of Rome The Roman Catholicks beseeched them to give way to this extream Violence and not to be the cause of their Death because the Legate was resolved not to pardon one of them except they all unanimously resolved to live under the same Laws To which the Albigenses answered That they would never forsake their Faith for the base Price of this frail Life That they were well assured that God could protect them if it seemed good unto him but withal neither were they ignorant that if he rather chose to be glorified by the Confession of their Faith it would be an exceeding Honour to them to die for Righteousness sake That they had much rather displease the Pope who could only destroy their Bodies than offend God who could destroy Body and Soul together That they detested the Thought of being ashamed of or denying that Faith by which they had learn'd to know Christ and his Righteousness and for fear of eternal Death to imbrace a Religion which intirely takes away the Merit of Jesus Christ and destroys his Righteousness that therefore they might make the best terms for themselves they could without promising any thing that was contrary to the Duty of true Christians As soon as the Roman Catholicks understood this they sent their Bishop to the Legate to beseech him not to comprehend them in the same Punishment with the Albigenses they having always adhered to the Church of Rome and of whom he who was their Bishop had good Knowledg judging also that the rest had not gone so far from the ways of Repentance but that they might be reduced by a Sweetness well becoming the Church which takes no Delight in shedding Blood The Legate being enraged at this with horrible Threats and Oaths protested That except all that were in the Town did acknowledg their Fault and submit themselves to the Church of Rome they should all be put to the Sword without any regard had to Catholicks to Sex or Age but that all should be exposed to Fire and Sword and immediately commanded the City to be summoned to surrender at Discretion which being refused he commanded all the warlike Engines to play and to discharge their Instruments and to cast Stones ordering them at the same time to give a general Assault and to scale the City round so that it was impossible for those within to sustain the shock for being press'd upon by above 100000 Pilgrims they at last saith the Compiler of the Treasure of Histories discomfited those within the City and entring in all at once killed vast numbers of all sorts and afterwards putting Fire to the City they burnt it to Ashes When the Town was taken the Priests Monks and Clerks came in Procession out of the great Church of Beziers called St. Nazari with the Banner Cross and Holy Water bare-headed clothed in their Ecclesiastical Vestments singing Te Deum in token of their rejoicing for the City's being taken and purged of the Albigenses But the Pilgrims who had received an express Order from the Legate to kill all rushed in amongst this Procession cutting off the Heads and Arms of the Priests striving who could do most till they were all cut to pieces These Cruelties exercised upon the City of Beziers upon the Papists themselves yea and upon their very Clergy having opened the Earl of Beziers his Eyes to see that the Pope under the Pretence of Religion had a mind to ruin the Earl of Tholouse his Uncle as well as himself he shut up himself in his City of Carcasson with a Resolution to defend it against the Legate and his Pilgrims The King of Arragon his Kinsman having discoursed with him the Earl plainly declared That he knew this to be the Pope's Design because when he was treating for his Subjects of Beziers he refused to receive his Catholick Subjects into his Favour nay would not so much as spare the Priests who were all cut in pieces in their Sacerdotal Ornaments under the Banner and the Cross that this Example of cruel Impiety joined with what they exercised upon the Village of Carcasson where they had exposed all to Fire and Sword without any Distinction of Age or Sex had fully convinced him that there was no Mercy to be look'd for from the Legate or his Pilgrims and that accordingly he would choose rather to die with his Subjects defending themselves than to be exposed to the Mercy of an inexorable Enemy such as he had found the Legate to be and though there were in the City of Carcasson many of his Subjects of a Belief contrary to that of the Church of Rome yet that they were Persons that had never done any Injury to any one that they had always assisted him in time of need and that for this their good Service he was resolved never to abandon them as they on their Parts had promised him to hazard Life and Estate in his Defence That he hoped that God who is the Reliever of those who are oppressed would assist them against this great Multitude of ill-advised Men who under the Pretence of meriting Heaven had quitted their own Habitations to come and burn pillage ravage and murder in the Habitations of others without either Reason Judgment or Mercy The King of Arragon returned with this Remonstrance to the Legat who assembled a great number of Lords and Prelats to hear what he had to say who declared to them that he had found the Earl of Beziers his Ally extreamly scandalized at their inhuman Proceedings against his Subjects of Beziers and of the Village of Carcasson and that he was fully perswaded seeing they had neither spared
alio p. 33. l. 22. r. Ecclesiae Catholicae cap. 34. p. 37. l. 24. r. being ill advised p. 39. l. 7. from the bottom for That great Emperor r. Maximus the Emperor Page 47. l. 19. after mentem add Nam taliter ferme omnes agunt ut eos non tam putes antea poenitentiam criminum egisse quam postea ipsius poenitentiae poenitere nec tam prius poenituisse quod male vixerint quam postea quod se promiserint bene esse victuros Novum prorsus conversionis genus licita non faciunt illicita committunt Temperant à concubitu non temperant à rapina Quid agis stultae persuasio Peccata interdixit Deus non Matrimonia non conveniunt studiis vestris sactae vestra non debetis esse amici criminum qui dicitis vos sectatores esse virtutum Who under a shew of Religion are Slaves to the Vices of this World who having taken upon themselves a Title of Holiness after the Reproaches and Scandals of former Crimes do not alter their Lives by a new Conversation but change their Names by a new Profession and thinking that the Sum of the Worship of God lies more in their Clothes than their Actions they have only changed their Garments not their Minds for they do almost all things c. P. 62. l. 4. from bott for the Prayer r. Prayers p. 69. l. 3. r. use of again p. 70. l. 4. r. find solved in P. 78. l. 32. once mentioned should be in Italick p. 81. l. 19. from concerning Expositors to which sort of Writings must be struck out and these Words put in The blessed Father Augustin has told us that we ought to have quite another Opinion of Expositions than that which you hold who in his Book against Faustas the Manichee speaks not only of those which have been blamed by Learned Men but also of those which have been approved of after this manner Which sort of Writings c. P. 88. l. 11. dele giving that account of p. 113. l. 18. r. continual p. 141. l. 5. dele of p. 156. l. 18. f. Hours r. Times p. 180. l. 7. r. the conduct p. 183. l. 13. r. Heresies p. 206. col 1. l. 17. for Anglicâ which seems to be a Mistake either in the Copy or in the Original MS. r. Angelicâ l. 26. f. sine r. sive p. 208. col 1. l. 5. f. enim r. eum p. 227. l. 15. dele P. 248. l. 10. r. Stere of **** THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. COncerning the Original of the Churches of Gallia Narbonensis and Aquitain Page 1 CHAP. II. The Faith of the Church of the Gauls in the Second Century Page 7 CHAP. III. The Faith of Gallia Aquitanica and Narbonensis in the Fourth Century Page 14 CHAP. IV. An Examination of the Opinions of Vigilantius Page 21 CHAP. V. The State of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon in the Fifth Century Page 35 CHAP. VI. The State of these Diocesses in the Sixth Century Page 53 CHAP. VII The State of the Diocesses of Aquitain and Narbon in the Seventh Century Page 60 CHAP. VIII The Opinion of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon in the Eighth Century Page 72 CHAP. IX The Faith of the Churches of Aquitain and Narbon in the Ninth Century Page 79 CHAP. X. The State of these Diocesses in the Tenth Century Page 89 CHAP. XI The Beginning of the Manichees in Aquitain and the State of those Churches as to Religion in that Age Page 95 CHAP. XII That these Diocesses continued independent of the Popes until the Beginning of the Twelfth Century Page 102 CHAP. XIII Of the Opposition that was made by a Part of these Churches to the Attempts of the Popes and of their Separation from the Communion of Rome before Peter Waldo Page 112 CHAP. XIV Of the Opinions of Peter de Bruis and Henry and their Disciples and whether they were Manichees or not Page 121 CHAP. XV. That it doth not appear from the Conference of Alby that the Albigenses were Manichees Page 131 CHAP. XVI The Albigenses justified by a Conference whereof we have an Account written by Bernard of Foncaud Page 140 CHAP. XVII The Calumnies raised against the Albigenses refuted by the Conference at Montreal Page 153 CHAP. XVIII Reflections on the Convictions of Manicheism which were said to be proved upon the Albigenses Page 160 CHAP. XIX Whether the Albigenses were Manichees because they accused the Pope of being the Antichrist Page 173 CHAP. XX. Of the Morals of the Albigenses and of their Ecclesiastical Government Page 180 CHAP. XXI Concerning the Persecutions which the Albigenses have suffered from the Pope and his Party Page 190 CHAP. XXII That the Doctrine of the Albigenses spread it self in England and continued there till the time of the Reformation Page 201 The Petition of the LOLLARDS Page 205 CHAP. XXIII Of the Doctrine of Wicklef and his Disciples in England Page 222 CHAP. XXIV Of the Calumnies that have been unjustly charged upon Wicklef by the Papists Page 227 CHAP. XXV That the Doctrine of the Albigenses was propagated in Spain and that it continued there till the Reformation Page 237 CONCLUSION Page 245 Extracts of several Trials of some pretended Hereticks in the Diocess of Sarum Taken out of an old Register Page 248 REMARKS UPON THE Ecclesiastical History OF THE Ancient Churches OF THE Country of the Albigenses CHAP. I. Concerning the Original of the Churches of Gallia Narbonensis and Aquitain BEfore the Gauls were entirely reduc'd by Cesar under the Power of the Roman Empire and after that under the said Emperor Gallia was commonly divided into two Parts whereof the one was called Braccata the other Comata Gallia Braccata contained not only that part of Italy which is beyond the Alps and was named Cisalpina but also Gallia Narbonensis whereof Vienna was the Capital City The other to wit Gallia Comata was divided into three parts the first whereof was called Belgica the other Celtica and the third Aquitain But Augustus being absolute Master of Gaule made some Alteration in this Division for he extended the Bounds of Aquitain by restraining those of Celtica and distinguished Aquitain into three Provinces whereof the first and second were on this side of the Garonne and reached to the Loyre the third reached from the Garonne to the Pyrenean Mountains Bourges and Bourdeaux were the Mother-Cities of the first and second of these Provinces and Eulse or Eaulse was the Metropolis of the third which City having been destroyed by the Wars Ausch succeeded her in that Dignity As for Gallia Narbonensis which at first was only a Province whereof Vienna was the Capital City Augustus was pleased to take that Honour from her to bestow it upon Lions which seemed to him more commodious to be made the Seat of Government This Province was afterward changed by being divided into four Parts viz. into Narbonensis Viennensis the Maritime Alps and the Greek Alps. And after this Division Narbonensis was
A. D. 405. to Exuperius Bishop of Tholouse upon the same Subject of the Celibacy of the Clergy so much opposition did that Business every where meet with at that time We must consider further the manner how St. Jerom applies the Passage which only regards Adultery to the Celibacy of the Clergy But this is only by way of Preface St. Jerom tells us at first that he had received Vigilantius's Book by the Care of Riparius and Desiderius who lived near the Countries that Vigilantius had infected with his Opinions and that he had been informed by them that there were some there who favoured his Vices and were pleased with his Blasphemies After having branded his Book for a stupid piece of Ignorance and which did not deserve to be discuss'd were it not for the sake of some silly Women laden with Sins of whom St. Paul speaks 2 Tim. 3.6 he assaults Vigilantius upon the account of the place of his Birth he was born at Calaguri whereupon St. Jerom makes a learned Disquisition into the Original of that People from Pompey's time Nimirum saith he respondet generi suo ut qui de Latronum Convenarum natus est semine quos Cn. Pompeius edomitâ Hispaniâ ad Triumphum redire festinans de Pyrenaei jugis deposuit in unum oppidum congregavit unde Convenarum urbs nomen accepit hucusque latrocinetur contra Ecclesiam de Vectonibus Arrebacis Celtiberisque descendens incurset Galliarum Ecclesias portetque nequaquam vexillum Christi sed insigne Diaboli Fecit hoc idem Pompeius etiam in Orientis partibus ut Cilicibus Isauris Piratis Latronibusque superatis sui nominis inter Ciliciam Isauriam conderet civitatem Sed haec urbs hodie servat scita Majorum nullus in ea ortus est Dormitantius Galliae vernaculum hostem sustinent hominem moti capitis atque Hippocraticis vinculis alligandum sedentem sinunt in Ecclesia inter caetera verba Blasphemiae c. He indeed saith he every way answers his Extraction for being descended from Robbers and a mix'd Rabble drawn together from several parts whom Pompey after he had conquered Spain and hasting to his Triumph removed from the tops of the Pyrenean Hills and gathered them into one City which therefore was called the City of Strangers what wonder is it then if being such a one he ravage and spoil the Church and if deriving his Pedigree from the Vectones Arrebaci and Celtiberi he make Incursions upon the Gallick Churches fighting not under Christ's but the Devil's Banner Pompey also did the same in the East where after he had overcome the Pirates and Robbers of Cilicia and Isauria he built a City bearing his own Name between Cilicia and Isauria but to this day that City observes their Fore-fathers Customs and never produced any Dormitantius whereas Gaul maintains an home-bred Enemy and suffers a Man that is half mad one fit to be bound in Hippocrates's Bands to sit in the Church c. Here is a violent Transport of Rage What horrid thing then is it that this Robber hath attempted Why he said Quid necesse est te tanto honore non solum honorare sed etiam adorare illud nescio quid quod in modico vasculo transferendo colis Et rursum in eodem libro Quid pulverem linteamine circundatum adorando oscularis Et in consequentibus prope ritum Gentilium videmus sub praetextu Religionis introductum in Ecclesias Sole adhuc fulgente moles cereorum accendi ubicunque pulvisculum nescio quod in modico vasculo pretioso linteamine circundatum osculantes adorare Magnum honorem praebent hujusmodi homines beatissimis Martyribus quos putant de vilissimis cereolis illustrandos quos Agnus qui est in medio Throni cum omni fulgore Majestatis suae illustrat What need is there for thee not only to venerate but also adore something I know not what which thou worshippest carrying it about in a little Box. And again in the same Book why dost thou kiss by way of Worship a little Dust wrapt up in Linnen And afterwards We have almost seen a heathenish Rite introduced into the Churches whole heaps of wax Tapers lighted in the Face of the Sun and Men every where kissing a little Dust shut up in a small Box with religious Reverence which is wrapt about with fine Linnen These Men must need render a great Honour to the most Blessed Martyrs whom they suppose to stand in need of the Illustration of vile Candles whereas the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne doth illuminate them with all the Brightness of his Majesty This is a dreadful Crime in Vigilantius beyond all controversy Who is there replies St. Jerom to this that ever adored the Martyrs And he proves that it may not be done by the Example of Paul and Barnabas and of St. Peter The Church of Rome and the Bishop of Meaux are concerned to enquire whether St. Jerom was very Orthodox in denying a thing which at present cannot be so absolutely denied without the Imputation of Heresy After St. Jerom has shewn his Indignation against this Expression Illud nescio quid as if Vigilantius therein had spoke Blasphemy and derogated from the Honour due to the Martyrs he defends his Judgment by the Examples of Constantine that is to say of Constantius who had transported to Constantinople the Relicks of St. Andrew St. Luke and Timothy and of the Emperor Arcadius who had caus'd the Bones of the Prophet Samuel to be brought out of Judea to Thrace with the Approbation of the Bishops and People of that time This is a very solid Defence if we may believe St. Jerom for it seems there is no more to be said when once a Superstition comes to be 60 years old That which displeaseth is that St. Jerom goes about to support this popular Worship by this curious way of arguing Mortuum suspicaris idcirco blasphemas lege Evangelium Deus Abraham Deus Isaac Deus Jacob non est Deus mortuorum sed vivorum Si ergo vivunt honesto juxta te carcere non clauduntur Ais enim vel in sinu Abraham vel in loco refrigerii vel subter Aram Dei animas Apostolorum Martyrum consedisse nec posse suis tumulis ubi voluerint adesse praesentes senatoriae videlicet dignitatis sunt ut non inter Homicidas teterrimo carcere sed in liberâ honestâque custodiâ in Fortunatarum Insulis in Campis Elysiis recludantur Tu Deo Leges ponis tu Apostolis vincula injicis ut usque ad Deum judicii teneantur custodiâ nec sint cum Domino suo de quibus scriptum est sequuntur Agnum quocunque vadit Si Agnus ubique ergo hi qui cum Agno sunt ubique esse credendi sunt Et cum Diabolus Daemones toto vagentur orbe celeritate nimiâ ubique praesentes sint Martyres post
of all affects us which is that the Catholick Faith is extreamly shaken in this our Diocess and St. Peter's Boat is so violently tossed by the Waves that it is in great danger of sinking Now since Lewis VII died in the year 1180 having reigned ever since the year 1137 it appears clearly that Languedoc was full of the Disciples of Peter de Bruis and Henry a long time before ever Waldo or any of his Disciples had begun to preach We may gather the same from what is related by Henry Abbot of Clairvaux in the Annals of Hoveden Anno 1178 where he saith That this Plague was come to such a Head in that Country that they had not only made themselves Priests and Popes but also had their Evangelists I own that Hoveden seems to suppose that the Faith of these Albigenses came from Italy by his calling them Paterines for as for the name of Publicans it was like that of Cathari given them on purpose to blacken them and is the same with that of Bulgarians and Paphlagonians all relating to the Original of the Manichees who came out of those Countries at first 3 dly It appears from the Edicts quoted by Hoveden that they were made against People of a more antient standing than the Disciples of Waldo Wherefore because the damnable Perversness of those Hereticks whom some call Cathari others Publicans others Paterines and others by other Names is encreased in Gascoin the Country of Alby and other Places so far that they do no more now as in other Places exercise their Impiety in private but manifest their Errors publickly Stephen of Tournay is an unquestionable Witness to the same Truth he wrote a Letter to Johannes de Beauxmains Bishop of Poictiers in the year 1181 to persuade him to comply with the Election of those of Lions who desired him for their Archbishop and lays before his Eyes the notorious Infidelity of the Diocesses of Languedock Gascoin and Septimania and the general Desolation of the Churches of the Romish Party in those Parts Far be it Father saith he from your Clemency that you should have any Inclination for the Barbarity of the Gothes the Levity of the Gascoins or for the cruel and savage Manners of those of Septimania where Infidelity is above Faith Famine above Fame Treachery and Trouble more than can be conceived I lately saw in my Passage when the King sent me to Tholouse a terrible Image of Death frequent and fervent in that Country the Walls of Churches half demolished sacred Buildings half burnt down their Foundations digged up and where there were formerly the Dwellings of Men now nothing but the Habitations of Beasts I confess I shak'd and trembled when I heard you were invited to those Parts in which tho you might chance to be a Bishop yet you might easily be so without any Advantage We have the concurrent Testimony of the Archbishops and other Prelats assembled at Lavaur against the Albigenses who declare in their Letters to Innocent III that this Heresy had been sown in these Countries long before in these Terms For whereas the Heretical Pestilence which of old time hath been sown in those Parts was now grown to that height that Divine Worship was scorned and derided and the Hereticks on one hand and the Robbers on the other harassed the Clergy and the Churches Revenue and that both Prince and People being given over to a reprobate Mind swerved from the true Faith now by means of your Armies by which you have most wisely designed to purge away the Infection and Noisomness of this Pestilence and their most Christian Leader the Earl of Montfort an undaunted Warriour and unconquered Fighter of the Lord's Battels the Church which was so miserably ruinated begins again to lift up her Head and both Enemies and Errors being for the most part destroyed the Land which hath so long been wasted by the Followers of these Opinions will at length accustom it self again to the Worship of God Lastly The same thing appears by the Testimony of Peter a Monk of Veaux Cernay in the first Chapter of his History In the Province of Narbon where formerly the Faith flourished the Enemy of the Faith has begun to sow his Tares The People there are distasted with the Sacraments of Christ who is the Savour and Wisdom of God being become profane and unwise by forsaking the Wisdom of true Godliness And after having represented how the Monks Petrus de Castro Novo and Radulphus the Pope's Legats had forced those of Tholouse to abjure their Faith for fear of Punishments but that soon after they returned again to their former Opinions he adds For being perjured and relapsing into their former Calamity they conceal'd the Hereticks that preached at Midnight in their Conventicles O how difficult a thing it is to pluck up a deep-rooted Custom This treacherous City of Tholouse from its very first Foundation as 't is said hath seldom or never been clear of this detestable Plague this Poison of Heretical Pravity and superstitious Infidelity having been successively diffused from Father to Son Wherefore she also as a due Vengeance for so great Wickedness has endur'd the Effects of avenging Hands and the Ruin of a just Desolation Yea what is more she has suffered this Heretical Nature and home-bred Heresy after it had been driven out by a well-deserved Severity to return again upon her being desirous to imitate her Ancestors and refusing to degenerate By the Example of whose Neighbourhood as one rotten Grape taints another and as a whole Herd of Swine are infected by the Scabbiness of a single Hog so the neighbouring Cities and Towns having once had these Arch-hereticks rooted amongst them are become wonderfully and miserably infected with this Plague by the springing Shoots of their Infidelity The Barons of the several Lordships in these Provinces being almost all of them become the Defenders and Entertainers of Hereticks loving them sincerely and defending them against God and the Church very warmly One needs only to reflect upon what I have here produced concerning the time of the Promotion of Johannes de Beauxmains to the Archbishoprick of Lions and to recollect that it was he that persecuted Peter Waldo to make us acknowledg that we cannot suppose the Albigenses to have been the Disciples of this Peter Waldo CHAP. XIV Of the Opinions of Peter de Bruis and Henry and their Disciples and whether they were Manichees or not WE find that tho some Manichees setled themselves in Languedoc yet it seems they have only serv'd to give the Papists a colour to accuse those whom their Errors and their false Worship obliged them to look upon as an Antichristian Church This will appear yet more clearly by the account we are about to give here of the Opinions of Peter de Bruis of Henry and of their Disciples whom the Bishop of Meaux would willingly have thought to have been Manichees Baronius was not so
were frequent Disputes held with the Hereticks several times at Viride Folium and at Pamiers but the famous Disputation was at Montreal where two Noble-men were chosen Arbitrators Bernardus de Villa nova and Bernardus Arrensis and two of the Commons Raimond Godius and Arnoldus Ribera but they who were accounted Hereticks could not agree about any thing the Names of the chiefest of them were these Ponticus Jordanus Arnoldus Aurisanus Arnoldus Othonus Philibertus Casliensis Benedictus Thermus They all constantly affirmed that the Church of Rome was not the Holy Church nor the Spouse of Christ but a Church that had imbibed the Doctrine of Devils that she was that Babylon which St. John describes in the Revelation the Mother of Fornications and Abominations cover'd over with the Blood of the Saints That what the Church of Rome approved of was not approved by the Lord That the Mass was neither instituted by Christ nor by his Apostles but was meerly a human Invention The same hath been owned by Carolus Molineus the Glory of the Bar of France who declares that the Albigenses of Provence taught this very thing expresly in the Reign of Lewis XII which was afterwards taught by those of the Reformed Religion in France This Testimony is alledged by Camerarius in his Historical Account of the Brethren of Bohemia This obliged Vignier in his Historical Library to contemn all the Calumnies cast upon the Albigenses In his Account of the year 1206 he relates that a Gascon a Man of Reputation assured him that he had read one of their Confessions in the old Gascon Language which was preached before the late Chancellor de l' Hospital a little before the second Troubles of France which had not one word of these Opinions but only those Articles which we formerly ascribed to the Waldenses Amongst which they expresly declared that they received the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament and that they rejected every Doctrine that was not grounded upon or authorized by them or was contrary to any one Point of Doctrine that may be found there According to which Maxim they confessed that they rejected and condemned all the Ceremonies Traditions and Ordinances of the Church of Rome which they declared to be a Den of Thieves and the Whore that is spoken of in the Revelation Upon which account also the Colloquies Disputes and Conferences which the Legats of the Pope and their Commissioners had together were only upon these Points as we shall prove by the Testimony of James de Ribera in his Book entituled His Collections about the City of Tholouse The third Thing that we are to observe is that this Conformity of Faith between the Waldenses and the Albigenses has made many People take them for the very same I suppose there is no Reader that is ever so little just but will allow me to make a very great difference between the Accounts of the Inquisitors and the Truth The Inquisitors make the Albigenses guilty of the Errors of the Cathari and Manichees as if they had been all one and that they had exactly answered the Description which is given us of them in the Directory of the Inquisitors by Emericus But we have other ways of knowing from their own Confessions of Faith that they were not at all polluted by Manicheism and the most part of those Authors that have writ with any degree of Honesty call them Waldenses because they held the same Faith and Opinions The same Authors acknowledg that it was against the Waldenses that St. Bernard preached in Languedock and that it is with them whom they promiscuously call Albigenses that those Conferences were held which the Bishop of Meaux owns to have been held with the Albigenses This is acknowledged by James de Ribera Counsellor of State in his Collections concerning the City of Tholouse that are set down in the Catalogue of the Witnesses of the Truth This is owned by Gretzer the Jesuit in his Prolegomena to the Authors who have written concerning the Sect of the Waldenses where he acknowledgeth that the Waldenses and Albigenses were the same and were called insabbatati because of their Shoes And that the Albigenses and Waldenses differ only in their Names Cardinal Hosius also had the fame Notion of them in his Book concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist where he speaks of the Henricians and Petrobusians This was the Opinion of Andrew Favin in his History of Navarre where he saith that the Heresy of the Albigenses is otherwise termed the Heresy of the Waldenses Genebrard in his Chronology saith expresly that the Fathers of the Calvinists were the Petrobusians the Henricians and the Albigenses and it is well known that the Calvinists are no Manichees Catel in his History of Tholouse acknowledgeth that the Henricians were the Forerunners of the Albigenses and that they had not this Name till after the Council of Alby in the year 1178. CHAP. XIX Whether the Albigenses were Manichees because they accused the Pope of being the Antichrist AS one Day gives Light to another so the Bishop of Meaux hath at last discover'd that the Accusation charged upon the Pope by the Albigenses as being the Antichrist was a Character of Manicheism He thought fit to reveal this great Secret to the World in his History of the Variations and afterwards he makes it an express Character of Manicheism in his Explication of the Revelation But saving the Reverence due to this Prelate there is nothing falser nothing that seems more to be raving For 1. Hath he found this Character of the Manichees in the Writings of Archelaus Bishop of Mesopotamia which the late Mr. Bigosa hath communicated to the Publick or in St. Cyril of Jerusalem who confutes the Manichees in his Catechetick Lectures 2. Hath he found any thing like it in the Writings of St. Epiphanius who hath given us so large a Catalogue of their Heresies 3. Hath he found any thing to this purpose in St. Augustin who hath writ so many Books against these Mad-men or in St. Leo in his Epistle to Turribius Bishop of Tarracon 4. Hath he found any such thing in the Treatise of Predestinatus concerning Heresies published by Sirmondus 5. Hath he found this Character of the Manichees in any of those Authors that have written since as in Isidore of Sevill in Johannes Damascenus in the Catalogue of Heresies published by Cotelerius 6. Hath he found any thing to this purpose in Petrus Siculus who lived in the 9 th Century and who conversed and disputed at Tibrica with the Manichees whose Opinions he sets down All the Greek Authors which speak of the Manichees before and after the 9 th Century and all the Latin Authors without so much as excepting one only know of no such thing who could therefore discover this Character of Manicheism to the Bishop We must conclude that the Bishop who hath made a Discovery which none of the Antients no nor
it seems that they could never attain their End We have a Letter writ by an Earl of Tholouse to the Abbot of Cisteaux and to the general Chapter of that Order in the Year 1177 which declares that the Clergy sided with the Party which he accuseth of Manicheism and that the Popish Churches were reduced to extream Desolation he himself being in no Condition to remedy it or to oppose himself against the Torrent most of the great Lords having declared themselves for them So far saith he hath this noisom heretical Infection prevailed that almost all closing with it believe that in so doing they do God good Service and the wicked one who is now exerting the Mystery of Iniquity in the Children of Unbelief doth so transform himself into an Angel of Light that the Wife separates from her Husband the Son from his Father and the Daughter-in-Law from her Mother-in-Law And O miserable has the Gold lost its Lustre amongst us to that Degree that it is trod under the Devil's Feet like Dirt for even the Priests are depraved with the Filth of Heresy and the ancient and once venerable Churches appointed for Worship are left desolate and lie in Ruins And now what shall I say there are none that consider with themselves and say in their Hearts What do we do for we see that these Men do a great deal of Mischief If we let them alone all Men will believe in them and he who hath swallowed down a River already will not wonder at it from the Boldness of his wicked Presumption if Jordan should flow into his Mouth For my part who am girt with one of the two divine Swords and who do own my self an Avenger of the divine Wrath and Minister of God appointed for that Purpose whilst I endeavour to set Bounds and put a Stop to this Infidelity do find that my Power is too weak to effect such and so great a Work because the most part of the Gentry of my Dominion having drunk of this Poison of Infidelity already are wasted away with its Contagion and together with them the greatest part of the common People fall'n from the Faith pines likewise so that I neither dare nor am able to undertake it Roger Hoveden sets down a Letter of Peter Cardinal Legate at Tholouse wherein he makes mention of the Albigensian Pastors Raymond Baimiac Bernard Raimond and some other chief Hereticks who came to speak with him under his and the Earl of Tholouse's safe Conduct and made profession of their Faith in a great Assembly in the Church of St. Stephen He afterwards gives us an account of a Letter of Henry Abbot of Clairvaux who lamenting the Corruption of Tholouse by these Arch-hereticks adds these Words Yea so far had this Plague prevailed in the Land that they had not only made to themselves Priests and Bishops but had also their Evangelists who having depraved and cancell'd the Truth of the Gospel had copied to themselves new Gospels and from their wicked Hearts preached to the deceived People new Doctrines I lie if there was not amongst them a Man of a great Age of a very plentiful Estate who had several Brethren and Friends and who had the Reputation of a great Man amongst the greatest of the City whom in Punishment for his Sins the Devil had so blinded that he declar'd himself to be John the Evangelist and he distinguished the Word that was in the Beginning with God from another Principle of things as from another God he was the head of these miserable Wretches and the Ring-leader of the Hereticks in this City who though a Lay-man and an Idiot and so knew nothing yet as a Fountain of diabolical Wisdom the bitter Waters of Perdition and Death flowed from him amongst them A Company of dark Owls associated to him at Nights where he sitting amongst them in a Garment like a Rochet and a Surplice over it seem'd like a King with his Army standing about him and was the Preacher to these Fools He had fill'd the whole City with his Disciples and Doctrine no Body daring to oppose him because of his Power and Riches Yea so great was the Licentiousness of these Hereticks that at our entrance into the Town as we passed through the Streets and Lanes they mocked us and pointed at us with their Finger calling us Apostats Hypocrits and Hereticks Peter Monk of Vaux Cernay owns that the Albigenses had their Teachers whom they called Bishops and Deacons He takes notice that the Earl of Tholouse who never went any whither without a New Testament had always with him some of these Ministers for his Instruction and Consolation We find in the Council of Montpellier in the year 1214 that there was some difference between the Hereticks that were the Pastors and the Believers that is to say the People as it is particularly taken notice of in the Preface and in the 29 th Canon of the Council of Gallia Narbonensis We find in Matthew Paris a Letter of the Bishop of Porto the Pope's Legate for this Business of the Albigenses written in the year 1223 to the Archbishop of Roan where he mentions one Bartholomew a Bishop of the Hereticks who had removed himself into the Country near Tholouse where he created Bishops and set Rules to the Churches of his Communion His Words are these Etenim de Carcassonâ oriundus vices illius Antipapae gerens Bartholomaeus Haereticorum Episcopus funestam ei exhibendo reverentiam sedem locum concessit in villâ quae Perlos appellatur seipsum transtulit in partes Tholosanas Iste Bartholomaeus in literarum suarum undique discurrentium tenore se in primo salutationis alloquio intitulat in hunc modum Bartholomaeus servus servorum sanctae fidei tali salutem Ipse etiam inter alias enormitates creat Episcopos Ecclesias perfide ordinare intendit For this Bartholomew the Bishop of the Hereticks Vicar to that Antipope originally of Carcasson paying him an unhappy Reverence yielded him his Seat and his Place in the Village called Perlos and removed himself into the Country near Tholouse this Bartholomew stiled himself Servant of the Servants of the holy Faith and in his Letters which he sent about amongst his Flock as also in his first Salutations of those who addressed themselves to him he always assumed that Character He also added to his other Crimes that of creating Bishops and perfidiously took upon him the Government of those Churches Lucas Tudensis speaks of one of their Bishops that was burnt William of Puylaurens in his Chronicle at the Beginning speaks of the great Respect that was given to these Ministers of the Albigenses whom he calls Waldenses because of the Holiness of their Lives Lastly We see in the Acts of the Inquisition of Tholouse several Names of those that were Pastors of the Albigenses and who had been ordain'd to the holy Ministry by Men of their own Communion This therefore was the
your Duty to drive out the Hereticks from those Places where they rejoice to have found lurking Holes not only by your Preaching but also if need be by armed Force of Lay-men The Council of Tholouse assembled in 1119 where Calixtus II was present gave occasion to these bloody Executions The third Chapter enjoins all Powers to repress the Hereticks and that those that favour them be subject to the same Condemnation In the year 1163 the Council of Tours assembled by Alexander III had ordained that the Bishops of those Provinces where any of them were found should not suffer any one to harbour or shelter them that no Commerce should be held with them about the things of common Conversation and order'd temporal Princes to imprison and condemn them and confiscate their Estates and Goods In the year 1179 the same Pope Alexander III renewed the same Orders forbidding also their being buried in Places set a part for the burial of Papists In 1181 Henry who from Abbot of Clairvaux had been made Bishop of Alby having as Legate gathered together some considerable Forces by his Preaching went to visit them with armed Force but they to avoid the Storm that threatned them pretended to abjure their Errors but no sooner was the Storm blown over but they liv'd as they did before So that the Contagion spread it self through several Provinces on both sides of the Loire and one of their false Apostles called Terric who had hid himself a long time in a Cave at Corbigny in the Diocess of Nevers was taken and burnt and many more suffered the same Punishment in several other places This was that Sweetness of the Church of Rome which the Bishop of Meaux so much boasts of and which she put in practice long before she came to Conferences which served only for a Prelude to the utter ruin of the Albigenses which the Popes had designed long before Accordingly Innocent III as Mezeray tells us in the History of Philip Augustus finding himself unable to reduce the Hereticks of Languedoc who had almost gained that whole Province resolv'd to make an Example of Raymond Earl of Tholouse because he was their chief Favourer and because he had caus'd Peter de Chasteauneuf a Cistertian Monk and the first that ever exercised the Function of Inquisitor to be put to Death He excommunicated the Earl absolved his Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance and gave his Lands to the first that should seize them yet so as without Prejudice to the Right of Soveraignty of the Kings of France Whereupon the Earl was so frighted that being come to Valence to meet with Milo the Pope's Legate he wholly submitted himself to him and gave eight strong Places for ever to the Church of Rome as a Security of his Conversion and the Year following to obtain Absolution he suffered himself to be lash'd with Rods before the Gate of the Church of St. Giles where Peter de Chasteau-Neuf was buried and afterwards to be dragg'd to the Tomb of that Monk by the Legate who put a wooden Yoak about his Neck before twenty Archbishops and an infinite multitude of People after this he took upon him the Croisade and the Year following joined himself with those that took his own Cities and those of his Confederates But it was not his Repentance that ingaged him to endure so dreadful a Disgrace but the Apprehension he had of a terrible Tempest that was just then breaking over his Head for the Pope turning his Torrent of Zeal against the Hereticks which push'd the People on to the Deliverance of the Holy Land had this same Year ordered the Croisade to be preached up against the Albigenses and a great number of Noblemen Bishops and common People had already listed themselves in that Service the King himself furnishing 15000 Men maintained at his own Charges It is worth our taking notice 1 st That Pope Innocent III to encourage the Lords and People to the Holy War granted a Plenary Remission of all their Sins to all those who took up the Badg of the Cross vouchsafing also the Protection of the Holy See to their Persons and Goods as may be seen in his Epistles He absolved the Cities that had sworn to the Earl of Tholouse from their Oath of Allegiance upon that excellent Principle of the Church of Rome That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks because they do not keep theirs with God or the Church 2 dly That the Earl of Tholouse was not guilty of the Murder of Peter de Chasteau Neuf for we read that Earl Raymond went to meet King Philip to obtain of him Letters of Recommendation from the Pope that he might be fully acquitted of the Murder of the Monk Peter de Chasteau Neuf whereof they had most unjustly obliged him to confess himself guilty only because the said Murder had been committed in his Territories for which the Legate Milo had imposed upon him a most unjust and unheard of Penance From the Court of the King of France he went to Rome where he received Absolution immediately from the Hands of Pope Innocent III this being a Case reserved to him the Pope received him very civilly presented him with a rich Robe and a Ring of great Value and granted him plenary Remission and Absolution from the said Murder declaring that he look'd upon him as sufficiently cleared upon that Account In the Year 1209 the Army of these Cross'd Souldiers which consisted of no less than 500000 Men entred Languedock and attack'd the City of Beziers being one of the strongest Places the Albigenses had took it by Force and put all they found in it to the Sword so that above 60000 Persons were kill'd there as Mezeray informs us There happened one thing very remarkable at the taking of this City which was That the Zeal of these consecrated Souldiers was such that they put to the Sword all the Papists and Romish Clergy that were in the City The Earl of Beziers came out of the City and cast himself at the Feet of the Legate Milo begging his Grace in Behalf of his City of Beziers and intreating him that he would not involve the Innocent in the Punishment of the Guilty which would certainly come to pass in case the City should be taken by Force which would soon be done by such a great and powerful Army that was ready to scale the Walls in every Part round the whole City that it could not be otherwise but that in this Case much Blood would be spilt on both sides which he might prevent That there were in Beziers great Numbers of good Catholicks who would be involved in the same Ruin contrary to the Pope's Intention whose Design was only to chastise the Albigenses That if he did not think fit to spare his Subjects for their own sakes that at least he would be pleased to take pity of his Age and Profession since the Loss would be his who was under Age