Chapter I: The Witch: Heretic and Anarchist (3)

[31] A more detailed treatment will be found in the present writer’s _The Geography of Witchcraft_, where the Bull is given _in extenso_.

[32] _Epist._, c.n. 1.

[33] _Hom._, XLVI. c. 1.

[34] _Sententianum_, III. iv. nn. 4-6.

[35] Theodosius II. _Nouellæ_, tit. III. A.D. 438.

[36] Uanissimus [Priscillianus] et plus iusto inflatior profanarum rerum scientia: quin et magicas artes ab adolescentia cum exercuisse creditum est. Sulpicius Severus. II. 47.

[37] H. C. Lea in his _History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages_, (1888) I. 215, asserts that Leo I justified the act, and that successive edicts against heresy were due to ecclesiastical influence. This is the exact opposite of historical truth, and the writer has not hesitated to transfer words of the Emperor to the Pope.

[38] In a sermon published in 1896 by Dom Morin _Revue benédictine_, c. xiii. p. 205.

[39] _Epistola Elipandi ad Alcuinum_, Migne. Pat. Lat. CXCVI. p. 872. Alcuin. _Opera Omnia._ Migne Pat. Lat. C-CI, especially _Liber Albini contra hæresim Felicis_; _Libri VII aduersus Felicem_; _Aduersus Elipandum Libri IV_. Florez, _España sagrada_. V. p. 562. Menendez y Pelayo, _Historia de los heterodoxos españoles_, Madrid, 1880, I. p. 274.

[40] The martyrdom of S. Peter is a well-known subject in art. Titian’s masterpiece in the Dominican church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice was destroyed by a fire on 16 August, 1867. But there are exquisite paintings of the scene by Lorenzo Lotto and Bellini. S. Peter, whose shrine is in San Eustorgio, Milan, was canonized 25 March, 1253, by Innocent IV. Major Feast, 29 April.

[41] Muratori. _Antiquitates italicæ medii æui_, Milan, 1738-42.

[42] Gabriel Rossetti, _Disquisitions_, vol. I. p. 27.

[43] Gervasius Dorobernensis, _Chronicon_.

[44] _Vita S. Romanæ._ n. 10; Acta SS. die, 3 Oct. p. 138. S. Gregorii VII. Lib. I. Epistola 75, _ad Philippum_.

[45] Labbe. _Sacrosancta concilia._ 18 vols. folio. 1671. Vol. X. col. 84.

[46] Quarum rerum rex uester, qui non rex sed tyrannus dicendus est, suadente diabolo, caput et causa est, qui omnem aetatem suam flagitiis et facinoribus polluit. _Idem_, vol. X. col. 72.

[47] Sane ... prouinciali ordinis prædicatorum in eodem regno dedimus in mandatis, ut aliquibus fratribus suis aptis ad hoc, inquisitionem contra illos committeret in regno præfato ... fraternitati tuæ ... mandamus quatenus ... per alios qui ad hoc idonei uidebuntur, festines ... procedere in inquisitionis negotio et ad dominicum certamen accingi. Ripoll et Brémond, _Bullarium ordinis S. Dominici_, I. p. 80. (8 vols. Romæ. 1737, _sqq._).

[48] Fratres ... qui ad prædicandum crucem uel inquirendum contra prauitatem hæreticam ... sunt deputati. Wadding. _Annales Minorum._ ed. secunda. 24 vols. Romæ, 1732, _sqq._ III. 144.

[49] _Gnostic Heresies._

[50] Jules Bois. _Le Satanisme et la Magie_, c. 6.

[51] It is true that S. Augustine does not bring a charge of depravity against the Manichæans, but they veiled their vices with the greatest caution, and S. Augustine was simply a catechumen, one of the Auditors, who would have known nothing of these esoteric abominations.

[52] Extra ciuitatis educti muros in quodam tuguriolo copioso igne accenso ... cremati sunt. _Gesta synodi Aurelianensis._ Arnould. _L’Inquisition._ (Paris, 1869). VI. p. 46.

[53] Sed antequam ad conflictum ueniamus, de cibo illo, qui cœlestis ab illis dicebatur, quali arte conficiebatur, nescientibus demonstrare curabo. Congregabantur si quidem certis noctibus in domo denominata, singuli lucernas tenentes in manibus, ad instar letaniæ demonum nomina declamabant, donec subito Dæmonem in similitudine cuiuslibet bestiolæ inter eos uiderent descendere. Qui statim, ut uisibilis ille uidebatur uisio, omnibus extinctis luminaribus, quamprimum quisque poterat, mulierem, quæ ad manum sibi ueniebat, ad abutendum arripiebat, sine peccati respectu, et utrum mater, aut soror, aut monacha haberetur, pro sanctitate et religione eius concubitus ab illis æstimabatur; ex quo spurcissimo concubitu infans generatus, octaua die in medio eorum copioso igne accenso probabatur per ignem more antiquorum Paganorum; et sic in igne cremabatur. Cuius cinis tanta ueneratione colligebatur atque custodiebatur, ut Christiana religiositas Corpus Christi custodire solet, ægris dandum de hoc sæculo exituris ad uiaticum. Inerat enim tanta uis diabolicæ fraudis in ipso cinere ut quicumque de præfata hæresi imbutus fuisset, et de eodem cinere quamuis sumendo parum prælibauisset, uix unquam postea de eadem heresi gressum mentis ad uiam ueritatis dirigere ualeret. De qua re parum dixisse sufficiat, ut Christicolæ caueant se ab hoc nefario opere, non ut studeant sectando imitari. Schmidt. _Histoire et doctrine des Cathares ou Albigeois._ Paris. 1849. I. p. 31.

[54] G. R. Kinloch. _Reliquiæ Antiquæ Scoticæ._ Edinburgh, 1848.

[55] Adhémar de Chabannes. (A monk of Angoulême.) _Chronicon, Recueil des historicus_, vol. X. p. 163.

[56] Fabré Palaprat. _Recherches Historiques sur les Templiers_, Paris. 1835.

[57] Cambridge University Press, 1925.

[58] _The Philosopher_, July-August, 1924.

[59] _The Philosopher_, January-March, 1925. _The Albigenses_, pp. 20-25. The whole article, which is written with extraordinary restraint, should be read.

[60] He is the author of _Éléments d’Astrologie_; _Un disciple de Cl. de Saint-Martin, Dutoit-Membrini_; _Premiers Éléments d’Occultisme_; _La petite Église anticoncordataire, son histoire, son état actuel_; _J. K. Huysmans et le Satanisme_; _Huysmans, Occultiste et Magicien_.

[61] _In Uerrem._ IV. 43.

[62] H. Th. Pyl, _Die griechischen Rundbauten_, 1861, pp. 67, _sqq._

[63] Plutarch, _Theseus_ 36; _Cimon_ 8.

[64] Pausanias is the chief authority on this point. See Rohde _Psyche_, I. p. 161.

[65] Clarendon Press, 1921.

[66] _The Witch-Cult in Western Europe_, p. 16. It is true that the Brethren of the Free Spirit, anarchists, who vaunted the Adamite heresy, in the Thirteenth century, went to the stake with pæans of joy. But they were probably drugged. J. L. Mosheim, _Ecclesiastical History_. London. 1819. III. p. 278. _sqq._ The Adamites were a licentious sect who called their church Paradise and worshipped in a state of stark nudity. They were Gnostics and claimed complete emancipation from the moral law. They lived in shameful communism. Bohemian Adamites existed as late as 1849. In Russia the _teleschi_, a branch of the sect known as the “Divine Men,” performed their religious rites in a state of nature, following the example, as they asserted, of Adam and Eve in Paradise. These assemblies were wont to end in promiscuous debauchery.

[67] _Idem._ p. 161.

[68] _Witch-Cult in Western Europe_, p. 161.

[69] _Additional Notices of Major Weir and his Sister_; Sinclar’s _Satan’s Invisible World_. (Reprint. 1875).

[70] _Criminal Trials_, 1536-1784; Hugo Arnot, 4to, 1785.

[71] _Ravillac Rediuius_, Dr. George Hickes, 4to, 1678.

[72] Iubemus namque, auctores quidem et principes, una cum abominandis scripturis eorum seueriori pœnæ subiici, ita ut flammeis ignibus exurantur. Baronius, 287, 4.

[73] Scio multos [Proconsules] et ad bestias damnasse sacrilegos, nonnullos etiam uiuos exussisse. _Lex Romana Visigothorum nouella_, XLVIII. tit. xiii. c. 6-7.

[74] Plures etiam per Italiam tunc huius pestiferi dogmatis sunt reperti, qui aut gladiis, aut incendiis perierunt.

[75] Tanchelinus, Tandemus, Tanchelmus. The history of this important revolutionary movement has been carefully studied. The following authoritative books are a few from many of great value and learning. _Corpus documentorum Inquisitionis hereticæ prauitatis neerlandicæ_, ed. Dr. Paul Frédéricq, vol. I, p. 15 _et sqq._ Ghent. 1889; _Tanchelijn_ by Janssen in the _Annales de l’académie Royale d’archéologie de Belgique_, vol. XXIII, p. 448 _et sqq._ 1867; Foppens, _Historia Episcopatus Antuerpiensis_, p. 8 and p. 146, Brussels, 1717; Dierxsens, _Antuerpia Christo nascens et crescens_, vol. I, p. 88, Antwerp, 1773; Poncelet, _Saint Norbert et Tanchelin_ in the _Analecta bollandiniana_, vol. XIII, p. 441, 1893; Schools, _Saint Norbert et Tanchelin à Anvers_ in the _Bibliothèque norbertine_, vol. II, p. 97, 1900; De Schapper, _Réponse à la question: Faites connaître l’hérésiarque Tanchelin et les erreurs qu’il répandit au commencement du XIIIᵉ siècle_ [an error for _XIIᵉ siècle_] in the _Collationes Brugenses_, vol. XVII, p. 107, 1912. L. Vander Essen, _De Katterij van Tanchelm in de XIIᵉ eeuw_ in _Ons Geloof_, vol. II, p. 354, 1912; _Antwerpen en de H. Norbertus_ in the _Bode van Onze Lieve Vrouw van het H. Hert van Averbode_, Nos. 18 and 19, pp. 207-211 and 217-220, 1914.

[76] “That most vile and abandoned scoundrel had become so open and utterly depraved an enemy to the Christian faith and all religious observance that he denied any respect was due to Bishops and priests; moreover, he affirmed that the reception of the most holy Body and Blood of Our Lord availed nothing to eternal life and man’s salvation.” “Erat quidem ille sceleratissimus et christianæ fidei et totius religionis inimicus in tantum ut obsequium episcoporum et sacerdotum nihil esse diceret, et sacrosancti corporiset sanguinis Domini J. C. perceptionem ad salutem perpetuam prodesse denegeret.” _Vita Noberti archiepiscopi Magdeburgensis, Vita A. Monument. Germ. Scriptores_, vol. XII. p. 690, ed. G. A. Pertz, Hanover, Berlin.

[77] “Immo uere ipse angelus Sathanæ declamabat eccelsias Dei lupinaria esse reputanda. Nihil esse, quod sacerdotum officio in mensa dominica conficeretur; pollutiones, non sacramenta nominanda.” _Lettre des chanoines d’Utrecht au nom de leur diocèse à Frédéric, archevêque de Cologne._ _Apud_ Frédéricq, vol. I. n. 11.

[78] Talibus nequitiæ successibus miscro homini tanta sceleris accessit audacia, ut etiam se Deum diceret, asserens, quia, si Christus ideo Deus est, quia Spiritum Sanctum habuisset, se non inferius nec dissimilius Deum, quia plenitudinem Spiritus Sancti accepisset. _Idem._

[79] Qui tandem post multos errores et cædes, dum nauigaret, a quodam presbytero percussus in cerebro occubuit. _Sigiberti continuatio._ Apud _Monument. Germ. Scriptores_, vol. VI, p. 449. See also, Johannes Trithemius, _Annales Hirsaugienses_, vol. I, p. 387, Saint-Gall, 1690; Du Plessis d’Argentré, _Collectio iudiciorum_, vol. I, p. 11 _sqq._ Paris, 1728; Schmidt, _Histoire et doctrine des Cathares ou Albigeois_, vol. I, p. 49, Paris, 1849.

[80] There is a contemporary _Uita Norberti_ of which two recensions have been published: _Uita A._ by R. Wilmans in the _Mon. Germ. Hag._, SS., vol. XIII, pp. 663-706, Hanover, 1853; _Uita B._ by Surius, _De probatis Sanctorum historiis_, vol. III, pp. 517-547, Cologne, 1572. Other authoritative works are: J. Van der Sterse, _Uita S. Norberti_, Antwerp, 1622; Du Pré, _La Vie du bienheureux saint Norbert_, Paris, 1627; Ch. Hugo, _La Vie de St. Norbert_, Luxembourg, 1704; G. Madelaine, _Histoire de St. Norbert_, Lille, 1886; B. Wazasek, _Der Hl. Norbert_, Vienna, 1914. An excellent brief but scholarly account is _The Life of S. Norbert_, London, 1886, by my late revered friend Abbot Geudens, C.R.P.

[81] Feast, 17 February.

[82] Formerly kept upon the Sunday.

[83] _Op. cit._, pp. 16, 17.

[84] _Op. cit._, p. 191.

[85] For a full and detailed statement see Didron’s great work, _Iconographie chrétienne_, Paris, 1843.

[86] _Spalding Club Miscellany_, I, p. 129. Aberdeen, 1841.

[87] At their black mass the witches of the Basses-Pyrénées (1609) when the host was elevated said “Corbeau noir, corbeau noir.” De Lancre, _Tableau de l’Inconstance des mauvais Anges_, Paris, 1613.

[88] _Op. cit._, p. 255.

[89] _Op. cit._, p. 165. It is not at all evident that “the word _diable_ is clearly Bodin’s own interpellation for the name of the god,” indeed this assumption is purely gratuitous to support the argument, and cannot be admitted.

[90] _Op. cit._, pp. 14, 15. I would not dwell upon the offensiveness of this suggestion, since it is, I am sure, unintentional.

[91] _Golden Bough_, Part I. vol. I. p. xx. Third Edition. 1911.

[92] _Op. cit._, p. 19.

[93] _The Goddess of Ghosts_, pp. 137-158.

[94] Cassiodorus, _Hist. Eccl._, VII, 11. _fin._ speaks of the _fetidissimus fons_ of heresy.

[95] 1535-1598. His works were collected in four folio volumes, Paris, 1620, prefaced by Henry Holland’s _Uita Thomæ Stapletoni_. An original portrait is preserved at Douai Abbey, Woolhampton.