Remarks upon the ecclesiastical history of the antient churches of the Albigenses by Peter Allix ...

CHAP. XVIII. Reflections on the Convictions of Manicheism, which were said to be proved upon the Albigenses.

ONE of the most plausible Objections that can be made a∣gainst the Purity of the Faith of the Albigenses, is the Testimony of the Inquisitors, who have filled their Trials with plain Confessions which several Albigenses, judged and con∣demned by them, have made of sundry Errors of the Mani∣chees. I shall produce an Extract of the Acts of the Inquisition of Tholouse, which are in the Hands of Mr. Wetstein Bookseller at Amsterdam, as it was sent me out of Holland, and which was made by a Man of great Reputation.

The Albigenses, saith he, held some Opinions, in common with the Vaudois; as, That to a Christian all Oaths are unlawful; that the Con∣fession of Sins, made to the Priests of the Church of Rome, is wholly unprofitable; and that neither the Pope, nor any one else in the Romish Church, can absolve any Man of Sin: but that they have power to absolve all those from their Sins, who will join themselves to their Sect, by the Laying on of Hands. This last Clause is also laid to the charge of the Vaudois; viz. That they have Power from God alone, as the Apostles had, to hear Confessions both of Men and Women that believe them; and of imposing Penance upon such as confess to them, as Fasting, and se∣veral Repetitions of the Lord's Prayer, whereupon they absolve their Penitents: and that this Absolution and Penance is as available to the Salvation of their Souls, as if they had been confessed to their own Priest. (That here is some wresting or mutilation of the Opinion of the Vaudois, is manifest from the Confession of a certain Wo∣man, who, as we read, declared her Faith to this purpose; That God alone forgives Sin, and that he to whom Con∣fession of Sins is made, gives only his Advice what the

Person ought to do, and so enjoins Penance, which any wise and prudent Man may do, whether he be a Priest or no.) That the Opinions of the Albigenses that were proper to them were, that there be two Lords, the one Good and the other Evil: That the Body of Christ is not in the Eucharist, but only meer Bread: That Baptism is of no use. One of the Albigenses was said to believe, that the Baptism of Water celebrated by the Church, stands In∣fants in no stead, because they did not consent to the Sacrament, but cried at the receiving of it. (I believe, saith he, who examined these Acts, that they denied Baptism to be the Instrument of Regeneration; or perhaps they might be against Infant-Baptism.) That an external A∣nointing of the Sick, with material Oil, was of no use. That the Orders of the Church of Rome, had no Power of binding and loosing, since they themselves, who con∣ferred them, were great Sinners. That Marriage is al∣ways join'd with Sin, and never can be without Sin, and that it could never have been instituted by the good God. That our Lord did not assume a real humane Body, and true Flesh of our Nature, and that he did not truly, but only in Likeness, rise again in the same, and perform the other Works of our Salvation; and that he never really ascended to the right-hand of the Father. They deny the Resurrection of the Body; (but in the Declaration of Petrus Anterius, a chief Teacher amongst them; this is more clearly and distinctly explained; that they feign that certain spiritual Bodies, and a certain internal Man, should rise again in such sort of Bodies. And elsewhere, they express themselves, that though the Souls of Men shall come to Judgment, yet they shall not come in their own Bodies). They said, that the Souls of Men were Spirits, which fell from Heaven for their Sins; so that they seem to have believ'd the pre-existence of Souls. Man (they say) must not worship what he eats. Moreover, it is a∣scribed to them, that they believe Man is saved, by the Laying on of Hands, which they confer on their Be∣lievers,

and that by the same means, all Sins are forgiven without Confession and Satisfaction. That they can be∣stow the Holy Ghost for Salvation, upon those whom they receive. That the Virgin Mary never was a carnal Wo∣man, but their Church, which they say is true Repen∣tance, and that this is the Virgin Mary. (The very Ob∣scurity of these Words, shews that this Opinion is wrested; because it is better exprest in another place thus, That God never entred the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Ma∣ry, and that he only is the Mother, Brother, and Sister of God, who keeps the Commandments of God the Father.) These are said to be the Doctrines of the Albigenses, where∣of none are ascribed to the Waldenses, but others different from these, whereof we find no mention made in the Opinions of the Albigenses; and they are these; That all Judgment is forbid by God, and that it is contrary to the divine Prohibition, for any Judg, in any Cause whatsoever, to judg or sentence any Man to Punishment or Death. That Indulgencies granted by the Prelats of the Church of Rome, are of no use or efficacy. That there is no Purgatory for Souls after this Life; and that consequently the Prayers and Suffrages of Believers for the Dead, are of no use to them. That the Soul when it departs from the Body, goes either to Paradise or Hell. That there are no more than three Orders in the Church, of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.

From these Acts, it appears how much the Rites and Ce∣remonies of the Albigenses differed from those practis'd by the Vaudois.

Besides, saith the Author of the Extract, the Rites and Institutions of them both were very different. Of the Albigenses there were two Sorts, some who pro∣fessed their Faith and Rites, and they were called perfect or comforted: others who had entred into a Covenant with the former Sort, called Perfect, which they call la Conve∣nenza, the Agreement, that at the end of their Life, they should be received by them into their Sect. This Re∣ception is frequently called by them Exercise, and is per∣formed

in this manner; The Benedicite or the Blessing con∣ferred upon one Molinerius when he was sick. Bernard Goes one of the Albigenses, held the Hands of the sick Person between his own Hands; and besides, held a cer∣tain Book over him, wherein he read the Gospel of St. John, In the Beginning was the Word; and deliver'd to the sick Per∣son a fine Thread to tie about him as a Mark that he was admitted into their Heresy: upon some others it is said, that they laid a white Linen Cloath, and be∣sides that many Genuflections were performed by the Bed-side. This Reception was supposed to save the Soul of him who was received, and was call'd a Spiritual Bap∣tism or Consolation, a Reception, and a good End, and sometimes a Melioration, by means of which they be∣liev'd that the Person was sanctified; so that it was not lawful for a Woman to touch any one that was thus received. Now, because it might sometime happen that the Person thus received, after his recovery, might relapse into his former Defilements, therefore they always de∣ferr'd this Reception till the extreamest Weakness, when there was no longer hopes of Life, for fear they might afterward lose the Good they had received. For which reason also some sick Persons amongst them, though the Person who thus initiated them was already come, yet were not received, because they were not believed to be at the point of Death. But they who were thus received in their Sickness, were commanded to put themselves up∣on Hardship, that is, to hasten their own Death, by ab∣staining from all Meat: and there are several Examples of those, who are said to have kill'd themselves, not only with Fasting, but by opening of a Vein, wounding of them∣selves, yea and sometimes too, by drinking Poison. But others who had no mind to submit themselves to so hard a Law, refused to be received, though this their Teacher was come for that purpose. They had also a peculiar Way of saluting, by way of embracing one another, laying their Hands on each side of one another, and turning their

Head to both Shoulders, saying each time Benedicite: which kind of Salutation seems to have been usual amongst them, because it is to be met with in several Accounts of their Opinions; and sometimes it was perform'd with bended Knees, sometimes with their Hands let down to the Ground. Which Salutation was sometimes call'd Melio∣ration. Neither did they only require this Salutation from those who were received, but from them also who were called Perfect amongst them, and received others, observed the same way of Salutation. We read also in many of their Books, that such a one did eat of the Bles∣sed Bread of the Hereticks; and in some it is added, And saw the Manner of blessing it; but what that Manner was, is no where described, neither is any Circumstance added, from whence it might be gathered, whether they bless'd the common Bread at their Dinners and Suppers, or whe∣ther this was only a Ceremony used by them at the ce∣lebrating of the Lord's Supper. Though it is added in one place, that they call this blessed Bread, the Bread of Prayer. Three days in the Week they keep a Fast with Bread and Water. But we do not read that any of these things were observed by the Waldenses, but what was vast∣ly different, as, That they had some Elders of their own: That even Lay-men bless the Table before and after Meat; they pray kneeling, and bowing themselves to the Ground. It is usual for them to bless the Table. They profess to observe Apostolical Poverty. And besides, they are said to differ from the common Conversation of other Believers in their Life and Manners. These are the chief things we meet with in this Book concerning the Albigenses and Waldenses; for there is no mention made of the Opinions of any other Party.

This is the Extract which was sent me, with some Passages, wherein the Author gives his own Judgment.

One would think, that nothing could be of greater force to convict the Albigenses of Manicheism, especially if we consider, that Emericus in his Directory for the Inquisitors,

ascribes almost the very same Opinions to the Manichees of Italy.* 1.1

But I have three Things to say, to take off this Prejudice; the first is, That nothing ought to be more suspected by us than these Acts of the Inquisition; for he that is a Murthe∣rer, is certainly a Liar and a Knave. I have shewed in my Remarks upon the History of the Valleys of Piedmont, that no∣thing can be conceived more false than the Carriage of the In∣quisitors, and that they never pretended to any thing less than to Faithfulness in their Accounts of things.

This appears from the Trials of the Waldenses, whom the Monks have indeavoured to make the most infamous Here∣ticks; and yet in the mean time, if we will believe the Bishop of Meaux, they were very far from being Manichees. What Authority therefore can the Testimonies of the Inquisitors have against the Albigenses, since the Bishop himself acknow∣ledges that they can be of no Authority against the Walden∣ses, who have been no less accused of Manicheism, than the Albigenses themselves?

Now that the Reader may be throughly convinced of the Justice of this our denying to admit these Testimonies of the Inquisitors, and Emericus in particular, I might alledg here what Emericus hath said of the Eternal Gospel, attributed com∣monly to John of Crema, the seventh General of the Cordeliers.* 1.2 This Book contained the most horrid Propositions imagina∣ble, and yet now it is pretended, that he was overborn by a Cabal of the Inquisition, and they indeavour to justify him against all the Accusations of Emericus. But I can do more than this, for I have received from a Friend of Mr. G. Ad∣vocate of N. an Extract of the Acts of the Inquisition of Tho∣louse, which may serve as a Pattern to judg of their other Trials, which are found in that Register, where there is scarce any thing of these Accusations: The Extract runs thus: Anno Domini 1283. 8^o Idûs Julii, Guilhelmus de Maunhaco filius quondam Guilhelmi Arloyer de Maunhaco Diocesis Aniciensis, eductus de carcere Inquisitorum constitutus in praesentiâ fratris Joannis Vigoro∣si, ordinis Praedicatorum, Inquisitoris haereticae pravitatis, requisitus

per dictum Inquisitorem quod juraret ad sancta Dei Evangelia, ut veritatem diceret de fide suâ, respondit, quod non juraret: Inquisi∣tus, si erat ei licitum jurare super sancta Dei Evangelia, respondit, quod non. Inquisitus si Papa Ecclesiae Romanae Dominus Martinus qui nunc est, habet potestatem ligandi atque solvendi, respondit, quod non. Inquisitus si Ecclesia Romana, cui praeest Papa, sit caput fidei, respondit, quod nec Papa, nec Ecclesia cui praeest, est caput fidei, nec Christianitatis, nec agnoscit, nec credit aliquem hominem carnalem esse Papam nisi Iesum Christum. Inquisitus si Archiepiscopi, Episco∣pi, & alii Ecclesiarum Praelati per Romanam Ecclesiam ordinati sunt veri Praelati, & si habent potestatem ligandi atque solvendi, respon∣dit, quod non. Inquisitus si aliquis baptizatur, ita quod baptizans dicat, Ego te baptizo in nomine Patris, & Filii, & Spiritûs sancti, Amen, valeat baptizato, & si per talem Baptismum habet remissi∣onem peccatorum, respondit, quod non credit, quod aliquis carnalis homo possit baptizare nisi solus Deus. Inquisitus si Sacramentum confirmationis quod confert Episcopus quando confirmat, valet confir∣mato, respondit, quod nihil valet ei, nec Sacramentum est, nec ille qui confert Sacramentum est Episcopus, nec aliquid potest. Inquisitus si Sacramentum extremae Ʋnctionis valet infirmo, quando ei ministra∣tur à Sacerdote, respondit, quod non credit quod valeat ei, nec quod sit Sacramentum. Inquisitus si Sacramentum ordinis collatum ab E∣piscopo valet aliquid, & si est Sacramentum, respondit, quod nihil valet, nec est Sacramentum, nec Episcopus potest aliquod Sacramen∣tum conferre. Inquisitus si panis quem Sacerdos tenet in manibus suis dum celebrat, postquam sacerdos protulit verba consecrationis, Hoc est corpus meum, remanet panis; respondit, quod panis erat ante, & panis remanet post, & quod magna injuria fit Deo, quod panis commutetur in corpus Christi. Inquisitus si verba sacerdotis absol∣ventis aliquem ei confessum de peccatis, dicendo, Ego te absolvo ab omnibus peccatis tuis, valent confesso; respondit, quod nihil valent confesso, nec est Sacramentum. Inquisitus si est licitum jurare super sancta Dei Evangelia in aliquo casu, dixit quod non. Inquisitus si Rex Franciae qui nunc est, comburit vel facit comburi aliquem pro crimine Haeresis, vel facit suspendi aliquem pro aliquo crimine, pec∣cet, respondit, quod peccat, nec est ei licitum facere vindictam nec justitiam. Item requisitus si vult credere Sacramenta Ecclesiae Ro∣manae

sicut nos credimus, & sicut Ecclesia Romana praedicat & ob∣servat, respondit, quod nihil aliud crederet nisi quod superius dixit. Haec deposuit Tholosae coram fratre Laurentio Aurelianensi, & dicto fratre Johanne Vigoroso Inquisitore, in praesentiâ & testimonio fratris Ar∣naldi Del Gras, fratris Bertrandi Jacobi, & fratris Raymundi Navar∣rii ordinis fratrum Praedicatorum, & Juliani Vasconii publici Tholosae Notarii, qui haec scripsit.

In the Year of our Lord 1283, the 8th of the Ides of July, William of Maunhaco, formerly the Son of William Arloyer of Maunhaco, of the Diocess of Anecy, being brought out of the Prison of the Inquisitors, and set in the Presence of Brother John Vigorosus, of the Order of Preachers, an Inquisitor of heretical Pravity, being demanded by the said Inquisitor to swear by the Holy Gospels, that he would declare the Truth concerning his Faith: he answered, that he would not swear. Being de∣manded, whether it were lawful for him to swear upon the Holy Gospels? he answered, No. Being demanded, whe∣ther Lord Martin, the present Pope of the Church of Rome, hath the Power of binding and loosing: he answered, No. Being demanded, whether the Church of Rome, over which the Pope presides, be the Head of the Faith? he answered, That neither the Pope, nor the Church he presides over, is Head of the Faith, or of the Christian World: neither doth he own or believe that any carnal Man can be Pope, but only Jesus Christ. Being demanded, whether Archbishops, Bishops, and other Prelates of Churches, ordained by the Church of Rome, were true Prelates, and whether they have the Power of binding and loosing? he an∣swered, No. Being demanded, whether if any one be bap∣tized, the Baptizer saying, I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen; whether this be of Efficacy to the Party baptized; and whether by such Baptism he can obtain Remission of his Sins? he answered, That he did not believe that any car∣nal Man can baptize, but God alone. Being demanded, whether the Sacrament of Confirmation, which the Bishop confers, be of any Use to the Person confirmed? he an∣swered,

That it was of no Use at all; neither is it a Sacra∣ment; neither is he who confers it a Bishop, nor hath the Power to do any thing. Being demanded, whether the Sacrament of extream Unction, be of any Use to the Sick, when it is administred to him by a Priest? he answer∣ed, That he did not believe that it did him any good, or that it is a Sacrament. Being demanded, whether the Sa∣crament of Orders conferred by the Bishop, were of any Use, and whether it be a Sacrament? he answered, That it is of no Use; neither is it a Sacrament; neither can a Bishop confer any Sacrament. Being demanded, whe∣ther the Bread which the Priest holds in his Hands, whilst he celebrates, after he hath pronounced the Words of Consecration, This is my Body, still remains Bread? he answered, That it was Bread before, and con∣tinued Bread still, and that it was a great Injury to God, to say that the Bread is changed into the Body of Christ. Being examined, whether the Words of a Priest, where∣by he absolves one that hath confessed his Sins, say∣ing, I absolve thee of all thy Sins, be of any Use to the Party confessed? he answered, That they were of no Use, neither is it a Sacrament. Being examined, whe∣ther it be lawful to swear upon the Holy Gospels of God, in any Case? he answered, No. Being examin∣ed, whether the King of France that now is, by burning, or causing any one to be burnt for the Crime of Here∣sy, or by hanging any other Criminal, doth Sin? he answered, He doth; and that it is not lawful for him to execute Vengeance, or do Justice. Also being examined, whether he was willing to believe the Sacraments of the Church of Rome, as we believe, and as the Church of Rome preaches and observes? he answered, That he be∣lieves nothing but what he had said before. These things he deposed at Tholouse, before Brother Laurence of Orleans, and the foresaid Brother John Vigorosus the Inquisitor; in the Presence of the Witnesses Brother Arnold Del Gras, Brother Bertrand James, and Brother Raymond Navarr, of

the Order of Friars Preachers; and of Julian Vascon, pub∣lick Notary of Tholouse, who wrote this.

The Letter which Mr. G. writ to my Friend, concluded with these Words.

I must not forget to tell you, that accord∣ing to my Copy, the Albigenses said of themselves, that they were de illis qui non reddebant malum pro malo, of those who did not render Evil for Evil; that boni homines, good Men were their Ministers. The Formality they observed when they made a Proselyte, was this, Haereticaverunt eum ponentes librum & manus super caput ejus, & interrogantes eum si volebat se reddere Deo & Evangelio. They made him a Heretick by lay∣ing a Book, and their Hands upon his Head, and asking him, whe∣ther he were willing to surrender himself to God and the Gospel? I have observed from several Passages, that on this occa∣sion they were used to read more particularly the Gospel according to St. John, and that after these Solemnities the Proselytes adorabant dictos bonos homines, flexis ter genibus, di∣cendo, Benedicite; Haereticis respondentibus, Deus vos benedicat; Paid their Reverence to these good Men, by thrice bend∣ing of the Knee, saying, Give us your Blessing: the Here∣ticks answering, God bless you. The Inquisitors call the Proselytes and those that are born Albigenses, Hereticks.

It is easy to judg by this Specimen, that it is almost impossi∣ble to give any Credit to the Deposition of Inquisitors, con∣cerning the Matters, which they say, they have made the Albigenses confess; and that therefore this pretended Con∣viction of the Albigenses, by the Registers of the Inquisitors, is absolutely null.

The second thing that I am to represent to the Reader, is, that the Testimony of the Inquisitors cannot be set against the contrary Confessions of the Albigenses, which those who have read, find very conformable to the Faith of the Protestants. This is that which Paradin affirms in his Annals of Burgundy, where he confesses that he has read some Histories, which ex∣cuse the Albigenses, with their Princes and Lords, of all those Crimes which many have cast upon them, affirming them to be wholly innocent, as having never done any thing else, but

reprove the Vices and Abuses of the Prelats of the Church of Rome.

This is also acknowledged by James de Ribera, in his Col∣lections concerning the City of Tholouse.* 1.3

In these times there were frequent Disputes held with the Hereticks seve∣ral 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 Here∣ticks, could not agree about any thing; the Names of the chiefest of them were these, Ponticus Jordanus, Ar∣noldus 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 Forni∣cations 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 se∣cond Troubles of France, which had not one word of these Opinions, but only those Articles, which we formerly a∣scribed

to the Waldenses. Amongst which they expresly de∣clared, 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,* 1.4 His Collections about the City of Tholouse.

The third Thing that we are to observe, is, that this Con∣formity 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 Ma∣nichees, 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.* 1.5 But we have o∣ther 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 ac∣knowledged 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.* 1.6 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,* 1.7 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.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Par. 2. cap. 14.
• * 1.2

  Natalis Alex∣ander saecul. xiii, & xiv. pag. 322, 323.
• * 1.3

  Catal. Testium veritat. pag. 446.
• * 1.4

  Collectanea Tholosae.
• * 1.5

  Par. 2. p. 13.
• * 1.6

  P. 446. of the Strasburg Edi∣tion in 1562.
• * 1.7

  Lib. 2. pag. 121, & 231.