Since the establishment of Christianity as a religion, the heresies exist. During the High Middle Ages (fifteenth to tenth centuries), there were numerous heretical movements and from the late Middle Ages (XI-XVth century) onwards they gained strength. The word heresy comes from the Greek language and means “to choose”.
According to the Catholic Church, a heresy is any religious doctrine that contradict the principles of faith established by the Church itself. O Inquisitors Manual, a document written by a Catalan theologian in the 14th century, defines the concept of heresy for the Church:
Heretic is every proposition that opposes:
a) to everything expressly contained in the Scriptures;
b) to everything that necessarily follows from the meaning of the Scriptures;
c) the content of Christ's words, transmitted to the apostles, who, in turn, transmitted them to the Church;
d) everything that has been the object of a definition in any of the Ecumenical Councils;
e) to all that the Church has proposed to the faith of the faithful;
f) to everything that has been unanimously proclaimed by the Fathers of the Church, regarding the reputation of heresy|1|.
Although the Inquisitors' Manual was written and published only in the 14th century, since the beginning of the Christianity, the Church fought the heretical doctrines and tried to prevent them from growing and spread. Thus, already in the fourth and fifth centuries, theologians stood out in the fight against heretics, such as Augustine of Hippo, Cyril of Alexandria, Lyon's Irenaeus etc.
The first case of death sentence for heresy was from Priscilian, beheaded in 385 at the behest of Maximus, emperor of the Roman Empire. Prisciliano's ideas became known as priscilianism and can be summarized as follows:
1. the Son of God did not exist before being born of Mary; 2. Jesus Christ was not born in the true nature of man; 3. angels and human souls are emanations of divine substance; […] 5. the devil was not created by God, nor was he first an angel of light, but came out of chaos and darkness; […] 8. marriage is bad and the procreation of children is reprehensible, because it is the devil who forms the body in the mother's breast|2|.
Heresies in the Early Middle Ages
Death at the stake was the main condemnation given to heretics. The image depicts the conviction of a woman accused of witchcraft
From the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the spread of heresies grew a lot and movements of characterpopular that mobilized a large number of people. For this reason, the Church passed to temporal power, that is, to kings and emperors, the function of helping to combat heresies in their kingdoms. This happened from 1148.
As in the Church's point of view, heresy was considered the bigger of all crimes, as it directly attempted against God, the repression was violent. In 1229, Pope Gregory IX ordered the creation of the Court of the Holy Office, responsible for investigating and convicting those accused of participating in movements of heresy. Furthermore, the Church allowed heretics to be put to death. This was inspired by laws decreed by kings that punished heretics with death.
The investigation of the accused of being a heretic sometimes used the torture as a way to coerce a confession. Historian Nachman Falbel summarized the structure of the investigation process used by the courts of the Holy Inquisition:
To obtain a confession, methods that were, in a way, torture could be used, such as, for example, the fatigue, deliberately provoked, or the physical weakening of the accused. Once the guilt was established, the defendant was given a period to appear spontaneously in court. If this did not happen, he could be denounced by the inquisitor and imprisoned. In case of confession of guilt, the accused was given the opportunity to recant, in which case, he should undergo a series of penances, flagellations, pilgrimages and, in more serious cases, prison. However, […] if the accused persisted in his sin, he was judged and handed over to the secular arm, which, in turn, led him to the fire|3|.
thousands of people were sentenced to death by the Church. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Holy Inquisition was mainly responsible for combating some heresies that developed in France: Cathars and Waldenses. The Inquisition, created in the 13th century, remained in operation in certain parts of Europe until the 19th century.
|1| EYMERICH, Nicholas. Inquisitors' Handbook. Rio de Janeiro: Rose of the Times; Brasília: Universidade de Brasília Foundation, 1993, p.33-34.
|2| FRANGIOTTI, Roque. History of heresies: 1st-7th century – ideological conflicts within Christianity. São Paulo: Paulus, 1995, p.108.
|3| FALBEL, Nachman. Medieval heresies. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1977, p.17.
*Image credits: jorisvo and Shutterstock
Take the opportunity to check out our video lesson on the subject:
