veritati congrua esse videntur, nec caritati. Non veritati; verum quidem
est Protestantes gravissimam commisisse culpam, dum spreta et
insuperhabita divina Ecclesiae auctoritate, aeternas et immutabiles
fidei veritates subjectivae rationis judicio et arbitrio subjecissent.
Hoc superbiae humanae fomentum gravissimis certe malis, rationalismo,
criticismo, etc. occasionem dedit. Ast hoc quoque respectu dici debet,
protestantismi ejus qui cum eodem in nexu existit rationalismi germen
saeculo xvi. praeextitisse in sic dicto humanismo et classicismo, quem
in sanctuario ipso quidam summae auctoritatis viri incauto consilio
fovebant et nutriebant; et nisi hoc germen praeextitisset concipi non
posset quomodo tam parva scintilla tantum in medio Europae excitare
potuisset incendium, ut illud ad hodiernum usque diem restingui non
potuerit. Accedit et illud: fidei et religionis, Ecclesiae et omnis
auctoritatis contemptum absque ulla cum Protestantismo cognatione et
parentela in medio Catholicae gentis saeculo xviii. temporibus Voltarii
et encyclopaedistarum enatum fuisse.... Quidquid interim sit de
rationalismo, puto venerabilem deputationem omnino falli dum texendo
genealogiam naturalismi, materialismi, pantheismi, atheismi, etc., omnes
omnino hos errores foetus Protestantismi esse asserit.... Errores
superius enumerati non tantum nobis verum et ipsis Protestantibus
horrori sunt et abominationi, ut adeo Ecclesiae et nobis Catholicis in
iis oppugnandis et refellendis auxilio sint et adjumento. Ita Leibnitius
erat certe vir eruditus et omni sub respectu praestans; vir in
dijudicandis Ecclesiae Catholicae institutis aequus; vir in debellandis
sui temporis erroribus strenuus; vir in revehenda inter Christianas
communitates concordia optime animatus et meritus. [Loud cries of "Oh!
Oh!" The President de Angelis rang the bell and said, "Non est hicce
locus laudandi Protestantes."] ... Hos viros quorum magna copia existit
in Germania, in Anglia, item et in America septentrionali, magna hominum
turba inter Protestantes sequitur, quibus omnibus applicari potest illud
magni Augustini: "Errant, sed bona fide errant; haeretici sunt, sed illi
nos haereticos tenent. Ipsi errorem non invenerunt, sed a perversis et
in errorem inductis parentibus haereditaverunt, parati errorem deponere
quamprimum convicti fuerint." [Here there was a long interruption and
ringing of the bell, with cries of "Shame! shame!" "Down with the
heretic!"] Hi omnes etiamsi non spectent ad Ecclesiae corpus, spectant
tamen ad ejus animam, et de muneribus Redemptionis aliquatenus
participant. Hi omnes in amore quo erga Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum
feruntur, atque in illis positivis veritatibus quas ex fidei naufragio
salvarunt, totidem gratiae divinae momenta possident, quibus
misericordia Dei utetur, ut eos ad priscam fidem et Ecclesiam reducat,
nisi nos exaggerationibus nostris et improvidis charitatis ipsis debitae
laesionibus tempus misericordiae divinae elongaverimus. Quantum autem ad
charitatem, ei certe contrarium est vulnera aliena alio fine tangere
quam ut ipsa sanentur; puto autem hac enumeratione errorum, quibus
Protestantismus occasionem dedisset, id non fieri.... Decreto, quod in
supplementum ordinis interioris nobis nuper communicatum est, statuitur
res in Concilio hocce suffragiorum majoritate decidendas fore. Contra
hoc principium, quod omnem praecedentium Conciliorum praxim funditus
evertit, multi episcopi reclamarunt, quin tamen aliquod responsum
obtinuerint. Responsum autem in re tanti momenti dari debuisset clarum,
perspicuum et omnis ambiguitatis expers. Hoc ad summas Concilii hujus
calamitates spectat, nam hoc certe et praesenti generationi et posteris
praebebit ansam dicendi: huic concilio libertatem et veritatem defuisse.
Ego ipse convictus sum, aeternam ac immutabilem fidei et traditionis
regulam semper fuisse semperque mansuram communem, adminus moraliter
unanimem consensum. Concilium, quod hac regula insuperhabita, fidei et
morum dogmata majoritate numerica definire intenderet, juxta meam
intimam convictionem eo ipso excideret jure conscientiam orbis Catholici
sub sanctione vitae ac mortis aeternae obligandi.]
[Footnote 391: Dum autem ipse die hesterno ex suggestu hanc quaestionem
posuissem et verba deconsensu moraliter unanimi in rebus fidei
definiendis necessario protulissem, interruptus fui, mihique inter
maximum tumultum et graves comminationes possibilitas sermonis
continuandi adempta est. Atque haec gravissima sane circumstantia magis
adhuc comprobat necessitatem habendi responsi, quod clarum sit omnisque
ambiguitatis expers. Peto itaque humillime, ut hujusmodi responsum in
proxima congregatione generali detur. Nisi enim haec fierent anceps
haererem an manere possem in Concilio, ubi libertas Episcoporum ita
opprimitur, quemadmodum heri in me oppressa fuit, et ubi dogmata fidei
definirentur novo et in Ecclesia Dei adusque inaudito modo.]
[Footnote 392: Quoniam vero satis non est, haereticam pravitatem
devitare, nisi ii quoque errores diligenter fugiantur, qui ad illam plus
minusve accedunt, omnes officii monemus, servandi etiam Constitutiones
et Decreta quibus pravae eiusmodi opiniones, quae isthic diserte non
enumerantur, ab hac Sancta Sede proscriptae et prohibitae sunt.]
[Footnote 393: In the speech on infallibility which he prepared, but
never delivered. Archbishop Kenrick thus expressed himself: "Inter alia
quae mihi stuporem injecerunt dixit Westmonasteriensis, nos additamento
facto sub finem Decreti de Fide, tertia Sessione lati, ipsam Pontificiam
Infallibilitatem, saltem implicite, jam agnovisse, nec ab ea recedere
nunc nobis licere. Si bene intellexerim Rm Relatorem, qui in
Congregatione generali hoc additamentum, prius oblatum, deinde
abstractum, nobis mirantibus quid rei esset, illud iterum inopinato
commendavit--dixit, verbis clarioribus, per illud nullam omnino
doctrinam edoceri; sed earn quatuor capitibus ex quibus istud decretum
compositum est imponi tanquam eis coronidem convenientem; eamque
disciplinarem magis quam doctrinalem characterem habere. Aut deceptus
est ipse, si vera dixit Westmonasteriensis; aut nos sciens in errorem
induxit, quod de viro tam ingenuo minime supponere licet. Utcumque
fuerit, ejus declarationi fidentes, plures suffragia sua isti decreto
haud deneganda censuerunt ob istam clausulam; aliis, inter quos egomet,
doles parari metuentibus, et aliorum voluntati hac in re aegre
cedentibus. In his omnibus non est mens mea aliquem ex Reverendissimis
Patribus malae fidei incusare; quos omnes, ut par est, veneratione
debita prosequor. Sed extra concilium adesse dicuntur viri
religiosi--forsan et pii--qui maxime in illud influunt; qui calliditati
potius quam bonis artibus confisi, rem Ecclesiae in maximum ex quo orta
sit discrimen adduxerant; qui ab inito concilio effecerunt ut in
Deputationes conciliares ii soli eligerentur qui eorum placitis fovere
aut noscerentur aut crederentur; qui nonnullorum ex eorum
praedecessoribus vestigia prementes in schematibus nobis propositis, et
ex eorum officina prodeuntibus, nihil magis cordi habuisse videntur quam
Episcopalem auctoritatem deprimere, Pontificiam autem extollere; et
verborum ambagibus incautos decipere velle videntur, dum alia ab aliis
in eorum explicationem dicantur. Isti grave hoc incendium in Ecclesia
excitarunt, et in illud insufflare non desinunt, scriptis eorum,
pietatis speciem prae se ferentibus sed veritate ejus vacuis, in populos
spargentibus."]
[Footnote 394: The author of the protest afterwards gave the substance
of his argument as follows: "Episcopi et theologi publice a Parlamento
interrogati fuerunt, utrum Catholici Angliae tenerent Papam posse
definitiones relativas ad fidem et mores populis imponere absque omni
consensu expresso vel tacito Ecclesiae. Omnes Episcopi et theologi
responderunt Catholicos hoc non tenere. Hisce responsionibus confisum
Parlamentum Angliae Catholicos admisit ad participationem iurium
civilium. Quis Protestantibus persuadebit Catholicos contra honorem et
bonam fidem non agere, qui quando agebatur de iuribus sibi acquirendis
publice professi sunt ad fidem Catholicam non pertinere doctrinam
infallibilitatis Romani Pontificis, statim autem ac obtinuerint quod
volebant, a professione publice facta recedunt et contrarium
affirmant?"]
[Footnote 395: Archbishop Kenrick's remarkable statement is not
reproduced accurately in his pamphlet _De Pontificia infallibilitate_.
It is given in full in the last pages of the _Observationes_, and is
abridged in his _Concio habenda sed non habita_, where he concludes:
"Eam fidei doctrinam esse neganti, non video quomodo responderi possit,
cum objiceret Ecclesiam errorem contra fidem divinitus revelatam diu
tolerare non potuisse, quin, aut quod ad fidei depositum pertineret non
scivisse, aut errorem manifestum tolerasse videretur."]
[Footnote 396: Certissimum ipsi esse fore ut infallibilitate ista
dogmatice definita, in dioecesi sua, in qua ne vestigium quidem
traditionis de infallibilitate S.P. hucusque inveniatur, et in aliis
regionibus multi, et quidem non solum minoris, sed etiam optimae notae,
a fide deficiant.--Si edatur, omnis progressus conversionum in
Provinciis Foederatis Americae funditus extinguetur. Episcopi et
sacerdotes in disputationibus cum Protestantibus quid respondere possent
non haberent.--Per eiusmodi definitionem acatholicis, inter quos haud
pauci iique optimi hisce praesertim temporibus firmum fidei fundamentum
desiderant, ad Ecclesiam reditus redditur difficilis, imo
impossibilis.--Qui Concilii decretis obsequi vellent, invenient se
maximis in difficultatibus versari. Gubernia civilia eos tanquam
subditos minus fidos, haud sine verisimilitudinis specie, habebunt.
Hostes Ecclesiae eos lacessere non verebuntur, nunc eis objicientes
errores quos Pontifices aut docuisse, aut sua agendi ratione probasse,
dicuntur et risu excipient responsa quae sola afferri possint.--Eo ipso
definitur in globo quidquid per diplomata apostolica huc usque definitum
est.... Poterit, admissa tali definitione, statuere de dominio
temporali, de eius mensura, de potestate deponendi reges, de usu
coercendi haereticos.--Doctrina de Infallibilitate Romani Pontificis nec
in Scriptura Sacra, nec in traditione ecclesiastica fundata mihi
videtur. Immo contrarian., ni fallor, Christiana antiquitas tenuit
doctrinam.--Modus dicendi Schematis supponit existere in Ecclesia
duplicem infallibilitatem, ipsius Ecclesiae et Romani Pontificis, quod
est absurdum et inauditum.--Subterfugiis quibus theologi non pauci in
Honorii causa usi sunt, derisui me exponerem. Sophismata adhibere et
munere episcopali et natura rei, quae in timore Domini pertractanda est,
indignum mihi videtur.--Plerique textus quibus eam comprobant etiam
melioris notae theologi, quos Ultramontanos vocant, mutilati sunt,
falsificati, interpolati, circumtruncati, spurii, in sensum alienum
detorti.--Asserere audeo eam sententiam, ut in schemate jacet, non esse
fidei doctrinam, nec talem devenire posse per quamcumque definitionem
etiam conciliarem.]
[Footnote 397: This, at least, was the discouraging impression of
Archbishop Kenrick: Semper contigit ut Patres surgendo assensum
sententiae deputationis praebuerint. Primo quidem die suffragiorum, cum
quaestio esset de tertia parte primae emendationis, nondum adhibita
indicatione a subsecretario, deinde semper facta, plures surrexerunt
adeo ut necesse foret numerum surgentium capere, ut constaret de
suffragiis. Magna deinde confusio exorta est, et ista emendatio, quamvis
majore forsan numero sic acceptata, in crastinum diem dilata est.
Postero die Rms Relator ex ambone Patres monuit, deputationem
emendationem istam admittere nolle. Omnes fere eam rejiciendam surgendo
statim dixerunt.]
[Footnote 398: Quodcumque Dominus Noster non dixerit etiam si
metaphysice aut physice certissimum nunquam basis esse poterit dogmatis
divinae fidei. Fides enim per auditum, auditus autem non per scientiam
sed per verba Christi.... Non ipsa verba S. Scripturae igitur, sed
genuinus sensus, sive litteralis, sive metaphoricus, prout in mente Dei
revelantis fuit, atque ab Ecclesiae patribus semper atque ubique
concorditer expositus, et quem nos omnes juramento sequi abstringimur,
hic tantummodo sensus Vera Dei revelatio dicendus est.... Tota
antiquitas silet vel contraria est.... Verbum Dei volo et hoc solum,
quaeso et quidem indubitatum, ut dogma fiat.]
[Footnote 399: Hanc de infallibilitate his conditionibus ortam et isto
modo introductam aggredi et definire non possumus, ut arbitror, quin eo
ipso tristem viam sternamus tum cavillationibus impiorum, tum etiam
objectionibus moralem hujus Concilii auctoritatem minuentibus. Et hoc
quidem eo magis cavendum est, quod jam prostent et pervulgentur scripta
et acta quae vim ejus et rationem labefactare attentant; ita ut nedum
animos sedare queat et quae pacis sunt afferre, e contra nova
dissensionis et discordiarum semina inter Christianos spargere
videatur.... Porro, quod in tantis Ecclesiae angustiis laboranti mundo
remedium affertur? Iis omnibus qui ab humero indocili excutiunt onera
antiquitus imposita, et consuetudine Patrum veneranda, novum ideoque
grave et odiosum onus imponi postulant schematis auctores. Eos omnes qui
infirmae fidei sunt novo et non satis opportuno dogmate quasi obruunt,
doctrina scilicet hucusque nondum definita, praesentis discussionis
vulnere nonnihil sauciata, et a Concilio cujus libertatem minus aequo
apparere plurimi autumant et dicunt pronuntianda.... Mundus aut aeger
est aut perit, non quod ignorat veritatem vel veritatis doctores, sed
quod ab ea refugit eamque sibi non vult imperari. Igitur, si eam
respuit, quum a toto docentis Ecclesiae corpore, id est ab 800 episcopis
per totum orbem sparsis et simul cum S. Pontifice infallibilibus
praedicatur, quanto magis quum ab unico Doctore infallibili, et quidem
ut tali recenter declarato praedicabitur? Ex altera parte, ut valeat et
efficaciter agat auctoritas necesse est non tantum eam affirmari, sed
insuper admitti.... Syllabus totam Europam pervasit at cui malo mederi
potuit etiam ubi tanquam oraculum infallibile susceptus est? Duo tantum
restabant regna in quibus religio florebat, non de facto tantum, sed et
de jure dominans: Austria scilicet et Hispania. Atqui in his duobus
regnis ruit iste Catholicus ordo, quamvis ab infallibili auctoritate
commendatus, imo forsan saltem in Austria eo praecise quod ab hac
commendatus. Audeamus igitur res uti sunt considerare. Nedum Sanctissimi
Pontificis independens infallibilitas praejudicia et objectiones
destruat quae permultos a fide avertunt, ea potius auget et aggravat....
Nemo non videt si politicae gnarus, quae semina dissensionum schema
nostrum contineat et quibus periculis exponatur ipsa temporalis Sanctae
sedis potestas.]
[Footnote 400: Esperons que l'exces du mal provoquera le retour du bien.
Ce Concile n'aura eu qu'un heureux resultat, celui d'en appeler un
autre, reuni dans la liberte.... Le Concile du Vatican demeurera
sterile, comme tout ce qui n'est pas eclos sous le souffle de l'Esprit
Saint. Cependant il aura revele non seulement jusqu'a quel point
l'absolutisme peut abuser des meilleures institutions et des meilleurs
instincts, mais aussi ce que vaut encore le droit, alors meme qu'il n'a
plus que le petit nombre pour le defendre.... Si la multitude passe
quand meme nous lui predisons qu'elle n'ira pas loin. Les Spartiates,
qui etaient tombes aux Thermopyles pour defendre les terres de la
liberte, avaient prepare au flot impitoyable au despotisme la defaite de
Salamis.]
XV
A HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION OF THE MIDDLE AGES. By HENRY CHARLES
LEA[401]
A good many years ago, when Bishop Wilberforce was at Winchester, and
the Earl of Beaconsfield was a character in fiction, the bishop was
interested in the proposal to bring over the Utrecht Psalter. Mr.
Disraeli thought the scheme absurd. "Of course," he said, "you won't get
it." He was told that, nevertheless, such things are, that public
manuscripts had even been sent across the Atlantic in order that Mr. Lea
might write a history of the Inquisition. "Yes," he replied, "but they
never came back again." The work which has been awaited so long has come
over at last, and will assuredly be accepted as the most important
contribution of the new world to the religious history of the old. Other
books have shown the author as a thoughtful inquirer in the remunerative
but perilous region where religion and politics conflict, where ideas
and institutions are as much considered as persons and events, and
history is charged with all the elements of fixity, development, and
change. It is little to say, now, that he equals Buckle in the extent,
and surpasses him in the intelligent choice and regulation, of his
reading. He is armed at all points. His information is comprehensive,
minute, exact, and everywhere sufficient, if not everywhere complete. In
this astonishing press of digested facts there is barely space to
discuss the ideas which they exhibit and the law which they obey. M.
Molinier lately wrote that a work with this scope and title "serait, a
notre sens, une entreprise a peu pres chimerique." It will be
interesting to learn whether the opinion of so good a judge has been
altered or confirmed.
The book begins with a survey of all that led to the growth of heresy,
and to the creation, in the thirteenth century, of exceptional tribunals
for its suppression. There can be no doubt that this is the least
satisfactory portion of the whole. It is followed by a singularly
careful account of the steps, legislative and administrative, by which
Church and State combined to organise the intermediate institution, and
of the manner in which its methods were formed by practice. Nothing in
European literature can compete with this, the centre and substance of
Mr. Lea's great history. In the remaining volumes he summons his
witnesses, calls on the nations to declare their experience, and tells
how the new force acted upon society to the end of the Middle Ages.
History of this undefined and international cast, which shows the same
wave breaking upon many shores, is always difficult, from the want of
visible unity and progression, and has seldom succeeded so well as in
this rich but unequal and disjointed narrative. On the most significant
of all the trials, those of the Templars and of Hus, the author spends
his best research; and the strife between Avignon and the Franciscans,
thanks to the propitious aid of Father Ehrle, is better still. Joan of
Arc prospers less than the disciples of Perfect Poverty; and after Joan
of Arc many pages are allotted, rather profusely, to her companion in
arms, who survives in the disguise of Bluebeard. The series of
dissolving scenes ends, in order of time, at Savonarola; and with that
limit the work is complete. The later Inquisition, starting with the
Spanish and developing into the Roman, is not so much a prolongation or
a revival as a new creation. The mediaeval Inquisition strove to control
states, and was an engine of government. The modern strove to coerce the
Protestants, and was an engine of war. One was subordinate, local,
having a kind of headquarters in the house of Saint Dominic at Toulouse.
The other was sovereign, universal, centred in the Pope, and exercising
its domination, not against obscure men without a literature, but
against bishop and archbishop, nuncio and legate, primate and professor;
against the general of the Capuchins and the imperial preacher; against
the first candidate in the conclave, and the president of the
oecumenical council. Under altered conditions, the rules varied and even
principles were modified. Mr. Lea is slow to take counsel of the
voluminous moderns, fearing the confusion of dates. When he says that
the laws he is describing are technically still in force, he makes too
little of a fundamental distinction. In the eye of the polemic, the
modern Inquisition eclipses its predecessor, and stops the way.
The origin of the Inquisition is the topic of a lasting controversy.
According to common report, Innocent III. founded it, and made Saint
Dominic the first inquisitor; and this belief has been maintained by the
Dominicans against the Cistercians, and by the Jesuits against the
Dominicans themselves. They affirm that the saint, having done his work
in Languedoc, pursued it in Lombardy: "Per civitates et castella
Lombardiae circuibat, praedicans et evangelizans regnum Dei, atque
contra haereticos inquirens, quos ex odore et aspectu dignoscens,
condignis suppliciis puniebat" (Fontana, _Monumenta Dominicana_, 16). He
transferred his powers to Fra Moneta, the brother in whose bed he died,
and who is notable as having studied more seriously than any other
divine the system which he assailed: "Vicarium suum in munere
inquisitionis delegerat dilectissimum sibi B. Monetam, qui spiritu
illius loricatus, tanquam leo rugiens contra haereticos surrexit....
Iniquos cum haereticos ex corde insectaretur, illisque nullo modo
parceret, sed igne ac ferro consumeret." Moneta is succeeded by Guala,
who brings us down to historic times, when the Inquisition flourished
undisputed: "Facta promotione Guallae constitutus est in eius locum
generalis inquisitor P.F. Guidottus de Sexto, a Gregorio Papa IX., qui
innumeros propemodum haereticos igne consumpsit" (Fontana, _Sacrum
Theatrum Dominicanum_, 595). Sicilian inquisitors produce an imperial
privilege of December 1224, which shows the tribunal in full action
under Honorius III.: "Sub nostrae indignationis fulmine praesenti edicto
districtius praecipiendo mandamus, quatenus inquisitoribus haereticae
pravitatis, ut suum libere officium prosequi et exercere valeant, prout
decet, omne quod potestis impendatis auxilium" (Franchina, _Inquisizione
di Sicilia_, 1774, 8). This document may be a forgery of the fifteenth
century; but the whole of the Dominican version is dismissed by Mr. Lea
with contempt. He has heard that their founder once rescued a heretic
from the flames; "but Dominic's project only looked to their peaceful
conversion, and to performing the duties of instruction and
exhortation." Nothing is better authenticated in the life of the saint
than the fact that he condemned heretics and exercised the right of
deciding which of them should suffer and which should be spared.
"Contigit quosdam haereticos captos et per eum convictos, cum redire
nollent ad fidem catholicam, tradi judicio saeculari. Cumque essent
incendio deputati, aspiciens inter alios quemdam Raymundum de Grossi
nomine, ac si aliquem eo divinae praedestinationis radium fuisset
intuitus, istum, inquit officialibus curiae, reservate, nec aliquo modo
cum caeteris comburatur" (Constantinus, _Vita S. Dominici_; Echard,
_Scriptores O.P._, 1. 33). The transaction is memorable in Dominican
annals as the one link distinctly connecting Saint Dominic with the
system of executions, and the only security possessed by the order that
the most conspicuous of its actions is sanctioned by the spirit and
example of the founder. The original authorities record it, and it is
commemorated by Bzovius and Malvenda, by Fontana and Percin, by Echard
and Mamachi, as well as in the _Acta Sanctorum_. Those are exactly the
authors to whom in the first instance a man betakes himself who desires
to understand the inception and early growth of the Inquisition. I
cannot remember that any one of them appears in Mr. Lea's notes. He says
indeed that Saint Dominic's inquisitorial activity "is affirmed by all
the historians of the order," and he is a workman who knows his tools so
well that we may hesitate to impute this grave omission to
inacquaintance with necessary literature. It is one of his
characteristics to be suspicious of the _Histoire Intime_ as the seat of
fable and proper domain of those problems in psychology against which
the certitude of history is always going to pieces. Where motives are
obscure, he prefers to contemplate causes in their effects, and to look
abroad over his vast horizon of unquestioned reality. The difference
between outward and interior history will be felt by any one who
compares the story of Dolcino here given with the account in Neander.
Mr. Lea knows more about him and has better materials than the ponderous
professor of pectoral theology. But he has not all Neander's patience
and power to read significance and sense in the musings of a reckless
erratic mind.