PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTIONS XXV - XXVI - XXVIIThe Sixth Kind of Sentence, in the Case of one who is Gravely Suspect
THE sixth method of bringing to a
conclusion a process on behalf of the faith is used when the person accused of
heresy, after a careful examination of the merits of the process in
consultation with learned lawyers, is found to be gravely suspected of heresy.
And this is when the accused is not convicted of heresy by her own confession
or by the evidence of the facts or by the legitimate productions of witnesses,
but there are indications, not only light or even strong, but very strong and
grave, which render her gravely suspected of the said heresy, and by reason of
which she must be judged as one gravely suspected of the said heresy.
And for a clearer understanding of
this, we shall give examples both of a case of simple heresy and of the heresy
of witches. For the case would fall under this head in simple heresy if the
accused were not lawfully found convicted by his own confession, etc. as above,
but for something which he had said or done. As, for example, he may have been
summoned in a case not concerning the faith, and have been sentenced to
excommunication; and if he should continue obstinate in excommunication for a
year or more, he would come under a light suspicion of heresy; for such
behaviour is not without some suspicion of heresy. But if he should then be
summoned on a charge concerning the faith, and should not appear but
contumaciously refuse to appear, and therefore be excommunicated, then he
would be strongly suspected of heresy; for then the light suspicion would
become a strong one. And if he remained obstinate in that excommunication for
a year, then he would be gravely suspected of heresy; for then the strong
suspicion would become a grave one, against which no defence is admitted. And
from that time such a person would be condemned as a heretic, as is shown by
the Canon, c. cum contumacia, lib. 6.
An example of a grave suspicion in
the heresy of witches would be when the accused has said or done anything
which is practised by witches when they wish to bewitch anyone. And it
commonly happens that they are constrained to manifest themselves by
threatening words, by deeds, by a look or a touch, and this is for three
reasons. First that their sins may be aggravated and more manifest to the
their Judges; secondly, that they may be the more easily seduce the simple;
and thirdly, that God may be the more offended and they may be granted more
power of injuring men. Therefore a witch must be gravely suspected when, after
she has used such threatening words as “I will soon make you feel,” or the
like, some injury has befallen the person so threatened or his cattle. For
then she is not to be considered as lightly suspected, as was the case with
those who are familiar with witches, or those who wish to provoke someone to
inordinate love. See above where we deal with the three degrees of suspicion,
light, strong, and grave.
Now we must consider what procedure
is to be observed in such a case. For in the case of one gravely suspected of
simple heresy, the following is the procedure. Although he may not in actual
truth be a heretic, since there may not be any error in his understanding, or
if there is, he may not cling obstinately to it in his will: nevertheless he
is to be condemned as a heretic because of the said grave suspicion, against
which no proof is admitted.
Such a heretic is condemned in this
manner. If he refuses to return and abjure his heresy and give fitting
satisfaction, he is delivered to the secular Court to be punished. But if he
is willing and consents, he abjures his heresy and is imprisoned for life. And
the same holds good in the case of one gravely suspected of the heresy of
witches.
But although the same method in the
main is to be observed in the case of one gravely suspected of the heresy of
witches, there are some differences. It is to be noted that, if the witch
maintains her denial, or claims that she uttered those words not with the
implied intention but in a vehement and womanish passion; then the Judge has
not sufficient warrant to sentence her to the flames, in spite of the grave
suspicion. Therefore he must place her in prison, and cause inquiry to be made
by proclamation whether she has been known to have done the like before. And
if it is found that this is so, he must inquire whether she was then publicly
defamed in respect of that heresy; and from this he can proceed further so
that, before all else, she may be exposed to an interrogation under the
question and torture. And then, if she shows signs of such heresy, or of the
taciturnity of witches; as that she should be unable to shed tears, or remain
insensible under torture and quickly recover her strength afterwards; then he
may proceed with the various precautions which we have already explained where
we dealt with such cases.
And in case all should fail, then
let him take note that, if she has perpetrated the like before, she is not to
be altogether released, but must be sent to the squalor of prison for a year,
and be tortured, and be examined very often, especially on the more Holy Days.
But if, in addition to this, she has been defamed, then the Judge may proceed
in the manner already shown in the case of simple heresy, and condemn her to
the fire, especially if there is a multitude of witnesses and she had often
been detected in similar or other deeds of witchcraft. But if he wishes to be
merciful, he may set her a canonical purgation, that she should find twenty or
thirty sponsors, sentencing her in such a way that, if she should fail in her
purgation, she shall be condemned to the fire as convicted. And the Judge can
proceed in such a manner.
And if she should purge herself,
then the Judge must sentence her to an abjuration of all heresy, on pain of
the punishment for backsliders, together with the perpetual penance, in the
following manner. The preparations for the abjuration will be the same as were
explained in the fourth and fifth methods of concluding a process on behalf of
the faith.
Note that in all the following
methods of pronouncing sentence, when the Judge wishes to proceed in a
merciful manner he can act in the way we have already explained. But since
secular Judges use their own various methods, proceeding with rigour but not
always with equity, no fixed rule or method can be given for them as it can
for an ecclesiastical Judge, who can receive the abjuration and impose a
perpetual penance in the following manner:
I, N., of such a place in such a
Diocese, standing in person before you my venerable Lords the Bishop of such
city and Judges, having touched with my hands the Holy Gospel placed before
me, swear that I believe in my heart and profess with my lips the Holy
Catholic and Apostolic Faith which the Holy Roman Church holds, professes,
believes, preaches and teaches. And consequently I abjure all heresy, and
renounce and revoke all who raise themselves against the Holy Roman and
Apostolic Church, of whatever sect or error they be. Also I swear and promise
that I shall never henceforward do, say, or cause to be done such and such (naming
them) which I have done and said, and for which, in my guilt, you hold me
gravely suspected of the said heresy. Also I swear and promise that I will
perform every penance which you wish to impose upon me for the said crimes to
the best of my strength, and that I will not omit any part of it, so help me
God and the Holy Gospel. And if (which God forbid) I should hereafter act in
contravention of this abjuration, I here and now bind and oblige myself to
suffer the due punishments for backsliders, however sever they may be.
Let the Notary take care to set it
down that the said abjuration was made by one gravely suspected of heresy, so
that if she should be proved to have relapsed, she should then be judged
accordingly and delivered up to the secular Court.
After this let the Bishop absolve
her from the sentence of excommunication which she has incurred as one gravely
suspected of heresy. For when a heretic returns to the faith and abjures his
heresy, he is to be released from the sentence of excommunication which is
passed on all heretics. Similarly, such a one as we are considering was
condemned as a heretic, as we have said; but after she has abjured her heresy
she is to be released from excommunication; and after this absolution she is
to be sentenced in the following manner:
We N., Bishop of such city, and, if
he is present, Judge in the territory of such Lord, seeing that you N., of
such a place in such a Diocese, have been accused before us of such and such
touching the faith (naming them), and that we have proceeded to inform
ourselves concerning them as justice demanded by a careful examination of the
merits of the process and of all that has been done and said in the present
case, have found that you have committed such and such (naming them).
Wherefore, and not without reason holding you gravely suspected of such heresy
(naming it), we have caused you as one so suspected publicly to abjure all
heresy in general, as the canonical sanctions bid us. And since according to
those same canonical institutions all such are to be condemned as heretics,
but you holding to wiser counsel and returning to the bosom of our Holy Mother
the Church have abjured, as we have said, all vile heresy, therefore we
absolve you from the sentence of excommunication by which you were deservedly
bound as one hateful to the Church of God. And if with true heart and faith
unfeigned you have returned to the unity of the Church, you shall be reckoned
from henceforth among the penitent, and as from now are received back into the
merciful bosom of the Holy Church. But since it would be most scandalous to
pass over with connivent eyes and leave unpunished your offences against God
and your injuries to men, for it is a graver matter to offend the Divine
Majesty than a human monarch, and that your crimes may not be an incentive for
other sinners, and that you may become more careful in the future and less
prone to commit again the aforesaid crimes, and may suffer the less punishment
in the next world: We the aforesaid Bishop and Judge, having availed ourselves
of the wise and considered advice of learned men in this matter, sitting in
tribunal as Judges judging, having before our eyes only God and the
irrefragable truth of the Holy Faith, with the Holy Gospels placed before us
that our judgement may proceed as from the countenance of God and our eyes see
with equity, sentence and condemn, or rather impose penance in the following
manner upon you N., appearing in person before us on the day and at the hour
which was before assigned to you. First, you shall put on over all the
garments which you wear a grey-blue garment after the manner of a monk’s
scapulary, made without a hood either before or behind, and having upon it
crosses of yellow cloth three palms long and two palms wide, and you shall
wear this garment over all others for such a length of time (setting a period
of one or two years, more or less as the guilt of the person demands), And in
the said garment and crosses you shall stand in the door of such a church at
such a time for so long, or on the four major Feasts of the Glorious Virgin,
or in such and such cities in the doors of such and such churches; and we
sentence and condemn you for life, or for such a period, to such a prison. (Let
this be set down as seems most to the honour of the faith, and according to
the greater or less guilt and obstinacy of the accused.) And we expressly, and
in the sure knowledge that it is so ordained by canonical institution, reserve
to ourselves the right to mitigate the said penance, to increase it, change it,
or remove it, in whole or in part, as often as seems good to us. This sentence
was given, etc.
And when this has been read, it
shall at once be duly put into execution, and she shall be clothed with the
aforesaid garment with the crosses as has been said.
PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XXVI.The Method of passing Sentence upon one who is both Suspect and Defamed
THE seventh method of bringing to
a conclusion a process on behalf of the faith is employed when the person
accused of the sin of heresy, after a careful examination of the merits of
the process in consultation with men learned in the law, is found to be both
suspected and defamed of heresy. And this is when the accused is not legally
convicted by his own confession or by the evidence of the facts or by the
legitimate production of witnesses; but is found to be publicly defamed, and
there are also other indications which render him lightly or strongly
suspected of heresy: as that he has held much familiarity with heretics. And
such a person must, because of his defamation, undergo a canonical purgation;
and because of the suspicion against him he must abjure the heresy.
The procedure in such a case will
be as follows. Such a person, being publicly defamed for heresy, and being
in addition to this suspected of heresy by reason of certain other
indications, shall first publicly purge himself in the manner which we
explained in the second method. Having performed this purgation, he shall
immediately, as one against whom there are other indications of the
suspected heresy, abjure that heresy in the following manner, having before
him, as before, the Book of the Gospels:
I., N., of such a place in such a
Diocese, standing my trial in person before you my Lords, N., Bishop of such
city and Judge in the territory of such Prince, having touched with my hands
the Holy Gospels placed before me, swear that I believe in my heart and
profess with my lips that Holy Apostolic Faith which the Roman Church
believes, professes, preaches and observes. And consequently I abjure,
detest, renounce and revoke every heresy which rears itself up against the
Holy and Apostolic Church, of whatever sect or error it be, etc., as above.
Also I swear and promise that I
will never hereafter do or say or cause to be done such and such (naming
them), for which I am justly defamed as having committed them, and of which
you hold be suspected. Also I swear and promise that I will perform to the
best of my strength every penance which you impose on me, nor will I omit
any part of it, so help me God and this Holy Gospel. And if hereafter I
should act in any way contrary to this oath and abjuration (which God forbid),
I here and now freely submit, oblige, and bind myself to the legal
punishment for such, to the limit of sufferance, when it shall have been
proved that I have committed such things.
But it must be noted that when
the indications are so strong as to render the accused, either with or
without the aforesaid defamation, strongly suspected of heresy, then he
shall, as above, abjure all heresy in general. And if he relapsed into any
heresy, he shall suffer the due punishment of a backslider. But if the
indications are so small and slight as, even taken together with the said
defamation, not to render him strongly, but only lightly, suspected of
heresy, then it is enough if he makes not a general abjuration, but
specifically abjures that heresy of which he is suspected; so that, if he
were to relapse into another form of heresy, he would not be liable to the
penalty for backsliders. And even if he were to relapse into the same heresy
which he had abjured, he would still not be liable to the said penalty,
although he would be more severely punished than would have been the case if
he had not abjured.
But there is a doubt whether he
would be liable to the penalty for backsliders if, after his canonical
purgation, he should relapse into the same heresy of which he was
canonically purged. And it would seem that this would be so, from the Canon
Law, c. excommunicamus and c. ad abolendam. Therefore the
Notary must take great care to set it down whether such a person has made
his abjuration as one under a light or a strong suspicion of heresy; for, as
we have often said, there is a great difference between these. And when this
has been done, sentence or penance shall be pronounced in the following
manner:
We., N., Bishop of such city or
Judge in the territories of such Prince, having diligently in mind that you,
N., of such a place in such a Diocese, have been accused before us of such
heresy (naming it); and wishing to inquire judicially whether you have
fallen into the said heresy, by examining witnesses, by summoning and
questioning you upon oath, and by all convenient means in our power, we have
acted and proceeded as it behoved.
Having digested, observed and
diligently inspected all the facts, and having discussed the merits of the
process of this case, examining al and singular which has been done and said,
and having consulted with and obtained the mature opinion of many learned
Theologians and lawyers, we find that you have been in such place or places
publicly defamed by good and sober men for the said heresy; wherefore, as we
are bidden by the canonical institutions, we have imposed upon you a
canonical purgation by which you and your sponsors have here publicly purged
yourself before us. We find also that you have committed such and such (naming
them), by reason of which we have just cause t hold you strongly or lightly
(let it be said whether it is one or the other) suspected of the said heresy;
and therefore we have caused you to abjure heresy as one under such
suspicion (here, if he has abjured as one under strong suspicion, let them
say “all heresy”; and if as one under light suspicion, “the said
heresy”).
But because we cannot and must
not in any way tolerate that which you have done, but are in justice
compelled to abominate it, that you may become more careful in the future,
and that your crimes may not remain unpunished, and that others may not be
encouraged to fall into the like sins, and that the injuries to the Creator
may not easily be passed over: Therefore against you, N., having so purged
yourself and abjured, standing personally in our presence in this place at
the time which was assigned to you, We, the aforesaid Bishop or Judge,
sitting in tribunal as Judges judging, having before us the Holy Gospels
that our judgement may proceed as from the countenance of God and our eyes
see with equity, pronounce sentence or penance in the following manner,
namely, that you must, etc.
And let them pronounce sentence
as shall seem most to the honour of the faith and the extermination of the
sin of heresy: as that on certain Sundays and Festivals he must stand at the
door of such a church, holding a candle of such a weight, during the
solemnization of Holy Mass, with head uncovered and bare feet, and offer the
said candle at the altar; and that he must fast on Fridays, and that for a
certain period he must not dare to depart from that place, but present
himself before the Bishop or Judge on certain days of the week; and any
similar penance which seemed to be demanded by the particular nature of his
guilt; for it is impossible to give a hard-and-fast rule. This sentence was
given, etc. And let it be put into execution after it has been pronounced;
and it can be cancelled, mitigated or changed as may be required by the
condition of the penitent and for his correction and humiliation; for the
Bishop has this power by law.
PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XXVII.The Method of passing Sentence upon one who hath Confessed to Heresy, but
is still not Penitent
The eighth method of
terminating a process on behalf of the faith is used when the person
accused of heresy, after a careful examination of the merits of the
process in consultation with learned lawyers, is found to have confessed
his heresy, but to be penitent, and not truly to have relapsed into heresy.
And this is when the accused has himself confessed in a Court of law under
oath before the Bishop and Inquisitor that he has for so long lived and
persisted in that heresy of which he is accused, or in any other, and has
believed in and adhered to it; but that afterwards, being persuaded by the
Bishop and others, he wishes to be converted and to return to the bosom of
the Church, and to abjure that and every heresy, and to make such
satisfaction as they require of him; and it is found that he has made no
previous abjuration of any other heresy, but is now willing and prepared
to abjure.
In such a case the procedure
will be as follows. Although such a person has for many years persisted in
the said heresy and even in others, and has believed and practised them
and led many others into error; yet if at last he has consented to abjure
those heresies and to make such satisfaction as the Bishop and the
ecclesiastical Judge shall decree, he is not to be delivered up to the
secular Court to suffer the extreme penalty; nor, if he is a cleric, is he
to be degraded. But he is to admitted to mercy, according to the Canon ad
abolendam. And after he has abjured his former heresy he is to be
confined in prison for life (see the Canon excommunicamus, where it
provides for the absolution of such). But great care must be taken that he
has no simulated a false penitence in order to be received back into the
Church. Also the secular Court is not at all bound by such a sentence as
the above.
He shall make his abjuration in
the manner already set out, with this difference. He shall with his own
mouth confess his crimes before the congregation in church on a Feast Day,
in the following manner. The clerk shall ask him, have you for so many
years persisted in the heresy of witches? And he shall answer, Yes. And
then, Have you done this and this to which you have confessed? And he
shall answer, Yes. And so on. And finally he shall make his abjuration
kneeling on his knees. And since, having been convicted of heresy, he has
been excommunicated, after he has by abjuration returned to the bosom of
the Church, he is to be granted the grace of absolution, according to the
manner used by the Bishops with Apostolic authority of absolving from the
major excommunication. And sentence shall at once be pronounced in the
following manner:
We, the Bishop of such city, or
the Judge in the territories of such Prince, seeing that you, N., of such
a place in such a Diocese, have been by public report and the information
of credible persons accused before us of the sin of heresy; and since you
had for many years been infected with that heresy to the great damage of
your soul; and because this accusation against you has keenly wounded our
hearts: we whose duty it is by reason of the office which we have received
to plant the Holy Catholic Faith in the hearts of men and to keep away all
heresy from their minds, wishing to be more certainly informed whether
there was any truth in the report which had come to our ears, in order
that, if it were true, we might provide a healthy and fitting remedy,
proceeded in the best way which was open to us to question and examine
witness and to interrogate you on oath concerning that of which you were
accused, doing all and singular which was required of us by justice and
the canonical sanctions.
And since we wished to bring
your case to a suitable conclusion, and to have a clear understanding of
your past state of mind, whether you were walking in the darkness or in
the light, and whether or not you had fallen into the sin of heresy;
having conducted the whole process, we summoned together in council before
us learned men of the Theological faculty and men skilled in both the
Canon and the Civil Law, knowing that, according to canonical institution,
the judgement is sound which is confirmed by the opinion of many; and
having on all details consulted the opinion of the said learned men, and
having diligently and carefully examined all the circumstances of the
process; we find that you are, by your own confession made on oath before
us in the Court, convicted of many of the sins of witches. (Let them be
expressed in detail.)
But since the Lord in His
infinite mercy permits men at times to fall into heresies and errors, not
only that learned Catholics may be exercised in sacred arguments, but that
they who have fallen from the faith may become more humble thereafter and
perform works of penitence: having carefully discussed the circumstances
of this same process, we find that you, at our frequent instance and
following the advice of us and other honest men, have with a healthy mind
returned to the unity and bosom of the Holy Mother Church, detesting the
said errors and heresies, and acknowledging the irrefragable truth of the
Holy Catholic Faith, laying it t your inmost heart: wherefore, following
in His footsteps Who wishes that no one should perish, we have admitted
you to this adjuration and public abjuration of the said an all other
heresies. And having done this, we absolve you from the sentence of major
excommunication by which you were bound for your fall into heresy, and
reconciling you to the Holy Mother Church we restore you to the sacraments
of the Church; provided that with a true heart, and not with simulated
faith, you return to the unity of the Church, as we believe and hope that
you have done.
But because it would be a very
scandalous thing to avenge the injuries done to temporal Lords and to
tolerate the offences committed against God the Creator of all the Heavens,
since it is a far greater sin to offend against the Eternal than against a
temporal Majesty, and that God Who pities sinners may have mercy upon you,
that you may be an example for others, and that your sins may not remain
unpunished, and that you may become more careful in the future, and not
more prone but less apt to commit the said and any other crimes: We the
said Bishop and Judge, or Judges, on behalf of the faith, sitting in
tribunal as Judges judging, etc., as above . . . that you put on a
grey-blue garment, etc. Also we sentence and condemn you to perpetual
imprisonment, there to be punished with the bread of affliction and the
water of distress; reserving to ourselves the right to mitigate,
aggravate, change, or remit wholly or in part the said sentence if, when,
and as often as it shall seem good to us to do so. This sentence was given,
etc.
After this the Judge shall
proceed point by point, pronouncing sentence in the following or some
similar manner:
My son, your sentence or
penance consists in this, that you bear this cross during the whole period
of your life, that you stand so bearing it on the altar steps or in the
door of such churches, and that you be imprisoned for life on bread and
water. But, my son, lest this may seem too hard for you, I assure you that
if you patiently bear your punishment you will find mercy with us;
therefore doubt not nor despair, but hope strongly.
After this, let the sentence be
duly executed, and let him put on the said garment and be placed on high
upon the altar steps in full view of the people as they go out, surrounded
by the officers of the secular Court. And at the dinner hour let him be
led by the officers to prison, and the rest of the sentence be carried out
and duly performed. And after he is led out through the door of the church,
let the ecclesiastical Judge have no more to do with the matter; and if
the secular Court be satisfied, it is well, but if not, let it do its
pleasure.
INDEX
