PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XVIII.The Method of passing Sentence upon one who hath Confessed to Heresy but is
Relapsed, Albeit now Penitent
THE ninth method of arriving at a
conclusive sentence in a process on behalf of the faith is used when the
person accused of heresy, after a careful investigation of the circumstances
of the process in consultation with men of good judgement, is found to have
confessed her heresy and to be penitent, but that she has truly relapsed. And
this is when the accused herself confesses in Court before the Bishop or
Judges that she has at another time abjured all heresy, and this is legally
proved, and that she has afterwards fallen into such a heresy or error: or
that she has abjured some particular heresy, such as that of witches, and has
afterwards returned to it; but that following better advice she is penitent,
and believes the Catholic faith, and returns to the unity of the Church. Such
a one is not, if she humbly ask for them, to be denied the sacraments of
Penance and the Eucharist; but however much she may repent, she is
nevertheless to be delivered up as a backslider to the secular Court to suffer
the extreme penalty. But it must be understood that this refers to one who had
made her abjuration as one manifestly taken in heresy, or as one strongly
suspected of heresy, and not to one who has so done as being under only a
light suspicion.
The following procedure must be
observed in this case. When, after mature and careful and, if necessary,
repeated investigation by learned men, it has been concluded that the said
prisoner has actually and prepense relapsed into heresy, the Bishop or Judge
shall send to the said prisoner in the place of detention two or three honest
men, especially religious or clerics, who are zealous for the faith, of whom
the prisoner has no suspicion, but rather places confidence in them; and they
shall go in to her at a suitable time and speak to her sweetly of the contempt
of this world and the miseries of this life, and of the joys and glory of
Paradise. And leading up from this, they shall indicate to her on the part of
the Bishop or Judge that she cannot escape temporal death, and that she should
therefore take care for the safety of her soul, and prepare herself to confess
her sins and receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist. And they shall visit her
often, persuading her to penitence and patience, strengthening her as much as
they can in the Catholic truth, and they shall diligently cause her to confess,
so that she may receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at her humble petition.
For these Sacraments are not to be denied to such offenders.
And when she has received these
Sacraments, and been well disposed by these men to salvation; after two or
three days during which they have strengthened her in the Catholic faith and
induced her to repentance, the Bishop or Judge of that place shall notify the
bailiff of the place or the authorities of the secular Court, that on such a
day at such an hour (not a Feast Day) he should be with his attendants in such
a square or place (but it must be outside a church) to receive from their
Court a certain backslider whom the Bishop and Judge will hand over to him.
And on the morning of the day fixed,
or on the day before, it shall be publicly proclaimed throughout the city of
place in those towns and villages where such proclamations are customary, that
on such a day at such an hour in such a place there will be a sermon preached
in defence of the Faith, and that the Bishop and other Judges will condemn a
certain person who has relapsed into the sin of heresy, delivering her up to
secular justice.
But here it must be considered that,
if he who has so relapsed should have been ordained in any Holy Orders, or
should be a priest or a religious of any Order, before he is handed over he is
to be degraded and stripped of the privileges of his ecclesiastic order. And
so, when he has been degraded from all ecclesiastical office, let him be
handed over to secular justice to receive his due punishment.
When, therefore, such a one is to
be degraded from his orders and handed over to the secular Court, let the
Bishop summon together all the prelates and religious men of his Diocese. For
in this case, though not in others, only the Bishop together with the other
prelates and religious and learned men of his diocese can degrade one who has
received Holy Orders when he is to be delivered to the secular Court, or is to
be imprisoned for life for the sin of heresy.
On the day appointed for the
degrading of the backslider and the handing of him over to the secular Court,
if he be a cleric, or, if he be a layman, for leaving him to hear his
definitive sentence, the people shall gather together in some square or open
place outside the church, and the Inquisitor shall preach a sermon, and the
prisoner shall be set on a high place in the presence of the secular
authorities. And if the prisoner be a cleric who is to be degraded, the Bishop
shall don his Pontifical robes, together with the other prelates of his
Diocese in their vestments and copes, and the prisoner shall be clothed and
robed as if he were to minister his office; and the Bishop shall degrade him
from his order, beginning from the higher and proceeding to the lowest. And
just as in conferring Holy Orders the Bishop uses the words ordained by the
Church, so in degrading him he shall take off his chasuble and stole, and so
with the other vestments, using words of a directly opposite meaning.
When this degradation has been
accomplished, the proceedings must continue in the legal and accustomed manner,
and the Notary or religious or clerk shall be bidden to read the sentence,
which shall be after the following manner, whether the prisoner be a layman or
a degraded cleric:
We, N., by the mercy of the God
Bishop of such city, and Judge in the territories of such Prince, seeing that
we are legitimately informed that you, N., of such a place in such a Diocese,
have been before us (or before such Bishop and Judges) accused of such heresy
or heresies (naming them), of which you were lawfully convicted by your own
confession and by witnesses, and that you had obstinately persisted in them
for so long, but afterwards, listening to better advice, publicly in such a
place abjured, renounced and revoked those heresies in the form provided by
the Church, on which account the said Bishop and Inquisitor, believing that
you had truly returned to the bosom of the Holy Church of God, did absolve you
from the sentence of excommunication by which you were bound, enjoining upon
you a salutary penance if with true heart and faith unfeigned you had returned
to the unity of the Holy Church; but whereas after all the aforesaid and the
lapse of so many years you are again accused before us and have again fallen
into such heresies which you had abjured (naming them), and though it was sore
grief to us to hear such things of you, yet we were by justice compelled to
investigate the matter, to examine the witnesses, and to summon and question
you on oath, proceeding in each and every way as we are bidden by the
canonical institutions.
And since we wished to conclude
this case without any doubt, we convened in solemn council learned men of the
Theological faculty and men skilled in the Canon and the Civil Law, and in
consultation with them maturely and carefully examined all and singular which
had been done, said and seen in the process and diligently discussed each
circumstance, weighing all equally in the balance as it behoved us; and we
find both by the legitimate evidence of witnesses and by your own confession
received in Court that you have fallen into the heresies which you had abjured.
For we find that you have said or done such and such (let all be named), on
account of which, with the concurrence of the said learned men, we have judged
and now judge that you are a backslider, according tot he canonical
institutions, to which we refer in grief and grieve to refer.
But since it has come to the
knowledge of Us and of many honest Catholic men that, by the inspiration of
Divine grade, you have once more returned to the bosom of the Church and to
the truth of the faith detesting the aforesaid errors and heresies and with
true orthodoxy unfeigned believing and protesting the Catholic faith, we have
admitted you to receive the Church's Sacraments of Penance and the Holy
Eucharist at your humble request. But since the Church of God has no more
which it can do in respect of you, seeing that it has acted so mercifully
towards you in the manner we have said, and you have abused that mercy by
falling back into the heresies which you had abjured: therefore We the said
Bishop and Judges, 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, and having before our eyes only God and the
irrefragable truth of the Holy Faith and the extirpation of the plague of
heresy; against you, N., in this place on the day and at the hour before
assigned to you for the hearing of your definitive sentence, we pronounce in
sentence that you have truly fallen back into the sin of heresy, although you
are penitent; and as one truly so relapsed we cast you forth from this our
ecclesiastical Court, and leave you to be delivered to the secular arm. But we
earnestly pray that the said secular Court may temper its justice with mercy,
and that there be no bloodshed or danger of death.
And here the Bishop and his
assessors shall withdraw, and the secular Court shall perform its office.
It is to be noted that, although
the Bishop and Inquisitor ought to use their utmost diligence, both by their
own efforts and those of others, to induce the prisoner to repent and return
to the Catholic faith; yet, after he has repented and it has been decided in
council that, though he is penitent, he is nevertheless truly a backslider and
as such to be handed over in person to the secular Court, they ought not to
inform him of such sentence and punishment. therefore from that time, neither
before nor after the sentence should they present themselves before him, that
he be not moved in his spirit against them, a thing which is very carefully to
be avoided in death of this sort. But, as we have said, let them send to him
some honest men, especially those in religious orders, or clerics, in whom he
has confidence; and let them inform him of the sentence to come and of his
death, and strengthen him in the faith, exhorting him to have patience; and
let them visit him after the sentence, and console him and pray with him, and
not leave him until he has rendered his spirit to his Creator.
Let them, therefore, beware and be
on their guard not to do or say anything which may enable the prisoner to
anticipate his death, or place themselves in an irregular position. And, as
they have burdened themselves with the care of his soul, let them then share
also in his punishment and guilt.
It must also be remarked that such
a sentence which delivers up a person to the secular Court ought not to be
pronounced on a Festival or Solemn Day, nor in a church, but outside in some
open space. For it is a sentence which leads to death; and it is more decent
that it should be delivered on an ordinary day and outside the church; for a
Feast Day and the church are dedicated to God.
PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XXIX.The Method of passing Sentence upon one who hath Confessed to Heresy but is
Impenitent, although not Relapsed
THE tenth method of completing a
process on behalf of the Faith by a final sentence is used when the person
accused of heresy, after a careful examination of the circumstances of the
process in consultation with skilled lawyers, is found to have confessed his
heresy and to be impenitent, though he has not relapsed into the heresy.
Such a case is very rarely found, but yet it has come within the experience
of us Inquisitors. In such a case, therefore, the Bishop and Judge must not
be in haste to sentence the prisoner, but must keep him well guarded and
fettered, and induce him to be converted, even to the extent of several
months, showing him that, by remaining impenitent, he will be damned in body
and soul.
But if neither by comforts nor
hardships, nor by threatening nor persuasion, can he be brought to renounce
his errors, and the appointed period of grace has expired, let the Bishop
and Judges prepare to deliver or abandon him to the secular Court; and they
shall give notice to the herald or bailiff or secular authorities that on
such a day, not a Feast, and at such an hour they should be in such a place
with their attendants outside a church, and that they will deliver to them a
certain impenitent heretic. None the less they shall themselves make public
proclamation in the customary places that on such a day at such a time in
the aforesaid place a sermon will be preached in defence of the faith, and
that they will hand over a certain heretic to secular justice; and that all
should come and be present, being granted the customary Indulgences.
After this, the prisoner shall be
delivered to the secular Court in the following manner. But let him first be
often admonished to renounce his heresy and repent; but if he altogether
refuses, let the sentence be pronounced.
We, N., by the mercy of God
Bishop of such a city, or Judge in the territories of such Prince, seeing
that you, N., of such a place in such a Diocese, have been accused before us
by public report and the information of credible persons (naming them) of
heresy, and that you have for many years persisted in those heresies to the
great hurt of your immortal soul; and since we, whose duty it is to
exterminate the plague of heresy, wishing to be more certainly informed of
this matter and to see whether you walked in darkness or the light, have
diligently inquired into the said accusation, summoning and duly examining
you, we find that you are indeed infected with the said heresy.
But since it is the chief desire
of our hearts to plant the Holy Catholic Faith in the hearts of our people,
and to eradicate the pest of heresy, we have used diverse and various
suitable methods, both by ourselves and by others, to persuade you to
renounce your said errors and heresies in which you had stood, were
standing, and even now defiantly and obstinately stand with stubborn heart.
But since the Enemy of the human race is present in your heart, wrapping you
up and entangling you in the said errors, and you have refused and yet
refuse to abjure the said heresies, choosing rather the death of your soul
in hell and of your body in this world than to renounce the said heresies
and return to the bosom of the Church and cleanse your soul, and since you
are determined to remain in your sin:
Therefore inasmuch as you are
bound by the chain of excommunication from the Holy Church, and are justly
cut off from the number of the Lord's flock, and are deprived of the
benefits of the Church, the Church can do no more for you, having done all
that was possible. We the said Bishop and Judges on behalf of the Faith,
sitting in tribunal as Judges judging, and having before us the Holy Gospels
that our judgement may proceed as from the countenance of god and our eyes
see with equity, and having before our eyes only God and the truth of the
Holy Faith and the extirpation of the plague of heresy, on this day and at
this hour and place assigned to you for the hearing of your final sentence,
we give it as our judgement and sentence that you are indeed an impenitent
heretic, and as truly such to be delivered and abandoned to the secular
Court: wherefore by this sentence we cast you away as an impenitent heretic
from our ecclesiastical Court, and deliver or abandon you to the power of
the secular Court: praying the said Court to moderate or temper its sentence
of death against you. This sentence was given, etc.
PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XXX.Of One who has Confessed to Heresy, is Relapsed, and is also Impenitent
THE eleventh method of
concluding and terminating a process on behalf of the Faith is used when
the person accused of heresy, after a diligent discussion of the
circumstances of the process in consultation with learned men, is found to
have confessed her heresy, and to be impenitent, and to have relapsed into
it. And this is when the accused confesses with her own mouth in Court
that she believes and has practiced such and such. The procedure in this
case is the same as that above; and because she is manifestly a heretic,
sentence shall be pronounced in the following manner in the presence of
the Bishop and Judges:
We N., by the mercy of God
Bishop of such city, or Judge in the territories of such Prince, seeing
that you N., of such a place in such a Diocese, were formerly accused
before us (or before such and such, our predecessors) of the crime of
heresy (naming them), and that you were legally convicted of that crime by
your own confession and the testimony of worthy men, and that you
obstinately persisted in it for so many years; but that afterwards, having
listened to better advice, you publicly abjured those heresies in such a
place and in the form required by the Church, on which account the
aforesaid Bishop and Judge, believing that you had truly renounced the
said errors and had returned with Catholic faith to the bosom of the
Church, granted you the benefit of absolution, releasing you from the
sentence of excommunication by which you were formerly bound, and, setting
you a salutary penance if with true heart and faith unfeigned you remained
converted to the unity of the Holy Church, received you back in mercy. For
the Holy Church of God is not closed to such as return to her bosom.
But after all the aforesaid you
have to our great grief been accused before us of having again fallen into
those damnable heresies which you formerly abjured in public; yea, you
have done so and so (naming them) in contravention of the said abjuration
and to the damage of your soul; and although we are sore wounded and cut
to the heart to have heard such things of you, yet we were in justice
compelled to inquire into the matter, to examine the witnesses, and to
summon and question you on oath as it behoved us, and in every particular
to proceed as we are bidden by the canonical institutions. And as we
wished to conclude this case beyond any doubt, we summoned a solemn
council of men learned in the Theological faculty and of those skilled in
the Canon and Civil Laws.
And having obtained the mature
and considered judgement of the said learned men upon every single
particular which had been brought to notice and done in this case, after
repeated examination of the whole process and careful and diligent
discussion of every circumstance, as law and justice demanded, we find
that you are legally convicted both by the evidence of credible witnesses
and by your own repeated confession, that you have fallen, and fallen
again, into the heresies which you abjured. For we find that you have said
or done such and such (naming them), wherefore we have reason, in the
opinion of the said learned men, and compelled thereto by your own
excesses, to judge you as a backslider according to the canonical decrees.
And that we say this with grief, and grieve to say it, He knows from Whom
nothing is hid and Who seeth into the secrets of all hearts. And with all
our hearts we desired and still desire to lead you back to the unity of
the Holy Church and to drive out from your heart the said foul heresy,
that so you may save your soul and preserve your body and soul from the
destruction in hell, and we have exerted our utmost endeavor by various
fitting methods to convert to salvation; but you have been given up to
your sin and led away and seduced by an evil spirit, and have chosen to be
tortured with fearful and eternal torment in hell, and that your temporal
body should here be consumed in the flames, rather than to give ear to
better counsels and renounce your damnable and pestilent errors, and to
return to the merciful bosom of our Holy Mother Church.
Wherefore since the Church of
God can do nothing more for you, having done all that was possible to
convert you: We the Bishop and Judges named in this cause on behalf of the
faith, 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, and having before our eyes only God and the
honour of the Holy Catholic Faith, on this day at this hour and place
before assigned to you for the hearing of your final sentence, we
pronounce judgement upon you N., here present before us, and condemn and
sentence you as a truly impenitent and relapsed heretic, and as such to be
delivered or abandoned to secular justice; and by this our definitive
sentence we cast you out as a truly impenitent and relapsed heretic from
our ecclesiastical Court, and deliver and abandon you to the power of the
secular Court; praying that the said secular Court will temper or moderate
its sentence of death against you. This sentence was give, etc.
PART III., THIRD HEAD, QUESTION XXXI.Of One Taken and Convicted, but Denying Everything
THE twelfth method of
finishing and concluding a process on behalf of the faith is used when
the person accused of heresy, after a diligent examination of the merits
of the process in consultation with skilled lawyers, is found to be
convicted of heresy by the evidence of the facts or by the legitimate
production of witnesses, but not by his own confession. That is to say,
he may be convicted by the evidence of the facts, in that he has
publicly practiced heresy; or by the evidence of witnesses against whom
he can take no legitimate exception; yet, though so taken and convicted,
he firmly and constantly denies the charge. See Henry of Segusio On
Heresy, question 34.
The procedure in such a case
is as follows. The accused must be kept in strong durance fettered and
chained, and must often be visited by the officers, both in a body and
severally, who will use their own best endeavours and those of others to
induce him to discover the truth; telling him that if he refuses and
persists in his denial, he will in the end be abandoned to the secular
law, and will not be able to escape temporal death.
But if he continues for a
long time in his denials, the Bishop and his officers, now in a body and
now severally, now personally and now with the assistance of other
honest and upright men, shall summon before them now one witness, now
another, and warm him to attend strictly to what he has deposed, and to
be sure whether or not he has told the truth; that he should beware lest
in damning another temporally he damn himself eternally; that if he be
afraid, let him at least tell them the truth in secret, that the accused
should not die unjustly. And let them be careful to talk to him in such
a way that they may see clearly whether or not his depositions have been
true.
But if the witnesses, after
this warning, adhere to their statements, and the accused maintains his
denials, let not the Bishop and his officers on that account be in any
haste to pronounce a definitive sentence and hand the prisoners over to
secular law; but let them detain him still longer, now persuading him to
confess, now yet again urging the witnesses (but one at a time) to
examine their consciences as well. And let the Bishop and his officers
pay particular attention to that witness who seems to be of the best
conscience and the most disposed to good, and let them more insistently
charge him on his conscience to speak the truth whether or not the
matter was as he had deposed. And if they see any witness vacillate, or
there are any other indications that he has given false evidence, let
them attest him according to the counsel of learned men, and proceed as
justice shall require.
For it is very often found
that after a person so convicted by credible witnesses has long
persisted in his denials, he has at length relented, especially on being
truly informed that he will not be delivered to the secular Court, but
be admitted to mercy if he confesses his sin, and he has then freely
confessed the truth which he had so long denied. And it is often found
that the witnesses, actuated by malice and overcome by enmity, have
conspired together to accuse an innocent person of the sin of heresy;
but afterwards, at the frequent entreaty of the Bishop and his officers,
their consciences have been stricken with remorse and, by Divine
inspiration, they have revoked their evidence and confessed that they
have out of malice put that crime upon the accused. Therefore the
prisoner in such a case is not to be sentenced hastily, but must be kept
for a year or more before he is delivered up to the secular Court.
When a sufficient time has
elapsed, and after all possible care has been taken, if the accused who
has been thus legally convicted has acknowledged his guilt and confessed
in legal from that he hath been for the period stated ensnared in the
crime of heresy, and has consented to abjure that and every heresy, and
to perform such satisfaction as shall seem proper to the Bishop and
Inquisitor for one convicted of heresy both by his own confession and
the legitimate production of witnesses; then let him as a penitent
heretic publicly abjure all heresy, in the manner which we have set down
in the eighth method of concluding a process on behalf of the faith.
But if he has confessed that
he hath fallen into such heresy, but nevertheless obstinately adheres to
it, he must be delivered to the secular Court as an impenitent, after
the manner of the tenth method which we have explained above.
But if the accused has
remained firm and unmoved in his denial of the charges against him, but
the witnesses have withdrawn their charges, revoking their evidence and
acknowledging their guilt, confessing that they had put so great a crime
upon an innocent man from motives of rancour and hatred, or had been
suborned or bribed thereto; then the accused shall be freely discharged,
but they shall be punished as false witnesses, accusers or informers.
This made clear by Paul of Burgos in his comment on the Canon c. multorum.
And sentence or penance shall be pronounced against them as shall seem
proper to the Bishop and Judges; but in any case such false witnesses
must be condemned to perpetual imprisonment on a diet of bread and
water, and to do penance for all the days of their life, being made to
stand upon the steps before the church door, etc. However, the Bishops
have power to mitigate or even to increase the sentence after a year or
some other period, in the usual manner.
But if the accused, after a
year or other longer period which has been deemed sufficient, continues
to maintain his denials, and the legitimate witnesses abide by their
evidence, the Bishop and Judges shall prepare to abandon him to the
secular Court; sending to him certain honest men zealous for the faith,
especially religious, to tell him that he cannot escape temporal death
while he thus persists in his denial, but will be delivered up as an
impenitent heretic to the power of the secular Court. And the Bishop and
his officers shall give notice to the Bailiff or authority of the
secular Court that on such a day at such an hour and in such a place (not
inside a church) he should come with his attendants to receive an
impenitent heretic whom they will deliver to him. And let him make
public proclamation in the usual places that all should be present on
such a day at such an hour and place to hear a sermon preached on behalf
of the faith, and that the Bishop and his officer will hand over a
certain obstinate heretic to the secular Court.
On the appointed day for the
pronouncement of sentence the Bishop and his officer shall be in the
place aforesaid, and the prisoner shall be placed on high before the
assembled clergy and people so that he may be seen by all, and the
secular authorities shall be present before the prisoner. Then sentence
shall be pronounced in the following manner:
We, N., by the mercy of God
Bishop of such city, or Judge in the territories of such Prince, seeing
that you, N., of such a place in such a Diocese, have been accused
before us of such heresy (naming it); and wishing to be more certainly
informed whether the charges made against you were true, and whether you
walked in darkness or in the light; we proceeded to inform ourselves by
diligently examining the witnesses, by often summoning and questioning
you on oath, and admitting an Advocate to plead in your defence, and by
proceeding in every way as we were bound by the canonical decrees.
And wishing to conclude your
trial in a manner beyond all doubt, we convened in solemn council men
learned in the Theological faculty and in the Canon and Civil Laws. And
having diligently examined and discussed each circumstance of the
process and maturely and carefully considered with the said learned men
everything which has been said and done in this present case, we find
that you, N., have been legally convicted of having been infected with
the sin of heresy for so long a time, and that you have said an done
such and such (naming them) on account of which it manifestly appears
that you are legitimately convicted of the said heresy.
But since we desired, and
still desire, that you should confess the truth and renounce the said
heresy, and be led back to the bosom of Holy Church and to the unity of
the Holy Faith, that so you should save your soul and escape the
destruction of both your body and soul in hell; we have by our own
efforts and those of others, and by delaying your sentence for a long
time, tried to induce you to repent; but you being obstinately given
over to wickedness have scorned to agree to our wholesome advice, and
have persisted and do persist with stubborn and defiant mind in your
contumacious and dogged denials; and this we say with grief, and grieve
and mourn in saying it. But since the Church of God has waited so long
for you to repent and acknowledge your guilt, and you have refused and
still refuse, her grace and mercy can go no farther.
Wherefore that you may be an
example to others and that they may be kept from all such heresies, and
that such crimes may not remain unpunished: We the Bishop and Judges
named on behalf of the faith, sitting in tribunal as Judges judging, and
having before us the Holy Gospels that our judgement may proceed as from
the countenance of God and our eyes see with equity, and having before
our eyes only God and the glory and honour of the Holy Faith, we judge,
declare and pronounce sentence that you standing here in our presence on
this day at the hour and place appointed for the hearing of your final
sentence, are an impenitent heretic, and as such to be delivered or
abandoned to secular justice; and as an obstinate and impenitent heretic
we have by this sentence cast you off from the ecclesiastical Court and
deliver and abandon you to secular justice and the power of the secular
Court. And we pray that the said secular Court may moderate its sentence
of death upon you. this sentence was given, etc.
The Bishop and Judges may,
moreover, arrange that just men zealous for the faith, known to and in
the confidence of the secular Court, shall have access to the prisoner
while the secular Court is performing its office, in order to console
him and even yet induce him to confess the truth, acknowledge his guilt,
and renounce his errors.
But if it should happen that
after the sentence, and when the prisoner is already at the place where
he is to be burned, he should say that he wishes to confess the truth
and acknowledge his guilt, and does so; and if he should be willing to
abjure that and every heresy; although it may be presumed that he does
this rather from fear of death than for love of the truth, yet I should
be of the opinion that he may in mercy be received as a penitent heretic
and be imprisoned for life. See the gloss on the chapters ad
abolendam and excommunicamus. Nevertheless, according to the
rigour of the law, the Judges ought not to place much faith in a
conversion of this sort; and furthermore, they can always punish him on
account of the temporal injuries which he has committed.
INDEX
