CHAPTER V.

HISTORY OF HERESIES.

1. The Manichæans and Waldensians.- 2. Beghards, Schwestriones, Picards or Adamites. 3. The White Brethren.- 4. The Men of Understanding.—§ 5. The New Flagellants.

§ 1. NEITHER the edicts of the pontiffs and emperors, nor the vigilance and cruelty of the inquisitors, could prevent the ancient sects from still lurking in many places, or even new sects from starting up. We have already seen the Franciscans waging war against the Romish church. In Bosnia and the neighbouring countries, the Manichæans or Paulicians, the same as those called Cathari in Italy, built up their societies without molestation. Stephen Thomascus indeed, the king of Bosnia, abjured the heresy of the Manichæans, received baptism from John Carvaialus a Romish cardinal, and then expelled the Manichæans from his kingdom.(1) But he soon after changed his mind: and it is certain, that this sect continued to inhabit Bosnia, Servia, and the adjacent provinces, till the end of the century. The Waldenses collected followers and friends in various countries of Europe, in lower Germany, and particularly in the territories of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Thuringia. Yet it appears from unpublished documents, that very many of them were seized by the inquisitors and delivered over to the secular authorities to be burned.(2) § 2. The Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit, or the Beghards and Schwestriones as they were called in Germany, or Turelupines as in France, that is, persons whose mystical views had thrown them into a species of phrensy, did not cease from wandering in disguise over certain parts of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and especially of Swabia and Switzerland, beguiling the minds of the people. Yet few of their teachers escaped the eyes and the hands of the inquisitors.(3) Upon the breaking out

(1) See Raph. Volaterranus, Comment. urbanus, lib. viii., leaf 289, &c. Eneas Sylvius, de statu Europæ sub Frederico III., cap. x., in Freher's Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, tom. ii., p. 104, &c.

(2) [The proffer of indulgences to such as hunted up heretics, contributed much to this. Boniface VIII. had already promised an indulgence to every one that should deliver over a heretic to the inquisition; and he ordained, that this should be considered as equally meritorious with a crusade to the Holy Land. This ordinance was renewed by the council of Pavia. See Harduin, tom. viii., p. 1013, &c. So the provincial council of Constance A.D. 1483, promised indulgences for 40 days, to all those who should lend their personal aid against the heresies of Wickliffe and Huss. See Harzheim's Concilia German., tom. v., p. 546.-Schl.] (3) Felix Malleolus or Hämmerlein, in his Descriptio Lollhardorum, which is subjoined to his book contra validos Mendicantes, Opp. VOL. II.-N NN

signat., C. 2, a., has drawn up a catalogue,
though an imperfect one, of the Beghards
burned in Switzerland and the adjacent coun-
tries, during this century. This Felix, in
his books against the Beghards and Loll-
hards, (either intentionally or being deceived
by the ambiguity of the terms), has confound-
ed the three classes of persons, on whom
the appellation of Beghards or Lollhards
was usually bestowed: namely, (1) the Ter-
tiaries of the more rigid Franciscans; (2)
the Brethren of the Free Spirit ; and (3) the
Cellite Brethren or Alexians. The same er-
ror occurs in numberless other writers.-
[See also Harzheim's Concil., tom. v., p.
464, where there is an ordinance of the pro-
vincial council of Constance A.D. 1463, and
another, A.D. 1476, against the Lulhards
and Begutta, and especially the Tertiarii.-
Here doubtless belongs, what John Nieder
states in his Formicarium lib. iii. Fuit
Fratricellus seu Beghardus secularis, qui in
eremo austeram vitam vixit, et durissimam

of the religious war in Bohemia between the Hussites and the adherents to the pontiffs, in the year 1418, a company of these piously infatuated people, of whom one John was the leader, went into Bohemia, and first held their secret meetings at Prague, then also in other places, and lastly in a certain island. It was one of the tenets of this sect, as has been already stated, that those instincts of nature, bashfulness and modesty, indicate a mind not duly purified, and not yet brought back to the divine nature whence it originated, and that those only are perfect and in close union with God, who are unmoved by the sight of naked bodies, and who can associate with persons of a different sex in a state of nudity, or with no clothing, after the manner of our first parents before their apostacy. Hence these Beghards. who by a slight change in the pronunciation of the name, conformably to the harder utterance of the Bohemians, were called Picards, ordinarily went to their prayers and their religious worship, without clothing. For this precept, so entirely accordant with their religion, was frequently upon their lips: They are not free (that is, not duly rescued from the bonds of the body and converted into God) who wear clothing, and especially breeches. Although these people in their assemblies committed no offence against chastity, yet, as might be expected, they fell under the greatest suspicion of extreme turpitude and unchastity. And John Ziska the fierce general of the Hussites, giving credit to these suspicions, attacked the unhappy company of these absurdly religious and delirious people, in the year 1421, slew some of them, and wished to commit the rest to the flames. The unhappy men submitted to execution cheerfully, in the manner of their intrepid sect, which looked upon death with astonishing indifference.(4) These people were also called Adamites; because they wished to follow the example of Adam, in his state of innocence. The ignominious name of Beghards, or as the Bohemians pronounced it Picards,(5) which was the appropriate designation of this little company, was afterwards trans

regulam tenuit - a Constantino episcopo captus, per inquisitorem judicio seculari traditus et incineratus fuit. Alius fuit, qui velut Beghardus infra Rhenum-tandem Vienna in Pictaviensi diœcesi incineratus est. Dicebat, Christum in se, et se in Christo esse.-Currit in partibus Sueviæ, inter personas utriusque sexus, seculares et ecclesiasticas, hæresis et hypocrisis tam enormis, ut eam ad plenum exprimere non audeam. Omnia licere; non jejunant, occulte laborant in festis ecclesiae; ceremonias omnes, canquam animalium hominum, spernunt; virginitatem-superstitiones esse; pro minimo ducunt, non obedire papæ aut pastoribus aliis. Sacerdos quidam feminis persuasit, verecundiam abnegandam; coram clericis talibus se denudarunt, sed sine coitu-conjacebant clerici uno in lecto, nec ad lapsum carnis procedebant.-De alta perfectione loquuntur-stilum librorum subtilissimorum in nostro vulgari periculose, ut vereor, scriptorum didicerunt-ceremonias, festivitates, missas, contemnunt, &c.-Schl.]

(4) See Jo. Lasitius, Historia fratrum Bohemorum manuscripta, lib. ii., § 76, &c.,

who shows fully, that the Hussites and the Bohemian brethren had no connexion with these Picards. The other writers on the subject are mentioned by Isaac de Beausobre, Dissert. sur les Adamites de Boheme; annexed to Jac. Lenfant's Histoire de la Guerre des Hussites. This very learned author takes the utmost pains to vindicate the character of the Bohemian Picards or Adamites, who he supposes were Waldenses and holy and excellent men, falsely aspersed by their enemies. But all his efforts are vain. For it can be demonstrated from the most unexceptionable documents, that the fact was, as stated in the text: and any one will readily think so, who has a fuller knowledge of the history and the sects of those times, than this industrious man possessed, who was not well versed in the history of the middle ages, nor altogether free from prepossessions. [See especially, Eneas Sylvius, Hist. Bohemica, cap. 41.-Schl.]

(5) The Germans also, frequently pronounced the word Beghard, Pyckard. See Menkenius, Scriptores German., tom. ii., p. 1521.

ferred by their enemies to all those Hussites and Bohemians that contend. ed with the Romish church; for these, as is well known, were called by the common people, the Picard Brethren.

§ 3. In Italy the new sect of the White Brethren, or the Brethren in White, (Fratres albati seu Candidi), produced no little excitement among the people. Near the beginning of the century, a certain unknown priest descended from the Alps, clad in a white garment, with an immense number of people of both sexes in his train, all clothed like their leader in white linen; whence their name of the White Brethren.(6) This multitude marched through various provinces, following a cross borne by the leader of the sect; and he by a great show of piety, so captivated the people that numberless persons of every rank flocked around him. He exhorted them to appease the wrath of God, inflicted on himself voluntary punishments, recommended a war against the Turks who were in possession of Palestine, and pretended to have divine visions. Boniface IX. fearing some plot, ordered the leader of this host to be apprehended and committed to the flames.(7) After his death, the multitude gradually dispersed. Whether the man died in innocence or in guilt, is not ascertained. For some writers

of the greatest fidelity, assert that he was by no means a bad man, and that he was put to death from envy; but others say, he was convicted of the most atrocious crimes.(8)

§ 4. In the year 1411, there was discovered in the Netherlands and especially at Brussels, a sect, which was projected and propagated by Ægidi. us Cantor an illiterate man, and William of Hildenissen a Carmelite; and which was called that of the Men of Understanding. In this sect there were not a few things deservedly reprehensible; which were derived, perhaps, in great measure from the Mystic system. For these men professed to have divine visions: denied that any one can correctly understand the holy scriptures, unless he is divinely illuminated; promised a new divine revelation, better and more perfect than the Christian; taught that the resurrection had taken place already, in the person of Christ, and that another of the bodies of the dead, was not to be expected; maintained that the internal man is not defiled by the deeds of the external; and inculcated that hell itself will have an end, and that all both men and devils, will return to

the time of their pilgrimage, which continued generally nine or ten days. See Annal. Mediol. ap. Muratori.-Niem, lib. ii., cap. 16.”

(7) ["What Dr. Mosheim hints but ob scurely here, is further explained by Sigonius and Platina, who tell us, that the pilgrims mentioned in the preceding note, stopped at Viterbo, and that Boniface, fearing lest the priest, who headed them, designed by their assistance to seize upon the pontificate, sent a body of troops thither, who apprehended the false prophet, and carried him to Rome, where he was burned."-Macl.]

(6) ["Theodoric de Niem tells us, that it was from Scotland that this sect came, and that their leader gave himself out for the prophet Elias. Sigonius and Platina in--Macl.] form us, that this enthusiast came from France; and that he was clothed in white, carried in his aspect the greatest modesty, and seduced prodigious numbers of people of both sexes and of all ages; that his followers (called penitents), among whom were several cardinals and priests, were clothed in white linen down to their heels, with caps that covered their whole faces, except their eyes; that they went in great troops of ten, twenty, and forty thousand persons from one city to another, calling out for mercy, and singing hymns; that wherever they came, they were received with great hospitality, and made innumerable proselytes; that they fasted, or lived upon bread and water during

(8) See Jac. Lenfant's Histoire du concile de Pise, tom. i., p. 102. Poggius, Historia Florentina, lib. iii., p. 122. Marc. Anton. Sabellicus, Enneades Rhapsodia Historiæ, Enneas IX., lib. ix., Opp., tom. ii., p. 839, Basil, 1560, fol.

God and attain to eternal felicity. This sect appears to have been a branch of the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit; for they asserted, that a new law of the Holy Spirit and of spiritual liberty, was about to be promulged. Yet there were opinions held by its members, which show that they were not entirely void of understanding. They inculcated for example, (I.) that Jesus Christ alone had merited eternal life for the human race; neither could men acquire for themselves future bliss, by their own deeds: (II.) that presbyters, to whom people confess their iniquities, cannot pardon sins; but that only Jesus Christ forgives men their sins: (III.) that voluntary penances are not necessary to salvation. Yet these and some other tenets, Peter de Alliaco the bishop of Cambray, who broke up this sect, pronounced to be heretical, and commanded William of Hildenissen to abjure.(9) § 5. In Germany, and particularly in Thuringia and lower Saxony, the Flagellants were still troublesome; but they were very different from those earlier Flagellants, who travelled in regular bands from province to province. These new Flagellants rejected almost all [practical] religion, and the external worship of God, together with the sacraments; and founded their hopes of salvation wholly on faith and flagellation: to which perhaps they might add some strange notions respecting an evil spirit, and some other things, which are but obscurely stated by the ancient writers. The leader of the sect in Thuringia and particularly at Sangerhausen, was one Conrad Schmidt; who was burned in the year 1414, with many others, by the zeal and industry of Henry Schönefeld, a famous inquisitor at that time in Germany.(10) At Quedlinburg, one Nicholas Schaden was committed to the flames. At Halberstadt, A.D. 1481, Berthold Schade was seized, but escaped death it appears, by retracting.(11) And from the records of those times, a long list might be made out, of Flagellants who were committed to the flames in Germany, by the inquisitors.

(9) See the records, in Steph. Baluze's Miscellanea, tom. ii., p. 277, &c. [The mystical principles of these people, are evinced by a passage of these records, in which Egidius is said to have taught: Ego sum salvator hominum; per me videbunt Christum, sicut per Christum Patrem: and also by their coincidence with the Brethren of the Free Spirit, as teaching, that the period of the old law, was the times of the Father; the period of the new law, the times of the Son; and the remaining period, that of the Holy Ghost or Elias. Yet it is manifest from these records, that William of Hildesheim, or Hildernissen, as being a man of learning, would have been able to state his tenets more clearly and distinctly.--Schl.]

(10) Excerpta Monachi Pirnensis, in Jo. Burch. Menkenius, Scriptores rerum Germanicar., tom. ii., p. 1521. Chronicon Monaster., in Anthon. Matthæus, Analecta veter. ævi, tom. v., p. 71. Chronicon Magdeb., in Meibomius, Scriptores rerum Germanicar., tom. ii., p. 362, &c. I have before me Sixteen Articles of the Flagellants, which Conrad Schmidt is said to have copied from the manuscript at Walkenried, and which were committed to writing by an inquisitor of Bra

denborch, A.D. 1411. The following is a concise summary of these articles. All that the Romish church teaches respecting the efficacy of the sacraments, purgatory, prayers for the dead, and the like, is false and vain. On the contrary, whoever believes, simply, what is contained in the Apostles' Creed, frequently repeats the Lord's prayer, and the Ave Maria, and at certain periods lacerates his body with scourging, and thus punishes himself for the sins he commits, will obtain eternal salvation. [The same thing appears also from the 50 Articles of this Flagellant, which were condemned in the council of Constance, and which may be seen in Von der Hardt's Acta Concilii Constant., tom. i., pt. i., p. 127. In the same Acts, (tom. iii., p. 92, &c.), we find a letter of John Gerson, addressed to Vincent Ferrerius, who was much inclined towards the sect of the Flagellants, dated July 9th, 1417. This letter is also in the works of Gerson, published by Du Pin, tom. ii., pt. iv., together with his tract contra sectam Flagellantium.—Schl.]

(11) The records of this transaction were published by Jo. Erh. Kappius, in his Relatio de rebus Theologicis antiquis et novis, A.D. 1747, p. 475, &c.

INDEX

TO THE SECOND VOLUM E.

Agobard, bishop of Lyons, 9th cent., 58, 70, Al Mamun or Abu Gaafar Abdallah, 9th cent.,