Part 19

§ 106.2. =Indulgences.=--The old German principle of composition (§ 89, 5), and the Gregorian doctrine of purgatory (§ 61, 4), formed the bases on which was reared the ordinance of indulgences. The theory of the monks of St. Victor of the 12th century regarding penitential satisfaction (§ 104, 4), gave an impetus to the development of this institution of the church. It copestone was laid in the 13th century by the formulating of the doctrine of the superabundant merit of Christ and the saints (_Thesaurus supererogationis Christi et perfectorum_) by Alexander of Hales, Albert the Great, and Aquinas. The members of the body of Christ could suffer and serve one for another, and thus Aquinas thought the merits of one might lessen the purgatorial pains of another. Innocent III., in A.D. 1215, allowed to bishops the right of limiting the pains of purgatory to forty days, but claimed for the pope exclusively the right of giving full indulgence (_Indulgentia plenaria_). Clement VI. declared that the pope as entrusted with the keys was alone the dispenser of the _Thesaurus supererogationis_. Strictly indulgence was allowed only to the truly penitent, as an aid to imperfect not a substitute for non-existent satisfaction. This was generally ignored by preachers of indulgences. This was specially the case in the times of the crusaders. Popes also frequently gave indulgences to those who simply visited certain shrines.

§ 106.3. =The Church Doctrine of the Hereafter.=--All who had perfectly observed every requirement of the penances and sacraments of the church to the close of their lives had the gates of =Heaven= opened to them. All others passed into the =Lower World= to suffer either positively=_sensus_, inexpressible pains of fire, or negatively=_damnum_, loss of the vision of God. There are four degrees corresponding to four places of punishment. =Hell=, situated in the midst of the earth, _abyssus_ (Rev. xx. 1), is place and state of eternal punishment for all infidels, apostates, excommunicates, and all who died in mortal sin. The next circle is the purifying fire of =Purgatory=, or a place of temporary punishment positive or negative for all believing Christians who did not in life fully satisfy the three requirements of the sacrament of penance (§ 104, 4). The =Limbus infantum= is a side chamber of purgatory, where all unbaptized infants are kept for ever, only deprived of blessedness in consequence of original sin. Then above this is the =Limbus Patrum=, “Abraham’s bosom,” where the saints of the Old Covenant await the second coming of Christ.

§ 106.4. =Flagellation.=--From the 8th century discipline was often exercised by means of scourging, administered by the confessor who prescribed it. In the 11th century voluntary =Self-Flagellation= was frequently practised not only as punishment for one’s own sin, but, after the pattern of Christ and the martyrs, as atonement for sins of others. It originated in Italy, had its great patron in Damiani (§ 97, 4), and was earnestly commended by Bernard, Norbert, Francis, Dominic, etc. It is reported of St. Dominic that he scourged himself thrice every night, first for himself, and then for his living companions, and then for the departed in purgatory. The zealous Franciscan preachers were mainly instrumental in exerting an enthusiasm for self-mortification among the people (§ 98, 4). About A.D. 1225, Anthony of Padua attracted crowds who went about publicly lashing themselves while singing psalms. Followers of Joachim of Floris (§ 108, 5) as =Flagellants= rushed through all Northern Italy in great numbers during A.D. 1260, preaching the immediate approach of the end of the world.[319]

§ 107. FEMALE MYSTICS.

Practical mysticism which concerned itself only with the salvation of the soul, had many representatives among the women of the 12th and 13th centuries. Among them it was specially characterized by the prevalence of ecstatic visions, often deteriorating into manifestations of nervous affections which superstitious people regarded as exhibitions of miraculous power. Examples are found in all countries, but especially in the Netherlands, and the Rhine provinces, in France, Alsace and Switzerland, in Saxony and Thuringia. Those whose visions pointed to the inauguration of reforms are of particular interest to us, as they often had a considerable influence on the subsequent history of the church.

§ 107.1. =Two Rhenish Prophetesses of the 12th Century.=--=St. Hildegard= was founder and abbess of a cloister near Bingen on the Rhine, where she died in A.D. 1178 in her 74th year. Grieving over clerical and papal corruptions, she had apocalyptic visions of the antichrist, and travelled far and engaged in an extensive correspondence in appealing for radical reforms. St. Bernard and pope Eugenius III. who visited Treves in A.D. 1147 acknowledged her prophetic vocation, and the people ascribed to her wonderful healing power.--Hildegard’s younger contemporary was the like-minded =St. Elizabeth of Schönau=, abbess of the neighbouring convent of Schönau, who died in A.D. 1165. Her prophecies were mostly of the apocalyptic-visionary order, and in them with still greater severity she lashed the corruptions of the clergy. She also gave currency to the legend of St. Ursula (§ 104, 9).

§ 107.2. =Three Thuringian Prophetesses of the 13th Century.=--=Mechthild of Magdeburg=, after thirty years of Beguine life, wrote in a beautiful rhythmical style in German her “Light of Deity,” setting forth the sweetness of God’s love, the blessedness of glorified saints, the pains of purgatory and hell, and denouncing with great moral earnestness the corruptions of the clergy and the church, and depicting with a poet’s or prophet’s power the coming of the last day. Influenced by the apocalyptic views of Joachim of Floris (§ 108, 5), she also gives expression to a genuinely German patriotism. With her it is a new preaching order that leads to victory against antichrist, and the founder of this order, who meets a martyr’s death in the conflict, is a son of the Roman king. In contrast with Joachim, she thus makes the German empire not a foe but the ally of the church. Mechthild’s prophecies largely influenced Dante, and even her name appears in that of his guide Matilda.--=Mechthild of Hackeborn=, who died in A.D. 1310, in her _Speculum spiritualis gratiæ_ published her visions of a reformatory and eschatological prophetic order, more subjective and personal than those of the former.--=Gertrude the Great=, who died in A.D. 1311, is more decidedly a reformer than either of the Mechthilds or any other woman of the Middle Ages. A diligent inquirer into the depths of Scripture, she renounced the veneration usually shown to Mary, the saints, and relics, repudiated all the ideas of her age regarding merits, ceremonial exercises, and indulgences, and in the exercise of simple faith trusted only to the grace of God in Christ. She seems to belong to the 16th rather than to the 13th century. Her visions, too, are more of a spiritual kind.

V. Heretical Opposition to Ecclesiastical Authority.

§ 108. THE PROTESTERS AGAINST THE CHURCH.

Mediæval endeavours after reform, partly proceeded from within the church itself in attempts to restore apostolic purity and simplicity, partly from without on the part of those who despaired of any good coming out of the church, and who therefore warred bitterly against it. Such attempts were often lost amid the vagaries of fanaticism and heresy, which soon threatened the foundation of the social fabric, and often came into collision with the State. Most widely spread and most radical were the numerous dualistic sects of the Cathari. Montanist fanaticism was revived in apocalyptic prophesyings. There were also pantheistic sects, and among the Pasagians a sort of Ebionism reappeared. Another group of sects originated through reformatory endeavours of individual men, who perceiving the utter corruption of the church of their day, sought salvation in a revolutionary overthrow of all ecclesiastical institutions and repudiated often the truth with the error which was the object of their hate. The only protesting church of a thoroughly sensible evangelical sort was that of the Waldensians.

§ 108.1. =The Cathari.=--Opposition to hierarchical pretensions led to the spread of sects, especially in Northern Italy and France, from the 11th century. Hidden remnants of Old Manichæan sects got new courage and ventured into the light during the period of the crusades. In France they were called Tisserands, because mostly composed of weavers. In Italy they were called Patareni or Paterini, either from the original meaning of the word, rabble, riff-raff (§ 97, 5), or because they so far adopted the attitude of the Pasaria of Milan, as to offer lay opposition to the local clergy, or because of the frequent use of the Paternoster. Of later origin are the names Publicani and Bulgări, given as opprobrious designations to the Paulicians. The most widely current name of Cathari, from early times a favourite title assumed by rigorist sects (§ 41, 3), had its origin in the East. In France they were called Albigensians, from the province of Albigeois, which was their chief seat in Southern France.--Of the =Writings of the Cathari= we possess from the end of the 13th century a Provençal translation of the N.T., free from all falsification in favour of their sectarian views. Their tenets are to be learnt only from the polemical writings of their opponents, Alanus ab Insulis (§ 102, 5), the Dominican Joh. Moneta, about A.D. 1240, and Rainerius, Sacchoni, Dominican and inquisitor, about A.D. 1250.

§ 108.2. Besides their opposition to the hierarchy, all these sects had in common a dualistic basis to their theological systems. They held in a more or less extreme form the following doctrines: The good God who is proclaimed in the N.T. created in the beginning the heavenly and invisible world, and peopled it with souls clothed in ethereal bodies. The earthly world, on the other hand, is the work of an evil spirit, who is held up as object of worship in the O.T. Entering the heavenly world he succeeded in seducing some of its inhabitants, whom he, when defeated by the archangel Michael, took with him to earth, and there imprisoned in earthly bodies, so as to make return to their heavenly home impossible. Yet they are capable of redemption, and may, on repentance and submission to purificatory ordinances, be again freed from their earthly bonds and brought home again to heaven. For this redemption the good God sent “the heavenly man” Jesus (1 Cor. xv. 47) to earth in the appearance of man to teach men their heavenly origin and the means of restoration. The Cathari rejected the O.T., but accepted the N.T., which they read in the vernacular. Marriage they regarded as a hindrance to Christian perfection. They treated with contempt water baptism, the Supper, and ordination, as well as all veneration of saints and relics, and tolerated no images, crosses, or altars. Prayer, abstinence, and baptism of the Spirit were regarded as the only means of salvation. Preaching was next to prayer most prominent in their public services. They also laid great stress upon fasting, genuflection, and repetitions of stated formulæ, especially the Lord’s Prayer. Their members were divided into _Cregentz_ (_credentes_ or catechumens) and _Bos homes_ or _Bos crestias_ (_boni homines, boni Christiani_=_perfecti_ or _electi_). A lower order of the catechumens were the _Auditores_. These were received as _Credentes_ after a longer period of training amid various ceremonies and repetition of the Lord’s prayer, etc. The order of the _Perfecti_ was entered by spiritual baptism, the _Consolamentum_ or communication of the Holy Spirit as the promised Comforter, without which no one can enjoy eternal life. Even opponents such as St. Bernard admit that there was great moral earnestness shown by some of them, and many met a martyr’s death with true Christian heroism. Symptoms of decay appeared in the spread among them of antinomian practices. This moral deterioration showed itself as a radical part of this system in the so-called =Luciferians= or devil worshippers, whose dualism, like that of the Euchites and Bogomils (§ 71), led to the adoption of two Sons of God. Lucifer the elder, wrongly driven from heaven, is the creator and lord of this earthly world, and hence alone worshipped in it. His expulsion (Isa. xiv. 12) is carried out by the younger son, Michael, who will, however, on this account, whenever Lucifer regains heaven, be sent with all his company into eternal punishment. Of an incarnation of God, even of a docetic kind, they know nothing. They regarded Jesus as a false prophet who was crucified on account of the evil he had done.--Catharist sects suspected of Manichæan tendencies were discovered here and there during the 11th century. In the following century their number had increased enormously, and they spread over Lombardy and Southern France, but were also found in Southern Italy, in Germany, Belgium, Spain, and even in England. They had a pope residing in Bulgaria, twelve magistri and seventy-two bishops, each with a _Filius major_ and _minor_ at his side. In A.D. 1167 they were able to muster an œcumenical Catharist Council at Toulouse. Neither clemency nor severity could put them down. St. Bernard prevailed most by the power of his love, and subsequently learned Dominicans had more effect with their preaching and disputations. They found abundant opportunity of displaying their hatred of the papacy during the struggles of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In spite of terrible persecution, which reached its height in the beginning of the 13th century in the Albigensian crusade (§ 109, 1), remnants of them were found down into the 14th century.

§ 108.3. The small sect of the =Pasagians= in Lombardy during the 12th century, protesting against the Manichæan depreciation of the O.T. of the Catharists, adopted views of a somewhat Ebionite character. With the exception of sacrifice, they enforced all the old ceremonial observances, even circumcision, and held an Arian or Ebionite theory of the Person of Christ. Their name meaning “passage,” seems to refer to pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and possibly from this a clue to their origin may be obtained.

§ 108.4. =Pantheistic Heretics.=

1. =Amalrich of Bena= taught first philosophy, then theology, at Paris in the end of the 12th century. In A.D. 1204 Innocent III. called him to account for his proposition, Christian in sound, but probably pantheistically intended, that no one could be saved who is not a member in Christ’s body, and obliged him to retract. His death occurred soon after, and some years later we find traces of a pantheistic sect founded on the alleged doctrines of Amalrich vigorously propagated by his disciple William the goldsmith. God had previously appeared as Father incarnate in Abraham, and as Son in Christ, and now henceforth as the Holy Spirit in every believer, who therefore in the same sense as Christ is God. As such, too, he is without sin, and what to others would be sin is not so to him. In the age of the Son the Mosaic law lost its validity, and in that of the Spirit, the sacraments and services of the new covenant. God has always been all in all. We find him in Ovid as well as in Augustine, and the body of Christ is in common bread as well as in the consecrated wafer on the altar. Saint worship is idolatry. There is no resurrection; heaven and hell exist only in the imagination of men. Rome is Babylon, and the pope is antichrist; but to the king of France, after the overthrow of antichrist, shall the kingdoms of the earth be subject, etc. A synod at Paris in A.D. 1209 condemned William and nine priests to be burnt, and four other priests to imprisonment for life, and ordered that Amalrich’s bones should be exhumed and scattered over an open field. Regarding the physical works of Aristotle as the source of this heresy, the council also prohibited all lectures upon these (§ 103, 1). This was seen to be a mistake, and so in A.D. 1225 Honorius III. fixed on the true culprit and condemned the _De divisione naturæ_ of Erigena (§ 90, 6). The penalties inflicted did not by any means lead to the rooting out of the sect. During the whole 13th century it continued to spread from Paris over all eastern France as far as Alsace, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, and in the 14th century reached its highest development in the pantheistic-libertine doctrines of the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit (§ 116, 5). We never again meet with the name of Amalrich, and the sects were never called after him.

2. =David of Dinant= at the same time with Amalrich taught philosophy and theology in the University of Paris. He also lived for a long while at the papal court in Rome, high in favour with Innocent III. as a subtle dialectician. The Synod of Paris of A.D. 1209, which passed judgment on the Amalricians, pronounced David a heretic and ordered his works to be burnt. He avoided personal punishment by flight. The central point of his system was the assumption of a single eternal substance without distinctions, from which God, spirit (νοῦς), and matter (ὕλη) sprang as the three principles of all later forms of existences (_corpora_, _animæ_, and _substantiæ æternæ_). God is regarded as the _primum efficiens_, matter as the _primum suscipiens_, and spirit as the medium between the two. David’s scholars never formed a sect and never had any connection apparently with the followers of Amalrich.

3. =The Ortlibarians= were a sect condemned by Innocent III., followers of a certain Ortlieb of Strassburg about A.D. 1212. They held the world to be without beginning. They looked upon Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary, sinless like all other children, but raised to be son of God only through illumination from the doctrines of their sect, which had existed from the earliest times. They admitted the gospel story of Christ’s life, sufferings, and resurrection, not, however, in a literal but only in a moral and mystical acceptation. The consecrated host was but common bread, and in it was the body of the Lord. A Jew entering their sect needed not to be baptized, and fellowship with them was sufficient to secure salvation. There is no resurrection of the flesh; man’s spirit alone is immortal. After the last judgment, which will come when pope and emperor are converted to their views and all opposition is overcome, the world will last for ever, and men will be born and die just as now. They professed a strictly ascetic life, and many of them fasted every second day.

§ 108.5. =Apocalyptic Heretics.=--The Cistercian abbot =Joachim of Floris=, who died in A.D. 1202, with his notions of the so called “_Everlasting Gospel_,” as a reformer and as one inclined to apocalyptic prophecy, followed in the footsteps of Hildegard of Bingen and Elizabeth of Schönau (§ 107, 1). His prophetic views spread among the Franciscans and were long unchallenged. In A.D. 1254 the University of Paris, warning against the begging monks (§ 103, 3), got Alexander IV. to condemn these views as set forth in commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah ascribed to Joachim, but now found to be spurious. Preger doubts but, Reuter maintains the genuineness of the three tracts grouped under the title of the _Evangelium æternum_. The main points in his theory seem to have been these: There are three ages, that of the Father in the O.T., of the Son in the N.T., and of the Holy Spirit in the approaching fulness of the kingdom of God on earth. Of the apostles, Peter is representative of the first age, Paul of the second, and John of the third. They may also be characterized as the age of the laity, the clergy, and the monks, and compared in respect of light with the stars, the moon, and the sun. The first six periods of the N.T. age are divided (after the pattern of the forty-two generations of Matt. i. and the forty-two months or 1260 days of Rev. xi. 2, 3) into forty-two shorter periods of thirty years each, so that the sixth period closes with A.D. 1260, and then shall dawn the Sabbath period of the New Covenant as the age of the Holy Spirit. This will be preceded by a short reign of antichrist as a punishment for the corruptions of the church and clergy. By the labours of the monks, however, the church is at last purified and brought forth triumphant, and the life of holy contemplation becomes universal. The germs of antichrist were evidently supposed to lie in the Hohenstaufen empire of Frederick I. and Henry VI. The commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah went so far as to point to the person of Frederick II. as that of the antichrist.

§ 108.6. =Ghibelline Joachites= in Italy, mostly recruited from the Franciscans, sided with the emperor against the pope and adopted apocalyptic views to suit their politics, and regarded the papacy as the precursor of antichrist. One of their chiefs, Oliva, who died in A.D. 1297, wrote a _Postilla super Apoc._, in which he denounced the Roman church of his day as the Great Whore of Babylon, and his scholar Ubertino of Casale saw in the beast that rose out of the sea (Rev. xiii.) a prophetic picture of the papacy.--In Germany these views spread among the Dominicans during the 13th century, especially in Swabia. The movement was headed by one Arnold. who wrote an _Epistola de correctione ecclesiæ_ about A.D. 1246. He finds in Innocent IV. the antichrist and in Frederick II. the executioner of the Divine judgment and the inauguration of the reformation. Frederick’s death, which followed soon after in A.D. 1250, and the catastrophe of A.D. 1268 (§ 96, 20), must have put an end to the whole movement.

§ 108.7. =Revolutionary Reformers.=

1. The =Petrobrusians=, whose founder, =Peter of Bruys=, was a pupil of Abælard and a priest in the south of France, repudiated the outward or visible church and sought the true or invisible church in the hearts of believers. He insisted on the destruction of churches and sanctuaries because God could be worshipped in a stable or tavern, burnt crucifixes in the cooking stove, eagerly opposed celibacy, mass, and infant baptism, and after a twenty years’ career perished at the stake about A.D. 1126 at the hands of a raging mob. One of Peter’s companions, =Henry of Lausanne=, whose fiery eloquence had been influential in inciting to reform, succeeded to the leadership of the Petrobrusians, who from him were called =Henricians=. St. Bernard succeeded in winning many of them back. Henry was condemned to imprisonment for life, and died in A.D. 1149.