Id Nostri Cordis
Id Nostri Cordis (Our Hearty Desires) was a papal bull of Pope Innocent VIII promulgated in June 27th of 1487 where he outlined a plenary indulgence (forgiveness) for anyone who joined the crusades against the Waldensians. His commands extended to religious and secular powers and threatened excommunication for those who did not join. A copy of the original bull was kept in the Library at Cambridge for many years.[1][2]
Background
The bull was given to Albertus de Capitaneis who was the pope’s legate and commissioner general for the imployment in that same year and to the Dominican Friar Blaise Berra.[3] The bull intended to strike at a group located in Lyons known as the Waldenses and specifically authorized a crusade in the regions of Dauphiné, Savoy, and Piedmont[4].
Leading up to the promulgation of the bull, Rome had implemented inquisition for many years against the Waldenses in the northern regions of Italy. Dominican Inquisitor Reinerius Saccho had identified the Waldenses as the most dangerous of all the heretical groups for three reasons.
- "First, because it is older; some say that it has existed from the time of Pope Sylvester I|Sylvester and others from the time of the apostles."
- "Second, because it is more general; for there is scarcely any country in which this Sect is not."
- "The third, because, while all other Sects excite the abhorrence of their hearers by the outrageousness of their blasphemies against God, this (namely of the Leonists) has a great appearance of piety; and they believe all things concerning God, and which are contained in the creed, rightly only they blaspheme the Romish Church which blasphemy a great multitude of the Laity are easily induced to believe. And, as we read in the Book of Judges, that Samson's foxes had different faces, but their tails tied together, so the heretics are divided into Sects among themselves, but in attacking the Church they are united. When there are, in one house, heretics of three Sects, of which each condemns the other, each one at the same time attacks the Romish Church and thus these crafty little foxes destroy the vineyard of the Lord, that is the Church, by their errors."[5][6]
There were concerns about the Waldenses being taught to read the bible freely and Reinerius had remarked how some could recite the entire new testament "word for word".[7] The promulgation of the Bible in the vulgar tongue so widely, along with views contrary to the church of Rome which were deemed heretical prompted the pope to launch a crusade against the Waldenses.[8]
Content
The chief call in the bull was for the "extermination and dispersion" of the heretics known as the Waldenses or the poor people of Lyons. Goods and possessions of the heretics were ordered to be seized and a dispensation was given for those who seized and distributed those goods.[9]
Text Of The Bull
"Our hearty desires chiefly tend to this that as touching those for the gaining of whom to the church the supreme Maker of all things was pleased himself to undergo human infirmities we to whom he hath committed the care and government of his flock may with all watchful industry endeavour to withdraw them from the precipices of errors that providing for their salvation as it shall please God to favour us with grace we may continually labour that the Catholic faith may in our times be propagated and the evil of heresy be rooted out from the borders of the faithful We have heard and it is come to our knowledge not without much displeasure that certain sons of iniquity inhabitants of the province of Evreux followers of that abominable and pernicious sect of malignant men who are called the poor people of Lyons or the Waldenses who have long ago endeavoured in Piemont and other neighbouring parts by the instigation of him who is the sower of evil works through by ways purposely sought out and hidden precipices to insnare the sheep belonging unto God and at last to bring them to the perdition of their souls by deadly cunning are damnably risen up under a feigned pretence of holiness being led into a reprobate sense and do greatly err from the way of truth and following superstitious and heretical ceremonies do say act and commit very many things contrary to the orthodox faith offensive to the eyes of the Divine Majesty and which do occasion a very great hazard of souls And whereas our beloved son Blasius de Monte Regali of the preacher's order and professor of divinity and general inquisitor in those parts was appointed heretofore by the general master of the said order and afterward by our beloved son Dominicus it priest of St Clement and cardinal and legate of the apostolical see in those parts and lastly by our immediate predecessor of blessed memory Pope Sixtus the IVth to extirpate such like and all other errors whatsoever having transported himself unto that province that he might induce them to abjure the errors aforesaid and to make profession of the true Christian faith they were so far from leaving their most wicked and perverse errors that stopping their ears like the deaf adder adding greatly evil to evil they did preach publicly those errors and by their preaching did draw other Christian believers thereunto despising the excommunications and prohibitions and other censures of the same inquisitor overthrowing the house of his habitation and the things that were therein as also plundering the goods of some others true believers killing the servant of the same inquisitor and waging a war in a hostile manner resisting their temporal lords and making spoil of their goods forcing them and their families to fly from their parishes burning and demolishing their houses depriving them of all their revenues and doing them all the harm they could together with an infinite number of other detestable and horrible acts which they were not afraid to commit We therefore having determined use all our endeavours and to employ all our care as we are bound by the duty of our pastoral charge to root up and extirpate such a detestable sect and the foresaid execrable errors that they may not spread further and that the hearts of believers may not be damnably perverted from the Catholic church and to repress such rash undertakings and having special confidence in the Lord concerning your learning your ripeness in counsel your zeal in the faith and your experience in the management of affairs and in like manner hoping that you will truly and faithfully execute the things we shall think good to commit unto you for the extirpating of errors we have thought to constitute you at this time this cause of God and the faith nuncio commissioner of us and the apostolical see within the of our beloved son Duke of Savoy and the and the cities and diocese of Vienne and Sedun and the provinces cities lands places whatsoever to the end should cause the same inquisitor to be received and admitted to free exercise of his office and you should induce the followers of the most wicked sect of the Waldenses and all other polluted with any other heretical corruption whatsoever to abjure their errors and to obey the commandments of the same inquisitor and give way to your seasonable remedies and that you may do this so much the more easily by how much the greater power and authority is given you by us to wit a power that by yourself or by some other person or persons you may admonish and require most urgently all archbishops and bishops seated in the Duchy Delphinate and the other forenamed adjacent places whom the most High hath called to share with us in our cares and command them by virtue of holy obedience that together with our venerable brethren the ordinaries of the places or their vicars or general officials in whose cities and dioceses you shall think fit to proceed with the orders and to execute the office which is enjoined you with the forenamed inquisitor a man no doubt endued with learning and fervent zeal for the salvation of souls they do assist you in the orders and together with you be able and willing to proceed to the excution thereof against the forenamed Waldenses and all other heretics whatsoever to rise up in arms against them and by a joint communication of processes to tread them under foot as venomous adders and to procure diligently that the people committed to their charge do persist in the confession of the true faith and be confirmed therein and that they do with a ready mind as they are bound use all their endeavours and bestow all their care towards so holy and so necessary an extermination and dispersion of the same heretics and they are to be required to omit nothing which may contribute thereunto Moreover that Charles our most beloved son in Christ the illustrious King of France and our beloved sons the noble Charles of Savoy and the dukes of the adjacent forenamed places and the princes earls and temporal lords of the cities territories and universities and the confederates of High Germany and all others of those parts who are believers in Christ do take up the shield of the orthodox faith which they did profess when they were baptized and of the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom kings reign and lords bear rule and give assistance to the same archbishops bishops and to you and the fore-said vicars and general officials and to the inquisitor with seasonable favours and their secular power as they shall see it expedient for the execution of this most necessary and wholesome inquisition and ardently oppose themselves against those most detestable heretics for the defence of the faith for the safety of their native country and for the preservation of themselves and of all that belong unto them by procuring that they may be exterminated and destroyed And if you shall think it expedient to cause exhort and induce all the faithful in those parts by fit preachers of God preaching the cross or the crusade to fight manfully against the same heretics having taken the saving sign of the cross upon their hearts and garments and to grant that such as are signed with the cross and fight against the said heretics or such as contribute thereunto may obtain according to your appointment once in their life and also at the point of death a plenary indulgence and remission of all their sins and also to command by virtue of holy obedience and under the penalty of the sentence of excommunication already given to all fit preachers of God's word seculars and regulars of what order soever also of the mendicants exempted and not exempted that they stir up and inflame the same believers to root out this kind of pest by force of arms and to set themselves against the common danger with their best strength and faculties And moreover to absolve such as thus take up the cross fighting or contributing or consenting thereunto from all and every ecclesiastical sentences censures and penalties wherewith happily they may in any wise be bound except from such as this day in a special manner are denounced from which they that are bound therewith are to be absolved by a previous satisfaction or alone by the consent of the party And also to dispense with them concerning the irregularity contracted by intrusion into holy things or by reason of any kind of apostasy or concerning goods secretly and unjustly gotten or uncertain goods unduly purchased to agree and compound that they may be applied only to the war against heretics Also to exchange all vows made with an oath of pilgrimage abstinency and other the like vows except only those of chastity and of entering into religious orders and going beyond the seas and of visiting the thresholds of the apostles and the church of St James in Compostella to them that go to fight for the defence of the Catholic faith against the heretics or to such as contribute thereunto or do give so much as in all likelihood they would expend in passing to those places or as the due qualities of places and persons being considered it shall seem good to you or to fit confessors by you to be deputed In the mean time to choose depute and confirm one or more fit generals of war and captains for the collecting the crusade army in our name and in the name of the church of Rome and command them that they take this burden upon them and execute it faithfully for the praise and defense of the faith and that all others do endeavor jointly to obey him or them and to enjoin that all the moveable and immovable goods of the heretics may be lawfully seized and given away by any body whatsoever and to make a booty of all goods which the heretics bring or cause to be brought unto the territories of the Catholics or carry or cause to be carried out of the same and to command that all who are in the service of the same heretics any where shall depart within the time by you prefixed unto them under such penalties as you shall see good and to admonish and require them and all ecclesiastical and secular persons of what dignity age sex or order soever they may be to yield obedience and give attendance with reverence to the apostolical commands under the penalties of excommunication suspension or interdiction and that they abstain from all commerce with the fore-said heretics and to declare that neither they nor any others who by any contract or otherwise are in any sort bound unto them to perform or pay any thing are henceforth at all obliged or by the same authority can be compelled thereunto
In witness whereof and to give credit to all and every of these premises we have commanded these presents our letters or present public instrument containing this kind of avocation citation and inhibition to be made by our public notary and to be subscribed by our secretary of such affairs before us as underwritten and have caused and commanded them to be confirmed with the impression of our seals Given and enacted in the foresaid convent of St Laurence without the walls of Pinerolo in the year from the nativity of our Lord one thousand four hundred and eighty seven on the fifth indiction and on the twenty sixth day of the month of June and in the third year of the popedom of the fore named our most holy lord Pope Innocent there being in the same place present the eminent men Heustanus Nomelli of Otzapio Bonifacius Bellini of Briceyrapio treasurers of the diocese of Ambelis the notaries as witnesses to the premises being called desired and joined to assist to the end that no innovation should be made by any body.[10][11]"
Results
Following the release of the bull, commissioner Albert Cattaneo led the crusade against the Waldensians into the mountains and many were displaced or killed[12]. On one occasion Cattaneo's commander La Palud had observed some Waldenses go into a nearby cave and ordered a fire be built at its entrance. After the fire was extinguished, the inside of the cave was examined and there was found to be 400 children dead in their mother's arms and about three thousand individuals perished from the smoke.[13][14][15][16][17]
Those Waldenses who were taken captive were brought to a mass absolution at Embrun on April 27th, 1488. Despite the return of some to catholicism, their property was not returned as it had already been confiscated.[12]
References
- ↑ Morland, Samuel (1658). The history of the Evangelical churches of the valleys of Piemont : containing a most exact geographical description of the place, and a faithfull account of the doctrine, life, and persecutions of the ancient inhabitants ; Together, with a most naked and punctual relation of the late bloudy massacre, 1655 ; And a narrative of all the following transactions, to the year of Our Lord, 1658 . Princeton Theological Seminary Library. London : Printed by Henry Hills for Adoniram Byfield. p. 274.
- ↑ d'Aubigné, Jean Henri Merle (1847). History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. American Tract Society. p. 327.
- ↑ Benedetti, Marina; Cameron, Euan (2022-06-27). A Companion to the Waldenses in the Middle Ages. BRILL. p. 447. ISBN 978-90-04-42041-0.
- ↑ Buck, Lawrence (2014-02-22). The Roman Monster: An Icon of the Papal Antichrist In Reformation Polemics. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-1-61248-107-4.
- ↑ Maitland, Samuel Roffey (1832). Facts and documents illustrative of the history, doctrine and rites, of the ancient Albigenses & Waldenses. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. London : Rivington. p. 406.
- ↑ Tuy, Lucas de (1613). Lucae Tudensis Episcopi scriptores aliquot succedanei contra sectam Waldensium: nunc primum in lucem editi cum prolegomenis et notis ... (in Latina). excudebat Andreas Angermarius. p. 54.
- ↑ Bigne, Marguerin de La (1644). Magna bibliotheca veterum patrum et antiquorum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, primo quidem a Margarino de La Bigne,... composita, postea studio... coloniensium theologorum ac professorum aucta, nunc vero additione ducentorum circiter authorum tam Graecorum, qui in editione coloniensi, quam Latinorum qui in Parisiensibus desiderabantur locupletata... (in Latina). Aegidij Morelli. p. 747.
- ↑ Wylie, James Aitken (1880). History of the Waldenses. (A repr. of the 16th book of the History of Protestantism). p. 28.
- ↑ Gilly, William Stephen (1824). Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piemont, and Researches Among the Vaudois, Or Waldenses ... With Maps, Plates, [facsimiles] and an Appendix, Containing Copies of Ancient Manuscripts, Etc.
- ↑ Gilly, William Stephen (1824). Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piemont, and Researches Among the Vaudois, Or Waldenses ... With Maps, Plates, [facsimiles] and an Appendix, Containing Copies of Ancient Manuscripts, Etc.
- ↑ The History of the Evangelical Churches in the Valleys of Piemont: Containing a Most Exact Geographical Description of the Place, and a Faithfull Account of the Doctrine, Life, and Persecutions of the Ancient Inhabitants. Together, with a Most Naked and Punctual Relation of the Late Bloudy Massacre, 1655. And a Narrative of All the Following Transactions, to the Year of Our Lord, 1658. All which are Justified, Partly by Divers Ancient Manuscripts ... and Partly by Other Most Authentick Attestations ... Henry Hills. 1658. p. 197.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Visconti, Joseph. The Waldensian Way to God. Xulon Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-59160-792-2.
- ↑ Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c. H. Colburn. 1858. p. 179.
- ↑ The Protestant Magazine. Review and Herald Pub. Assn. 1913. p. 81.
- ↑ The Quarterly review. Murray. 1826. p. 161.
- ↑ Worsfold, William Basil (1899). The Valley of Light: Studies with Pen and Pencil in the Vaudois Valley of Piedmont. Macmillan. p. 33.
- ↑ Sketches of the Waldenses. Religious Tract Society. 1846. p. 71.
External links
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