Medieval Heresy & the Inquisition

It was the methods by which he arrived at those conclusions that aroused the fear and wrath of his adversaries. For he put Christian dogma to the touchstone of reason, accepting it because it was reasonable, rather than following reason only as far as it was Christian. To St. Bernard, Abelard appeared as a virulent plague-spot, a second AriusArius was an early church figure whose views on the divinity of Christ were condemned as heretical.. But there were other, more disturbing heresies coming, for the source of whose influence, if not inspiration, we must look to facts of a different character.

Though their extent is a matter of dispute, there is no doubt about the existence of serious clerical abuses in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. There is no need here to trench upon contentious ground; it should be said that when a catalog of offenses is produced as a picture of the medieval church without giving the other side, only a most erroneous impression can be created. There was extraordinary greatness in a church that could produce a St. Bernard, a St. Francis, an Anselm, and a Grosseteste. Yet, even if we leave out the invectives of professed enemies and rely only on the unimpeachable authority of the Church’s leaders themselves, we are left with a dark picture. We must remember that would-be reformers are prone to use highly colored language regarding the evils they seek to eradicate. Yet, simony—the buying or selling of ecclesiastical offices—must have been a crying abuse, or it would not have received so much attention from zealous popes. We know of many bishops who neglected their spiritual duties and were nothing more than feudal barons, sometimes fattening upon riches amassed by extortion. It cannot be denied that there were numerous instances of absenteeism and pluralities (holding multiple offices). For the sexual immorality found among both regular and secular clergy, we have the authority of great men who were scandalized by it and sought amendment, such as Honorius III, St. Bernard, and Bishop Grosseteste. Monastic reforms had been tried, with the Cluniac reform being followed by the Cistercian and others of like severity.