Vergentis in senium

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Vergentis in senium is a on March 25, 1199 by Pope Innocent III. issued decretals . It was addressed to the clergy , the consuls and especially to the citizens of Viterbo , a town in the Patrimony of Peter , with the aim of bringing the heretics back into the bosom of the Church .

“In the areas subject to our secular jurisprudence, we order the confiscation of the goods of the beneficiaries, lodgers, defenders and followers [of heretics] ... In this way, secular punishment brings them back, which ecclesiastical discipline fails to bring to their senses ... how much more must those worldly goods be robbed of those who have offended God's Son Jesus Christ by apostating from the right faith and are separated from the head of our church, who is Christ, by ecclesiastical severity "(Hagender 1979 )

The decretals are therefore characterized by unmistakable severity. Pressure, isolation and harsh punishments should hit those who did not want to see their “injustice”. A closer look at the decretals reveals, however, that the Pope actually wanted to target Viterbo here.

Against the will of Innocent III. the municipality of Viterbo joined the Tusken League in 1198 . In the following year, 1199, Viterbo was in open battle with the Commune of Rome. Viterbo was defeated in the conflict and had to endure excommunication and interdict since 1200 . Vergentis in senium has now been used to break the autonomous power of Viterbo.

With regard to heresy, infamy should be imposed on crimes . This meant the loss of the right to vote and stand as a candidate, the loss of citizenship and the inability to exercise public office. The property of the heretics had to be confiscated. The parallels to the bull Lucius III are striking. Ad abolendam from 1184. What is new with Innocent is that the sons cannot fall back on the confiscated property either. Moreover, in Vergentis in Senium , the crime of heresy was for the first time equated with that of lese majesty, based on secular law . Because of these provisions, the decretals are considered to be an important document in the history of the Inquisition .

The circle of recipients becomes clear. It should not hit the lower classes, but rather the city-owning circles. This is that part of the decretals which the Pope was able to use against Viterbo's aspirations for autonomy and later against the Orvieto commune .

The importance of Innocent in the persecution of heretics can hardly be overestimated. He created the legal basis and tried to include the secular arm through threats of punishment.

literature

  • Malcolm Lambert: The Cathars. Blackwell, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-631-20959-X .
  • Othmar Hageneder , Werner Maleczek , Alfred Strnad: The Register Innocenz 'III. Volume 2, 2: Year of pontificate, 1199/1200. Texts. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-7001-0291-7 ( Publications of the Historical Institute at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Rome. 2nd section: Sources. 1st row).
  • Peter Segl (Ed.): The beginnings of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages. With an outlook on the 20th century and a contribution on religious intolerance in the non-Christian area. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1993, ISBN 3-412-03392-8 ( Bayreuth Historical Colloquia 7).
  • Leandro Duarte Rust: Bulas Inquisitoriais: Ad Abolendam (1184) e Vergentis in Senium (1199) . Revista de História, São Paulo, n. 166, pp. 129-161. Contains the Latin text with Portuguese translation.