Originally written (likely in Latin) by “the lord bishop’s notary” Guillame Pierre Barthe (the lord bishop referred to being Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers and later Pope Benedict XII) and copied or translated by the scribe Rainaud, this document is an episcopal register detailing the process of an inquisitorial investigation against Guillame Austatz. The expected readership of the document would have been quite limited, primarily to lawyers, future inquisitors (to be used as a guide or reference for their own investigations) or, ultimately, historians.
The procedural, formal style of writing used in the document lends it a certain implicit authority, as does the knowledge that it was written in association with the Catholic Church. Though …show more content…
The document strongly suggests a heavily involved community in which many of the village inhabitants are familiar with one another – if not related, by blood or some other tie; Alazaïs, for example, is the godmother of Gaillarde. Gaillarde describes a group of people “gathered around the hearth” in her home, some whose names “she d[id] not remember”, and their discussion of various religious matters (which gave way for Guillame to speak as a heretic). Both witnesses recall Guillame visiting Alazaïs after the deaths of her four sons in what appears as an attempt to comfort her, further hinting at the closeness of those within the village …show more content…
His assertion that, at the time of the Resurrection, a soul for each person would overcrowd the world is met with horror by the two women, who call these views “bad things” and “evil words”, however logical they may now appear. Any deviation from dogma seems to be met with resistance, proving the inflexible doctrine of the Church and the rigid set of beliefs that those within the Christian faith were to adhere to. The existence of the document in and of itself proves the influence of the Church, to the extent that it could preside over these inquisitorial investigations that brought members of the population directly under its orthodox doctrine and
The procedural, formal style of writing used in the document lends it a certain implicit authority, as does the knowledge that it was written in association with the Catholic Church. Though …show more content…
The document strongly suggests a heavily involved community in which many of the village inhabitants are familiar with one another – if not related, by blood or some other tie; Alazaïs, for example, is the godmother of Gaillarde. Gaillarde describes a group of people “gathered around the hearth” in her home, some whose names “she d[id] not remember”, and their discussion of various religious matters (which gave way for Guillame to speak as a heretic). Both witnesses recall Guillame visiting Alazaïs after the deaths of her four sons in what appears as an attempt to comfort her, further hinting at the closeness of those within the village …show more content…
His assertion that, at the time of the Resurrection, a soul for each person would overcrowd the world is met with horror by the two women, who call these views “bad things” and “evil words”, however logical they may now appear. Any deviation from dogma seems to be met with resistance, proving the inflexible doctrine of the Church and the rigid set of beliefs that those within the Christian faith were to adhere to. The existence of the document in and of itself proves the influence of the Church, to the extent that it could preside over these inquisitorial investigations that brought members of the population directly under its orthodox doctrine and