[500] Alex. II. Epist. 112.
[501] I think that there is too much concurrent testimony to this effect to admit a reasonable doubt that the Albigenses were Manichæans. I may return to them hereafter, and therefore will not discuss the point here. As regards the earlier heretics, however, I may mention the following contemporary authorities:—
With respect to those of Toulouse and Orleans, the “Fragmentum Historiæ Aquitaniæ” (Pithœi Hist. Franc. Script. p. 82) says: “Eo tempore decem ex canonicis sanctæ crucis Aurelianis probati sunt esse Manichæi, quos rex Robertus quum nollent ad Catholicam converti fidem, igne cremari jussit. Simili modo apud Tholosam inventi sunt Manichæi, et ipsi igne cremati sunt: et per diversas Occidentis partes Manichæi exorti per latibula sese occultare cœperunt”—and their errors are thus specified in the “Fragmentum Hist. Franc.” (Op. cit. p. 84) “Ii dicebant non posse aliquem in baptismate spiritum sanctum suscipere, et post criminale peccatum veniam non promereri; impositionem manuum nihil posse conferre; nuptias spernebant; episcopum affirmabant non posse ordinare, &c.”
In the Artesian synod, held in 1025 to condemn those of Cambrai, the tenth canon is directed against their hostility to marriage (Labbei et Coleti XI. 1177-8).—See also the prefatory letter of Gerard, Bishop of Cambrai—“Conjugatos nequaquam ad regnum pertinere”—(Hartzheim Concil. German. III. 68).
Concerning those executed at Goslar in 1052—“Ibique quosdam hæreticos, inter alia pravi erroris dogmata Manichæa secta omnis esum animalis exsecrantes, consensu cunctorum, ne hæretica scabies latius serpens plures inficeret, in patibulis suspendi jussit.”—Herman. Contract. ann. 1052.
About 1100 Radolphus Ardens describes the Manichæans who infested the territory of Agen, and recapitulates their doctrines as embracing dualism, abhorrence of animal food and of marriage, rejection of the Old Testament and part of the New, disbelief in the Eucharist, in baptism and resurrection, &c.—“Dicunt enim tantum flagitium esse accedere ad uxorem, quantum ad matrem vel ad filiam”—Radulf. Ardent. T. I. P. ii. Homil. 19.
The council of Toulouse, held by Calixtus II. in 1119, adopted a canon condemning those who objected to the Eucharist, priesthood, and legitimate marriage, showing that Manichæism was unextinguished in Languedoc.—Udalr. Babenb. Cod. Lib. II. c. 303.
In 1146 a synod at Cologne tried certain heretics, but before the examination was concluded the unfortunates were seized by the rabble and burned “et quod magis mirabile est, ipsi tormentum ignis non solum cum patientia, sed et cum lætitia introierunt et sustinuerunt.” Their Manichæism is manifested by their tenets concerning marriage—“De baptismo nostro non curant: Nuptias damnant.... In cibis suis vetant omne genus lactis, et quod inde conficitur, et quidquid ex coitu procreatur”—Narratio Everwini Præpositi (Hartzheim. III. 353-4). Cf. Bernardi Serm. 65, 66, in Cantica.
The accusations so freely disseminated against them for the purpose of stirring up popular indignation—such as that in their conventicles, after religious exercises, the lights were extinguished, and the congregation abandoned themselves to indiscriminate excesses—are, of course, without foundation. It is instructive to observe that precisely the same scandals were asserted of the early Christians (Tertull. Apologet. c. vii.)—so little does human nature change with the lapse of centuries.
[502] It is scarcely worth while to more than refer to the assertion of mediæval Milanese chroniclers that Eriberto married a noble lady named Useria. Puricelli (Muratori Script. Rer. Ital. V. 122-3) has sufficiently demonstrated its improbability. He does not, however, allude to the argument derivable from the fact that Eriberto’s name is signed to the proceedings of the council of Pavia in 1022, where priestly marriage was so severely condemned.