Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe

V THE WAY OF CARITAS: PREACHING, PENITENCE, AND PASTORALISM

V THE WAY OF CARITAS: PREACHING, PENITENCE, AND PASTORALISM A modern historian has characterized the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as "a period of considerable flexibility and real experiment in dealing with dissident movements." In tracing the history of ecclesiastical response to religious dissent, historians have often neglected the way of caritas in their haste to get on to the way of potestas-the Albigensian Crusade, the Inquisition, and the other forms, such as the doctrine of legal infamy, by means of which the Church's powers of coercion were so dramatically and spectacularly displayed. Yet the way of caritas marked much of the history of the first century and a half of religious dissidence, and, although violence was certainly exercised against heretics and dissidents (and occasional energetic reformers) during this period, it was more often than not exercised by laypeople, usually by mob action. Individual bishops, lacking a reliable guide in law, inquired of their colleagues, or of Rome, what they should do; and in the early period expulsion from the diocese or excommunication were generally the strongest punishments they meted out. Twelfth-century conciliar legislation urged various forms of ecclesiastical discipline, but none stronger than excommunication (no. 28). Some churchmen urged toleration. Even the first papal decree against heretics everywhere in Europe, Pope Lucius Ill's Ad Abolendam of 1184 (no. 29), did not deal with the doctrinal problems of heresy as much as it established the category of contumacy for practicing heretics. Ecclesiastical discipline varied from time to time and from place to place, often from bishop to bishop. Within this period, the Church looked hard at itself, [ 165 1 [ 166 1 Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe explored ways of persuading dissidents to return to obedience, and launched a great pastoral effort designed to teach religion effectively. In the light of the later turn toward coercitio, toward the use of power and force in the Crusades and the Inquisition, it is easy to neglect this early phase of charity; but undoubtedly this phase was very effective, if not in Languedoc or against the Cathars or Waldensians, then elsewhere and against other groups. One reason for this flexibility was that learned churchmen knew perfectly well that many of the clergy were emminently deserving of the criticism they received. Pope Innocent III once said of the bishops of Narbonne that "they are dumb dogs, unable to bark," that is, ignorant pastors and teachers, whose lives and whose teaching did not suffice to care for their congregations. High churchmen knew of many groups in the twelfth century whose attempts to follow what they called "the apostolic life" might make them appear dissident when in fact their motives were the highest and their lives beyond reproach. The early history of papal dealings with the Waldensians illustrates the general tone of prelatic concern; it was chiefly with unauthorized preaching and reading unauthorized translations of scripturethat is, with matters of ecclesiastical obedience rather than with doctrine-that the popes were concerned in the case of Valdes and his followers. Missions to Languedoc, such as that of St. Bernard in 1145 and Henry of Clairvaux in 1178, were instructed to offer examples of Christian life and teaching, not force, and the legacy of these early Cistercian missions was the founding of the two Mendicant orders, the Order of Friars Minor, or Franciscans, in 1210, and the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, in 1216. Throughout their early years, both orders were enjoined to live exemplary lives and preach proper doctrine. Discussions, often open, were held between heretics and orthodox Christians throughout the twelfth and into the thirteenth century. Often, these debates showed up the higher clergy for the incompetents they were; more often, prelates themselves acknowledged the difficulty of teaching and preaching among their other duties and showed exemplary concern for the spiritual wellbeing of the heretics, as well as the orthodox, in their diocese. The popes' willingness to hear appeals from convicted heretics underlines papal awareness of the poor quality of some higher churchmen. Although papal steps against heretics became progressively harsher in the late twelfth century (nos. 30-31), even Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) worked to establish the New Orders and see that heretics were converted if conversion was possible. Two examples of Innocent's success here are the conversions of Durand of Huesca, a Waldensian, in 1208 (no. 35), and Bernard Prim in 1210. The Way of Caritas...