Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 2.djvu/340

 324 GERMANY. dition So infinite were the conclusions which flo^vert from the Slasslptions of the A.aunans, that those -^^ -ep^^ ^^^^^^ views inevitably diverged in the apphcations, as they attiibutea relte or less importance to one series of propositions or another. Ihere were some Iho took special interest in this theory as to Sa^ tan and as their utterances were peculiarly exasperatmg to the Sholx,!; were designated as a separate -t ^«r t^J^- of Luoiferans. Of these we hear much but see little, iheir aoc brines wee exaggerated into devil-worship, and they were included n the hSof herftics to be periodically a-thematized .vith a ze^ which attributed to them vastly greater importance than their Tcanty numbers deserved. Probably this was because they were piXly well adapted to serve as a stimulus for a heathy pj>p^^^ Ir abhorrence of heresy. The most extravagant and repuk ve storSre circulated i to their hideous rites, which gradually Shape under the current superstitions as to -^c -^^^^^^^^^^^^^ they aided to formulate and render concrete. At the period un der consideration they formed the basis of the wildest and most ferocious epidemic of persecution that the world had yet seen. '" Thefirst indication we have of this tendency occurs - the case of Henry Minneke, Provost of the Cistercian nunnery of Neuwerke ^n Goslar which i further of interest as showing how utterly, at 1 c se 'of the first quarter of the thirteenth century G-nany was destitute of any inquisitorial machinery and ho^^ |norant were her prelates as yet of inquisitorial procedure. In 1222 Mm
 * was Lcused befL his bishop, the fanatic Conrad ..^^^^^^^^^^

b*s of Hildesheim, of certain heretical opmions. An assembly of prelates was heli at Goslar, which took testimony of his nuns, and found him guilty. He was simply ordered to teach his doc toes ^o longer^ When he disobeyed he was summoned before BiZpConrfd, who examined him-for three «lays ^dse^^^^^^^^^^ him to return to his Premonstratensian monastery, and ordered the nis to elect another provost. To this, again, he paid no atten^ ■ ^i^n probably considering that his immunities as a monk exempted hi^'frmtscopal jurisliction, and the bishop ^ems to ha^ ad no resource but to implore the -t-'^^^'^*^^/,,^™"^'; When the pope ordered the sentence executed, ^l^-l "™^ '^*^ iected an appeal back to him and to the emperor. Both appe.Us wetfreTected; Minneke was declared a diseased member of the