Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/111

 THE GUGLIELMITES. 95 her representatives, both in her own form and in that of a dove. How slight w r as the evidence required for believers was seen in an incident which gave them great comfort in 1293. At a banquet in the house of Giacobbe da Ferno, a warm discussion arose be- tween those who doubted and those whose convictions were decided. Carabella, wife of Amizzone Toscano, one of the earnest believers, was sitting on her mantle, and when she arose she found three knots in the cords which had not been there before. This was at once pronounced a great miracle, and was evidently re- garded as a full confirmation of the truth.* If it were not for the tragedy which followed there would be nothing to render Guglielmitism other than a jest, for the Church which was to replace the massive structure of Latin Christianity was as ludicrous in its conception as these details of its faith. The Gospels were to be replaced by sacred writings produced by An- drea, of which he had already prepared several, in the names of some of the initiated — " The Epistle of Sibilia to the JNTovaresi," " The Prophecy of Carmeo the Prophet to all Cities and Nations," and an account of Guglielma's teachings commencing, "In that time the Holy Ghost said to his disciples." Maifreda also com- posed litanies of the Holy Ghost and prayers for the use of the Church. When, on the second advent of Guglielma, the papacy was to pass away, Maifreda was to become pope, the vicar of the Holy Ghost, with the keys of heaven and hell, and baptize the Jew and the Saracen. A new college of cardinals was to be formed, of whom only one appears to have been selected — a girl named Taria, who, to judge from her answers when before the Inquisi- tion, and the terms of contempt in which she is alluded to by some of the sect, was a worthy representative of the whole absurd scheme. While awaiting her exaltation to the papacy Maifreda w T as the object of special veneration. The disciples kissed her hands and feet, and she gave them her blessing. It was probably the spiritual excitement caused by the jubilee proclaimed by Boni- face VIII. , attracting pilgrims to Rome by the hundred thousand to gain the proffered indulgences, which led the Guglielmites to name the Pentecost of 1300 for the advent of the Holy Ghost. With a curious manifestation of materialism, the worshippers pre-
 * 1) Ogniben, op. cit pp. 21, 25, 30, 36, 55. 70, 72, 96.101.