Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/422

 386 Readings in European History them the more closely inasmuch as they are known, to the obvious prejudice of the Christian faith, to extend the crimes of their superstition toward the Roman church, which is regarded as the head of all other churches. Thus from the confines of Italy, especially from parts of Lombardy, where we are convinced that their wickedness is widespread, we now find rivulets of their perfidy reaching even to our king- dom of Sicily. Feeling this most acutely, we decree, in the first place, that the crime of heresy and of reprehensible teaching, of what- ever kind, by whatever name its adherents may be known, shall, as provided by the older laws, be included among the recognized crimes. (For should not what is recognized to be an offense against the Divine Majesty be judged more terrible than the crime of leze majesty directed against our- self, although in the eyes of the law one is not graver than the other?) As the crime of treason deprives the guilty of life and property, and even blackens the memory of the dead, so in the aforesaid crimes of which the Patarins are guilty, we wish the same rules to be observed in all respects. And in order that the wickedness of those who walk in darkness, since they do not follow God, should be thoroughly exterminated, we desire that those who practice this class of crimes should, like other malefactors, be diligently sought for and hunted out by our officers. If such be discovered, even if there be only the slightest suspicion of their guilt, we command that they shall be examined by churchmen and prelates. If they shall be found by these to have devi- ated from the Catholic faith, even in a single respect, and if, when admonished by such churchmen in their function of pastors, they refuse by leaving the wiles of the devil to recognize the God of light, and stubbornly adhere to their error, we command, by this our present edict, that such con- demned Patarins shall suffer the death they court; that, condemned to the sentence of the flames, they shall be burned alive in the sight of the people. Nor are we loath to satisfy their cravings in this respect, for they only suffer the penalty of their crime and reap no further gain. No one