Vox in Rama

Last updated

Vox in Rama ("voice in Ramah") is a decretal sent by Pope Gregory IX in June 1233 condemning the heresy of Luciferianism said to be rife in Germany, and authorizing the preaching of a crusade against it. [1] [2] Copies of the letter were sent to Emperor Frederick II, King Henry (VII) of Germany, Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz, his suffragans, Bishop Conrad II of Hildesheim and the preacher Konrad von Marburg. [1] The copies are dated to 11, 13 and 14 June. [1]

Contents

Vox in Rama was one of a series of calls Gregory IX issued for crusades against heretics. Lucis eterne (29 October 1232) called for a crusade against the Stedinger. O altitudo divitiarum (10 June 1233) had the same object as Vox in Rama, but was sent to Konrad von Marburg alone. Miserias et erumpnas (13 February 1234) authorised the Bosnian Crusade. [1]

Background

In 1233 Gregory IX established the Papal Inquisition to regularize the persecution of heresy. [3] The Papal Inquisition was intended to bring order to what had become the haphazard episcopal inquisitions, originally established by Lucius III in 1184. Gregory's aim was to bring order and legality to the process of dealing with heresy, since there had been tendencies by mobs of townspeople to burn alleged heretics without much of a trial. In 1231 Pope Gregory IX appointed a number of Papal Inquisitors (Inquisitores haereticae pravitatis), mostly Dominicans and Franciscans, for the various regions of France, Italy and parts of Germany. The aim was to introduce due process and objective investigation into the beliefs of those accused to the often erratic and unjust persecution of heresy on the part of local ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions. [4]

The 13th century was a time of great superstition and saw the start of the "demonisation of heretics" [5] by the Church, attributing their lack of belief in the Catholic faith to the devil. Barber claims that it was during this time that there was a great zeal for the sending out of inquisitors by the pope and local bishops with the aim of seeking out potential heretics. [6] In 1233, Konrad von Marburg began an inquisition in Mainz at the behest of either the Pope or the archbishop. [7]

Allegedly through torture and terror, Konrad reported he had uncovered a satanic cult which worshiped devils in the forms of a demonic man and of a diabolical black cat. [8] The inquisition of Konrad was controversial: shortly after Konrad arrived in Mainz, a papal official called Bernard wrote to Gregory stating that Konrad had been forcing innocent people to confess by threatening them with burning at the stake if they refused to do so. [9] Shortly thereafter, Konrad was assassinated, possibly by the servants of Henry II, Count of Sayn, whom Konrad had accused of fostering heresy.

The issue of the Vox in Rama bull was a response to Konrad's allegations, urging Siegfried III and King Henry, representing the ecclesiastical and temporal authorities respectively, to seek out and destroy the heretics. [7]

Contents

The bull describes in detail the initiation rites of the sect, claiming that the potential initiate is first approached by a mysterious toad as large as a dog. [10] Shortly afterwards an emaciated pale man would appear, whom the initiate would kiss and thereby forget all memory of the Catholic faith. [9] Members of the sect would then meet for a meal. [10] When the meal had ended, the sect would arise and a statue of a black cat would come to life, walking backwards with its tail erect. [6] First the new initiate and then the master of the sect would kiss the cat on the buttocks. [7]

After the ritual was completed, the bull claims that the candles in the room would be extinguished and the sect would engage in wild orgies which were sometimes homosexual in nature. Once the candles are re-lit, a man from a dark corner of the room “comes forth from the loins upward, shining like the sun. His lower part is shaggy like a cat.” After a brief litany-like dialogue between the cat and the cult members, the meeting ends. [11]

Gregory also claims that the sect committed various crimes against the Eucharist:

They even receive the body of the Lord every year at Easter from the hand of the priest and, carrying it in their mouths home, they throw it into the latrine in contempt of the Saviour. [11]

In conclusion, Gregory condemns the practice and calls upon the religious and secular authorities in the diocese to take action against the cult's participants. [10]

The initial text line Vox in Rama (“voice in Ramah”) is taken from a Bible passage found in (Jeremiah 31:15) “Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.” and is cited in Matthew 2:18 as a prophetic lament for the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem by King Herod.

Allegations of cat-killing

In his 1999 book Classical Cats: The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Cat, historian Donald Engels claims that Vox in Rama proclaimed all cats to be symbols of the Devil and exhorted Catholic clergy and laity alike to kill cats whenever possible. [12] This "crusade of extermination against the hapless cat" was waged throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, where all the cats in towns and cities were rounded up and burnt alive. [13] Engels further asserted that the subsequent "systematic extermination of cats from the cities and towns of western Europe" caused a great growth in the black rat population, which in turn allowed for greater proliferation of plague and worsened the severity of the Black Death. [14] Engels also claims that Vox in Rama was responsible for creating the association between black cats and witchcraft in European folklore. [12]

However, the text of Vox in Rama itself does not claim that all cats are Satanic or contain any orders to kill cats. [8] There is also no documentary or archaeological evidence to support the Church's condemnation of cats or widespread cat-killing in the time and manner that Engels describes. An analysis of 13th-century cat bones recovered in Cambridge reveals that all the cats examined were butchered for meat and pelts, not burnt alive. [15] Contemporary Catholic religious instructions, such as the Ancrene Wisse , permitted consecrated women and anchorites to own pet cats. [16] The only context in which city officials ordered the mass killing of cats was in the context of killing stray animals suspected of carrying plague, and there are no known examples from before the 15th century. [17] Regarding the claim that more cats predating on plague-carrying rats would have mitigated its spread, cats are highly susceptible to contracting Yersinia pestis and risk becoming vectors of plague themselves if they eat infected rodents. [18]

Text

Related Research Articles

Catharism was a Christian quasi-dualist or pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a heretical sect by the Catholic Church, its followers were attacked first by the Albigensian Crusade and later by the Medieval Inquisition, which eradicated the sect by 1350. Many thousands were slaughtered, hanged, or burnt at the stake, sometimes without regard for age or sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inquisition</span> System of tribunals enforcing Catholic orthodoxy

The Inquisition was a judicial procedure and a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, apostasy, blasphemy, witchcraft, and customs considered deviant. Violence, torture, or the simple threat of its application, were used by the Inquisition to extract confessions and denunciations from heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, but convictions of unrepentant heresy were handed over to the secular courts, which generally resulted in execution or life imprisonment. The Inquisition had its start in the 12th-century Kingdom of France, with the aim of combating religious deviation, particularly among the Cathars and the Waldensians. The inquisitorial courts from this time until the mid-15th century are together known as the Medieval Inquisition. Other groups investigated during the Medieval Inquisition, which primarily took place in France and Italy, include the Spiritual Franciscans, the Hussites, and the Beguines. Beginning in the 1250s, inquisitors were generally chosen from members of the Dominican Order, replacing the earlier practice of using local clergy as judges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medieval Inquisition</span> System of tribunals enforcing Catholic orthodoxy

The Medieval Inquisition was a series of Inquisitions from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184–1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). The Medieval Inquisition was established in response to movements considered apostate or heretical to Roman Catholicism, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in Southern France and Northern Italy. These were the first movements of many inquisitions that would follow.

<i>Malleus Maleficarum</i> Treatise on the prosecution of witches, 1486

The Malleus Maleficarum, usually translated as the Hammer of Witches, is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer and first published in the German city of Speyer in 1486. Some describe it as the compendium of literature in demonology of the 15th century. Kramer presented his own views as the Roman Catholic Church's position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Alexander IV</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1254 to 1261

Pope Alexander IV was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Gregory IX</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241

Pope Gregory IX was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the Decretales and instituting the Papal Inquisition, in response to the failures of the episcopal inquisitions established during the time of Pope Lucius III, by means of the papal bull Ad abolendam, issued in 1184.

The Roman Inquisition, formally Suprema Congregatio Sanctae Romanae et Universalis Inquisitionis, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes according to Catholic law and doctrine, relating to Catholic religious life or alternative religious or secular beliefs. It was established in 1542 by the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Paul III. In the period after the Medieval Inquisition, it was one of three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition, the other two being the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition.

Bogomilism was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It most probably arose in the region of Kutmichevitsa, today part of the region of Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inquisitor</span> Official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an Inquisition

An inquisitor was an official in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosnian Church</span> Christian church in medieval Bosnia

The Bosnian Church was a schismatic Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent from and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konrad von Marburg</span> German priest and nobleman (1180–1233)

Konrad von Marburg was a medieval German Catholic priest, inquisitor and nobleman. He is perhaps best known as the spiritual director of Elizabeth of Hungary.

<i>Directorium Inquisitorum</i> 1376 book by Nicholas Eymerich

The Directorium Inquisitorum is Nicholas Eymerich's most prominent and enduring work, written in Latin and consisting of approximately 800 pages, which he had composed as early as 1376. Eymerich had written an earlier treatise on sorcery, perhaps as early as 1359, which he extensively reworked into the Directorium Inqusitorum. In compiling the book, Eymerich used many of the magic texts he had previously confiscated from accused sorcerers. It can also be considered as an assessment of a century and a half of official Inquisition in the "albigensian" country.

Ad abolendam was a decretal and bull of Pope Lucius III, written at Verona and issued 4 November 1184. It was issued after the Council of Verona settled some jurisdictional differences between the Papacy and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The document prescribes measures to uproot heresy and sparked the efforts which culminated in the Albigensian Crusade and the Inquisitions. Its chief aim was the complete abolition of Christian heresy.

Raymond du Fauga was a French Dominican, and bishop of Toulouse from 1232 to 1270. He was a significant figure in the struggle in Languedoc between the Catholic Church and the Cathars.

The Bosnian Crusade was fought against unspecified heretics from 1235 to 1241 and was essentially a Hungarian war of conquest against the Banate of Bosnia that was sanctioned as a crusade. Led by a Hungarian prince, Coloman, the crusaders succeeded in conquering only peripheral parts of the country. They were followed by Dominicans, who erected a cathedral and put heretics to death by burning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stedinger Crusade</span> Papally sanctioned war against the rebellious peasants of Stedingen

The Stedinger Crusade (1233–1234) was a Papally sanctioned war against the rebellious peasants of Stedingen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohemian Crusade (1340)</span> Military expedition

Bohemian Crusade of 1340 was a military expedition against heretics in Bohemia.

Conrad Dorso was a lay Dominican who, with his associate, the secular priest John the One-Eyed, assisted the Papal Inquisition in Germany from 1231 until they were murdered in 1233.

The German Inquisition was established by Pope Gregory IX in 1231, and the first inquisitor was appointed in the territory of Germany. In the second half of the 14th century, permanent structures of the Inquisition were organized in Germany, which, with the exception of one tribunal, survived only until the time of the Reformation in the first half of the 16th century. In combating heretics in Germany, the Inquisition always played a secondary role compared to the ecclesiastical courts.

France was one of the first countries where the papal inquisition was established in the 13th century. This ecclesiastical judicial institution was created to combat heresies. The southern region of France, Languedoc, was the primary center of inquisition activity in Europe until the mid-14th century. Most of the preserved sources concerning the inquisition originate from this region. However, the history of the French Inquisition spans until the end of the 17th century and also encompasses other areas of the country.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "9 The Use of the Bible in the Arengae of Pope Gregory IX's Crusade Calls". The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources: 206. 2017.
  2. ↑ Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane (2011). A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 197. ISBN   978-0-7425-6811-2.
  3. ↑ Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (1998). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-57958-041-4.
  4. ↑ Thomas Madden, "The Real Inquisition", National Review, June 18, 2004. Archived February 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Kors, Alan Charles, ed. (2000). "IV: Popes, Theologians, Preachers, Lawyers and Judges". Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History (2 ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press. p.  114. ISBN   0812217519.
  6. 1 2 Barber, Malcolm (2006). "10: Conclusion". The Trial of the Templars (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN   0521672368.
  7. 1 2 3 Barber, Malcolm (1973). "Propaganda in the Middle Ages". Nottingham Medieval Studies. 17: 42–57. doi:10.1484/J.NMS.3.61.
  8. 1 2 Engels, Donald W. (1999). "Appendix III: Pope Gregory and the Vox in Rama". Classical Cats: The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Cat. New York: Routledge (published 2001). p.  183. ISBN   0415261627.
  9. 1 2 Russell, Jeffery Burton (1984). "Antinomianism, Scholasticism, and the Inquisition". Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. Cornell University Press. p. 160. ISBN   0801492890.
  10. 1 2 3 Lambert, Malcolm D. (1998). The Cathars. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   063120959X.
  11. 1 2 Carl Rodenberg, Epistolae saeculi XIII e regestis pontificum Romanorum selectae, MGH, Berlin, Weidmann, 1883, p. 432.
  12. 1 2 Engels, Donald W. (1999). Classical Cats: The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Cat. New York: Routledge (published 2001). pp. 157–158. ISBN   0415261627.
  13. ↑ Engels 1999, p. 159
  14. ↑ Engels 1999, p. 160
  15. ↑ Luff, Rosemary M.; Moreno-García, Marta (1995). "Killing cats in the Medieval Period. An unusual episode in the history of Cambridge, England". Archaeofauna (4): 93–114 – via Academia.edu.
  16. ↑ The Ancren Riwle: a Treatise on the Rules and Duties of Monastic Life (PDF). Translated by Morton, James. London: J.B. Nichols and Sons. 1853. pp. 416–417.
  17. ↑ Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2012). "Animals". Encyclopedia of the Black Death. ABC-CLIO. p. 13. ISBN   9781598842531.
  18. ↑ "How Plague Spreads". Center for Disease Control . 20 May 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.