Public Penitence of Heretics: Its Forms and Functions

Abstract

The article discusses the origins of public penitence for heresy in the early Christian tradition and examines its application to the penitential practice of the medieval Church. It demonstrates how the public penance for mortal sins, which took shape in the late Antiquity, was later adopted and developed within the system of medieval inquisition. In the medieval collections of canon law heresy was qualified as a religious crime which required a special public penitence. Following the guidelines set up in the ancient Church, any heretic, who declared his intention to abjure errors, was to be interrogated by a bishop, who granted him absolution of sins and prescribed due penance. An important part of the penance for heresy was a public solemn penitence which took place on Sundays and feast days, and included a number of rituals. The penitent heretic had to appear in a special garment with his hair cut off and bare foot. The ritual of solemn public penitence for mortal sins took form in the late antiquity and as such was later inserted in the medieval pontificals.

The rise of medieval inquisition as an efficient weapon against popular heresy stimulated the development of penitential discipline for heretics. Papal inquisitors, who started to be appointed as extraordinary judges in heresy trials since 1230s, were particularly inventive in the way how the public penitence might be employed in the struggle against heretics. Medieval registers of heresy trials, carried out by papal inquisitors and bishops, remains the main source of information about penalties imposed on heretics, who were sentenced for their errors. The public promulgation of sentence and penalty was the final act of the inquisitorial procedure. The charter of penalties (littera penitentialis) which was first read publicly and later handed over to the penitent heretic, listed various forms of penitence which he had to fulfill. In the inquisitorial strategy of penitence which started to operate in the first half of the thirteenth century a solemn public penitence of heretics became a commonplace. The inquisitorial registers and manuals for inquisitors described in detail the ritual of public penitence and its functions. The penitence imposed on heretics offered them a chance to repent publicly for their public crimes and to give satisfaction to the society, which had been disturbed by their activities. That is why the solemn public penitence usually took place in cathedral or central market squares on feast days to be attended and witnessed by the local community. Through his special outlook and penitential garment with two signs of crosses the heretic was highly visible and could not become anonymous. The whole society was responsible for supervising the penitence of heretics and controlling their religious and moral conducts. Any act of religious transgression or misconduct was to be reported to the ecclesiastical authorities. Of course, the public penitence was aimed to give a lesson to all the faithful and prevent them from falling into heresy.