Europe's inner demons

Meanwhile the French Waldensians were a constant source of vexation to the archbishops of Embrun, in whose see they were concentrated. Not that they ever were a power in the land — on the contrary, they were mostly poor peasants and shepherds, living in small compact communities in the high, remote valleys of Fressinière, Argentière, Valpute and Valcluson, and seldom venturing outside. But the very fact that such communities existed and persisted was felt by successive archbishops and inquisitors as an intolerable offence — and not by them alone. The example set by Emperor Frederick II in 1231, when he joined forces with Pope Gregory IX in an effort to stamp out heresy within the Empire, had since been imitated by many rulers; and from 1365 onwards the governor of Dauphiné and the council of Dauphiné (later the parlement of Grenoble) repeatedly sent armed expeditions against the mountain villages. In effect it was an intermittent crusade; and like other crusades it enjoyed papal blessing. Desiderated already by John XXII and Benedict XII, the campaign against the Waldensians of Dauphiné was actively supported by Clement VI, Alexander V, Eugenius IV and Innocent VIII.

It reached its height in the years after 1486, when a particularly resolute archbishop, Jean Baile, made a supreme effort to extirpate the sect.⁽¹⁷⁾ He appealed to the Waldensians to return to the Church; and as not a single Waldensian came forward, turned to Pope Innocent VIII for help. The pope responded by replacing the regular inquisitor for Dauphiné, who was elderly, by an Italian called Alberto Cattaneo, who seems to have been only twenty-two years old. Normally an inquisitor was appointed by the provincial of his order, Dominican or Franciscan as the case might be, and was chosen largely for his familiarity with local conditions. Cattaneo, however, was an extraordinary commissioner, appointed directly by the pope; and he proved a bad choice. Though not lacking in attainments — he was archdeacon of Cremona and a doctor of canon and of civil law — he was quite unequipped to act as a judicious inquisitor. Knowing not a word of French, wholly ignorant of conditions in Dauphiné, he was unable to control the secular officials who were his assistants. During his time torture and threats of torture were used far more freely than was usual; Waldensians are known to have died while being tortured by the officials of Embrun.⁽¹⁸⁾

Cattaneo’s first step was moderate enough: like the archbishop before him, he summoned the inhabitants of the valleys to give themselves up, to accept absolution, to be reconciled with the Church. But when he in his turn met with no response, he pressed for a military invasion of the valleys where the Waldensians had their stronghold; and his request was granted. By order of the parlement of Grenoble, and under the command of the lieutenant of the governor of Dauphiné, an expeditionary force set out in March 1488. Those who took part in it could look forward both to a plenary indulgence — which was promised by the pope — and to a share in the property of the heretics; and they were correspondingly zealous. The Waldensians were forced back to the icy mountain peaks, where after a gallant resistance they were overwhelmed. Scores were put to the sword or thrown from the rocks.

Many more were taken prisoner or gave themselves up; and while a few were burned as impenitent or relapsed heretics, the majority were received into the Church. Some fifty of these were interrogated by Cattaneo with the assistance of secular lawyers, including the chief magistrate of Briançon. Doctrinally these Waldensians turned out to be as close to Catholicism as their precursors two and three centuries earlier — professing all the principal Catholic dogmas, including the real presence in the Eucharist, and rejecting only the hierarchy of the Roman Church. Nevertheless the old slanders against the sect not only persisted but were reinforced. Already before the expedition some captured Waldensians, under interrogation, had talked of nocturnal orgies; and some amongst the new batch of prisoners spoke in similar vein.⁽¹⁹⁾ While many indignantly denied that such things occurred at all, others were more forthcoming. In particular, they had much to say about the Waldensian preachers, or “barbes” (so called from the Piedmontese word for “uncle”). They stated that the “barbe” would commonly launch the orgy by crying out, “Let him who has, have. Let him who holds, hold. Whoever puts the light out shall have life eternal.”⁽²⁰⁾ This curious notion was not new — Antonio Galosna had produced it a century earlier — and its factual basis is known: at the end of a Waldensian service the preacher would say, “Let him who has grasped (the meaning), retain it”; after which the congregation would meditate for a few minutes in darkness before dispersing.⁽²¹⁾