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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture To let the inquisitor express himself, I excavated an old conference paper on Nicholas Eymeric. Eymeric said the inquisitor should be prudent, persevering, learned and virtuous. Bernard Gui said an inquisitor should be "a prudent physician of souls" whose face shines with mercy. See, respectively: Nicolau Eymeric & Francisco Pena, Le manuel des inquisiteurs, tr. L. Sala-Molins (Paris, 1973). Bernard Gui, Manuel de l'inquisiteur, tr. G. Mollat (Paris, 1964). One point of my paper was that there was much in common between what these authors thought right conduct of an inquisitor was similar to what weas expected of a confessor. Needless to say, as another message recently noted, practice varied by time, place and persons involved. Tom Izbicki Thomas Izbicki Collection Development Coordinator Eisenhower Library Johns Hopkins Baltimore, MD 21218 (410)516-7173 fax (410)516-8399 >>> [log in to unmask] 6/17/2004 1:48:52 PM >>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture >Were ALL the inquisitors nice, sincere, well-meaning >chaps? Probably not. But then, neither am I, so I >hope that is not just cause for disapprobation. > > The strategies and judgements employed by inquisitors varied from person to person and place to place, often tailored to the activities of specific (real or perceived) heretics and embedded within the local political and social context. It is this specific context which is explored in James B. Given's book 'Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power, Discipline and Resistance in Languedoc' (1997, Cornell), illustrating that whilst inquisitors represented an altogether different type of authority, they were (like other types of authority) resisted, manipulated, encouraged and ignored depending on the circumstances. When trying to understand medieval societies, I think it's more useful to consider inquisitors (or for that matter anyone else involved in or aiding inquisitorial activities) as well as individuals or groups deemed 'heretical' in this light rather than as 'bad guys' Vs. 'good guys'. Aleks Pluskowski ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html