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Handout #124 |
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The birth of the episcopal Inquisition: decisions of the Council of Toulouse (1229 A.D.) |
| In every parish in the city and outside the city the bishops shall designate a priest and two or three laymen, or even more if necessary, of unsullied reputation, who shall be committed on oath to search out assiduously and faithfully the heretics living in the parish. They shall be assiduous in visiting suspected houses, rooms and cellars and the most hidden nooks of places which are about to be demolished. If they discover heretics or people giving credence or favor, sanctuary or protection to heretics, they shall take steps to prevent their flight and denounce them as soon as possible to the bishop and to the lord of the place or his bailiff. The temporal lords shall carefully search out the heretics in the villas, the houses and the forests where they meet and destroy their lairs. |
