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Malleus Maleficarum Part 3
Question XXIV
The Fifth Manner of Sentence, in the Case of one under Strong Suspicion
THE fifth method of concluding a process on behalf of the faith
is used when she who is accused of heresy, after a careful
examination of the merits of the process in consultation with
learned lawyers, is found to be strongly suspected of heresy. And
this is when the accused is not legally taken in heresy, nor has
been convicted by her own confession or by the evidence of the
facts or by the legitimate production of witnesses; but strong
and weighty indications have been proved against her by reason of
which she is held to be under strong suspicion of heresy.
The procedure in such a case is as follows. For such a person
should abjure that heresy as one strongly suspected of it, in
such a manner that, if she should afterwards relapse, she must be
delivered to the secular Court to suffer the extreme penalty. And
she shall make her abjuration publicly or secretly according to
whether she is publicly or secretly suspected, or by more or
less, high or low, as was just said in the case of one under a
light suspicion; and she must abjure that specific heresy.
And the preparations for such an abjuration should be as follows:
- When the Sunday comes which has been fixed for the abjuration
and the hearing of the sentence or the imposition of the penance,
the preacher shall deliver a general sermon. After this, the
Notary or clerk shall publicly read out the crimes of which the
accused has been convicted, and those of which she is strongly
suspected as a heretic.
Then the Judge or his deputy shall say to her: Behold! according
to that which has been read you are strongly suspected by us of
such heresy; wherefore it behoves you to purge yourself and
abjure the aforesaid heresy. And then the Book of the Gospels
shall be placed before her, and she shall set her hand upon it;
and if she can read competently, she shall be given the following
written abjuration, and shall read it in the presence of the
whole congregation.
But if she cannot read competently, the Notary shall read it
phrase by phrase, and the accused shall repeat it in a loud and
audible voice in the following manner. The Notary or clerk shall
say: I, N., of such a place, and the accused person shall repeat
after him the same words, but always in the vulgar tongue. And so
on up to the end of the abjuration. And she shall abjure in the
following manner.
I, N., of such a place in such a Diocese, standing my trial in
person in presence of you reverend Lords the Bishop of such city
and the Judge of the territory subject to the rule of such a
Lord, upon the Holy Gospels set before me and touched by my
hands, I swear that I believe in my heart and profess with my
lips that Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith which the Holy Roman
Church teaches, professes, preaches, and holds. Also I swear that
I believe in my heart and profess with my lips that, etc. And let
her pronounce the Catholic article of the faith against that
heresy of which she is strongly suspected.
For example, if the heresy of witchcraft is in question, let her
say as follows:
I swear that I believe that not only will simple heretics and
schismatics be tortured in fire everlasting, but that those above
all will be so punished who are infected with the heresy of
witches, who deny before the devil that faith which they received
in Holy Baptism at the font, and practise demoniac lewdness for
the fulfilment of their evil desires, inflicting all sorts of
injuries upon men and animals and the fruits of the earth. And
consequently I abjure, renounce, and revoke that heresy, or
rather infidelity, which falsely and mendaciously maintains that
there are no witches in the world, and that no one ought to
believe that those injuries can be caused with the help of
devils; for such infidelity is, as I now recognize, expressly
contrary to the decision of our Holy Mother the Church and of all
the Catholic Doctors, as also against the Imperial laws which
have decreed that witches are to be burned.
Also I swear that I have never persistently believed in the
aforesaid heresy, neither do I believe nor adhere to it at the
present, nor have I taught it, not intend to teach it, nor shall
teach it. Also I swear and promise that I will never do or cause
to be done such and such (naming them) of which you hold me
strongly suspected as a heretic. And if hereafter (which God
forbid) I should do any of the aforesaid, I am ready the undergo
the punishment provided by law for backsliders; and I am ready to
submit myself to any penance which you decide to impose upon me
for those deeds and words of mine for which you hold me strongly
suspected of the said heresy. And I swear and promise that I will
perform it to the best of my strength, and will omit no part of
it, so God and this Holy Gospel help me.
And the said abjuration shall be made in the vulgar tongue so
that it may be understood by all, unless it be made only in the
presence of Clerics with a competent knowledge of the Latin
tongue. But if the abjuration be made secretly in the Bishop's
palace or chamber, when it is not a public matter, it shall be
made in a similar manner. And afterwards the Bishop shall
admonish her as above to beware lest she relapse and incur the
penalty of a backslider. And let the Notary take care that he set
it down how such abjuration was made by such a person as one
strongly suspected of heresy, so that, if she should relapse, she
may be punished as is proper for a backslider.
And when this has been done, let the sentence or penance be
pronounced in the following manner:
We, N., Bishop of such city, and Brother N. (if he is present),
Inquisitor of the sin of heresy in the domains subject to the
rule of such a Prince, especially deputed by the Holy Apostolic
See: having in mind that you, N., of such a place in such a
Diocese, have done such and such (naming them), as lawfully
appears from the carefully examined merits of the process,
wherefore we reasonably hold you strongly suspected of such
heresy, and have caused you to abjure it as one so suspected,
being persuaded to that course by considerations of justice and
the advice of men skilled in the law. But that you may be more
careful in the future nor become more prone to the like
practices, and that your crimes may not remain unpunished, and
that you may be an example to other sinners; having consulted
with many eminent and learned lawyers and Masters or Doctors of
the faculty of Theology, having carefully digested the whole
matter, and having before our eyes only God and the truth of the
Catholic Apostolic Faith, having set before us the Holy Gospel
that our judgement may proceed as from God's countenance and our
eyes see with equity, and sitting in tribunal as Judges, we
condemn, or rather impose penance in the following manner upon
you, N., standing here in person before us: namely, that you
shall never hereafter presume to do, say, or teach such and such
things. And let there be set down those things of which she has
been convicted, and by reason of which she was strongly suspected
of the aforesaid heresy, as well as certain others which, if she
were to commit them, would make her guilty of a slight relapse
into heresy; but this must be as the particular nature of the
case demands and requires. As, for example, that she should never
wittingly follow such practices, nor receive those whom she knows
to have denied the faith, etc. This sentence was given, etc.
But it must be noted that those who are suspected, but not taken
in heresy, whether they be strongly or lightly suspected, must
not be imprisoned or confined for life. For this is the
punishment of those who have been heretics and afterwards
repented. But they may, because of their deeds for which they
have come under suspicion, be sent to prison for a time, and
afterwards, as will be seen, released.
Neither are they to be branded with the sign of the Cross, for
such is the sign of a penitent heretic; and they are not
convicted heretics, but only suspected, therefore they are not to
be marked in this way. But they can be ordered either to stand on
certain solemn days within the doors of a church, or near the
altar, while Holy Mass is being celebrated, bearing in their
hands a lighted candle of a certain
weight; or else to go on some pilgrimage, or something of the
kind, according to the nature and requirements of the case.
Next: Question XXV
The Sixth Kind of Sentence, in the Case of one who is Gravely Suspect