The Genesis of Inquisition Procedures and the Truth-claims of Inquisition Records: the Inquisition Registers of Languedoc 1235-1244

Inquisition into heresy was entrusted to mendicant friars in 1233, and the earliest surviving registers of inquisition begin in southern France in 1234. These registers show the inquisitors' methods, especially their way of questioning and the recording of the answers. The inquisitor began by asking a suspect 'Have you seen a heretic?' and went on to questions like 'Did you give anything to a heretic?'. He concentrated on what people had done, rather than - as we might expect - on what they thought. A notary listened to what what was said, and took down a version of it, which he put into Latin. It is his words that survive, and there are immediate question-marks hovering over the record. The first is how accurate the notary's representation was of a vernacular dialogue. The second is about the relation between the field of knowledge emerging from a dialogue between the inquisitor and a rather frightened suspect on the one hand, and on the other hand the realities of belief and thought of the person being interrogated. These records are the main evidence upon which historians build their pictures of past heretical sects, like those of the Cathars and Waldensians - and in recent decades the solidity of the pictures they have constructed of such sects has become very controversial.

This means that the earliest period of inquisition cries out for systematic and deep investigation: the first decade, when modes of questioning and procedure emerged. What was it that shaped the style of questioning? What can be found out from looking at who the earliest inquisitors were and how they were educated, in particular what it was in their mental world (e.g. Roman law, contemporary theology), that led them to question in the way that they did? What influenced the practices of the scribes and notaries when serving inquisitors?

Here we come up against a surprise in modern research: the spotlight has been shining on inquisitions in southern France in 1245-6, NOT on this crucial earlier decade. And we come up against a block standing in the way of serious research. The registers of the decade 1234-44 have never been given a rigorous critical edition and have consequently been used uncritically by amateur historians. Although they were once in the archives of Dominican convents, they now survive only in the form of transcripts made in 1669 and paid for by Louis XIV's minister, Colbert.

In order to understand the genesis of inquisition methods and the truth-claims of inquisition records, the current project it will
- direct attention towards years of crucial development, 1234-44
- lay the foundations for all future study through a critical edition of 4 registers;
- to use these editions and their critical apparatus to provide a deep study of the thought-worlds and careers of the earliest inquisitors, and their development of methods of inquisition, published in the introduction of this edition;
- to develop our understanding of the rise of scientific history by an investigation of the project which preserved these records alongside the other monumental scholarly projects of later 17th century France.

The general lay interest in both the subject and the methodology of the project is the most immediate beneficiary. The project also has significant potential for impact on a number of public bodies who have shown an interest in medieval inquisition and heresy which, though currently in abeyance, has the capacity to return.

PUBLIC BODIES
A. The Catholic Church.
- Pope John Paul II (1994 encyclical Tertio Millenio Adveniente c.35) launched an enquiry into the history of inquisition, to prepare the way for a 'purification of memory' and an apology for intolerance and the use of violence. The first stage was his Theologico-Historical Commission organising a symposium on the inquisition in the Vatican (1998), including a long account of inquisition in 13th century Languedoc.
- Dominican Order. The papal initiative led to the Dominican General Chapter in Bologna in 1998 ordering an enquiry into Dominican inquisition, which led to four seminars in Rome (Feb 2002 - Mar 2009), the first three of which were published. [Biller contributed to nos 1 and 4].
- Papal and Dominican initiatives on hold: although John Paul II issued some general apologies (Jews, women) and individual inquisition apologies (Hus and Galileo), the initiative to proceed to a general apology to persecuted heretics never came to fruition. The failure to publish the fourth Dominican seminar and post-John Paul II silence suggest that the pontificate of Benedict XVI applied brakes to these actions. If and when the brakes are taken off, cutting-edge research on the earliest inquisition will become again a matter of importance to these institutions.

B. Languedoc
Cathar heresy and its repression have been associated with an Occitan sense of historical, cultural and regional identity since the late 19th century. The development of tourism and public interest in Le Pays Cathare ('The Cathar Country') has led since 1981 to an extensive and continuing programme of activities, including seminars, publications, websites, and theatrical and musical events, organised through the Centre d'Études Cathares (1981-2011) and the Collectif International de Recherche sur le Catharisme et les Dissidences (CIRCAED, 2012- ). We shall collaborate energetically with CIRCAED.

C. Secondary Teaching
Toleration and repression are already elements of teaching in philosophy and religious studies at A-Level. The project will work with teachers to develop teaching materials and to historicize this teaching, as well as explore ways to influence policy in this area.


LAY INTEREST
There is lay extraordinary lay interest in medieval heresy and inquisition - it is an area probably only surpassed in this by crusades and medieval monarchs. Moreover, the policing of belief and intention are concerns as current in the contemporary world as they were in the medieval period. A historically informed perspective on repression and its mechanisms would be particularly resonant today, and potentially influential in the area of policy making (the French governmental agency Miviludes, for example, designed to counter dissident religious groups, has echoes of inquisitorial preoccupations, and has been criticised by human rights groups). We plan to reach out to this curiosity and interest in various ways, through lectures, exhibitions, articles in popular media and our website, which will also allow the identification of and more precise engagement with particular interest groups. The ongoing interest in the forensic business of history and how it is done would also be served by the materials on the website.