Europe's inner demons

Years later, when Benedict Caetani had become Boniface VIII, another disturbing experience befell Brother Berardus, this time in the papal palace in Rome. He found the pope at dinner with various people, including the same Constantius. There was a window in the wall of the room, covered with a piece of golden silk. After dinner the silk was removed, and the pope stood in adoration before the window for a full hour, before being carried off to his throne. Berardus stayed behind, along with Constantius; and on asking his friend what the pope had been worshipping, received the reply: “It is no painting, but the evil majesty.” Thereupon Berardus went quickly up to the window and, despite Constantius’s protests, opened it. Inside was an idol, and Constantius explained its significance: it contained a diabolic spirit, which the pope worshipped and regarded as his god. Everything he did was done in accordance with this spirit’s teaching.

This recalls the chief demon Belial, who took refuge in an idol. But it also recalls the idol of the Templars, of which France had heard a great deal during the preceding four years. That idol too was full of demonic power — and it too was an invention of Nogaret and his men. But the similarity between the two cases does not end there. The Templars were charged with apostasy, sodomy and murder — and precisely the same charges were brought against the deceased pope. The witnesses heard by Pope Clement and his commissioners accused his predecessor of denying and mocking the central doctrines of Catholic Christianity: the triune nature of God, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the end of the world and the Last Judgement. They accused him of sodomy with boys and with women. They accused him of murdering his own predecessor, Celestine V. And — to round the matter up — they accused him of favouring the Templars and accepting money from them.⁽¹¹⁾

Only, the Templars were not accused of entering into an alliance with demons for the purpose of ruining and destroying human beings. To be accused of that, and at the same time to be portrayed as evil in every possible respect — that was a new combination, and full of sinister potentialities. Retrospectively, this trial of a dead pope can be seen as initiating a process that was to culminate, much later, in the great witch-hunt.

— 2 —

The persecution of Guichard, bishop of Troyes, belongs to the same period as the persecution of the Templars and the posthumous assault on Boniface VIII; and like them it was pursued by the servants of Philip the Fair, including Nogaret.⁽¹²⁾

Born probably around 1245, Guichard became a monk and rose in the hierarchy with quite unusual rapidity. By 1273 he was at the head of an important priory at Provins, in Champagne; and in the years following he attracted the patronage of a very powerful woman, Blanche of Artois, who was the widow of Henry III, king of Navarre and count of Champagne. His great career was made possible partly by Blanche herself and partly by her daughter Joan, who on coming of age inherited both Navarre and Champagne and also married Philip the Fair and so became, in 1285, queen of France. Promoted abbot, Guichard became the representative in Champagne both of the countess and of the queen, and so powerful that nobody could oppose his will. Finally, in 1298, the influence of the two women secured his elevation as bishop of Troyes. Over the years he had built up a fortune; as bishop he became in addition a great lord, the most dazzling prelate Troyes had ever had. He played a part at the royal court itself, being a member of the king’s council. But he made enemies, both amongst the king’s councillors and amongst his own clergy. Enguerrand de Marigny, who was making his career in the household of Queen Joan and was on his way to become the king’s chief minister, was bound to see a dangerous rival in such an able and energetic careerist. As for the clergy of Troyes, they had ample grounds for irritation. Conciliatory so long as he was still making a career, once he had reached the episcopate Guichard showed himself as arrogant as any great secular lord; choleric, quick with insults and abuse, riding roughshod over traditional privileges. He was to pay for this when he lost the favour of his patronesses.