Ugolino of Segni, nephew of Innocent III, was pope from 1227 to 1241. He created the papal Inquisition: in 1233 he appointed the Dominicans as official inquisitors for all dioceses of France. In Rome in 1231 he had condemned heretics handed over to the secular power to be burned. In 1227 he commissioned Conrad of Marburg to persecute heretics in Germany, in 1232 had the crusade against the Stedinger preached and in 1235 gave the inquisitor Robert le Bougre a commission for the whole of France; in 1239 Robert had about 180 people burned at one time at Mont-Aimé.
Deaths
about 180(estimated, Mont-Aimé 1239, by his inquisitor Robert le Bougre)Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910)
„consigned to the flames at one time about a hundred and eighty persons“
On 12 June 1227 he praised Conrad of Marburg for his diligence in pursuing heretics and entrusted him with the persecution of heretics in Germany; later Conrad was not even required to hear the cases, but only to pronounce final judgment. Gregory believed Conrad's descriptions of supposed devilish rites and called for wiping the heretics from the face of the earth without sparing sex or age. In 1232 he commanded the Bishops of Lübeck, Minden and Ratzeburg to preach the crusade against the Stedinger. See the entries Conrad of Marburg and the Stedinger crusade.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 329
„Gregory wrote to Conrad commending highly the diligence with which he was tracking and pursuing heretics“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 329.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 332
„he was not even required to hear the cases, but only to pronounce judgment, which was to be final and without appeal“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 332.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 336, Brief Gregors IX.
„wiping them from the face of the earth without sparing sex or age“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, Kap. Germany, S. 336, Brief Gregors IX..
OriginalEvidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
„Gregory IX issued a Bull commanding the Bishops of Lübeck, Minden, and Ratzeburg to preach a crusade against them“
Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers.
Original
How were they charged and sentenced?
Already as papal legate in Lombardy he approved and published in 1224 Frederick II's law that heretics be burned. In February 1231 he enacted a law for Rome that heretics condemned by an ecclesiastical court should be handed over to the secular power for their due punishment; this was death by fire for the obstinate and imprisonment for life for the penitent. In pursuance of this law Patarini were arrested in Rome in 1231 and the obstinate burned.
Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„Gregory IX, who was then papal legate for Lombardy, approved and published the imperial law“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„In February, 1231, therefore, the pope enacted a law for Rome that heretics condemned by an ecclesiastical court should be delivered to the secular power to receive their "due punishment". This "due punishment" was death by fire for the obstinate and imprisonment for life for the penitent.“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„In pursuance of this law a number of Patarini were arrested in Rome in 1231, the obstinate were burned at“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
Original
Until Gregory IX, searching out heretics was the task of the bishops. By bulls of 13, 20 and 22 April 1233 he appointed the Dominicans as official inquisitors for all dioceses of France and thus founded the papal Inquisition run by members of religious orders. At the synod held by his legate at Toulouse in 1229 it was decreed that all heretics and their abettors be delivered to the nobles and magistrates for punishment, which in case of obstinacy was usually death.
Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„Up to the time of Gregory IX, the duty of searching out heretics belonged to the bishops in their respective dioceses. The so-called Monastic Inquisition was established by Gregory IX, who in his Bulls of 13, 20, and 22 April, 1233, appointed the Dominicans as the official inquisitors for all dioceses of France“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„it was decreed that all heretics and their abettors should be delivered to the nobles and magistrates for their due punishment, which, in case of obstinacy, was usually death“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
Original
What happened to those affected?
In August 1235 he declared that God had revealed to him that the whole of France was boiling with the venom of heretical reptiles, and gave the inquisitor Robert le Bougre a commission for the whole of France. According to Lea, he thereby delivered the kingdom up to one who was little better than a madman. On 29 May 1239 Robert, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, consigned about 180 people to the flames at one time at Mont-Aimé. See the entry Northern France 1233 to 1239.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 115
„God had revealed to him that the whole of France was boiling with the venom of heretical reptiles“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 115.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 116
„Robert himself was honored with a special papal commission empowering him to act throughout the whole of France“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 116.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 116
„The kingdom, by Gregory’s thoughtless zeal, was delivered up to one who was little better than a madman.“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 116.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910), Artikel Inquisition
„On 29 May, 1239, at Montwimer in Champagne, Robert consigned to the flames at one time about a hundred and eighty persons“
Ugolino, Count of Segni, was born at Anagni about 1145 and was a nephew of Innocent III. On 19 March 1227 he was elected pope at over eighty years of age. He died at Rome on 22 August 1241.
Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome.“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„the cardinals unanimously elected Ugolino on 19 March, 1227“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Gregory IX
„being more than eighty years old“
Pope Gregory IX, Artikel Pope Gregory IX.
Original
Reference work
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909): Pope Gregory IX, 1 January 1909.
Original(retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
Reference work
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910): Inquisition, 1 January 1910.
Original(retrieved 12 Oct 2026)
Reference work
Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource: Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), 1 January 1913.
Original(retrieved 15 Oct 2026)
Scholarly literature
Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458): Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888).
Original(retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
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