Northern France 1233 to 1239: The inquisitor Robert le Bougre had people burned without judgment, about 180 in one day at Mont-Aimé
Robert le Bougre, a former Cathar and then a Dominican, travelled as inquisitor on the commission of Pope Gregory IX through Burgundy, Flanders, Champagne and northern France from 1233 to 1239. According to the Britannica, he burned at the stake in every place people whom he had condemned without a judgment. In 1235 the pope gave him a commission for the whole of France and exhorted him to spare no labour. Those named as heretics had, according to Lea, the alternative of abjuration with perpetual imprisonment or the stake, varied occasionally with burial alive. On 29 May 1239 at Mont-Aimé (Montwimer) in Champagne he consigned, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, about 180 people to the flames at one time, whose trial had begun and ended within one week. Afterwards he was deposed and imprisoned for life.
Deaths
about 180(estimated, Mont-Aimé, 29 May 1239 (Lea: 27 or 183))Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910)
„consigned to the flames at one time about a hundred and eighty persons“
Robert le Bougre (Dominican and papal inquisitor, had hundreds burned, deposed in 1239 and imprisoned for life) Gregory IX (pope, gave Robert a commission for the whole of France in 1235)
What happened to the people
Who was affected? Victims and numbers
King Louis IX gave him an armed guard. At Péronne, according to Lea, he burned five people, at Elincourt four, besides a pregnant woman who was spared for a time at the intercession of the queen. At Cambrai, with the assistance of the Archbishop of Reims and three bishops, he burned about twenty, at Douai in May ten more before an immense crowd, and executions followed at Lille. In one period of two or three months he is said to have despatched about fifty people of either sex.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 115
„King Louis furnished him with an armed guard to protect him from the enmities which he aroused“
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. 115
„At Péronne he burned five victims; at Elincourt, four, besides a pregnant woman who was spared for a time at the intercession of the queen.“
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. 115
„with the assistance of the Archbishop of Reims and three bishops, he burned about twenty and condemned others to crosses and prison“
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. 115
„he had the satisfaction of burning ten more“
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
„In one term of two or three months he is said to have thus despatched about fifty unfortunates of either sex“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 116.
Original
How were they charged and sentenced?
After bishops complained, Gregory IX revoked all commissions in February 1234. In August 1235, however, he declared that God had revealed to him that the whole of France was boiling with the venom of heretical reptiles, and Robert received a special papal commission for the whole of France; the pope spurred him on to spare no labour and not to shrink even from martyrdom. Those whom Robert designated as heretics had, according to Lea, the alternative of abjuration with perpetual imprisonment or the stake, varied occasionally with burial alive. According to the Britannica, he burned unfortunates whom he condemned without a judgment, supported by the ecclesiastical authorities and by princes such as Theobald of Champagne.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 115
„Gregory thereupon revoked all commissions early in February, 1234“
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. 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. The pope, moreover, spurred him on with exhortations to spare no labor in the work, and not to shrink from martyrdom“
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
„Those whom he designated as heretics had the alternative of abjuration with perpetual imprisonment or of the stake“
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
„varied occasionally with burial alive“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 116.
OriginalEvidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Inquisition, The
„burning at the stake in every place unfortunates whom he condemned without a judgment, supported as he was by the ecclesiastical authorities and by princes such as Theobald of Champagne“
Inquisition, The, Artikel Inquisition, The.
Original
What happened to those affected?
On 29 May 1239 at Mont-Aimé (Montwimer) in Champagne, an old centre of the Cathars, Robert consigned to the flames at one time, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, about 180 people whose trial had begun and ended within one week. Lea gives twenty-seven or, according to other accounts, 183 burned and writes that the King of Navarre was present with many prelates and nobles, and that the crowd was wildly estimated at 700,000. The Catholic Encyclopedia writes that Robert yielded to a blind fanaticism and deliberately provoked executions en masse.
Evidence: 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, whose trial had begun and ended within one week.“
„twenty-seven, or, according to other accounts, one hundred and eighty-three, at Mont-Wimer“
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
„there were present the King of Navarre with a crowd of prelates and nobles and a multitude wildly estimated at seven hundred thousand souls“
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
„seem to have yielded to a blind fanaticism and deliberately to have provoked executions en masse“
Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)
Robert, called le Bougre (the Bulgarian, then a word for heretic), had himself been a Cathar and then became a Dominican. According to Lea, he claimed to be able to recognise heretics by their speech and bearing; Lea describes him as fanatical, eloquent and merciless. Early in 1233 he became the substitute of the Prior of Besançon for the persecution of heresy and reported to Gregory IX from La Charité that the whole town was a stinking nest of heretical wickedness. The pope instructed him to extirpate heresy thoroughly with the aid of the secular arm.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 113
„Frère Robert, known as le Bugre, had been a Patarin“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 113.
OriginalEvidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910), Artikel Inquisition
„a Bulgarian (Catharist) convert to Christianity and subsequently a Dominican“
„the special gift which he is said to have claimed, of being able to recognize“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 113.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 114
„by his learning, his fiery eloquence, and his mercilessness“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 114.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 114
„the whole town was a stinking nest of heretical wickedness“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 114.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 114
„to extirpate heresy thoroughly from the whole region, invoking the aid of the secular arm“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 114.
Original
Response of the Church
An investigation in 1238 exposed his misdeeds. Robert's commission was withdrawn and he was imprisoned for life. According to Lea, persecution raged for three or four years after his fall from the Rhine to the Loire, and the Inquisition remained permanently established throughout France in Dominican hands.
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 116
„An investigation was held in 1238 which exposed his misdeeds“
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
„Robert’s commission was withdrawn, and he expiated his insane cruelties in perpetual prison.“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 116.
OriginalEvidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Inquisition, The
„The pope was forced to put a check on his zeal, and, after an inquiry, condemned him to imprisonment for life.“
„for three or four years after his fall active persecution raged from the Rhine to the Loire“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 117.
OriginalEvidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39458), Bd. 2, S. 117
„thenceforth the Inquisition was permanently established throughout France in Dominican hands“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 2 (New York 1888), Bd. 2, S. 117.
Original
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)
Reference work
Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911): Inquisition, The, 1 January 1911.
Original(retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
Reference work
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910): Inquisition, 1 January 1910.
Original(retrieved 12 Oct 2026)
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