Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1317-1320 · 3 years · show in timeline

Avignon 1317: Under John XXII, Bishop Hugues Géraud was partially flayed alive and burned, and court clerics were convicted of sorcery under torture

John XXII, pope at Avignon from 1316, in the first year of his reign had Hugues Géraud, the Bishop of Cahors, prosecuted for conspiring against his life. Géraud was degraded on 4 May 1317 and condemned to perpetual imprisonment, then handed over to the secular arm and, according to Henry Charles Lea, partially flayed alive and burned in July 1317; the Catholic Encyclopedia calls him implicated in the conspiracy and sentenced to be burned alive. In the same year the pope had a barber-surgeon and clerics of his palace tried for an attempt on his life by means of magic figurines; under torture they confessed and were executed. Afterwards John drove forward the persecution of sorcerers by the Inquisition.

Deaths
1 (counted, Bishop Hugues Géraud, burned in July 1317; in addition the uncounted executed defendants of the sorcery trial)
Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451)
„he was partially flayed alive and then dragged to the stake and burned“
Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88). Original
Period
1317-1320 (3 years)
Country
France
Institutions
Pope John XXII
Inquisition
Category
Torture, Violence, Heresy trials
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Persons
John XXII (pope 1316 to 1334, had Géraud prosecuted and the sorcery trials held)
Hugues Géraud (Bishop of Cahors, degraded in 1317, partially flayed alive and burned)
Jean d’Amant (barber-surgeon, convicted under torture of sorcery against the pope and executed)
Gaillard, Bishop of Reggio (conducted the sorcery trial of 1317 on the pope's commission)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. Still in 1317 the pope commissioned Gaillard, Bishop of Reggio, and several assessors to try a barber-surgeon named Jean d’Amant and several clerics of the papal palace for an attempt on his life.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 452
    „In 1317 we find him issuing a commission to Gaillard, Bishop of Reggio, and several assessors to try a barber-surgeon named Jean d’Amant and sundry clerks of the Sacred Palace on the charge of attempting his life.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 452. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. On 4 May 1317 Bishop Hugues Géraud was solemnly degraded at Avignon and condemned to perpetual imprisonment. Because he was charged with conspiring against the life of the pope, he was then delivered to the secular arm, that is, for execution. Lea relies on Bernard Gui, Amalricus Augerii and the Extravagantes of canon law.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „May 4, 1317, the unfortunate prelate was solemnly degraded at Avignon and condemned to perpetual imprisonment.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „On a charge of conspiring against the life of the pope he was delivered to the secular arm“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557, Anm. 525
    „Amalrici Augerii Vit. Pontif. ann. 1316-17“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557, Anm. 525. Original

What happened to those affected?

  1. In July 1317, according to Lea, Géraud was partially flayed alive, then dragged to the stake and burned. The Catholic Encyclopedia writes that he was implicated in the conspiracy against John XXII and sentenced to be burned alive. Lea judges that even the worst popes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries would scarcely have dared to shock the world with such an exhibition, with which John glutted his hatred.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „in July of the same year he was partially flayed alive and then dragged to the stake and burned.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Diocese of Cahors
    „implicated in the conspiracy against John XXII and sentenced to be burned alive“
    Diocese of Cahors, Artikel Diocese of Cahors. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „The worst popes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries could scarce have dared to shock the world with such an exhibition as that with which John XXII. glutted his hatred of Hugues Gerold, Bishop of Cahors.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
  2. Under torture the accused confessed that they had first intended to use poison and then, finding no opportunity, had made magic figurines under the invocation of demons; they could confine demons in rings and cause sickness and death by incantations. They were condemned and executed.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 452 f.
    „persuasive influence of torture they confessed that they had at first intended to use poison, but finding no opportunity for this they had recourse to figurines“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 452 f.. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „they could confine demons in rings and thus learn the secrets of the past and of the future; they could induce sickness, cause death, or prolong life by incantations“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „Of course they were condemned and executed“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original

Background

Course of events

  1. John XXII (Jacques d’Euse) was born at Cahors in 1249 and was enthroned as pope on 5 September 1316; he died at Avignon on 4 December 1334. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Hugues Géraud was Bishop of Cahors from 1312 to 1316.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910), Artikel Pope John XXII
    „Born at Cahors in 1249; enthroned, 5 September, 1316; died at Avignon, 4 December, 1334“
    Pope John XXII, Artikel Pope John XXII. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Diocese of Cahors
    „Hugues Géraud (1312-16)“
    Diocese of Cahors, Artikel Diocese of Cahors. Original · Archive copy

Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)

  1. According to Lea, John was the son of a humble mechanic of Cahors, and there may have been an old grudge between him and Hugues; what is certain, according to Lea, is that he attacked his enemy as soon as he ascended the throne. Lea writes that the circumstances of his election made conspiracies for his removal probable and that he lent a ready ear to suggestions of them. As a learned theologian he was convinced of the reality of magic and dreaded it.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „John was the son of an humble mechanic of Cahors, and possibly some ancient grudge may have existed between him and Hugues.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451), Bd. 1, S. 557
    „Certain it is that no sooner did he mount the pontifical throne than he lost no time in assailing his enemy.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 1, S. 557. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 452
    „The circumstances of his election were such as to render probable the existence of conspiracies for his removal, and he lent a ready ear to suggestions concerning them.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 452. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 452
    „he had full convictions of the reality of all the marvels claimed for magic, and his own experience led him to entertain a lively dread of them“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 452. Original

Who received the assets, who profited?

  1. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, in spite of large expenditures John XXII left an estate of 800,000 gold florins.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910), Artikel Pope John XXII
    „John left an estate of 800,000 gold florins“
    Pope John XXII, Artikel Pope John XXII. Original · Archive copy

Response of the Church

  1. Afterwards John set out to extirpate the sorcerers. In 1318 he ordered the Dominican provincial in the Levant to appoint special inquisitors for the purpose in all places of the Latin rite. In 1320 he had the Cardinal of Santa Sabina formally confer jurisdiction over sorcery on the inquisitors and urge them to exercise it actively. Later bulls ordered sorcerers to be publicly anathematised and punished as heretics and all books of magic to be burned. According to Lea, he thereby gave belief in sorcery a powerful impetus.
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „John set to work vigorously to extirpate the abhorred race of sorcerers“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „In 1318 he ordered the Dominican provincial in the Levant to appoint special inquisitors for the purpose in all places subject to the Latin rite“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „in 1320 he had letters sent out by the Cardinal of S. Sabina formally conferring it fully on inquisitors and urging them to exercise it actively“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 453
    „by ordering sorcerers to be publicly anathematized and punished as heretics and all books of magic lore to be burned“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 453. Original
    Evidence: Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580), Bd. 3, S. 452
    „The growing importance of sorcery in popular belief received a powerful impetus from John XXII.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88), Bd. 3, S. 452. Original

See also

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Scholarly literature
    Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39451): Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 1 (New York 1887/88). Original (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
  2. Scholarly literature
    Harper & Brothers; Project Gutenberg (eBook 39580): Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Bd. 3 (New York 1887/88). Original (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
  3. Reference work
    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908): Diocese of Cahors, 1 January 1908. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
  4. Reference work
    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 8 (1910): Pope John XXII, 1 January 1910. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
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