From: cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese)
Subject: The Bull of Innocent VIII
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 25 Jan 93 00:16:18 GMT

Innocent, Bishop, Servant of the servants of God, for an eternal
remembrance

Desiring with the most heartfelt anxiety, even as Our Apostleship
requires, that the Catholic Faith should especially in this Our day
increase and flourish everywhere, and that all heretical depravity should
be driven far from the frontiers and bournes of the Faithful, We very
gladly proclaim and even restate those particular means and methods
whereby Our pious desire may obtain its wished effect, since when all
errors are uprooted by Our diligent avocation as by the hoe of a
provident husbandman, a zeal for, and the regular observance of, Our holy
Faith will all the more strongly be impressed upon the hearts of the
faithful.

It has indeed lately come to Our ears, not without afflicting Us with
bitter sorrow, that in some parts of Northern Germany, as well as in
the provinces, townships, territories, districts, and dioceses of Mainz,
Cologne, Treves, Salzburg, and Bremen, many persons of both sexes,
unmindful of their own salvation and straying from the Catholic Faith,
have abandoned themselves to devils, incubi and succubi, and by their
incantations, spells, conjurations, and other accursed charms and
crafts, enormities and horrid offences, have slain infants yet in the
mother's womb, as also the offspring of cattle, have blasted the produce
of the earth, the grapes of the vine, the fruit of the trees, nay, men
and women, beasts of burthen, herd-beasts, as well as animals of other
kinds, vineyards, orchards, meadows, pasture-land, corn, wheat, and all
other cereals; these wretches furthermore afflict and torment men and
women, beasts of burthen, herd-beasts, as well as animals of other
kinds, with terrible and piteous pains and sore diseases, both internal
and external; they hinder men from performing the sexual act and women
from conceiving, whence husbands cannot know their wives nor wives 
receive their husbands; over and above this, they blasphemously renounce 
that Faith which is theirs by the Sacrament of Baptism, and at the
instigation of the Enemy of Mankind they do not shrink from commiting
and perpetrating the foulest abominations and filthiest excesses to the
deadly peril of their own souls, whereby they outerage the Divine
Majesty and are a cause of scandal and danger to very many.  And
although Our dear sons Henry Kramer and James Sprenger, Professors of
Theology, of the Order of Friars Preachers, have been by Letters
Apostolic delegated as Inquisitors of these heretical pravities, and
still are Inquisitors, the first in the aforesaid parts of Northern
Germany, wherein are iuncluded those aforesaid townships, districts,
dioceses, and other specified localities, and the second in the certain
territories which lie along the borders of the Rhine, nevertheless not a
few clerics and lay folk of these countries, seeking too curiously to
know more than concerns them, since in the aforesaid delegatory letters
there is no express and specific mention by name of these provinces,
townships, dioceses, and districts, and further since the two delegates
themselves and the abominations they are to encouter are not designated
in detailed and particular fashion, these persons are not ashamed to
contend with the most unblushing effrontery that these enormities are
not practised in those provinces, and consequently, the aforesaid
Inquisitors have no legal right to exercise their powers of inquisition
in the provinces, townships, diocese, districts, and territories, which
have been rehearsed, and that the Inquisitors may not proceed to punish,
imprison, and penalize criminals convicted of the heinous offences and
many wickednesses which have been set forth.  Accordingly, in the
aforesaid provinces, townships, dioceses, and districts, the
abominations and enormities in question remain unpunished not without
open danger to the souls of many and peril of eternal damnation. 

[This is where it gets good.]  Wherefore We, as is Our duty, being
wholly desirous of removing all hindrances and obstacles by which the
good work of the Inquisitors may be let and tarded, and also of applying
potent remedies to prevent ther disease of heresy and other turpitudes
diffusing their poison to the destruction of many innocent souls, since
Our zeal for the Faith especially incites us, lest that the provinces,
townships, dioceses, districts, and territories of Germany, which we have
specified, be deprived of the benefits of the Holy Office thereto
assigned, by the tenor of these presents in virtue of Our Apostolic
authority We decree and enjoin that the aforesaid Inquisitors be
empowered to proceed to the just correction, imprisonment, and
punishment of any persons, without let of hindrance, in every way as of
the provinces, townships, diocese, districts, territories, yea, even
the persons and their crimes in this kind were named and particularly
designated in Our letters.  Moreover, for greater surety, We extend
these letters deputing this authority to cover all the aforesaid
provinces, townships, diocesse, districts, and territories, persons, and
crimes newly rehearsed, and We grant permission to the aforesaid
Inquisitors, to one separately, or to both, as also to Our dear son John
Gremper, priest of the dioces of Constance, Master of Arts, their
notary, or to any other public notary, who shall be by them, or by one
of them, temporarily delegated to those provinces, twownships, dioceses,
districts, and aforesaid territories, to proceed, according to the
regulations of the Inquisition, against any persons of whatsoever rank
and high estate, correcting, mulcting [fining], imprisoning, punishing,
as their crimes merit, those whom they have found guilty, the penalty
being adapted to the offence.  Moreover, they shall enjoy a full and
perfect faculty of expounding and preaching the word of God to the
faithful, so often as opportunity may offer and it may seem good to
them, in each and every parish church of the said provinces, and they
shall freely and lawfully perform any rites or execute any business
which may appear advisable in the aforesaid cases.  By Our supreme
authority We grant them anew full and complete faculties.

At the same time, by Letters Apostolic We require Our venerable Brother,
the Bishop of Strasburg [Albrecht von Bayern 1478-1506], that he
himself shall announce, or by some other or others caused to be
announced, the burthen of Our Bull, which he shall solemnly publish when
and so often as he deems it necessary, or when he shall be requested so
to do by the Inquisitors or by one of them.  Not shall he suffer them in
disobedience to the tenor of these presents to be molested or hindered
by any authority whatsoever, but he shall threaten all who endeavor to
hinder or harass the Inquisitors, all who oppose them, all rebels, of
whatsoever, rank, estate, position, preeminence, dignity, or any
condition they may be, or whatsoever privilege of exemption they may
claim, with excommunication, suspension, interdict, and yet more
terrible penalties, censures, and punishment, as may seem good to him,
and that without any right of appeal, and if he will he may by Our
authority aggravate and renew these penalties as often as he list,
calling in, if so please him, the help of the secular arm.

Non obstantibus . . . Let no man therefore . . . [I presume these
passages are degraded and hence unreadable] But if any dare to do so,
which God forbid, let him know that upon his will fall the wrath of
Almighty God, and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Gven at Rome, at S. Peter's, on the 9 December of the Yeasr of the
Incarnation of Our Lordr one thousand four hundred and eighty four, in
the first Year of Our Pontificate.  

---------------------------------

The language is a bit hard to bash through, as the letter was likely
written in Latin by someone not fluent in it, and then retranslated back
to English.  The rest of the book outlines much more fully what
constitutes propriety in punishing people.  Questions VI through XV in
Part III go very thoroughly through what kind of representation the
accusewd is likely to get -- not much, and of poor quality.  The familt
of the accused is only allowesd to testify for the prosecution, and the
advocate for the accused is allowesd to drop the case in mid-litigation,
and no new advocate is assigned to the accused.  If the accused is let
free, and later found to be guilty, the advocate who got them off the
first time is called a heretic and questioned -- i.e. tortured as well.
They go into the torture and how it is to be conducted in all detail,
and how you are supposed to promise someone her life to get her to
confess and then go back on it, how you are supposed to get friends of
hers to go in and promise to let her free after the torture (they use
the word) if only she would show them some magic.  If she does, this is
her confession.

Everyone should read this -- Pagans and Witches especially, with the
purpose not of hating xtians but of learning about the history and being
on guard, and xtians should read it because, as members of the church,
they have the ability to call a halt to junk like this ever getting
started again if they do it in large enough numbers.

Blessings,
Janis  
Newsgroups: alt.pagan