Sentence:  As soon as he heard the news of the trial and execution, he summed up the incident as a monument to Catholic intolerance, <WSD>meridional</WSD> superstition and judicial bigotry – and he decided to do something about it. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  of or characteristic of southern areas or people, especially those in the south of France or other southern parts of Europe (from 19th c.)