SECRET

ARCHIVES
Unknown Pages of Church History
INjONQREM PRINCIHS ■V BV

afnl
 PROLOGUE
4»

There is no escape from history. It has shaped our reality, and in time, we become apart of it our­
selves. We live in a civilization that arose on three hills: the Acropolis, the CapitoHne, and Golgotha.
Its foundation is a synthesis of Greek philosophy, Roman law, and the Christian religion. The latter
factor in particular exerted a decisive influence on our civilization.

Jesus of Nazareth initiated a new era in human history, which is reflected in, for example,
the calculation of time, adopted throughout the world. He also initiated the only institution on the
globe that has maintained an unbroken continuity for two thousand years. Hence Church history
is alive, still evoking emotions, generating discussions, and arousing controversies. Today, no one
asks about the accountability of medieval officials and judges. No one cares about the guilt and mis­
takes of Renaissance university professors. It is otherwise with regard to the Church. The Crusades,
the Inquisition, and the conquistadores are still invoked in contemporary debates, when important
life choices of many are at stake. In that sense, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi was correct when he wrote
that the Church, with her unchanging identity, is virtually regarded as a person, ever responsible for
the world's transgressions.

In such debates, there are often myths and falsifications. In order to assess the past justly, one
must first thoroughly and accurately ascertain the facts. Our visits to the Vatican Secret Archives
were meant to serve that very purpose, as were our visits to other Roman archives and meetings with
numerous historians, outstanding specialists in their fields. With them, we delved into the histories of
the Crusades, the Templars, the Inquisition, the conquistadores, the Galileo trial, the French Revolu­
tion, the Spanish Civil War, and Pius XII and the Holocaust—issues that belong not only to the past,
but also to the present, due to their ceaseless presence in public debates.

In going through numerous documents and talking to various scholars, who revealed to us the
meanderings of the past, aquestion came to mind, one that Christian theologians have often posed
themselves: What is God's preferred political system? Monarchy, that is, the rule of a single sover­
eign? Aristocracy, the rule of an elite minority? Or perhaps democracy, the rule of the majority?

The only answer we found was encompassed in the question: Who killed Jesus? It turned out
that representatives of all three political systems were behind his death: Monarchy (Pontius Pilate,
the emperor's governor); aristocracy (the Sanhedrin); and democracy (the crowd, demanding
the crucifixion of the Nazarene in a “direct referendum”). No system in itself guarantees a just
rule. It is a certain form, which can be filled out with specific content. It all depends on what is
in a person's heart. Hence politics in particular needs people with upright consciences. Delving
into archives, and studying history, teaches one humility. It shows us that we are not a community
of angels and that we shall never build paradise on earth. However, all of us shall be put to the
test, and it is most important to end up on the right side.
 coriTEriTS

12 CLASSIFIED, SECRET,
CORFIDEATIAL
THE CHURCH’S LONG MEMORY
Two thousand years of the papal archives:
from St. Peter to the present time

58 TRIAL OF THE KAIGHTS TEA1PLAR

THE GRAND MASTER'S CURSE
Dissolution of one of medieval Europe’s most
powerful orders and the execution of its leaders

100 THE CAUSADES

THE HOLY LAND AFLAME
Dangerous links between the Cross
and the sword: from triumph to defeat

144 PAAADOHES OF THE IAQ0ISITI0R

LIBERTY OR SECURITY?
Harbingers of totalitarianism and the rule
of an “amoral superhuman elite"

174 COAQUISTADORES ARD RIISSIOR ARIES

END OF THE WORLD,
TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
European conquest of America and the fate
of the Native Americans
THE TRIAL OF GALILEO
FAITH AND REASON: CONFLICT
OR COOPERATION?
The most famous scholar condemned
by the Inquisition

THE FAEACH AEVOLUTIOA

THE GUILLOTINE'S BLOODY
HARVEST
The first systematic genocide
in the history of modern Europe

LU AR IA SPAIA
ANTICLERICAL BLOODBATH
The religious dimension of the bloodiest
civil war in the history of the Iberian Peninsula

THE SILEACE OF PIUS Hll

THE POPE ACCUSED
The Holy See, the Third Reich, and the Holocaust

5 PROLOGUE

8-9 TIMELINE

10-11 VATICAN MAP

350 ENDNOTES

351 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 VATICAH SECRET ARCHIVES OVER THE CERTIFIES

Martyrdom Reorganization of the papal Vandal invasion

Archive of St Lawrence, archive on the imperial - archives
in Domus Aurea papal archivist pattern by Julius I devastated

Some archival Main headquarters Part of the papal Gregorian Calendar

collections moved of the archive archive housed worked out in the Tower
to Anagni and Perugia in the Vatican in Castel Sant’Angelo of the Winds

Several popes kept Papal archive in Avignon, Library and archival Archives destroyed Paul V established
some archives in Lyon France (parts ended up collections separated; during the Sack Vatican Secret Archives
and Viterbo. in Carpentras and Assisi) Vatican Library established of Rome
 Papal archive Establishment Part of the archives located near Part of the archives
destroyed during of the Papal States St Peter's tomb in the Vatican, destroyed during
an Ostrogoth invasion - pope as head part in the Tunis Chartularia a popular revolt in Rome

800- 1198-
846
-1100 -1216

Burgundians Part of the archives Muslim Saracens Innocent Ill’s pontificate

sacked Rome located under sacked Rome - oldest surviving papal card index
the Holy Stairs

Archives transported Fall of the Papal States; Italian John Paul II opened a large Chinon Parchment Documents
to the Hdtel de Soubise, government seized papal archives underground bunker discovered in the Vatican concerning Pius XII
Paris located outside the Vatican to house Vatican archives Secret Archives declassified

1815-
1810 1870 1881
-1817

Archives back Leo XIII opened Vatican documents John Paul II ordered the
in the Vatican the Vatican Secret on the Inquisition declassification of files pertaining
Archives to scholars declassified to Germany, 1922 to 1939
CASTEL SAAT'AAGELO
THIS ANCIENT BUILDING arose on
the bank of the Tiber at the beginning
of the 2nd century as the Mausoleum of
Hadrian. Three hundred years later, it was
converted into a fortress. Gregory the ''
Great (590-604) gave it its present name.
Towards the end of the 16th century,
the papal archive was housed in the rotund
premises, at the top of the castle, under
the statue of an angel.

PASSETTO DI BOAGO
A SECRET PASSAGE between
the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican
and Castel SantAngelo, which runs
above the streets along the Roman wall.
It saved the lives of two popes
(Alexander VI and Clement VII),
who managed to escape from their
residence via this passage. The photo
shows the beginning of the passage
at a side door to the palace.

ST. PETER S BASILICA AAD SQUARE

ATTHE CENTER OF THE SQUARE, there is
an Egyptian obelisk from the Circus of Nero,
where St. Peter was martyred. The square
is surrounded by Bernini's colonnades,
the construction of which was completed
in 1663. The basilica, in its present form,
took over one hundred years to build
(1505-1626). It arose on the site
of a basilica from the time of Constantine,
which was located over St. Peter's tomb.

VATICAA SECAET AACHIVES

PART OF BELVEDERE PALACE, where Paul V
established a centralized papal archive
(1612). The complex's highest building
is the Tower of the Winds, where
the Sundial Room is located. It was
there that astronomers worked out
the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.
The view of the Vatican Secret Archives
is from the Vatican Gardens.
 THE CHURCH'S LORG mEfflORY

Classified, Secret,
Confidential
 CHAPTER 1

Classified,
Secret, Confidential
Two thousand years of the papal archives:
from St. Peter to the present time

For anyone with a passion for history, the very mention of the Vat­
ican Secret Archives brings a thrill of excitement. Containing unique
collections of documents, countless confidential reports, and an in­
exhaustible quantity of sources on world history, all compiled by the
world’s finest diplomatic services, the Archives are a bottomless mine
of knowledge. This has given rise to the conviction that the solution
to many unsolved historical riddles could be found there. Let us try to
draw back the curtain of secrecy that has shrouded this extraordinary
institution for centuries and delve into its innermost corners.

MANY SHELVES
line the Vatican
Secret Archives,
which end-to-
end are 53 miles
long.
 PREFECT OF
THE VATICAN
SECRET
ARCHIVES,
Bp. Sergio
Pagano.

BRONZE DOOR,
one of three
main entrances
to the Vatican
Apostolic Palace.

But first, one has to get behind the Vatican walls, obtain a special
permit, and pass through three checkpoints before finding oneself
in the Belvedere Courtyard (or Belvedere Palace), where Bishop
Sergio Pagano officiates as prefect of these extraordinary archives.
He received us in his first-story apartment with Italian courtesy
and warmth, though he was precise and economical with his words
at the same time. He has been an archivist for over forty years and
BISHOP
PAGANO,
prefect of the
Vatican Apostolic
Archives, talks
with Grzegorz
Gorny.

PREFECT OF THE VRTICRfi

RPOSTOLIC RRCHIVES
SERGIO PAGANO was bom in of Paleography, Diplomatics,
Liguria, Italy, in 1948. He entered and Archives Administration.
the Barnabite order at the age of In 2007, he was consecrated
eighteen and completed his stud­ titular bishop of Celene by Pope
ies in philosophy and theology Benedict XVI. That same year,
in Rome, where he was ordained Pagano also became a member
a priest in 1977. A year later, as of the Pontifical Commission
a graduate of the Vatican School for the Cultural Heritage of the
of Paleography, Diplomatics, and Church. He is an active member
Archives Administration, he was of numerous international histori­
employed by the Vatican Secret cal committees and Church insti­
Archives, where he has worked tutions and author of numerous
for over forty years, coming to scholarly publications.
know it inside and out, advanc-
ing to positions of greater and
greater responsibility.
In 1997, he was appointed
DOCUMENTS prefect of the Vatican Secret
are divided into Archives by Pope John Paul II,
650 archival and a few days later he became
collections.
director of the Vatican School
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

seems to embody the ethos of an archivist, whose mission is to serve

as a custodian of memory.
There is no community without history, memory—for memory is
the bearer of identity, the mother of society. Hence it is essential
that every community have its own archives. These serve to store
memory, preserve it, and pass it on to subsequent generations, so that
it might continuously renew the bond between them. Even such small
community organisms like the family typically have their own ar­
chives, to say nothing of states, authorities, and institutions.
At the same time, archives are treasuries of past knowledge and
irreplaceable historical sources, thanks to which we might better
come to know the details of past events as well as the dilemmas and

WRITING
MEDIUMS:
i. papyrus,
2. parchment,
3. palm leaves,
4. clay.

CLAY TABLET
with cuneiform
writing.

challenges that faced our ancestors. At times, they hold the keys to
great mysteries.
The archives of ancient Eastern lands contained documents writ­
ten on clay tablets. In India, scribes wrote on palm leaves, while
in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, they initially wrote on papyrus, then
on parchment. It is to the Greeks that we owe the word “archive”,
which derives from archeion, meaning a building wherein the seat
of government was located, as such buildings housed collections of
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

THE TEMPLE documents useful in administrative work. The authorities changed,

in Jerusalem but the documents remained.
was not only The ancient Jewish people also had archives. For example, the
a place of
worship, but genealogical scrolls of all the generations of Israel were kept in the
also the main temple in Jerusalem. These were to be useful in identifying the await­
community ed Messiah, who, as foretold by the prophets, was to come from the
archive. Tribe of Judah, the Tree of Jesse, and the House of David. The de­
struction of Jerusalem, and the razing of the temple by the Roman
legions in AD 70, meant that henceforth it would be impossible to
carry out a “genealogical test” as to the authenticity of the Messiah.

LEGIONARIES
carrying spoils
after taking
Jerusalem—
from the Arch
of Titus in
Rome.
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

To the first generation of Judeo-Christians, this was conclusive proof

that the Messiah must have appeared before that date; otherwise, the
Old Testament prophecy had shown itself false.
Among the writings that foretold the coming of the Messianic Era,
there were also scrolls discovered in the Qumran caves near the Dead
*

ONE OF
THE SCROLLS
that were
discovered
r jrifH*’*1 b **'r in caves near
“* fro* v*-« the Dead Sea
i V3 tMr» «»■> from 1947
W***1 «M%M* WF Yr*(M to 1956.
•J’*'*' XJ** mh vtr» tj»t

MSI XaK •$>

-k»*
*> tj**»
A IP***;
tHrw***jhm w d*rtiw*vHaJm

y**'* A* w>a ,

9
<*«•
tn*** 1

'**♦■»» 4

•***»

Sea, in the archives of the Jewish sect of the Essenes. Thanks to the
scrolls, it became possible to solve many of the mysteries concerning
Jewish religious life during the times that preceded the birth of Jesus.
The Catholic Church has kept archives from the very beginning.
Like all growing communities, it needed ever more documentation,
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

without which it would be impossible to administer

any large institution. One could not rely solely on hu­
man memory, which is fallible and, after all, comes
to an end.
St. Peter, the first pope, must have had his own
archive. On arriving in Rome, he most probably
stayed in Trastevere (beyond the Tiber), a Jewish
district. We know that St. Mark the Evangelist was
his secretary and translator, and perhaps the first pa­
pal archivist.
One might risk stating that the pope’s archive was
the oldest and, for a certain time, the only Church docu­
mentation. It contained lists of members, birth certificates,
ST. PETER, and a register of those who received aid from deacons. The first
whom Jesus
chose to lead
the apostles.

ROME’S FIRST
BISHOP,
St. Peter, suffered
a martyr’s death
by being crucified
upside down.

Christian communities accumulated their own documentation, for

example, testimonies concerning martyrs.
The first great persecution of Christians broke out during Ne­
ro’s reign in 44. Nero, wanting to allay suspicion that he had Rome
set on fire, blamed the Christians. This launched a wave of bloody
repressions, to which St. Peter fell victim, crucified upside down on
Vatican Hill. Undoubtedly, the papal archives were then destroyed
for the first time.
Russian theologian Mikhail Bulgakov once wrote that “manu­
ST. MARK, the first scripts were not burned”, which is untrue. Throughout history perse­
papal archivist. cutions affected not only people, but documents, destroyed not only
by persecutors, but also by the persecuted. If certain writ- I
ings had fallen into the wrong hands, they could well have ’
exposed Christians in hiding.
Such was the case in subsequent years of the Roman Em­
pire, with varied intensity, as waves of repression rose up
and then subsided again. The persecuted Church, working un­
derground, had to take all measures for security, hence the closely DOMUS AUREA,
guarded secret as to the whereabouts of the Roman bishops’ archives. Emperor Nero’s
In times of peace, they may well have been kept in a particular place Roman palace, now
in ruins, where
for a longer time. When arrests began, they had to be moved from historians say the
place to place. According to extant testimonies, it appears that many papal archive was
popes lived in the Trastevere district during the first centuries, so once housed.
there is a strong probability that their archives were kept there.
One hypothesis states that during the pontificate of the fourth
pope, St. Clement I—that is, towards the end of the 1st century—the ar­
chives may well have been stored in a so-called church house (domus
ecdesiae) on the grounds of Nero’s former elaborate villa, the Domus ST. CLEMENT I,
Aurea (Golden House), where Flavius Clemens and Flavia Domitilla, pope, martyr, and
the emperor’s cousins, lived. The couple converted to Christianity first-known early
Christian writer.
and secretly hosted a successor of St. Peter in their home. But they
AGAPE FEAST,
the meal that the
first Christians
would share after
the Eucharist-
mural in the
Catacomb
of St. Callixtus.

CATACOMB OF
ST. CALLIXTUS,
Rome, which
occupies
86 acres
and contains
the remains of
over 500,000
people, including
9 popes.

were arrested. Flavius was sentenced to death, while Flavia

was exiled. Today, one can visit the ruins of this domus ec-
clesiae underneath the Basilica of St. Clement.
Three centuries of persecutions, and the later barbarian
invasions, can be blamed for our lack of knowledge as to what
exactly was to be found in the papal library and archive. They most
ST. CORNELIUS probably housed the oldest Gospel scrolls, apostolic letters, Bible
was the first commentaries, and administrative documents, which played a prac­
pope to write tical role in the daily functioning of the Church. How do we know?
letters in Latin.
Pope Cornelius, whose pontificate lasted from 251 to 253, wrote in
one of his letters that there were forty-six priests, seven deacons,
seven subdeacons, and forty-two acolytes, as well as fifty-two exor­
cists, readers, and porters [pstiarii) ministering in Rome.1 He could
not have given such precise data without appropriate records.
Christians adopted methods of archive administration from the
Romans. Some popes, prior to being elected, were officials familiar
with systems of storing financial and administrative documents, and
even adopted official names for Church institutions. For example, the
 in this spot in
Roman word for “archive” was scrinium, and the Christians named the 3rd century.
their archives Scrinium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae.
According to an ancient Christian tradition, the 3rd-century ad­
ministrative center of the Roman Church, including its archives, BOOK OF
was found near the Pompey Theater, where the Apostolic Chancery ISAIAH,
was, next to the Basilica of St. Lawrence, whose patron was one of one of the Dead
Sea Scrolls,
the best-known martyrs of the first few centuries. St. Lawrence was 1st century BC.
a close associate of Pope Sixtus II, who appointed him deacon and
EMPEROR
VALERIAN
being defeated
and taken captive
in AD 260 by
King Shapur I
of Persia—bas-
relief in Naqsh-e
Rostam.

treasurer of the Church. St. Lawrence was also given charge of the
papal library and archives.
In 258, Emperor Valerian issued an edict against Christianity, which
unleashed a new wave of persecutions. As the state treasury was
empty, the emperor decided to eliminate the leaders of the Church
and seize her assets, about which improbable stories had been cir­
culating. Pope Sixtus II and six deacons were arrested and beheaded.

ST. SIXTUS I
entrusting
to St. Lawrence
the chalice
used by Christ
during the Last
Supper—fresco
by Fra Angelico
in the Vatican.

Lawrence, one of the deacons who had escaped death, became re­
sponsible for the Church’s property.
Before he was arrested, he managed to distribute the gold and silver
to the Roman poor. He also managed to hide some relics that belonged
to the pope, for example, the chalice that was believed to have been
used during the Last Supper. According to St. Donatus, this precious
vessel turned up in Spain, the homeland of Lawrence’s parents. All
evidence indicates that the foresighted treasurer also managed to find
a safe place for the Church’s archive, which contained lists of names of
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

HOLY GRAIL,
the chalice
used by Christ
during the Last
Supper,
is believed
to be in Valencia
Cathedral.

Christ’s followers. Had the lists fallen into the hands of the imperial of­
ficials, the lives of many Christians would have been in serious danger.
Lawrence was arrested and found himself before Decius, the Ro­
man prefect. When asked where the Church’s treasures were to be
found, he replied that they were in the souls of the sick and the poor.
His attitude was seen as exceptionally impertinent, so his punishment
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

ST. LAWRENCE had to be particularly severe. On August 10, 258, he was grilled alive
being on a gridiron. Though he was tortured, he did not reveal where he had
interrogated, hidden the Church’s archive.
imprisoned, and
executed—fresco The last great wave of persecutions came at the beginning of
by Fra Angelico the 5th century, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Christians
in the Vatican. were murdered, and objects sacred to them were destroyed. Euse­
bius, a Church chronicler and an eyewitness of these events, wrote:
“I saw with my own eyes houses where Masses had been said get
searched from top to bottom, to the very foundations, and inspired

DIOCLETIAN
persecuted
Christians.
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Holy Scriptures get thrown onto fires in town squares.”, It was then
that the papal library and archive were destroyed. It was hot possible
to replicate the burned books, letters, and documents.
The situation changed after 313, when Emperor Constantine the
Great issued a decree of tolerance, the Edict of Milan, which allowed
Christians to worship publicly. This ended the persecution bf the
Church in the Roman Empire, apart from the repressions during the
reign of Julian the Apostate. Constantine turned out to be a great bene­
factor to the hitherto clandestine Christian community. The Orthodox

DONATION OF
CONSTANTINE,
by which
the emperor
gave the Lateran
Palace
to the Church—
13th-century
fresco.

ST. SYLVESTER I
astride a horse
led by Emperor
Constantine—
fresco in
the Basilica
of the Santi
Quattro Coronati
in Rome.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

ST. PETER’S
BASILICA
is where the first
pope was buried.

ST. PAUL
OUTSIDE
THE WALLS
was built over
the grave
of the Apostle
to the Gentiles.

Church venerates him as a saint to this day and has granted him, to­
gether with his mother, St. Helena, the title “Equal to the Apostles”.
In Rome alone, he donated three basilicas to the Church, dedicated
to three of the apostles: St. Peter’s on Vatican Hill, the Basilica of St.
Paul outside the Walls, and the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the last
of which came with a magnificent palace that was inhabited by Pope
Sylvester I, wherein the ecclesiastical seat of the papacy was situated
for almost one thousand years. Conclaves and councils took place
on Lateran Hill, where the most important decisions concerning the
ST.JOHN
LATERAN,
whose dedication
is celebrated
throughout the
Catholic Church
on Nov. 9.

POPE'S SEAT
THE BASILICA of St. John Lateran Sylvester I ten years later. It was seri­
is the mother and head of all the Catho­ ously damaged during an earthquake
lic churches throughout the world. in 896 and rebuilt during the pontificate
The beginnings of the basilica go back of Pope Sergio III (904-911). In 1144,
to 313, when Constantine the Great it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist
donated a building, the former barracks and St. John the Evangelist.
of the Praetorian Guard (on Lateran In 1308 came a turning point in the
Hill, Rome), to Pope Miltiades. Over basilica’s history, when it was seriously
the following thousand years, this site damaged by a huge fire. A year later,
became the official seat of the heads Clement V and the papal court moved
of the Church. An architectonic to Avignon in France. His successors
complex arose, of which the most stayed there for seventy years, during
important buildings were: the Lateran which time the Lateran declined
Palace (papal residence), the Papal in importance. On returning to Rome
Chapel and the Holy Stairs (Scala in 1377, the royal court, however, did
Sancta), the baptistery, and most not return to the Lateran, as the basilica
importantly the magnificent church, had been badly damaged in another fire
dedicated to the Most Holy Savior. (1360). Hence the Vatican became the
The year 314 saw the beginning of the main papal center. The basilica was not
construction of the first five-naved ba­ rebuilt until the 15th century. Its present
silica, which was consecrated by Pope classical facade is of the 18th century.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

Church’s fate were made. It was to this spacious palace that

the central archive of the Vicar of Christ was eventually
transferred.
The Apostolic Chancery arose during the pontificate of
Julius I (337 -352), modeled on the similar Imperial Chan­
cery. Also organized in an analogous way was the Scrinium
Sanctum, wherein archival and library collections were ac­
cumulated until the 15th century.
Papal collections expanded. Administrative and financial
documents piled up: Acts of the Martyrs, biblical manuscripts, lit­
ST. JULIUS I, erary and theological texts, synodal resolutions, Church court ver­
the pope who dicts, title transfers, deeds of sale, testaments and legacies, property
established rights, and documents freeing slaves. Material on theological disputes
the Church’s
chancery. was collected to help popes to settle doctrinal issues. Correspondence
with bishops throughout the world took up more and more space. Be­
fore sending letters, papal scribes copied them and placed them in

ST. MARY
MAJOR,
the basilica
where St. Jerome
is buried.

ST. DAMASUS,
the pope who
introduced Lahn.

wooden cabinets made of a special kind of wood called //-

gnum scrinarium.
Pope Damasus I changed the face of the Western Church by
Latinizing her. Previously, even in Rome, the Greek liturgy dom­
inated. He introduced Latin on a wide scale, commissioning his own
secretary, St. Jerome, to translate the Bible into Latin. Thus came the
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Vulgate, which was obligatory in the Catholic Church until the Refor­
mation. It is highly probable that St. Jerome worked near ihe papal ar­
chive, where he would have had access to various versions of the Bible.
The pontificate of St. Damasus (366 -384) left a great mark on the
form of the Roman Church. He initiated the centuries-old tradition
of Catholic patronage of the arts. He was the first of a long line t>f Ro­
man bishops who served as patrons to numerous architects, sculptors,
and painters.

ST. JEROME,
a Doctor
of the Church,
is most famous
for his translation
of the Bible
into Latin, but
also authored
numerous biblical
commentaries
and theological
works. In the
15th century,
Antonello
da Messina
depicted him
at work in
his study.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

Thanks to St. Damasus, there is evidence allowing one to locate the

former central repository of the archive close to the historic location
of the Apostolic Chancery. He was not only a clergyman, but also
TOMBOF a writer of epigrams and epitaphs in honor of the deceased, including
ST. DAMASUS many martyrs. He also commissioned a headstone for his father, An­
in the Crypt tonius, who came to Italy most probably from the Iberian Peninsula,
of the Popes
worked many years in the Church archive, and as a widower, was
in the Catacomb
of Callixtus ordained a priest. St. Damasus had the following epigram, which he
in Rome. composed himself, inscribed on his father’s headstone:

Here lies my father, archivist, lector, deacon, and priest,

Benefactor and a man of merit.
Here Christ honored me with supreme authority
Over the Holy See.
I erected a new roof over the archive building,
And added columns on both its sides,
That the name of Damasus might live for evermore.2
 Damaso, a basilica
Antonius’ tombstone lies in close proximity to two buildings con­
erected by Pope
nected with the papal archive: St. Jerome’s Church, built on the site of Damasus.
the former palace—belonging to a Roman patrician, Paula—wherein
the pious translator worked on the translation of the Bible into
Latin; and the Basilica of St. Lawrence, built by Damasus, who
particularly venerated the martyr. Today, it is part of the
old Apostolic Chancery complex and thus is easy to miss
even when one is close to it. This close proximity lends
credence to the theory that the Church’s archives were
once to be found in this area.
Unfortunately, papal documents from the 4th century
did not survive to our times, as they were destroyed dur­
ing barbaric invasions. The Visigoths, led by Alaric, were
the first to capture the Eternal City (in 410), plundering it
for three days. Admittedly, its inhabitants were spared, but they
were forced to give up their wealth. Many buildings were burned ST. LEO I,
down, while the Lateran Palace, which housed the main part of the one of two
archive, was seriously damaged. Later, Rome was sacked by the Van­ popes in Church
history called
dals (445), the Burgundians (472), the Ostrogoths (546), and the Sara­
"the Great".
cens (846). Some 5th-century papal documents survived, as they were
transferred to other cities and stored in the archives of local bishops.
Thus, for example, a large collection of letters of Pope St. Leo the
Great was saved.
Why were archives destroyed? In order to deprive a community
of its history, its memory, its spirit, and its identity. Hence, whenev­
er the Eternal City became restless, the popes transferred the more
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

precious documents elsewhere, for example, to Monte Cassino, a Ben­

edictine abbey.
There was a chancery in the Lateran Palace, as in the courts of secu­
lar rulers, run by an official, the primicerius. There, papal documents

in 529. Papal
archives were were drawn up and, among other things, copies were made of corre­
once stored spondence with missionaries who had been sent to distant countries.
in this The chancery employees even developed their own style of calligra­
Benedictine phy: curiale romana, curiale nova, or minuscula cancellaresca.
abbey.
The chancery became the most important source of archival ma­
terial. Thanks to papal rulings and verdicts, successive popes could
maintain the continuity of the Holy See's stance in relation to specif­
ic matters. Such matters were countless, since the great and powerful
of that world often had recourse to the papacy as the final resort in
definitively resolving disputes.
During the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great (590-604), the pa­
pal archive at the Lateran was located under the Sancta Sanctorum
(chapel), dedicated to St. Lawrence, and the Scala Sancta, or Holy
Stairs, which St. Helena brought from Jerusalem in 326. (According to
tradition, Jesus climbed these marble steps in Pontius Pilate’s palace.)
A part of the papal archives was also located on Vatican Hill, for
there was a custom of laying signed documents on St. Peter’s tomb,
signifying a most solemn vow. Only important personages like kings
Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

SCALA SANCTA,
the Holy Stairs
in the Lateran
Palace, which
were reputedly
brought from
Jerusalem
by St. Helena.
At one time,
the papal
archives
were located
underneath.

ST. GREGORY I,
the second of the
two popes called
“the Great’’.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidenlial

ST. PETER’S and bishops were permitted to do this, typically only in matters of the
TOMB, greatest import. The documents were stored near the tomb, at the feet
in St. Peter’s of the apostle, so to speak. When there was no room for new docu­
Basilica,
ments, the old ones were transferred to the Lateran.
became an
important place A third place where, starting in the 9lh century, another part of the
in the history papal archives was to be found was the Turris Chartularia (Tower of
of the papal the Papers) on Palatine Hill. High and difficult to conquer, the stone
archives. tower seemed to be a safer place than the Lateran or the Vatican for

precious documents. But even this did not save the papal archives.
Frequent struggles between powerful Roman families meant that the
tower kept changing hands, the defenders ending up in graves and the
archival documents in flames. The valuable archives that were saved
from the barbarians were, in great measure, destroyed in the 10th cen­
tury by the inhabitants of Rome themselves.
Emperor Henry IV demolished the Turris Chartularia in 1083. He
decided to set an antipope, Clement III, on the throne of Peter, cap­
turing the Eternal City and expelling the lawful pope, Gregory VII. But
the latter called upon the Normans for help. They came to the rescue,
CHURCH but after taking over Rome, they completely devastated it, putting it
OF ST. JUSTUS, to the torch and wiping out the inhabitants. Hence the Church ar­
Lyon, where chives were lost without a trace, and today, the oldest surviving file
Innocent IV and
of papal documents is dated as late as the pontificate of Innocent III
his court stayed
during the First (1198-1216).
Council of Lyon The majority of papyrus manuscripts from the first thousand years
in 1245 - the of Christianity did not survive to our times, not even those preserved
papal archives from invaders, as papyrus conservation methods were unknown;
were then it became brittle and decayed with age. Such was the case until the
transported to
the church.
11th century, when parchment came into common use. There were
several practical reasons for this. Firstly, as already mentioned, it TURRIS
was much more durable. Secondly, papyrus documents were scrolls, CHARTULARIA,
while parchment documents were codices (books), and it was easier a tower
on Palatine
to navigate a codex text. Thirdly, the frequent unrolling of scrolls
Hill, where
brought about their rapid deterioration, whereas leafing through co­ papal archives
dices entailed much less wear. Fourthly, codices were more conveni­ were housed-
ent to transport and store. view from the
Between the lllh and 14th centuries, popes frequently went on long 17th century,
when the
journeys around Italy and France, taking chancery clerks and archi­
building was
val documents along with them. They usually took copies of docu­ already a ruin.
ments, thinking that it would be safer to leave the originals in Rome.
However, it often turned out to be the reverse: the documents in
Rome were lost, but their contents were saved thanks to the copies
taken on journeys. This happened, for example, in 1234, when a popu­
lar revolt broke out in Rome. Many palaces were plundered, including
the Lateran. As unrest continued, in 1257 Pope Alexander IV moved
to Viterbo, where popes lived with some of their archives until 1281.
The years 1309 to 1377 saw a new chapter in the history of the pa­
pal archives, the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy. It was
a time when all the popes were French and preferred to reside in Avi­
gnon, an enclave of the Papal States in Provence. Hence the bishops
 pertaining to such events
OLDEST BOOK as the death of a pope,
THE LIBER DIURNUS the election of a succes­
ROMANORUM PON- sor, the papal inaugura­
TIFICUM is the Vatican tion, the consecration
Secret Archives’ oldest of a bishop, the granting
book (8th century). of privileges and dispen­
It contains a collection sations, the founding of
of about one hundred monasteries, the authori­
blank forms compiled by zation to have a private
the Apostolic Chancery chapel, and so on.
Part of the book consists
of copies of documents
A PAPAL PARCHMENT from as early as the end
that disappeared in the of the 5th century, going
11th century and was not back to the pontificates
rediscovered until 1641. of Gelasius I (492-496)
and Gregory the Great
(590-604). Liber Diurnus

**^7 hi
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io^<
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Romanorum Pontificum was used PALACE OF THE POPES,
by papal officials up to the 11th Palais des Papes, in
Avignon, France, the seat
century, but in time, it was re­
of the Catholic Church for
placed, not meeting the require­ decades.
ments of Church administration.
AVIGNON POPES of Rome resided outside the city for almost seven decades, keeping
lived here in the most important Church documents under their care.
the Palais des Papes The Western Schism (1387-1417) began shortly after the return of
from 1309 to 1376.
the papacy to the Eternal City. During this period, there were two
With 18,000 square
yards of floor space, claimants to the Holy See (even a third for a certain time). This was
it is the largest Gothic due to the lack of agreement among the cardinals, largely because of
palace in Europe.

i d
 chambei^j.

upper treasury^
and papal library
THE LOWER
TREASURY
in the tower
of the papal palace
contained the most
pope’s room valuable objects
ROOMS OFTHE and documents,
PALACE: transported to
i. great hall, where Avignon by Clement V
conclaves were and his successors.
held (bottom left papal chancery It had four large
on opposite page), hiding places
2. lower treasury, under the floor
with a hiding place of stone slabs,
for the most lower treasury which were raised
valuable items and with a hoist. There,
underfloor hiding the documents were
documents, places
3. hiding place kept in locked iron
beneath the floor of chests and labelled
papal cellar
the lower treasury. alphabetically.
 political reasons. One claimant was in Rome, the other in Avignon.
Hence two separate papal archives were functioning at that time—
and even a third, in Pisa (from 1409 to 1417).
The schism was ended by the Council of Constance. Martin V was
ST. CATHERINE elected pope, and the Holy See was transferred to Rome again. How­
OF SIENA ever, he decided to have the ecclesiastical seat in the Vatican, not the
persuaded Lateran, and so did his successors. The fragmented archive began to
Gregory XI to
move the Holy See
from Avignon back
to Rome.

TOMB OF
ST. CATHERINE
in Santa Maria
sopra Minerva,
Rome.

PAPAL PALACE
in Viterbo - the
papal residence
from 1257 to
1281, was home
to six popes during
unrest in Rome.
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

be consolidated in one place—where the head of the Church resid­

ed. Many of the scattered documents, however, did not return to the
Eternal City, ending up, for example, in Paris.
Peace reigned in Rome during the following decades. The Renais­
sance dawned. Many distinguished humanists worked at the.napal
court, sometimes as secretaries. Some of the Church leaders iwere
famous, sophisticated intellectuals, such as Pius II and Nicholas V.

A PARDON granted on May 24, 1441, to Johannes Smyth, a Glasgow diocesan priest
who travelled to Rome from Scotland to seek absolution. During a game of soccer on
the Feast of St. Catherine, he had collided with an opponent, who was then stretchered
off the field and died shortly afterward. According to canon law, a person with blood on
his hands could not exercise his priestly office. Hence Johannes Smyth made his way to
Rome to obtain a dispensation. The document is housed in the Apostolic Penitentiary
Archive in Rome (Reg. Matrim. et Divers. 2bis, c. 231r.).

Thanks to them, the Vatican Library, which housed the Church ar­
chive, became ever more impressive.
As more collections were accumulated, new facilities were neces­
sary. A building arose during the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585-1590)
on the grounds of the Apostolic Palace. But in time, even this turned
out to be too small. Hence the pope had the most valuable documents
transferred to Castel Sant’Angelo. This ancient building emerged
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

at the beginning of the 2nd century, then serving as the Mausoleum

of Hadrian. Three hundred years later, it was converted into a for­
POPE SIXTUS V tress, to which Pope Gregory the Great (pontificate: 590-604) gave its
had part of the present name. The Church’s archive was located in the rotund prem­
Vatican archive
enlarged toward
ises, at the top of the castle, under the statue of an angel.
the end of the The fortress turned out to be a safe place, not only for documents
16th century. but also for the bishops of Rome, as it was connected to the papal
palace at the Vatican by a secret passage (the Passetto di Bor-
go). This passage saved the life of Alexander VI in 1494 and
Clement VII in 1527.

IRON CHESTS
held precious
objects, including
documents,
in the Castel
Sant’Angelo.

PASSETTO
DI BORGO
is a passage
between the
Vatican Palace
and Castel
Sant’Angelo that
saved two popes
from death.
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The second of these dates is connected with an event tfyat

has gone down in history as the Sack of Rome (Sacco eft'
Roma). Emperor Charles V, infuriated by the pope’s alli­
ance with Francis, the king of France, dispatched his army
against Rome. On May 6,1527, this army of 20,000 Italians,
Spaniards, and Germans captured the capital of Christen­
dom. Their commander allowed them to pillage the city. Eight
days of rape, murder, and plunder ensued. There were a large
number of German Lutheran mercenaries in the army, who mur­
dered priests, raped nuns, desecrated churches, and profaned and de­ ALEXANDER VI,
stroyed relics. The occupation lasted until October 17, when the army a pope infamous
withdrew, leaving Rome completely devastated. for numerous
scandals.
Castel Sant’Angelo was the only place that was not taken, and
Clement VII observed the Sack of Rome from its walls. Had it not
been for the Swiss Guards, he would not have escaped. Not one of the CLEMENTVII,
Guards survived. pope who survived
Most of the archives were saved, part of them because they were the last sack of
Rome in 1527.
in the castle, another part, because one of the emperor’s command­
ers had his quarters in the Vatican Library. Nonetheless, some of
the archival material was used as tinder for fires, bedding in
stables, and insoles for shoes.

CASTEL
SANTANGELO,
or Castle
of the Holy
Angel, long
home to the
papal archive.
SACK OF ROME, SACCO DI ROIT1R
a 17th-century
painting by IT IS A HISTORICAL PARADOX that the most terrible plunder
Johannes
of Rome in modern times was not the work of pagan barbarians,
Lingelbach.
but ordered by an ultra-Catholic Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V. In 1527, the invaders, mainly Spaniards and Germans,
murdered thousands of inhabitants, looted the city, and destroyed
many precious works of art.
Protestant lansquenets in particular manifested their destructive
fury. For them, the capture of Rome was equivalent to the fall
of godless Babylon. They organized blasphemous processions in
front of Castel Sant’Angelo, shouting to Pope Clement VII (sheltered
within), "Vivat Lutherus pontifex!" (“Long live Pope Luther!”). Some­
one, using his sword, inscribed Luther’s name on Raphael’s Disputa­
tion of the Holy Sacrament fresco.
Due to the great number of unburied bodies, an epidemic broke out
ENTRANCE in the city. As a consequence, the population of Rome— fifty-five
to the Passetto thousand before the attack—fell to barely ten thousand. Historians
di Borgo, which see these events as a symbolic end to the Renaissance period in
connects the
Vatican Palace the Eternal City. After the destruction, the city was rebuilt in the
and Castel Baroque style.
Sant’Angelo.

The city rose again like a phoenix from the ashes, this time in a yet
more impressive form. A new basilica was built on the site of the
former St. Peter’s, which dated from the times of Constantine. It took
over one hundred years to build (1505-1626), while Bernini’s colon­
nades, surrounding St. Peter’s Square, were completed in 1663.
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) commissioned the pope to re­
form the calendar. It was clear to all that the Julian Calendar was in­
exact, the March equinox falling earlier and earlier with the years.
Gregory XIII (pontificate: 1572-1585) had an astronomical observa­
tory built in the Belvedere grounds, the Tower of the Winds, which
later became part of the Vatican Secret Archives. There, in the Zodiac
Room, scientists observed the motions of the stars. They discovered
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

TOMB OF
GREGORY XIII
depicts scholars
presenting
the new calendar
to the pontiff.

that the prior calculation of the length of the year entailed

a one-day delay every 126 years. Hence they worked out the
Gregorian Calendar, named after the pope, which was much
more accurate, entailing a one-day delay every 3,322 days. The
pope brought it into general use in his 1582 bull, Inter Gravissimas. GREGORY XIII,
The archive, as we know it today, came in 1612, when Pope Paul V, the pope
who descended from a distinguished Roman family (Borghese), had responsible for
the Gregorian
all the Church documents, which were scattered around various parts Calendar.
of Rome, stored in one place in the Vatican. In time, material from
various corners of the Papal States, and from throughout the world,
began to pour in.
The name Vatican Secret (Apostolic) Archive (Archivum Secre-
tum Apostolicum Vaticanum) appeared in the 17th century. The word
SUNDIAL
ROOM
in the Tower
of the Winds
in the Vatican
Secret Archives.

loomio novo (nEw RimHAHC)

TEN DAYS, October 5 to 14, an astronomer, and a professor at
GREGORIAN 1582, have disappeared from the Roman College, led a team of
CALENDAR, the history of Western civiliza­ scholars in completing the work.
formulated tion. They were removed due The team included Giuseppe Scala,
in the Vatican
to a change in the calculation of an astronomer from Sicily, and Ig­
in 1582.
time upon the replacement of nazio Dante, a mathematician from
the Julian Calendar, introduced in Perugia. In their work they utilized
45 BC during the reign of Julius Nicolaus Copernicus’ discoveries,
Caesar, by the Gregorian Calendar, contained in his On the Revolutions
introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. of the Celestial Spheres.
Thus the difference in time that The Gregorian Calendar was intro­
had grown for over seventeen duced immediately (October 15,
centuries— which saw the March 1582) in Poland, Lithuania, Italy,
equinox fall earlier and earlier—was Portugal, Spain, and the Neth­
eliminated, as 16th-century schol­ erlands. In time, other Catholic
ars were capable of calculating the countries adopted it, while Prot­
length of time it took the earth to estant countries adopted it even
orbit the sun more precisely than later; Anglican Britain did not do so
ARMENIAN their predecessors from the days until 1752. Countries from other
EDITION of the Roman Empire. cultures accepted it, too, includ­
of the Gregorian The initiator of the Julian Calendar ing Japan (1873), Egypt (1875),
Calendar, issued
reform was a Calabrian doctor, Lui­ China (1912), and Turkey (1927).
in Rome in 1584.
gi Giglio, who unfortunately died Among Christian countries, the last
in 1576, not seeing the realization to accept it were those where the
of his project. Cristoforo Calvio, Orthodox Church dominated, for
a German Jesuit, a mathematician, example, Greece (1923).
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

secretum signified not only secret but also private, and tit
was meant to emphasize that this was the pope’s own pri­
vate archive.
Rome was spared any historical upheavals for almost
three hundred years. The archive expanded, as did the book t
collections in the neighboring Vatican Library. But new danger?
loomed large towards the end of the 18th century. Napoleon Bona­
parte ordered the kidnapping of eighty-one-year-old Pope Pius POPE PAUL V,
VI in 1798. A year later, the aged pontiff died, imprisoned in the who in 1612
citadel in Valence. established the
Vatican Secret
His successor, Pius VII, tried to compromise with Bonaparte,
Archives as we
the most powerful man in Europe, agreeing to serious conces­ know it today.
sions, but the excessive demands were ultimately rejected by
the Church.
As emperor of France and king of Italy Napoleon occupied
Rome in May 1808, and a year later the pope was arrested and
taken to Savona. The occupying forces seized many valu­
able sculptures and paintings, as well as priceless jewels.
In 1810, Bonaparte orderedthe seizure of the Vatican Se­
cret Archives. He dreamt of establishing the world’s larg­
est and richest library in Paris. Hence he had the court
archives of the various capitals he had occupied—for exam­
ple, Vienna, Madrid, and Rome—brought to the French city.
The papal collections were packed into three thousand crates
and loaded onto wagons drawn by mules and oxen. Like other
important documents from across Europe, they ended up at the POPE PIUS VII
Hotel de Soubise in Paris, located in the former Knights Tem­ and his papal
plar palace. The empire’s head archivist, Pierre Claude Fran­ archives were
transported to France
cois Daunou, had the documents closely scrutinized in order
by order of Napoleon.
to find material that compromised the papacy. But the search
proved to be fruitless.
After the defeat of Napoleon, the French were ordered to re­
turn stolen parchments, books, documents, sacred objects, and
works of art, but not all were returned. Amid the confusion, al­
most two thousand papal re^esta-handwritten copies of official
papal letters—were lost, many ending up as waste paper.
In 1881, Pope Leo XIII took an unprecedented step, opening the
Vatican Secret Archives to scholars doing historical research be­
cause, in the pontiff’s words, the “Church needs the truth.” Ini­
tially, only documents from before AD 815 were made available, PIERRE
but in time more recent ones became accessible as well. CLAUDE
FRANCOIS
Such discretion is not unusual. State archives throughout the
DAUNOU,
world are also partly classified. (In many countries, documents Napoleon’s
remain inaccessible for varying periods of time depending on head archivist.
NOMENCLATOR was
the code used to decipher CODED SECRETS
Pope Alexander Vl’s
correspondence from 1493
OVER THE CENTURIES, code keys, which were
to 1494. In ancient Rome
the Latin word meant the papacy kept up changed periodically.
a slave who reminded a voluminous corre­ Roman cryptogra­
his master of the names spondence that traveled phy was not a unique
of people he had met. the whole world, some phenomenon. Coded
of which was of a highly correspondence was
confidential nature, universally used by
for example, the Holy emperors, kings, and
See’s letters to and from princes throughout
nunciatures in various Europe. However,
countries. Such corre­ Vatican diplomacy was
spondence was coded. the best thought-out,
There was even a special its cryptography regard­
Secretariat of Codes in ed as the world's best.
the Vatican, the head of In the 14th century,
which was appointed the papacy introduced
personally by the pope. a polygrammatic code
There was a time when system, which inte­
only a certain papal grated clever traps to
official had access to counteract decoders.
 Classified, Secret, Confidential VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

the contents: thirty, fifty, seventy, or even one hundred years.)

The collections of the Congregation for Bishops, concerning epis­
copal appointments, are unavailable to scholars, as are the Roman LEO XIII
Rota's declarations of marital nullity, which include intimate details was the first
about the personal lives of specific individuals. Documents ccmcern- pope to develop
the foundations
ing post-1939 events are not available to researchers either. ‘
of Catholic
The Vatican Secret Archives are a real gold mine for historians, as social teaching.
they contain documents concerning the Papal States, the Roman Rota,
the Apostolic Nunciature, ancient Roman families, consistory proto­
cols, conclave sessions, diplomacy. They house correspondence with
emperors, kings, princes, presidents, and prime ministers; petitions
from national assemblies, senators, lords, and councilors; indulgence
registers; court statements; Inquisition reports; imperial diplomas;
and much more. Some documents—reports from nuncios, legates, or
papal envoys, for example—are coded and can be deciphered only by
using a special code book.
Many states, episcopates, and colleges have their own history cent­
ers in Rome, whose employees and scholarship holders carry out
research in the Vatican Archives on the histories of their own
countries, perhaps investigating hitherto unknown documents.
Some even engage private individuals to this end, such as the
Polish countess Karolina Lanckororiska, who established

COURTYARD
of the
Apostolic
Palace, one
of whose
wings houses
the Vatican
Secret
Archives.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Classified, Secret, Confidential

a foundation in 1967 to seek documents concerning diplomatic rela­

tions between the Holy See and Poland.
Once again, new facilities were needed, because the collections
continued to expand. As there was no longer room in the Vatican
complex, it was decided to go below ground. In 1982, John Paul II
officially opened an underground bunker whose construction had
begun during the pontificate of Paul VI. Located under the Vatican
Museums, it has two air-conditioned rooms where the most precious
parchments are kept.
The last major change occurred on October 28, 2019, when Pope
Francis issued, motu poprio, an apostolic letter, wherein he decreed
a change of name from Vatican Secret Archives to Vatican Apos­
tolic Archive, while maintaining its hitherto mission. According to
the pope, the institution's name (from the 17th century) is mislead­
ing, as it suggests that it houses information which is reserved for

SCHOLARS have
access to the
Vatican Secret
Archives, where
materials are
available only
in the reading
room and
photographing
texts is
prohibited.
a privileged few. The Latin term secretum signified not so much
"secret" but "private" or "personal" and so intended for the exclusive
use of the pope. Today, it is not applicable, as the archives have been
accessible to historians for a long time. Hence, the pope decided to
adapt the name to contemporary circumstances.
Over the centuries, the papal archive shared the Roman
Church’s ups and downs—destroyed and ransacked, then continu­
ally revived after successive wars, fires, and raids. Its oldest docu­
ment is from the 8th century, but documents from the first thousand
years of Christianity are rare. Virtually all the oldest collections date
from the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216), when brittle papy­
rus was supplanted by significantly more durable parchment. In total,
all the materials stored in the 650 collections take up about fifty miles
of shelving.
Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, could talk
about this institution for hours. He has worked there for over for­
ty years, fulfilled numerous functions, and had the opportunity to
familiarize himself with many extraordinary documents, the most UNDERGOUND
fascinating of which, he says, concern the trial of Galileo Galilei, BUNKER
which we shall deal with in a later chapter. beneath the
Vatican Museums
During laborious preliminary archival research, Pagano’s em­ contains most
ployees managed to find dozens of unknown documents, which of the Vatican
sometimes threw new light on past events. One such discovery was Secret Archives’
the Chinon Parchment, that is, the original protocol concerning the documents.
interrogation of the Knights Templar leaders on August 20,1308, in
the Chateau de Chinon, a castle in the Loire Valley (on the banks of
the Vienne River). For seven centuries, the parchment was regarded
as lost. Barbara Frale, an Italian historian and employee of the Vati­
can Secret Archives, came across it on September 13, 2001. Hence
we can become more familiar with the circumstances of one of the
most controversial trials in history, which involved the treasure of
the Knights Templar, charges of heresy, secret rituals and initia­
tions, and two knights—Geoffroi de Charney, master of Normandy,
and Jacques de Molay, the grand master—who summoned the pope
and the king to the tribunal of Heaven. Within a year, both the pope
and the king were dead. The knights were burned alive at the stake
in Paris, on an island in the Seine.
So let us delve now into the Vatican Archives, going back to the
Middle Ages to fathom out the mystery of the Knights Templar
FUNERAL IN TIBETAN FREEDOM of conscience privilege issued
VIETNAM on rice paper in 1741 by the Dalai Lama.
- an 1840 rice
paper painting by
Fr. Giuseppe Maria
de Morrone, a
French missionary.

-y TFzT
Tsr -L ' T U".'.’ ll''J*

frn nr -jfi
4s7-nsr" v-.——-ijx-n rt>nr
LETTER IN ARABIC
rr^-< wssj^-a,-^ s~~r--»-Tar~1r'>f
(1627) to Pope
Urban VIII from
Matthew the Coptic
Orthodox Patriarch
of Alexandria
(471/4l,xll").

FIRST MAP
OF AUSTRALIA
- drawn up
in 1676 by
Fr. Vittorio Riccio,
a Dominican
missionary.
THE PROPRGRHDR FIDE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
MORE ARCHIVES developed in also regarding the history, geogra­ DIRECTOR
the Vatican as papal institutions phy, culture, customs, and beliefs of of the historical
emerged and grew. All the Holy people from Africa, Asia, Oceania, archives
for Propagation
See’s dicasteries had archives. and other regions of the world.
of the Faith,
The Sacred Congregation for the Initially, the archive was located Fr. Luis Manuel
Propagation of the Faith (or Sacra in the Vatican Palace. Later, it was Curia Ramos.
Congregatio de Propaganda Fide), moved for a short time to the
established in 1622 (now the Con­ Apostolic Chancery. It eventually
gregation for the Evangelization of ended up in the Palazzo di Propa­
Peoples, but still commonly known ganda Fide at the southern end of
as Propaganda Fide), was particu­ Piazza di Spagna in Rome. During
larly distinguished in this respect. Napoleonic times, it shared the
Its first secretary, Msgr. Francesco fate of the Vatican Secret Archives,
Ingoli, in office from 1622 to 1649, as it too was transported to Paris.
began to accumulate documents After the fall of Napoleon, it was
that were needed for missionary returned to Rome, though incom­
pastoral work. Thus arose an enor­ plete. The last documents did not
mous collection of unique docu­ reach Rome until 1925, sent from
ments: reports, letters, petitions, Vienna. Presently, the Propaganda
protocols, instructions, circulars, Fide Historical Archives are located
and decrees. To this day it remains in a modern building, made availa­
a priceless mine of knowledge, not ble in 2002, at the Pontifical Urban
only regarding evangelization, but University.
 FABRIC OF ST. PETER
(FR88RICR DI SAO PIETRO)
The Fabric of St. Peter is a Vatican institution
responsible for the administration, maintenance,
conservation, and decor of St. Peter’s Basilica.
It was established in 1523 by Pope Clement VII,
who set up a commission of sixty members
to supervise and administer the construction
of the world’s largest church; work started
in 1506 and ended in 1626.
Pope Clement VIII (pontificate: 1592-1605)
elevated the aforementioned commission
to the status of a congregation, and it remained
one of the Vatican’s most important dicasteries
for over 360 years. Pope Paul VI lowered its
status in the 20th century. Over several
centuries, the institution accumulated a wealth
of documentation pertaining to everything
connected with St. Peter's history, architecture,
and works of art. Today, their archive is located
behind one of the basilica’s pilasters.

BEAUTY AND UTILITY are the trademarks of Fabric

of St. Peter employees.
A “DREAM
ARCHIVE”
that many
architects,
conservators,
and art historians
long to visit.
 THE GRRRD (RRSTER'S CURSE

Trial of the Knights

Templar
 CHAPTER

Trial of the
Knights Templar
Dissolution of one of medieval Europe’s
most powerful orders and the execution
of its leaders
It was September 13, 2001. People throughout the world were still living
the events that had occurred two days earlier, when Islamic terrorists at­
tacked the World Trade Center in New York City. Barbara Frale, however,
an Italian medievalist, had other matters on her mind, as she was carrying
out an investigative search at the Vatican Secret Archives. She was poring
over registers of Avignon documents from the time of Benedict XII, whose
pontificate was from 1334 to 1342. She came across a parchment that was
catalogued as a protocol of one of the many French Inquisition investigations
in the diocese of Tours. She would probably not have paid much attention
to it had she not noticed a name that was familiar to her: Berenger Fredoli.

THREE SEALS
representing the
signatures
of three cardinals
on the Chinon
Parchment.
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Frale was very familiar with this man’s biography. Shedmmediate-

ly realized that she had no ordinary document before her? Berenger
Fredoli was one of the most influential Catholic hierarchs of the early
14th century: a French cardinal, the most outstanding canonist of his
time, and a trusted associate—even nephew—of Pope Clement V, who
sent him to various corners of the world on particularly delicate mis­
sions. What could such a person have possibly done during interroga­
tions carried out by some provincial inquisitor in the diocese of Tours?

LANDOLFO BRANCACCIO ETIENNE DE SUISY BERENGER FREDOLI

was a papal legate was, among other things, was, among other things,
in England and the Kingdom camerlengo of the College a papal legate in France.
-ofNapl.es. of Cardinals

Frale looked at the bottom of the document. There were three seals
on the parchment: one from Fredoli and two from other cardinals,
Etienne de Suisy and Landolfo Brancaccio. Frale could not believe
her eyes. She realized that she had found a seven-hundred-year-old
document that historians had regarded as irretrievably lost, since it
had been mistakenly catalogued in 1628 and again in 1912. It shed new
light on the most notorious trial of the Middle Ages, particularly on
the attitude of Pope Clement V, who, together with King Philip the Fair
of France, was generally regarded as the main culprit in the dissolution
of the Knights Templar and the execution of its leaders.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

French historians certainly did not encounter this parchment at the

beginning of the 19th century, when Napoleon had the Vatican Secret
Archives transported to Paris. Enlightenment anticlerical officials
were particularly interested in the catalogues pertaining to the Knights
Templar trial and the trial of Galileo Galilei. They expected to find
confirmation of facts that would set the Holy See in an unfavorable
CATALOGUES
of documents light. The French kept the files on the Knights Templar trial even after
in the Vatican the fall of Napoleon, the restoration of the monarchy, and a decree to
Secret Archives. return all documents to the Vatican, as they still hoped to find material
compromising the papacy. Fr. Marino Marini, the chamberlain of the
prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, persuaded them to return the
files, telling them that the publication of the complete dossier would
tarnish not Pope Clement’s image, but King Philip’s.
Was Fr. Marino Marini bluffing in order to regain the files? The an­
swer became evident when Bishop Sergio Pagano, the prefect of the
Vatican Secret Archives, presented an over three-hundred-page publi­
cation, Processus Contra Templarios, at the Vatican Palace’s Aula Vec-
chia del Sinodo on October 25, 2007. The publication contained the
most important material concerning the Templars’ trial, including the
Chinon Parchment, discovered by Barbara Frale.
The parchment takes its name from a castle in the Loire Valley where
five leaders of the order were imprisoned. They were incarcerated

BARBARA FRALE
BARBARA FRALE loves working in archives. As
a twenty-five year old, she published a highly praised
work concerning 15th-century Italy, based on an
analysis of seven thousand documents. Thanks to her
postgraduate studies at the Vatican School of Paleog­
raphy, Diplomatics, and Archives Administration, she
was able to pore over papal documents pertaining to
the Avignon Papacy. Later, this experience was of use
during her work in the Vatican Secret Archives, which
she undertook in 2001. She became an expert on the
Knights Templar, publishing several books that have
been translated into numerous languages. Her discov­
ery of the Chinon Parchment consolidated her posi­
tion as a lending scholAr in the world of medievalists
 the ostensible renunciation of their faith,
CHinon PARCHAIEAT and spitting upon the cross, were elements
of a rite which was to prepare them in the
THE CHINON PARCHMENT contains event they fell into the hands of the Sara­
the protocol of the interrogation of five cens. Obscene words and gestures were
Templars: Grand Master Jacques de Mo- also part of the initiation.
lay; Hugues de Pairaud, visitor of the In the document is this account:
Temple; Raimbaut de Caron, preceptor of "As they humbly asked for the Church’s for­
Cyprus; Geoffroi de Gonneville, precep­ giveness for those offenses, begging for
tor of Aquitania; and Geoffroi de Charney, the blessing of exoneration, we decree
preceptor of Normandy. They were inter­ that they might be exonerated by the
rogated between August 17 and 20, 1308, Church, rehabilitated in communion with
at Chinon Castle in the diocese of Tours by the Catholic Church, and that they might
three emissaries of Clement V—Cardinal receive the Christian sacraments.”2
Berenger Fredoli, Cardinal Etienne de Suisy, As noted in the document, after interrogat­
and Cardinal Landolfo Brancaccio—in the ing the monks, the pope’s plenipotentiar­
presence of public notaries and witnesses. ies deemed the charge of heresy to be
The accused did not admit to the charges groundless, and in the name of Clement V,
of heresy and sodomy. They explained that they granted the prisoners absolution.
CHINON
CASTLE,
in the Loire
Valley, is more
than 400 yards
long and 70 yards in the dungeons of Coudray Tower, in the eastern part of the cas­
wide. tle. Graffiti on the dungeon walls has survived to this day. Accord­
ing to Raymond Mauny, a French historian, the graffiti was the work
of monks or nuns, while Louis Charbonneau-Lassay, an archeolo­
gist, believes the graffiti bears witness to the deep faith of the pris­
oners themselves. It depicts motifs of Christ’s Passion: crosses on a
hill, figures with haloes around their heads, and angels. They make
GRAFFITI
by imprisoned a profound impression, particularly on those who are familiar with
Templars, carved the fate of the prisoners: five years later, two of them were burned at
on a cell wall. the stake as heretics.

Today, people climb the same tower stairs that the Templars took
to face three cardinals who had been sent to Chinon by Pope Clement
V. The interrogations lasted from August 17 to 20, 1308. The course
of the interrogations remained unknown for seven centuries, though
it was scrupulously recorded. The Chinon Parchment allows us to dis­
pel some of the doubts connected with the dissolution of the order.
Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

FRANCE

COUDRAY
TOWER
in Chinon Castle,
where the
Templar leaders
were imprisoned.

STAIRCASE
used by Jacques
de Molay and
companions
to attend
interrogations
by Clement V.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of Ihe Knights Templar

According to Marion Melville, a Scottish medievalist, the seven-

year trial cast a shadow on the two-hundred-year history of the order.
Without being familiar with its history, it would be difficult to under­
stand why one of the most powerful institutions of the Middle Ages
met with such a tragic fate.
Let us go back over nine centuries, to 1099, when the Crusaders cap­
tured Jerusalem and established their own kingdom in the Holy Land.
Pilgrims and settlers from throughout Europe began to arrive in this
land regained from the Muslims. However, en route, many of them
became victims of armed bands that robbed and even murdered de­
fenseless travelers.

CRUSADERS
as custodians
of the Holy
Sepulchre and
other holy places
in Jerusalem.

HOLY LAND

In 1118, Hugues de Payens, a knight from Champagne (eastern

France), and eight companions decided to devote themselves to protect­
Jerusalem ing pilgrims from attacks. They took vows of poverty, chastity, and obe­
dience and undertook to protect pilgrims from brigands and kidnappers.
In 1120, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem offered them the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
built by the Muslims between 660-691, as their central headquarters.
After the capture of the Holy Land, the Christians had converted it into
a church. The building was located on the Temple Mount, exactly where
the Temple of Solomon once stood. Hence the name of the new order:
Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, popularly known
as the Templars, from the Latin templum, that is, temple.
According to canon law, the order was founded on January 13,1129.
That day, during the Council of Troyes, the Templars adopted their
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

BALDWIN II,
king of Jerusalem,
entrusting
the Temple
Mount
to Hugues
de Payens,
the Templars’
first grand knight.

religious rule. The deliberations were presided over by the papal leg­
ate Mateusz d’Albano and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, reviver of the
Cistercian Order and one of the greatest theologians and mystics in
the history of Christianity. His presence was due to the fact that two
people close to him were among the Templars, his uncle Andre de
Montbard (later grand master of the order) and a close friend, Hugh,
Count of Champagne. A maxim of the new organization was Memento
finis (Remember thy end).
The Templars’ baptism of fire took place not in the Holy Land but
in the Iberian Peninsula, where they fought the Moors. It was a time

COATOFARMS
of St. Bernard
of Clairvaux.

PANORAMA
OFTROYES
showing
the cathedral
as the highest
building in the
city, where
a synod
approved
the rule
of the Knights
Templar
in 1129.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

when most of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by Muslims, who were
outflanking Europe and so posed a threat not only from the East, but
also from the West.
Patrolling pilgrim and trade routes, the Templars quickly gained
the gratitude of pilgrims, merchants, and travelers. They assumed a

BATTLE
OF MURET,
when French
Crusaders
defeated the
Cathars in 1213.

TEMPLAR SEAL
has two
Crusaders on
one horse,
symbolizing the
order's poverty.

7 policing role, combating predatory gangs, as well as a mili-

' tary role, fighting the Muslims. Their ranks included not only
those of noble birth, but also the noble-minded who desired
to serve others. They were recruited from all over Europe, but
most were Franks.
The Christian world was aware of the threat of Islam. Hence the
Templars enjoyed great authority in society, both among simple peo­
ple and ruling elites, as attested to by numerous donations and gifts
from European rulers. The first donation was from Queen Teresa of
Portugal, who gifted the Castle of Soure, situated on the Mondego Riv­
er, a borderland fortress built to defend the southern boundary of the
kingdom against Moor invasions.
The order was also granted privileges by popes. The most important
was granted by Innocent II in his bull Omne Datum Optimum of 1139,
 INNOCENT II
had a rival in
the antipope
Anacletus II.

wherein he exempted the Templars from the jurisdiction of bishops,

directly subordinating the Templars to the Holy See. He also autho­
rized them to build chapels and churches that would be exempt from
JERUSALEM
episcopal jurisdiction, as well as from tithes. was the Templars’
In 1147, Pope Eugene III personally attended the order’s general capital for
chapter deliberations in Paris. He was accompanied by King Louis VII 67 years.
i
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

of France. It was then that the Vicar of Christ conferred a new emblem
upon the Templars: a red cross on a white background.
From 1147 to 1148, the Templars participated in the Second Crusade,
which was to recapture the County of Edessa. The crusade ended in
failure, but the scale of the defeat could well have been greater, had
it not been for the Templars, who distinguished themselves by their
great fortitude.
Over the following decades, the knights with red crosses on white
NEAR EAST cloaks participated in campaigns in the Near East with mixed success,
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

BATTLE OF
HATTIN, when
Muslims defeated
the Crusaders
in 1187.

SWORD
of a Templar.

establishing a whole system of fortresses. The year 1187 proved a turn­

ing point in the order’s history, when the Muslims, led by Saladin,
sultan of Egypt, first defeated the Crusaders in a pitched battle at Hat-
tin and then captured a series of Christian strongholds, including Jeru­
salem. The Muslim leader offered favorable conditions of surrender:
he spared their lives and set them free—apart from the Templars and
Hospitallers, whom he had beheaded. The Latins lost the Holy Land,
and the Templars lost their central headquarters, which Saladin re­
converted into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In response, European rulers organized the Third Crusade. From
1189 to 1192, they only managed to recapture a part of the Palestine
coast. The Templars’ headquarters was moved to Acre. The eventual
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

loss of this port, one hundred years later (1281), signified the definitive
Acre 44 expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. The Templars then
moved their central headquarters to Cyprus.
With the loss of the Holy Sepulchre and the cessation of pilgrimages to
the Levant, the Templars had to change their modus operandi. The most
urgent need became the organization of another crusade to recapture
Jerusalem
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Jerusalem. But funds were needed to raise a sizeable army capable of de­
feating the Muslims. The Templars took on the task of gathering the ap­
propriate means for a crusade, receiving donations from all over Europe.
People spared no expense, as they wanted the places connected with
Christ to be retaken. However, the campaign was delayed. The Templars,
with greater and greater funds at their disposal, began to act as bankers.
They themselves did not take advantage of the accumulated wealth, but
they prudently amassed a fortune.
They already had some experience in financial matters. Pilgrims on
their way to the Holy Land would deposit their money with the Tem­ FINANCE
plars in Europe in exchange for letters of credit that could be redeemed became
in Jerusalem. That way, pilgrims could travel without carrying large the Templars’
main activity
sums of money. Thus the Templars developed a secure deposit-credit
at the turn of
system that was universally trusted. They became masters in sound in­ the 14th century.
vestments and lent money-even to kings and popes. Importantly, they
granted loans from their own funds, maintaining a 100 percent reserve
for deposits on demand.
Under these new circumstances, the Templars seldom reached for
the sword, but more frequently for the purse; they began to be more
involved in finance than in military campaigns. However, soldiers
who do not fight for years, but deal instead with money, start to
function differently. Discipline slackens; the original charism

TEMPLAR
BANKERS
worked
as pawnbrokers
and
moneylenders.
is gradually forgotten. Thus arose the greatest controversy in the or­
der’s history. Only this time, the foe was not an infidel.
Philip the Fair of the House of Capet became King Philip IV of France
in 1285, at the age of seventeen. Athletically built, stone-faced, and ice-
cold in contacts with people, he lived an ascetic lifestyle at his gloomy,
somber court. To many of his contemporaries, he was like the mythi­
cal Sphinx, an unsolved riddle. Bishop Bernard Saisset compared him
 THE mVESTITURE CORTROVERSY
THE DISPUTE between stance was contained in
Philip IV of France and a twenty-seven-point
Boniface VIII was not document, Dictatus
Europe’s first dispute Papae, wherein he pre­
between the monarchy sented the doctrine of
and the papacy. That of the supremacy of papal
greatest consequence authority over the impe­
was the conflict between rial authority. Gregory
Holy Roman Emperor VII even provided for the
Henry IV and Pope possibility of a pope to
KING VS. POPE Gregory VII in the 11th release a person from an
Henry IV and Gregory VII century. For most of that oath (e.g., feudal) made
were antagonists in the century, the Catholic to an unworthy ruler.
Investiture Controversy.
Church went through This outraged Emperor
a great spiritual and Henry IV, who an­
moral crisis, which also nounced the dethrone-
affected Rome. Numer­ ment of the pope at
ous European magnates a synod in Worms in
took advantage of this, 1076. In response,
<n 'll* •I'f'wrr ‘frf «! itfoliwv
deciding to appoint their Gregory VII excommu­
own people to Church nicated him, while the
offices, such as bishop­ German princes took the
m.. »u>ar Jc. x. uwv<f umrr •
vm xX'l rjnfv*T" ** ""futiL
rics and abbacies, often pope’s side. The emperor
x Oj
vnii'A.l f'lwfyup rrdrf jnwqwf >4« .’Wrur
■!•'»»' rji«r n.iri uh «l.f minx'".
XI A.T U* aiuoir iva«~L.
for money. There were was forced to humble
nrrc/fmn Hf/m
qj4i.i.*., nniunnvf Jrjawerr
.xiu qJ .-jurtnafM
.Yim0.4 4r <hm hxL.j»m»iu .<<fr>rnr.(«rvV u4fr.1t arJuiw. even cases where em­ himself. In January 1077,
perors decided who was he appeared within the
to be pope. walls of Canossa Castle
Hildebrand, a monk and, dressed in sackcloth,
who became spent three days asking
Pope Gregory Gregory VII to forgive
VII in 1073, him and revoke the ex­
decided to communication.
cease this The emperor was rec­
infamous onciled with the Church
DICTATUS practice and according to the Holy
PAPAE reform the See’s conditions. Henry
(1075) is one Church (Gre­ IV, however, did not give
of the most
gorian Reforms). up the fight. In 1084,
important
documents in papal history. He condemned he occupied Rome,
secular investitures—that dethroned Gregory VII,
is, the right of rulers to and saw to it that an
GREGORY VII defended
the independence of fill Church offices—which antipope, Clement III,
the spiritual powers against became punishable by was elected. But the
the temporal powers. excommunication. His Normans came to Pope
 Canossa

HENRY IV
arriving in
Canossa—
14th-century
miniature.

ITALY

Gregory's aid, driving out

the emperor’s soldiers,
though they themselves ~‘'L ,■/A 3L -AAu. r.
plundered Rome. Greg­ CONCORDAT
ory VII died in exile in .... 1......... ..... . V L... ;.... OF WORMS,
Salerno, having defended ~L~” Ar t — -i X T— „ LL . 1122,ended
the Investiture
the independence of the yu nt .i cm „ 4.. J.. ur u
Controversy.
papacy. The dispute did Bju J A. r 1,1 r - J. 1.1 i . V (.
not end until 1122, when
Pope Callixtus II and ' ' •J r'T” 'L- -X-..-rU-U . I XL J
Emperor Henry V signed " . ......... ...... 1
the Concordat of Worms.
Eventually, the right of ..
b_.,-£‘ ,„4. j_, rT4 X\;.C»_i/ ■ ,X • .
investiture remained the
Church’s prerogative. | - .......; -.J-.XX. ! .. .

CANOSSA
CASTLE, where
Henry IV humbled
himself before
Pope Gregory VII.

'W
.iwS.'
Ai®
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

to an owl, which can stare motionlessly at one spot for a great length
of time.
From the very beginning of his reign, his eyes were fixed on Aquitaine
and Flanders, over which he waged a bitter war against the English. Con­
stant wars swallowed up a great deal of money, depleting the kingdom’s
treasury. King Philip levied higher and higher taxes on his subjects, but
funds were always short. So he had silver coins debased, cutting their
real silver content but maintaining the same value. This was effective,
but only for a short time, as it ultimately brought about inflation, the im­
poverishment of the population, social unrest, and revolts. A folk saying
went: Philip the Fair was as false as the coins he minted.
The growing financial crisis saw the Crown reaching for Church
PHILIP IV,
“the Fair”, despot funds, levying a new tax on the clergy. That displeased Pope Boniface
on the throne VIII, who condemned it in his bull Clericis Laicos of 1296. In response,
of France. King Philip prohibited any exportation of gold and other valuables

BONIFACE VIII, from France. This was undoubtedly a blow to the papacy, which could
first pope not thenceforth collect Peter’s Pence. So Rome was forced to compro­
to organize mise and acknowledged that the king had the right to tax the clergy.
a Jubilee Year,
However, the financial conflict turned out to have less-far-reaching
in 1300.
consequences than the dispute over power. Pope Boniface was aware
that the present kings of France and England, Philip IV and Edward I,
were manifesting ever more absolutist aspirations. They were not
as great a threat as the Holy Roman emperors Henry IV and Freder­
ick II had once been, but, nonetheless, the pope decided to restrain
their impulses.
In 1301, Boniface VIII promulgated a bull, Ausculta Fili, aimed at
Philip the Fair. It started with the following words: “Listen, my son, to
your father’s words and the teaching of your lord, the representative
of the one God and Lord on earth.” King Philip, who did not recognize
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

UtVlOUt a
trtonoiJ fib 4ui_- >
AUSCULTA FILI,
Boniface VIH's
1301 bull, directly
addressed Philip IV,
who saw
it as a challenge
to his authority.

tu6 nmou# <^uv GvnuT

ri£o® ^vtxbulcuurdvui cwh\ ctmf^nfU C*wv(wm fcvrm

BONIFACE VIII,
•mnUTwuo WjAdca-AuSl advocate of the
axyuntavntax rovUux duvr) WT4>lbtr primacy of papal
authority over
l4Fy& royal power.

IA>/

any authority over his own, including Rome, saw the word­
ing of the bull as condescending and offensive. He had the
document burned, and his first minister, Pierre Flotte fabricated
a sham bull, Scire Te Volumus, attributed to Boniface VIII, accord­
ing to which the pope arrogated to himself, among other things, tem­
poral power over France and condemned those who objected as heretics.
Philip IV was the first European ruler to utilize propaganda on a very
large scale. He did not recognize chivalric rules of combat; he was a
pragmatist who favored practical results over high ideals. He was
Machiavellian, before the world had even heard of Machiavelli.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

Heinrich Graetz, a Jewish historian, wrote that he was “one of those

monarchs who made arrogant and unprincipled despotism familiar
to Europe”.1
KING PHILIP IV
Philip the Fair was surrounded by people without any inhibitions
of France reigned whatsoever, such as Guillaumede Plaisian, who was responsible for
for 21 years. forming public opinion and published political works slandering and
deriding the pope. Boniface VIII was accused of hating the French na­
tion, of wanting to destroy it, and of calling all Frenchmen dogs. Anti­
Roman leaflets, written in simple and pointed language, reached ev­
eryone: knights, townsmen, parish priests, and peasants. In the dispute
with Rome, the majority of the nation was with the king, including pro­
fessors from Sorbonne University, the most famous Catholic univer­
sity in Europe.
Philip IV was the first ruler to summon the Estates General (1302),
which several centuries later became the National Assembly and her­
alded the beginning of the French Revolution, as well as parliamen­
tarism in that country. The king called together the assembly of clergy,

BONIFACE VIII
in the company
of cardinals and
scholars from the
papal chancery.

nobility, and commoners under the pretext of settling his dispute with
the pope. But in actual fact, it was a political platform aimed to gain so­
cietal support for his policy, invoking slogans about endangered French
sovereignty. Thus he could claim that the whole nation was behind him.
In 1302, Boniface VIII promulgated a bull, Unam Sanctam, wherein
he underlined the absolute primacy of spiritual papal power over tem­
poral royal power. He wrote that if the temporal power erred, it ought
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

to be judged by the spiritual power, whereas if the supreme spiritual

power erred, then God alone could be the judge.
Pope Boniface was energetic and resolute, but his Achilles’ heel, his
sharp tongue, needlessly made him many enemies. Unam Sanctam was
replete with categorical stipulations, but what really maddenecKPhilip
IV was something the pope said at a public consistory. Boniface retailed

UNAM
SANCTAM,
Boniface VIH's
1302 bull,
confirmed
the supremacy
of spiritual
power (papal)
over secular
power (royal).

that his predecessors had deposed three kings of France and that he him­
self could reduce the present king to the role of an ordinary servant.
King Philip took that as a personal insult, one he could not overlook.
For the showdown with the pope, he chose his most trusted associate,
Guillaume de Nogaret, whom Yves de Loudeac, a contemporary, saw
as “a man without a soul”. Nogaret addressed an assembly of French
bishops and peers in the Louvre on March 12, 1303. He called Pope
Boniface a “false prophet”, “a master of lies”, and an “evident heretic”.
The pope was accused of sexual abuse—bisexuality and pedophilia—as
well as of blasphemy, contact with the devil, murder of his predecessor
Celestine V, nepotism, simony, and other evil deeds. Such an event was
unheard of in medieval Europe: an ordinary government official daring
to accuse the Vicar of Christ publicly of the worst possible transgres­
sions while the bishops present, though aware that the charges were
false, remained silent and even supported the slanderer.
However, this was but a prelude to the events to come. On September
8,1303, Pope Boniface was to have promulgated a bull against King Phil­
ip. He did not manage to do it. A day earlier, September 7, Guillaume de
Nogaret and an army thirteen-hundred strong attacked Anagni, a town
thirty-seven miles from Rome, where the pope was residing in a pal­
ace. The papal stronghold was penetrated and the pope captured. Some
of the soldiers were intent on killing the pope, but Nogaret restrained
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

them. He knew that the murder of the pope would evoke a great outrage
throughout Europe. He did not want to kill the pope, just to force him
into making concessions. But the pope remained inflexible and was even
prepared to be martyred.
So a problem arose. What was to be done with the prisoner? His
transportation to France was out of the question, as such a scanty es­
cort would not have been able to fight its way through the Papal States.
The next morning, the inhabitants of Anagni began to storm the papal
palace. The French withdrew without resisting. The pope was released,
WILHELM DE
NOGARET

in Anagni Castle.
but physically and mentally exhausted, he died in Rome a month later.
Dante, in his Divine Comedy published in 1320, located Boniface VIII in
the eighth circle of Hell, which was reserved for simonists.
In October 1303, a conclave elected the next pope, Cardinal Nicola
Boccasini, who took the regnal name Benedict XI. He aspired to miti­
gate the dispute with Philip IV. Hence he revoked the excommunica­
tion of the king, though he had not shown any signs of remorse, while
excommunicating Guillaume de Nogaret and all those who participated
in the attack on Boniface VIII. However, Benedict’s pontificate was
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

unexpectedly interrupted, when he died of dysentery on July 7,

1304, apparently after eating fresh figs.
The next conclave was held that same month in Perugia.
A French legation turned up, headed by Guillaume de Noga-
ret, which exerted pressure on the participants to elect Car­
dinal Bertrand de Got from Bordeaux, France, which they did.
The newly elected bishop of Rome, Clement V, wanting
to appease Philip IV, had himself crowned in the king’s pres­
ence in Lyon, not in the Eternal City. According to chronicles,
a high wall, under the pressure of a dense crowd, collapsed onto the
solemn procession making its way along the city streets. That was seen BENEDICT XI,
as a bad omen. John II, the Duke of Brittany, was killed, while the king’s whose pontificate
brother Charles, the Count of Valois, was seriously injured. The pope lasted just eight
months.
himself fell off his horse and was also badly hurt. A large ruby fell off
his tiara, and it was never recovered.
Clement V tried to avoid conflicts with Philip IV, as he knew that
things could end badly, not just for him, but also for the papacy. Un­
like Boniface VIII, he was not a resolute man with a strong charac­
ter, which explains his policy of appeasement with regard to
the king. An indication of this was the revocation of his
predecessor’s bulls Clericos Laicos and Unam Sanc- CLEMENTV,
tam. Despite his submissiveness, however, he did not a Frenchman
. want to be completely subordinated to the king, but on St. Peter’s
throne, sought
I to maintain as much independence as possible. Yet
renconciliation
1 that was increasingly difficult in view of the king’s with the Paris
■ political aspirations. court.
' Subjection to Paris increased for another rea­
son. Rome was then steeped in ongoing conflicts
between rich patrician families, particularly the Or­
sinis and the Colonnas, whose descendants included
numerous cardinals and even some popes. Such families
arrogated to themselves the right to influence conclave decisions and
Holy See policies. At times, disturbances broke out, creating dangerous
situations. Hence, Clement V preferred to reside in France. Seeking
independence from the Roman aristocracy, the pope ended up depen­
dent on Paris.
Meanwhile, Philip the Fair was seeking funds for the empty state trea­
sury. This time his eyes fell upon the Jews, whose wealth was legend­
ary. On January 21,1306, he sent a secret order to government officials
throughout the country to arrest all Jews—on the same day, and at the
same hour, and without exception, including the elderly, women, and
81
children. This occurred on July 22. The imprisoned Jews were informed
that all their property was being confiscated, that they had but one month
to leave France, and that whoever did not comply would be executed. In
effect, about one hundred thousand Jews were banished from France.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

They were not allowed to take with them their gold, silver, or valuables,
which the king appropriated. Their property was auctioned or given to
people as gifts. King Philip, for example, gave his favorite coachman a
JEWS WERE synagogue in Paris. In order to justify the banishment and plunder of
EXPELLED wealth, he had trumped-up charges pressed against the Jews. The king’s
47 times from propagandists, with a successful antipapal campaign under their belts,
various countries effectively generated a mass anti-Semitic hysteria.
across Europe.
The robbing of the Jews improved the Crown’s financial situation
They often found
refuge in Poland, for only a limited time. The financial crisis deepened. There was gal­
where they were loping inflation, which impoverished the population. Riots broke out
never expelled. throughout the country as discontent with the government spread.
This painting So in 1309, the king found new victims. He robbed Italian bankers
shows Jews being who were resiliently active in France and had substantial monetary
welcomed into
Poland by King
means at their disposal. These people were commonly called Lombards.
Casimir the Great They too were banished from France, and their wealth confiscated. The
in the 14th century. expulsion and robbery of the Jews and Italians found favor with some

of the nobility, who were heavily indebted to them; from day to day,
more and more of their financial obligations disappeared.
However, before the crackdown on the Lombard bankers, the king’s
eye fell upon the Templars, the most powerful and wealthy Church
 Trial of Ihe Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

organization in the world, which had amassed huge fu$ds over the
years to finance the next crusade. Its wealth was kept in the order's
central treasury, located in a tower within the grounds of the the Tem­
ple, a fortress in Paris. The king turned to Grand Master Jacques de
Molay for a loan, but he refused, knowing that the king, heavily (n debt,
would never repay the loan. ’
Barbara Frale relates that the grand master had incurred the king’s
displeasure for yet another reason. At that time, another crusade was
being planned, and Jacques de Molay did not want Philip IV to be its

leader, proposing King James II of Aragon instead. Molay was also JACQUES DE
aware that the organization of a crusade was but a cover for anoth­ MOLAY,
er plan the ambitious Capetian monarch had in mind; for he insidi­ the Templars’
last grand
ously intended to attack the Eastern Christians, not the Muslims. He
master.
wanted to conquer the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and turn it into
a French colony. The idea never came to fruition, since Molay revealed
the king’s true intentions. From that moment, the fate of the Tem­
plars was sealed. On September 14, 1307, the king sent a secret order
to all his commanders in France instructing them to arrest Templars.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

The operation was to be coordinated and carried out at the same time
in various places. On October 13, at dawn, soldiers appeared at all the
order’s commanderies in France and arrested the knights. Guillaume
de Nogaret led the operation.
Those arrested were immediately interrogated and tortured. The
king’s officials very rapidly accumulated documentation and sent it to
the pope. According to the documents, the Templars were heretics. In
reality, though, the documentary evidence had already been prepared
some time earlier, and the confessions were but to confirm it. Several
years earlier, Philip IV had the knightly order infiltrated in order to
collect information on anything that could be used to compromise the
GRAND Templars.
MASTER
Frale draws attention to how incredibly quickly, for those times, the
Jacques
de Molay indictment against the Templars was drawn up. King Philip wanted to
during his tie the pope’s hands by not giving him enough time to respond. The pope
imprisonment. was the only person in Catholic Europe who could publicly pronounce

binding judgment on a matter pertaining to heresy, especially when it

concerned an order that was directly subject to the Holy See.
However, before Clement V managed to respond, the propaganda
machine in France had again moved into action, directed by Guillaume
de Plaisian. On October 14, the day after the Templars were arrested,
Guillaume de Nogaret, then chancellor of France, summoned profes­
sors from Sorbonne University to the Cathedral of Notre Dame and
declared that the Templars were guilty of denying Christ, profaning
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

the cross, worshipping a deity with a human head, desecrating the

Mass, and practicing homosexuality. Public assemblies were organized
throughout the country, where the Templars’ heresy was presented as
an indisputable fact. The king’s officials supplied material to Domini­
can and Franciscan preachers incriminating the order; these preachers
then roved about the country publicly repeating the charges. Thus a
public judgment was made before the pope announced his own verdict.

ARREST
of Templars
accused
of heresy.

NOTRE DAME
Cathedral,
Paris, where
lecturers from
the Sorbonne
were assembled
to be informed
of the guilt
of the Templars.

The charges against the order began to circulate all over Europe. Its
leaders could not defend themselves publicly, while the disoriented
Clement V did not have enough information to speak out competently
on the matter. The Templars’ good name was completely in tatters.
Initially, there were only seven charges against them, but as the in­
vestigation proceeded, the number rose to over seventy. The charges
seemed to be credible, as they contained a grain of truth. According to
Barbara Frale:
The Templars had a certain secret rite, a custom passed on to new
members in utmost secrecy, subjecting recruits to a certain trial in
order to prepare them for what often occurred in the Holy Land;
the Saracens, when they took Christian prisoners, forced them to
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

renounce their faith, so the Templars recreated situations to inure

the participants to the hardships that they might have to face during
a crusade. During the rite, the new members had to spit upon the
cross and deny Christ. In time, new elements were added to this
strange rite, which were characteristic of army practices: humili­
ating jokes and gestures, and suggestions concerning homosexual
FACE OF JESUS acts. However, that which was but a trial was presented by Guil­
on the Shroud
laume de Nogaret as apostasy and perversion.
of Turin could
well have been As to the charge of worshipping a secret deity with a human face,
mistaken for sometimes called Baphomet, many researchers support the theory that
Baphomet. the Templars were then in possession of the Shroud of Turin, which they
secretly venerated. We know that the relic was stolen in Constantinople
during the Fourth Crusade (1204), its whereabouts unknown for a long
time. Pope Innocent III condemned the plunder of the capital of the Byz­
antine Empire and excommunicated the thieves. Hence, admitting to pos­
sessing stolen relics would have been tantamount to excommunication.
For this reason, the locations of most of the objects that had been looted
in Constantinople were unknown for many years. The Shroud of Turin it­
self was not found until 1357, in Lirey, not far from Troyes in Champagne.
It was in the possession of the family of Geoffroi de Charney, a member
of the Knights Templar.

SHROUD Geoffroi de Charney was one of the four highest-ranked Templars

OF TURIN whom King Philip had arrested in 1307. The others were Grand Master
was probably Jacques de Molay, Hugues de Pairaud, and Godefroi de Gonneville. In all,
in the hands
140 monks were detained in France, of whom as many as 136 admitted to
of the Templars
after the sack of blasphemy and sacrilege.
Constantinople On November 22, 1307, Clement V promulgated a bull, Pastoralis
in 1204. Praeeminentiae, wherein he called for the arrest of the Templars and the
requisition of their property in favor of the Church. The pope thus wanted
to take control of the investigation started by Philip IV and so take the ini­
tiative in the matter. He guaranteed that the trial would be held in public
and jointly presided over by papal legates and the king’s lawyers.
It was not until February 1308 that the papal emissaries were allowed
to see the Templars, who were imprisoned in Paris, including Grand
Master Jacques de Molay. Most of them had withdrawn their earlier
 Trial of Ihe Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

confessions, claiming that they

had been exacted under torture.
On hearing of this, Clement V
suspended the activities of the
French Inquisition, which had
turned out to be an obedient in­
strument in the king’s hands. So
the trial was adjourned.
King Philip, however, want­
ed the Templars sentenced as
quickly as possible, for he had
already appropriated their prop­
erty and required a tribunal de­
cision to legalize his actions. He
was counting on proving heresy,
as it was a crime that entailed
the requisition of goods. Hence
he again summoned the Estates
General (March 1308), where
all supported the movement
to suppress the order. The king
also saw to it that an antipa-
pal mood was fomented among
those assembled. At his instiga­
tion, the anonymous pamphlet
Remontrance au peuple de
France (Admonition to the Peo­
ple of France) was circulated. It
accused Clement V of inexpli­
cable leniency and deference
toward the vile Templars. An­
other pamphlet, probably writ­
ten by royal lawyer Pierre Du­
bois, called on Philip IV to fight
the antichrist who supported the
corrupt order.
The pope, however, did not
want to condemn the order un­
til he was absolutely certain that

REPORT OF INTERROGATION
of 13 Templars in 1307,
Caen, France.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

the charges were true. So he demanded a personal hearing for the ac­
cused. King Philip agreed, and the prisoners made their way under escort
from Paris to Poitiers, where Clement V officiated. Between March 28
Tours and July 2,1308, he personally presided over the investigation.
According to Frale, the pope became convinced that the Templars
were not heretics, but he found the order guilty of tolerating a vulgar
army tradition, unworthy of people who had made religious vows. He
FRANCE did not formally censure them for blasphemy, sacrilege, or apostasy
but prescribed penance as a condition of absolution.
The Chinon Parchment, discovered by Barbara Frale in 2001,
pertains to the proceedings at the castle. It contains the protocol
ESTATES
GENERAL

concerning the interrogation of the four highest-ranked dignitaries

of the Knights Templar. The document reveals facts that were not
widely known before. The interrogators did not find the accused
guilty of heresy, and they absolved them of other offenses on behalf
of the pope. The cardinals saw the initiation rite as the worst offense.
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

A mitigating circumstance was the fact that the new members had to
deny Christ solely in word, not in the heart (ore non cordty, and then
confess to that sin after the rite. So the parchment is proof that the
Catholic Church dismissed the worst charges against the Templars and
granted them absolution. k.
However, the further course of events did not end in favor of the
Templars. Philip IV decided to attack the papacy directly. He had
Bishop Guichard of Troyes accused of sorcery and sentenced to be
burned at the stake. Ultimately, the bishop was not executed, but still
the matter became another source of pressure on Pope Clement.
Yet the king was not satisfied, returning to the old charges of heresy
and blasphemy against the deceased Boniface VIII. He demanded

CHINON
CASTLE
cell where the
Templar leaders
were imprisoned.

a posthumous trial, the exhumation of his remains from his tomb

in St. Peter’s Basilica, the burning of them at the stake, and the scatter­
ing of his ashes to the four winds. The king also reached for his most
powerful weapon: he threatened to separate the Church in France
from the Holy See. The pope was faced with the spectre of a schism.
It was not an idle threat. King Philip decided on a show of strength
to convince Pope Clement that the French bishops were on his side.
On May 12, 1310, fifty-four Templars, who had withdrawn their ear­
lier confessions, exacted under torture, were burned alive at the stake
on a bank of the Seine, singing the Te Deum. They perished, against
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

the pope’s will, as a consequence of a decision taken by a French pro­

vincial council held in Sens.
Paris Clement V yielded and agreed to three of the four conditions laid
down by Philip IV: the summoning of a general council on French ter­
ritory, the condemnation and dissolution of the Knights Templar order,
and the establishment of the papal headquarters in France. The pope
did not agree to the fourth demand, the condemnation of Boniface VIII
FRANCE and the burning of his remains, since he was aware that to charge his
predecessor with heresy would have been tantamount to contradicting
the Magisterium of the Church, as well as severing the continuity of St.
Peter’s throne. It was here that Clement V said: “Non possumus.”

TEMPLARS The matter of the Knights Templar order was addressed at the
burned Council of Vienne (1311-1312), not far from Lyon. The majority of the
at the stake. participants did not believe that the Templars were guilty and wanted
to allow them the right to defend themselves. The pope, however,
was afraid of such a turn of events, as Philip IV threatened to have
 Boniface VIII condemned if the council fathers allowed the Templars COUNCIL
to speak. In order to prevent this, the pope even imprisoned nine OFVIENNE,
Templars who had turned up in Vienne to defend the good name of during which
the Knights
their order.
Templar order
On March 20, 1312, Philip IV entered the town at the head of an was disbanded.
armed detachment to keep an eye personally on the course of the coun­
cil deliberations. Two weeks later, on April 3, in the Cathedral of St.
Maurice, Clement V, with the king of France on his right and the king’s
son on his left, read the bull Vox in Excelso. It dissolved the order, but
did not condemn it. The dissolution was of a purely administrative na­
ture. The pope emphasized that he had taken the decision “not without
bitterness or a sad heart”. As if in a tone of self-justification, he added
that the Church had dissolved even highly distinguished orders in the
past for far less grievous transgressions.
Philip IV accomplished what he had set out to achieve in Vienne,
and more: in exchange for not proceeding with the posthumous trial
of Boniface VIII, the king received from Clement V the city of Lyon,
which had hitherto been a bishop's fief.
Towards the end of the council, the pope promulgated several
VIENNE
more bulls concerning the Knights Templar. One of the bulls vested
CATHEDRAL,
the Templars’ property—except for property on the Iberian Penin­ where the
sula—in another military order, that is, the Order of Knights of the Council of
Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, later known as the Sovereign Vienne was held
Order of Malta. However, the property that the king had seized seven 1311-1312.
years earlier was lost for good.
In another bull, the pope stated that the Templars who had rec­ PORTAL
onciled themselves with the Church should return to the former St. Maurice
commanderies of the order or to other monasteries, while dissent­ Cathedral,
Vienne.
ers ought to be punished in accord with canon law, adding that he
 THE AVIGAOA PAPACY populist revolts and constant struggle
with and between local patricians. I
Safety, however, had its price: a state
AVIGNON was the seat of popes from of subjection to the kings of France,
1309 to 1377. Clement V was the first who aspired to influence papal policies
. to reside in this French city in Proven­ The authority of St. Peter’s successors I
ce. He was followed by six successors, suffered because of this, as they lost
b all of whom were French: John XXII, control of the life of the Church. Even­
Avignon Benedict XII, Clement VI, Innocent VI, tually, however, Gregory XI, yielding to
Urban V, and Gregory XI. In fear for the advice of St. Catherine of Siena,
their lives, they preferred to stay far returned to Rome, ending the so-called
FRANCE from Rome, which was an arena of Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy. 1

CLEMENT V JOHN XXII BENEDICTXII CLEMENTVI INNOCENTVI URBAN V GREGORY XI

 Trial oj the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

reserved to his own judgment the fate of the grand master and his
closest associates.
On December 22, 1313, Clement V appointed three French cardi­
nals to pass judgment on Jacques de Molay and his three compan­
ions. The Templars, in accord with the decision of the Council of
Vienne, ought to have been released from prison, as they had been
reconciled with the Church. However, the judges, who were of the
king’s faction, were aware that the grand master knew too much and TESTIMONIES
could well be a threat to Philip IV. Hence they decided to change of 231 French
the decision. Templars written
on a 65-yard
parchment,
housed

On March 18,1314, the four Templar leaders appeared on a special­

ly built platform next to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris before three
seated Church dignitaries. A crowd gathered to hear the long-awaited
verdict: life imprisonment.
Then something unexpected occurred. Jacques de Molay cried
out that he was innocent and that the false confessions had been ex­

s
acted under torture. After a short while, Geoffroi de Charney joined
in. The dismayed cardinals adjourned the proceedings. They consid­
ered consulting the pope as to further decisions, but Philip IV, quick­
ly informed about the incident, intervened. He had the rebellious
prisoners taken to the Ile-des-Javiaux, an island in the Seine, where
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES *£ Trial of the Kni^hls Templar

they were burned alive at the stake that same day, together with
thirty-seven other Templars who had withdrawn their confessions.
The only Templars to survive were those who had confessed to of­
fenses they had not committed, including Hugues de Pairaud and
Godefroi de Gonneville, who died while serving their life imprison­
ment sentences.
The condemned perished while looking at Notre Dame Cathedral.
ILE-DES- According to chroniclers, both leaders died calmly, with dignity,
JAVIAUX, reconciled with God. The grand master was said to have called out
an island in again that he was innocent and to have summoned the pope and the
the Seine River,
where Templar
king of France to appear before the tribunal of God.
leaders were Later events caused the widespread belief that God punished
executed. those responsible for the Templars’ horrible fate. Clement V died

of a bowel infection on April 20, 1314, one month after the death
ATTHE STAKE
of Jacques de Molay. Medical treatment, in the form of powdered
Jacques
de Molay emeralds, had been ineffective. Philip IV did not live much longer.
and Geoffroi That same year, on November 4, he fell off his horse while hunt­
de Charney. ing and suffered a stroke, after which he could not speak. He died
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

as he had lived: morose, silent, and introverted. He pasred away on

November 29,1314.
Within a dozen or so years, three of King Philip’s sons died un­
expectedly: twenty-six-year-old Louis X, “the Quarreler”, twenty­
eight-year-old Philip V, “the Tall”, and thirty-three-year-old Qbarles
PHILIP IV
IV, “the Fair”. Thus the main line of the Capetian dynasty, which had died after falling
ruled France from 987, died out in 1328, and the House of Valois suc­ off his horse
ceeded to the throne. Philip IV himself contributed to the demise of while hunting.
the dynasty. He accused the wives of two of his sons of adultery and

had them sentenced to life imprisonment (the lovers of both prin­

cesses met a worse fate: tortured, maimed, and burned); his daugh­ CORONATION
ters-in-law did not leave male descendants. of King Philip V,
As for the Templars, only those who lived in France were tried, "the Tall’’, who
died at the age
imprisoned, and executed. They were not persecuted in other coun­
of 28 after
tries: the king of Cyprus took no notice of their condemnation, the drinking dirty
Council of Tarragona exonerated the Templars in Catalonia and water from
Aragon, the Council of Salamanca cleared them of all the charges a well.
against them in Castile, and the archbishop of Lisbon established
their innocence in Portugal. So the campaign against the Knights
Templar was solely an intrigue concocted by King Philip IV.
The rulers of the Iberian Peninsula highly valued the Templars’
piety and knightly fortitude. After the dissolution of the order, they
offered them new opportunities: King James II of Aragon founded
the Order of Montesa specially for them, and King Denis I of Por­
tugal also founded an order for them, the Military Order of Christ,
with its headquarters in Tomar Castle. The defense of the southern
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of the Knights Templar

border of the kingdom against the Moors was a new mission for the
monk-knights. Later, during the age of geographic discoveries, they
Tomar evangelized other continents. The Templars’ red cross fluttered on
the white sails of Portuguese galleons, brigs, and frigates.
Barbara Frale, having scrutinized a great number of documents
on the Templars’ trial, has no doubts as to its glaring injustice.
PORTUGAL As a result of false charges, innocent people perished, and a large
amount of wealth was misappropriated.

CLOISTER
of Tomar Castle, Asked if the onus of this crime committed against the Templars
headquarters was on both the king of France and the pope, Frale replied that their
of the Military
Order of Christ,
levels of responsibility were incomparable: “Philip IV acted with
Portugese premeditation from the very beginning in order to seize the Tem­
branch of plars’ wealth, stopping at nothing, whereas Clement V was black­
the Templars. mailed and put into situations where he had to choose the lesser
evil. Of course, some responsibility rests with him too, but he never
took the initiative in destroying the order. He even tried to salvage
what was possible and minimize the losses.”
Frale does not attempt to justify the pope, but she does try to un­
derstand his motives.
 Trial of the Knights Templar VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

He found himself in a dramatic situation. He hved in

France, practically at the mercy of the king, who had him
and the Templars in his hands, threatening the Church with
a schism. The pope had almost the whole of the episcopate
against him. He was faced with a terrible alternative:
to yield to the king and condemn the order, or else
to save it and face the trial of Boniface VIII and the
severing of France from the Church, which could
occasion terrible results for the whole Catholic
world, as France was the largest Christian country
in Europe. Hence the pope sacrificed a part to save
the whole, for which he was responsible. He sacri­
ficed an institution numbering
two thousand members for a
France of twenty million.
The order itself, after a sev­
en-year investigation, was
practically in ruins and sur­
rounded by an aura of scandal.
There was nobody willing to join the order. It had CROSS
lost its usefulness to the Church. Hence its dissolu­ belonging to the
tion seemed the only option for Clement. As a canon Knights Templar.
law expert, he used legal formulas that did not con­
demn the Templars but still dissolved their order on
an administrative basis. He strived to save Jacques de
Molay, but he proved helpless before the extremely
strong-willed king.
Frale has no doubt that the main reason for the pope’s
deference to the king was the Church’s subjection to the
Crown. If Clement V had been beyond the reach of
Philip IV, things would have certainly turned out oth­
erwise. That scenario has recurred in history many a
time.
Philip IV was something of a prototype for a new
kind of European ruler: recognizing no spiritual
power above his own, capable of any crime whatso­
ever, prepared to make false charges, to murder, and
to seize his victims’ wealth. Guillaume de Nogaret was a
forerunner of future secret police and security service
chiefs, who specialized in administering torture, exact­
ing confessions, and organizing show trials. Guillaume de
97
Plaisian foreshadowed ministers of propaganda who con­
ducted campaigns of hate. As this book continues, we will
come across such characters yet again.
miLITARY ORDER OF CHRIST
The Military Order of Christ, founded tor, regarded as the creator of Portu­
after the dissolution of the Knights gal’s colonial empire, became the
Templar, played a significant role in order’s grand master. He was the
Portugal’s history. A new stage began in founder of the University of Lisbon and
1417, when Prince Henry the Naviga­ the world’s first nautical school in Sa-
gres. He sponsored the development of
the naval fleet and funded sea voyages
that led to many geographical discov­
eries. The order participated in those
undertakings. At the beginning of the
16th century, it had 454 commanderies
on three continents.
In 1492, Pope Alexander VI dispensed
the knights from their religious vows.
So the order was reformed into
a secular institution and as such
was subordinated to the Portuguese
Crown. Only the priests in Tomar con­
tinued to lead a monastic life. In time,
it was transformed into a mere order
of merit—Portuguese kings conferred
membership in such orders for out­
standing services to the Crown—while
the office of grand master was
assumed by the king himself. To this
day, it is a high state commendation
in that country.
CHAPEL,
Tomar Castle,
the spiritual
center of the
Military Order
of Christ.
TRADITIOO
The Crusades
 CHAPTER 3

The Crusades

Dangerous links between the Cross

and the sword: from triumph to defeat
Vatican

ITALY

TOMB OF
INNOCENT III
Archbasilica
of St. John
Late ran.

The oldest complete file of papal documents in the Vatican Secret

Archives pertains to the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216). Due
to historical turmoil, there are few documents connected with pre­
ceding popes, while those on Innocent, one of the most influential
popes in Church history, amount to over six thousand letters—includ­
ing abundant correspondence with European rulers—not to mention
encyclicals, bulls, and other writings, together constituting an all but
inexhaustible source of historical knowledge.
In a letter to one of his legates, Innocent III wrote: “I put action
above contemplation.” And he did indeed act with extraordinary vigor.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Elected pope at the age of thirty-seven, he had boundld^s energy: he

called for Crusades, excommunicated monarchs, interdicted states, and
reconciled feuding rulers. He undoubtedly shaped European politics,
as well as leaving a great mark on the religious life of his time—and of
times to come. He convened the largest medieval Church gathering, the
Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which saw 1,200 participants, and also
initiated a reform that led to a spiritual renewal of the Church. Fur­ ST. DOMINIC
ther, he approved two religious orders, those of Dominic and Francis, DE GUZMAN
whose ideal of poverty was close to his heart - he had gold and silver founded the
Dominicans
tableware in his apartments replaced with wooden and glass tableware,
(Order of
and limited his meals to three courses. His dynamism would earn the Preachers),
Church’s gratitude for centuries. approved by
Innocent III was also a poet. Tradition attributes to him the hymns Innocent III.
“Come, Holy Spirit” and “Stabat Mater". He also wrote De Miseria

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ST. FRANCIS
of Assisi founded
the Order of Friars
Minor, approved
by Innocent III.

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drawn up
X''" ««>»X Y”'" by St. Francis
in 1223.
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 mnocEni ill's dreahi
IN THE BASILICA which depicts the pope but then was saved
of St. Francis of Assisi, asleep on a bed under at the last moment by
there is a famous series a baldachin and a monk an inconspicuous monk,
of twenty-eight frescoes, in a brown habit sup­ namely, St. Francis
known as the Legend porting a leaning church. of Assisi, who was
of St. Francis, painted The scene pertained to in Rome seeking the
by Giotto di Bondone a dream that Innocent pope’s endorsement for
towards the end of the III was said to have had the order he intended
13th century. The sixth regarding the Lateran Ba­ to found. The extraordi­
fresco is a scene entitled silica in Rome: the basilica nary dream persuaded
The Dream of Innocent III, was close to collapsing the pope to approve it.

INNOCENT III
is regarded as one
of the greatest popes
of the Middle Ages.
FRESCO BY GIOTTO
in the basilica in Assisi,
depicting Innocent Ill's
dream.

ITALY
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Condicionis Humane (On the Wretchedness of the HiApan Condi­

tion), which states:

O my mother, why did you give birth to a son of sadness and

bitterness?... O wicked humiliation of human existence!...
Let us consider the plants and trees: they produce flowers,
leaves, and fruits, and alas, you, O man, produce lice and
tapeworms. They pour forth oil, wine, and balm, and you,
spit, urine, and dung. They give off sweet fragrance, and
you, you spread an abominable stench.... Man is conceived
from blood corrupted by the heat of lust, and in the end,
his body’s only companions are worms in the grave. Living,
he breeds lice and tapeworms; dead, he breeds worms and
flies. Living, he produces dung and vomit; dead, he produces
rot and stench. Alive, he only fattens himself; when he dies,
a host of worms will fatten themselves. For what stinks
worse than a human corpse? What is more terrible than
a dead man? The sight of man whose embrace we cherished
in life will become unbearable in death.1

An extraordinary work for a pope, a bitter testimony to his reflec­

tions on the sinful human condition and on the vanity of existence.
He had no illusions about himself, fully aware of his own sinfulness.
Yet he saw himself as a servant of God, and that self-abasement only
pertained to him personally, as he saw the office that had been en­
trusted to him in a completely different light. He wrote a letter at the
very beginning of his pontificate (1198) to the prefect Acerbius and
the nobles of Tuscany, putting forth a bold vision of the papacy:
Just as the founder of the universe established two great
lights in the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, so too He
set two great dignities in the firmament of the universal
church,... the greater one to rule the day, that is, souls, and
 the lesser to rule the night, that is, bodies. These dignities
are the papal authority and the royal power. Now just as
the moon derives its light from the sun and is indeed lower
than it in quantity and quality, in position and in power,
so too the royal power derives the splendor of its dignity
from the pontifical authority.2

He not only wrote of the vision, but also implemented it. His pre­
decessors were constantly embroiled in disputes with successive em­
perors, who strove to subordinate the Church to themselves along the
lines of Byzantine rulers. Providence turned out to be charitable to
Innocent III. Three months before he became pope, Holy Roman Em­
peror Henry VI, who raised claims to supremacy over the pope, died
of malaria at the age of thirty-two. Henry left behind a three-year-
old heir, Frederick, who was too young to rule. It was an opportune
moment for the pope, who diplomatically maximized the Church’s
HEN RY VI, independence from the state and even demonstrated the supremacy
Holy Roman of the spiritual power over the temporal power. Historians see his
emperor and king pontificate as the zenith of the papacy’s influence in Europe.
of Sicily, one the
greatest rulers in Innocent III called for three Crusades during his pontificate. One
German history of them was a success and regarded as a decisive moment in Recon-
(left). quista history. On July 12, 1212, the Castilian, Aragonese, Navarrese,

FREDERICK II,
Henry Vl’s son
and heir to the
imperial throne
(right).
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

and Portuguese armies defeated the Moors at the Battle oY Las Navas
de Tolosa, thereby precipitating the expulsion of the Muslims from
Western Europe. The Emirate of Granada soon became the last Is­
lamic enclave, a vassal state of Castile, in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Albigensian Crusade (or Cathar Crusade), the second Crusade ini­
tiated by Innocent III, was against the Cathars in southern France and

lasted for twenty years, ending with a hard-won victory thirteen years LAS NAVAS
after Innocent Ill’s death. The Fourth Crusade, which he saw as the most DE TOLOSA,
important, vexed him most. Its stated intent had been to recapture the key victory
for Christians led
Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem. However, it compromised Catholic by Alphonso VIII
soldiers and deepened the divisions in the Christian world. in 1212.
Innocent Ill’s bull of December 1202 excommunicated the par­
ticipants in the Fourth Crusade. Why did he excommunicate Crusad­
ers who were on their way to fight the Muslims? Well, en route the
Catholic Crusaders plundered a Catholic city: Venetians and Franks
attacked and plundered Zadar—including its churches—on Novem­
ber 24,1202.
Innocent III learned of the Crusaders’ plans before they attacked.
His emissary Abbot Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay appeared before the lead­
ers of the Crusade with a letter from the pope, wherein he threatened
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

to excommunicate anyone who attacked the Croatian city. The Cru­

saders ignored the papal ultimatum and stormed the town.
How did the pope, universally acknowledged as the highest spiri­
tual and moral authority of the time, lose the respect of these knights
who saw themselves as defenders of the Faith and the Church? Why
did they ignore the Vicar of Christ, thus risking the ultimate punish­
ment-eternal damnation?

GUYOFVAUX-
DE-CERNAY,
papal delegate.

CHURCH OF
ST. DONATUS
in Zadar.

In order to understand this, we have to go back several centuries,

when, after the fall of the Roman Empire and the migrations of peo­
ples, a new order emerged in Europe. One veritable curse of that era
was the abundance of private, local wars between feudal lords, uni­
versally seen as the best way to redress wrongs. They mainly oc­
curred in the world of the Franks, appealing to the old Germanic right

KNIGHTS
in battle-
bas-relief in
the Chateau
d’Angers.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

of private vengeance, which obliged all the members of a family, in­

cluding distant cousins, to participate in such conflicts, often initiated
for spurious reasons. So the nobility were in a state of permanent
conflict. No principles of honor were upheld, and robbery, violence,
and murder were daily occurrences. 1
The Church tried to oppose this destructive nightmare, but she
was too weak to be effective. It was not until the beginning of the
11th century that the Treuga Dei (Truce of God), one of the most im­
portant peace initiatives in European history, was introduced. It en­
visaged a ban on waging wars from Wednesday evening to Monday
morning, and later throughout the whole of Advent and Lent. It was

CRUSADERS taking a city-illumination from ARMOR, medieval French

13th-century Morgan Bible (Crusader Bible), knight’s helmet and shield.

first propagated in 1027 at the initiative of Abbot Oliba, a Catalonian

□
Benedictine, during a synod in Elne, France.
The Order of St. Benedict played a prominent role in civilizing the
nobility and raising its moral level. In the 10th century, it launched a re­
newal of European Christianity. Cluny Abbey was its center, where the
main ideas of the Gregorian Reforms were formulated. Under the influ­
ence of the Clunv movement, a new chivalric code develoned between
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

1170 and 1220, with its own code of honor. Pope Gregory VII and Pope
Urban II, regarded as two of the most outstanding popes in history,
came from the ranks of the Cluny movement. The latter initiated the
First Crusade in 1095 at the Council of Clermont in order to retake the
Clermont Holy Land, especially the Holy Sepulchre, from the Seljuq Turks.
In Rome, we had a meeting with Massimo Viglione, an Italian his­
torian, one of the foremost experts on the Crusades in the Apennine
FRANCE Peninsula. He maintains that it not possible to understand that epi­
sode in European history without going back to the 7th century, when
Islam first arose. The Muslim religion expanded through conquest
from the very outset. The Koran itself is full of exhortations and

POPE URBAN II
initiated the First
Crusade.

CLERMONT-
FERRAND
CATHEDRAL,
where Urban II
proclaimed
the First Crusade.
A monument
stands in
the square.

incentives to use force, which Muhammad frequently employed him­

self. Al-Tabari (d. 923), a Persian historian and theologian, lists as
many as twenty-seven great armed incursions by the first generation
of Muslims on the direct orders of the Muhammad.
The new religion began to conquer the Christian world by the

□ sword. The Muslims first attacked places that were part of the Byz­
antine Empire, capturing Damascus in 635, Jerusalem and Antioch in
638, and Alexandria in 643. After mastering Syria and Egypt, some
of the Muslims marched west and occupied North Africa, while
some went east and subjugated Armenia and Persia (now Iran). In
 MASSIMO
VIGLIONE,
an Italian
historian,
in conversation
with Grzegorz
Gorny.

711, the Moors invaded Spain and Portugal, and in a short time, they
occupied almost the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, apart from
the mountainous territory in the north. From 717 to 718, the Arabs
besieged by land and sea Constantinople, though they failed to take
it. In 732, they attacked the Franks. They got as far as the Loire, but
were defeated at the Battle of Tours (or Battle of Poitiers) on Oc­
tober 10, by an army led by Charles Martel. That did not discour­
age them from further conquests. They harassed Italy throughout
the 9th century, establishing the Emirate of Bari and the Emirate
of Taranto and occupying Sicily and Sardinia. In 846, they even
Poitiers
sacked Rome, plundering and profaning St. Peter’s Basilica and
the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls. Torn apart by internal
conflicts, Europe was unable to resist those invasions.
In conquered territories, the Muslims treated Chris- FRANCE
------------ j t--------- second-class subjects. It is true
that as "People of the Book”,

BATTLE
OF TOURS,
or Battle
of Poitiers.
In 732, the
Franks were
victorious.
THE SPIRITUAL CEATEA
OF THE miDDLE AGES
Cluny
THE BENEDICTINE abbey in Cluny, Burgundy, was
founded in 910, the largest monastery ever built
in Europe. It gave birth to the reform that renewed FRANCE
the face of Christianity in Europe between the
11th and 13th centuries. The Cluniac Reforms, based
on St. Benedict’s original rule, which focused on the
spiritual and intellectual development of the faith­
ful, imparted a new momentum to the spreading BENEDICTINE ABBEY in Cluny once
of Christ’s teaching. Pope Gregory VII, a product radiated spiritually throughout Europe.
of Cluny, was accustomed to saying that no abbey
could compare with Cluny as there had not been
a single abbot there who was not a saint
The abbey created its own federated order, in
which subsidiary houses (priories), all adhering to
the same rule, answered directly to the abbot of
Cluny. It is estimated that in its heyday the federa­
tion had over one thousand houses and twenty
thousand monks. From the 13th century on, Cluny
gradually became less significant, with other orders
coming into prominence, such as the Cistercians,
Franciscans, and Dominicans. In 1790, the abbey
was closed during the French Revolution. Two
decades later, the main church—the longest-lasting
building of the Middle Ages, a real pearl of Roman­
esque architecture—was destroyed in 1811 on the
orders of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had a stable
built in its place. A side chapel, ending a transept
arm, has survived, the size of which bears testimo­
ny to how large the church once was, its interior
recalling the Roman Forum.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES -1 ai» it Or imd Winns gid ...

Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their religion, but they
could not display their religious symbols and were forced to pay a high
jizyaXax.. Christians could not build new churches, which limited the de­
velopment of Christianity. Europeans were permitted to go on pilgrim­
ages to the Holy Land, but they had to pay a tribute. In 800, calipte from
the Abbasid dynasty even returned sacred places in Palestine into the
care of Charlemagne, but Islam gradually pushed Christian influences
out of the Near East, where it is estimated that in the 7th century Mus­
lims made up barely 10 percent of the population; by the 10th century
they were 80 percent.
The situation of Christians in those lands worsened in the 11th century,
as those who wanted to retain official positions had to give up the Faith
and accept Islam. Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, of the Fatimid dynas­ CHARLEMAGNE
ty, unleashed a bloody persecution of Christians (1009-1014). A great first emperor
number of churches were burnt down, and a large part of the Church in Western
Europe after
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was destroyed. A conflict-ridden,
the fall of the
powerless Europe could only listen to the alarming news from the Le­ Roman Empire.
vant. The situation did not improve until the death of the mad and des­
potic tyrant, who even claimed to be God.

MAHMUD
OF GHAZNI
created a vast
Muslim empire
in Asia in
the 11th century.

In 1070, Palestine was conquered by a new Near East power, that

is, the Seljuks, who also professed Islam. Compared to the Arab rulers
from the Fatimid dynasty, who allowed free access to holy places, the
new rulers were less tolerant. In 1076, the inhabitants of Jerusalem
rose up against the invaders, but the Seljuqs crushed the revolt and
slaughtered the population. Turkish detachments also massacred pil­
grims and pilgrimages to the Holy Land all but ceased.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

This time the Muslim aggression chanced on another historical mo­

ment. As Massimo Viglione says, Europe was then in the prime of its
youth, bursting with energy. The economy developed dynamically,
trade flourished, the population grew. Due to the Cluniac Reforms, the
Church’s authority also grew, particularly the papacy’s, which during
Pope Gregory Vil’s pontificate managed to stay independent of the

stormed,
destroyed, emperor. In such a favorable situation, Pope Urban II initiated the
and rebuilt. First Crusade in 1095.
To the pope, and to the Christians of that time, the First Crusade
was a defensive war, a response to Muslim aggression. Its aim was not
the occupation of Jerusalem, but the liberation of the Holy City. Sum­
moning Catholic knights to make haste to aid eastern Catholics, the
pope saw it as an act of mercy towards fellow believers. Apart from
that, the emperors, threatened by the expansion of Islam, continually
appealed for help from Constantinople.

s
The lack of access to the Holy Sepulchre caused the first great
crisis of European consciousness. People began to ask themselves
questions: Did God want the Holy Land to be in pagan hands and the
followers of Christ denied access to it? Were Christians incapable of
uniting to regain their Savior’s homeland? What did God want them
 COUNCIL
OF CLERMONT
organized
the First Crusade
in 1095.

to do? Those questions bothered not only scholars and theologians of

the time, but also ordinary people.
Urban II realized that an extraordinary opportunity had arisen for
the knights’ energy—which had hitherto been expended in fratricidal
wars, senselessly shedding Europe's blood—to be utilized for a more
noble cause. On November 27,1095, he gave a solemn speech during
the Council of Clermont, mentioning the enslavement of Christians in
the Holy Land and the destruction of churches by the Muslims.
According to Fulcher of Chartres, he said:

I.

Let those who, for a long time, have been robbers, now be­
come knights. Let those who have been fighting against their
brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the
barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries
for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who
have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now
work for a double honor.3
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

In Baldric of Dol’s version, the pope was even more vivid:

You, girt about with the badge of knighthood, are
arrogant with great pride; you rage against your brothers
and cut each other in pieces. . . . The Holy Church has
reserved a soldiery for herself to help her people, but you
debase her wickedly to her hurt.... You, the oppressors of
children, plunderers of widows; you, guilty of homicide,
of sacrilege, robbers of another’s rights; you who await
the pay of thieves for the shedding of Christian blood....
If, forsooth, you wish to be mindful of your souls, either
lay down the girdle of such knighthood, or advance boldly,
as knights of Christ, and rush as quickly as you can to the
defence of the Eastern Church.4

In Robert the Monk’s account, the pope added:

Jerusalem is the navel of the world; the land is fruitful
above all others, like another paradise of delights. This the
Redeemer of the human race has made illustrious by his
advent, has beautified by residence, has consecrated by
suffering, has redeemed by death, has glorified by burial.
This royal city, therefore, situated at the centre of the world,
is now held captive by His enemies and is in subjection to
POPE URBAN II those who do not know God, to the worship of the heathens.
granted She seeks therefore and desires to be liberated, and does
all the participants not cease to implore you to come to her aid.5
of the Crusade
a plenary
indulgence. The pope closed with the following admonition:
Whoever, therefore, shall determine upon this holy
pilgrimage and shall make his vow to God to that effect
and shall offer himself to Him as a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, shall wear the sign of the cross of
the Lord on his forehead or on his breast. When, truly,
having fulfilled his vow he wishes to return, let him place
the cross on his back between his shoulders. Such, indeed,
by the two-fold action will fulfill the precept of the Lord,
as He commands in the Gospel, "He that taketh not his
cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."6

When Urban II had finished his call to liberate Jerusalem, the as­
sembled believers loudly cried out: "It is the will of God.” The assem­
bled were fired with enthusiasm, as were the masses throughout West­
ern Europe. Someone was finally responding to the greatest challenge
that had ever faced the Christian world. Multitudes throughout Europe
were prepared to leave their land, homes, and families behind, endan­
ger their health and lives to make their way to a distant, unknown land
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

in order to do battle against one of the world’s most powerful armies. RAYMOND
Viglione stresses that it is not possible to understand such an attitude OF TOULOUSE
without a religious motive. Volunteers were inspired by the most wor­ promising
to liberate
thy cause one could imagine, bereft of any political considerations or
Jerusalem
a desire to get rich. This Crusade ruined many a feudal lord whdkhad to in the First
borrow money or sell his estate to maintain his retinue and soldiers. Crusade.

Urban did not use the word “crusade”. It did not appear until the
13th century. The first Crusaders talked of making a pilgrimage, of
a journey overseas, or an expedition to the Holy Land. They saw their
undertaking in a spiritual light rather than a military one.
A question arose at the very outset: Who was to lead the Crusade?
Theoretically, the leader ought to have been the most important
of the Catholic rulers, that is, the emperor. But Emperor Henry IV
had been excommunicated by Urban II, hence he could not partici­
pate in the Crusade. King Philip I of France had also been excom­
municated, as had King Eric I of Denmark. And King William II of
England refused to recognize Urban II as pope. No other European
ruler had sufficient authority to lead the Crusade. Hence Urban II
appointed his legate Adhemar de Monteil, bishop of Le Puy, to lead
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

the Crusade. As he had no experience in warfare, he was rather the

spiritual leader, while prominent feudal lords led the army. So the
First Crusade turned out to be a collaborative affair between the
papacy and the nobility.
However, before an army had been raised, the People’s Crusade
had already set off for the Near East. It was a spontanous grassroots
movement that managed to gather tens of thousands in a short time,
mainly from communes, including peasants, paupers, minor knights,
and common criminals. The majority were unskilled in warfare.
They set off from Germany, led by Peter the Hermit, a charismatic
orator, and Walter Sans Avoir, a well-trained minor knight. The pope
and the bishops tried to persuade the people, unfamiliar with war, to
PETER forgo the expedition, but their enthusiasm, fired by the preachers,
THE HERMIT, was too intense. That great crowd, including a host of women and
Peter of Amiens,
showing
Crusaders
the way
to Jerusalem.

children, marched through Germany and Hungary towards Byzan­

tium. En route, those undisciplined masses massacred Jews, led by
some well-known rabble-rousers, namely, Count Emicho of Flon­
heim, a priest named Folkmar, and a monk named Gottschalk.
Massimo Viglione, who has thoroughly researched the matter, is
of the opinion that the massacres were not of a religious nature, but
of an economic and social one. At that time, Christians in Europe
KING COLOMAN were forbidden to practice moneylending, so Jews, who were forbid­
of Hungary den from practicing many other professions, became bankers and
fought against the financiers. They enjoyed great favor among feudal lords, to whom
People’s Crusade.
they granted loans, whereas ordinary people had an aversion to
them. The entire Jewish people was identified with usury, enriching
itself—as the people saw it—at the cost of poor peasants. Participants
in the People’s Crusade, beyond any control, were finally able to
vent their anger against them; hence the pogroms.
In Germany, local bishops defended the Jews in, for example,
Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. In Hungary, King Coloman the Learned
took steps to prevent attacks and murders. The most lawless of the
Crusaders, led by Gottschalk, were surrounded near Szekesfehervar
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

and forced to lay down their arms, after which the Hungarian cavalry
massacred them. Others, from Germany, besieged Moson Castle in
Hungary, but after six weeks, they were defeated.
The People’s Crusade was made up of two self-proclaimed armies:
a German army led by Peter the Hermit and a French one led by Wal­
ter Sans Avoir, which turned out to be the better prepared. At first, it
seemed that they would make their way through Hungary without any
major incidents, but in Zemun, on the Byzantium border, they killed
four thousand Hungarians. They then fled across the Sava to Belgrade.
After taking Belgrade, they pillaged and burned the city. Inspired by
that success, they reached Constantinople, attacking Christian villages

PEOPLE’S
CRUSADE
disarmed
and undressed
by Hungarian
soldiers.

and destroying churches along the way. The Byzantine emperor Alexios
I Komnenos, wanting to get rid of the troublesome rabble as quickly as
possible, equipped them and sent them off eastward.
They made their way toward Nicaea, occupied by Seljuk Turks. They
initially had successes en route, until they came up against Sultan Kilij Ar­
slan I’s large army, which defeated them during the siege of the fortress
in Xerigordos and then, on October 21,1096, routed them at the Battle of
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES J? The Crusades

Civetot. Only a few survived. Thus ended the unfortunate People’s Cru­
sade, which did not have much in common with Urban Il’s ideals.
In the meantime, a true Christian army had been raised. Feudal lords
headed four contingents, who had not, however, established a joint
command. The names of some of the lords were to be lauded by bards
and troubadours throughout Europe. The first contingent was led by
Hugh, Count of Vermandois, the brother of King Philip I of France;
Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine; and his Godfrey’s cous­
GODFREY in Baldwin of Bourg. The second contingent was led by Prince Bo-
OF BOUILLON, hemond of Taranto, leader of the Normans from southern Italy, and
a leader of Tancred of Hauteville, his nephew.
the First Crusade,
“Defender of
Count Robert of Flanders, Duke Robert Curthose of Normandy (Wil­
the Holy liam the Conqueror’s son), and Count Stephen of Blois led the third con­
Sepulchre". tingent. The largest contingent was led by Count Raymond of Toulouse
and included Adhemar de Monteil, the apostolic legate and bishop of Le
Puy; all in this contingent were commonly called Franks.
The international army, initially of four thousand cavalry and
twenty-five thousand infantry, arrived in Constantinople and was
warmly welcomed by Emperor Alexios I. On June 19,1097, it recaptured
Nicaea, which was returned to the Byzantines. On July 1, it defeated the
Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Dorylaeum. On June 2,1098, after a seven­
month siege, it captured well-fortified Antioch, just three days before
the arrival of Muslim reinforcements. After the Crusaders had taken the
city, the roles reversed, the Turks laying siege to Antioch. But the knights
made a bold sally and defeated the enemy.

TROUBADOURS
sang about
the heroism
of Crusader
knights.

BATTLE OF
DORYLAEUM,
in which the
Crusaders
defeated
the Seljuk Turks
in 1097.
 SIEGE OF
ANTIOCH,
1098, was
a victory for
the Crusaders.

After that victory, there was a serious difference of opinion among

the leaders of the Crusade, namely between Bohemond and Raymond
of Toulouse. The former took control of Antioch and did not want to
fight on. The latter insisted on marching to Jerusalem. Bishop Adhe-
mar, who mediated at such times, had died of an illness in 1098. Lack­
ing his intervention, neither strong-willed leader would back down.
The majority of the Crusaders, however, wanted to continue the fight,
and they issued an ultimatum: if no one would give them the order to
march out, they would destroy the walls of Antioch. Bohemond then
agreed to push on toward Jerusalem.
On June 7, 1099, after capturing Muslim strongholds on the
way, the Franks saw Jerusalem on the horizon. Six days later, they
launched the first attack, which ended with heavy losses. Shortly
afterwards, they received news that a powerful Fatimid army had
left Egypt to lift the siege and was but forty-seven miles away in
Ashkelon. Hence the Crusaders had to capture Jerusalem before re­
inforcements arrived. So virtually the same situation as at Antioch
arose again, except that there were fewer soldiers (1,500 cavalry LEADERS OF
and 25,000 infantry), while the Jerusalem walls were much more THE FIRST
massive (almost fify feet high) and held a strong and rested gar­ CRUSADE:

rison, recently arrived from the Nile delta. The Crusaders were in 1. Tancred
of Hauteville,
a difficult situation. They were short of water, as the Muslims had
poisoned nearby water sources, and food supplies were low. It was
2. Bohemond I
of Taranto, and
the middle of summer, and the heat was intense, particularly for Eu­ 3. Raymond IV,
ropeans dressed in full armor. It was impossible to capture the city Count
without siege engines. Yet they did not lose hope. Their main as­ of Toulouse.
set was extraordinary determination. They had covered thousands
of miles over three years, fighting bloody battles en route, finally
to reach their destination. Only one thing remained: the liberation
of the cradle of Christianity, Jerusalem, the center of the earth,
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

as Urban II had said. Despite the hopeless situation, they believed

that they would succeed.
The arrival in Jaffa of a flotilla from Genoa on June 17 turned
out to be a turning point. After taking the port, the Genoese, cover­
ing forty miles, provided the Crusaders with wood to build siege

JULY 15,1099, engines. On July 15, the Crusaders launched an attack and captured
Jerusalem was the city.
liberated from What took place afterward casts a shadow on the Crusades to this
the Muslims.
day. The Crusaders carried out a bloody massacre. Contrary to what
is sometimes said, the Crusaders did not murder Syrian, Armenian, or
Greek Christians living in the city, or Jews, since the governor Iftikhar
al-Dawla ordered them to leave before the arrival of the Franks, not
wanting to risk mutiny within the city walls.
During the siege, Muslim civilians were permitted to leave the city,
as there were not enough Crusaders to guard the forty-foot city wall;
so they concentrated almost all their forces on selected parts of the
fortifications. The lack of a tight blockade saw a large part of the in­
habitants depart, attested to by contemporary accounts of the serious
overcrowding in nearby Ashkelon.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Hence, when the city was attacked, there were mainly soldiers
present, along with some inhabitants. They were concentrated at
the Temple Mount, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in the Dome of the
Rock, which were the last resistance points. The Crusaders killed all
of them, except those who had taken refuge in the Tower of ©avid,
to whom Count Raymond of Toulouse personally gave a guarantee

BATTLE SCENE
between
Crusaders
and Muslims.

of safety. The governor Iftikhar al-Dawla, and his retinue were among
those set free.
According to Massimo Viglione, there was no justification for the
massacre, but one can attempt to explain why it came about. One must
remember that in those days similar things happened very frequently.
The rule was as follows: if a city surrendered voluntarily, it was shown
mercy; if it resisted, it could be plundered. That was the practice of the
Muslims. On August 10, 1096, the Turks slaughtered twelve thousand
of the People’s Crusade in Xerigordos. On June 4,1098, they butchered
the whole Pont de Fer fortress garrison. The same rule also applied to
battles among Muslim believers. On August 26,1098, one year before
the arrival of the Crusaders, Jerusalem was recaptured from the Seljuqs
by the Egyptians, who murdered all the defenders.
Running amok on the battlefield, the Crusaders, says Viglione, no
doubt had in mind four centuries of Muslim conquests, when men
were killed, women sold to harems, and children Islamized. But now
they could finally take revenge for centuries of defeat and humili­
ation. They also probably did not want to take prisoners due to the
approaching Fatimid army.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

We know that the leaders of the Crusade did not participate in the
massacres (with the exception of Tancred of Hauteville). Godfrey of
Bouillon fasted for one month on his knees in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre to atone for the crimes committed by the Crusaders.
After capturing Jerusalem, a question arose as to who was to rule
the city. Count Raymond of Toulouse was certainly the most deserv­
BATTLE OF ing. Without his iron will and resolve, success would not have been
ASCALON, possible. On being offered the throne, he said that he would not wear
1099, sealed
a gold crown in the place where his Savior, Jesus Christ, wore a crown
the European
knights’ victory of thorns. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first to break through the city
in the First walls, also refused, using a similar argument, but agreed to assume
Crusade. the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre".

The Franks did not rest on their laurels. On September 12, they sur­
prised an Egyptian army, routing it near Ascalon. Count Raymond of
Toulouse, who soon after left the Holy Land, distinguished himself in
the battle. Most of the Crusaders also returned home, having fulfilled
the vows they had made. Thanks to reinforcements from Europe,
most of Judea and Galilee were occupied. Later, new Christian states
were established: the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa,
and the County of Tripoli.
 (<>]pmion Stt cfcnjit rt
'tcccqiufcnfiut.

The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

«»n>iu 'tnueaucioy
Cce KfmHeQtu^ranr
nufttcrau0iaitic it
” faounwtnif oifaVUTc (ce

CORONATION
of Baldwin II,
third ruler
of the Kingdom
of Jerusalem.

In July 1100, Godfrey of Bouillon, barely forty years of age, sud­ CHAPEL
denly fell ill and died. He was replaced by Baldwin of Boulogne, of the Holy
Count of Edessa, his brother, who had no scruples about taking the Sepulchre,
in the Jerusalem
title of king. Thus arose the new Kingdom of Jerusalem, which lasted
basilica.

KINGS
RICHARD
AND PHILIP II
receiving the keys
to Acre after
the city was
taken in 1191.

FORTRESS
IN ACRE,
the Crusaders’
main port in
the Holy Land.
JERUSALEM
after it was
liberated by
the Crusaders
— 12th-century
painting.

ST. BERNARD
OFCLAIRVAUX,
initiator
of the Second
Crusade.

almost two centuries, until 1291, when Acre, the Crusaders’ last
stronghold in the Holy Land, was lost.
Over almost two centuries, several more Crusades were organized
with but one aim, that is, to protect the Crusader states in the Le­
vant against Islamic aggression. In 1144, the Muslims captured Edessa,
the easternmost Christian outpost. In response, Bernard of Clairvaux
initiated the Second Crusade, which set out in 1147, led by Emperor
Conrad III of Germany and King Louis VII of France. The Crusaders
 RICHARD
THE LIONHEART,
king of England,
leader of the Third
Crusade.

BATTLE
were defeated at the second Battle of Dorylaeum and later forced to OF HATTIN,
withdraw from Damascus. a Crusader defeat
in 1187, led to the
In 1187, Saladin, the new ruler of Egypt and founder of the Ayyu-
loss of Jerusalem.
bid dynasty, defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin and then
captured Jerusalem. On hearing of this, Pope Gregory VIII initiated
the Third Crusade, which set out for the Holy Land in 1189, led by Em­
peror Frederick Barbarossa, King Richard I of England, and King Phil­
ip II of France. The Crusaders defeated the Muslims several times,
reaching Cilician Armenia. However, on June 10, 1190, Barbarossa
fell off his horse and drowned when crossing the Saleph River. Rich­
ard I of England, “the Lionheart”, took over command and conducted
a number of brilliant campaigns, capturing Acre and defeating Sala­
din at the Battle of Arsuf and the Battle of Jaffa, but then he decided
against a siege of Jerusalem. On September 2,1192, he signed a three-
year truce with Saladin, under which the Palestine coast remained in
FREDERICK I,
called Barbarossa,
drowned in 1190
during the Third
Crusade.

SALADIN
THE GREAT
entering
Jerusalem.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

Christian hands, while the interior of the country was to be ruled by

the Muslims. Saladin, however, undertook to allow Christian pilgrims
access to the Holy City.
In 1198, Lotario dei Conti di Segni became Pope Innocent III and
at the very outset of his pontificate initiated the Fourth Crusade to
liberate Jerusalem. As had been the case with the Third Crusade,
there was no obvious leader, since the most important European
rulers were either too young, excommunicated, or engaged in other
BONIFACE wars. In April 1199, Richard the Lionheart, the most predisposed to
OF MONTFERRAT
lead the Crusade, died after having been wounded. Hence the feudal
was chosen as
the leader lords, mainly French and Flemish, took control. They chose Mar­
of the Fourth quess Boniface of Montferrat as their leader and decided to reach
Crusade. the Holy Land by sea rather than by land. Thus they sought a fleet
that would be capable of transporting an enormous
number of Crusaders to the Holy Land. They turned
for help to the Republic of Venice, at that time the
mightiest sea power in Europe.
Venice was ruled by Enrico Dandolo, an aged
and blind doge who enjoyed great authority
and who, despite his advanced age, impressed

HISTORIC
VENICE,
with the cupola
of the Basilica
.1 of St. Mark in

aiHiiiiitii,«.. 1
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

people by his inexhaustible energy and iron will. Tl^e Chronicle

of Novgorod mentions that he had been blinded in 1173 by or­
der of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos. The rulers of GREAT
Constantinople mutilated their opponents in this way, including COUNCIL
the Bulgarians and the Venetians, against whom they fought for CHAMBER
mastery over the seas. Historians are of the opinion that a desire in the Doge’s
for revenge on the hated enemy was one of the motives behind Palace, 59 yards
long and 27 yards
the old doge’s actions.
wide.

Enrico Dandolo came to an extremely favorable arrangement with

the Crusaders, undertaking to transport the whole army to the Levant
for eighty-five thousand silver marks, a tremendous amount of money
at the time. The payment was to be made regardless of whether anyone
actually boarded a ship. On top of that, the Venetians were to receive half
the territory gained in the Near East.
 ENRICO
DANDOLO,
the blind doge
of Venice,
addressing
participants
in the Fourth
Crusade.

PORTRAIT
of Doge Enrico
Dandolo.

DOGE’S TOMB
in the Hagia
Sophia.

THE BLIDD DOGE property in the East

in 1171; and (2) because
THERE WERE no mon­ tives of rich patrician the emperor
archs in the merchant families. had him blinded two
Republic of Venice. The In 1192, eighty-five- years later. Hence the
doge was the most im­ year-old Enrico Dandolo doge sought an oppor­
portant official, elected became the doge, and tunity to take revenge,
for life in two stages: one of the creators of which he did in 1204.
(1) by an assembly of all Venice’s power. He har­ A year later, at the age
the adult citizens; and bored a grudge against of ninety-eight, he died
(2) by an electoral college Constantinople for two in Constantinople, which
selected by the Great reasons: (1) because the he had conquered,
Council of Venice, com­ Byzantine emperor had and he was buried
posed of 480 representa­ confiscated his in the Hagia Sophia.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The Crusaders expected four and a half thousand knights, nine thou­
sand squires, and twenty thousand infantry to participate in the Cru­
sade, and so arranged for an appropriate number of ships. But as it hap­
pened, only half that number of Crusaders turned up in Venice, and they
were short thirty thousand marks to pay for the transport. T^e doge
would not agree to a reduction in either the number of ships or their
cost. He suggested that the Crusaders capture the Croatian port of Za­
dar for him in lieu of payment. Zadar had belonged to Venice, but the
city had sought its independence by accepting the rule of neighbor­
ing kingdoms. Venice tried repeatedly to regain Zadar, but the city ap­
pealed to the pope and the king of Hungary for protection. The cun­
ning doge saw in the Crusaders’ problems an opportunity to win back
the strategic port.

VENETIAN
DOGE
RECRUITING
soldiers from the
Fourth Crusade.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

The majority of the Crusade leaders accepted the doge’s propo­

sition. Marquess Boniface of Montferrat and papal legate Peter of
Capua, a cardinal, immediately set off to Rome to inform Pope Inno­
cent III of what had transpired. Dismayed, the pope sent an emissary,
the abbot Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay, to stop the Crusaders, threatening
them with excommunication. The doge, however, appealed to the chi-
valric code and the promises the feudal lords had made. The majority
put their honor before the pope’s demand and decided to attack Zadar.
Only Enguerrand de Boves and Simon de Montfort refused to comply
with the shameful arrangement.

ZADAR
CAPTURED
in 1202 by
the Crusaders.
 The Crusades » VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Zadar was captured on November 24, 1202. Despit^the fact that

its inhabitants had hung crucifixes on the walls, the city was looted,
the churches plundered and desecrated. On hearing of this, the pope
excommunicated the Venetians, but that did not deter them. Worse
was to come. t
A Byzantine prince turned up in Zadar, a pretender to the impe­
rial throne. He proposed that the Crusaders set off with him to take
Constantinople. In return, he would pay them two hundred thou­
sand marks, provide them with ten thousand soldiers, maintain five
hundred knights in the Holy Land for life, end the Great Schism,
and subordinate the Eastern Church to the pope. He was not in a po­
sition to fulfill these promises, but the feudal lords accepted the
proposal, persuaded by the doge and Boniface of Montferrat, who
saw it as the only chance for the Crusade to succeed. And again, INNOCENT Ill’S
only Enguerrand de Boves and Simon de Montfort protested. The BULL
excommunicating
pair decided to leave their companies, and together with their sol­
participants
diers, they crossed the sea to Syria, where they successfully fought in the Fourth
against the Muslims. Crusade.

At the beginning of April 1203, the Crusaders’ fleet set sail. One
week later, the Venetians who had remained in Zadar completely de­
stroyed the city, thus punishing the rebellious inhabitants for years
of revolt and resistance. Meanwhile, the fleet captured and plundered
the island of Corfu, which was part of Byzantium.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

On July 17, 1203, the Crusaders captured Constantinople-

regarded as the richest city in the Christian world, though its
days of glory were over—and placed Alexios IV Angelos on the
throne, expecting payment from him. Just as he had promised,
the new emperor recognized the pope’s sovereignty, but he
only paid his allies one hundred thousand marks, half of what
was due to them, the proceeds from the melting of precious li­
turgical vessels from Orthodox churches. Aware that his pow­
er was fragile, he persuaded the Crusade leaders to stay until
March the following year, while he went about finding the
CONSTANTI­ rest of the money that was due them. The Byzantines, how­
NOPLE
ever, became increasingly dissatisfied with his rule, as he bur­
CAPTURED,
a painting by dened them financially in order to pay the Crusaders. Even­
Domenico tually, Alexios was overthrown and replaced by Alexios
Tintoretto V Doukas, who prohibited the Crusaders from entering the city.
in the Doge’s The French and the Venetians decided to take what was owed
Palace, Venice. them—with interest.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Hence Constantinople was taken on May 12, 1204\Three days

of slaughter, robbery, and rape ensued. Even holy places were not
spared: churches were profaned, and relics looted, including the
Shroud of Turin, which was not found until the mid-14lh century in
Champagne, France.

The chronicles do not mention whether the blind doge felt any BRONZE HORSES
satisfaction in taking revenge on his hated enemy. But Venice, it is plundered from
certain, benefitted most from the rogue expedition, for it broke the Constantinople,
above the portal
power of its most dangerous rival in the battle over the seas and
of St. Mark’s
seized most of the spoils during the sack of Constantinople. To this Basilica in Venice.
day, one can see treasures from Constantinople in Venice, includ­
ing the famous Bronze Horses on the balcony above the portal of St.
Mark’s Basilica.
The Crusaders did not stop at conquering the city but introduced
a new order. On May 16,1204, Count Baldwin of Flanders and Hain­
aut, one of the leaders of the Crusade, was proclaimed the first em­
peror of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Shortly afterward, an
ordinary Venetian subdeacon, Thomas Morosini, became the first
Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. The end of the schism was also
announced, but the Byzantines never came to terms with the loss of
their capital, though they retained power in several small countries
in Asia Minor. They eventually recaptured Constantinople in 1261.
PRICELESS RELICS
in the St. Mark’s
Basilica treasury,
looted from
Constantinople
during the Fourth
Crusade.

Thanks to the documents housed in the Vatican Secret Archives,

we know that Pope Innocent III bent over backward at critical mo­
ments to prevent a catastrophe. He sent letters throughout the world,
pleaded, threatened, imposed excommunications and interdicts. Even
before the Crusaders had set out from Venice, he—as if sensing some­
thing-warned that they could not be used to fight Christians, particu­
larly those subject to the king of Hungary. After the enthronement of
Alexios IV, he ordered them to set out for the Holy Land rather than
stay in Constantinople. But all his requests were ignored.
News from the East reached him somewhat late. The leaders of
the Crusade presented a version of events in their letters that signifi­
cantly differed from reality. The pope did not learn the truth about
the sack of Constantinople until the beginning of 1205, whereupon he
excommunicated those who took part in it. In a letter to Baldwin of
Flanders, he wrote:
ALEXIOS IV
ANGELOS
was the
Byzantine
emperor for
under six months.

The Latins [have given] nothing except an example of

affliction and the works of Hell, so that now [the Greek
Church] rightly detests them more than dogs... .You rashly
turned away from the purity of your vow when you took
up arms not against Saracens but Christians, not aiming to
recover Jerusalem but to occupy Constantinople, preferring
earthly wealth to celestial treasures. . . . For they, who we
believed to be seeking things not for themselves but for
Jesus Christ, showed no mercy for reasons of religion, age,
or sex. . . . [They ripped] away silver tablets from altars
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

CAPTURE
AND SACK
of Constantinople,
1204, opened
up centuries of
hostility between
the Orthodox
Church and
the Roman
Catholic Church.

and br[oke] them into pieces among themselves, violating

sacristies and crosses, and carrying away relics.7
The outcome of the Fourth Crusade was tragic. The
Crusaders, not meeting a single Muslim along the way, turned
their destructive forces against their fellow believers. They
plundered Catholic Zadar and Orthodox Constantinople,
committing the worst kinds of crimes. They contributed to VENETIAN
MANUSCRIPT
the fall of the Byzantine Empire, humiliating the Greeks, and
depicting
deepened the rift between the Eastern and Western Churches, Crusaders
which has lasted to this day. In the eyes of many, they ultimately attacking
compromised the idea of a Crusade altogether. Jerusalem was Constantinople.
not liberated.

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Ynceb^iun
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•(quee pdtG anapcre
THE CRUSADERS' LAST STAOAGHOLD
ACRE WAS ONE of the most
important settlements of the UNDER­
Phoenicians, a people that boasted GROUND
CITY
the greatest sailors and merchants
of Crusaders
of antiquity. Its heyday, however, in Acre,
was in the 12th and 13th centuries, a major tourist
when it served as the capital and attraction.
the main port of the Kingdom of
Jerusalem. In 1291, Acre, the last
Crusader stronghold in the Levant,
fell to Muslim forces. In later cen­
turies, it became a stopover
for pilgrims on their way to the CITADEL
Holy Land. Its importance de­ built atop the
creased in the 19th century due foundations of
a Crusaders’
to the dynamic development
fortress in the
of nearby Haifa. 18th century.
Today, one can still admire the
underground city of the Crusaders
in Acre and the city built by the
Ottoman Turks on top of it. In the
lower part, one can see defense
walls, foundations of buildings,
residential and commercial areas,
streets and passages, as well as
underground corridors. Later,
on the ruins of the medieval
capital, high-density housing
appeared in the Near East style.

i
 FREDERICK II
ANDAL-KAMIL
AYYUBID
met and signed
an agreement
on the control
of Jerusalem.

Later, further attempts were made to liberate the Holy Land, but they
ended in failure. There was a Fifth Crusade against Egypt (1217-1221),
which even saw the Crusaders take Damietta, a port on the Nile, but
after two years, they were forced to withdraw.
The Crusade (1228-1229) headed by Emperor Frederick II led to
the most bizarre course of events. As the emperor had been ex­
communicated, this expedition could not receive official sanction
from the pope. Rather than engaging the Muslims in battle, he en­
tered into negotiations with the sultan of Egypt Al-Kamil Ayyubid,
signing an agreement on February 18, 1229, under which Jerusalem
(excepting the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-
Aqsa Mosque) was to be under Christian control for ten years. In
return, the emperor undertook not to support any military action
against the Muslims. Frederick II crowned himself king of Jeru­
salem, declaring that he generously forgave Pope Gregory IX for

POPE
GREGORY IX
excommunicating
Frederick II.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Crusades

KING excommunicating him. Many saw this as impertinence, but it was in

OF FRANCE line with the monarch’s character, as well as the battle for primacy
Louis IX in between the papacy and the empire.
a painting
When Jerusalem was captured by the Khwarezmian Tatars in 1244,
by El Greco.
another Crusade was organized, which set off four years later, led
by St. Louis IX, king of France. The Crusaders took Damietta, but
ST. LOUIS were later defeated at Cairo. The king was taken prisoner but was
receiving ransomed for a huge sum. He, however, did not give up the idea of
Communion on
another Crusade, which set out in 1270. But during the siege of Tunis,
his knees in a
Franciscan habit. bubonic plague broke out. The king and a great number of Crusaders

BLANCHE
OF CASTILE
with her son
St. Louis.
 The Crusades VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

died, while the rest quickly returned to Europe. Thus t^e Seventh
Crusade, and the last, ended in defeat.
During the following years, the pressure of Islam increased. 1291
saw the fall of the port city of Acre, the Crusaders’ last stronghold in
the Holy Land. The news caused a stir in Europe. Money was taised
for another crusade, but King Philip IV of France got his hands on
all the funds, having had the Knights Templar order disbanded and
their treasury seized. Despite this, Catholics did not forget about the
liberation of Jerusalem. Even several dozen years later, St. Catherine
of Siena wrote that the aim of every Christian ought to be the regain­
ing of the Holy Sepulchre. The situation changed radically towards
the end of the 14th century, when the Ottoman Turks, dominant in
the Balkans, began to advance on the rest of Europe. The Hungarians
and the Poles took the main brunt of the attack. From then on, people

ST. CATHERINE
OF SIENA,
born 56 years
after the
expulsion
of the Crusaders
from the Holy
Land, held
that the task
of Christians
was to regain
the Holy
Sepulchre.

did not think about retaking the Holy Land but rather about defend­
ing Europe.
In Massimo Viglione’s opinion, it is necessary to separate two ele­
ments in Crusade history: the idea of a just war, which is justifiable in
certain cases, and the sinfulness of people, who even in a just war man­
age to commit unjust deeds. The Crusades did not tame the wild instincts
of Crusaders. What began with noble goals eventually suffered a moral
collapse. Pope Innocent Ill’s correspondence shows that if the Crusaders
had listened to him, history would have turned out completely different.
 IRELAN

1st CRUSADE 1099

2nd CRUSADE 1147-1149
ENGLAN
3rd CRUSADE 1189-1192
4th CRUSADE 1202-12Q4
Cologne
POLAND
TLANTIC ORMANDY Mainz

OCEAN Regen,
GERMANY
Vezelay
Vienna
FRANCE
Clermont HUNGARY
LEON
ARAGON Genoa
CROATIA
NAVARRE
1} Zadar
rseille
CASTILE
CATALi
Toledo SERBIA
me
itinople

Cordoba

ARMENIA

DES CYPRUS

Sydon J£
_ J. A
JerusaL
Bethlehei
 Paradoxes
of the Inquisition
 CHAPTER 4

Paradoxes
of the Inquisition
Vatican 'w
Harbingers of totalitarianism and the rule
ITALY of an “amoral superhuman elite”

In 1998, Pope John Paul II decided to declassify all the Vatican

Secret Archives’ files (4,500 documents) pertaining to the Inquisi­
tion. An international research commission was set up under the
leadership of Prof. Agostino Borromeo from the Sapienza Univer­
sity of Rome. An eight-hundred-page volume, the fruit of six years
of toil—containing the conclusions of sixty historians from across
the world—completely rejects the Black Legend associated with the
infamous Spanish Inquisition.
AGOSTINO
 Paradoxes of the Inquisition VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

It is not possible to understand the Inquisition witi^out under­

standing the nature of heresy, a religious opinion that arises from
Christianity but is contrary to the official teaching of the Church.
From the very beginning, the Church has opposed erroneous teach­
ing, because by falsifying salvific truths, it could prevent bebevers
from attaining eternal life. Already in the first century, Christians
were constantly confronted with various sects that advocated dif­ DISPUTE
ferent understandings of Christ and his teaching. In early medieval between two
Europe, debates with the sects were based on theological arguments, adversaries—
11th century
very often at a high level of abstraction, while punishments were
bas-relief.
usually of a canonical nature. The situation was somewhat different
in Byzantium, where in consequence of the alliance between the
emperor and the Eastern bishops, religious disputes automatically

HERESY
KN : ” r " < yyM xypsv V 0
-nwpMOu- has always
> (hop'ncpj t caused problems
in the Church.
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pierces an image
-♦ J’fef' X? "T* * TP amifai ' of Jesus.
The Inquisition
XOoTpC^c p; was established
to combat such
heresy in
a peaceful and
orderly manner.
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 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition

took on a political character, which sometimes took a very brutal

course.
The situation began to change in the 10th century, when mass heretical
movements appeared. They mainly developed among the uneducated
poor, attracted by the simplest of slogans without understanding their
doctrinal subtleties. Such slogans were used by the apocalyptic prophets
of those times, itinerant preachers like Peter of Bruys, Henry of Lau­
sanne, or Tanchelm of Antwerp. Some, such as Eon de 1’Etoile, even
claimed to be new messiahs.
Their religious postulates, however, had certain social consequences.
If, for example, one could pray anywhere, and there was no difference
between a stable and a church, then churches ought to be torn down.
If only itinerants could be preachers, then contemplative orders ought
SECULAR to be done away with and monasteries closed. If the apostles' sharing
COURTS
everything in common is the ideal, then private property ought to be
often used
torture, even abolished and rich men deprived of their wealth. If Christ forbade tak­
in matters of ing vows, then vows ought to be invalidated, including marriage vows
heresy. and fealty oaths (on which the feudal system rested). Hence, a move­
ment that advocated such things had within it an enormous potential for

social destruction. In practice, it led to palaces and monasteries being

plundered, churches being set on fire, and people, deemed as enemies,
being killed.
All this occasioned the secular penal codes’ provisions for draconian
penalties against heretics, and this happened long before the Inquisition
arose. The reign of King Robert II of France saw the first heretics burnt
at the stake in Orleans (toward the end of the 10th century), a practice
that was primarily opposed by Church hierarchs. Secular courts had con­
ducted heresy trials for decades, frequently inflicting torture and im­
posing death sentences. The people often demanded such penalties and
sometimes took the law into their own hands. Religious conflicts were
often an outlet for economic or ethnic tensions. An accusation of heresy
 RING
CAMMILLERI,
an Italian
historian,
in conversation
with Grzegorz
Gorny.

became an effective political weapon to destroy an opponent, or at least

to justify the use of violence against him.
We had a meeting in Rome with Rino Cammilleri, an Italian histori­
an who wrote a book about the Inquisition.1 According to him, Cathar-
ism was the first great heretical movement in Europe. It encompassed
a large part of the continent and was a great challenge to secular and
Church authorities for almost three centuries. It was derived from the
Armenian Paulicians and Bulgarian Bogomils, appearing in the West

CATHARS
EXPELLED
from
Carcassonne
in 1209,
after Simon
de Montfort
captured the city.
CARCASSONNE after the year 1000 and spread mainly in Latin and Germanic cultural
in Languedoc circles.
was one The Cathars' theological doctrine bore a destructive potential for
of the main
strongholds
the social order of the time, for it was based on a Manichean vision
of Catharism of the universe, according to which a good god created the spiritual
in France. world while an evil demiurge created the material world. This inevi­
tably led to a negation of all that was material. In theology, it meant,
for example, the rejection of the teachings on the Incarnation and
the Eucharist. But Catharism also had certain social consequences,
pertaining not only to religion, but also to government, medicine,
marriage, and family life.
According to Catharism, procreation was the gravest sin, as it
maintained human bodies in existence. It permitted any form of in­
tercourse, even the most perverse, so long as it was not fecund. The
Cathars had but one sacrament, consolamentum, which was their
form of baptism. It was believed to make a person perfect, and it
was usually administered before death. After receiving this sacra­
ment, some Cathars practiced endura, a suicide by starvation, so that
they could be assured of salvation. Mothers were reported to have
starved their children to death, convinced that they would thus be
 ST. FRANCIS
PRAISE OF THE CREATURES IN ECSTASY,
Giovanni
Bellini’s
1480 painting.
ST. FRANCIS of Assisi’s of a terrible demiurge. Yet
"Canticle of the Sun", also St. Francis praised all creation
known as "Praise of the as the work of a good Crea­
Creatures", is one of the tor. He praised the sun, the
world’s best-known medieval moon, and the stars, as well
literary works. It is impossible as wind, water, fire, earth,
to understand this work flowers, herbs, and fruit—all
without seeing it in the that was repugnant to the
context of the struggle with Cathars. In addition,
heretics, as St. Francis wrote he wrote the work in Italian,
the work with the Cathars not Latin, in order to make it
in mind, for they rejected easier to reach ordinary peo­
the whole material world ple, among whom the Cathar
as evil in itself, the creation heresy spread the most.
 I - H ■- I

saved. Since death by starvation is a long and painful process, some­

times Cathars would ask others to suffocate them.
Cathars were divided into two groups: the Perfect and the ordi­
nary unbaptized believers. The former practiced asceticism and
veganism, not eating anything that was the fruit of procreation.
The latter allowed all manner of wickedness, as everything that ex­
isted had no meaning and so deserved to disappear. Hence court
ST. HILDEGARD judgments, oaths, or agreements had no validity to them. This was
OF BINGEN, a consequence of the logical assumption that every secular power
Benedictine nun,
was evil of its nature since it represented the material world. Even
mystic, composer,
and early natural medicine was evil, because it saved human life, sinful human bodies.
scientist. Thus doctors were seen as enemies of the human race.
So it is not surprising that a heresy which proclaimed hate for all
creation and undermined the legitimacy of any state authority, met
with a decided reaction on the part of secular monarchs. According
ST. BERNARD to Cammilleri, kings and princes fought against the Cathars before
OF CLAIRVAUX, the Inquisition was established. Even excommunicated rulers—such
French Cistercian as Frederick I (Barbarossa) and King Henry II of England, who had
theologian,
philosopher, and St. Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, murdered—im­
Church reformer. posed death penalties on heretics.
The Church strove to deal with heresy verbally, as recommend­
ed by St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Hildegard of Bingen. But on
the whole, theological arguments did not convince the Cathars. It
also happened that heretics who submitted to Church penalties—for
example, Henry of Lausanne (also known as Henry of Bruys) or Ar­
nold of Brescia —later returned to their former activities and incited
FRANCE
riots.
Seeing the Church’s weakness in the battle with iconoclastic sects,
secular rulers decided on other methods. Experience had shown
them that ruthlessness was much more effective than forbearance.
In northern France, where secular courts dealt severely with her­
esies, they were cut to the quick. Meanwhile, in southern France,
where decisive measures were not applied, heretics often used force Carcassonne
to undermine the existing social order.
Heretics were frequently victims of mob rule. Rino Cammilleri
gives some examples. In 1040, there was a conflict between the in­
habitants of Milan and some Cathars from Monforte d’Alba. The CARCASSONNE
archbishop wanted to impose a Church penalty on the heretics, but is medieval
the Milanese burned them at the stake instead. In Soissons in 1114, Europe's
largest
the locals, fearing that the local bishop would spare some heretics,
fortified city.
pulled them out of a prison and burned them. A similar thing hap­
pened in Liege in 1135. One can give many more examples. How­
ever, one must bear in mind that people in those days saw threats to
their souls as more serious than threats to their bodies, as the former
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition

could entail eternal damnation. Hence, heretics were seen

as a threat to the whole of society.
Cammilleri has no doubts that the Church was drawn
into a legal battle against heresy by secular authorities
and public opinion, as the bloody persecutions of heretics
were initiated by princes and ordinary people. Collective
responsibility was applied during summary and extrajudi­
cial proceedings. Hence people who had joined the Cathars
through theological ignorance or in fear of their neighbors, were
POPE frequently sentenced to death. Thus arose the idea of an inquisition,
GREGORY IX which was to prevent such situations.
promulgated It came to being gradually, by decisions of successive popes: Lucius III, In­
the code
nocent III, and Gregory IX. In 1179, the Third Council of the Lateran anath­
of canon law
in the Catholic ematized heretics who “respect neither churches nor monasteries, and spare
Church, which neither widows, orphans, old or young nor any age or sex, but like pagans
remained in force destroy and lay everything waste’’2. In 1184, an edict was issued during a great
until 1918. assembly of princes and clergy in Verona, which ordered preventive actions
against heretics, aiming to expose them and nip the danger in the bud.

Verona

ITALY

THIRD
COUNCIL
OF THE
LATERAN
excommunicated
Cathars and their
protectors. The first investigations (Latin: inquisitio) pertaining to heresy were
launched on the basis of the edict. Penalties were severe. Those who did
not show remorse were sentenced to death, while those who did returned
to the bosom of the Church. If no crime like plunder or murder had been
committed, penance was required, for example, a symbolic scourging, a
fine, a recitation of a prayer, or a pilgrimage. Henry Charles Lea, an Ameri­
can historian (a Protestant), wrote that though Inquisition penalties were
severe, their purpose was to protect civilization, as the victory of Catharism
would have entailed drastic consequences for the whole of Europe.
 FORTRESS
OF MORNAS
belonged
to Raymond VI,
Count
of Toulouse.
During the
Cathar Crusade
(1209-1229),
it was run by the
bishop
of Arles.

That was evident at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, dur­
ing the reign of Philip II of France, when southern France was
plunged in anarchy and chaos. The Church in particular was attacked.
Armed bands robbed churches and monasteries, tortured and mur­
dered priests and monks. Local barons often inspired the attacks,
including Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse and Gaston IV, Viscount
of Bearn, who used the heretics for their own political aims. Feu­
dal lords often came into conflict with the Church, as it opposed
marriage within the family while the lords preferred such mar­
riages, which enabled them to evade the division of their property RAYMOND VI,
and depletion of their wealth. Hence, financial issues led magnates Count
in southern France to support Catharism, which, thanks to them of Toulouse,
was one
spread widely.
of the most
Initially, the Inquisition was directed by bishops, but that influential
turned out to be ineffective since it limited their authority to defenders
one diocese. All a heretic had to do was move to another dio­ of the Cathar
cese to escape being indicted. Those were times when it took sect.
months or even years for news to travel between principali­
ties or provinces, allowing fugitives to act with impunity. Apart
from that, bishops frequently lacked the theological knowledge
to have debates with heretics. Thus the Holy See decided that
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition

papal legates, specialists in theology and law, directly subordinate

to Rome, were to be responsible for inquisitions.
In 1208, Pierre de Castelnau, a papal legate in Languedoc, was mur­
dered due to the influence of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse, a pow­
erful feudal lord who supported the Cathars. His murder caused great
indignation and prompted Innocent III to initiate the Cathar Crusade
ALBI’S (also known as the Albigensian Crusade, named for the city of Albi,
CATHEDRAL the center of Catharism). It drew many French knights and encom­
(right) was passed almost the whole of Languedoc for two decades (1209-1229),
designed as an
architectural
ending in victory for the Christians. The last Cathar fortress (in
symbol of the Montsegur) did not capitulate until a nine-month siege in 1242. Its
papacy’s triumph defenders were burned at the stake. It was then understood that to
over Catharism. combat heresies, it was necessary to use severe means right from

LAST the outset, before they became dangerously strong. Inquisitions

JUDGMENT, were to serve that end.
mural in the There are numerous files in the Vatican Secret Archives that
Cathedral
of St. Cecilia confirm the observations of Norman Cohn and Rino Cammilleri
in Albi (left). concerning the interrogations of medieval sect members. There
are also the papal documents that formed the basis of the Inquisi­
tion, one of which is the Capitula contra Patarenos, promulgated on
March 7, 1236, by Gregory IX. The name of the document comes
from the armed bands called Patarines (or Routiers or Cottereaux),
who attacked churches, murdered clergy, and committed sacrile­
gious deeds. Capitula contra Patarenos was a collection of rules
aimed at preventing Catharism from spreading further. It was the
 > r-

CAPITULA
CONTRA
PATARENOS
by Gregory IX,
original
manuscript
housed
keystone of new antiheresy legisla­ in the Vatican
tion and the foundation of a close coopera­ Secret Archives.
tion between secular and Church jurisdictions.
Gregory IX wanted to end the state of affairs where
the theologically incompetent passed sentences on
those who spread heresy. One of the new institu­
tion’s tasks was to prevent the innocent from be- *'■'
ing convicted. After the institution was established,
it turned out that the number of convictions fell,
and the fines were less severe. Secular courts were much more
zealous and cruel in tracking down heresy than the inquisitors.
The majority of the trials conducted by the inquisitors ended in
acquittals, admonishments, or Church penances. The death pen­
alty was quite rare. According to Cammilleri, 13th-century Tou­
louse, where the hottest dispute between the Catholics and Cathars
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES qy Paradoxes of the Inquisition

MIRACLE
IN FANJEAUX
as depicted
in Pedro
Berruguete’s
15th-century
painting.
According
to Jordan
of Saxony,
St. Dominic
had Cathar
and Catholic
texts cast into
a fire, but only
the Catholic
texts proved
resistant to
the flames.
 Paradoxes of the Inquisition VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

occurred, saw only 1 percent of the trials conducted by me inquisi­

tors end in the death penalty.
Initially, the papal legates entrusted the inquisitions to the Cis­
tercians, who had the appropriate theological formation and so
could hold debates with the Cathars. They traveled throughout Eu­
rope proclaiming the Gospel and held discussions with heretics. At
times, they were attacked and killed by their adversaries. St. Domi­
nic de Guzman, an Inquisition coadjutor, survived several attacks.
He came to the conclusion that the Cathars could be overcome by DOMINICAN
their own weapon. He noticed that the their most effective weapon RULE, based
was the word, coupled with poverty. Their preachers, zealous, elo­ on the Rule of
St. Augustine, I
quent, and poor, walked in pairs from village to village, from town
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to town. They showed by their own example that they were not
interested in material goods, as these did not bring true happiness.
They thus attracted people.
Hence, St. Dominic decided to found a new order with a preach­
ing mission, one bereft of wealth. Its members were to be educated,
VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition
BEGinnmGS
OF THE ROSARY
THE ROSARY developed as
a response to the Cathar danger.
It recalls the basic truth of the Faith,
namely, the Incarnation, in which
God (absolute Good) unites himself
to matter, which the Albigensians
considered evil. The repetition of the
Hail Mary—a prayer based on two
fragments of the Gospel: the angel
Gabriel’s words to Mary and
St. Elizabeth’s exclamation, “Blessed is
the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”—consoli­
dated the message in people’s hearts
and minds. The very existence of
Mary, the human Mother of God, was
an antidote to the Cathar heresy. ST. DOMINIC, according to tradition, received
The Albigensians were curious about the Rosary from Our Lady in 1214 while praying
the Rosary, as they themselves used in a forest near Toulouse.
a prayer string with coral beads,
called a paternoster, on which they
recited the Our Father. It was the
only prayer they had retained from
the whole of Christian tradition.
Hence, it was easier to reach them
with another element of the old tra­
dition, the Hail Mary.
St. Dominic did not think up
the Rosary himself, but according to
tradition received it from Our Lady
during a vision, together with
a promise of special favors. Domini­
can testimonies of the time attest
to the fact that the prayer turned
out to be extraordinarily effective
during missions among the Cathars.
Since then, it has been universally
recognized in the Catholic Church
that Mary is the best slayer of heresy,
and the Rosary has become ROSARIUM is the Latin term for “rose garden”.
the most-used Catholic spiritual In the Middle Ages, prayers were seen
weapon. Numerous mystical writings as spiritual flowers, and reciting the Rosary was
and Marian apparitions, such as like presenting Our Lady with a bouquet of roses.
at Fatima, testify to its power.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition

pious, and poor, and to devote themselves entirely to an itiner­

ant evangelism. Thus arose the Dominican Order, which was en­
trusted with supervising the Inquisition. St. Peter of Verona, who
came from a Cathar family, became one of its best-known inquisi­
tors. He was very familiar with the Cathar faith, which he compared
and contrasted with Catholicism, especially during his theologi­
MARTYRDOM cal studies in Bologna, where St. Dominic’s sermons inclined him
of St. Peter of to join the Dominicans in 1221. He was very successful as an itin­
Verona—16th-
erant preacher in northern Italy, converting numerous heretics.
century painting
by Girolamo In June 1251, Innocent IV appointed him as one of the two in­
Savoldo. quisitors for Lombardy, but he did not participate in any trial. On

April 6,1252, while walking from Como to Milan, he was murdered by

some Cathars.
According to Cammilleri, inquisitors were usually greeted not
with fear, but rather with a sense of relief. If the people were un­
happy with their verdicts, it was not because of their severity, but
rather their leniency. It was not uncommon that defendants were
 Paradoxes of the Inquisition VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

saved from mob rule; counting on fair treat­

sig .
ment, many preferred to be under the jurisdic­
tion of the inquisitors rather than that of the VlMjVlsniON L’lNQUISITION,
secular authorities. /T’.VTT*’ a study by Jean
Marian Malowist, a Polish historian, wrote that and Guy Testas.
“the Inquisition was not an instrument of a cruel
eradication of those who thought differently, but
an attempt to rationalize the judicial process, so
that it might be conducted according to regulations, vnu*1**
I °“y Testas

as well as an attempt to ascertain the truth.”3 Jean

and Guy Testas, French authors and brothers, are of
the same opinion, maintaining that against the back­
ground of the generally prevailing court customs, the Inquisi­
tion was the most objective institution of its time. There was
a general conviction that its existence prevented two dangers:
the emergence of mass heretical movements and judicial in­
justice.
The Inquisition took steps to improve the judicial process.
Thanks to Pope Gregory IX, defendants had the right to
be represented by a lawyer; a judge had to THE PURSUIT
submit his verdict to a jury, made up of the OF THE
most respected members of the local com­ MILLENNIUM,
Norman Cohn's
munity; and the defendant and his lawyer
book about
had the right to inspect the process files. the millenarian cults
Thus it is thanks to the Inquisition that con­ of the Middle Ages.
temporary civilization has inherited these
civil rights.
Norman Cohn, a British historian, wrote
The Pursuit of the Millennium (1957), one of
the best-known books on medieval apocalyp­
tic sects.1 This classic work pertains to destruc­
tive heretical movements that proclaimed the
imminent arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven
and the Armageddon that would precede it. The
protagonists of his work are popular religious leaders in the grip
of eschatological obsessions, with a sense of a supernatural mis­
sion, such as the Anabaptists Jan Matthys and John of Leiden. In
1534, these two men came to power in Munster, Germany, and the ten
thousand inhabitants willingly complied with their orders, proclaim­
ing that Munster was the New Jerusalem. A totalitarian theocracy
was established, based on terror and propaganda, and a meticulous
control over all areas of life was imposed, with the slightest deviation
punishable by death. Despite this, the inhabitants defended their
town with an unprecedented fanaticism.
 ST. LAMBERT’S
CHURCH,
Munster. To this day
three iron baskets 1
(left) hang from
its tower.
In 1536, these
baskets displayed the
quartered corpses
of the leaders of an
Anabaptist rebellion.

i Wlntthis uon tiarlcp. ,.

t3m.'i
,A.'xr - . A

The idea for writing the book came after World War II, when
Cohn, as an intelligence officer, was interrogating SS prisoners of
war. He was shocked by their worldview, according to which geno­
cide was an inevitable necessity and even the burning of children
was deemed good. He mentioned that he then came across a re­
ligious fanaticism based on a vision of an apocalyptic struggle on
a universal scale, when life or death was at stake. This inspired him
to start studying, which resulted in his book that compares National
Socialism (Nazism) and Communism with millenarian heretical
movements in the Middle Ages, noting an analogy between their
respective internal structures and mental frameworks. He defines
JAN MATTHYS, representatives of Gnostic sects and contemporary totalitarianisms
leader of a theocratic as an “elite of amoral people”. Both groups were certain where hu­
Anabaptist commune man history was heading and how the world should be cleansed of
in Munster. that which was destroying it. It always turned out that entire social
strata had to be eliminated: sometimes the clergy, sometimes the
JOHN OF LEIDEN,
fanatical cult leader bourgeois, sometimes the Jews. It was maintained that when it was
and dictator done, an ideal society would emerge, devoid of internal contradic­
of Munster. tions and tensions.
 Paradoxes of the Inquisition VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Norman Cohn came to a surprising conclusion. If medieval her­

etics, proclaiming apocalyptic revolutionism, were tne counter­
parts of modern totalitarians, then, perforce, Nazi hunters and the
intelligence officers who interrogated Nazi criminals had to bring
to mind the inquisitors who conducted investigations agamst the
Cathars, Amalricians, Taborites, and Anabaptists. Such a compari­
son forces one to see the history of the Inquisition in a somewhat

TORTURE
was ubiquitous

different light, as an institution that defended an elemental social

order against utopian social engineering projects.
Torture is a separate issue. It was practiced throughout Europe
until the 18th century, when King Louis XVI of France was the first
ruler to prohibit it. The Magdeburg Law, which was binding in the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance, saw an admission of guilt as the
only way to prove a crime and understood torture, inflicted up to
five times, as the only way to obtain an admission of guilt. In secular
 JLAN

VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition!

courts, torture was also seen as a kind of punishment. The Inquisi­

tion did not provide for corporal punishment in its sentences, which
were often delivered in a auto-da-fe.5 And the Inquisition rarely
used torture during interrogations because it regarded it as unreli­
able; a person who admitted to guilt under torture often retracted
his confession when he later had to confirm his testimony in writing
JEAN DUMONT before a Church tribunal. Jean Dumont, a French historian, discov­
wrote a book ered that in Valencia, of the two thousand or so trials conducted by
on the Spanish the Inquisition from 1480 to 1530, torture was used in but twelve of
Inquisition.
them. In Toulouse, from 1309 to 1323, torture was inflicted in but
one case out of the 636 trials conducted by the Inquisition.
Some historians who, from 1998 to 2004, went through the Vati­
can Secret Archives’ files on the Inquisition came to the conclu­
sion that only 2 percent or so of all the trials conducted by the

ANDREA
DEL COL wrote
a book on the
Italian Inquisition.

AUTO-DA-FE
Terreiro do Paqo
(Palace Yard),
Lisbon.

Inquisition in Europe ended in death sentences. Prof. Andrea Del

Col, from the University of Trieste, published a book in 2006 on
the Inquisition in Italy, which did not contain one illustration
depicting an interrogation, a torture session, or a burning at the
stake.6 He maintained that the vast majority of the best-known im­
ages pertaining to the subject did not correspond to reality. They
mainly arose much later and were influenced by the Black Leg­
end, which was spread about Spain toward the end of the 16th cen­
tury. The images turned out to be the work of Dutch Protestants
who were then at war with Spain over the independence of the
Netherlands. They used propaganda weapons, including pamphlets
that depicted the cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition. The English,
who were at war with Spain over the mastery of the seas, followed
 mouisiTion
TORTURES
ACCORDING TO
Prof. Agost^io Borromeo,
torture was used in less than
10 percent of the Inquisi­
tion trials, much less than in
secular courts, where it was
used on a daily basis.
Stereotype images of Inqui­
sition prisons as chambers
equipped with sophisticated
torture devices are also false.
According to Rino Cammill-
AGOSTINO BORROMEO eri, torture was only inflicted
noted a difference in the frequency in cases where there was
of torture used by the Inquisition highly incriminating evidence
and that used by the royal and city courts.
and all other means had
been exhausted. Torture
pertained only to adults, but
not the elderly, and a doc­
tor had to be present to
ensure that prisoners were
not maimed. The Inquisi­
tion used only one kind of
torture, where a man had his
hands tied behind his back
and then suspended in the
air, using a rope that was
attached to his wrists. This
was done three times, each
several days apart. If a pris­
oner did not confess, he was
set free. If he confessed, he
had to confirm it in writing.
Later, however, prisoners
most often revoked their
RING CAMMILLERI testimony as having been
explains that the Inquistion, unlike secular forced. Hence, the inquisi­
courts, did not see torture as a punishment, tors were not convinced that
but as an aid in interrogation.
torture was a reliable means
for establishing the truth.
MONUMENT suit, and in time so did other opponents of the Catholic Church, for
TO THE example, representatives of the French Enlightenment.
REFORMATION,
Maria Elvira Roca Barea, a Spanish historian, draws attention
Geneva. Left
to right: William to the disproportionate focus on the victims of religious persecu­
Farel, John tion in Europe. On the one hand, the number of people sentenced
Calvin, Theodore to death by the Inquisition is exaggerated; on the other, crimes
Beza, and John committed by Protestants are passed over. She gives the example
Knox. of Geneva, where during John Calvin’s time five hundred people
perished in a population of ten thousand (5 percent). Despite this,
nobody deems the father of Calvinism to be a criminal. The death

MIGUEL
SERVET,
a Spanish scholar,
astronomer,
doctor,
ethnographer,
burned at
the stake
for heresy
in Geneva in
1553 by order
of Calvin.
 Paradoxes of the Inquisition VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

of thousands of English Catholics during the early part'll Elizabeth

I’s reign is similarly ignored, with the queen still seen as a national
heroine in Great Britain.
In this context, the findings pertaining to witch-hunts are very
interesting. Brian Paul Levack, an American historian, author of
one of the most important works on this subject (The Witch-Hunt BURNING
in Early Modern Europe}, wrote that about three hundred thou­ OF THREE
sand women perished as witches in 16th-century Europe, of which "WITCHES”
by Protestants,
almost two hundred thousand were in Protestant Germany and
Baden,
seventy thousand were in Protestant England, that is, in coun­ Switzerland,
tries where the Inquisition did not exist. According to Levack, the 1585.

Inquisition in Catholic countries did not permit societies to suc­

cumb to witch-hunt hysteria. Prof. Agostino Borromeo maintains
that fifty-nine women perished as witches in Spain, thirty-six in
Italy, and but four in Portugal.7
Prof. Franco Cardini, an Italian historian and coauthor of
a book on the Inquisition, says that witch-hunts arose during the
Renaissance, and not in the so-called Dark Ages.8 He draws atten­
tion to the fact that in the Latin translation of the Bible, a person
who practiced sorcery was referred to as a maleficus, which is
a masculine noun meaning “wizard”. The Lutheran, Anglican, and
 INDEX
LI BRORUM
PROHIBITORUM
* S&u D. N.
BENEDICTI XIV,
PONTIFICIS MAXIMI
7v stv
Recognicus , atquc editus.

ROMA M.DCC LVni

Ex Typogriptui Reverend* Cxmerr Apedtolie* .
CUM 1UMM1 FONTI’ICH RRIVIliGIO

LIST OF PROHIBITED
BOOKS, 1758 edition.

COATOFARMS
of the Spanish Inquisition.
The sword to the right
of the cross symbolizes
the punisment of heretics
the olive branch to the lef
of the cross symbolizes
reconciliation for those
acknowledging their error.
Inscription around the
emblem: "Exurge Domine
et judica causam tuam"
(Psalm 73: “Arise, O God,
plead your cause”).

THE SPAOISH IHQUISITIOn

THE SPANISH INQUISITION, in the Vatican Secret Archives from
which is considered to have been 1998 to 2004, it was established
the cruelest of the Inquisitions, was that between 1478 and 1834
an institution completely dependent the Spanish Inquisition conducted
on the royal court in Madrid and about 130,000 heresy trials.
independent of Rome. Popes like Exactly 1.8 percent of the accused
Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Paul III, were condemned to death,
Pius V, Gregory XIII, and Innocent XII and 1.7 percent were convicted
protested against many sentences in absentia—those who managed
passed by Spanish tribunals, as they to escape or whose place of
saw them as too politicized and residence was unknown—in which
unjust. There were even cases where case symbolic effigies were then
the authorities in Madrid prohibited burned at the stake.
the promulgation of papal documents According to Prof. Agostino
due to the differences of opinion Borromeo, historians from the 19th
between them and Rome. century onward confused court
On the basis of research carried out trials with death sentences, which
AUTO-DA-FE, 1680, in the Plaza Mayor, Madrid, before King Charles II
of Spain—painting by Francisco Rizi.

led to a highly inflated estimate Inquisition seen as having been

of Inquisition victims. Most trials extremely cruel, while the
ended in acquittals or temporal Portuguese is virtually never
punishments, the majority of which mentioned? It is because
were of a spiritual nature, such the English and the Dutch, in a bitter
as pilgrimages, penances, and conflict with Catholic monarchs
prayers, with a minority sending in Madrid, waged a propaganda war
to prison or the galleys. against them in the 16th century
It turns out that the Portuguese and beyond. The Anglicans and
Inquisition, also a state institution, other Protestants flooded Europe
was significantly more severe than with the Black Legend by spreading
the Spanish; it condemned pamphlets and books depicting
to death 5.1 percent of the accused the Spanish tribunals in a bad
in 13,255 trials from 1450 to 1629. light; they did not mention the
In view of this, why is the Spanish Portuguese, who were their allies.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Paradoxes of the Inquisition

Calvinist translations feminized the word, and applied to women

such terms as witch, hag, and sorceress. In effect, male practi-
cioners of the black arts disappeared, and mostly women were
JEAN BODIN,
accused of witchcraft.
leading proponent
of modern Women were convicted en masse in Protestant countries for
absolutism and pacts with the devil, night flights on brooms, and ritual infanti­
witch-hunting. cide. Inquisitors in Catholic countries, learned theologians, did

SIX BOOKS OF not believe in such things. In 1526, there gathered an assembly
THE REPUBLIC, of inquisitors in Grenada, where it was stated that flying witches
1576, Jean
were an impossibility; the majority of participants stated that such
Bodin's main
work (right). witches did not even exist.
According to Prof. Marina Montesano, from the University
of Genoa, author of two books on the Inquisition, the source
of witch-hunts lies in the decline of the medieval political or­
der and its replacement by the absolute state, as the latter re­
quired a collective enemy.9 Hence, modernity brought crimes on
a scale unprecedented in prior centuries. It was no coincidence
that Jean Bodin, one of the most influential French intellectuals
of the 16th century, the main theoretician of the absolute state,
was also the author of an extremely popular treatise, On the
Demon-Mania of Witches, wherein he recommended the most
ruthless penalties against witchcraft. No other work exerted
 ST. JOAN
OF ARC,
French national
heroine. In 1431,
at 19 years
old, she was
condemned on
false charges by
a Church court
and burnt at the
a greater influence on the escalation of witch-hunts in Europe
stake. She was
than this text of Bodin, a lawyer and politician who, on the other rehabilitated
hand, wrote the famous The Six Books of the Republic, where­ 24 years after
in he formulated a modern theory of sovereignty—the first her death by
to do so. Callixtus III, who
The Inquisition’s power occasioned a natural temptation to acknowleged
that her trial
abuse it. At times, free of the Church’s tutelage, it became an in­
was unlawful.
strument of secular authorities, as was the case in the trial of She was beatified
Joan of Arc. The French national heroine was sentenced to death in 1909
for alleged witchcraft, in complete disregard for Church law and and canonized
in violation of the inquisitorial procedures on the part of Pierre in 1920.
Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais, who was obedient to the English
and did not have the competence to conduct the trial himself.
The Spanish Inquisition was always a state institution, never a
Church one. At the service of the royal court, it sometimes abused
its prerogatives, its victims being not enemies of the Church but
opponents of the monarchs. There were even times when suc­
cessive popes condemned the activities of the Iberian inquisito­
rial tribunals, while Spanish kings prohibited the dissemination
and public reading of Roman documents pertaining to the matter.
There was also another temptation connected with the activities
of the Inquisition. When the beginnings of some dangerous idea
are being investigated, every unconventional thought appears to
be suspect, since no one knows where it could lead. Thus man’s
freedom comes under fire, as it poses a threat to rulers and the
prevailing system. So the phenomenon of the Inquisition poses
a question about human freedom and its limits, for the most
monstrous crimes are a consequence of man’s free will. Hence
the tension between freedom and evil action is an inescapable
challenge because men are weak and prone to selfishness.
The Inquisition was one attempt at coping with this problem.
It was not a consequence of a totalitarian inclination, but on the
contrary, an attempt to prevent the spread of the most destructive
ideologies. But is it right to increase control over people at the cost
of limiting their freedom? In the face of terrorism, for instance, is
it right to keep citizens under surveillance at all times and deprive
them of their civil liberties?
DISCOVERY

•X) o>)
 OF THE WORLD, TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

w"'

Conquistadores
and Missionaries
 CHAPTER 5

Conquistadores
and Missionaries
Vatican European conquest of America
iTALY and the fate of the Native Americans

There are two documents in the Vatican Secret Archives that were
promulgated virtually one after the other by Pope Paul III: the apostolic
letter Pastorale Officium, of May 29,1537, and the encyclical Sublimis
Deus, of June 2,1537.
Pope Paul Ill’s name has not gone down in Church his­
tory in letters of gold.. Alessandro Farnese began his long
road to the summit of the Catholic hierarchy thanks to his
sister Giulia, Pope Alexander VI's mistress. As a paint­
ing by Raphael attests, she was very pleasing to the eye.
Her influence occasioned that, at the age of twenty-five,
Farnese was appointed cardinal, though he was not even
a priest. He lived a worldly, dissolute life, maintaining nu­
merous contacts with humanist scholars and artists from
Florence and Rome. He too had a mistress, with whom he
had three sons and two daughters. As a layman, he was invested
PAUL III, with four bishoprics before being ordained a priest at the age of
called the “last fifty-one and beginning a celibate life. Five years later, he became
Renaissance dean of the College of Cardinals. During a conclave in 1534, he was
pope".
elected pope and took the regnal name Paul III. His pontificate, like
his predecessors', was characterized by evident nepotism. He was
MANY FILES
in the Vatican
Secret Archives
deal with
the colonization
of America.
 TJn nomine £?jnetc <r indinidne SZnnit.itis Harris *7 f ilii
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noiPETRVS P A V LVb Paiifiusprorbonounui ApoUolicu Juris uniul (i doctor ^nChflimi Domini nofln Papr^mAp
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d.z. Salutcro Bi Apottobtam bcncdidioncm. Altitudodiuuuionfilu quod liumaiuncquii unocomprebendrre TVl,r lnu
fncn/xbonitatisdkntia^liquid Amper ad lalutcin bununi genfrii pullulaiu;<cmporc«ongruo4: fob Aiofecreio nnkdkrto,
quod ipfe Deusnouit/’ppoiruno product'fit manitcltat>ut tOgiKfcam moiMia ex fun nunt o tanquam ab ipfis, nihil profiterc
poflcjied eoruni falutcm« oiihk donum graeix ab ipio lunimoDeo a: pane lununuin piouemrc.Sane cum ficur non line gran
di&Ipintuah mentis noltrx l.u.tu,a<c<pui>usqujpiu(is; iiuoixD.cidiiicalis a.’Mrndioiubs Jndixdicetdiuinx finr kgis taper*
tes^amtofpiritu ramen COopcrJuccilluUfati.crrorcsquosbjCtcrutobfccuiiuntjpciutusabcoruin mcntibustt cordibus abieco
xujmc fideicatbobcx uertuu tn A iaiictx Romans ixakfix uniatcm ampkdiA fccundun ritutn ciufdcm Romans ecdcfix
uiueicdefyderent X prop mint. Nosqutbus onuws oucsd.unucu liini cominifl r,cupicntucaj qux extra uerumoutlelquod eft SUBLIMIS DEUS,
Cbrtlius funtpdiplumouilGUlbjt ex illiSunus pallor di ununiot;lcpcrduccrt,av faneiiflatorum apoftolotum qui nobisuerbo
ftcxcmplopafioialBofficutormamtndcn'cs.uakcnLSccclclixnianriamlade^rcucelamucroc.usecitemJobdocibonu'nc '• Paul Ill's
iunt,ucuigus inhcrcndo,rwucllasplincatioiics ipbus ec<.k)ix,quas n dicta Occidciirali X Miridtonah India alnflimuj plancarcdb
gnatus ell Jie donee coalcfcanr ut non omniaqux pct otbem cccldu uni hrmata,iuilodir II j vuliodicnda, mandemus, fed tan. encyclical, was
quam paruuhs in Cbiitlo aliqua piterno aifcCtu nidulgeainuSfCoiibucrc ,Ac circa eoruni rrjenci arioncs nonnulla ut eiiam accept
luus Aiborta dubia.pnmitus fubmouerr uok-nus tnatuia fupcr hx dcbbcrattoncprxhabiu luclontate Apoiiolica nobis ab ipio
the first papal
domino nollro JrAi Chrdlo pet beatuni Pctruni cui & futtclfoilbis luu apoUobtus miiultcn dilpmiationcm commtfir.tradita
tcnorc przfcntium^cicmimusX drclaiamuspllosqui IndosadidcmChrdb uemcnccsnonidbibius ceremonusX feknnitaru
document
bus ab ccdcGa obftnuttQqinomine amen ianctilbnirTm«>MA»iwup<zaiirjiuil.jion pc.'-'^exum confydcratis tunc occurrend devoted
bus fit ilhsbonicxcaufapitiniusuifum fuiffc expedite.El utbutilmodinoucllxpui'k. iours quantx dignitatis fir lauacnim re»
gcncraiioms, quantuinqi abillis Uuacrisquibus in antca m fuamhdcliutc utebantur.diif.rat non ignorenr, ftatuimus, urqui to the native
inipottcrum extra urgenum neccflicat.ni factum baptiliiu ininfltabunt ca obleiuenc,q><» a diila cecidia obfrnuntur oneratn
fuper tab ncccflitatcconttcn'iiscoium^xcra quam quidcin net'fliutem laltcm iixe qu*_ orobAlucntur. Pnmum aqua faettf population
acbonibusfatictiiicrtur.bccunduin CatbcctfinusX cxor.ifinus flit hnguiis. Tcitium faljabuixapilium,# candela ponatur>duo
bus ucltribuipio omnibus utnusqi A xustunc baptizidis. Quarrum tiilma p natur inuciticccjp.r.s>K oleum catbecuininorurn
of America.
ponarur fupcrcorum adultl, pucrotum Jt pucIlaium.Adulcuucro mulicribusponatur in dh pastequam ratio pudicitix demon
lirabit. Super corum ucro mitriinoiuislijcobicruandum dcccrnimus,ut qut ante conut ifionempluies luati illorummoiem ha
bebant uxomAnonrecordantur quain priinoacctpcnnt^onucriiad t' lcin uium ex iliisacciput quam uolucrtntA'^nm ea ma
mmonium conrralniuptruerba dr prxienriut mornrft.QtirdrT^.»« -•«<- quamp7^)BacxcjMi»Mln>dinnflbcMn renne
ant: AccisconcrdimusurcoaiunAictijminccruogradu (tainconlanguunurisquamafimtJtiS n ’nexcludantur a marntnonw
Z contralimdis^oncc huicGmtx AdilupcrhocaliuduifumiucrJ Uatucndum. Er circa aBflincntumab libs fuAipicndamttiani
/ flatuimus quod m uigilia Nariuitatis« RcfurreAioms donum ndiri !<■ fu L liriiii fit omnibus f< x ns Anis quadragdims leiunarc
tcneaniut.Cxrcrosurto kiuiiioiuiii d.cs>cotumbcnep|jcito,pn-'purnouam corum ad lidcmconucifuncin^t ipliusgcntisinnr-
jnitst inDcrinittiqptv~'“‘odiriumuinripugiianslaiiicatiudu>iibcncquadramofli.io'iclexciatioalicutusnonccnfcarurilli
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liter duacritiscommirrcndasoiiiiicsiiouircrconucrfosjpridift aimqu.buku p fedi Apofltolicxrcfcruatis cafibus,ctiam in htertf
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nephcitumfa.ulucemccnccdimus. Lip Jlhcmonc ilil in Cbcitloparuuli nulls exempli* coi rumpantur quod aliquis ApolLta
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ui nequcai,dricrmnuisu®is ndulommus iniungcntcs.ur ipfos ApoUatasex ueftns dioc.ommno exp.llaris & cxpcllcrc faugaus
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lictiubiuipna^figflk. —wE.-:A-opinumiti*^uk tulrspfti’<usiniudlHo6ir*W i.Ikuii adb-berftur
htcrufifotcntcihibi«\adftenfaMdonobftantibusconflitutiA.ibusCtordinattoi IBcucften qicottar qui
Dat. Romx ai-udSanfkm I’crrum. AnnoincaruationisPonilu.x Milltfimoquingetu. adotrigc mo ^p nio •
’ n r D L V 5 I ’ J.
Ponotuu. MOTTA.

solicitous about the material security of his children and elevated

two grandsons to the cardinalate—Alessandro, aged fourteen, and
Guido, aged sixteen.
On the other hand, he has also gone down in history as the pope
who patronized Michelangelo, excommunicated King Henry VIII
of England, approved the Jesuit order, and convoked the Council of
Trent to reform the Church, which was going through a grave crisis.
It was during his lifetime that America was discovered and the
first native slaves brought to Europe. Contemporary scholars at the
universities of Oxford and Salamanca maintained that the natives
were not human beings and so were bereft of human rights. Influ­
enced by a Dominican, Bartolome de Las Casas, who disagreed with
such views, the pope commissioned a comparative anthropological
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

study. He also collected reports from overseas missionaries, who

saw the natives as human beings.
Hence Paul HI sent an apostolic letter (May 29, 1537) to the pri­
mate of Spain, Cardinal Juan Pardo de Tavera, archbishop of Toledo,
wherein he stated:

SPANISH
COLONIZATION
of Latin America
gave rise to
new nations, These Indians, although they live outside the bosom of
whose cultures the Church, nevertheless have not been, nor are they, de­
synthesized prived of their freedom or of ownership of their own pos­
native and
sessions, since they are human beings and, consequently,
European
elements. capable of faith and salvation.1
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The primate was not a random addressee. Spain spearheaded the

conquests in the New World, while some of the Catholic theologians
from the Iberian Peninsula, led by well-known humanist Juan Gines
de Sepulveda, had endorsed an armed conquest of America and the use
of force against the natives.
Several days later, Pope Paul III promulgated an encyclical, Sublimis
Deus, which stated:
The enemy of the human race, who opposes all good deeds
in order to bring men to destruction, beholding and envying
this, invented a means never before heard of, by which he might
hinder the preaching of God’s word of Salvation to the people:
he inspired his satellites who, to please him, have not hesitated
to publish abroad that the Indians of the West and the South,
and other people of whom We have recent knowledge should
be treated as dumb brutes created for our service, pretending
that they are incapable of receiving the Catholic Faith. We, who,
though unworthy, exercise on earth the power of our Lord and
seek with all our might to bring those sheep of His flock who are
outside into the fold committed to our charge, consider, how­
ever, that the Indians are truly men and that they are not only
capable of understanding the Catholic Faith but, according to our
information, they desire exceedingly to receive it. . . .Indians
and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians,
are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession
of their property, even though they be outside the faith of Jesus
Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, en­
joy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should
they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall

PRE­
COLUMBIAN
AMERICA
was dominated
by tribal social
structures.
 ST. ADALBERT
ransoming Slavic
slaves-bas-relief
on Gniezno
Cathedral door.

be null and have no effect.... [T]he said Indians and other peo­
ples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching
the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.2
Why was Paul Ill’s encyclical not to everyone’s liking? This was
largely due to the fact that slavery was one of the oldest institutions
in human history. It was commonplace in almost all civilizations.
Aristotle, regarded as one of the greatest philosophers in history,
accepted slavery as an outcome of war and stated that men bereft
of the capacity for rational thought are natural slaves. In the Roman
Empire, a slave was treated as the property of his master, who could
ARISTOTLE do anything to him with impunity, even kill him. The Old Testa­
took slavery ment did not question slavery, although it required that slaves be
for granted. treated leniently.
In the statements recorded by the Evangelists, Jesus did not call for
the abolishment of slavery. Nevertheless, his teaching and example
caused his followers to see each person as a child of God, bestowed
TTf-fC-T;
with enormous dignity.
n> < CAfrClX
St. Paul wrote that in Christ “there is neither slave nor free” (Gal
J C A£*T+t 3:28). “For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman
'MN ;t6€>..' of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of
Q>c Christ" (1 Cor 7:22). He appealed: “Masters, treat your slaves justly
Ajsl T'Y ni'- and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Col
4:1). “Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same again
from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same
to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their
LETTER TO Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with
PHILEMON him” (Eph 6:8-9).
written by St. Paul St. Paul’s Letter to Philemon was written in defense of a run­
in defense of a slave.
away slave called Onesimus. The apostle begs Philemon to accept
Onesimus “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved
180 brother” (Philem 1:16). St. Paul uses a telling argument: “Though
I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required,
yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you” (Philem 1: 8-9). He
later adds: “I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order
that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own
free will” (Philem 1:14). Hence, according to St. Paul, Christianity is
 Conquisladores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

not to be a social revolution, imposed by force, but rather a spiritual

and moral revolution, a change of heart.
Fr. Jacek Salij, a Dominican theologian from Poland, writes:
In a society where such ideas were propagated—frequently by
people not at all interested in rebellion—the days of slavery as
a social institution were numbered. A common faith usually drew
master and slave closer to each other, and relationships of subjec­
tion sometimes changed to intimacy and friendship, which often
turned out to be stronger even than death. Church martyrology
bears testimony to cases where masters were martyred alongside
their slaves, such as the well-known martyrdom of St. Blandina
and her master in Lyon (177 AD) or the equally famous martyr­ ST. GREGORY
doms of Sts. Perpetua and. Felicity in Carthage (203 AD).3 OF NYSSA
The writings of the Church Fathers contain many statements wrote fiery works
condemning
stigmatizing slavery. The sharpest criticism is undoubtedly that of
slavery.
St. Gregory of Nyssa. His commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes
condemns slavery. At the same time, however, some early Chris­
tian writers were, in certain cases, for humanitarian reasons, against
granting slaves freedom, since some masters were known to rid
themselves of ailing, decrepit, or old servants in order to free them­ ST. PAUL THE
APOSTLE
selves of their obligation to look after them. St. John Chrysostom
writing his
wrote that slaves were not to be freed without first teaching them epistles-painting
a trade or giving them land otherwise they might end up in poverty by Valentin
or crime. de Boulogne.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

The decline of the Roman Empire saw a gradual improvement of

a slave’s legal situation. Masters could not maim or kill them, and they
had to look after them in old age. Meanwhile, the material and legal
status of the free rural population worsened to the point that in the
5th century both groups were practically on an equal level. During the
early Middle Ages, the lives of most slaves were not much different
from those of the peasants. The number of slaves steadily decreased,
ST. CYPRIAN since it simply did not pay to have them—the exception being in sea­
OF CARTHAGE faring countries, whose fleets needed oarsmen.
collected 10,000
gold pieces to
ransom prisoners
from the Berbers.

ST. AMBROSE
OF MILAN
even sold
liturgical vessels
to ransom slaves.
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

During ancient times, there developed also the practice of ransom­

ing people who had been taken into captivity. St. Cyprian of Carthage,
St. Ambrose of Milan, and St. Paulinas of Nola, for example, were
famous for ransoming people. The practice took on an institutional
form with the Trinitarian and Mercedarian orders, whose mission
was to ransom Christians taken prisoner or enslaved by Muslims. The
monks made an additional religious vow, namely that in the event of
a lack of funds, they would sell themselves in order to save Christians.

European slave ownership flourished again in the 15th century, when NATIVE
Portuguese sailors began trading in black slaves captured in Africa, be­ AMERICANS
lieving that they had the approval of the pope. During their conquest PRAYING
before an image
of America in the 16th century, the Spanish were faced with a tempting
of Our Lady
vision of cheap labor from the natives in their colonies, in spite of the of Guadalupe.
Crown’s objection to their enlavement. Thus began questions and dis­
putations regarding the rights of Native Americans, not only to freedom
and property, but even to their humanity.
To settle the matter, Pope Paul III promulgated the encyclical Sublimis
Deus. What he wrote was obvious to the Franciscan missionaries, who
had arrived in Mexico thirteen years earlier (1524).
eouie
OttfKUte

3CPW

uiwifus apnroi.i:

BL’nCifei

ALEXANDER VI, Division OF THE DEW WORLD

author of Inter
Caetera.
THERE IS A DOCUMENT days, both these Iberian countries
in the Vatican Secret were leading powers in ocean ex­
Archives that confirms peditions, geographical discoveries,
a division of the and the conquest
western hemisphere. of new lands. In order to avoid open
It is Pope Alexander conflict, Madrid and Lisbon came
Vl’s bull Inter Caetera to an understanding; the pope
of May 3,1493, acted as an arbiter, who, according
which divided the to the tradition of the time, legal­
spheres of influence in ized the right of European mon­
the New World between archs to newly discovered lands.
Spain and Portugal. In those The boundary demarcated by
 1502 MAP
depicting the division
of the New World
between Spain and
Portugal (indicated by
a vertical line).

BRAZILIAN COAST,
shown in this map,
was subject to Portugal.

Alexander VI between the two spheres of influence

ran south, about 342 miles west of the Azores.
Spain had exclusive rights to all the lands it might dis­
cover to the west of this boundary, while Portugal had
rights to the east. Over a month later, on June 7,
the rulers of both countries signed the Treaty of Tord-
esillas, which confirmed the pope's decision, though
it introduced a crucial correction to the benefit
of Lisbon, as the demarcation line was moved over
toward the Pacific, about 1,200 miles west of TREATY OF TORDESILLAS
the Azores. Thanks to that correction, Brazil was confirmed the partitioning
discovered in the Portuguese sphere. of America.
MSGR.
EDUARDO
CHAVEZ
with Grzegorz
Gorny.

There are few people who know the history of the first Catholic mis­
sions on the American continent better than Msgr. Eduardo Chavez,
a descendant of both Native Americans and white newcomers from be­
yond the ocean. He sees his own country as arising from a synthesis of
two cultures: native and European. He studied theology and philosophy
HERNAN at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, defending his doctorate
CORTES, in Church history. He is the cofounder and rector of the Institute Supe­
Spanish
rior de Estudios Guadalupanos (Higher Institute of Guadalupan Stud­
conquistadore
who conquered ies), which seeks to bring the phenomena connected with Our Lady of
the Aztecs. Guadalupe to a broader public.
We met Msgr. Chavez in his office in Mexico City, where he was
preparing a work for publication. All told, he has published about thirty
scholarly works, both specialized and popular, primarily concerned
with the history of the Church in Mexico. He told us about the conflict
that arose between the Spanish conquerors and the Franciscan mis­
sionaries at the very beginning of the conquest.

FRANCISCO
PIZARRO,
Spanish
conquistadore,
conqueror
of the Incas,
infamous
slave trader.
 Before moving on to this confrontation, however, we have to go TEOTIHUACAN,
back in time. Spanish conquistadores, led by Hernan Cortes, were a holy city for
various tribes
the first white people to appear in the Aztec Empire (1519). Though
in pre-Columbian
he had just 566 soldiers, he managed to conquer the most powerful America, located
Native American empire, with a population of ten million. That was in what is today
primarily due to the fact that the Europeans found devoted allies Mexico.
among the neighboring tribes. Take, for instance, the Tlaxcalans,
who lived in constant fear of the Aztecs, as the latter fought so-
called “flower wars” against them, ritual wars for the sole purpose
of capturing prisoners to be sacrificed to the gods.
Sacrificial days were celebrated as feast days. The victim was taken
to the top of a pyramid-like temple. Four priests seized the victim by
the arms and legs and laid him on a sacrificial stone. A fifth priest split
open the living victim’s chest with an obsidian glass knife and tore out
the heart with his hands. Then he sprinkled the altar with blood, threw
the heart into a large stone bowl, and pushed the body down the temple
steps. The scale of the proceedings was gigantic. In 1487 alone, during
the consecration of a temple in Tenochtitlan, tens of thousands were
thus killed over four days; historians estimate the number of victims to
be have been between 21,000 and 84,000.
Mass ritual murders were a part of the Aztec religion. They believed
that they were the chosen people, that they were responsible for the
prolongation of the world’s existence. In order that day might follow
RITUAL KNIVES
night, they believed, it was necessary to offer human sacrifices, de­ used by Aztec priests
manded by Huitzilopochtli, a terrible and insatiable god who directed to extract the hearts
the movement of the sun. Were there to have been a lack of human of living victims.
hearts in stone bowls and blood flowing down the temple steps, the
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

earth would have been plunged into darkness, and life would have end­
ed forever. So the Aztecs saw themselves as mankind’s benefactors.
The Spaniards were convinced that the Aztec religion was a demonic
cult. This mobilized them all the more to fight the disciples of a blood­
thirsty god. When the Aztecs were defeated and stopped offering human
sacrifices, they were overcome by a sense of despair and hopelessness,
as the sun still kept rising and the world continued to exist. It turned out
that their religion had been an illusion and that the death of countless
prisoners had been in vain. The vision on which they had built their lives
faded and was replaced by a spiritual, mental, and ideological void.

MARTIN
DE VALENCIA,
a Franciscan,
one of the first
12 missionaries
in Mexico.

FLORENTINE
CODEX
from the 16th
century, depicting
Aztecs sacrificing
human beings.

Apathy among the natives, combined with a mood of profound fa­

talism, made them quickly succumb to the Spanish invaders. Plunder,
violence, slavery, and all manner of injustice became the order of the
day. Spain was far away, so the conquistadores felt that they would go
unpunished for their evil deeds.
Compared with other conquistadores, Cortes was not cruel or
lacking in scruples. In his own way, he respected the natives. A Na-
hua woman, La Malinche, became his lifelong companion and his
chief adviser in negotiations with tribal leaders. He was undoubt­
edly solicitous about the salvation of Native Americans, since he
was the first to invite Franciscan missionaries to Mexico. Hence the
first group of religious—twelve men led by Fr. Martin de Valencia
—arrived in 1524.
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Shortly afterward, disturbing news began to reach the court in Ma­

drid. Rodrigo de Albornoz, an auditor who had returned from Mexico,
related that the conquistadores intended to become independent of
Spain and that their administration was marked by crime and injustice.
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decided to act, sending new adminis­
trators to Mexico, both secular and religious.

FRANCISCAN
MISSIONARIES
led by Fr. Martin
de Valencia, greeted
by Hernan Cortes
in New Spain.

In August 1528, a ship set sail for America from Seville, with mem­
bers of the first Royal Audience of Mexico: President Nuno Beltran
de Guzman, Alfonso de Parada, Francisco Maldonado, Juan Ortiz de
Matienzo, and Diego Delgadillo (joined later by Gonzalo de Salazar,
a tax collector). They made up the highest royal judicial tribunal in
New Spain. But in reality, they were a sort of collegiate government.
A Franciscan accompanied them, Fr. Juan de Zumarraga, who until re­
cently had been the superior of the monastery in Abrojo. He had been NUNO BELTRAN
nominated bishop of Mexico by the emperor, but his nomination still DE GUZMAN,
awaited confirmation by the pope. Spanish
conquistadore,
It was a time when Madrid lacked the means to fund overseas ex­
infamous for
peditions and conquests. Thus these ventures were mainly privately persecuting
financed. This meant that the conquistadores were not subject to the the native
control of the central authorities and that they themselves established inhabitants
their own order. Being, in the main, troublemakers, desirous of ad­ of America.
venture and wealth, they oppressed and exploited the natives, busy­
ing themselves with multiplying their fortunes rather than working
for the Crown’s interests. With this in mind, Charles V sent the first
Audience to Mexico.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquisladores and Missionaries

Unfortunately, the situation was then exacerbated. The new administra­

tors turned out to be worse than their predecessors. They soon came into
conflict with Cortes, who shortly afterwards set out for Honduras while
they confiscated his property. From then on, they were the only masters
in New Spain. A period of even greater oppression of the natives began,
marked by murder, violence, and plunder. Nuno Beltran de Guzman had
a particularly wretched reputation among the local population, since he
organized Indian hunts and sold his captives as if they were but animals.

JUAN DE
ZUMARRAGA,
Spanish Basque
Franciscan, first
bishop of Mexico,
defender of
Indian rights.

FIGHTING
THE AZTECS
A militia led by
Nuno Beltran
de Guzman,
president
of the first
Royal Audience
of Mexico.

Because they were practically beyond the control of Madrid, due

to the great distance, the first Audience did not respect the laws en­
acted by the Spanish Crown. Only Catholic missionaries, including
Fr. Zumarraga—upon whom Charles I, the king of Spain, had conferred
the title “Protector of the Indians", with a charge to guard their rights—
protested against the conduct of the ruthless administrators. Zumarraga
was against the Audience’s policies, but he did not have the means to
counteract them. Neither did he have the authority, as he had not as
yet been confirmed bishop by the pope. The Franciscans also publicly
condemned the sins of focal authorities and so made enemies of the
conquistadores themselves.
According to Msgr. Chavez, it would be a mistake to imagine that
there were at that time two monolithic blocks opposed to each other,
the Native Americans and the Spanish. In reality, both camps were
FIRST CRITIC OF COLORIZRTIOR
The first public defense of Native American rights was a sermon by ^Dominican, Fr. Antonio
de Montesinos, delivered on December 21,1511, in Santo Domingo, now the capital of the
Dominican Republic. The preacher, turning to the colonizers, said:
You are all in mortal sin, and live and die in it.... Tell me, by what right or justice do you
hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? On what authority have you
waged such detestable wars against these peoples, who dwelt quietly and peacefully
on their own land?... Why do you keep them so oppressed and exhausted,
without giving them enough to eat or curing them of the sicknesses they incur ^B
from the excessive labor you give them, and they die, or rather you kill them, in
order to extract and acquire gold every day? And what care do you take that
they should be instructed in religion?... Are these not men?.. .Do they 1
not have rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as yourselves?4 Aft'
The sermon caused a scandal. After the Mass, the incensed viceroy of the
Indies Diego Columbus (Christopher Columbus’ son) issued the Dominicans
with an ultimatum: either Montesinos stopped publicly criticizing the
colonizers, or the monks would be expelled from Santo Domingo. But
a week later, December 28, Montesinos delivered a yet sharper
sermon, wherein he presented five principles that Europeans J
ought to respect in America: (1) divine law was above private Jj|
and state law; (2) there was no racial superiority
in the eyes of God; (3) slavery and servitude
were illegal; (4) freedom and wealth seized A
from the natives ought to be returned; I
and (5) Native Americans should not be 1
converted to Christianity by force, but rather
by the example of a good and holy life.
The Montesinos matter became well known j
in the Spanish colonies, and news of it
eventually reached the royal court. The 9
Dominican had to put his case to King 9
Ferdinand, who not only acknowledged
that he was in the right but also sum-
moned a team of theologians and
lawyers to draft a code of conduct
regarding the natives of the New
World. The result was the Laws of
Burgos fl512i and the Law of ,
Valladolid (1513), the first laws in ANTONIO DE
defense of Native Americans. J9 ' MONTESINOS, O.P.,
Antonio de Montesinos re- statue in Santo
turned to America, where he 9 Domingo, the capital
of the Dominican Republic.
ministered until his death in
1540, aged sixty-five and
universally respected.
MSGR.
EDUARDO
CHAVEZ,
Church historian
who specializes in
the history of the
evangelization of
Mexico.

diverse and divided. The natives never constituted a united front,

while the tension among them was cleverly exploited by Cortes. There
were also serious differences among the Iberians concerning conduct
in relation to the Indians. The greatest conflict flared up between the
administrators and the missionaries.
The first Audience, as Fr. Geronimo de Mendieta, a 16th-century
chronicler of Mexican Church history, relates,
turned against the friars as if they were capital enemies, not only
deprived them of the alms they used to give, but endeavoring to
defame them and tarnish them in the eyes of the public, and to
punish and disfavor them as much as possible. For fear that the
MEXICAN CROSS, friars might inform the king and his advisers of their abuses, the
with the Gospel first Audience used utmost diligence to control the roads and
message expressed trails by which the missionaries might have sent letters. So they
through Native
American motifs,
gave orders not to carry the monks’ letters until they had been
a symbol checked. Later, they searched ships, turning everything upside
of the Christian down to the ballasts in search of letters by friars. Not content
inculturation with that, they decided—just in case—to protect themselves at the
cost of the good names of the innocent monks, discrediting them,
in the event that they managed to get a letter sent. To this effect,
assuming the roles of witnesses and writers, they prepared their
own reports, accusing the holy bishop and his friars of things that
would never have even entered their imaginations.3
The letters to Madrid put not only the Franciscans in a bad light, but
also the natives. It was maintained that they were soulless barbarians,
which justified subjecting them to pillage and violence. That argument
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

convinced some theologians and lawyers, who supported the^first Au­

dience’s policies.
According to Msgr. Chavez,, the missionaries, on the one hand, de­
stroyed monuments and objects connected with pagan cults: temples,
statues, and codices. But on the other hand, they had great concern foiijo-
cal cultures, in all that did not pertain to the tribal religions. So they were
solicitous about the natives’ languages, customs, and practices and thus
helped to preserve their various heritages. However, they were primar­
ily concerned with saving the natives’ souls, wanting to pass on the truths
of the Gospel in the most understandable and convincing manner pos­
sible, knowing that the best way to do so was to utilize the people’s own
languages and cultures. But the greatest obstacle to evangelization turned
out to be the attitude of the conquistadores, which was a total negation of
Christian principles. The natives knew that the Europeans said one thing
but did another. At the same time, they observed the ever-increasing
conflict among the white newcomers.
Shortly after arriving in Mexico, Bishop Zumarraga summoned the
native elders and instructed them to come to him with any complaints

EXPEDITION
deep into
America, led
by conquistadore
Cristobal de Olid
(1522).

about the conduct of the administrators. In reply, the first Audience an­
nounced that any who did so would be hanged. As the power lay in secu­
lar hands, the natives were afraid to complain to the bishop.
The Spanish viceroys felt more and more immune from punish­
ment and were not afraid to challenge the Church directly. On the or­
ders of Diego Delgadillo, an armed unit forced its way into a convent in
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and missionaries

Texcoco and kidnapped two native novices. Two others were kidnapped
in a monastery in Huexotzinco and eventually killed; they had been in
hiding as they had angered Guzman by complaining to the bishop about
the conquistadores’ conduct.
The situation became worse. During a Mass attended by members of
the first Audience, Fr. Antonio Ortis began loudly to condemn their ill
deeds from the pulpit. Nuno de Guzman sprang to his feet and told him
EMPEROR to be silent. Undaunted, the Franciscan continued his homily. So Gonzalo
CHARLES V,
first ruler of
"an empire
on which the sun
never sets”.

GONZALO
DE SALAZAR,
governor of New
Spain for over
one year.

CAPTURE OF
GUADALAJARA,
the conquistadores de Salazar’s men forced their way to him and coerced the preacher to be
were aided by
the Tlaxcala tribe. silent. People in the tightly packed church never forgot that demonstra­
tion of strength.
Msgr. Chavez, relating those events, helplessly spread out his hands.
How could the natives have been evangelized, he asked, when Spanish
Catholics gave an antitestimony to the Gospel by not respecting the cel­
ebrants of that Mass and even coming to blows with them?
Guzman and his companions continued tirelessly to fabricate false
evidence against Cortes, Zumarraga, and the missionaries. They sent
reports to Madrid wherein they painted their adversaries in the worst
possible light. They also tried to prevent the Franciscans from alerting
Charles V about what was happening in New Spain.
 Conquisladores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

According to Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, a 19th-centiry Mexican

historian:
From the very beginning, members of the Audience put
a great deal of effort into intercepting correspondence to the
royal court. They had agents at ports who scrupulously checked
goods and people arriving in Mexico and departing for Europe.
They withheld letters they managed to discover, sending them
to the capital. Through these letters, the administrators came to
know who their hidden enemies were and what their open en­
emies had written. News of this disgraceful abuse, clear proof of
the perpetrators’ guilty consciences, reached the king. The indig­
nant monarch issued an urgent directive on July 31,1529, pro­
hibiting the opening, withholding, and interception of letters in
whatever way under pain of a lifelong exile from His Highness’
territories. That reprimand, instead of throwing the Audience
into confusion, prompted only a gesture of disrespect toward
the king; the administrators had the audacity to inform the king
that it would be to his benefit to do the opposite.7 BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Audience ignored the king’s prohibition and continued to with­ OF 16™-CENTURY
MEXICO
hold correspondence. Bishop Zumarraga, however, did not back down.
by Mexican
He came to an understanding with a certain Basque sailor, who hid historian Joaquin
the bishop’s report in a barrel of wax. He tied the barrel to the stern Garcia Icazbalceta.
of his boat, pulling it along like a buoy, not hoisting the barrel up onto
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

the deck until he was on the open sea. It was thus that the bishop’s first
report reached the king, and it described all the administrators’ crimes,
evil deeds, and abuses in detail, referring to Guzman as “a greedy devil
from hell”.
After reading the report, Charles V immediately dismissed Nuno
de Guzman. Guzman had been forewarned. Not waiting for a deci­
sion from Madrid, he left Mexico and together with a detachment
of five hundred soldiers set out to conquer new territories outside the
monarch’s control. He founded, for example, the city of Guadalajara,
where he became infamous for many cruelties against the local tribes.

DISMISSED,
Nuno Beltran
de Guzman spent
the last six years
of his life in
Spain, in poverty,
forgotten.

MAP OF NEW
SPAIN,
the overseas
province of
Madrid, published
in William
Robertson’s
History
of America.

One might have expected that after Guzman’s departure, the vio­
lence would cease and the Spanish administrators would finally listen
to the bishop. But it was otherwise. The remaining members of the first
Audience were not at all better than their erstwhile superior. There
were more conflicts between them and the missionaries, the most seri­
ous of which took place on March 4,1530.
That day, an armed first Audience unit forced its way into the Fran­
ciscan monastery in Mexico City and dragged Br. Cristobal de Angulo
out of his cell, along with Garcia de Llerena, Cortes’ servant. Both were
tortured the next day. Bishop Zumarraga organized a procession de­
manding their release. A disturbance broke out in the city. Icazbalceta
described the events thus:
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Insults were hurled by both sides. The bishop, unable to bear

Delgadillo’s public affronts against the monks, lost patience and
responded with the same tenor. When the turmoil was at its
peak, the procession was attacked, and the belligerent Delga­
dillo even struck the bishop with a spear, which fortunately did
him no harm.8
Msgr. Chavez underlines that this was an unprecedented thing. These
Spanish Catholics were not only openly scoffing at the king’s orders, but
trying to murder publicly the head of the local Church. It seemed that
there was nothing sacred to them. So the hierarch declared that he would
excommunicate the conquistadores if they dared to harm the two prison­
ers. The threat of excommunication did not make much impression on
them. On March 7, Br. Cristobal de Angulo was hung, drawn, and quar­
tered, while Garcia de Llerena was given a hundred lashes and had one
of his feet cut off.
Bishop Zumarraga excommunicated all the members of the first
Audience, suspended Christian liturgical worship in the capital of FRANCISCAN
New Spain, and ordered all the religious to leave the capital. Msgr. MONASTERY
and Church
Chavez writes that the baptized natives felt they had been aban­
of St. James
doned by their gods once again: first by their Aztec deities and now in Tlatelolco,
by the Christian God. 16th-century
capital of Mexico.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

At that time, according to Msgr. Chavez, the evangelization of

Mexico seemed to be a lost cause: just a handful of missionaries—
barely forty—an enormous territory, a variable climate, an alien
culture, and a great number of languages. The natives, conquered,
subjugated, and decimated by the diseases brought by the Euro­
peans, were in a state of despair. They heard that whole genera­
tions of their forefathers had served Satan, which only deepened
their desolation. In addition, the crimes of the conquistadores, who
had proved to be the Gospel’s greatest enemies, contradicted the
Christian message. Msgr. Chavez poses the question: How, in such
a situation, would it have been possible to proclaim God's love and
claim that this love was most fully revealed in the Church? In such
circumstances, it was a miracle that even some of the natives were
MAIN ENEMY converted.
of the first Nonetheless, as many as ten million were baptized over the follow­
Audience, Juan ing decades. Not only individuals and families requested to be baptized,
de Zumarraga.
but also whole tribes. People often walked for several days from regions
where no missionary had ever been.
Br. Geronimo de Mendieta, a 16th-century Franciscan chronicler wrote:
Initially, two or three hundred came at a time. The number of
people grew continually; it multiplied until they were coming by

NATIVE
AMERICAN
BAPTIZED
in Jose Vivara
Valderramy’s
18th-century
painting.
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

FRANCISCANS
driving away
demons with
their prayers.
This 16th-century
print from a book
by Diego Munoz
Camargo.

the thousands. Some came from places a two days’ walk away,
others, three or four days’, and others from yet more distant
places. Those who saw this were amazed. There came children
and adults, old men and old women, the sick and the healthy.
Baptized parents brought their children to be baptized, baptized
youth brought their parents, the husbands their wives, wives
their husbands.7
The Christianization of the natives turned out to be nearly uni­
versal, with most of the conversions true and lasting. Historians
acknowledge that it was the greatest missionary success in Church
history. Henceforward, Mexico has been regarded as one of the
world’s most Catholic countries. Mexicans stayed true to the Faith
even in the face of the bloody persecutions they were subjected to
in the 2O'h century.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

How was it possible that such mass conversions—which complete­

ly changed the face of the country in just a short time—occurred at a
time when evangelization seemed to be a lost cause? Msgr. Chavez,
who has dedicated many years to coming up with an answer, has no
doubt that it was due to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which
to the natives, contained something like a code. Decoding the signs
and the symbols that had inexplicably appeared on the tilma of a

\ t i
iv. mo fjLrc. I
olJuti-iniCpCli,

IXiniC rS*“.-.<z- m s>ttyr. j

I ' "«'■.'
rA^uAft^fttiAjrtjco'^i /■' /
.wr^a

- “V * * ’S> * * '•“-'> »«X (> <• y< v* . ■.

cdyduifl, jfam*

PATRONESS native Christian, they became convinced of Christianity’s authen­

OF MEXICO, ticity. No historian has, as yet, come up with any other convincing
Our Lady of
evidence that might explain such widespread conversions.
Guadalupe (top).
Msgr. Chavez points out another fact: the faith of the converts
was so strong that not even further crimes committed by the con­
N/CAN quistadores were able to shake it. The natives could separate the
MOPOHUA essence of Christianity from the evil committed by Christians—
MANUSCRIPT
of which there was no lack. The struggle between the oppres­
discovered in a
New York public sors and the defenders of the native population of the Americas
library toward continued. Catholic religious in particular played a great role in
the end of the that struggle.
20th century.
DISCOVERY OF mARUSCRIPTS
FOR THE GREATER part of the 20th Codex Esca&da, the oldest historical
century, many critics questioned the account of the Guadalupe apparitions
authenticity of the Guadalupe ap­ (1548). Thus it was proven that Juan
paritions (1531) and even denied the Diego really did exist and that his expe­
existence of its main hero, Juan Diego, riences were already known of
a Native American. They argued that in the mid-16th century.
the oldest document on the matter
was from 1649 and that there were no
earlier written sources. Hence it was
suspected that the whole matter might
well have been concocted a hundred
H VEI
TL AMAH VIQOLTICA
years later. OMONEXITI IN ILHVICAC TLATOCA
9 I H VA P I L LI
The situation changed due to two dis­
coveries. The first, towards the SANTA MARIA
end of the 1980s, was a manuscript TOT L A C ON AN TZIN
entitled Nican Mopohua, which was dis­ GVADALVPE IN NICAN HVBI ALTBPB-
NAHVAC MEXICO 1TOCAYOCAN TEPEYACAC.
covered in a public library in New York.
It was written (1553-1554) by a Native
American, Antonio Valeriano, who knew
Juan Diego personally. It turned out
that the manuscript had been stolen
by American soldiers during the war
with Mexico in 1847 and then taken
to the United States. The second
discovery, in 1995, was of the so-called

Iwprrjo m MEXICO : en !.< ImfTtMA it luOT

>4Po it I 6 4 9.

FIRST EDITION
of Nican Mopohua (1649).

CODEX ESCALADA, discovered in 1995.

BP. ZUMARRAGA KNEELING before

Juan Diego and the image of Our Lady
that appeared on his tilma.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

One of the most important figures in that struggle was Vasco de

Quiroga, a Galician lawyer who was sent to Mexico by the royal
court after the dismissal of the first Audience. On hearing of the
mistreatment of the natives, he volunteered to help them even
though he was sixty years of age. A member of the second Audience,
he became known as a great benefactor of the natives, a defender of
their rights, establishing mission settlements called pueblas, which

VASCO
DE QUIROGA
in a puebla,
a missionary
settlement.

FIRST were located in enclosed and guarded areas beyond the reach of
BISHOP OF the conquistadores. Each settlement had homes, a school, a hospi­
MICHOACAN,
tal, an inn for guests, and craft workshops. Both men and women
Vasco
de Quiroga, were taught to read, write, and count, and they were also famil­
a great defender iarized with the achievements of European civilization. In 1538,
of Native at the age of sixty-eight, de Quiroga was ordained a priest and
American rights. appointed the bishop of Michoacan. He personally funded the
building of hospitals, orphanages, shelters, and schools. He also
wrote a special catechism for the natives. He died in 1565, at the
age of ninety-five, in the odor of sanctity.
It was also necessary to take up the struggle for Native Ameri­
can rights in Europe. Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, a Spanish Dominican,
distinguished himself in that struggle. In 1532, he gave a series of
lectures at the University of Salamanca that sent great shock waves
throughout Europe. He maintained that the natives had the same
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

rights as other people and that no higher civilization or religion could

justify a violation of those rights. He argued against the view that the
natives were bereft of reason: “In essence they are not irrational;
they just use reason in their own way.”
Fr. Bartolome de Las Casas, a Dominican, turned out to be the
best-known defender of Native American rights. His father was
one of the sailors who accompanied Columbus on his ocean expe­
ditions. In 1502 eighteen-year-old Bartolome sailed to America to
participate in the conquest and colonization of first Hispaniola and
then Cuba. While a priest, he became an owner of land and slaves
and grew rich. However, he experienced a conversion, after which
he gave up his wealth and his slaves and became a Dominican. He BARTOLOME
spent the rest of his life advocating for the rights of the natives. DE LAS CASAS,
He ministered in Cuba, Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico, where he was Spanish
Dominican,
the bishop of Chiapas (1543-1547). He gained friends and respect spokesman for
everywhere, defusing tension between the foreign administration Native American
and the local population. He frequently sailed to Spain to plead for rights.
the natives at the royal court. Thanks to his efforts, Pope Paul III
promulgated the encyclical Sublimis Deus, while Emperor Charles IS T O RI A
0 Brcuifsima Relatione
V issued Las Leyes Nuevas (the New Laws), which prohibited the DELLA DISTRVTTIONE
dell'Indie Occidentall
enslavement of Native Americans.
Las Casas incurred the disdain of many influential officials and
Dm i Jtlk»Ctun[<i >C4*" . tirfOnlnt
Tjrnbmt<h"7mbf
DI MONSIG. REVERENDISS-

had to meet the criticism of numerous scholars. An Andalusian Do­

TnJttu pilfuimliJMnutJtlJE«tl Sip C.xia, . ,
Conferne « IMf** ,>i U .u .

Al Mok'Dl." ,& Ecc.'*Sig."Sig.' inio Col.~ II Sig.

minican, Juan Gines de Sepulveda—a humanist and the tutor of Phil­ NICOLO PERSICO.

ip II, the successor to the throne—turned out to be his best-known

Fol.%
1A VRAVE Cm Licntf<k‘ Sifti fri,
IN VENETIA Preflu Mhco GumuuiiI ■ M DC XLUI.
Cr /Wt{».

ENARRATION
De la deftruftion des
SHORT
INDES OCCIDENTALE& ACCOUNT OF THE
T.f Ckiptfri Priiuitfi DESTRUCTION
Uand les I
ndes O
ccident **I>M E
e r
le $ eftoyent defcovcrtsaul'an 149a .plnnoic'
OF THE INDIES
l’annce fuivantc font venuz la Icscontienrea
Chrcfticns pour inftruir,former, & po- .
Las Casas’
pulcr les terres: a ffavoir les Efpagnols ' main work:
ainG font paflez 49. ans, que y font at*
rivez les Efpagnols cn grand nombre , Spanish edition,
* ilc (nnt abbordez au flUe Efpagnio-
la,grande, & fort hcurcufc,contcnante cn rondcur doo.licux: 1552 (left);
ilyala pluGcorsautrcsgrandest riches,Icfquels nous apct*
feumesdc loing,cftants fort habitecs de ges naturcls, Indies.
French edition, 1620
On dcfcouvrcau jourd'huy 1c pays feme, & on a dcfcouvcrt
plus que dix mil lieux de terre , diftantc de la plus que a 50
(right);
lieux,pkinc de gens, commc une ruche imicl , plcinedc
tnouchcs A miel: Lcdcfcouvertcment dernier a efte aul’an
Italian edition, 1643
! 1J Ji: il fcmble que Dicu a rcfpandu par cc terres unebende, (above).
co tas des hommes,des routes les rafes innumerable?.
I Dicu a cremes hommes ionumerablcs, fon fi triples, fa ns^f‘n’r'>
nncfle,oudoublcffc,foriobcdicnts,fidelsau Princes narurels, 4“,“ M
; & ’ux Chrefticns, Icfquels ilsfervent fort humbles, patients,
pafiblcSjdc modclks/au unfer, troubkr,& rcdirc,non mo.

Az
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Conquistadores and Missionaries

LAS CASAS
SAYING MASS
for natives.

JUAN GINES DE
SEPULVEDA,
Las Casas’
main intellectual
opponent. intellectual opponent. Sepulveda was the first to translate Aristotle
into Spanish and adopted his views on slavery. He maintained that
some people were destined to that state because they were unable to
distinguish between good and evil or between truth and falsehood,
and thus they had no right to happiness. This particularly pertained to
barbarians and idolaters, who were to be combated, conquered, and
converted. If they resisted, this only testified to their perversity, in
which case they should be destroyed.

Q As the matter evoked a great deal of emotion and controversy in

Spain, the authorities enjoined the adversaries to hold a public debate,
which took place at the Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid, presided
over by Cardinal Salvatore Roncieri, the pope’s representative .
 Conquistadores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The difference between Sepulveda and Las Casas Vas imme­

diately apparent. The former had never been overseas. He was
a cold theoretician, substantiating the facts of history; for him,
Aristotle’s Politics was the starting point for debate. The latter
had spent several decades in the Americas. He spoke passionately

COLEGIO DE
SAN GREGORIO,
Valladolid, where
the famous
theological
debates about
native rights were
held in 1550.

VALLADOLID
DEBATE
first edition,
record of
the 1552
theological
debate between
Sepulveda and
Las Casas.

about his contacts with the natives, whom he saw as equals. For
him, the Gospel was the basic point of reference.
Las Casas advocated a peaceful Christianization, seeing a declaration
of war on the natives as unjustifiable.
He concluded his speech with the following words: “The Chris­
tian religion treats all nations justly and equally. It does not de­
prive anyone of freedom, nor does it take away anyone's due rights
PROTECTOR OF
THE INDIANS
remains
Fr. Bartolome
de Las Casas’
moniker
to this day.

THE NEW LAWS

(Las Leyes
Nuevas) were
issued in 1542
by Charles V,
prohibiting the under the pretext that nature itself has destined him for the state
enslavement of slavery.”
and forced After the debate, both sides claimed victory. But the royal
labor of Native court decreed that Las Casas was in the right. The authorities
Americans.
prohibited the publication of works by Sepulveda justifying slav­
ery, whereas the works of his adversary were approved, with
Las Casas’ Short Account of the Destruction of Indies circulated
throughout Europe.
For almost three centuries, the Catholic Church in Latin America
cultivated the tongues of the indigenous tribes, the Nahuatl, Guarani,
Quechua, and Purepecha languages, developing their grammar, syntax,
and orthography, publishing dictionaries, and even founding special
philological departments at universities. The standardization of lan­
guages in South and Central America did not occur until the 20lh cen­
tury, under the influence of the Enlightenment. It was then that the
actual Hispanization of the continent occurred.
Let us return to Bartolome de Las Casas. The Dominican's success
had an unexpected side effect. The defense of Indian rights saw the
 Conquisladores and Missionaries VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

colonizers turning to Africa for cheap labor. They began to bring PEOPLE
black slaves to the American continent, and they were physically OF MEXICO
stronger and hardier than the Indians. Initially, Las Casas supported today includes
Mestizos (60%),
the practice as the lesser evil, but he changed his mind and regret­
Indians (30%),
ted his attitude for the rest of his life. and Caucasians (9%),
There were significantly more defenders of Indians on the with an 89%
Iberian Peninsula. It is thanks to them that the coloniztion of Catholic population.
Latin America, occupied by Catholic Spaniards and Portuguese, The Basilica
of Our Lady
occurred otherwise than in New England, conquered by Protes­
of Guadalupe
tant Anglo-Saxons. The latter saw the continent as the Promised is the Mexican
Land, and the Indian tribes as Canaanites to be wiped out. So Catholics’ national
it is no surprise that in the United States there are barely one- shrine.
and-a-half million “members of Indian tribes” (people who
have at least one-quarter Indian blood), many of whom live on
reservations. A different situation prevails in Latin America,
where the decided majority of the inhabitants are Indians or
Mestizos. This fact speaks volumes about the colonization of the
New World.
 omrnu /trUs^m,
f>'''rn’n fl’,,^r* fry^.
^\. H- Orwwt ranlrnPf

<«&•*** .

DISCOVERY

TRUTH
 FRITH ARD REASOA:
COAFLICT OR COOPERRTIOR?
Xairies

The Trial of Galileo

 CHAPTER 6

Trial
of Galileo
The most famous scholar
condcemned by the Inquisition
The Galileo Galilei affair had preoccupied Karol Wojtyla for a long
time. He particularly pondered the relationship between faith and
reason, which has come into question during the numerous debates
concerning the trial of the 17th-century scholar. To many people, this
affair is the most conclusive proof of the impossibility of reconciling
science with religion. Wojtyla, shortly after becoming Pope John Paul
II, decided to clarify certain issues connected with the trial of Galileo,
which still arouses such strong emotions.
SOUTHERN
HEMISPHERE
through animated
constellations—
illustration in
Andreas Cellarius’
Harmonic/
Macrocosmica
(1661).
 METEOR

VENUS
SUN . MOON JUPITER URANUS

EARTH

MERCURY

MARS
SATURN

COMET

On November 10, 1979, when the Pontifical Academy of Sciences HELIOCENTRIC

was celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth, SYSTEM
John Paul II said: holds that the
earth and other
planets orbit
the sun. In the
17th century,
Johannes Kepler
discovered that
the planets orbit
not in a circle,
but in an ellipse.
The greatness of Galileo is known to everyone, like that of
Einstein; but unlike the latter, whom we are honouring today
before the College of Cardinals in the apostolic palace, the for­
mer had to suffer a great deal—we cannot conceal the fact—at
the hands of men and organisms of the Church.1

Further in the address, the pope spoke of intensifying research on

one of the most notorious trials in history. To that end, he established
(July 3,1982) a special scientific commission, composed of both cleri­
cal and secular researchers and gave them access to all the documents
on the subject housed in the Vatican Secret Archives. The researchers
were divided into working groups to deal with separate fields: exegesis,
science and epistemology, history and culture. Eleven years of research
bore fruit in numerous publications that help one to see the Galileo
affair a subject around which so many misunderstandings had arisen
over the centuries—in the right light.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of Galileo

In a survey by the European Parliament of students

from member countries of the European Economic Com­
munity, almost 30 percent were convinced that Galileo
GALILEO was burnt alive at the stake by the Church, and virtually
GALILEI all (97 percent) believed that he was tortured in various
showing
ways. Some of the few who said something specific about
the doge
of Venice how Galileo claimed he said the following in response to the in­
to use his quisitors who sentenced him: “Eppursi muove”(“And yet it
telescope—fresco moves”). The students said Galieo's accusers used religious
by Giuseppe beliefs to deny scientific facts about the earth's rotation
Bertini. around the sun.2

In reality, the “And yet it moves” statement was thought up by Gi­

useppe Baretti, a journalist in London in 1757. Contrary to popular be­
lief, Galileo died in his bed, not at the stake. He did not spend a single
day in prison. He was never tortured, which was first alleged as late as
1841 in The Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe,
and Kepler, a book by Sir David Brewster, a Scottish physicist.
Even those who are familiar with the above facts are inclined to see
Galileo's trial as a conflict between science and religious superstition,
between freedom of inquiry and a repressive system that suppressed
research. That dispute, according to numerous commentators, has cre­
ated an unbridgeable abyss between science and religion.
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Prof. Franco Cardini, one of the most distinguished contemporary

Italian historians, awarded the Galileo Prize by the Grand Orient of
Italy in 2013, disagrees with this view, which he sees as a gross sim­
plification. In reality, it was not a conflict between faith and reason,
since most scholars in Europe at that time were opposed to some of
Galileo’s theories. Lutheran professors at the Protestant University
of Tubingen, though bitter antipapists themselves, raised triumphant
toasts on hearing of Galileo’s conviction. On the other hand, some
Catholic scholars had openly voiced views similar to those of Galileo,
yet did not run into trouble, for example, Pierre Gassendi, who even FRANCO CARDINI,
held several Church positions. Italian historian,
In order to get to the crux of the 17th-century scientific contro­ leading expert
on Galileo’s life.
versy, we must go back to ancient times. Since the dawn of time,
mankind has wondered about the structure of the universe. In an­
tiquity, the theory of geocentrism was popular, for it certainly ap­
peared as though the sun, the moon, and the other celestial bodies
orbited around the earth. The geocentric theory was first formu­
lated in the 4th century BC by Eudoxus of Cnidus, an astronomer,
mathematician, and philosopher, and six centuries later, Claudius
Ptolemy from Alexandria gave it its final form, which came to be
known as the Ptolemaic geocentric model and was accepted for the
next 1,600 years.
The longevity of the geocentric model was connected not only
with the limitations of scientific equipment, but also with a phi­
losophy that saw the earth as being in a privileged position in the

JESUS CHRIST
as the architect
of the universe.

PTOLEMAIC
COSMOLOGY,
modelled
in a picture
of the solar
system with
the earth
in the center,
from Andreas
Cellarius’
Harmonia
Macrocosmica.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES v Trial of Galileo

universe, which was perfectly compatible with the Christian vision

of the world, where man, created in the image and likeness of God,
was the crown of creation.
ASTRONOMIC Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, was the first public­
PARS OPTICA
TRAD1TVH ly to contest the geocentric theory. In 1543, he published his On
the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, wherein he formulated a

ASTRONOMIAE
PARS OPTICA
by Johannes Kepler,
1604 (top).

GEOMETRIC
HARMONY
in Kepler’s
Harmonices Mundi,
1619.

SOLAR SYSTEM
drawn by Nicolaus
Copernicus.
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

new theory that saw the earth orbiting the sun; the sun was at the
center of the universe. He published his work at the instigation
of two Catholic hierarchs, namely, Bishop Tiedemann Giese and
Cardinal Nikolaus von Schonberg. The latter wrote to Copernicus:
“Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned NICOLAUS
sir, unless I inconvenience you, to communicate this discovery of COPERNICUS,
yours to scholars.” statue, Polish
Academy
But Copernicus did not provide irrefutable evidence to confirm
of Sciences,
his theory. Hence, in the following decades, the Ptolemaic geocen- Warsaw.

trie and Copernican heliocentric theories were seen as two equiv­

alent hypotheses, though the former had significantly more sup­
porters in academic circles. Protestants were usually more critical
of heliocentrism than Catholics. Martin Luther said of Copernicus:
“The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down.”
Philipp Melanchthon followed suit: “We will not tolerate similar
fantasies.” The Catholic Church, however, did not condemn Coper­
nicus, but recommended that his theory be seen solely as a prob­
able hypothesis and not as a scientific certainty.
 GEniUS FR0IT1 TORUn
ASTRONOMER Nicolaus Copernicus,
COPERNICUS,
or Conversations
with God, painting
NICOLAI
COPERNICI TO-
a Polish scholar, was
born in Toruh in 1473.
by Jan Matejko, rinensis;db revolvtioni. He was truly a Renais­
1873. bus orbium coelcfhum, sance man: astronomer,
Libri V 1.
mathematician, lawyer,
tN QVIBVS STELLARVM ET F(.
XARVM CT CRR.ATJCARVM MOTVS, EX V£TU« economist, physician,
ribus a«j rcctntibus obfcruationibus, rtftituic hicautor.
TITLE PAGE cartographer, military
of Copernicus’ bus cofdcm motus ad qttoduix tempos Matho
malum ftudiofus facillimc calc strategist, translator. He
On the Revolutions larc’poterit.j1'
studied in Krakow, Bo­
of the Celestial ITBM. DB LIBRlS REVOLVTIQNVM NICOLAI
Spheres, second Copcrnici Narrattoprima,perMGeorgium loacbi- logna, and Padua. After
mum Rhctkum ad D. low. Scbone-
edition, Basel, nimfcnprx receiving minor orders,
1566. he fulfilled many func­
tions in the Church in
such places as Lidzbark
Warmihski, Wroclaw,
Frombork, and Olsztyn.
For many years, he was
the right-hand man of
his uncle Lucas Watzen-
Cum Gratia St Priuilcgio CirfMaicfr.
BAS1LEAE, EX OFFIClN A
rode, the Prince-Bishop
HENR1CPETRIXA.
of Warmia. He therefore
participated in many
religious and politi-
 4*Frombork
* 5! Lidzbark Warminski
Toruhwr ” Olsztyn

3! Wroclaw

POLAND

cal events, diplomatic

missions, and adminis­
trative works. Having
proved himself, his uncle
wanted him to take over
as bishop, but Coperni­
cus preferred to devote
himself to learning. From
1510, he lived in From-
bork, where he built his TORUN, birthplace of Copernicus.
own observatory. He
discovered, for example, COPERNICUS’ LAST MOMENTS,
that the earth’s orbit is drawing by Aleksander Lesser, 19th century.
eccentric and that the
sun’s apogee moves in
the same direction as
the fixed stars.
In 1520, during the
Polish-Teutonic War of
1519-1521, Olsztyn
was successfully defend­
ed by the Poles under
Copernicus’ command. In
1522, at the instigation
of King Sigismund I, "the
Old”, he wrote a treatise
on the value of money,
wherein he formulated But his greatest achieve­ III. The book was pub­
an early version of what ment pertained to lished in Nuremberg on
is now called Gresham's astronomy, that is, March 21, 1543, exactly
Law—the notion that the elaboration and two months before he
“bad money drives out propagation of his passed away at his home
good”, a central concept heliocentric theory, in Frombork. According
in economics to the expounded in his On the to legend, a copy of the
present day—and also Revolutions of the Celes­ work was presented
advanced a quantity tial Spheres, which he to him on the very day
theory of money. dedicated to Pope Paul that he died.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES v Trial of Galileo

Galileo Galilei, a distinguished Italian scholar, entered the scene.

He was born in Pisa in 1564, into a family that originated from
Florentine patriciate. Vincenzo Galilei, his father, was a wool
merchant and a composer. Galileo Galilei went to a Jesuit
school and then studied at the University of Pisa. Initially,
he studied medicine but gave it up to study mathematics, ge­
ometry, mechanics, and physics. He made several scientific
discoveries, combining empirical and deductive methods.
His genius was quickly noticed. Though he never earned
a doctorate, he was entrusted with university chairs at Pisa
(1589-1592), Padua (1592-1610), and Florence (1610-1632).

GEODETIC
COMPASS
for measuring
horizontal angles,
16th century.

WINDOWS,
HOUSE IN PISA,
Galileo’s
birthplace.
PORTRAITS
OF SCIENTISTS In letters written to Giacopo (Jacopo) Mazzon and Johannes Kepler in
Nicolaus
1597, Galileo Galilei declared that he was in favor of Copernicus’ theory
Copernicus,
Jacopo Mazzoni, of the solar system, as it was a better depiction of the universe than the
and Johannes Ptolemaic geocentric theory. He also questioned Aristotle’s physics, me­
Kepler. chanics, and cosmology.
 Trial of Galileo J? VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

K
In July 1609, Galileo constructed a telescope that allowed him to
observe astronomical phenomena better than any other ex­
isting optical device. He perfected his telescope and so ITALY
made new discoveries. He was the first to observe
sunspots, the rings of Saturn, the mountains on
the moon, the moons of Jupiter, and the phases of
Venus. He gradually came to the conclusion that

TELESCOPE
constructed
by Galileo.

the phenomena he had observed supported the heliocentric theory

more than the geocentric theory.
In the spring of 1610, Galileo went to Rome, where he was received
with honors by the scholars of the Jesuit Roman College, which had the
world’s most renowned astronomical observatory. He became a mem­
ber of the elite Accademia dei Lincei, which had been established seven
years earlier during Clement Vil’s pontificate. The academy attracted
scientists who propagated experimental natural sciences. Their coat of
arms depicts a lynx, whose sharp vision symbolizes the observational
prowess that science requires.
According to Italian historian Rino Cammilleri, Galileo’s meteoric SHARP-EYED
career, and the fact that he had not even gained a doctorate, aroused LYNX, coat
the envy of other scholars. His new functions and honors, the favors of arms of
the Accademia
he enjoyed at the papal court, were coveted. In time, envy turned into
dei Lincei,
hate, the more so as Galileo openly scoffed at his adversaries, resort­ Rome.
ing to offensive epithets. Hence his enemies decided to circulate his
private letters, which were interpreted as an attack on the veracity of
Holy Scriptures. The statement in question pertained to a passage from
the Book of Joshua, where Joshua stops the sun at Gibeon until the final
victory of the Israeli army over the Amorites (cf. Josh 10:12-15). Galileo
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of Galileo

thought that, from a scientific point of view, the depiction was mistaken.
For this, he was attacked by some preachers.
In November 1613, Niccolb Lorini, a Dominican friar, started to
castigate supporters of the Copernican heliocentric theory during
sermons in Florence, calling them “the devil’s sect of mathemati­
cians”. A year later, he was joined by another Dominican, Fr. Tom­
maso Caccini, who maintained that the heliocentric theory defended

tionship between religion and science. Two of the address­

MARINER’S ees were the Benedictine monk Benedetto Castelli and Archbishop
ASTROLABE, Piero Dini, to whom he wrote that he would sooner have his eye
a navigational plucked out than to be the cause of scandal in being disobedient to
aid for sailors.
the Church. The best-known letter is the one addressed to Chris­
tina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany. She thought that Gali­
leo’s theories were suspect, in contrast to her husband, Ferdinando
I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who saw himself as a pupil
of Galileo and even granted him a lucrative position at the Medici
court in Florence.
In his letters, Galileo distinguished between two kinds of knowl­
edge, namely, theological and scientific, stressing both their auton­
omy and their complementarity and recalling Cardinal Cesare Ba-
ronio’s famous formula that the intention of the Holy Spirit, who
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

t
inspired the Bible, was to teach us how to get to heaven, not how
heaven moves. He also wrote that if one found a contradiction be­
tween scientific knowledge and Scripture, it meant that one has mis­
understood Holy Scripture. Hence the problem was not the credibil­
ity of the Bible, but its erroneous interpretation.

CHRISTINA OF LORRAINE, COSIMO II DE’ MEDICI,

Grand Duchess of Tuscany, addressee Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 to 1621
of Galileo’s famous letter. He was Galileo’s tutor from 1605 to 1608.

But things did not turn out to Galileo’s liking. In 1615, Fr. Niccold
Lorini’s allegations pertaining to the heliocentric theory ended up
at the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal In­
quisition (Holy Office). They were reviewed by eleven theologians,
who on February 24,1616 issued a statement regarding two theses:

First thesis: The sun is the center of the world and completely
devoid of local motion.
Assessment: All said that this proposition is foolish and absurd in
philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in
many places the sense of Holy Scripture.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES v Trial of Galileo

Second thesis: The earth is not the center of the world, nor mo­
tionless, but it moves as a whole and also with diurnal motion.
Assessment: All said that this proposition receives the same
judgment in philosophy and that in regard to theological truth it is
at least erroneous in faith.3

The Holy Office did not agree with the theologians’ assertion that
heliocentrism is heretical and had the word removed from the decree
before its publication. The document officially referred to three works
that propagated the new astronomical system. The Carmelite Fr. Paolo
Antonio Foscarini's book was “totally banned and condemned”, while
Nicolaus Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres and

IND EX LIBKOKVM
PROHIB ITORVM,
CVM REGVLIS CONFECTIS
perPatresaTridcntinaSynodo deledos,
audoritateSan&ifs.D.N. Pi j III I,
Pont. Max. comprobatus.

LUNAR ECLIPSE Diego de Zuniga of Salamanca’s In Job Commentaria were banned un­
PHASES, til corrections were made. They could be printed if it was stated in
drawn by Galileo. the introduction that they presented a scientific hypothesis and not an
absolute truth. On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, which had
LIST OF not encountered any reaction from the Church for seventy-three years,
PROHIBITED was suddenly included on the List of Prohibited Books.
BOOKS,
The Holy Office adjudicated that the Copernican heliocentric theory
part of the title
page(1564 was erroneous from a philosophical and theological point of view, not
edition). a natural sciences point of view. The censors did not want the uncon­
firmed heliocentric theory to be used to interpret Holy Scripture, as it
contravened the commonsense view of the world, which was supported
by the authority of the majority of the scientific centers of learning. It is
worth adding that not only theologians but also famous scholars, such as
Tycho Brahe (alongside Johannes Kepler the most distinguished astron­
omer of the time), Rene Descartes (one of the greatest scholars of the
17th century), and Francis Bacon (sometimes called the father of modern
science), thought that the Copernican theory was false. Others, how-
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

ENGRAVING
from the 19th
century, inspired
by Aristotle’s
cosmology—a man
reaches the edge
of the earth.

ever, thought it was true. One could find many supporters of Copernicus
among influential clergymen, for example, Cardinal Alessandro Orsini;
Piero Dini, archbishop of Fermo; Fr. Paolo Antonio Foscarini, a Carmel­
ite provincial; and Fr. Giovanni Ciampoli, later secretary chamberlain
to Pope Urban VIII. So the dispute about the heliocentric theory was
not a conflict between religion and science, but between two natural
science camps and two camps of theologians.
One must remember that Galileo questioned not only the Ptol­ ST. ROBERT
emaic geocentric theory, but also Aristotle’s physics. Both scientific BELLARMINE,
systems arose in ancient Greece and dominated Christendom for Italian Jesuit,
several centuries, creating a vision of the universe that was strongly cardinal, scholar,
Doctor of
interwoven with religion. To many people, the undermining of those the Church.
paradigms signified a destabilization of the whole theological struc­
ture on which their faith was based. John Donne, an Anglican cler­
gyman and a pre-eminent metaphysical poet, lamented that the new
science had caused irreversible damage, burying the eternal order
of the world. Papal theologians maintained that one could not cause
such spiritual havoc on the basis of an uncertain theory. In those
days, research was on such a level that neither side could provide
compelling evidence to prove its case.
Some people are of the opinion that Galileo was the only accused
party in the whole affair, which was not so. On February 26, 1616,
Galileo received an invitation from Robert Bellarmine, one of the
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES „ Trial of Galileo

most influential cardinals in the Roman Curia (canonized in 1930,

and named Doctor of the Church), who also had an unpleasant ex­
perience at the hands of the Holy Office when his Disputationes de
Controversiis Christianae Fidei was included on the List of Prohibited
Books in 1590 until corrections had been made. He received Galileo
sympathetically and was even prepared to accept the heliocentric
theory if irrefutable evidence were provided.
Cardinal Bellarmine received Galileo in the name of Cardinal
Giovanni Garzia Mellini, prefect of the Holy Office. Church
law at that time provided for three stages in proceedings
against those who defied the institution’s bans. First came
a warning, then, in the case of disobedience, a formal in­
struction, and finally a charge and a trial. The hierarch ap­
plied the first point, cautioning Galileo not to present the
heliocentric theory as a scientific certainty but as a probable
hypothesis, especially since he had no proof as to its veracity.
Galileo agreed to comply.
A Dominican, Fr. Michelangelo Seghezzi, commissioner gen­
POPE PAULV eral of the Holy Office, expecting Galileo’s opposition, prepared
was kind to a formal instruction of silence prior to Galileo's meeting with Cardi­
Galileo.
nal Bellarmine. It turned out that the document was not needed, yet

BASILICA
DI SANTA
CROCE
in Florence.
 Trial of Galileo *£ VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

nonetheless it was added to the files on the matter. Years later, the doc­
ument, which Galileo had not laid eyes on, turned up during his trial.
Two weeks after the meeting, Galileo was received by Pope Paul V. The
audience lasted forty-five minutes in, according to Galileo, a congenial
atmosphere, with the pope expressing his appreciation of his guest’s sci­
entific achievements. Galileo returned to Florence content.
Galileo submitted to Rome and did not propagate or publicly defend the FR. CHRISTOPH
Copernican theory, busying himself with astronomical research, which led SCHEINER,
to a bitter dispute with two Jesuit scholars. One was Fr. Christoph Scheiner, German Jesuit
and astronomer.
known for, among other things, his invention of the pantograph, the cre­
ation of one of the three earliest maps of the moon, his helioscope, and his
discovery of several laws of optics. Independently of Galileo, he discov-

LIBRA
ASTRONOMICA
AC PHILOSOPHICA
ASTRONOMICA by Orazio Grassi,
AC PHILOSOPHICA 1619, arguing against
QVA GALILAEI GALILAEI Galileo’s views (left).
Opiniones de Cometh

A MARIO GVIDVCIO
In Fiorentina Academia expofitc , atque in lucent
nupcr cdicz, examinantur

A LOTHARIO SARSIO
A WORK
S I G E N S A N O- BY SCHEINER,
1631, with a drawing
riundam permitco. Tn prxfcnte igitur 9. fchematc ABC D.fpcAandutn
habcaInftrumcncum graphicum fc FC H > claim quattuor E I, FK, GL, of the pantograph
lc
HM, apte atque adco parallclo* connexum: eft enun linea EF. line*
GH. nqualia parallel! ; lie linea F G, lines H E parallela Boqualia.
funt deindetrea Ityli N,O,P, tribo* foraminibut P,O, N. trium diuer-
he invented (right).
forom tigillorum N.O, A P. fccundum tendentiam liner reft* NOP,
ad angn'oa reflosplania latitudini* tigillorum, inferti: quotum axe*
NQ. OR, PS, iaccnt in codem altitudini* piano, QRSTVX, ad plana la-
titu3ini« tigillorum eretio, emus communis cum piano fubftratz menfe
A C fcftio eft linea refla XT; & quia axe* Q X, RV, S T. inter fc funt
parallcli, & ftylua centralis QX. redus eft ad planum B D, in puntto X;

t PE R V SI A, redos etiam eft ad redam XT, fed & ad reft am NP, rectus eft, ideirco
N P , & X T, redat niter fc etiam foot parallels, idedq. infcnora axium
tegmenta. NX, OV, PT, inter fc aqualia , flyIs igitur inter fc fupra pla- .
4 Ex Typognphia Marci Naccarini. M. D C. XIX.
» SVPERIORVM PERMISSV. num A C, equates altitudmes habent, XN, VO, TP, quibus etiam squa.
tur fulcri inferior pars Y F j & fie tocum Parallclogrammum N1 P H,
rede omnibus rebus inllrudum fupra tabulam pl an an) A firmam BO eft
applicitum : in qu.im circa pundum X, immillum eft ad angulos redo*
fl) h s centralis N X) II)lus veto Indicia O V .inliatet Apicc fuo V»cir-
caH, f’rototypoZ, lobtuiaggluunatoi ftylu»PT»rcfcrtcalamuin_,

ered sunspots, though they differed as to the nature of the phenomenon:

Scheiner maintained that sunspots were produced by asteroid swarms,
while Galileo was of the opinion that they were the result of processes
within the sun. In this case, Galileo was right.
But Galileo was not correct regarding the origin of comets. The Je­
suit Fr. Orazio Grassi maintained that comets were celestial bodies,
while Galileo insisted that they were a meteorological phenomenon,
the result of solar rays falling on high parts of the atmosphere.
There is nothing unusual about scientific disputes. But in this case,
the conduct was uncommon. Galileo, of a fiery temperament, did not
mince words, calling his adversary “an imbecile”, “a beast”, “a snake”,
“a scorpion”, “a stain on the honor of mankind”, or someone whom
“you can hardly see as a man”. In effect, he needlessly aroused ill will
and hostility toward himself, in both academic and Church circles.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES „ Trial of Galileo

Even Kepler, who was well-disposed toward Galileo, severed con­

tacts with him on account of their differences of opinion on
scientific issues.
August 16,1623, turned out to be a crucial day, as Cardinal
Maffeo Barberini was elected pope, taking the regnal name
Urban VIII. Galileo came to the conclusion that the time had
come to rehabilitate the heliocentric theory, since the newly
elected pope had been his friend for years and supported his
work. In 1611, he had even written an ode in honor of Gali­
leo, while in 1616 he was Galileo’s informal advocate in Rome.
Shortly after being elected, he emphasized that the Church had
POPE never deemed the works of Copernicus to be heretical and that she
URBAN VIII, would never do so. Moreover, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Urban
Galileo’s friend VIII’s nephew, had gained influence in the curia; he had been Gali­
and patron.
leo’s colleague and great admirer at the Accademia dei Lincei. It would
have been difficult to find a more opportune moment.

Taking advantage of the favorable circumstances, Galileo decided to

PANORAMA publish a book in defense of the Copernican theory. As he was elderly,
OF FLORENCE, work on the text was long and drawn-out (finished in 1630). It was titled
where Galileo Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Sgstems (comparing the Co­
spent many
years of his life. pernican system with the traditional Ptolemaic system).
Galileo sought to obtain a Church imprimatur (let it be printed)
through Niccold Riccardi, a Dominican friar at the Vatican. He ob­
tained it on April 25, 1631, but on the condition that he make several
corrections, the most important of which pertained to presenting the
heliocentric theory as a hypothesis and not as a proven scientific truth.
Furthermore, the pope asked him to mention God’s omnipotence in
the summary. Galileo agreed. After the corrections had been made, the
book was to have been published in Rome.
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

D I A LD O
I
G O
GALILEO GALILEI LINCEO
MATEMATICO SOPRAORDINARIO
DELLO STVD1O DI PISA.

£ Filofofo, c Matcmatico primario dtl

SEREN1SSIMO

GELDVCA DI TOSCANA-
Doue ne i congrefli di quattro giornate ii difcorre
fopra i due

MASSIMI SISTEMI DEL MONDO

TOLEMAJCO, E COPERN1CANO;
'Proponent indelerminalamente le ragimi THofefiche,e Naturali
tantoper fvna, quanto per fultra parte.

IN FIORENZA, Per Gio.Batifta Landini MDCXXX1I.

CON LICBNZA DE’ SyPBBlORJ,

But Galileo left Rome for Florence, where he had the Dialogue pub­ DIALOGUE
lished by Giovanni Battista Landini in 1632 without the corrections CONCERNING
THE TWO
he had agreed to make. When Urban VIII received a copy, he was
CHIEF WORLD
outraged and felt that he had been cheated, as his friend had neglected SYSTEMS,
to write a paragraph about God’s omnipotence; further, in the book, Galileo’s most
Galileo even put some advice the pope had given him on the lips of famous work.
one of the book's characters, namely, Simplicius, the fool.
There was an immediate reaction by the Holy See. The imprimatur
was withdrawn, the worked banned, and the author was urgently sum­ CARD. FRANCESCO
moned to Rome, to be questioned by the Holy Office commissioner. BARBERINI,
In response, Galileo sent a certificate, signed by three doctors, to the Urban Vlll’s
nephew, a great
Vatican, stating that he was seriously ill and unable to make such a tir­ admirer of Galileo.
ing journey. But the pope was uncompromising and threatened to have
him brought by force. Galileo appeared in Rome on February 13,1633.
He was not thrown into prison, but took up residence in a five­
room apartment, with a view of the Vatican Gardens and a servant
at his disposal, all at the Holy See’s expense. In all, there were four
hearings, during which Galileo talked with scholars who worked in
the same disciplines as he did. Two charges were brought against him,
both of which were upheld.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Trial of Galileo

The first charge concerned his disobedience regarding the decree

of 1616, by presenting the heliocentric theory as an axiom and not as
a hypothesis. He defended himself by claiming that he had received
only a caution and not a formal instruction from Cardinal Bellarmine.
GALILEO His arguments were acknowledged. It was true that a document drawn
BEFORE THE up by Fr. Seghezzi years ago had been found in the case files, but as it
INQUISITION
had not been signed by Bellarmine or Galileo, it was seen as having no
by Cristiano
Banti, 19th evidential value. But that did not change in any way the fact that Gali­
century. leo was aware that he was defying a Church ban, since he, after all, had
agreed to make corrections and did not do so.

The second charge was based on the fact that he propagated false evi­
dence as to the motion of the earth around the sun. Here again the pros­
ecution was in the right. Galileo’s problem lay in the fact that he deduced
true theses from false premises. He rightly defended Copernicus, but the
only evidence that he set forth in his work and during the trial—that is,
the ebb and flow of the tides—turned out to be easy to rebut. The real
reason was not discovered until 1728, when James Bradley observed the
aberration of light phenomenon. According to Georges Bene, Galileo’s bi­
ographer, a Church commission’s decision to withdraw the Dialogue from
circulation was completely justified from a scientific point of view.
On June 22, 1633, Galileo was pronounced guilty of the charges
brought against him at the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in
Rome, the seat of the Holy Office. Of the ten cardinals who made up GALILEO’S
the tribunal, three refused to sign the guilty verdict, namely, Francesco HANDWRITING
Barberini, Gaspar de Borja y Velasco, and Laudivio Zacchia. Documents from the time of
housed in the Vatican Secret Archives show that Galileo was charged his trial—Vatican
Secret Archives.
with an offense of a disciplinary and not of a doctrinal nature. The
Church did not resolve which theory was true, charging the defendant
solely of not submitting to the Church ban and of presenting heliocen­
trism in a categorical way rather than ex suppositione (as a hypoth­
esis). The Holy Office decree, like a prior one of 1616, was but a Vatican
congregation document, which did not have the dogmatic status of the
infallible teaching of the Church.
The hotheaded Galileo incurred discipline largely due to his inap­
propriate behavior, not by what he propounded. Not only the pope, but

SANTA
MARIA
SOPRA
MINERVA,
Rome.
Galileo’s trial
was held in
the adjacent
Dominican
convent.
LAMP
OF GALILEO
in the Pisa
Cathedral,
a massive brass
chandelier whose
oscillations,
according to
legend, turned
Galileo’s attention
to the spinning
of the earth.

WIND ROSE,
Galileo Galilei
Museum,
Florence.

also scientists who defended the Ptolemaic system

felt offended by him. The author of the Dialogue
mocked their views by attributing them to the fool
Simplicius. Astronomers connected with the Ro­
man College were particularly aggrieved. Fr. Chris­
toph Scheiner, whom Galileo had treated brusquely
during a dispute about sunspots, attacked Galileo very
strongly. Another Jesuit, Fr. Melchior Inchofer, a math­
ematician and philosopher, presuming the negative verdict,
wrote a withering appraisal of the Dialogue for the Holy Office.
Lodovico delle Colombe, an Italian physicist, stood at the head of scien­
tific circles that criticized Galileo, defending Aristotle’s static cosmol­
ogy against new theories. He too had a reason for revenge, as he had
been the object of Galileo’s countless taunts and jokes.
Prof. Franco Cardini points to yet another aspect of the case. The
year 1633 came in the middle of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648),
 Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

the greatest religious conflict in European history. It marked the cli­

max of hostilities that had started over a hundred years before Martin
Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. The breakup of Christianity had been fo­
mented by differences of opinion over Scripture. Some of the clergy in
Galileo's time feared that his views, published in a simple and accessible
way in Italian, and not Latin, the language of contemporary science and
theology, could contribute to the further erosion of public acceptance
of the Church’s authorative interpretation of the Bible, which had been
worked out in subtle formulas and distinctions over the centuries.
The trial ended with Galileo being sentenced to house arrest for life,
which was commuted to three years. He spent that time at the Villa
Medici on the Pincian Hill in Rome, then at the Sienese palace of Arch­ LETTER
bishop Ascanio Piccolomini—a great admirer of Galileo—and finally at BY GALILEO
the Villa il Gioiello, near Florence. The ban on leaving his residence was to Leonardo
Donato, doge of
lifted, but he could not change his place of residence without the consent Venice.
of the Inquisition. During his house arrest, he was visited by numerous
scholars and Church dignitaries, with whom he had long debates. He
could also carry on his research and write more works. He was solely
prohibited from talking about Copernicus’ theory. It was then that he
published Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two
New Sciences (1638), his most fundamental work, which was about the
principles of a new mechanics.
The second part of the punishment was a weekly recital of the Pen­
itential Psalms for three years, which he continued later of his own

PORTRAIT
OF GALILEO
by Peter Paul
Rubens.
 INDEX
LIBRORUM
PROHIBITORUM
TITLE PAGE
of the List of Prohibited SMi D. N.
Books, 1758 edition,
published during BENEDICTI XIV*
the pontificate
of Benedict XIV, PONTIFICIS MAXIMI
who removed J V 3 S V
heliocentric works
from the list. Rccognims, atquc cditus.

ROMf M.DCC. LVIII.

POPE PAUL III
Tx Typographia Rev. Camera: Apo (lol ica: .
established the Supreme
CUM SUMM1 PONTIFICIS PKIVUEGIO,
Sacred Congregation of
the Roman and Universal
Inquisition in 1542.

LIST OF PROHIBITED BOOKS

The introduction of movable-type printing by
Johannes Gutenberg, as well as the Ref­
ormation, occasioned that 16th-century
Europe was flooded with literature that
undermined the official teaching of the
Catholic Church. Because the Church
saw herself as the sole depository of
orthodox Christian truths, she decided to
respond forcefully.
In 1542, Pope Paul III established the Ro­
man Curia, which was to coordinate activi­
ties to stop the spread of heresy. Hence the
 K
(List of Prohibited Books). According to Fr. Jacek
The works were divided Salij, a Polish theologian,
into three groups: he­ the List of Prohibited
retical, obscene, and oc­ Bodks was an example of
cult. People were liable how evil ideas may arise
to excommunication if from good intentions. In
they defied the ban. The his opinion, the Church,
first such list appeared in in thus defending herself
1559, the last in 1948. against dangers, drifted
POPE PAUL IV, Works by, for example, further and further away
initiator of Francis Bacon, Daniel from the mainstream of
the List of Defoe, Alexander Du­ European culture.
Prohibited Books.
mas, Erasmus of Rot­ According to British
terdam, Edward Gibbon, historian Henry A. Ka­
Victor Hugo, Immanuel men, the actual pos­
Holy Office, which was Kant, Rene Descartes, sibility of enforcing the
headed by Cardinal Gian John Locke, Adam Mick­ ban turned out to be
Pietro Carafa, who was iewicz, Montesquieu, severely limited, while
elected pope in 1555 Blaise Pascal, and many the damage it caused
and took the regnal other prominent writ­ was considerable, as the
name Paul IV. He was ers were included on intellectual elite began
the first to order the the list at some time. to identify the Catholic
compilation of a list of The list even included Church with the sup­
works that could not be works by authors whom pression of freedom of
disseminated, possessed, the Church later raised speech and the pro­
or read since they con­ to the altars, such as St. hibition of intellectual
tained matter that was Robert Bellarmine and research. In 1966, the
not in accord with the Bl. Antonio Rosmini- List of Prohibited Books
teaching of the Church Serbati. was abolished.

PALACE OF THE HOLY OFFICE,

Vatican, which now houses the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES v Trial of Galileo

free will. Nobody questioned Galileo’s faith or his religious convic­

tions, neither during the trial or before nor after; he stressed through­
out his life that he was a faithful son of the Catholic Church. Not one
of the inquisitors expressed any reservations as to Galileo’s morality
in his personal life, though it was widely known that in Padua he lived
with Marina Gamba, a laundress, with whom he had three illegitimate
children, but whom he did not marry because of her low social status.
Because he knew that he would be unable to have two of his daugh­
ters appropriately married, he placed them in a convent before they
were of age. Virginia, the elder, who took the name Maria Celeste,
was in her element as a nun, whereas for the younger Livia, Sr. Ar-
cangela, religious life was the source of mental and spiritual suffering
throughout her life.
Galileo died on January 8,1642, in the Villa il Gioiello at the age of
seventy-five. After his death, he became the hero of countless works,

GALILEO’S
TOMBSTONE,
Basilica di Santa
Croce, Florence.
 JOHN PAUL II
Trial of Galileo VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

ON THE
which depicted him as a victim of the Catholic Church\md embel­ relationship
BETWEEN
lished his biography with numerous fictional details. Protestant and faith and
Enlightenment authors excelled in this. In time, the fictional elements REASON
began to obscure Galileo’s real biography. fides ep ratio
But the matter was not closed in the Church. In 1664, during Alexan­
der Vil’s pontificate, the Holy Office revoked the decree of 1616 that
condemned the works of Copernicus, Paolo Antonio Foscarini, and Diego
de Zuniga. In 1757, after James Bradley’s discoveries, which confirmed
the veracity of the heliocentric theory, the Holy Office removed works
propounding the Copernican theory from the List ofProhibited Books. FIDESET RATIO,
Of all the popes, John Paul II showed the greatest interest in the John Paul Il's
the Galileo matter. After the special scientific commission that he encyclical on the
conformity of
faith with reason.

CREATION OF
ADAM, fresco
by Michelangelo
in the Vatican's
Sistine Chapel.

set up had presented the results of its research, he decided to do

justice to Galileo. On October 31, 1993, during a plenary session of
the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, he publicly acknowledged that
Galileo was correct about the relationship between faith and reason.
He noted that “the problem that the theologians of that time posed
to themselves was that of the compatibility of heliocentrism and
Scripture." According to John Paul II, the new science forced them
to resolve the issue on the basis of their own criteria regarding the
interpretation of the Bible, which the majority of them were inca­
pable of doing. Paradoxically, Galileo, a person of deep faith, showed
more insight in the matter than his adversaries. The majority of
the theologians did not sense the formal difference between Holy
Scripture and its interpretation, which led them to consider scien­
tific issues inappropriately in the context of the Church's doctrinal
teaching.4
In 1998, John Paul II issued an encyclical Fides et Ratio. It began
with a sentence that Galileo would have subscribed to: “Faith and rea­
son are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contem­
plation of the truth.”
 THE GOILLOTIOE'S BLOODY HARVEST

[The French Revolution

 CHAPTER 7

The French
Revolution
The first systematic genocide
in the history of modern Europe
Vatican City

ITALY

PIUS VII
ARRESTED
by Gen. Etienne
Radet and
transported
to France.
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

There is a shortage of archival material in the Vatican'Se­

cret Archives from the revolutionary and imperial periods of
France. Reports from France stopped arriving at the Vatican
in the late 18th century, because in the grip of a revolution­
ary fever, she had severed diplomatic contacts with the rest |
of Europe, including Rome. In 1781, the Apostolic Nunciature
in Paris closed, and its head, Archbishop Antonio Dugnani, de­
parted for Milan. One could lose one's life for corresponding with
the papacy, as the authorities in Paris saw contacts with the Holy See PIUS VI, whose
as treasonous. Several years later, the Eternal City was occupied by pontificate lasted
French troops. The head of the worldwide Catholic Church lost con­ 24 years.
trol of the Vatican. From then until 1814 papal diplomats on various
continents did not have anywhere to send their reports.
Napoleon’s forces entered Rome on February 15, 1798, when the
twenty-third year of Pius VI’s pontificate was being celebrated in
the Papal States. Gen. Louis-Alexandre Berthier announced the de­
thronement of the pope, proclaimed Rome a republic, personally
erected a “Tree of Liberty” on Capitoline Hill, ordered a thanksgiving
service to be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica for the establishment of
the new system, and gave Pius VI three days to leave the city.

GEN. LOUIS-
ALEXANDRE
BERTHIER
arrested Pius VI.

DEATH
OF PIUS VI,
under house
arrest in Valence.

Though the pope was eighty-one years of age, partly paralyzed,

and unable to walk, he categorically refused. He was therefore ar­
rested and transported to Siena, then to Florence. Rome was without
a bishop for the first time since the Avignon Papacy. The exile of
the head of the Church lasted eighteen months. He was transported
on a stretcher from Italy to France: to Brian^on, Gap, Grenoble, and
finally to Valence, near Lyon, where as “Citizen Pope”, a prisoner
of the French Republic, he died on January 29, 1799, praying for his
enemies.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Trench Revolution

People bid farewell to the pope, but also to the papacy in

general. Supporters of the French Revolution were convinced
that Pius VI would be the last pope. But three months later,
a conclave was held at a Benedictine monastery (San Giorgio
Maggiore) in Venice, under the protection of Austrian sol­
diers. The cardinals debated from December 1,1799, to March
14,1800. They finally elected as pope Cardinal Gregorio Barn­
aba Niccolb Maria Luigi Chiaramonti of Turin, who took the
regnal name Pius VII in honor of his predecessor. In the opinion
of the College of Cardinals, the new pope brought fresh hope of com­
POPE PIUS VII, ing to an understanding with France, as he maintained that democracy
whose pontificate not only could be reconciled with Catholicism, but would need Christian
lasted 23 years, virtues to survive. On the other hand, he was intransigent in matters
almost as long as
pertaining to the Faith and supported the popular uprisings that broke
his predecessor’s.
out in the Apennine Peninsula against anticlerical aggressors.

MONASTERY Napoleon, then the first consul of the Republic, who aspired to be
OF SAN emperor, needed to come to an understanding with the Church. Hence
GIORGIO
he signed the Concordat of 1801, which gave Catholics the right to prac­
MAGGIORE,
Venice, where
tice their faith within limitations determined by the authorities in Paris.
a conclave Bonaparte believed that people ought to have the freedom to exercise
elected Pius VII. their religion, provided it was regulated by the state. Thus the Organic
Articles were added to the concordat, stipulating that the Church could
not make important decisions without government consent.
In 1804, Bonaparte summoned Pius VII to Paris to celebrate his
coronation Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral. The pope agreed, hoping
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

CONCORDAT
between
the Holy See
and the French
Republic, 1801.

that, in meeting Bonaparte personally, he would obtain some conces­

sions from him. But Bonaparte treated him as a subordinate. He os­
tentatiously displayed his contempt for the pope by making him wait
for him in the cathedral for an hour and then by taking the crown
from him in order to crown himself, proclaiming himself emperor of
the French. He thus showed that he did not owe his power to anyone NAPOLEON
but himself, not even to God. He also crowned Josephine, his wife. BONAPARTE,
He categorically refused to have a Church marriage, just as he had emperor of the
French.
earlier refused to go to confession and receive Holy Communion.
The pope swallowed the humiliation in silence.
At the beginning of 1808, Bonaparte, strengthened by his mili­
tary successes in Europe, demanded further concessions of Pius VII:
the right to nominate the patriarch of France and to assign French

CORONATION
OF NAPOLEON,
Notre Dame
Cathedral, Paris,
1804.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The French Revolution

dignitaries to a third of the places in the College of Cardinals. He also

Paris
insisted that Rome side with him in the Coalition Wars against the rest
of Europe. The pope refused. In response, Bonaparte occupied Rome
again and had cannons directed toward the windows of the papal resi­
dence. Pius VII did not buckle under the pressure and excommuni­
cated Bonaparte.
FRANCE Gen. Etienne Radet, invoking the emperor's will, demanded that the
pope surrender temporal power over Rome. The pope informed him
that it was impossible, as that power did not belong to anyone but the
Church. So on July 5,1809, the pope shared the fate of his predeces­
sor: he was kidnapped and transported to France, where he spent five
years as a prisoner of the empire.
Once Rome was occupied by the French, papal institutions ceased
to function, including the Vatican Secret Archives, which were taken
over and emptied of their contents. All the files and artifacts were
transported to Paris in 1810. Bonaparte believed that they would never
be returned to Rome, while many supporters of the new order thought
that Rome would never again see a Vicar of Christ. Yet both returned
several years later.

GEN. ETIENNE
RADET
arrested Pius VII.

HOTEL DE
SOUBISE
in Paris.
All the Vatican
Secret Archives’
collections were
transported
here in 1810. It is not surprising that the papal archives from this period are in­
substantial. A historian studying the history of the French Revolution
on the basis of documents housed in the Holy See faces an insur­
mountable difficulty. The lack of reports from the Apostolic Nuncia­
ture in Paris spans the period from spring 1791 to December 1819, as
at that time the pope did not have a representative in France. Raging
terror, the persecution of Catholics, severed diplomatic relations, and
a communications blockade on the part of the revolutionaries—all this
caused a huge gap in the papacy’s information system. An unimagi­
nable situation arose. There broke out in the most powerful state in
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Europe—called the eldest daughter of the Church, the igery heart of

Christian civilization—bloody and brutal persecutions of Christians,
massacres and slaughters, on a scale unseen since ancient times, while Vandee
Rome, about six hundred miles from the French border, received but
bits of news about the situation. In effect, the pope was not evefj aware
that Vendee, a province of France, had become an arena of genocide
(1793-1794), the victims of which were mainly local Catholics. FRANCE
One of the few written historical accounts of that time in the
Vatican Secret Archives is a letter from Queen Marie Antoinette of

LETTER FROM
PRISON

France to her brother-in-law, composed while she was in prison in

January 1793. The content is brief. It does not contribute much to our MARIE
knowledge about the French Revolution or the queen. It is not of as ANTOINETTE,
much import as, for example, Mary Stuart’s letter (also housed in the queen of France,
Vatican Secret Archives) to Pope Sixtus V, sent on October 23,1586, was the 15th
child of Holy
from her cell in Fotheringhay Castle just before the announcement Roman Emperor
of her death sentence (the Queen of Scots wrote that she was depart­ Francis I and
ing this world faithful to the Catholic religion, that she forgave her Maria Theresa
enemies, and that she entrusted her soul to God). The significance of of Austria
Marie Antoinette’s letter is that it was one of the few that ended up
in the Vatican.
Marie Antoinette also wrote a farewell letter to Elisabeth of
France, her sister-in-law. on October 16,1793, the nieht before her
 »W ,«•
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FAREWELL execution. The letter still bears traces of her tears, which blurred
LETTER the ink here and there. The queen confessed that she would die in
to Elisabeth the apostolic Roman Catholic faith, trusting in the mercy and good­
of France,
written by
ness of God, forgiving her enemies, and asking to be forgiven by
the queen all those she might have wronged in life. The letter never reached
in her cell the addressee. It was discovered years later among Maximilien
the night Robespierre’s documents.
before her One can learn more about the violence of the Revolution in the
execution;
documents written by those who inspired and perpetrated it than
the page
bears traces in the few documents from this period housed in the Vatican Secret
of her tears. Archives. French historian Reynaid Secher made a breakthrough dis­
covery about the victims in Vendee on March 4, 2011, at the Archives
Nationales in Paris.
 ewrUHA itfz
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tit

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**, ''^itit mut i

TO THE
GUILLOTINE,
Marie
Antoinette led
by revolutionary
troops on
October 16,
1793.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The French Revolution

We met him in Acigne, a small town near Rennes in Brittany. His

home reminds one of a museum, full of mementos from the tragic
events in Vendee towards the end of the 18th century. He related that
when he was at school, the official version spoke of a counterrevolu­
tion, an antirepublican uprising, a civil war. The issue was treated in
a general way, without going into detail.
EMBLEM At the same time, the events of two centuries ago were still present,
of the Vendean passed on from generation to generation, as in the Secher family, whose
insurgents. ancestors perished during the massacres in Vendee. They kept alive the
memory of those days in a closed circle, limited to their neighborhood,
their experiences being completely unknown in other parts of France.
When Reynaid Secher began to study history at the University of
Rennes, he met Prof. Jean Meyer, who expressed his amazement at

REYNALD
SECHER,
a French
historian,
during
a discussion
with Jan
Kasprzycki-
Rosikon
and Grzegorz
Gdrny.

MEMORIAL
ROOM
dedicated to
the victims
of the Lucs-
sur-Boulogne
massacre in
Vendee.
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

encountering the inhabitants of Vendee: whenever the Revolution

was mentioned, a wall of distrust, silence, and secrecy arose. Meyer
discovered that no one had yet calculated exactly the number of vic­ La Chapelle-Basse-Mer
tims, the economic losses, and the extent of physical destruction in
the region. Hence he suggested that Secher, his student, write about
the uprising on the basis of research in La Chapelle-Basse-Mer, his
hometown. Since he was a local, he was welcomed everywhere;
he had access to family archives and heard oral accounts that were
shared with nonrelatives for the first time.
The young historian had hundreds of discussions between 1978 and FRANCE
1982. He saw that he had arrived on the scene just as a certain era was
ending. Secher was in time to talk to the remaining representatives

PATCHES
worn by Vendean
insurgents.

of the last generation. He then compared everything they told him

with what he found in archives—state, Church, and private. He dis­
covered that the accounts of the Vendeans agreed with what he found
in documents.
In 1983, Secher defended his doctoral thesis at Sorbonne Univer­
sity. Prof. Meyer was his supervisor, and the examiners were Profs.
Pierre Chaunu and Andre Corvisier, famous French academics. Secher
demonstrated that in just two days, March 10 and 17,1794, the revolu­
tionaries murdered 850 of the 3,250 inhabitants during a massacre in
La Chapelle-Basse-Mer. About 40 percent of the victims were women,
children, or elderly. Of the 980 houses, 363 were burned down, and
the remaining farms were plundered. Material losses were as high as
81 percent of the value of La Chapelle-Basse-Mer’s total assets.
It was the first research in France on the extermination of the
civilian population in Vendee. The reviewers stated that Secher
had discovered a new research area and urged him to extend his
studies over the whole region that was encompassed by the civil
 R1RSSRCRE IR LYOR
Initially, the inhabitants of Lyon
supported the Revolution. They pri­
marily counted on the abolition
of the unjust tax system, which
favored a small group of the wealthi­
est citizens. In time, discontent
increased because of the direction
taken by the new authorities.
Opposition was particularly aroused
against the centralism of Paris.
Most key decisions occurred in
the capital, and the solutions worked
out there were imposed heavy-hand­
edly on the whole country. A sense
that state matters were heading in the
wrong direction increased particularly
after the execution of Louis XVI.
Many important cities rebelled against
the centralizing inclinations of Paris, “Lyon made war on liberty: Lyon is
for example, Nimes, Marseille, Rennes, no more!"
Caen, and Bordeaux. The bloodiest Ultimately, the demolition of
events of the royalist uprising oc­ the city was called off, but
curred in Lyon in the summer a repression of the inhabitants
of 1793. It was surrounded, bombard­ commenced. An extraordinary
ed, and captured by Gen. Franqois commission was established that
Christophe Kellermann’s soldiers. Lat­ issued death sentences en masse,
er, at the request of Bertrand Barere not only to insurgents, but espe­
from the Committee of Public Safety, cially to random, innocent people.
a decree to destroy the city was They had 1,600 people executed.
passed, commanding forces to burn it Some of the executions were
to the ground and erect a commemo­ carried out using cannons loaded
rative column with the inscription: with grape shot.
1.OSSUARY in a Lyon crypt, containing the
bones and skulls of French Revolution victims.
2. CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS, Lyon, which
houses the crypt.
3. PLAQUE commemorating the victims of the
massacre in Lyon.
4. EXPIATORY CHAPEL formed like a pyramid,
where the remains of the victims
in Lyon were kept from 1823 to 1906.
5. SKULLS AND BONES of those murdered
in Lyon were moved in 1906 from the Expiatory
Chapel to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.
6. JEAN-FRANCOIS DE FEYDEAU, whose
ancestor perished in the Lyon massacre.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The French Revolution

war. Secher took on the task, which lasted thirty-five years.

twist oi A completely different picture emerged from his research
than the official one; the religious dimension, often ignored
by scholars, came into view.
At the beginning of the Revolution, nothing indicated
that it would become so bloody or that it would assume
a clearly anti-Christian character. Peace had reigned
in France for six years, and there were no famines or
plagues. There was no organized opposition or a political
republican force, and no anticlerical incidents had been
observed for a long time. The reports sent to Rome by Antonio
DOCTORAL Dugnani, the apostolic nuncio, were reassuring.
DISSERTATION When Louis XVI of France announced (January 24, 1789) that he
by Reynaid intended to convoke the Estates General, which had not assembled
Secher, 1983,
on the massacre
for 175 years, no one expected the storm that it was to bring. The king
in La Chapelle- made the decision mainly to gain public support for new taxes, as
Basse-Mer. there were large debts to pay after participating in the American War
of Independence. King Louis XVI was also prepared to carry out im­
portant reforms in his administration. Things got out of control when

FIELD MASS
celebrated
for Vendean
insurgents by an
"unconstitutional”
priest.

ANTONIO a large swath of discontented commoners (Third Estate) broke out in

DUGNANI, open war against the royal and clerical classes (First and Second Es­
archbishop, tates) in order to form a new government. Eventually, the affair slid
apostolic nuncio
in Paris. into chaos and frightened even those who had instigated the Revolu­
tion, such Jean Joseph Mounier, its first leader, who organized riots
in Grenoble in 1788 and was the main initiator of the famous Tennis
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Court Oath in Versailles (June 20, 1789), which because a turning

point in French history.
Initially, the inhabitants of Vendee supported the French Revolu­
tion, as they were particularly unhappy with the prevailing system,
which—unlike in England—blocked the advancement of those^of the
Third Estate: the bourgeoisie, burghers, officials, representatives of
various professions, craftsmen, and peasants. In order to become an
officer in the French Army, it was necessary to prove one’s nobility KING LOUIS XVI,
at least four generations back. The aristocracy was jealous of its privi­ famous for being
leges and prevented people of a lower rank from rising to a higher a very inept
politician.
one. The Revolution abolished such barriers.

JEAN-JOSEPH
MOUNIER,
president
of the National
Assembly,
October 5-6,
1789.

TENNIS
COURT OATH
in Versailles
(June 20, 1789).
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES „ The French Revolution

Yet the inhabitants of Vendee, the decided majority of whom were

peasants, took up arms against the revolutionary government for
a number of reasons, the most important of which was its attack on
the Church. The so-called Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed by
the National Constituent Assembly on July 12, 1790, abolished fifty-
one of the 134 dioceses and one quarter of the parishes in France.
Thus the parish system, which underpinned the state administrative
structure, was destroyed. The rural population was attached to the

SEWING parish structure and identified with it to a large extent. In Vendee, the
badges of the majority of parish priests, who lived on the same material level as the
Sacred Heart
peasants, represented their interests before the state. Without them,
of Jesus onto
clothing. the sphere that for generations had assured peasants of protection and
security disappeared.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy also dissolved all male and fe­
male orders with the exception of those that provided education or were
involved in charity work. It also reduced the status of bishops and parish
priests to that of state officials who were to be elected not only by the
Catholics of a given department, but also by other citizens, including
Protestants, Jews, and atheists. A property qualification was also intro­
duced that favored those voters who paid higher taxes. In effect, it was
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

not the inhabitants who elected the parish priest of a givei^village, but
wealthy burghers, and often even dissenters. The revolutionaries an­
nounced that they intended to respect the new law rigorously. They
demanded that all the clergy swear an oath of loyalty to the state. Who­
ever refused was deprived of the right to exercise his pastoral ministry.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy aroused the vehement opposi­
tion of Pius VI, increasingly alarmed by frightening reports from the
Apostolic Nunciature in France. In the spring of 1791, Pius VI issued
two papal briefs, stating that the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a
sacrilege and a heresy and calling on the clergy not to swear an oath
to it, under pain of suspension. The tension between Paris and Rome
came to a head, and Antonio Dugnani, the apostolic nuncio, fearing
for his own safety, fled to Milan.

VENDEAN
INSURGENT
entrusting his
life to Our Lady
before setting
out to fight
government
soldiers.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Erench Revolution

The overwhelming majority of the bishops, and over half of the

FRENCH parish priests, did not accept the new law. Hence the state subjected
CONSTITUTION them to bloody repressions. Three bishops and three hundred priests
of 1791 briefly
were shot in Paris in 1792, and many were killed in other regions.
transformed
absolute As many as forty thousand clergy were exiled. In the autumn of that
monarchy into same year, a concentration camp for priests was established in Roche-
a constitutional fort-sur-Mer, where 829 were interned, of which 547 perished in in­
monarchy humane conditions (John Paul II beatified sixty-four of them in 1995).
(until 1793). In Vendee, the majority of priests refused to take the antipapal oath
of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The poor peasants—and so rep­
resentatives of the Third Estate, theoretically supporters of the Revo­
SACRED HEART lution-raised a militia, the Catholic and Royal Army. They did not
OF JESUS, create any counterrevolutionary doctrine. Their protest was a spon­
symbol of taneous response to defend the Catholic faith and the traditions of
the Vendean
insurgents. their ancestors. Reynaid Secher states that the insurgents stood in de­
fense of liberty, particularly religious liberty, and that in reality they

coNstitut>o
ehanCAISE,

*ee»P>*« P*' **

RED PHRYGIAN acted in accord with article thirty-five of the 1793 Declaration of the
CAP, Rights of Man and of the Citizen: “When the government violates the
symbol of
rights of the people, insurrection is—for the people and every part of
the French
Revolution. the people—the most sacred of rights and the most inalienable duty."
Though the revolutionary authorities theoretically proclaimed that
right, in practice they denied it to others.
The uprising began when the French government made military
service compulsory. In a statement of grievances—that is, demands
made prior to the convocation of the Estates General in 1789—peas­
ants had demanded that the authorities cease the recruitment of all
those who worked on the land. The National Convention, the revo­
lutionary parliament created in 1792, ignored these original demands
and ordered the largest mobilization in history in March 1793. The
Vendean peasants were forced to join the French Revolutionary
 DE PAR LE KOI.

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Army, which was engaged in wars on several fronts, ROYAL

in order to fight for a regime they hated. They re­ PASSPORT
volted, refusing to serve in the military. This uprising for prisoner of
war Mathurin
occurred in area encompassing about 3,600 square miles.
Place (left).
The Vendee insurrection was of a peasant character. The Catholic
and Royal Army, mainly made up of peasants, was not well armed MONSTRANCE
and lacked experienced officers. It was only after some time that the of wood,
nobility began to join it. The memory of brave leaders in the revolt cardboard, and
paper, used by
is still alive in Vendee to this day, for example Fran^ois-Athanase de
Fr. Louis-Robert
Charette de la Contrie; Charles-Melchior Artus, Marchess of Bon- Duguet, chaplain
champs; Henri du Vergier, Count of La Rochejaquelein; Louis-Marie to the insurgents’
Joseph, Marchess of Lescure; Maurice Joseph Louis Gigost d’Eibee; army.
and Jacques Cathelineau.

CHATEAU
DANGERS,
captured by
the Vendean
insurgents on
June 18, 1783.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Trench Revolution

The fighting raged with mixed fortunes, defeats intertwined with

victories. The Vendean resistance provoked the fury of the central
KEY LEADERS authorities. On April 4,1793, Bertrand Barere de Vieuzac presented
of the Vendee a plan for the “total destruction” of Vendee, maintaining that it was
uprising did not in the national interest, a necessary condition for saving the home­
live long:
land. On August 1,1793, the National Convention approved the plan:

GEN. FRANCOIS-ATHANASE CHARLES-MELCHIOR HENRI DU VERGIER, COUNT

DE CHARETTE DE LA ARTUS, MARQUESS OF OF LA ROCHEJAQUELEIN
CONTRiE (1763-1796). BONCHAMPS (1760-1793). (1772-1794).

LOUIS-MARIE JOSEPH, GEN. MAURICE JACQUES CATHELINEAU,

MARQUESS OF LESCURE JOSEPH LOUIS GIGOST "SAINT OF ANJOU"
(1766-1793). D’ELBEE (1752-1794). (1759-1793).
 TOMBSTONE
and statue
of Charles
de Bonchamps
GRACE AUX PRISONNIERS at a church
in Saint-Florent-
le-Vieil. The
deforestation, rebels’ houses demolished, property and cattle con­ inscription
fiscated, crops harvested and taken away, and women, children, and expresses his last
the elderly deported to other regions (this marked the first time the wish, "Mercy for
the prisoners!”
term “deportation” was used in official documents). The decree did Sculpted
not mention men in their prime—a silence that, to the enforcers, was by David
tantamount to a death sentence. d'Angers, son
As the Vendeans fought bravely, and even had successes, on Novem­ of a pardoned
ber 1,1793, a new law came into force providing for the extermination prisoner.
of all the inhabitants of the unruly region, including women, children,
and the elderly. People were murdered not for what they had done,
but for who they were. Secher suggests that behind the massacres lay
a revolutionary logic, which held that a man cannot be against the
rights of man, of which the Revolution was an expression. If one was
against those rights, then one was not a man. And if one was not a man,
then he should be treated as an animal, the killing of which was normal
and did not need to be justified.
One of the most significant incidents of the war in Vendee occurred
on October 18,1793. The Vendeans, withdrawing under the pressure of
the prevailing enemy forces at the Battle of Cholet, decided to break
through to the northern bank of the Loire, to Brittany. They set off on
a long march—tens of thousands of people, three quarters of whom
were elderly, women, or children fleeing from certain death at the
hands of revolutionary troops. At the last moment, they managed BERTRAND
to cross the river and escape with their lives. But prior to that, they BARERE,
faced a dilemma—they had to decide what to do with their five thou­ prominent
revolutionary
sand prisoners, who were kept in a church in Saint-Florence-le-Vieil.
politician,
Most thought that they ought to be killed, to avenge their commander one of those
Charles-Melchior Artus, Marchess of Bonchamps, mortally wounded responsible
during the Battle of Cholet. Moreover, they saw the prisoners as crimi­ for the terror
nals who murdered civilians and so did not deserve a trial. in Vendee.
When the dying general heard of this, he summoned his closest col­
leagues and asked them to fulfill his last wish: to pardon all the prisoners
and set them free. The general said that he did not want to stand before
God with a conscience burdened by such a monstrous crime. Shortly
afterwards, Bonchamps died, and the Vendeans crossed to the right bank
of the Loire, leaving the pardoned revolutionary troops on the left bank.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Trench Revolution

When information about this event reached Paris, members of the

Committee of Public Safety flew into a rage. They decreed that the
story should never see the light of day, and gave instructions to dis­
seminate another version of the event, namely, that the prisoners
were treated in a cruel manner, condemned to death, but then res­
cued at the last moment by government soldiers. But that was not all.
The authorities ordered all those who had been taken prisoner to kill
all the witnesses and take revenge on the civil population in order to
“wash away the shame”. Shortly afterward, the soldiers released from
captivity, en route to Nantes, murdered two thousand helpless people.
GEN. LOUIS Gen. Louis Marie Turreau became commander of the French Revo­
MARIE lutionary Army in Vendee on November 27,1793. He formed twelve
TURREAU,
large detachments called “infernal columns”, which plundered prop­
an executioner
erty and carried out a systematic extermination of the civilian popu­
of the Vendee,
organizer of lation. The commander ordered his subordinates not to spare women,
the "infernal
columns”.

PACIFICATION
OF THE VENDEE,
depicting
an agreement
signed April 20,
1795.

as they were the “reproductive soil” out of which rebels arose. Ven­
dee, as he was wont to say, ought to become one large cemetery.
The civil war ended on December 21, 1793, when the Vendeans
were defeated at the Battle of Savenay. However, the systematic ex­
termination of the civilian population lasted from August 1793 to July
1794, ending with the execution of Maximilien Robespierre, the lead­
er of the Reign of Terror. Secher defines the crimes of this period as
genocide, as they fulfil the United Nation’s criteria of 1948.
 FRANQOISE DE
CHABOT-DARCY
during a discussion
with Grzegorz
Gdrny.

AVEAGED MASSACRE
The Parc Soubise in Vendee’s Army entered the Parc Soubise, all
Mouchamps is the property of the inhabitants were gathered in
Franpoise de Chabot-Darcy’s family. front of the palace and murdered.
We met her in front of her ances­ The only survivor was a teenage
tors’ palace, which was ruined boy who, pretending to be dead,
toward the end of the 18th century spent several hours under a pile of
and has not been restored to this corpses. When it was dark, he fled
day. Her ancestors fled to Hungary to a wood, where he came across
during the Reign of Terror, leaving a detachment of insurgents. The
peasants on the estate. During the men decided to avenge the slaugh­
war in Vendee, the local men took ter, which was not difficult since
up arms, while the women, chil­ the perpetrators were fast asleep,
dren, and elderly stayed at home. blind drunk. The insurgents hanged
When the French Revolutionary them all.

DEVASTATED
PALACE
in Parc Soubise,
Mouchamps,
unrestored since
the Vendee
uprising.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Trench Revolution

Besides, it is no coincidence that the term “genocide” first appeared

in the context of the Vendee uprising. The term was used by Francois-
Noel Babeuf, called the “First Revolutionary Communist”, to describe
BATTLE OF what had happened in Vendee. In 1795, he wrote a pamphlet entitled
SAVENAY, The System of Depopulation, or The Life and Crimes of Carrier, de­
where Vendean voted to one of the main organizers of the atrocities.
insurgents were
defeated.
Towards the end of 1793, Gen. Francois Joseph Westermann wrote
a report to the central authorities in Paris that reflects the French
Revolutionary Army’s mentality and aims:

Citizens of the Republic, Vendee is no more. It fell—along

with its women and children—under our free saber. I have just
buried it in the mud and forests of Savenay. Following the or­
ders I received from you, I crushed children under the hooves
of our horses, and I massacred women, who—at least those—
will not give birth to any more bandits. I do not have a single

PRINCESS DE
LAMBALLE,
murdered by
revolutionaries
on a Paris street
September 3,
1792, simply
for her friendship
with the queen.
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

K
prisoner to reproach me. I have exterminated them all.... The
tails of all my hussars’ horses hold shreds of the bandit ban­
ners. The roads are littered with bodies. There are so many of
them that in several places, they form pyramids. In Saveijay,
we fired without stopping, because bandits were coming up
constantly to surrender. Kleber and Marceau are not with us.
We did not take prisoners; we would have had to grant them
the bread of freedom, and pity is not a revolutionary virtue.1
From the contents of the letter, it would seem that the revolution­
aries had achieved their aim. Nothing could be further from the truth! VENDEAN
After overcoming the insurgents, when the civil population in Vendee VOLUNTEERS
was defenseless, the forces began the genocide. Because the murders defending
themselves
became so numerous, the army utilized science in the service of gen­
against
ocide, perhaps for the first time in history. Industrial means of the revolutionary
extermination of people began to be considered. Two French chem­ soldiers.
ists, Antoine Francois, Count of Fourcroy, and Joseph-Louis Proust

attempted to produce a lethal nerve gas, but they failed. They con­
templated landmines and water poisoning as well, but the ideas were
abandoned, since they endangered both sides.
Reynaid Secher closely studied the long discussions pertaining to
this question within the National Convention and the Committee of
Public Safety. He told of the dilemmas that prevailed in the revolu­
tionary camp. Those responsible for the extermination complained
that the traditional methods of murder were too long and costly. There
were not enough bullets; besides, they were needed elsewhere. Bayo­
nets and sabers quickly broke, as did rifle butts after smashing skulls.
Moreover, soldiers who carried out serial murders showed symptoms
SHIRT GUILLOTIRE
The guillotine, undoubtedly the Saint Guillotine, protector of patriots,
most spectacular instrument of ter­ pray for us.
ror, became a symbol of the French Saint Guillotine, scourge of aristocrats,
Revolution. Guillotines were erected pray for us.
in all the main squares of larger towns Amiable Machine,
in France. Executions attracted crowds, have pity on us.
who had a sense of participating Admirable Machine,
in an extraordinary spectacle. have pity on us.
People even fought among themselves Saint Guillotine,
for the best places to observe protect us from tyrants.2
the executions.
The new order that was to replace
Christianity created its own sacred
sphere. The guillotine was part of it, as
a "redemptive instrument", as a "high
altar” at which a "red Mass” was cel­
ebrated. Covered with blue velvet and
showered with roses, it occupied
the central place during the Festival of
the Supreme Being, the most important
holy day established by the revolu­
tionaries. All the National Convention
members paraded in front of it. Songs
and prayers were written mockingly in
its honor, like the following litany:

PUBLIC EXECUTIONS by guillotine took

place in France from 1792 to 1939.

PLACE DU BOUFFAY in Nantes, site of

a guillotine during the French Revolution.
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

of mental deterioration. The guillotine also turned out to'be an expen­

sive instrument, as an executioner received fifty-nine livres for each
head (a teacher’s monthly pay was one hundred livres). Each guillotine
provided for about seventy-five victims daily, but the need was signifi­ Nantes
cantly more. Apart from that, it needed conservation, sharpening, and
general upkeep. Then there was the maintenance of prison cells, the
transport of prisoners, and the payment of guards. Eventually, it was
decided that the victims themselves had to pay for their own execu­ FRANCE
tions. Prior to execution, their money and valuables were taken, even
their clothes, their hair cut off, and their teeth pulled out, which were
put up for auction. In Les Ponts-de-Ce, human skin was tanned for trou­
sers for officers. In Clisson, fat was melted out of the victims’ bodies.
The authorities thought up a new method of extermination, which
was mainly implemented in Vendee and neighboring Brittany. It was
first used in Nantes on November 16,1793, when ninety priests who
refused to take the oath were led to the Loire and, tied together in
pairs, loaded under the decks of the barges that were moored there.
Then the barges were towed to the middle of the river and sunk. This
practice lasted until January 31, 1794, and has gone down in history
as “vertical deportation” or the “drownings at Nantes”. In all, about
five thousand victims perished in that way—four hundred children on
one of the barges, three hundred women on another. At the edge of

QUAY
ON THE LOIRE
in Nantes,
where barges
were loaded with
prisoners and
sunk to drown
them.
 DROWNINGS IN
NANTES,
where women
were stripped
naked, loaded
onto barges,
and drowned
in the Loire.

the river, they were stripped of their clothes (which were sold) and
pushed naked onto the deck. Driven towards the river, women tried to
hand their children over to people standing silently along the streets,
but such help was punishable by death. People were drowned in other
cities too, such as Angers, Les Ponts-de-Ce, Le Pellerin, and Bourgneuf,
where children in particular were killed in this way, including infants.
However, that extermination method evinced more and more res­
ervations among the revolutionary camp because of its cost, as the
sunken river vessels could have been used for other purposes. So at­
tempts were made to suffocate people in tightly sealed rooms below
the decks, but that sometimes ended in failure.
So the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention de­
'/A- '<> >/?J.B.
•/■/. CARRIER.
. Jh ( \tnAr/ • tr.<6 cided to revert to traditional ways of murdering people. Jean Baptiste
/<•. • ?rf~ii A-i» jruHMr.'.
Im/
Carrier wrote that one could not show the slightest sign of human­
ity towards the Vendeans, or spare any of them. The extermination
JEAN-BAPTISTE was entrusted to General Turreau’s “infernal columns”, which criss­
CARRIER, crossed the Vendee, killing those they came across. One symbol of
one of the their genocidal activity is Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne, where the French
Revolutionary
leaders Revolutionary Army murdered all of its 560 inhabitants, including the
responsible for the elderly, women, and children, on February 28,1794.
terror in Vendee. Reynaid Secher had access to numerous documents that show
the sort of deeds committed under the banners of the Republic.
Many of the testimonies were written by the perpetrators them­
selves. Thus we learn, for example, that the defeated Vendeans had
their genitals cut off and made into earrings, which were pinned to
belts as trophies. Women were gang-raped, and explosives inserted
into their wombs and detonated. Pregnant women were crushed in
wine presses.
After of many years of research, Secher established that 117,000 peo­
ple out of the 815,000 inhabitants of Vendee perished in the persecu­
tion. As many as 80 percent of the victims were women and children.
soleum dedicated to the victims of
genocide was opened in Les Lucs- YAD VASHEM means "place and name”
sur-Boulogne, thanks to Philippe in Hebrew, which reflects the essence
de Villiers, chairman of the Vendee of the mausoleum in Les Lucs-sur-
Boulogne, since it commemorates the
General Council. At times, it is names of the victims of the genocide.
called the "Vendean Yad Vashem”.
The site of the monument was not
chosen by accident, as it was at were aroused, and the malevolent
this spot that the French Revolu­ powers of jealousy, greed, and hate
tionary Army murdered all of the were released.
town’s 564 inhabitants, including According to Solzhenitsyn,
Reynaid Secher’s ancestors. the motto of "Liberty, Equality, Fra­
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian ternity” was also utopian,
writer, a former prisoner of Soviet as liberty and equality are mutually
labor camps, and the recipient of exclusive in social life. Liberty by its
the Nobel Prize in Literature in very nature results in social inequal­
1970, gave the inaugural talk at ity, while equality is unachievable
the opening of the mausoleum. He other than by the
compared the French Revolution suppression of freedom. Solzhenit­
with the Bolshevik Revolution, not­ syn also drew attention
ing that in both cases there pre­ to the mistaken understanding
vailed the utopian idea that a revo­ of fraternity, which is only
lution could improve human nature. achievable spiritually and not by
Instead, he said, people’s most social methods.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The French Revolution

Of its 53,270 buildings, 10,300 were destroyed. Vendee was erased from
maps of France. On November 7,1793, the National Convention voted
for a new name for the department: Venge (Avenged).
Because of the information blockade, the inhabitants of other parts
PRINCE OF of France had no idea of what was happening in Vendee. It was not
TALMONT until Robespierre’s death, and the end of the Reign of Terror in July
INTERROGATED
1794, that reports of the murders and plunders began to circulate. Tur­
Prince Antoine
Philippe
moil prevailed in Paris. Most of the criminals still held high positions.
de La Tremoille, In order to avoid responsibility and to calm the people, it was decided
one of the leaders to sacrifice some of the leaders of the Republic, blaming them for the
of the Vendee massacres in Vendee. Hence Jean Baptiste Carrier was guillotined by
uprising, was order of his former friends in December 1794. Earlier (April), another
guillotined on
criminal, Francois Joseph Westermann, was guillotined, not for his
January 27, 1794.
crimes but for his close relationship with Georges Jacques Danton;

the Revolution devoured its own children. But most of the criminals
avoided punishment, particularly Louis Marie Turreau, commander
of the “infernal columns”, whose name is inscribed on the Arc de
Triomphe de 1’Etoile in Paris to this day.
It is said that the popes had the world’s best intelligence service. But
that is not true. Pius VI, completely cut off from information, knew
nothing of the genocide in Vendee. Reports from France were sporadic
 The French Revolution » VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

and only contained bits of information about some events in the coun­
try called the “eldest daughter of the Church”. One thing in Rome was
certain: that the Revolution had declared war on Catholicism and tried
to replace it with a new religion.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was but a prelude to farther
activities. On November 10, 1793, the National Convention abolished
Catholic worship. That day, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was rededi­ MAXIMILIEN
cated to the Cult of Reason. In the chancel was erected an imitation of ROBESPIERRE,
Mount Olympus, upon which stood Mademoiselle Maillard, an opera main architect
house soprano, as the Goddess of Reason, clothed in a white dress, of the Reign
of Terror.
a blue mantle, and a red cap. When she sat down on the throne, a hymn
in praise of liberty was sung. Portraits of new saints were on display,
namely, Maximilien Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat, and other leaders
of the Revolution.
Everything associated with Christianity was done away with. About
eight hundred priests, monks, and nuns were murdered, the priesthood
abolished, religious symbols removed, churches destroyed, cemeter­
ies devastated, holy days abolished, even Sunday (a month earlier, the
Catholic calendar had been replaced with a revolutionary one, which
started not with the birth of Christ, but on September 22,1792, the day
Louis XVI was arrested). Jean de Viguerie, a historian, writes that during
the last decade of the 18th century every church in France was closed for
a certain time (several weeks to several years), and some were demol­ JEAN-PAUL
ished or converted into stables, barracks, and warehouses. MARAT,
murdered
by Charlotte
Corday,
proclaimed
a martyr of
the French
Revolution.

MADEMOISELLE
MAILLARD,
a Parisian
dancer,
worshipped
as the
personification
 PLUNDERING
CHURCHES
was common
practice during
the French
Revolution.

The destructive fury of the Revolution affected not only people.

It is estimated that about one third of France’s works of art were
damaged or lost for good during the Revolution. Catholic buildings
LA CARMAGNOLE were the main objects of attack—churches, monasteries, chapels,
by Charles Richefeu, seminaries, bishops’ palaces, church libraries and archives—along
1923—a satirical with the objects found in them, such as gravestones, sculptures, re­
depiction of
a revolutionary ligious paintings, liturgical vessels, organs, church bells, reliquaries,
dancing with the and book collections.
head of an aristocrat. The aim of the French Revolution was to create a new man, a new
nation, and a new world free from inequalities. But, first, the pillars
of the old order had to be destroyed, of which religion was the most
important. In that sense, the struggle with Catholicism was a logical
consequence of the philosophical assumptions adopted from Voltaire,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat,
Marchess of Condorcet. In place of Christianity, they proposed a “civ­
il religion” wherein the state was the supreme value (in this context
Maximilien Robespierre alone stood out, promoting the Cult of the
Supreme Being, an undefined deity).
 The French Revolution VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Terror brought the desired results. Almost half of tliV diocesan

priests signed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Later, 50 percent of FESTIVAL OF
these, under pressure from the authorities, gave up the priesthood. For THE SUPREME
a dozen or so years, people became accustomed to foregoing Mass and BEING,
the sacraments. In 1789, 90 percent of Frenchmen celebrated faster, revolutionary
state holiday
in 1801, only 50 percent did so. Bloody persecutions undoubtedly celebrated
contributed to a rapid secularization of France. on June 8.
Prof. Jean de Viguerie maintains that the dechristianization could
well have been greater, had it not been for the resistance of masses

of Catholics. Though leading a religious life was punishable by death,

nuns formed clandestine convents, which sometimes cost them
their heads, as was the case with the sixteen Carmelite nuns from
Compiegne and the thirteen Ursulines from Valenciennes. One
could end up on the guillotine for attending an illegal Mass, yet peo­
ple still assembled at secret liturgies. One woman, called Bergeron,
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES “ The French Revolution

a shopkeeper, had a secret chapel where Mass was said daily for eight­
een months, even though the chapel was opposite the Revolutionary
Tribunal.
There was no lack of paradoxes. The Revolution, though it in­
voked reason, executed scholars whose sole crime was their in­
dependence of thought. Antoine Lavoisier, for example, the most
famous physicist and chemist of the time, was guillotined in Paris.
The tribunal chairman, when passing sentence, stated: “The Repub­
lic does not need scholars.”
POPE PIUSX Pawel Jasienica, a Polish historian, pointed out another paradox:
beatified sixteen Half of the death sentences carried out during the Reign
Carmelite nuns of Terror occurred in Vendee and Brittany. Of the victims,
from Compiegne,
2 percent were of the nobility, 2 percent were of the clergy,
guillotined simply for
living in a convent. and 6 percent were of the middle class, while 48 percent were
peasants, and 41 percent were craftsmen and common laborers.3
So the Third Estate, in the name of which the Revolution broke out,
made up 95 percent of its victims.
Fighting did not cease in Vendee until 1796, when Gen. Franpois de
Charette, the last uprising leader, was shot. But peace did not come
to the region until the time of Napoleon, whose name has gone down
gratefully in the memory of the department’s inhabitants. He refused
to participate in the repression of the Vendeans, admiring the insur­
gents’ fortitude. Later, he granted compensation to victims and sup­
ported the rebuilding of the ruined province.
Today, Frenchmen are but dimly aware of the truth about the geno­
cide in Vendee, whereas they were keenly aware of it at the beginning
of the 19lh century, during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X of
France. In 1819, Victor Hugo even wrote an ode entitled “In the Ven­
dee”, wherein he praised the bravery of the insurgents. The situation

ANTOINE
LAVOISIER,
scientific genius,
guillotined in
1794.

GEN. DE
CHARETTE
before
a firing
squad.
DESCEfiDAnT OF THE "KIOG OF VEODEE”
There are many descendants of Vendee war heroes
sb'll alive today. One of them is Alain de Charette
de la Contrie, a descendant of the brother of Gen­
eral Franpois-Athanase de Charette de la Contrie,
the last leader of the uprising. His family has always
kept alive the memory of the brave general, who
was presented to the children as a model of forti­
tude and dedication, often recalling his life motto:
"I often fought, sometimes I was beaten, but I have
never been killed off.” Some of his keepsakes are
kept at his home.
Some exhibits pertaining to the general are kept
in the Logis de la Chabotterie manor, where he lay
wounded and was captured by revolutionary soldiers.
Today, the manor has a museum dedicated to the war
in Vendee and the crimes of the Revolution.

i. ALAIN DE CHARETTE DE LA
CONTRIE, descendant of the
brother of the last leader of the
Vendee uprising.
2. SABRE HILT of Gen. de Charette.

3. INTERIOR, CASTLE where Gen.

de Charette was captured and
imprisoned.
4. XAVIER DE MOULINS, director
of the museum in the Logis de
la Chabotterie manor house, in
discussion with Grzegorz Gorny.
5. MUSEUM in the Logis de la
Chabotterie manor house.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Trench Revolution

PUBLIC
EXECUTION
of Gen. Franpois-
Athanase de
Charette in Place
Viarme, Nantes,
on March 29,
1796.

began to change after the July Revolution in 1830, but particularly after
the February Revolution in 1848 and the proclamation of the Second
Republic. It was then assumed that the new founding myth of the state
VICTOR HUGO, was to be the French Revolution. During 1847 to 1853, Jules Michelet
a great admirer wrote his monumental seven-volume History of the French Revolu­
of the Vendean tion, which shaped historiography in France for many decades. What­
insurgents.
ever did not accord with that paradigm was marginalized or removed.
Reynaid Secher calls that process memoricide—the “annihilation of
memory”. That also pertains to the victims of the genocide in Vendee.
Jules Verne’s case is an illustration of this. In 1863, as yet a little-
known writer, he published a serial novel in a Paris magazine about
the war in Vendee, entitled The Count of Chanteleine: A Tale of the
French Revolution. Once he was famous, he decided to publish the
novel as a book. Publishers rejected his proposition, as his heroes
were insurgents who had defended their faith against the terror of
the Revolution. It was at the time of the Third Republic, so the novel
would have been unequivocally seen as an attack on the ideological
foundations of the secular state. The ideological guideline at that time
was Georges Clemenceau’s declaration of 1891: The French Revolu­
tion is un bloc—a unit—therefore it must be accepted completely,
JULES along with all of its episodes. Hence Verne’s novel was not published
MICHELET in France until 1971.
wrote The situation gradually began to change due to Secher’s research,
a historiography
of the French
and that of other historians who followed in his footsteps. But for
Revolution that is some time, he could not establish the origins of the plan to murder
still in use today. the inhabitants of Vendee—until he made a discovery on March 4,
 The French Revolution wr VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

2011, while poring over Committee of Public Safety documents in the

National Archives in Paris.
During the French Revolution, a select executive body played the role
of the present-day Council of Ministers, only with significantly more
power. It was established by the National Convention in Apri^.1793.

OFFICIAL
EMBLEM
of the Committee
of Public Safety.

COMMITTEE
OF PUBLIC
SAFETY
meeting in
Tuileries Palace.

Officially, the National Convention did not have a chairman. Georges

Danton had the greatest influence, followed by Maximilien Robespierre,
who wanted to transform France into a “Republic of Virtue”.
Robespierre thought that it could be done only through ter­
ror. That did not just mean murders and executions. Historians
estimate that of the twenty-seven million inhabitants of France,
about half a million ended up in prison, while several hundred
thousand were under surveillance. An atmosphere of fear sur­
rounded government officials, who issued “certificates of civic REYNALD
virtue” and decided who lived or died. The authorities appealed SECHER
for “revolutionary vigilance” and information about anything that claims Lenin
visited Vendee
was suspect. Hence people were afraid of even their closest ne­ in 1919 to learn
ighbors. Fear and suspicion were omnipresent. Bloody persecu­ methods of terror
tions of real or alleged enemies continued through the duration and genocide.
of the Revolution. They escalated particularly after the Law of When he took
Suspects was passed on September 17,1793, on the basis of which over power
in Russia,
not only clergy and nobility ended up in prison, but above all
he said:
townspeople and peasants. People were arrested on the grounds “We must
of a political joke, a letter from abroad, or a tip from a neighbor. exterminate
At the request of the Committee of Public Safety, a new law the Cossacks.
came into force on June 10, 1794, which provided for only two They are our
verdicts, that is, acquittal or death. Trials were mainly collective. Vendee.”
The accused did not have the right to a lawyer or witnesses, and
ROBESPIERRE
ARRESTED
with his associates
during the coup on
July 27, 1794.

“moral proof” was enough to convict him. Not only opponents of

the Revolution were guillotined, but also its fervent supporters if
for some reason they seemed to waver in their zeal. The fanati­
LOUIS DE cism of Robespierre and his closest associates, Louis de Saint-Just
SAINT-JUST, and Georges Couthon, led other members of the Committee of
the so-called Public Safety to fear that they too could end up on the scaffold.
"Angel of Death”
Hence they organized a conspiracy, and on July 27, 1794, they
or "Archangel of
Terror”. pulled off a coup. The next day, the three present leaders of the
Committee of Public Safety were guillotined without a trial, which
was met with enthusiasm by the Parisians, who had had enough of
the Reign of Terror. Succumbing to public pressure, the conspira­
tors, who themselves had blood on their hands, were forced to
limit persecutions. The Committee of Public Safety gradually lost
its prominence and was abolished in 1795.
After Robespierre’s execution, all the Committee of Public
Safety’s documents were thrown into trunks. Ten years later, Na­
poleon had them sorted out. They were arranged into eight files
and sent to an archive. The files were accessible to historians, but
nobody examined them thoroughly for over two hundred years.
Then on March 4, 2011, digging through the archives, Reynaid
Secher discovered among the files some wrinkled scraps of pa­
GEORGES per that turned out to be of fundamental importance. The small,
COUTHON, one inconspicuous cards attest to measures that decided the fate of
of the fathers thousands of people. The Committee of Public Safety was made
of the Reign of
up of twelve members, four of whom dealt with the Vendee mat­
Terror.
ter: Maximilien Robespierre, Bertrand Barere, Lazare Carnot, and
Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne. Their signatures appear under
various proposals of genocidal measures, which were presented
to the National Convention and passed.
 OFFICIAL LETTER
of the Committee
of Public Safety with the
signatures of politicians
DES REGISTRES
responsible for the
DU COMITE DE SALUT PUBLIC genocide in Vendee.
DE LA CONVENTION NATIONALE,
Du > JOUR 1>U_____ ----------------------------------------- ---

de l'aN DEUXltME nt LA BfpUBLIQUE pRANJAISE

UKF. ET INDIVISIBLE.

LAZARE CARNOT
served the king,
the Revolution,
the Republic,
and the emperor,
dying in 1823
at age 70.

Reynaid Secher’s case shows that great discoveries can still

be made in places where everything seems already to have been
sorted, studied, and described. Could researchers of the French
Revolution make a similar discovery in the Vatican? The revolu­
tionaries themselves tried to make sure that there would be no
documents pertaining to the Revolution in papal archives. But
one cannot exclude the possibility of some researcher suddenly
coming across a document that may prove to be an intriguing
missing link. Such cases occur in the Vatican Secret Archives.
AATICLERICAL BLOODBATH
 CHAPTER 8

War
in Spain
The religious dimension of the bloodiest civil
war in the history of the Iberian Peninsula

There are not many historians outside Italy who have spent as
much time in the Vatican Secret Archives as Fr. Vicente Carcel Orti,
who was the first to discover many unknown documents that help to
understand better the history of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
We met him in the Pontifical Spanish College in Rome. He comes
from Valencia but has lived in Rome almost forty years. He studied
Church history at the Gregorian University, specializing in the 19th
and 20th centuries, and he gained insight into the bloodiest conflict in
his country’s history by going through documentation in the Vatican
Secret Archives.

STREET
FIGHTING
in Madrid during
the Spanish Civil
War.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Nobody before him had ever examined the documents, which

had not even been catalogued. The Apostolic Nunciature in Madrid
housed two hundred boxes, each containing six to eight hundred pag­
es of unexamined documents. He spent years in the Vatican Secret
Archives laboriously copying reports, letters, accounts, and testimo­
nies. From 2011 to 2018, he published seven thick volumes of files,
containing as many as 2,889 documents.
Thanks to his work, the religious dimension of those events has
emerged. Thirteen bishops, 4,184 priests and seminarians, 2,365
monks, 283 nuns, and about 4,000 lay people who aided religious

VOLUME 6
of Fr. Vicente
Carcel
Orti’s Second
Republic
and Civil War
in the Vatican
Secret Archives.

FR. VICENTE
CARCEL ORTI
with the fruit
of his work
in the Vatican
Secret Archives:
seven volumes
containing
documents
about Spain
1931-1939.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES J* War in Spain

were murdered during the Spanish Civil War. In all, 12 percent

of the Spanish clergy perished; in areas occupied by the Left, the
number of clergy killed approached 80 percent, and the revolu­
tionaries forbade pastoral work altogether. All the churches were
closed, and property was confiscated. Anything that was connected
with the Church was destroyed, burned, or looted—bishops’ palaces,
monasteries, seminaries, and the headquarters of Catholic organi­
zations. It is estimated that about twenty thousand churches were
destroyed, that is, almost half of the churches in Spain, and many
priceless works of art were lost. Numerous historical documents
housed in archives, libraries, and museums met a similar fate. The
devastation was conscious, planned, systematic, yet bereft of mili­
tary justifications.
RUINED But that which most moved Fr. Orti was the cruelty that accom­
SEPULCHER panied the crimes. Catholics were spared no kind of martyrdom,
of Card. Carrillo
de Acuna, Alcala
de Henares
Cathedral.

SALVAGING
A BISHOP’S
TOMB,
Alcala de Henares
Catherdral.

including crucifixion. Many victims were tortured, urged to re­

nounce their faith.
They were urged to curse God, spit on images of Christ, or to
tread on the crucifix. Despite that, Fr. Orti, a Spanish historian, did
not come across a single documented case of apostasy. Instead, he
found numerous testimonies about the contrary, about people who
remained faithful to God despite being tortured. In Valencia, for
example, a Catholic Action activist, eight months pregnant, had her
stomach ripped open and her baby killed, just because she refused to
deny Christ. In Rafelbunyol, in the same diocese, nine brothers were
murdered because they were too religious.
Pope Pius XI, on hearing terrifying news from the Iberian Pen­
insula, could not understand why Catholics murdered Catholics,
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

why brothers killed brothers. After all, most of the killers had
been baptized.
In order to understand the historical background of that
conflict, we have to remember that the fratricidal war began
in a country that was politically divided long before Gen.
Francisco Franco swung into action. After the fall of the
Bonapartist regime, there was a civil war (1814-1833) be­
tween conservatives and liberals. Then, from 1833 to 1868,
there were two civil wars, the overthrow of the monarchy,
fifteen military coups, two uprisings in Cuba, numerous re­
volts and assassinations (including priests), forty-one different
governments, and three constitutions. After the fall of the monar­
chy in 1868 until the coronation of Alfonso XIII in 1902, the country POPE PIUS XI
was torn apart by constant uprisings and revolts, including another mentioned
seven-year civil war and the murder of two presidents. Later, before the persecution
of Christians in
the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, there were Spain in his 1937
numerous military revolts, three attempts to assassinate the king, and encyclical Divini
a seven-year period of dictatorship. During the republic of 1931 to 1936, Redemptoris.
there were twenty-two cabinet changes, a constitution was adopted
and annulled, religious persecution and terror were daily occurrences,
while a communist-anarchist revolution broke out in Asturias.
Such was the situation in Spain over the one hundred twenty
years prior to the Spanish Civil War, which claimed several hundred

ALFONSO XIII
became king of
Spain upon birth;
his mother, Maria
Christina, served
as regent until
he assumed full
power in 1902.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES ££ War in Spain

thousand victims within three years. The thirty-six-year dictatorship

of Gen. Franco after World War I was, in a country that had been
torn apart by constant conflicts, the first long period of stability and
internal peace in one hundred fifty years.
The Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936, revealed wide­
spread hostility towards the Church, leading to mass crimes. Accord­
ing to historians, the sources of Spanish anticlericalism are diverse,
reminiscent of separate streams that when flowing separately do not
constitute a deadly threat, but when they merge into one river, can
ISABELLA OF turn into a raging torrent that obliterates everything in its path.
CASTILE Over the centuries, a particular kind of regalism—that is, a sys­
and husband, tem of royal domination over the Church within a Catholic
Ferdinand,
received the
title Reyes
Catolicos (Catholic
Monarchs) from
Pope Alexander VI.

CAPTURE
OF GRANADA
in 1492 marked
the end of the
Reconquest.

state—prevailed in Spain. It was so ingrained that bishops appointed

by the king often took up office before the papal appointment. The
state and the Church, however, maintained this symbiosis on the
grounds that it was necessary to preserve the Catholic unity of the
nation. That conviction arose from the Reconquest, the several cen­
turies of war to reclaim the country from the Muslim Moors, who
FERDINAND II had ruled over much of Spain from 711 to 1492. But regalism occa­
OF ARAGON, sioned that the monarchy was identified with Catholicism, so much
whose marriage to so that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were named the Catholic
Isabella of Castile Monarchs of Spain in the 15th century. Ever since, hostility toward
gave rise to the
Spanish Empire.
the king often signified an attack on Catholicism. Hence the republi­
can aversion to royalism turned into hate for the Church.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Reforms modeled on those carried out by Emperor Joseph II in Aus­

tria were introduced during the Enlightenment, especially during the
reign of King Charles III and Manuel Godoy, his prime minister, dur­
ing the period of called enlightened absolutism. The Spanish version
of Josephinism entailed a further subordination of religious life^to the
state. In the 19th century, nationalist and liberal governments used this
mechanism to carry out several waves of secularization of ecclesiasti­
cal property, especially the wealth of monasteries.

MANUEL
GODOY,
prime minister
of the Kingdom
of Spain from
1792 to 1797.

ALLEGORY
OF MADRID
by Francisco Goya.

Liberal rulers appropriated the goods of religious congrega­

tions. On the one hand, they were financially motivated to fight the
Church, as they drew from her wealth, while on the other, they were
ideologically motivated, as they were convinced that a rejection of
religion was a necessary condition of modernizing the country. In
order to survive, the state had to be modernized. Hence the struggle
against the Church was in the national interest—a position accepted
even by many nationalists.
By the end of the 19th century, many Spanish intellectuals, includ­
ing Jose Ortega y Gasset, sought to de-Catholicize Spanish culture
through, among other things, educational reforms implemented in
the 1890s. Also active were Masonic lodges, which sought to destroy
the old order, the main pillar of which was still the Catholic Church.
Suffice it to say that in the first Cortes Generales, after the proclama­
tion of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, over 60 percent of the
parliamentarians were Freemasons.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

By the 1930s, Spanish society was deeply divided. The only com­
mon ground for cooperation between various factions turned out to
be their aversion to the Church, an aversion that was capable of unit­
ing anarchists, communists, socialists, Freemasons, republicans, lib­
erals, and nationalists. Thus a popular anticlericalism was launched
by multiple groups vying for power at the same time.
In Madrid, we had a meeting with Spanish historian Pio Moa,
a leading expert on the Spanish Civil War and the author of numer­
ous books on the subject. He opposes the prevailing, simplified view
JOSE ORTEGA of the conflict, according to which nationalists and fascists were on
Y GASSET, one side, called the Nationalists, and communists, republicans, and
Spanish thinker, democrats were on the other, called the Republicans. In reality—he
author of The explained—it was much more complex. Gen. Francisco Franco Baha-
Revolt of the
Masses.
monde led the monarchists (divided into loyalists and Carlists), con­
servatives, Christian democrats, nationalists, and some liberals; while

INITIATION in the other camp were various communists and socialists, anarchists,
RITUAL and republicans, as well as Catalan and Basque nationalists.
at a Masonic Moa took a closer look at the leftist camp in terms of its aversion
to Catholicism, since this was the main link between the various fac­
tions. The first element of the coalition was composed of “Jacobin”
republicans, led by Manuel Azana Diaz, who was fascinated by the
French Revolution. He declared, “At the height of power, I would be
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

PIO MOA,
Spanish historian,
in conversation
with Grzegorz
Gorny.

more like Robespierre than Marcus Aurelius." In his opinion, the task
of building a new social order rested on the intelligentsia. But it was
necessary first to demolish the old order, and this required an alliance
of leftist forces, of “powerful peasant battalions” that would help to
destroy the historical Catholic heritage of Spain, which he compared
to syphilis. So it is not surprising that when anticlerical militias burned
many churches in May 1931, he was against punishing the perpetrators,
saying, “All the monasteries in Madrid are not worth the life of one
republican.” When he was prime minister (1931-1933), he legalized the
secularization of cemeteries, dissolved the Jesuit order, closed Catholic
schools, and justified violence against Christians.

GEN. JOSE
SANJURJO,
seasoned
commander
who was
supposed
to lead the
uprising, but
died in a plane
crash, leaving
Gen. Franco
to take charge.
FR0R1 TERRORISm TO HISTORY
Pio Moa was born in Vigo (in Galicia, taught was distinctly different from the
Spain) in 1948. From as early one that emerged from
as he remembers, he was against his research. In time, he became
Gen. Francisco Franco’s regime. one of the world’s leading experts
As a young man, he became fascinated on the subject, publishing numerous
with Marxism, especially with Maoism, books, including The Origins of the Span­
its Chinese variant. He became a mem­ ish Civil War (1999), Myths
ber of the reactivated Communist Party of the Civil War (2003), The Collapse
of Spain and one of the founders and of the Second Republic and the Civil War
leaders of the left-wing terrorist organi­ (2001), and Franco: A Historical Assess­
zation GRAPO (First of October Anti- ment (2005).
Fascist Resistance Groups).
His organization was responsible
for many assassinations and attacks, GRAPO, the First of October
in which about eighty people Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups.
were killed. He participated in
the group’s first major action
(October 1, 1975), where four
Civil Guard policemen were shot.
Moa was expelled from GRAPO two
years later.
He changed his views about the Span­
ish Civil War when he began to study
history. It turned out that the view
of the armed conflict he had been
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The second element of the leftist camp was the Spanish Social­
ist Workers’ Party, led by Francisco Largo Caballero and Indalecio
Prieto. Marxism was its official doctrine, and its goal was the dicta­
torship of the proletariat, entailing the abolition of private property
and religion, which Karl Marx called the “opium of the peopled. The
socialists believed that they should first be allied to the republicans
in order to destroy the monarchy and the Church, and then abolish
bourgeois democracy as well as proclaim a new order. So it is not
surprising that members of the socialist militia and the Guardia de
Asalto (Assault Guard) participated in numerous attacks on Catholic
churches before the Spanish Civil War broke out.
The third major element in the left-wing camp was that of the FRANCISCO
anarchists, represented by the Confederation Nacional del Trabajo, LARGO
which numbered as many as 750,000 members at its peak. While CABALLERO,
a leader of the
the socialists were Marxists, the anarchists were Bakuninists, who
Spanish Socialist
also called for the overthrow of capitalism. Their leader, Jose Garcia Workers’ Party
Oliver, wrote that they supported any revolution that would sweep (PSOE).

MANUEL AZANA,
reviewing troops in
Alcala de Henares.

away the old bourgeois institutions (including the Church), break

with democracy, and create an egalitarian system called anarcho­
communism. The future society was to consist of communes, where­ INDALECIO
in there would be no place for religion, money, political power, or so­ PRIETO,
cial differences resulting from work or sex. To achieve that goal, the a leader
of the Spanish
anarchists agreed on a tactical alliance with the republicans, seeing Socialist
democracy as a kind of transitional form on the way to a new system. Workers’ Party
The fourth element of the left-wing coalition was the Communist (PSOE).
Party of Spain, led by Jose Diaz and Dolores Ibarruri. It was a Sta­
linist group, the ideal of which was the political system prevailing
at the time in the Soviet Union. Its approach to the Catholic Church
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

was similar to the one the Bolsheviks adopted toward the Russian
Orthodox Church—that is, exterminating the clergy, destroying ob­
jects of worship, and persecuting Christians.
During the civil war, Trotskyists in the Workers’ Party of Marx­
ist Unification took on a certain significance. They were supporters
of a permanent revolution and were also antireligious, particularly
“WIN OR DIE” anti-Catholic.
A poster for POUM, The last element of the left-wing camp was made up of Catalan
the Workers’ Party and Basque nationalists, the only groups that did not programmati­
of Marxist Unification
cally seek to fight the Church. They aimed either to gain autonomy
(Trotskyists).
or to break their provinces away from Spain and establish their own
independent states. Both the Catalans and the Basques saved many
priests and even some bishops.

LEADERS OF The other camp was made up of an eclectic alliance of various right
THE LEFT and center forces, united in their aversion to revolutions and their
in Spain: attachment to traditional culture and the Catholic faith. The alliance
i. Jose Diaz,
was of a reactionary nature, a response to left-wing activities.
2. Jose Garcia
Fr. Vicente Carcel Orti points out that the Church’s problems did
Oliver,
3. Dolores not arise because she sided with the Francoists, as the persecution of
Ibarruri. Catholics began long before Gen. Franco appeared on the scene. The
beginning of the repressions was connected with the proclamation
of the Second Spanish Republic, which occurred under quite unusual
circumstances
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

On April 12,1931, local elections were held in Spain^They were

won by the monarchists, who obtained 40,324 councilors mandates
throughout the country. The republican-socialist camp came in sec­
ond with 40,101, while the members of the Communist Party were
third with barely sixty-seven mandates. The monarchists weqe vic­
torious in the provinces, the republicans in large cities, particularly
Madrid. The following day, large demonstrations were staged in the
capital demanding the king’s resignation. Wanting to avoid blood­
shed, Alfonso XIII abdicated on April 14 and departed for France. KING ALFONSO XIII
Thus arose the Second Republic. abdicated, then
The Church quickly came to terms with the change and did not went to France
and eventually
even try to defend the monarchy. The Spanish hierarchy appealed to Italy.
to the faithful to respect the new authorities, while the Holy See
immediately recognized the new government. According to Fr.
Orti, there were many supporters of democracy among Catholics

MADRID STREET
in April 1931,
during the
proclamation
of the Second
Republic.

at that time, but unfortunately, they were rejected by the Second FR. VICENTE
Republic. The Jacobin conception of the relationship between the CARCEL ORTI
state and the Church held sway. in conversation
In May 1931, barely a month after the king’s abdication, anticleri­ with Grzegorz
Gorny (left).
cal militias burned down about one hundred churches in Madrid,
Valencia, Barcelona, Alicante, Murcia, Malaga, Cadiz, and other cit­
ies, while police and firemen looked on. Attacks on priests multi­
plied, but the central authorities did not react, though they forced
Primate Pedro Segura y Saenz to leave the country for criticizing
the government.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

On June 28,1931, elections to the Cortes Generales were held, and

republican and left-wing forces triumphed. On December 9, they passed
a constitution that was anticlerical, anti-Catholic, and antireligious. Well-
known thinker Jose Ortega y Gasset, though generally in favor of the
constitution, thought that it also contained some articles that were akin
to dynamite on the verge of detonation, as they limited religious free­
dom, removed catechesis from schools, banned priests from the teach­
ing profession, and limited the possibility of organizing processions. The
Second Republic introduced a total secularization in the Jacobin spirit.
Religious symbols were removed from schools, and there were fines for
ringing church bells. The Jesuits were expelled from Spain.
Political action was accompanied by a press campaign accusing the
Church of indecent wealth, decadence, and insensitivity to the plight
of the poor. Magazines like La Traca and Fray Lazo excelled at this.

CARD. PEDRO
SEGURA
Y SAENZ,
primate of Spain,
arrested by
the Civil Guard.
He was expelled
and lived
in France,
then Rome.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

A book series was published, the Library of the Godless, bttsed on the
Soviet pattern, wherein Christ was depicted as an evil man and the
apostles as having concubines.
The later minister of justice Manuel de Irujo Olio, in a memoran­
dum submitted to his government on January 7,1937, wrote self^crit-
ically that the Second Republic, proclaimed in 1931, was “a system in
the full fascist sense, as believers’ consciences were daily violated by
public authorities”.
How did the Church react? The most important document was SPANISH
the Spanish bishops' pastoral letter of December 20,1931, express­ CONSTITUTION,
ing disappointment with the government’s policies but at the same adopted in 1931,
was anticlerical.
time a readiness for future cooperation. In their letter, the hier­
archs noted that after the proclamation of the Second Republic, the
Church had avoided any acts that could have been seen as hostile
to the new system, and still she was not treated as a normal institu­
tion, but as a threat that must be destroyed by any means necessary,
even by breaking the law and violating religious freedom.

PROCLAMATION
OF THE
SECOND REPUBLIC,
Madrid, April 1931.

Al MAKIAC1IIF

LA TRACA,
anticlerical leftist
magazine.

The results of the parliamentary elections held on November

19, 1933, gave some hope for an improvement of the situation, as
the right-wing forces were triumphant. The situation did indeed
improve somewhat.
In October 1934, a revolution fomented by communists and anar­
chists broke out in Asturias. It was bloodily crushed by government
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

authorities, who were afraid that Spain might be transformed into

a Stalinist dictatorship. Several thousand people were killed during
the fighting, including thirty-four priests, monks, and seminarians,
among others, including eight members of the Institute of the Broth­
ers of Christian Schools, which provided free education for children
of poor miners in Turon. Just as during the French Revolution, they
were killed not for what they did, but for who they were. They were
Catholic religious, which was enough reason for them to perish. So

JOSE MARIA
GIL-ROBLES,
Catholic
politician, active
during the
Second Republic,
exiled during
the Spanish
Civil War.

SECOND
SPANISH
REPUBLIC
marked
a period of
constant social
unrest, riots,
and violence.

the first martyrs for the Faith, Fr. Orti stresses, were murdered two
years before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
In July 1935, the Seventh World Congress of the Comintern (Com­
munist International) took place in far-off Moscow. It drew up a new
strategy that was to bring about dire consequences for Europe, in­
cluding Spain.
What actually happened at the congress? According to Pio Moa, it was
Stalin’s response to events that had occurred in Germany, particularly the
dissolution of Germany’s Communist Party. The largest Leninist organi­
zation in Western Europe had been wound up overnight by the National
Socialists (Nazis). Hitler did not hide the fact that he saw Bolshevism as
his archenemy, and his offensive against the Communist Party caused
the Soviet Union to seek new methods of self-defense. Hitherto, the
Communist Party had attacked all political groups that did not complete­
ly share its views. They even called the social democrats “social-fascists”
 REVOLUTIONARIES
arrested in Asturias
by members of the
Civil Guard (1934).

and forbade forming coalitions with them. The party decided to change
its strategy, calling for an alliance of all those forces for whom “fascism”
was the number-one enemy. Thus arose, at Stalin’s instigation, the idea
of popular fronts, which brought various leftist groups together. In Spain,
such an alliance—named the Popular Front—was forged by Communists,
socialists, Trotskyists, leftist republicans, and center-left Catalan nation­
alists. On February 16,1936, they took power as a result of snap parlia­
mentary elections. It is true that more voted for the center-right, but as
the results were strongly divided, most of the mandates were won by the
Popular Front, which formed a new government.
The left wing decided the time had come to move to the next stage
of taking power. Having overthrown the monarchy with the help of
republicans and other liberals, leftists moved to rid Spain of its bour­
geois democracy and to set up a dictatorship of the proletariat. They
sought to foment a revolution similar to the one the Bolsheviks had
unleashed in Russia. A week before the elections of February 9,1936,
El Socialists reported: “We are determined to do in Spain that which
was done in Russia. The plan of Spanish socialism and Russian com­
munism is the same.” Some even thought that Lenin and Stalin were
not radical enough. Margarita Nelken, a socialist deputy, stated in the JOSEPH STALIN,
Cortes Generales: “We want a revolution, but the Russian revolution who promoted
cannot serve as a model for us, as a huge revolutionary fire must popular fronts
in Europe.
break out here that will be seen throughout the world, and the coun­
try must be flooded by waves of blood that will color the sea red.”
These were not idle words, for churches were burning again soon
after the elections. On March 8, a Catholic school, a religious house,
and five churches were set on fire in Cadiz. Priests, nuns, and even
lay Catholic activists died in the attacks. The police and the Repub­
lican Guard did not react to the attacks by left-wing militias. Ac­
cording to official sources, from February to July 1936,170 churches
were burnt down, with 330 people killed and 1,511 wounded. Progov­
ernment newspapers El Libertad, El Liberal, and El Socialista urged
a crackdown on Catholics. The country was plunged into anarchy
and internal struggles. The largest Catholic daily, El Debate, which
informed readers about what was happening, was repeatedly sus­
pended by the authorities.
SACRILEGIOUS
behavior by Spanish
revolutionaries,
"WE SHALL JUDGE GOD"
Madrid, 1936.
Below is a passage from an article published in July 19,1936, in
Solidaridad Obrera, a daily newspaper connected with the National
Confederation of Labor (CNT):
The Church continues along her own way, still our great en­
emy. We know her by her works. Because of what she does,
she will be hated by all Spaniards worthy of the name. We will
destroy her by putting an end to the formation of the "blacks”.
People should not forget. People must not forgive the unfor-
giveable, never, never, never.
We are combatting the priestly profession because it is use­
less and harmful, as are so many other professions related to
capitalism. We understand that due to the necessity caused
by war, we should combat them all the more, since we need
to increase production, eliminate unnecessary industries, and
put an end to unproductive activities.
We are the same atheists we were yesterday, which is why
we light up the sky with the flames of burning churches of
obscurantism. The sky is the only place where God causes
us trouble. If anyone wanted to bring him here, on earth,
we would fight him and destroy his churches, convents, etc.,
again. And we shall judge him.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The murder of Jose Calvo Sotelo, a monarchist and the leader of the
parliamentary opposition, dramatically changed the situation. On July
13, 1936, members of the socialist militia and the Guardia de Asalto ALCALA DE
kidnapped him from his home and killed him. According to American HENARES
historian Stanley G. Payne, such an execution of an opposition Reader CATHEDRAL,
destroyed by
by government police was an unprecedented crime in the history of
anticlerical
Western European parliamentarism. The murder, according to him, militants
showed that respect for civil rights and constitutional freedoms under in 1936.
left-wing rule was but a fiction in Spain.
Angel Galarza, one of the Socialist Party leaders, said of the murder:
“The assassination of Calvo Sotelo made me sorry. I regretted that I did

not participate in the execution.” Many Spaniards, however, felt other­

wise. The killing turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back,
the spark that ignited the civil war. A military group led by the generals
Francisco Franco Bahamonde and Emilio Mola y Vidal decided to stage
an uprising. On July 17,1936, the anti-Left anti-Left rebellion broke
out in Morocco, which was then a Spanish colony. A day later, fighting
began in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Church did not participate in the Francoist plot. Clergy did
not take part in the rieht-wine militarv coup. Nonetheless, it became
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

JOSE CALVO
SOTELO,
leader of the
parliamentary
opposition,
murdered by
members of
a leftist militia
group in July
1936.

one of the main victims of revolutionary terror. Wherever the left­

ist forces gained power, bloody campaigns ensued against repre­
sentatives of the Church. Catholics were murdered, churches set on
fire, religious objects profaned, sacrilegious processions organized
(wherein prostitutes with Marian symbols flaunted themselves on
floats), Masses parodied. Even the tombs of nuns were opened, their
remains pulled out to be mocked by the rabble. In Huesca, for ex­
ample, corpses were removed from graves and arranged in pairs in
copulatory positions.

GEN. EMILIO
MOLA,
Gen. Franco's
comrade-in-arms.

REVIEW OF
TROOPS
by Gen. Mola
before they went
to the front.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

The greatest terror reigned during the first three morphs of the
war, when most mass murders were carried out and with impunity.
On August 24,1936, people’s tribunals were established, creating the
appearance of a rule of law, but they were of an ad hoc nature, issu­
ing death sentences for trivial allegations, just as it was once done in
revolutionary France and Russia.
Fr. Vicente Carcel Orti draws attention to the difference between
religious persecution and political repression. Catholics were of­
ten sentenced to death not for political but religious reasons, out of GEORGE ORWELL,
a British writer who
fought in the ranks
of the Trotskyist
POUM party
and miraculously
survived the
Communist purge.

BARRICADE
on a Barcelona
street, July 1936.

hatred for the Christian faith and the Church. Statements by numer­
ous left-wing leaders attest to the fact that exterminations were in­
tentional. For example, Andres Nin Perez, chairman of the Trotsky­
ist Party, spoke thus of the Church problem (Barcelona, August 8,
1936): “We have resolved it completely, reaching its roots, eliminat­
ing priests, churches, and worship.” On March 5, 1937, in Valencia,
Jose Diaz, secretary general of the Spanish section of the Comin­
form (Communist Information Bureau), declared: “The Church no WOOL
longer exists in the provinces where we had power. Spain went BALACLAVA
a little further than the Soviets, as the Church in today’s Spain has of a political
commissar
been destroyed.” from the time
Manuel de Irujo Olio, the leader of the Basque Nationalist Par­ of the war.
ty, who became minister without portfolio in the republican gov­
ernment, attempted to change the religious policy of the left-wing
camp. On January 7, 1937, during a cabinet meeting in Valencia, he
submitted a memorandum on religious persecution. His speech was
one long accusation against his own political camp, and parts of it are
worth quoting:
 CEFERINO
GIMENEZ MALLA,
first Gypsy in Catholic
Church history to be
beatified.

(the Strong One, or

the Brave One). A drover
and dealer in mules,
donkeys, and horses,
he was the first Romani
mRRTYRS OF THE SPRRISH (Gypsy) to be canonized
by the Church. He was
CIVIL UJRR arrested because
he stood up for a young
So far, the Holy See has raised over one thousand priest who was being
Spanish Civil War martyrs to the altars. No other dragged along a street.
military conflict in history has brought the Church His interrogators found
so many blesseds and saints who were murdered a rosary on him,
out of hatred for the Faith. which was enough to
Particularly noteworthy are four great collective condemn him to death.
beatifications: He was shot on August
- 122 martyrs on October 25, 1992 (Pope John 8, 1936, at the cemetery
Paul II— Vatican) in Barbastro, at the
- 233 martyrs on March 11, 2001 (Pope John Paul age of seventy-five.
II—Vatican) On May 4, 1997, over
- 498 martyrs on October 28, 2007 (Pope Benedict forty thousand Gypsies
XVI—Vatican) attended his beatifica­
- 522 martyrs on October 13, 2013 (Pope Francis- tion Mass in Rome,
Tarragona) which was celebrated by
One of the victims of anti-Catholic persecutions Pope John Paul II.
was Ceferino Gimenez Malla, called El Pele
 BUS
BARRICADE
on a Barcelona
street, by
anarchist groups
CNT and FAI.

The current situation of the Church since July of 1936 throughout

areas that remained faithful to her is, except in the Basque provinces,
as follows:
- all altars, paintings, and objects of worship, with very few
exceptions, have been destroyed, mostly with contempt;
- all churches have been closed to worship, which has been su­
spended in a total and absolute manner;
- most churches have been burned down, which in Catalonia has
become the norm;
- the depots and public institutions have taken in bells, chali­
ces, monstrances, candelabras, and other objects of worship,
melting them down and even using the materials for war or
industrial purposes;
- various warehouses, shops, car workshops, stables, apartments,
and shelters, as well as various service and public institutions,
have been set up in churches; the public institutions that have
taken them over have built permanent works,
- all monasteries have been dissolved and their religious life su­
spended. Their buildings, objects of worship, and goods of eve­
ry kind have been burned, plundered, taken over, or destroyed; FR. JOSEMARIA
- priests and monks have been arrested, locked up in prisons, ESCRIVA
DE BALAGUER,
and shot without trial by the thousands. Such things, though
founder of
in smaller numbers, take place not only in the villages (whe­ Opus Dei, had
re priests and monks are hunted and then killed in a barbaric to hide from
way), but also in towns. Madrid, Barcelona, and other large ci­ the Republicans
ties have seen hundreds of arrests and imprisonments on no during the
grounds other than the fact of being a priest or religious; Spanish Civil War.
- people have even been absolutely forbidden to have images and
objects of worship. Police—searching houses, rummaging through
people’s homes and intimate personal or family belongings—have
scornfully destroyed pictures, holy cards, religious books, and
anything connected to or recalling religion.1
Manuel de Irujo Olio demonstrated that anticlerical activities led
the government to lose the world’s sympathy and respect. He sug­
gested, among other things, that the clergy should be released from
prisons, religious freedom restored, and the requisition of Church
property terminated. Two days later, the Council of Ministers
unanimously rejected his proposals. Juan Garcia Oliver, the justice
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

“iNO
PASARAN!”
“They shall not
pass!”: Spanish
Left battle cry,
slogan of the
defenders of
Madrid during
the civil war.

iNO PASARAN'
JUHO 1936

iPASAREMOS!
“iPASAREMOS!”
“We shall pass!":
the Francoists’
response,
presaging
the capture
of Madrid. In
his first speech
after the victory,
Gen. Franco said,
“iHemos pasado!”
(We passed!).

minister, criticized them for showing “excessive respect towards the

Church”. The project was also condemned by the left-wing press, in­
cluding the PSOE’s daily El Socialista, which wrote that such a meas­
ure would evoke within its own ranks an indignation that would be
difficult to oppose.
In May 1937, Manuel de Irujo Olio became the minister of justice.
He held the office for seven months, trying to normalize the relations
between the government and the Church, but without much success. He
failed to have priests released from prison and to have public worship
 C-3 SUBMARINE,
part of the
fleet loyal
to the government
at the Cartagena
Naval Base.

restored. But thanks to him, the number of religious persecutions fell

sharply, though murders and desecrations still occurred.
At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the odds were in fa­
vor of the government. It had a distinct military advantage in terms
of personnel and equipment, with an overwhelming superiority in
the air and at sea. It also had the majority of the country’s strate­
gic resources-controlling almost all of the large cities, the indus­
trial sector, the main communication hubs, and the state treasury.
Victory seemed to be within reach. Two weeks after the begin­
ning of the fighting, Diego Martinez Barrio, mayor of Valencia, an­
nounced that the war was over—the rebels against the Republic had
been defeated.
Yet it turned out to be otherwise. The basis of the Nationalist forces
was the Spanish Legion. Though small, it was well trained and main­
tained high morale. It also turned out that Gen. Franco was a much

REPUBLICAN
SAILORS
from the Jaime I
battleship anchored
in Almeria.
DEFEnSE OF TOLEDO
After the outbreak of the civil war, Toledo
(thirty thousand inhabitants) was quickly
captured by the Republicans. The Nation­
alists retreated into the alcazar, a stone
fortress set on high ground overlooking
the Tagus River and the city. There were
not many of them—about thirteen hun­
dred men, five hundred fifty women, and
fifty children. They withstood a siege for
seventy days, under the command of fifty-
eight-year-old Col. Jose Moscardb Ituarte.
On July 23,1936, he received a call from
Commissar Candido Cabello, the chief of
the Worker’s Militia, who gave him
an ultimatum: either he would surrender
in ten minutes or Cabello would kill
Luis Moscardo, the colonel’s son. Want­
ing to show that he was not bluffing, he
handed the phone to the twenty-four-
year-old captive:

TOLEDO
1 Alcazar after liberation,
2-3 Col. Moscardb's study,
4 Francoist patches,
5 panorama of the city,
with the towering alcazar.
“What is happening, my son?” asked the During the defense of the alcazar, the
colonel. Nationalists enjoyed some successes.
“Nothing," answered Luis. “They say they When they took Maqueda, they had to
will shoot me if the alcazar does not decide whether to march to Madrid or
surrender." Toledo. Gen. Francisco Franco was urged
“If this is true,” replied Moscardo, “then to take the capital, as it seemed to be an
commend your soul to God, shout ‘Viva easy target, but he decided to go to the
Espana’, and die like a hero. Good-bye, rescue of Col. Moscardo. Despite the lack
my son." of food and ammunition, the Nationalists
“That I can do,” answered Luis. "Good­ managed to hold out until Franco relieved
bye, my father.” them. Toledo was taken by Jose Enrique
A month later he was shot. Varela on September 29,1936.

-*5
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

better military commander than any of the Republican officers. An­

other advantage was that many Catholics, terrified by the religious
persecutions, supported the uprising.
On the basis of his research, Pio Moa stated that simple people
dominated among the conservatives who opposed the Left in defense
of faith, family, property, and country. The revolutionaries sought
to abolish these things because they believed they were bourgeois
instruments of domination, which led to the exploitation and the al­
ienation of the individual. Their goal, as is the case with other uto­
pian movements, was the creation of a “new man”.
GEN. FRANCISCO He rejects the argument that the Church became the object of
FRANCO leftist attacks because of its enormous material wealth and its in­
BAHAMONDE,
sensitivity to the plight of the poor. If that had been so—he argues—
leader of the
national uprising. then mainly hierarchs and priests from the rich districts would have

FRANCO
ENTERS
REUS,
Catalonia.

been murdered. In reality, priests, nuns, and monks who ministered

among the poor, often living under the same conditions of poverty
as they did, were most often killed. Moreover, at a time when there
was no social welfare system, it was the Church who maintained hos­
pitals, orphanages, nursing homes, shelters, and schools for workers
and the poor. Perhaps that was not enough, says Moa, but no one
except the Church undertook such works in Spain.
In his opinion, hatred for Catholicism stemmed from the ideologi­
cal belief that religion is one of the chief obstacles to the realization
of a new age of equality and social liberation. Cruelty to Catholics
attested to one’s determination in pursuing a noble goal; thus it was
seen as meritorious and not as a proof of depravity.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Despite the persecutions, both the Holy See and the^panish

episcopate recognized the legality of the left-wing government for FRANCO’S
quite some time. It was not until July 1, 1937, almost a year after BELONGINGS:
the outbreak of the civil war, that Spanish bishops published a let­ binoculars,
walking
ter condemning the government for the first time and supporting
stick, and coat.

Gen. Franco’s troops. This was in large measure connected with

the fact that in areas captured by the Nationalists, religious free­
dom had been restored, whereas the government had no intention
of ceasing repressions.
Meanwhile the Communist Party violently purged the leftist coa­
lition of non-Stalinists, such as Trotskyists and anarchists, and took
over the Republican camp. When the Spanish government decided
to deposit its gold reserves in another country for safekeeping, un­
der Communist influence it agreed to move the gold to Russia. On
October 25,1936, 510 tons of gold departed on ships for Odessa, and
it was never returned to Spain.
Thanks to the gold, the Kremlin was able to provide the Communists
with weapons and take full control of the Spanish Republican Army.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

PUENTE DE LOS It came to the point where key decisions were made by Soviet advis­
FRANCESES ers, not by Spanish officers and politicians, while the country’s inter­
(Bridge of the nal security was subordinated to the Soviet secret police. The infamous
Frenchmen) over
Cheka was established in all the places under Republican control. Had
the Manzanares,
a strategic the Republicans won the civil war, Europe would have been hemmed
military asset in by the Communists: Russia from the east and Spain from the west.
during the Battle The Republicans benefitted from Stalin’s aid, while the Nationalists
of Madrid. were aided by Hitler and Mussolini. Gen. Franco accepted military

support from the Third Reich and Italy, neither of which wanted to
see the victory of Bolshevism in the Iberian Peninsula. The difference
was that the Nationalists were independent of the Axis powers, while
the Republicans were dependent on the Kremlin.
The spring of 1938 saw the last wave of persecutions, murders,
and profanations. It was not until the outcome of the war was vir­
tually decided in favor of the Nationalists that the Left decided to
change its religious policy somewhat. On December 8, the General
 NAZI AND
BOLSHEVIK
patches and
badges. Both
the Third Reich
and the Soviet
Union used
Spain as a testing
ground during
the civil war,
supporting
the two warring
parties.

Commission of Cults was established to normalize relations with the

Church. But the Catholics were not won over by the gesture. On
March 28,1939, the Nationalist forces entered Madrid. On April 1, the
war was over.

BUNKER
IN MADRID,
part of the
capital's defense
system during
the civil war.

After the Nationalists won, whenever they came across traces of

crimes committed by the Republicans, they very often sought revenge,
and in the name of justice, they committed many crimes. For instance,
while soldiers who were taken prisoner were tried, the left-wing mili­
tia members were shot without trial—as rebels captured with weapons
in their hands. As is often the case during a war, the most primitive
instincts were aroused, and personal scores were settled. The Church
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES War in Spain

MADRID
AFTER
THE WAR
was one of the
most devastated
cities in Spain.

tried to calm the situation, calling for murders to cease, for enemies
to be forgiven. Her appeals for peace and forgiveness turned out to be
largely unsuccessful.
A white terror followed the red terror, but Pio Moa points to clear
KSAWERY differences between them. The spiral of violence was compounded
PRUSZYNSKI, by the revolutionaries who, in the name of building a bright future,
Polish decided to cleanse the world of “reactionary elements”. In the wake of
reporter, war
the Nationalist victory, the response of the people who had been ter­
correspondent
in Spain, author rorized was of a vengeful nature, which often got out of control. Moa
of Garnet Rosary. confesses that although there were some in both camps who called for
The photos on more compassion, they were largely ignored.
this page come Both sides minimized their own crimes and exaggerated their
from his reports,
losses. Simone Weil and Georges Bernanos’ correspondence is an
published in
Wiadomosci example of an effort to rise above the political sympathies of their
Literackie own camps. Although both came from France, they found them­
in 1936. selves in Spain on two opposite fronts: she actively committed to
the Republicans and he wholeheartedly on the Nationalist side.
Their idealism, however, collided with the savagery of war. They

LEFTIST
MILITIA
members, from
the Socialist
militia and the
Assault Guard.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

were unable to close their eyes to the cruelties that were commit­
ted by the camps with which they had identified. In their writings,
they expressed the terror and the disgust that seized them at the
sight of those who ought to have represented the forces of good but
resorted to evil. fc
However, a one-sided view of the civil war has been embed­
ded in the collective consciousness of the West, a view that was
created by circles favorable to the Republicans. In large meas­
ure, it was due to the fact that many influential intellectuals,

SPANISH
SEMINARIAN
crucified during
the war—painting
by Jean Martin.

BRONZE BUST
of Gen. Francisco
Franco.
VALLEY OF THE FALLEA
On the orders of Gen. Francisco Franco,
a mausoleum was established in the Valle
de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) on
November 20, 1958, for victims of the
Spanish Civil War. It is located in Cuel-
gamuros Valley, in the Sierra de Guadar­
MAUSOLEUM in the Valley
rama mountains, about thirty miles north­
of the Fallen, viewed from
west of Madrid. A natural-architectural
the Benedictine abbey.
complex was erected there called the
National Monument of the Holy Cross. CENTRAL NAVE, Basilica
The complex includes a Benedictine abbey of the Holy Cross, hewn out
and the Basilica of the Holy Cross of the of a granite ridge (top right).
Valley of the Fallen, which was hewn out
CRYPT OF RECONCILIATION,
of a granite ridge as a sanctuary of national containing the ashes of 40,000
reconciliation. The basilica impresses one Spaniards who fell during the
by its size; its central nave is six stories tall; civil war (lower right).
its length is 860 feet. Above it towers the
world’s largest cross, made of stone and
measuring about 499 feet.
Gen. Franco made the decision to build the
complex on April 1, 1940, the first anniver­
sary of the end of the civil war. He com­
missioned the work to two architects from
the Basque and socialist camps that were
hostile to him. Forty thousand urns, con­
taining the ashes of both Nationalists and
Republicans killed on all fronts of the war,
were deposited in the crypts of the basilica
to symbolize the reconciliation of Spaniards
after the end of the conflict.
There are two separate tombs in the
basilica. In one of them is Jose Antonio
Primo de Rivera, the founder and leader of
the national syndicalist Falange Espanola.
The Republicans arrested him several
days before the outbreak of the civil war
and murdered him in a prison in Alicante
on November 20, 1936. In the other was
Gen. Franco, who died on November
20, 1975. However, on October 24, 2019,
Pedro Sanchez's socialist government had
his remains exhumed and transported to a
cemetery in El Pardo, near Madrid.
BATTLE OF
BELCHITE,
1937—soldiers of
the International
Brigades on
a Soviet T-26 tank.

writers, and artists had found themselves on that side and used
their talents to support the Popular Front, including Ernest Hem­
ingway, John Dos Passes, Sinclair Lewis, Edmund Wilson, Aldous
Huxley, Lillian Hellman, W.H. Auden, Samuel Beckett, Andre
Malraux, Romain Rolland, Henri Barbusse, Andre Gide, Louis
Aragon, Pablo Picasso, George Orwell, and many more. It was
they who became the most effective advocates of the Spanish
revolutionaries.

ON THE
SPANISH FRONT
Joris Ivens,
a Dutch
documentary
filmmaker; Ernest
Hemingway, an
American writer;
and Ludwig Renn,
a German writer.
 War in Spain VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

MEMORANDUM
from Franco’s
supreme
headquarters
about the end
of the civil war,
April 1, 1939.

Discussions as to the losses suffered during the war by both VICTORY

parties continue to this day. The best-documented work on this MONUMENT
in Toledo
issue was published in 1977 by Ramon Salas Larrazabal, a Spanish
honoring the
historian. According to his calculations, 72,344 leftists were vic­ defenders of the
tims of executions and pogroms, while the right wing lost 32,021 alcazar.
lives. In addition, after the end of the conflict, death sentences
were passed for war crimes. In the years 1939-1950, out of the
planned 50,000 executions, 22,642 were carried out. More than
half were commuted to prison terms (mainly life imprisonment,
later shortened to six or eight years).
Many details pertaining to the victims of that war have not been
clarified to this day. Fr. Vicente Cancel Orti has been working for
years in the Vatican Secret Archives seeking information to bear
witness to the truth, a task to which he has devoted his life.
 THE POPE ACCUSED

The Silence
of Pius Xll
 CHAPTER 9

The Silence
of Pius XI1
The Holy See, the Third Reich,
and the Holocaust.

The Vatican Secret Archives do not declassify files on people until

ITALY seventy years after their death. In 1964, however, Pope Paul VI de­
cided to declassify the files on Pope Pius XII, despite the fact that he
had only been deceased for six years. Why the exception?

PIUS XII SPEAKS

to the inhabitants
of Rome after it was
bombed by Allied
air forces on July
19, 1943.
 ROLF
HOCHHUTH,
a German
playwright,
author of
The Deputy,
in conversation
with German
actors Klaus
Kammer and Fritz
Kortner, 1963.

February 20, 1963, marked the first performance of The Deputy,

a play under the direction of Erwin Piscator, a declared Communist,
at the left-wing Freie Volksbiihne (People’s Independent Theater) in
West Berlin.
The play was written by a thirty-two-year-old German, Rolf Ho-
chhuth, a hitherto unknown playwright. That same day, the Rowohlt
Verlag publishing house (Hamburg) published the full text of the play.
There was a significant difference between the book version and the
theater version: the former was 222 pages, the latter ninety pages.
Piscator must have made drastic cuts, because otherwise, the stage
version would have lasted eight hours. Yet he took care not to omit

FREIE
VOLKSBUHNE,
theater in West
Berlin.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

that which was of most interest to the public—Pope Pius XII’s alleged
indifference to the genocide of the Jews.
Significantly less attention was paid to other fictional themes
in the play, which depicts Pius XII as cold, ruthless, and calcu­
lating. For example, he justifies the bombing of cities. Why?
Because he had allegedly received a large amount of mon­
ey from American Jesuits—the proceeds from the sale of
shares in a munitions factory that produced aerial bombs.
Reviewers did not take this literary fantasy seriously, but it
was otherwise when it came to Hochhuth’s fictitious asser­
tions about Pope Pius XII’s silence regarding the Holocaust,
which the pontiff allegedly ignored because he needed Hitler
for his own political machinations. That is what the play’s Pius
XII tells the character Fr. Riccardo, a young Jesuit who encourages
POPE PIUS XII, him to defend the Jews. The priest, disappointed by the attitude of
head of the the Vicar of Christ, even considers murdering him, but he eventually
Church from ends up in Auschwitz. In one of the monologues, Riccardo compares
1939 to 1958.
himself to Judas, stating that the Iscariot’s sacrifice was greater than
Christ’s, as he condemned himself to eternal damnation. After the

ST. MAXIMILIAN premiere, Hochhuth said that the figure of Fr. Riccardo was modelled
KOLBE, on Maximilian Kolbe, to whom he had dedicated his play.
Polish martyr, It did not occur to any of the critics to take the juxtaposition
victim of the
of the Franciscan martyr and the fictional blasphemer serious­
Nazis.
ly. Yet Pius XII’s alleged indifference regarding the Holocaust
was accepted with total credulity. Hochhuth’s public state­
ments undoubtedly had a bearing on this. He claimed that during
 STATUE OF
PIUS XII,
St. Peter's
Basilica, Rome.

CUPOLA,
St. Peter's
Basilica, Rome.

a three-month stay in Rome in 1959, he met eyewitnesses who

informed him of Pius XII’s cold attitude during the war.
We now know who these eyewitnesses were. One was a Ger­
man, Fr. Bruno Wiistenberg, who then worked in the Secretariat
of State (Holy See). He had a grudge against Pius XII, as the pope
had hindered him in his career due to his alleged homosexual
tendencies. The ascetic pope was also offended by Fr. Wiisten-
berg’s worldly lifestyle— the priest was well known for racing
along the streets of Rome in a red Porsche. Fr. Wiistenberg did
not advance in his career until Paul VI’s pontificate, when he
became an archbishop and apostolic pro-nuncio to Japan.
The other eyewitness was an Austrian inhabitant of Rome since
1923, Bishop Alois Hudal, rector of the Coliegio Teutonico di Santa
Maria dell’Anima, the main center for Rome’s German-speaking
community. Bishop Hudal was an advocate of National Socialism
(Nazism) and a Third Reich intelligence agent. After the war, he
organized the escape of such war criminals as Adolf Eichmann, Jo­
sef Mengele, and Klaus Barbie to South America. Hudal could not
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

POPE PAUL VI
collaborated stand Pius XII because of his intransigent attitude towards Nazism
as a cardinal with and so decided to take revenge.
Pius XII in the
The Deputy became a media event. The theatrical fiction began
Secretariat of State.
to take on a life of its own. Accusations against Pius XII—of his in­
sensitivity to the tragedy of the Jews, and even of collaboration
with the Third Reich—began to appear ever more frequent­
ly. This prompted Pope Paul VI to declassify (in 1964)
World War II—era documents for a group of historians.
Pius XII's files were technically classified until 2028,
but Paul VI did not want to risk The Deputy version of
the past gaining traction on the basis of a playwright’s
poetic license rather than on historical data.
Hence four Jesuit historians were able to familiarize
themselves with Pius XII’s files, which were housed in
the Vatican Secret Archives: a Frenchman, Pierre Blet; an
Italian, Angelo Martini; a German, Burkhart Schneider; and
CARD. EUGENIO an American, Robert A. Graham. Their findings were published
PACELLI during between 1965 and 1981, as a series of twelve volumes of files that
a visit to the Italian contained 7,664 pages of documents on Vatican policies during
government’s
World War II. In 1983, John Paul II allowed unlimited access to
headquarters in Rome.
 The Silence of Pius Xll VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

the archives to a German Jesuit, Fr. Peter Gumpel, who was a re­
lator in Pius XII’s beatification process.
We met him in a building that belongs to the General Curia of the
Society of Jesus in Rome. Fr. Gumpel, born in Hanover in 1923, spent
only thirteen years in Germany. His family was involved in antV
Nazi activities (his grandfather was murdered, and his mother ended
up in prison), so he had to leave his homeland. He went to school in
France, Holland, Spain, and Italy, and then joined the Jesuit order in
Amsterdam. He has lived in Rome since 1947, lecturing in theology
and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He worked
for many years as an assistant to the postulator of the Jesuits’ Gen­
eral Assembly, participating in the beatification and canonization

FR. PETER
GUMPEL
and his positio:
6 volumes
on Pius Xll,
over 3,000 pages,
prepared for
the Congregation
for the Causes
of Saints.

processes of 147 Jesuits, including Pius XII’s beatification process,

which Paul VI initiated in 1965.
Though Fr. Gumpel is ninety-six years of age, he is mentally alert
and has an excellent memory. He spoke of the great shock he had
when he first saw the documents concerning Pius XII in the Vati­
can Secret Archives—dozens of chests containing sixteen million
documents that have not been catalogued. Nobody had sorted out the
documents, since their scheduled declassification (2028) was in the
distant future. Only two archivists were employed to copy all the
documents and draw up indexes according to names, dioceses, and
subjects. Seeing this state of affairs, Fr. Gumpel appreciated just how
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

much the four historians had done, who, over a period of sixteen
years, published twelve volumes of files.
The extensive archival search revealed a completely different pic­
ture of Pius XII than the one depicted in Hochhuth’s The Deputy.
Nevertheless, Pius XII’s fictitious, shameful attitude regarding the
Holocaust began to be believed widely. British journalist John Corn-
well reaffirmed that belief when he depicted Pius XII as an anti-Sem­
ite and an advocate of Nazism in his book Hitler’s Pope (1999). Garry
Wills’ Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit (2000) was along the same
lines. Two years later, Constantin Costa-Gavras' film Amen used
motifs from The Deputy, while Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s A Moral

HITLER’S POPE,
John Cornwell’s
book criticizing
Pius XII.
A ONE-DAY
CONCLAVE
elected
Card. Pacelli
as pope.

A MORAL
RECKONING,
Daniel Jonah
Goldhagen’s
well-known book
on the Church
and the Holocaust. Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its
Unfulfilled Duty of Repair (2002) was also in the same vein.
The above-mentioned authors consolidated the image of an an­
tihero wearing a papal tiara, though this was not based on Vatican
documents, not even those published from 1965 to 1981. There was
even a permanent exhibition at the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusa­
lem, where a photograph of Pius XII stood alongside photos of Ger­
man Nazi criminals, accompanied by a plaque alleging that Pius XII
did nothing to save Jews during World War II. In 2007, there was an
international scandal when Archbishop Antonio Franco, the apos­ YAD VASHEM,
tolic nuncio to Israel, refused to visit Yad Vashem. World Holocaust
In 2003, John Paul II decided also to declassify documents per­ Remembrance
Center,
taining to Vatican-German relations during Pius Xi’s pontificate
Jerusalem.
(February 12, 1922, to February 10, 1939). It was a period when Eu­
genio Pacelli (the future Pius XII) occupied highly responsible posi­
tions, first as a nuncio in Munich and Berlin and then as the Holy
See’s secretary of state; hence he had a great influence on papal poli­
cies regarding the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich.
Among the declassified documents was a letter from Edith Stein,
a German philosopher and soon-to-be Carmelite of Jewish descent,
to Pius XI. The letter was written two months after the Nazi Par­
ty’s election victory. Fr. Raphael Wazer, abbot of the Benedictine ab­
bey in Beuron, conveyed the letter to Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, then

ADOLF HITLER,
chancellor
of Germany,
surrounded
by his ministers
on January 30,
1933.

□
 FILIPPO PACELLI, FRANCESCO PACELLI,
Pius XH's father, Pius Xll’s older brother,
a well-known the father of four
Roman lawyer. children.
EUGENIO PACELLI
as a 20-year-old seminarian.

THE BLACK AOBILITY

Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli, 1876-1958)
was a descendant of the Black Nobility,
which had been at the service of popes for
generations. His grandfather, Marcantonio
Pacelli (1804-1890), was a long-standing
official of the Papal States and held, among
other posts, the office of secretary to the
minister of foreign affairs. He became
famous for founding the Holy See’s paper
L'Osservatore Romano in 1861.
Filippo Pacelli (1837-1916), the father of
the future pope, also worked for the Vati­
can, mainly as a lawyer. He was an attor­
ney for the Roman Rota and a member of
the Canon Law Codification Commission.
His brother, Ernest Pacelli, was a financial
adviser to three popes and the founder
and president of the Banco di Roma. Of
Pius Xll’s siblings, Francesco Pacelli (1872-
1935) turned out to be the best known.
He was Pius Xi’s lawyer and one of the
L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, negotiators of the Lateran Treaty in 1929.
a daily paper founded by Marcantonio
Pacelli; issue of May 15, 1891, including
Leo Xlll’s Rerum Novarum.
 miieax nur i

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gangen. Sie bat die Jarolo auogogoton, es sell* .koines Judon ein
Haar gekrUmt warden*, Aber ale troibt dumb ihr* Borlcotterklkning
- dadarob, dass sle den Kenechen wlrteohaf Ui ch* Izleteas, burger-
licho Dire and ihr Taterlaad nloat - vlele our Verzwelflungi ee
tied air in der letzten Woohe durcb private lacbrichtau 5 Pfille
voa Solbotaord inXolgo dlaaor AnXelcdungen bekannt geworden. lob
bln abertengt, das* es elob un wine allgeeolae Brwohelnung handolt,
die noch vlele Opfor Xordern wind, Uan sag bodeuem, dass die Un-
glttcklloben nlcht nehr itinerwr, Balt baben, ua ihr ^eht nasal ru
trwgen. Aber die TenntaortuaS fkllt dock eun grossen Tell auf dis,
Ue el* so welt brack ton. and die fbllt auob auf di*, die data
sdrwolgea.

secretary of state. According to Pacelli’s notes, he read the letter to

Pope Pius XI on April 20,1933.
Edith Stein began her letter thus; “Holy Father, as a child of the
Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past eleven years has
also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak to the Father
of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans.” She
goes on to describe the repressions suffered by the Jews at the hands
of the National Socialists, abuses that “mock any sense of justice and
humanity, not to mention love of neighbor”. From today’s perspec­
tive, these persecutions, compared to the genocide that was to fol­ EDITH STEIN
low, do not make such a shocking impression. But they were a severe took the religious
trauma for the Jewish convert. She was shocked by the aggressive name Teresa
Benedicta of the
propaganda that stirred up hatred and stripped people of their dig­
Cross.
nity, brutally suppressing any criticism or opposition and, through
boycott measures, undermining people’s livelihood, which drove
many to suicide. “I am convinced", she wrote, “that this is a general
condition which will claim many more victims.”
According to her, anyone who remained silent in such a situation
was complicit in lawlessness. Hence she appealed to the pope:
Everything that happened and continues to happen on a daily
basis originates with a government that calls itself ‘Chris­
tian’. For weeks not only Jews but also thousands of faithful
 Hie Dumb erg er fiejetje

RACIAL
CLASSIFICATION
of the population
of Germany
according to
the Nuremberg
Laws.
jridjcnrrflarung
- Q (J) Rridisburgfrgrfrtj oom 15.0.1035
I. omtaran) Mm M. tt. UM

—© © e-SWtST""*-*-

- e © e«awttsr~*-
* ® ©CBteaws——

Catholics in Germany, and, I believe, all over the world, have

been waiting and hoping for the Church of Christ to raise her
Crt tai St*rr vm Mrt MW «mtta Nt frfaMM
Uta Nr Wtafr <M M Mn na M ta Mltar
voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ’s name.
Nr WCr*» iim trtnlirllrI Brrtxrtm rrttoton
in» IN SrxNtaW MHfn. Ittatai tartar ■
kn» ndmN un JteMtataMti tarrti Mm taxmom
Ending her letter, Edith Stein referred to theological arguments,
20a* ifi Waffenftfrmte? pointing out that National Socialism was not only contrary to Chris­
lOorum ntrt ta .Wtr Nr Ttfimtawr «rt*<
lOarum Mnmta MrM,
tianity, but also might turn against it explicitly in the future:
IDO# M Nr Mom Nr AMknkNaN Mr Nt
Is not this idolization of race and governmental power
GtttrmerGonternmmner which is being pounded into the public consciousness by the
Eo&egftrafe radio open heresy? Is not the effort to destroy Jewish blood
fttr 3toffeftQan6er an abuse of the holiest humanity of our Savior, of the most
MM total MMm uta Nrtr» tnrtr DnMm Nr Jun
Sraurn unO TRitanrr! Ml tfurti Slufllarunq!
blessed Virgin and the apostles? Is not all this diametrically
opposed to the conduct of our Lord and Savior, who, even
on the Cross, still prayed for his persecutors? And is this not
a black mark on the record of this Holy Year, which was in­
tended to be a year of peace and reconciliation? We all, who
are faithful children of the Church, and who see the condi­
GERMAN tions in Germany with open eyes, fear the worst for the repu­
RACIST POSTER tation of the Church if the silence continues any longer. We
warning against are convinced that this silence will not be able in the long run
overly close
contact with
to purchase peace with the present German government. For
people of “lower the time being, the fight against Catholicism will be conduct­
races”. ed quietly and less brutally than against Jewry, but no less

ZB. FUsooc Surer Kolllgkelt, um den ApoBtolleohen Sogen

bit to nd

END OF STEIN’S
LETTER
to Pilis XI, signed
“Dr. Edith Stein".

17
 The Silence of Pius XII VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

JdOfiiOOifntiinnJiilirw

PROPAGANDA
POSTERS
of the National
Socialist German
Workers’ Party
(NSDAP).

NSDAP
MEMBERS,
claiming to be
true Christians,
agitating in front
systematically. Before long, no Catholic will be able to hold of a church.
office in Germany unless he dedicates himself uncondition­
ally to the new course of action. At the feet of your Holiness,
requesting your apostolic blessing, Dr. Edith Stein.1
Edith Stein had no doubts as to the Holy See’s stance regarding
the persecution of Jews. Two years earlier, on March 25, 1928, the
Holy Office issued a decree that strongly condemned anti-Semitism.
In August 1923, just after the elections that made the Nazi Party the
strongest party in the Reichstag, winning 37.3 percent of the votes,
there was a German bishops’ conference in Fulda that condemned
National Socialism as a heresy and declared that any Catholic who
became a member of the Nazi Party would be automatically excom­
municated.
But things changed. Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany
on January 30,1933. On March 5, early elections were called, which
saw the Nazis winning 43.9 percent of the votes. On March 24, the
Centre Party, which represented German Catholics, voted for the
Enabling Act, which granted dictatorial powers to Hitler’s govern­
ment, while the German bishops withdrew their earlier declaration
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

on March 28, rescinding excommunications but continuing to main­

tain their reservations about Nazi ideology.
In both cases (the decisions of the German episcopate and the
Centre Party), the deciding factor was a fear of Communism, which
was winning over more and more followers in Germany. To many
ADOLF HITLER people, National Socialism was the only force capable of overcom­
was an orator ing Communism. It was a time when Hitler had not yet committed
capable of any crimes, whereas Communism had already perpetrated mass
persuading
practically genocide, created a system of forced labor, and carried out bloody,
the whole systematic political and religious persecutions. When Hitler was tak­
German ing over power, there was a famine in Ukraine caused by the Soviet
population to regime, and millions starved to death. None of the bishops and politi­
follow him. cians at the time imagined that similar things would come about in

a nation of Kulturtrager. poets, philosophers, and composers. A gov­

ernment report of March 23, 1933, written in a conciliatory tone,
persuaded many Catholics that the Nazis would do harm.
For years, some maintained that the decisions of the Centre Party
and the German episcopate were coerced by the Holy See in order to
allow a concordat to be signed with the Third Reich, and that Cardinal
Eugenio Pacelli thus allowed the Nazi Party to form a dictatorship.
But the declassified documents clearly show that it was a sovereign
decision of the Germans, the politicians and the bishops alike, and SIGNING OF THE
that Rome did not exert any pressure on them. Historians such as CONCORDAT
Thomas Brechenmacher, Michael Feldkamp, and Hubert Wolf con­ between the Holy
See and
firm this conclusion on the basis of Vatican documents.
the Third Reich;
Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick, then charge d’affaires at the Vatican, re­ Card. Pacelli,
called that during his meetings with Pacelli, the cardinal did not hide secretary of state,
his loathing for National Socialism, condemned the persecution of is seated
Jews, and was very pessimistic with regard to Hitler, unlike many in the center.
German Catholics who hoped that the Fuhrer’s views would evolve
for the better. He saw the concordat with the Germans merely as
a legal safeguard for the Church in view of the Nazi Party’s ever
more aggressive policies.
The concordat negotiations lasted from April to July 1933. At that
time, Rome received reports virtually every day as to the brutal
anti-Catholic excesses perpetrated by the Nazis. Hence a concordat ARCHBISHOP
CESARE
ORSENIGO,
apostolic nuncio
to Germany,
at an official
meeting on January
12, 1939, with
Chancellor Adolf
Hitler and Foreign
Minister Joachim
von Ribbentrop.
 EUGENIO PACELLI
during World
War I with German
Army staff, on
a peace mission
from Benedict XV
to Kaiser Wilhelm II.

IVONE
KIRKPATRICK, seemed to be the only way to attain a legal guarantee of security. It
British diplomat was signed in the Vatican on July 20 and permitted Catholic schools
in Rome from
and religious, cultural, and charity organizations, but it prohibited the
1930 to 1933.
Church from taking part in political and trade union activities.
Ivone Kirkpatrick sent a report to London on August 19, 1933,
mentioning a discussion with Cardinal Pacelli, who told him that he
had signed the concordat because he had “a gun at his head”. He was
given a week to make a decision, which came down to a choice be­
tween an arrangement on conditions dictated by Hitler or the elimi­
nation of the Church in the Third Reich. The fate of twenty million
German Catholics was at stake; they would be left without any legal
protection. The Centre Party faced a similar dilemma, deciding on
July 5 to self-dissolve rather than be completely subordinated to the
Nazis—an option that was not available to the Church.
Cardinal Pacelli knew his history. He was well aware that Catholi­
cism had been strongly combated by the authorities in 19th-century
Prussia and in the Second Reich. Taking part in the struggle were
not only Nationalist forces who accused the Church of disloyalty to
HEINRICH the German state, but also Protestant and liberal forces. The Refor­
BASSERMANN, mation had led to the subordination of spiritual authorities to kings
influential and princes. Since the times of Hegel, the conviction that the Prus­
Lutheran
theologian in sian state embodied the highest supernatural ideal had become wide­
19th-century spread; the state was due absolute obedience
Germany. Heinrich Bassermann, who taught theology at the University of
Heidelberg, wrote in 1847:
We Protestants differ from llth-century popes in how we
understand the state. To us, the state is not a mere dwell­
ing place for godless and power-hungry people. To us, it
is in itself a moral and divine order. And even the high­
est moral order that ever existed on earth. Hence the state
must subordinate every other community to itself, akin to
links in a chain.
Hence it is not surprising that Bassermann thought that the
Church should be subordinate to the state. "For the state", he wrote,
 MAY1,
MAY DAY,
exuberantly
celebrated
throughout the
Third Reich.
Adolf Hitler’s
speech was
the highlight
of the 1936
celebrations
in Berlin.

"emcompasses the fullness of moral and spiritual goods, blessings

and obligations, and so bears within itself a divine design."2
A map of Germany depicting the areas that supported the Nazi
Party in the 1932 and 1933 elections, shows that the Nazis had higher
levels of support in areas dominated by Protestants than in those that
were mostly Catholic. The constant propagation of the principle that
the state was superior to the Church bore fruit.
Liberals were another force that combated Catholicism, first in
Prussia, then in the united Germany. Under the influence of the En­
lightenment, Catholicism, to them, was obscurantism and supersti­
tion, to be combated by all possible means. They appealed to the phi­ GERMAN
losophy of Kant, from whom they derived the conviction that man POSTCARD
does not discover moral laws but creates them himself. Hence man issued on the
occasion of
determines what is good and what is evil—not God, as the Catholics the annexation
maintained. Since man creates norms, principles, and rules, every­ (Anschluss) of
thing depends on man’s “I”, while in the collective context “I” be­ Austria in 1938,
comes “we”, which is expressed in the state. During Nazi times, the depicting Hitler
state was racist, as the chief Nazi ideologist, Alfred Rosenberg, made and a map of
the Third Reich
clear, putting forward his peculiar variant of Kantianism: “The law is
with Austria
what Aryans deem it to be. Lawlessness is that which they condemn.” incorporated,
Liberals were for strengthening the state, since they thought that this with the words
“One People,
One Reich,
One Leader”.

MAY DAY
POSTCARD,
issued
in Germany
in 1934.
OTTO VON
BISMARCK,
“Iron Chancellor".

S>er leftfe 3ug roar mir atterblnflfi unangeneljm; aber bie Rattle ift bcfcbalb nod) nidjt vcrloren. 3<f) Ijabe nod) cinen febt frfionen 3»g i
in potto!
Sae roirb and) ber lefcte feta, unb bann fittb <Sie in roenigcn Bugcn matt--- roenigftenS fur Scutfd)lanb.
CHESS GAME
between Bismarck
and Pius IX—1875
caricature.
was the only way their ideals could be realized. In that context, Ca­
tholicism, with its dogmatic teaching, absolute ethics, and propaga­
tion of the inseparable link between morality and politics, was very
Koda* vivendi.
strongly attacked.
That anti-Catholic alliance of nationalists, Protestants, and liberals
turned the Church into a public enemy beginning in the mid-19th cen­
tury, first in Prussia, then in the united Germany, where Catholics
were treated like second-class citizens, the greatest threat to German
culture, freedom, and customs. It was a time when the modern iden­
tity of the German nation was being formed, based on a belief in the
state’s superior, almost absolute role. The Church’s presence was an
obstacle in the construction of this monolithic structure, a presence
that undermined loyalty to the state.
The height of the conflict came in the 1870s. After the unification
of Germany and the proclamation of the German Empire in 1871,
BISMARCK AND Chancellor Otto von Bismarck launched a de-Catholicization policy
LEO XIII (Kulturkampf). Bismarck was afraid that Catholics, who constituted
in their “modus 36 percent of the German population after the incorporation of Ba­
vivendi”—1878
varia, would be an element that threatened the unity of the nation,
caricature.
as well as being disloyal, since they were obedient to the pope in
Rome. Hence diplomatic relations were broken off with the Holy
See, and a series of anti-Church laws were passed. Jesuit activities
were banned, as were the activities of other orders, except those that
cared for the sick. Emperor William I was in favor of the new law:
“The obscurantism that emanates from religious orders, their secret
machinations, the servility of their members, seems to make them
especially dangerous, and even loathsome.”
Further laws ordered the government to take control of the Church
school system and appropriate to itself the sole right to form, appoint,
 The Silence of Pius Xll ** VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

and dismiss religious. High-ranking government officials who were

professed Catholics were dismissed en masse. Another law provided
for the imprisonment of priests who, by the spoken or written word,
'‘threatened public order”; several bishops were arrested and impris­
oned on that basis. Twenty-five percent of the parishes in Prussia
were deprived of a priest.
Mieczysiaw Ledochowski—archbishop of Gniezno and Poznan, ARCHBISHOP
and primate of Poland from 1866 to 1886—became a symbol of resis­ MIECZYStAW
tance to Berlin’s policies at that time. Initially, he adopted a concil­ LEDOCHOWSKI,
the best-known
iatory stance towards the Prussian authorities. But he resisted when
prisoner of
anti-Catholic legislation began to be introduced. He was arrested in conscience in
1874 and imprisoned in Ostrow Wielkopolski. One year later, Pope the Second Reich.
Pius IX elevated him to the cardinalate. Since German law prohibited

POPE LEO XIII

said that the
Kulturkampf
destroyed the
Church and the
German state,
benefitting no one.

CARD. PACELLI
as the Vatican
secretary of state.

the imprisonment of cardinals, he was released, went to Rome, and

became one of Pope Leo XIII’s closest coworkers and prefect of the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. De-Catholici-
zation did not end until 1887, and it came about largely due to the
resistance of German Catholics, who established the Centre Party,
which effectively fought for its own interests in parliament.
Cardinal Pacelli was aware that the essence of de-Catholicization,
a cultural, political, and social declaration of war against the Church,
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

was a deification of the state. It turned out that the state usurped pre­
rogatives that were of a divine nature—omnipotence, infallibility—
and so demanded absolute obedience from its citizens, making theo­
cratic claims and maintaining the right to bind people’s consciences.
Many Germans were brought up in that spirit (obedience to authority
and not to one’s conscience or to unchanging moral norms), wherein
the state replaced God and was their primary reference point in life.
CARD. MICHAEL Archbishop Pacelli was well aware of this, as he had been an apos­
VON FAULHABER, tolic nuncio in Munich (1917-1920) and in Berlin (1920-1930). Naz­
metropolitan
areno Padellaro, his biographer, analyzed forty-two speeches that
of Munich,
coauthor
of the encyclical
Mit Brennender
Sorge.

KONRAD
VON PREYSING,
bishop of
Eichstatt, later
Berlin, elevated
to the cardinalate
in 1946.

PROCESSION
(right) including
Card. Clemens
Archbishop Pacelli made in Germany at that time. It turned out that
August von
Galen, ordinary he criticized National Socialism in as many as forty of the speeches.
of the diocese While in Munich, he observed the beginnings of the Nazi move­
of Munster. ment and did not have any illusions about it. He never met Hitler
and never sought to meet him. In 1933, he was aware that another
 The Silence of Pius XII VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

de-Catholicization policy had been launched. Understand­

ing Edith Stein’s fears, he replied to her letter in an official
manner.
On June 11,1933, the German bishops condemned anti-
Semitism in a pastoral letter, declaring that it was an in­
justice which “burdened Christian consciences”. Cardinal
Michael von Faulhaber of Munich, Bishop Clemens August
Graf von Galen of Munster, and Konrad von Preysing, bishop
of Eichstatt and later of Berlin, publicly protested against Nazi
policies.
On September 1, 1933, at the initiative of the Vatican, an ar­ POPE PIUS XI
ticle entitled “The Pope Condemns Anti-Semitism” appeared in officially
the Jewish Chronicle and was reprinted by newspapers through­ condemned
Communism
out the world. The article maintained that Pius XI, on hearing of
and National
the German repressions against the Jews, “publicly expressed his Socialism.
disapproval”, stating that “the persecutions were a testimony to
the civilizational poverty of that great nation”. He added that Je­
sus, Mary, and the apostles were Jews and that the Bible was of

EUGENIO
PACELLI,
apostolic nuncio
to Bavaria (1922).

Hebrew origin. He also stated that Aryans had no right to exalt

themselves above Semites. A year later, the Holy Office included FRANKLIN
Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the Twentieth Century (the most DELANO
ROOSEVELT
important work of the Nazi Party’s chief theorist) in the List of
had a meeting
Prohibited Books. with Card.
On April 28, 1935, Cardinal Pacelli gave a homily to 350,000 pil­ Pacelli in 1936.
grims in Lourdes wherein he condemned National Socialists: “Their
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES „ The Silence of Pius XII

philosophy is based on assumptions totally contrary to the Christian

faith, and the Church will never be on good terms with the Nazis, at
any price.” His homily echoed around the world, with its visions of
the struggle against “the hellish dragon”, the “madness of the demon”,
and the “powers of darkness”.
The details of his discussions with the U.S. President Franklin Del­
ano Roosevelt, in November 1936, during his visit to America, are
unknown to the public. Cardinal Pacelli then urged the American
MIT leader to form an international coalition against National Socialism,
BRENNENDER foreseeing—which then seemed impossible—Hitler’s alliance with
SORGE,
Stalin. His proposition, however, was ignored by the White House.
Pius Xi’s 1937
encyclical, On March 21,1957, Pius Xi’s encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge was
condemned read in all the Catholic churches in Germany; its main author was
National Cardinal Pacelli. The encyclical had been smuggled into Germany,
Socialism. secretly printed, and distributed to parishes throughout the country.
The public reading of the encyclical was like a bolt out of the blue
to the Nazis. In the encyclical, Pius XI admitted that he had signed
a concordat with the Third Reich after much hesitation, solely out
of concern for the religious freedom of Catholics; but the Nazis did
not adhere to the terms of the agreement. The pope condemned the
aggressive neopagan ideology of the Nazis, the deification of race,
nation, and state, seeing it as irreconcilable with the teaching of the
 The Silence of Pius XII VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Church, and he called upon German Catholics to resist it. HeVeferred

to Hitler (not mentioning his name) as a “mad prophet”.
The encyclical infuriated Hitler. From July 20,1933, to March 21,
1937, the Vatican sent fifty-five diplomatic notes to Berlin, protest­
ing against violations of the concordat. However, it was not uAtil
the proclamation of Mit brennender Sorge that the Church suffered
a wave of intense, systematic repressions. Those involved in print­
ing the encyclical were imprisoned, and twelve printing houses were
seized by the government. Crucifixes were removed from schools;
praying and singing carols were prohibited. There commenced mass
arrests and simulated show trials of religious who were falsely ac­
cused of sexual and financial abuse. Priests ended up in concentra­
tion camps; 333 German priests were sent to the one at Dachau.
Despite all this, Pius XI did not intend to cease criticizing Na­ BENITO
zism. On April 13,1938, he published an instruction specifying eight MUSSOLINI,
Italian dictator
who introduced
racial laws in
1938.

JEWISH SHOPS
were boycotted
by German
Nazi militants
throughout
the Third Reich.

“absurd dogmas” and “terrible theories” of racism. He addressed it to

the academic world, summoning it to combat racial theories which
were “sold and disseminated as science, but which corrupted minds
and undercut the roots of true religion”. In July, he gave four lectures
for students at the Gregorian University, condemning aggressive na­
tionalism and racism.
PIUS XI’S Papal addresses, however, did not stop Benito Mussolini from in­
SPEECH, troducing legislation modelled on the racist Nuremberg Laws, which
broadcast by treated Jews as second-class citizens. It came into force on Septem­
Vatican Radio.
ber 5,1938. The next day, during an audience with pilgrims from Bel­
gium, the pope said that “anti-Semitism is a hateful movement, and
we Christians must have nothing to do with it." He added a line that
was later frequently quoted: “Spiritually we are all Semites."
The Holy See urged the Italian government to annul racist
laws, but Mussolini remained inflexible. After Kristallnacht, a po­
grom against Jews in Germany on November 9, 1938, the papacy
began a campaign to help the persecuted. About two thousand
Jews left Germany, mainly converts to Catholicism or spouses of
Catholics.

DEATH OF
PIUS XI,
February 10,
1939.
 MOLOTOV-
RIBBENTROP
PACT
paved the way
for World War II.

HITLER
reviewing
a parade,
October 5,
1939, Warsaw.

PI0S ® PAPIEZ ■|

. ! papie2

drucie/

WOJNY SwiATOWEJ

The Italian authorities tightened up racial legislation. On Novem­

ber 17,1938, they banned mixed marriages between Jews and Aryans
or non-Aryan Italians. Already existing ones were declared invalid.
This was unacceptable to the Church, as it meant that racist law was
placed above the sacrament of marriage. Pope Pius XI decided to SUMMA
respond. Despite being eighty years of age, and seriously ill, he be­ PONTIFICATUS,
gan work on another encyclical that was to condemn racism. He also Pius Xll’s
planned to deliver an address on February 11,1939, aimed at the Fas­ encyclical,
Polish edition.
cist government in Italy and the Nazi government in Germany, but
he died a day earlier. On March 2, 1939, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli
became Pope Pius XII.
Black clouds were looming over Europe. On August 23,1939, the
Third Reich and the Soviet Union signed a secret pact pertaining
to the division of spheres of influence in Europe. On September
1, Germany invaded Poland. They were quickly followed by the
Russians, who forced their way into the country on September 17.
DURING World War II had begun. On hearing of this, the pope started work
THE WAR on an encyclical, Summa Pontificatus, which was issued on Octo­
the German ber 20, condemning false teaching and new errors. Though it was
authorities
framed in religious language, not political, it was no secret that it
decided to
exterminate the criticized two totalitarianisms, which were allied with each other:
entire Jewish National Socialism and Communism. Pius XII also spoke up for Po­
people. land, which “for its fidelity to the Church, for its services in the
defense of Christian civilization, written in indelible characters
in the annals of history, has a right to the generous and brotherly
sympathy of the whole world". In the Third Reich, the encyclical
was universally seen as anti-Nazi, and its circulation was prohib­
ited. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a protest note to
the Vatican.

EHORCISm OF HITLER
Fr. Peter Gumpel relates that during the
beatification process he discovered
that Pius XII frequently carried out
long-distance exorcisms on
Hitler. This was confirmed
under oath by several of Pius
Xll’s close associates, includ­
ing Fr. Robert Leiber, his per­
sonal secretary, and his secretary,
Sr. Pascalina Lehnert.
During the exorcisms, Pius XII recited
the Apage Satana (Greek for “Begone, Satan") from
the Roman Ritual while kneeling in his chapel or looking out the
window of his apartment. He had no doubt that Hitler was pos­
sessed by the devil.
 The Silence of Pius XII VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

Pius XII repeatedly condemned crime, terror, and totalitarianism,

spoke up for defenseless victims, and appealed for respect for the
rights of minorities. Yet critics accuse him of being too general and
allusive, claiming that he did not unambiguously indicate the perpe­
trators. However, Pius XII knew that such directness would mean
the severance of the concordat with the Germans and an open per­
secution of Catholics—which Third Reich archives confirm: Hitler
was prepared to terminate the concordat if the Church reacted more
critically. In February 1940, all the German bishops and vicar gener­
als were summoned to Berlin, where they were informed that any
criticism of the government at a time of war would be seen as trea­
son, punishable by death. At that time, harassment and repression
intensified against the Church in Germany: property was confiscated,
church services were banned, and newspapers were censored.
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, a Polish-American historian, points out
that people in countries where censorship, unjust use of force, and POPE PIUS XII
terror are daily occurrences develop a vocabulary that is relatively giving a solemn
safe for communicating with one another. Chodakiewicz writes that blessing.
Eugenio Pacelli “preferred quiet diplomacy and making statements
full of allusions". For example, the pope publicly condemned the
Third Reich’s infringement of Belgium’s neutrality by sending the
Belgians his “fatherly greetings and blessings’’ and expressing his
hope that “Belgium’s complete independence and liberty would
be restored." To many people in the free world, the message did
not appear to express condemnation, but those living under ruth­
less totalitarian regimes immediately understood Pius XII’s inten­
tions. In Italy, enraged Fascists attacked those who sold the Vati­
can’s L’Osservatore Romano and burned copies of the newspaper

JEWS
HUMILIATED
by Germans
publicly cutting
off their beards.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

WARSAW
GHETTO
UPRISING,
1943, German
soldiers.

containing the pope's words. The Belgians, however, expressed

their gratitude to Pius XII. On another well-known occasion, during
his Christmas message in 1942, he prayed for the “hundreds of thou­
sands who, through no fault of their own, and at times just because
of their nationality or race, were destined to be exterminated”. Al­
though one might now say that it was an inadequate and incom­
:hurch of prehensible condemnation of the Holocaust, the German security
IT. AUGUSTINE, forces immediately perceived Pius XII’s intentions. They said that
ocated within the pope had “accused the German nation of treating Jews unjustly”
he Warsaw
;hetto, was
and called them “war criminals”. Jewish leaders, on the other hand,
>ne of the few thanked the pope for the message.”
ijildings left Contemporary critics reproach Pius XII for being indifferent to the
tanding in the Holocaust, as he did not publicly defend the Jews even once. Yet ac­
ewish district. counts of people who had the opportunity of conversing with him dur­
ing the war show that he suffered and even shed tears on hearing of
the crimes committed against Jews. One of those accounts is from Fr.
Pirro Scavizzi, who in May 1942, as an army chaplain to a Knights of
Malta hospital train, found himself in German-occupied territory in
Eastern Europe. He was the first to inform the pope of the mass execu­
tions of Jews. In October, he had an audience with the pope, who said:
Tell everyone, everyone you can, that the Pope is in anguish
for them and with them! Say that many times he has thought of
hurling excommunications at Nazism, of denouncing the bestial­
ity of the extermination of the Jews to the civilized world. Serious
threats of reprisal have come to our ears, not against our person,
but against our unhappy sons who are now under Nazi domina­
tion. The liveliest recommendations have reached us through var­
ious channels that the Holy See should not take a drastic stand.
 The Silence of Pius XII VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES

e \
After many tears and many prayers, I came to the conclusion that
a protest from me would not only not help anyone, but would
arouse the most ferocious anger against the Jews and multiply
acts of cruelty because they are undefended. Perhaps my solemn
protest would win me some praise from the civilized world, but
would bring down on the poor Jews an even more implacable per­
secution than the one they are already enduring.3 FR. PETER
The historians who studied the documents in the Vatican Secret GUMPEL
Archives are convinced that Pius XII was right in thinking that out­ lived in the
Netherlands during
spoken criticism would enrage the Nazis and provoke them to retali­
World War II.
ate, which is what they did in German-occupied Holland when the
Dutch bishops publicly protested the Nazi persecution of the Jews.
Fr. Peter Gumpel relates that he was in Utrecht Cathedral on July
26, 1942, when Archbishop Johannes de Jong’s pastoral letter was
read to the congregation, as it was in every Catholic church in Hol­
land. The document condemned the deportations of Dutch Jews
(the Dutch hierarchy were not then aware of the fate of those who

BL. TITUS
BRANDSMA,
a Dutch
Carmelite,
murdered
by the Germans
in Dachau
in 1942.

ROSA AND
EDITH STEIN,
two sisters,
both murdered
by the Germans
in the Auschwitz
were deported, other than that they were transported to the East). extermination
Initially, the deportations excluded Catholics of Jewish descent, but camp.
after the pastoral letter, the Germans deported them too in retali­
ation. It was then that the Carmelite Edith Stein (whom Pope John
Paul II declared a saint of Europe on October 1,1999) was arrested
in the convent in Echt and transported to Auschwitz, where she
perished in a gas chamber. Thus one protesting voice cost the lives
of several thousand people.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

Fr. Gumpel also relates that during the beatification process, as

many as four witnesses have confirmed that Pius XII planned to
publish a very critical document condemning the persecution of the
Jews, which he burnt upon hearing what happened in Holland. On
two occasions, the pope mentioned his deliberate restraint in order
to prevent a greater evil—in his letter to Bishop Konrad von Preysing
on April 30, 1943, and in his address to the College of Cardinals on
ARCHBISHOP June 2,1943.
ADAM SAPIEHA, Pius XII was also very restrained in condemning the murder
mown as the of Poles, as the Polish bishops had urged, stating that opposition
'Constant Prince”,
would spark even greater repressions. On August 14, 1942, Arch­
metropolitan of
<rakow during bishop Adam Sapieha of Krakow personally burned Pius XII’s pas­
A/orld War II, toral letter that was to be read in Polish Catholic churches, as it
elevated to the would have brought about an escalation of terror against defense­
zardinalate in 1946. less civilians.
But silence did not mean inactivity. Instead of public con­
demnations, the pope chose cabinet diplomacy and discreet help.
There are catalogues of documents in the Vatican Secret Archives
that testify to the Church’s systematic aid for Jews in Europe on
the instructions of Pius XII. Aryan papers—that is, false baptism

SEN. PIETRO
BADOGLIO
luring the war
zampaign
n Ethiopia.

certificates—were issued to Jews, and fugitives from ghettos were

given shelter in Church buildings; for example, children were shel­
tered in orphanages run by nuns. False passports were issued, and
people were smuggled abroad.
Pius XII’s attitude was particularly evident over the nine
months (between September 10, 1943, and June 4, 1944) when
Rome was occupied by the Germans. After Mussolini was over­
thrown by his closest collaborators, a new government took
THE CHURCH 10 POLRRD
Attacked by the Germans and the Sovi­
ets in September 1939, Poland was the
first victim of World War II. During the
war and occupation, Poland lost almost
six million inhabitants, including three
million citizens of Jewish descent. Inter­
estingly, it was the only country under
German occupation that did not collabo­
rate with the Nazis in any way.
The Catholic Church suffered particularly
great losses at the hands of the invad­
ers. The Germans murdered about 25
percent of the Polish clergy: five bishops,
1,863 diocesan priests, 580 monks, 63
seminarians, and 289 nuns (as a com­ GERMAN TROOPS
parison, the Soviets killed 270 priests, entering Poland on September 1, 1939.
an incomparably smaller number). At the
Dachau concentration camp alone, 939 CREMATION FURNACES
priests perished. at the Nazi concentration camp
Despite extremely unfavorable circum­ in Dachau, Germany.
stances, the Church actively helped with
saving Jews. The example came from
the hierarchs. Historians have proved lives for aiding Jews. Killed in Poland, for
that of the fifteen bishops who were example, were Fr. Teodor Popczyk from
at liberty, as many as fourteen actively Czestochowa, Fr. Romuald Swirkowski
helped fugitives from ghettos, the sole from Vilnius, and Fr. Adam Sztark from
exception being a German bishop, Carl Stonim, as well as Sr. Ewa Noiszewska and
Maria Splett. Many religious lost their Sr. Marta Wotowska.
 VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES The Silence of Pius XII

power, led by Gen. Pietro Badoglio, who announced a cease-fire

between the Italians and the Allies. In response, the Wehrmacht
occupied most of Italy, including Rome. The Germans imme­
diately began to round up Jews, sending them to extermination
camps.
Hence Pius XII issued an instruction to help the Jews.
About five thousand were hidden in 155 monasteries and con­
KARL WOLFF, vents in Rome, and over three thousand in Castel Gandolfo,
German war criminal. the pope’s summer residence. Others went into hiding in, for
Hitler ordered him example, the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pon­
to kidnap Pius XII,
but he delayed,
tifical Biblical Institute. The chief rabbi in Rome, Israel Zolli,
and the kidnapping was saved by hiding in the papal apartments at the Vatican. Pa­
did not take place. pal officials conducted negotiations with high-level German
dignitaries like Ernst von Weizsacker, Albrecht von Kessel,

GEN. WLADYSLAW
ANDERS,
commander of
the Polish II Corps,
gives Pius XII
an abbot’s staff
found in the ruins
of the monastery
at Monte Cassino,
during an audience
in January 1945.

and Karl Wolff in order to save specific prisoners. Thanks to

Pius XII, about 80 percent of Roman Jews were saved. So it is
not surprising that the Jews placed a commemorative plaque
on a wall of the Museum of the Liberation in Rome (formerly
the SS headquarters in Rome) thanking the pope for his help
during the war.
Jewish diplomat and historian Pinchas Lapide claims that, as
his research in Israeli archives revealed, Pius XII contributed to
the rescue of between 847,000 and 882,000 Jews. The following,
GOLDAMEIR, among others, expressed their gratitude to Pius XII for his stance
Israeli prime during the Holocaust: Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president;
minister from Prime Minister Mosze Szaret; Yitzhak Herzog, Israel’s chief
1969 to 1974.
 POPE
RECEIVING
SOLDIERS
of the Royal
22nd Regiment
of Canada after
the liberation
of Rome in 1944.

rabbi; Leon Kubowitzky, secretary general of the World Jewish GEN. IVAN
Congress; Raffaele Cantoni, president of the Union of Italian AGAYANTS,
Jewish Communities; and Joseph Lichten, a representative of the of the KGB, led
the disinformation
Anti-Defamation League during Vatican II. Reading wartime edi­
campaign maligning
tions of the Palestine Post would be enough to convince one of the memory
the great esteem Pius XII enjoyed at that time among the Jewish of Pius XII.
population.
After Pope Pius XII’s death, Charles Malik, president of the Unit­
ed Nations General Assembly, Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of
the United States, and Rene Coty, president of France, spoke of Pius
XII’s work for peace and democracy. Golda Meir, the Israeli minis­
ter of foreign affairs, later prime minister, said:
During the ten years of Nazi terror, when our nation was
suffering a terrible martyrdom, the pope condemned the
perpetrators. Our times are richer thanks to the pope ex­
pounding on great moral truths above the clamor of the on­
going conflict.5
Several dozen years later, all those positive appraisals became ION PACEPA,
irrelevant in the face of the narrative initiated by Rolf Hochhuth. head of the
That was perhaps due to the support of Communists, along with Romanian
secret police,
their sympathizers and agents throughout the world, for his version.
fled to the
According to Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, head of the Romanian secret West in 1978.
police, who defected to the West in 1978, the defamation of Pius XII
was begun by the Soviets because his intransigent anti-Communism
made him one of Moscow’s greatest enemies. Hence Ivan Agayants,
BENEDICT XVI head of the KGB, undertook “Operation Seat 12” to undermine Pius
during a visit XII’s authority.
to a Roman In 2009, Benedict XVI signed a decree commending Pius
synagogue
in 2010.
XII’s heroic virtues and so opened the way to his beatification.
He was the But many Jewish centers threatened to cease Christian-Jewish di­
third pope, after alogue, and Benedict XVI’s planned visit to a synagogue in Rome
Peter and John came into question. Although this visit eventually took place in
Paul II, to cross January 2010, the hosts constantly emphasized their discontent
the threshold
about the pope’s decree.
of a synagogue.
Something, however, had started to change, as certain Jewish his­
torians began to defend Pius XII, such as Michael Tagliacozzo, Livia
Rothkirchen of the Yad Vashem Institute, and Jeno Levai, author of
Hungarian Jewry and the Papacy: Pope Pius XII Did Not Remain
Silent. According to these advocates, the Jews ought to be grateful to
Pius XII rather than reproaching him. David Dalin also praised Pius
XII for his stance during the war and requested a “Righteous among
the Nations” medal for him. Similarly, Martin Gilbert demanded
that the Yad Vashem Institute exhibition remove the disgraceful
information about Pius XII’s alleged indifference to the Holocaust;
the information was eventually removed.
Pope Francis’ intention to make available (March 4, 2020)
all the documents in the Vatican Secret Archives pertaining to
Pius XII will be another step toward a fuller understanding of
the matter.
PAVIfiG THE UJ AY GARY KRUPP
during a meeting
Gary Krupp, a Jewish activ­ disseminates knowledge with Pope
Francis, who
ist from the United States, about Pius Xll’s real stance
decided to make
was convinced that Pius regarding the Jews dur­ all the Vatican
XII was an enemy of his ing World War II. Since Secret Archives’
people and a collaborator 2006, the foundation has documentation
with the German Nazis. published over seventy- on Pius XII
However, when he began six thousand pages of available to
researchers
to go deeper into history, source materials, as well starting March 4,
he came to a completely as interviews with eyewit­ 2020.
different conclusion. He nesses who confirm the
now has no doubt that the Holy See’s involvement in
pope was Hitler’s enemy rescuing Jews. According
and that he contributed to to Krupp, nobody deserves
the rescue of about one the gratitude of the Jews
million Jews from all over more than Pius XII, yet no­
Europe. body is treated with greater
Unable to abide the unjust ingratitude than this pope.
accusations against Pius Yet Krupp hopes that this
XII, Krupp founded the will change and that even­
Pave the Way Founda­ tually the truth will come
tion, which documents and to light.
EnonOTES: CHAPTER V:
1. MARIA LUISA AMBROSINI, The Secret Archives of the Vatican, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books 19aq\
CHAPTER I: 227 ’
1. OSTIARIUS - a function in the ancient Christian Church, later the first level of minor orders 2. POPE PAUL III, encyclical letter Sublimis Deus, (June 2,1537), translated in Francis Augustus MacN ft
(until Vatican II). The ostiarius' (porter's) duty was to open and close the church door, check who entered, Bartholomew de Las Casas: His Life, His Apostolote, and His Writings (Cleveland, OH' Arthur H OarL c
and ring the bell at the start of the service. 19091,427-31. °"
2. GIOVANNI BATTISTA DE ROSSI, De origine historic indicibus scrinii et bibliothecae Sedis Apostolicae, vol. 1, 3. JACEK SALIJ OP, "Kosciof starozytny wobronie niewolnikdw", Wdrodze, December 009- pp 139-ian
(Rome: Ex Typographeo Vaticano, 1886), 39-45. WITNESS: WRITINGS OF BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS, ed. and trans. George Sanderlin (Marvknnll mv
4. Orbis Books, 1992), 66-67. 'V:
CHAPTER II:
1. HEINRICH GRAETZ, History of the Jews, vol. 4, trans. James K. Gutheim (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication 5. No.GERONIMO DE MENDIETA, Historic Edesiastica Indiana. (Mexico: Antigua Libreria
3.1870), 312.
Portal de Aeostii
8 Os
Society of America, 1894), 46.
2. BARBARA FRALE, "The Chinon Chart. Papal Absolution to the Last Templar Master Jacques de Molay", 6. JOAQUIN GARCIA ICAZBALCETA, Don Fray Juan de Zumdrrago, (Mexico: Antigua Libreria de Andrado
Morales, 18811,49. v
Journal of Medieval History 30, no. 2 (2004): 109-134.
7. IBID, 57.
CHAPTER III: 8. MENDIETA, 276.
1. INNOCENT III, De contemptu mundi, sive de miseria humanae conditionis (Bonn, Germany: Eduardum
CHAPTER VI:
Weber, 1855), 24-25,126.
2 See ANNA FREMANTLE, The Papal Encyclicals in Their Historical Context (New York: Omega-Fremantle, 1963), 70. 1. JOHN PAUL II, Commemoration of the Birth of Albert Einstein (November 10,1979), in Discourses of
the Popes from Pius XI to John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, ed. Paul Haffner (Vatican Citv-
3. OLIVER J. THATCHER and Edgar Holmes McNeal. ed„ A Source Book for Mediaeval History (New York: Pontificia Academia Scientarium, 1986), 151-56,153.
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905), 517.
4. AUGUST C. KREY. ed., The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants (Princeton, NJ:
2. VITTORIO MESSORI, Emporia cattolico. Uno sguardo diverse su storia e attualita (Milan: Sugarco, 1996)
Princeton University Press, 1921), 35.
3. MAURICE A. FINOCCHIARO ed. and trans., The Galileo Affair A Documentary History (Berkeley, CA
University of California Press, 1989), 146.
5. TRANSLATIONSAND REPRINTS FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY, vol. 1/2 (Phila­
4. JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
delphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, [1897?]), 7.
(October 31,1992).
6. IBID, 8
7. ALFRED J. ANDREA, ed. Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade, (Boston: Brill, 2000), 166. CHAPTER VII:
1. REYNALD SECHER, Vendee, du genocide au memoricide (Paris: Cerf, 2011), 90.
CHAPTER IV:
2. MONIKA MILEWSKA, Ocet i Izy. Terror WielkiejRewo/ucji Francuskiejjako doswiadezenie traumatyezne
1. RINO CAMMILLERI, La vera storia dell'lnquisizione, (Milan: Edizioni Piemme, 2001). (Gdansk: Stowo/ObrazTerytoria, 2001), 8.
2. NORMAN P. TANNER, ed. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (London: Sheed & Ward, 1990), 1:224. 3. PAWEt JASIENICA, Rozwazania o wojnie domowei. (Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1985), 11.
3. BRONIStAW GEREMEK, “Eksces koncepcji prawniczej u historyka (w sprawie inkwizycji)”, Tygodnik
Powszechny, January 14, 1997: 4: GUSTAW HERLING-GRUDZINSKI, “Dziennik pisany nocq", CHAPTER VIII:
Rzeczpospolita, March 15-16,1997:2. 1. MANUEL DE IRUJO, Un vasco en el ministerio de jusbeia, vol. 2. La cuestion religiose (Buenos Aires- Editorial
4. NORMAN COHN, The Pursuit of the Millennium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970). Vasca Ekin, 1978), 125-26.

5. The AUTO-DA-fG (Portuguese for “act of faith") was a solemn ceremony during which an Inquisition CHAPTER IX:
verdict was delivered, typically clearing the innocent of all charges or drawing a public confession from
1. EDITH STEIN, “Der Brief an Papst Pius XL", Stimmen der Zeil, 221, no. 3 (2003): 147-50 (translated by
heretics, who recited the Creed. Those heretics who persisted in their errors were handed over to the Josephine Koeppel et al., archived at https://web.archive.Org/web/20110514223613/https://www.balh'-
secular powers for sentencing. All the persons on trial formed a procession, wearing penitential clothing morecarmel. org/saints/Stein/letter%20to%20pope.htm).
and carrying candles in their hands. Autos-da-fe mainly took place in Portugal and Spain, where they
2. GRZEGORZ KUCHARCZYK, Kulturkampf. Walka Berlina z katolicyzmem (1846-1918) (Warsaw- Fronda
took the form of a celebration, drawing a crowd of people from the neighborhood. The aim of the rite 2009),87.
was reconciliation with the Church through a renunciation of heresy.
3. CARLO FALCONI, The Silence of Pius XII, trans. Bernard Wall (Boston: Little, Brown & Co 1970)
6. ANDREA DEL COL, L'lnquisizione in Italia. Dal XII al XXI secolo (Milan: Mondadori, 2006). 238.
7. BRIAN B. LEVACK, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (London: Longman, 1987). 4. MICHAEL HESEMANN, Der Papst, der Hitler trotzte. Die Wahrheit uber Pius XII (Augsburg: Sankt-Ulrich
8. FRANCO CARDINI AND MARINA MONTESANO, La lunga storia dell'lnquisizione. Luci e ombre della Verlag, 2008), 6.
"leggenda nera" (Rome: Citta Nuova, 2005). 5. HESEMANN. 6.
9. MARINA MONTESSANO, Caccia alle streghe (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2012).

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Warsaw: Pahstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1993. KUCHARCZYK, GRZEGORZ. Kulturkampf. Walka Berlina z katolicyzmem (1846-1918). Warsaw: Fronda,
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:: RCKnoiuLEDGmEnis

The authors and the editor wish to thank the following for their help
in the realization of this book:

Card. Kazimierz Nycz - Metropolitan of Warsaw

Bishop Sergio Pagano - Prefect, Vatican Apostolic Archives
Fr. Pawet Ptasznik - Prelate, Vatican Secretariat of State
Fr. Luis Manuel Cuha Ramos - Director, Propaganda Fide Historical Archives
Xavier de Moulins - Director, Logis de la Chabotterie
Wtodzimierz Rpdzioch - Contributor, Inside the Vatican

Rino Cammilleri, Fr. Vicente Carcel Ortf, Prof. Franco Cardini, Dr. Barbara Frale,
Fr. Peter Gumpel, S.J., Pio Moa, Dr. Reynaid Secher, Massimo Viglione

Marek Adamski, Elzbieta and Stanislaw Biataszek, Fr. Matteo Campagnano,

Francoise de Chabot-Darcy, Anusia and Alain de Charette de la Contrie,
Chiara Ejbich, Ewelina Ejbich, Beatriz Gonzales and Jose Luis Garcia Chagoyan,
Eukasz Grutzmacher, Angelika Korszyhska-Gorny, Anna and Janusz Kotahski,
Ernest Kowalczyk, Anna Kurdziel, Fr. Robert Lezohupski, O.F.M. Conv.,
Gregoire Moreau, Jolanta and Jacek Mycielski, Fr. Jan O’Dogherty, Jose Luis
Orella, Prof. Wojciech Roszkowski, Fr. Eukasz Skawihski, Dr. Pawet Skibinski,
Julita and Patrick Moussette, Zbigniew Stadnicki, Fr. Roman Szpakowski,
Fr. Jaroslaw Szymczak, Fr. Jerzy Witek, Kasia and Gaetan de Thieulloy,
Stawomir Wawer
Polish edition Tajne Archiwum Watykanskie
Published 2020 by Rosikon Press, Warsaw, Poland

Text 2020 © by Grzegorz Gorny

Photographs © 2020 by Janusz Rosikon

Graphic design Kryspin Waliszewski

Collaboration DTP Honorata Kozon

Illustrations Piotr Karczewski

Collaboration Jan Kasprzycki-Rosikoh

English translation Stan Kacsprzak

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version
of the Bible—Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition) copyright © 2006 National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Photographs taken from the following collections: Daniele Fregonese © 2019 Archivio Apostolico Vaticano:
50, 79, 93,103,133,157, 229, 243; Adobe: 17,19, 23,101,112,165,166, 209; Bundesarchiv Bild: 294 (146-1972-056-
26 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 296 (183-E20569-21 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 312 (183-84600-0001 / Unknown / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 317
(B 145 - PO877O4 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), (B 145 Bild-PO84771 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 323 (183-H28422 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 327
(183-1985-O1O9-5O2 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 328 (183-1987-0703-507 / unbekannt / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 329 (183-R24391 /
Unknown / CC-BY-SA 3.0), (183-H26878 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 331 (B 145 Bild-P022061 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 333 (102-
00535 / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 334 (146-2006-0217 / Unbekannt / CC-BY-SA 3.0), (183-1986-0407-511 / CC-BY-SA
3.0), 337 (102-14468 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 339 (146-1974-132-33A / Mensing / CC-BY-SA 3.0), 346 (146-
1969-171-29 / Friedrich Franz Bauer / CC-BY-SA 3.0); G. Gat^zka: 348; G. Gorny: 186, 345; based on google maps: 10;
Wiki: 8, 9, 20, 24, 26, 31, 35, 38, 46, 48, 49, 60, 61, 63, 67, 68, 71-74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 84, 87, 91, 94, 95,103,106,107,108
Marcin Szala https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_St._Donatus_in_Zadar_(by_Pudelek) JPG, 111-
113,115-128,130 Myrabella https://commons.wikimedia.Org/wiki/File:Enrico_Dandolo_gravestone.jpg, 131,132,
136,137,139,140,141,146 Tatacolt, https://commons.wikimedia.Org/wiki/File:Palazzo_Della_Rovere._Agostino_
Borromeo.jpg, 147-149,152,154,155,158,159,162,164,167 Christoph Wagener https://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Agostino_BorromeoJPG, 168-172,177-180 https://commons.wikimedia.Org/wiki/File:Fragmento_
filemon.jpg, 182,184-186,188,189,191 Caballerol967 https://commons.wikimedia.Org/wiki/File:Statue_of_
Antonio_de_Montesinos,_Santo_Domingo_D.R.jpg, 193-195,198, 201, 203 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Bartolome_de_Las_Casas,_La_vraye_Enarration_De_la_destruction_des_Indes_Occidentales,_1620.png, 204,
208, 210, 212-214, 216, 217, 218, 221, 223, 225-228, 231-233, 235, 238 Benoit Lhoest https://fr.rn.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Fichier:Pie_VII_Arrestation_par_le_General_Radet.png, 239, 241, 242 Domy2 https://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Etienne_RADET.jpg, 243-245, 250, 251, 256-258, 260-262, 264, 267, 269, 270, 272-275, 278, 281-284, 287-
289, 291, 292, 297-301, 304, 309, 316, 320, 322, 324, 330-339, 341, 343-345, 347; Fr. Lukasz Skawinski: 37; NAC: 289,
291, 292; Servizio Fotografico - L’Osservatore Romano: 349

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by
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ISBN 978-1-62164-318-0

Library of Congress Control Number 2019949915

"The uniqueness of the Vatican Secret Archives inheres not in their being
the world’s largest, but in their being the most universal, as they contain
documents that pertain to the whole world.”
—Bishop Sergio Pagano, Prefect, Vatican Apostolic Archives

The Roman Catholic Church is no stranger to controversy: the Crusades,

the Inquisition, and the trial of Galileo are but a few hotly debated
episodes from her history. In discussions about these events, however,
fiction is often unwittingly mixed with facts.

In order to assess the Church’s past more accurately—and more justly—

Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikori visited the Vatican Secret Archives,
recently renamed the Vatican Apostolic Archives. They met with numerous
historians who have unearthed previously unknown historical material
that sheds new light on not only the three aforementioned events, but
also the violent suppression of the Knights Templar, the injustices of
conquistadores in the New World, the murder of Catholics during the
French Revolution and the Spanish Civil War, and the actions of Pope
Pius XII during the Holocaust.

As the authors dusted off unknown pages of Church history, they

discovered fascinating details and insights about some of the most
dramatic conflicts of all time.