Bernard Gui facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bernard Gui
Bishop of Lodève
14th-century illustration of Gui receiving a blessing from Pope John XXII
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Lodève
Enthroned	1324
Predecessor	Jean I. de Tixerandrerie
Successor	Bernard VII. Dumas
Personal details
Birth name	Bernatz Gui
Born	1261 or 1262 Royères
Died	30 December 1331 Lauroux
Buried	Church of Sainte-Marie, Limoges

Bernard Gui (born around 1261 or 1262 – died December 30, 1331) was a Dominican friar from the Limousin region of France. He became a Bishop of Lodève and also served as a special investigator, known as a papal inquisitor, during the later part of the Medieval Inquisition.

His Life Story

Bernard Gui was born in a small village called Royères in what is now France. When he was young, in the early 1270s, he joined the Dominican monastery in Limoges. He officially became a Dominican friar in 1280.

For the next ten years, Bernard studied many subjects. He learned about grammar, logic, philosophy (especially the ideas of Aristotle), and theology. He studied at different Dominican schools across southern France, including a main study center in Montpellier.

After finishing his education, Bernard took on several important jobs within the Dominican order. He worked as a sublector (a teacher's assistant) in Limoges in 1291. Then he became a prior (a leader of a monastery) in Albi in 1294. He also served as prior in Carcassonne in 1297, Castres in 1301, and again in Limoges in 1305.

Between 1316 and 1320, Bernard Gui worked for the Dominican Order at the court of Pope John XXII in Avignon. During this time, he also went on diplomatic missions for the Pope. For example, in 1317, he traveled to Italy to try and make peace between cities there. The next year, he went to Flanders to help solve a conflict between the King of France and a local Count. Neither of these peace efforts worked out.

Bernard Gui was made Bishop of Tui in 1323 and then Bishop of Lodève in 1324. He passed away at his home in Lauroux castle on December 30, 1331. After his funeral, his body was taken to Limoges and buried in the Dominican monastery church.

His Work as an Inquisitor

From 1307 to 1323, Bernard Gui served as the main inquisitor for the region of Toulouse. He was appointed by Pope Clement V and Pope John XXII. His job was to investigate and deal with people who were believed to have different religious ideas, or "heresy," from the main Catholic Church. This work took place in a region called Languedoc, where different religious beliefs were common.

As an inquisitor, Bernard Gui traveled around the region. He met with local church leaders and officials. He would preach to people about the dangers of different teachings. He also invited those who had different beliefs to come forward and admit their ideas. If they did, they would often receive lighter punishments.

Those who were accused but did not come forward were questioned. Local authorities helped find and question these individuals. If someone admitted to having different beliefs, they would face a "general sermon." This was a public event where the names of those found guilty were announced, along with their punishments.

Common punishments included fasting, pilgrimage (a religious journey), or wearing large yellow crosses on their clothes. Their property might also be taken away. Church rules did not allow clergy to cause physical harm. So, people who refused to change their beliefs or who went back to their old ideas were handed over to local authorities for serious punishment.

During his time, Bernard Gui held eleven "general sermons." He judged 627 people guilty of having different religious beliefs. In total, he dealt with 636 individuals. Historians used to think he was responsible for many executions. However, more recent studies show that only about 45 of the people he convicted (around 7%) were executed. Many more were imprisoned (307 people) or ordered to wear crosses (143 people).

Based on these numbers, many modern historians believe Bernard Gui was quite fair and moderate in his role. They suggest he was more interested in getting people to change their beliefs than in punishing them severely.

Bernard Gui also investigated other groups. In 1319, he arranged for copies of the Talmud, a Jewish religious text, to be publicly burned in Toulouse. He also looked into the "lepers' plot" of 1321, which was an alleged conspiracy involving lepers, Jews, and Muslims.

His Writings

Bernard Gui was a very productive writer, especially for his time. He didn't often write completely new works. Instead, he usually collected and organized existing texts, stories, and records. He even oversaw the building of a library in Limoges in 1306, which held over a hundred books. This was one of the first special rooms built just for books in the Western world.

He wrote many historical works. These included a universal history called Flores chronicorum, which covered events from the birth of Christ up to his own death in 1331. He also wrote local histories about saints, monasteries, and bishops in his region.

One of his important works was the Chronique des rois de France (Chronicle of the Kings of France) from 1313. This book included the Arbor genealogiae regum francorum, which is one of the earliest known examples of a family tree.

However, Bernard Gui's most famous works are related to his work as an inquisitor. These are the Liber sententiarum, which was a detailed record of the judgments he made, and the Practica inquisitionis heretice pravitatis, a complete guide for other inquisitors.

Inquisitors didn't have formal training, so practical guides like Bernard Gui's were very useful. His manual had five parts. The first three parts were templates for delivering judgments. The fourth part contained official documents about the inquisitor's powers. The fifth and most well-known part described the beliefs and practices of different groups, such as Cathars and Waldensians. It also gave advice on how to question each group. This was the first guide to specifically mention punishments for Jews who returned to their old beliefs.

Bernard Gui's manual was widely copied and read during the Middle Ages. It greatly influenced how inquisitors worked later on. Several copies of his work still exist today in different archives and libraries around the world. The first printed version was published in 1886.

Images for kids

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  Illustrations from a copy of Gui's Arbor genealogiae regum francorum produced in the 1330s, showing the Carolingian kings Lothair and Louis V

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  Practica officii inquisitionis heretice pravitatis, a manuscript from the 14th century.