Nicholas Eymerich
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Eymerich (c. 1316 – 4 January 1399) was a Roman Catholic
theologian
and Inquisitor General of the Inquisition
of the Crown of Aragon
in the later half of the 14th century. He is best known for authoring the Directorium Inquisitorum
.
c. 1316. He entered the local monastery of the Dominican Order
on 4 August 1334. Here, during his novitiate
he was instructed in theology by the friar
Dalmau Moner. In order to complete his studies, he went to Toulouse
, and then to Paris
, where he obtained his doctorate in 1352. He then returned to the monastery in Girona where he replaced Moner as the teacher of theology.
In 1357, Eymerich replaced Nicola Roselli as the Inquisitor General of Aragon, as Roselli had been raised to a cardinal
. A year after obtaining the position, Eymerich was given the honorific Chaplain of the Pope
as a recognition of his diligence in pursuing heretics
and blasphemers
. However, the zeal he displayed as Inquisitor General earned him many enemies, including King Peter IV of Aragon
. Peter IV sought to have Eymerich removed from office in 1360 when the inquisition interrogated the Franciscan
spiritualist, Nicholas of Calabria. A further example of Eymerich as Inquisitor General is his sentence of the Jew Astruc Dapiera in 1370. Dapiera was a native of Barcelona
accused of sorcery
. He was sentenced to publicly repent in a cathedral and then to life imprisonment. Eymerich also ordered the piercing of heretics' tongues with a nail so they could not blaspheme. He was the first inquisitor to get around the Church's prohibition against torturing a subject twice by interpreting directive very liberally, permitting a separate instance of torture for a separate charge of heresy.
Eymerich was elected to be the Vicar General of the Dominicans in Aragon in 1362 however, this election was contested by one Father Bernardo Ermengaudi who, in addition to having a long standing dispute with Eymerich, was also politically backed by Peter IV. When called on to settle the matter, Pope Urban V
, invalidated Eymerich's election on the grounds that the office of Vicar General conflicted with the office of Inquisitor General. He did not, however, confirm Ermengaudi in the position, opting for a neutral third, Jacopo Dominici.
Peter IV's hostility toward Eymerich intensified in 1366 when Eymerich began to attack the written works of Ramon Llull
and to harass his followers, who were known as Lullists. The king forbade Eymerich to preach in the city of Barcelona. Eymerich disobeyed covertly and subsequently supported the revolt of the diocese
of Tarragona
against the monarch. This conflict ended around 1376 when the local governor took 200 horsemen and encircled the Dominican monastery where Eymerich was residing. Eymerich fled to the papal court of Pope Gregory XI
in Avignon
.
, where he remained until the Pope's death in 1378. In the schism
that erupted after the death of Pope Gregory XI, Eymerich sided with Antipope Clement VII
, and so returned to Avignon late in 1378. While living in Avignon, Eymerich conflicted with St. Vincent Ferrer
, because Eymerich believed that Ferrer had begun to sympathize with Pope Urban VI
, the Pope in opposition to Clement VII.
Eymerich returned to Aragon in 1381. Where he discovered that in his absence, Bernardo Ermengaudi had assumed the position of Inquisitor General. Eymerich refused to recognize Ermengaudi in that office, and in 1383, acting as Inquisitor General, notified the inhabitants of Barcelona that he had banned the works of Ramon Llull. Furious, Peter IV ordered Eymerich to be drowned, however the Queen Eleanor of Sicily
influenced him to change the sentence to permanent exile. Once again, Eymerich ignored the sentence and remained in his native land, thanks largely to the support of Peter's son, John
.
King Peter IV died in 1386 and was succeeded by his son, John I, who recognized Eymerich's authority as Inquisitor General. At first, John I favored the repression of the Lullists, but this lasted only until 1388 when Eymerich decided to investigate the entire town of Valencia
for heresy. King John I intervened to free the Chancellor of the University (secretary of the municipality), who had been imprisoned. The King then asked the Church to rein in the violence of Eymerich and that the works of Llull be newly examined.
from John's reprisals in a church, but two years later, retreated again to Avignon, where he remained until the death of King John I. In Avignon, Eymerich devoted himself to the defence of the legitimacy of Clement VII as Pope. He remained in Avignon after the death of Clement VII in 1394, writing in support of Clement's successor, Antipope Benedict XIII
. After King John's death in 1396, Eymerich returned to the Dominican monastery in Girona, where he remained until his death on 4 January 1399. His epitaph describes him as praedicator veridicus, inquisitor intrepidus, doctor egregius.
, and described means for discovering witches. In compiling the book, Eymerich used many of the magic texts he had previously confiscated from accused sorcerers. The Directorium Inquisitorum was to become the definitive handbook of procedure for the Spanish Inquisition until into the seventeenth century. It can also be considered as an assessment of a century and half of official Inquisition in the conquered "albigensian" country.
s and papers on various theological and philosophical subjects.
A good deal of Eymerich's life and writings were taken with opposing the writings of Ramon Llull. Owing to Aymerich's work, Pope Gregory XI banned several of Llull's writings and issued a papal decree against some postulates derived from his works. He would later dedicate his Tractatus contra doctrinam Raymundi Lulli to Clement VII. In this document he indicated 135 heresies and 38 errors in the Lullists' theology. His Dialogus contra Lullistas is another example of his anti-Lullist works.
Eymerich also wrote numerous works, including his Tractatus de potestate papali (1383) defending the legitimacy of the Avignon popes, Clement VII and Benedict XIII.
spelling, and the most used form in Catalan, although nowadays it would be spelled "Eimeric". Aymerich, or Eimeric, is still a common Catalan surname, and "Nicolau" is the Catalan spelling for "Nicholas". The Spanish
spelling, "Nicolas" is also occasionally used. The title page of the 1578 impression of the Directorium Inquisitorum, which is printed in Latin
gives his name as "Nicolai Eymerici". The most common ways his name is spelled in English
writing on the subject is "Nicholas Eymerich", with the spelling "Eymeric" being a close second. Occasionally, the Spanish form of Nicolas is used in English writings as well. Other, less common, variant spellings of his last name include, Emeric, Eimeric, and Eymericus.
, an Italian novel
ist, has written a cycle of ten science fiction
books featuring Eymerich as the main character.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and Inquisitor General of the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
of the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
in the later half of the 14th century. He is best known for authoring the Directorium Inquisitorum
Directorium Inquisitorum
The Directorium Inquisitorum is Nicholas Eymerich's most prominent and enduring work, which he had composed as early as 1376. Eymerich had written an earlier treatise on sorcery, perhaps as early as 1359, which he extensively reworked into the Directorium Inqusitorum The Directorium Inquisitorum...
.
Education and early tenure as Inquisitor General
Nicholas Eymerich was born in GironaGirona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
c. 1316. He entered the local monastery of the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
on 4 August 1334. Here, during his novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
he was instructed in theology by the friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
Dalmau Moner. In order to complete his studies, he went to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, and then to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he obtained his doctorate in 1352. He then returned to the monastery in Girona where he replaced Moner as the teacher of theology.
In 1357, Eymerich replaced Nicola Roselli as the Inquisitor General of Aragon, as Roselli had been raised to a cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
. A year after obtaining the position, Eymerich was given the honorific Chaplain of the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
as a recognition of his diligence in pursuing heretics
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and blasphemers
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
. However, the zeal he displayed as Inquisitor General earned him many enemies, including King Peter IV of Aragon
Peter IV of Aragon
Peter IV, , called el Cerimoniós or el del punyalet , was the King of Aragon, King of Sardinia and Corsica , King of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona Peter IV, (Balaguer, September 5, 1319 – Barcelona, January 6, 1387), called el Cerimoniós ("the Ceremonious") or el del punyalet ("the one...
. Peter IV sought to have Eymerich removed from office in 1360 when the inquisition interrogated the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
spiritualist, Nicholas of Calabria. A further example of Eymerich as Inquisitor General is his sentence of the Jew Astruc Dapiera in 1370. Dapiera was a native of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
accused of sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. He was sentenced to publicly repent in a cathedral and then to life imprisonment. Eymerich also ordered the piercing of heretics' tongues with a nail so they could not blaspheme. He was the first inquisitor to get around the Church's prohibition against torturing a subject twice by interpreting directive very liberally, permitting a separate instance of torture for a separate charge of heresy.
Eymerich was elected to be the Vicar General of the Dominicans in Aragon in 1362 however, this election was contested by one Father Bernardo Ermengaudi who, in addition to having a long standing dispute with Eymerich, was also politically backed by Peter IV. When called on to settle the matter, Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V , born Guillaume Grimoard, was Pope from 1362 to 1370.-Biography:Grimoard was a native of Grizac in Languedoc . He became a Benedictine and a doctor in Canon Law, teaching at Montpellier and Avignon...
, invalidated Eymerich's election on the grounds that the office of Vicar General conflicted with the office of Inquisitor General. He did not, however, confirm Ermengaudi in the position, opting for a neutral third, Jacopo Dominici.
Peter IV's hostility toward Eymerich intensified in 1366 when Eymerich began to attack the written works of Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher, logician and tertiary Franciscan. He wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated by several centuries prominent work on elections theory...
and to harass his followers, who were known as Lullists. The king forbade Eymerich to preach in the city of Barcelona. Eymerich disobeyed covertly and subsequently supported the revolt of the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
against the monarch. This conflict ended around 1376 when the local governor took 200 horsemen and encircled the Dominican monastery where Eymerich was residing. Eymerich fled to the papal court of Pope Gregory XI
Pope Gregory XI
Gregory XI was pope from 1370 until his death.-Biography:He was born Pierre Roger de Beaufort, in Maumont, in the modern commune of Rosiers-d'Égletons, Limousin around 1336. He succeeded Pope Urban V in 1370, and was pope until 1378...
in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
.
First exile and return
While living in Avignon, Eymerich completed his most famous work, the Directorium Inquisitorum. In 1377, he accompanied Gregory XI to RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where he remained until the Pope's death in 1378. In the schism
Western Schism
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...
that erupted after the death of Pope Gregory XI, Eymerich sided with Antipope Clement VII
Antipope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Pope Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first Avignon antipope of the Western Schism.-Biography:...
, and so returned to Avignon late in 1378. While living in Avignon, Eymerich conflicted with St. Vincent Ferrer
Vincent Ferrer
Saint Vincent Ferrer was a Valencian Dominican missionary and logician.-Early life:Vincent was the fourth child of the Anglo-Scottish nobleman William Stewart Ferrer and his Spanish wife, Constantia Miguel. Legends surround his birth...
, because Eymerich believed that Ferrer had begun to sympathize with Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
, the Pope in opposition to Clement VII.
Eymerich returned to Aragon in 1381. Where he discovered that in his absence, Bernardo Ermengaudi had assumed the position of Inquisitor General. Eymerich refused to recognize Ermengaudi in that office, and in 1383, acting as Inquisitor General, notified the inhabitants of Barcelona that he had banned the works of Ramon Llull. Furious, Peter IV ordered Eymerich to be drowned, however the Queen Eleanor of Sicily
Eleanor of Sicily
Eleanor of Sicily was Queen Consort of Aragon . She was the daughter of Peter II of Sicily and Elisabeth of Carinthia. She was the third wife of Peter IV of Aragon.- Early life and family :...
influenced him to change the sentence to permanent exile. Once again, Eymerich ignored the sentence and remained in his native land, thanks largely to the support of Peter's son, John
John I of Aragon
John I , called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance , but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of...
.
King Peter IV died in 1386 and was succeeded by his son, John I, who recognized Eymerich's authority as Inquisitor General. At first, John I favored the repression of the Lullists, but this lasted only until 1388 when Eymerich decided to investigate the entire town of Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
for heresy. King John I intervened to free the Chancellor of the University (secretary of the municipality), who had been imprisoned. The King then asked the Church to rein in the violence of Eymerich and that the works of Llull be newly examined.
Second exile and return
After the violence at Valencia, Eymerich sought shelterSanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
from John's reprisals in a church, but two years later, retreated again to Avignon, where he remained until the death of King John I. In Avignon, Eymerich devoted himself to the defence of the legitimacy of Clement VII as Pope. He remained in Avignon after the death of Clement VII in 1394, writing in support of Clement's successor, Antipope Benedict XIII
Antipope Benedict XIII
Benedict XIII, born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor , known as in Spanish, was an Aragonese nobleman, who is officially considered by the Catholic Church to be an antipope....
. After King John's death in 1396, Eymerich returned to the Dominican monastery in Girona, where he remained until his death on 4 January 1399. His epitaph describes him as praedicator veridicus, inquisitor intrepidus, doctor egregius.
The Directorium Inquisitorum
Eymerich's most prominent and enduring work was the Directorium Inquisitorum, which he had composed as early as 1376. It defined witchcraftWitchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, and described means for discovering witches. In compiling the book, Eymerich used many of the magic texts he had previously confiscated from accused sorcerers. The Directorium Inquisitorum was to become the definitive handbook of procedure for the Spanish Inquisition until into the seventeenth century. It can also be considered as an assessment of a century and half of official Inquisition in the conquered "albigensian" country.
Other works
Although the Directorium Inquisitorum was Eymerich's only book length work, he wrote numerous tractTract (literature)
A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are...
s and papers on various theological and philosophical subjects.
A good deal of Eymerich's life and writings were taken with opposing the writings of Ramon Llull. Owing to Aymerich's work, Pope Gregory XI banned several of Llull's writings and issued a papal decree against some postulates derived from his works. He would later dedicate his Tractatus contra doctrinam Raymundi Lulli to Clement VII. In this document he indicated 135 heresies and 38 errors in the Lullists' theology. His Dialogus contra Lullistas is another example of his anti-Lullist works.
Eymerich also wrote numerous works, including his Tractatus de potestate papali (1383) defending the legitimacy of the Avignon popes, Clement VII and Benedict XIII.
Variant spellings of Aymerich's name
There appears to be very little scholarly consensus on the spelling of Aymerich's name. "Nicolau Aymerich" is the correct form of his name in medieval Catalan languageCatalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
spelling, and the most used form in Catalan, although nowadays it would be spelled "Eimeric". Aymerich, or Eimeric, is still a common Catalan surname, and "Nicolau" is the Catalan spelling for "Nicholas". The Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
spelling, "Nicolas" is also occasionally used. The title page of the 1578 impression of the Directorium Inquisitorum, which is printed in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
gives his name as "Nicolai Eymerici". The most common ways his name is spelled in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
writing on the subject is "Nicholas Eymerich", with the spelling "Eymeric" being a close second. Occasionally, the Spanish form of Nicolas is used in English writings as well. Other, less common, variant spellings of his last name include, Emeric, Eimeric, and Eymericus.
Literary character
Valerio EvangelistiValerio Evangelisti
Valerio Evangelisti is one of the most popular Italian writers of science fiction, fantasy, historical novels and horror. He is known mainly for his series of novels featuring the inquistor Nicolas Eymerich and for the Nostradamus trilogy, all bestsellers translated into many languages...
, an Italian novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, has written a cycle of ten science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
books featuring Eymerich as the main character.