Impossible escape: Inquisitor Jacques Fournier and the trials of the Cathars at the end of their existence in Languedoc

Abstract

Analyses of cases contained in the Register of inquisitor Jacques Fournier (1318-1325) allude to the difficulty of a suspect leaving the inquisitorial trial without a sentence in the form of penitence. Having in mind the sentiments of contemporaries regarding the trials and the current multidisciplinary scholarship on the subject, the author investigates the changes Fournier that made in the system, through analysis of three cases least-related to heretical dogma. The author came to the conclusion that: 1) early centralization of medieval France facilitated alterations of the inquisitorial process, 2) the inquisition started regarding heretical certain deeds (and often even thoughts) that had previously not been considered heretical, by linking simple unacceptable behaviour to elements of heretical beliefs.