Letter CXCV. To the Bishop of Constance about Arnold of Brescia

(A.D. 1140.)

Bernard advises him to expel Arnold of Brescia from his Diocese.¹

1. If the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken 2ip (S. Matt. xxiv. 43). Do you know that a thief has broken into your house by night, yet not your house, but the Lord's entrusted to your care? But there can be no doubt that you know what is taking place at your door, when news of it has penetrated even to us who are so far distant. It is no wonder that you could not foresee the hour, or perceive the night attack of the thief, but it will be a wonder if you do not recognize that he has been caught, if you do not hold him fast and prevent him from carrying off your goods, nay, rather the most precious spoils won by Christ, souls which He has stamped with His own image and redeemed with His own blood. Perhaps you are yet in the dark and wonder who it is I mean. I speak of Arnold of Brescia,² and I wish he were of as sound doctrine as he is of strict life. And if you wish to know more, he is a man who comes neither eating nor drinking, but with the devil alone he is hungering and thirsting for the blood of souls. He is one of the number of those whom the watchfulness of the Apostle takes note of when he says, Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (2 Tim. iii. 5). And the Lord Himself says: They shall come to you in sheep's clothing, bid inwardly they are ravening wolves (S. Matt. vu. 15). Up to the present time, in whatever place he has lived, he has left such foul and destructive tracks that he dares not return to any place wherever he has imprinted his foot mark. For example, he grievously stirred up and troubled the land in which he was born, and he was, therefore, accused before the Pope of grievous schism, and was banished from his native soil, and also compelled to swear that he would not return except by the Pope's permission. For a like reason this notable schismatic has been driven out from the kingdom of France. When anathematized by Peter the Apostle he pined himself to Peter Abaelard, and with him, and for him, he endeavoured to defend vigorously and stubbornly all his errors, which had been already exposed and condemned by the Church.

2. And in all these incidents his phrensy was not abated, but his hand was stretched out still. For though he is a fugitive and wanderer on the earth, he does not cease to do amongst men of other countries what he is not allowed to do amongst his own countrymen, and goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And I hear that he is now working mischief amongst you, and is eating up your people as it were bread. His mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, his feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness are in his ways, and the way of peace has he not known. He is an enemy of the cross of Christ, a sower of discord, a manufacturer of schisms, a disturber of peace, a divider of unity; his teeth are spears and arrows, and his tongue a sharp sword, his words are smoother than oil, and yet they are very darts. Thence it is that he is wont to entice to himself by flattering words and the pretences of virtues the rich and the powerful, according to the verse: He sitteth lurking in thievish corners with the rich that he may slay the innocent (Ps. x. 8). Depend upon it, when he feels that he has securely gained their goodwill and affection, you will see the man openly rise against the clergy; and, relying on military tyranny, he will rise against the Bishops themselves, and run a tilt against all ecclesiastical order. Knowing this, I do not know what better or more wholesome thing you can do at such a crisis than, according to the admonition of the Apostle, to remove the evil man from among you (1 Cor. v. 13), though the friend of the bridegroom will see that he is I.KTTKR CXCVI. 6oi bound rather than put to flight, lest he be able to travel about again, and so do more harm. Our Lord the Pope, when In* was here, gave in writing the same directions, because of the evils which he heard were being done; but there was no one to do the good action. To end, if the Scripture soundly warns us to take the little foxes which spoil the vine (Cant. ii. 15), should not a powerful and fierce wolf much rather be bound fast, lest he break into the sheep-folds of Christ, and slay and destroy His sheep?

Footnotes

1. It is uncertain whether this Constance is the one in France or the one on the Rhine. I am inclined to think the latter, because Arnold when expelled from France is said to have turned his steps to this place. Herman was then Bishop of this See, the same that met Bernard at Frankfort and took him to Constance (Miracles of Bernard lib. vi. c. i.). ↩

2. Otto of Frisingen (de Gesti-; Friderid lib. ii. c. 20) thus describes Arnold He was born at Brescia, a city of Italy, and being ordained reader he became a clerk in the Church there. He had formerly had Abaelard as his teacher. He was a man of quick intelligence, more distinguished for a flow of words than for the weight of his matter, " a man who affected singularity and sought after novelty, one •of those dispositions ever ready to manufacture heresies and to stir up divisions. On returning from Gaul to Italy he assumed the religious habit in order to impose on people the more easily. He mangled and gnawed at everything as a dog might, he spared no one, he spoke contemptuously of Bishops and clergy, he persecuted the monks, and reserved his flatteries for the laity. For he was in the habit of saying that no clergy with private property, no Bishops with estates, no monks with possessions of their own, could in any way be saved; that all these things belonged to the King, and that they ought to give up possession of them and hand them over to the laity. Besides this he seems to have held erroneous ideas on the Sacrament of the Altar and on Baptism of children." The same author adds: " In the year 1 138 he was condemned to silence by a Council held at Rome, was banished from Italy, retired to the town of Thurgau, and scattered his false doctrines broadcast. When at last he heard of the death of Innocent he returned to Rome in the early days of Eugenius, and urged on the people to further sedition, putting before them the examples of the Romans of old, who in the later days of the Senate had brought the world under their sway. And, therefore, he exhorted them to rebuild the Capitol, to restore the Senatorial dignity, and to recreate the equestrian Order. He said that no part of the government of the city belonged to the Pontiff, that he ought to be content with ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The evils springing from this pernicious teaching grew to such a head at last that not only were the houses and splendid palaces of the Roman nobles or Cardinals pulled down, but violent hands were laid by the furious populace on the sacred persons of the Cardinals, and some were disgracefully injured." The same author says (Chronicles lib. vu. c. 20) that Jordan, the son of Peter Leonis, was elected into the Patrician Order. " At last," he says, " falling into the hands of certain people in Tuscany, he was arrested, was brought before the Prince for examination, and at last was bound to a stake by the Prefect of the city, and, the pyre having been reduced to ashes to prevent the foolish populace from paying honour to his body, his remains were scattered upon the Tiber." ↩