Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/467

This page needs to be proofread.

INCREASE OF SORCERY. 451 bly of the Louvre, was that he had a familiar demon who kept him informed of everything, and that he was a sorcerer who con- sulted diviners and soothsayers. About the same time the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, treasurer of Edward I., was accused of murder, simony, and adultery, to which was added that he con- sulted the devil, to whom he had rendered homage and kissed on the posteriors. King Edward intervened energetically in his be- half, and an inquisition ordered upon him by Boniface reported that the common fame existing against him proceeded from his enemies, so that he was allowed to purge himself with thirty-seven compurgators. In 1308 the Sire d'Ulmet was brought to Paris on the charge of endeavoring to kill his wife by sorcery, and the women whom he had employed were burned or buried alive. We have seen how nearly akin to these accusations were the charges brought against the Templars, and the success of that attempt was suggestive as to the effectiveness of the methods employed. When, after the death of Philippe le Bel, Charles of Valois was reso- lutely bent on the destruction of Enguerrand de Marigny, and the long proceedings which he instituted threatened to prove fruitless, it was opportunely discovered that Enguerrand had instigated his wife and sister to employ a man and woman to make certain wax- en images which should cause Charles, the young King Louis Hu- tin, the Count of Saint-Pol, and other personages to wither and die. As soon as Charles reported this to Louis, the king withdrew his protection and the end was speedy. April 26, 1315, Enguerrand was brought before a selected council of nobles at Yincennes and was condemned to be hanged, a sentence which was carried out on the 30th ; the sorcerer was hanged with him and the sorceress was burned, the images being exhibited to the people from the gallows at Montfaucon, which Enguerrand himself had built, while the Dame de Marigny and her sister, the Dame de Chantelou, were condemned to imprisonment. Thus Enguerrand perished by the methods which he and his brother, the Archbishop of Sens, had used against the Templars, and the further moral of the story is seen in the remorse of Charles of Yalois, ten years later, when he lay on his death-bed and sent almoners through the streets of Paris to distribute money among the poor, crying, " Pray for the soul of Messire Enguerrand de Marigny, and of Messire Charles de Valois !" One of the accusations against Bernard Delicieux was