Heretical Saints

This chapter focuses on “heretical saints,” which were individuals that people accepted as holy when living and venerated after death, even though inquisitors condemned them. As discussed in the previous chapter, the establishment of the inquisition led to a new scrutiny of saints. As a result, locally venerated holy persons could suffer a fall from grace and become condemned heretics, particularly those who were not members of established clerical orders. Inquisitors viewed these men and women as pretenders because they did not recognize their followers as part of an orthodox association. A group's way of life could therefore only seem to be penitent and the leaders only purportedly show the characteristics of saintly perfection. What distinguishes heretical saints from suspect saints is that their ultimate condemnation primarily was based on the behavior of their followers. It was the time-honored rituals of devotion and the fervor of their admirers that caught the attention of the inquisitorial eye. The unmonitored religious movement, so feared by the papacy, resulted in these saints' official condemnation as they became tainted by the actions of their ardent devotees.