Confession of Arnaud Gélis, also called Botheler
"The Drunkard" of Mas-Saint-Antonin

part 3

After this, the same year as above and the following Friday (February 28) , the said Arnaud appeared in the Chamber of the episcopacy before my said lord bishop and Brother Gaillard, and the articles which he held in error were shown and read to him word by word by my lord the bishop. These errors were extracted from his confessions and the witnesses against him, whose depositions are attached below.
The tenor of the articles is the following:

Errors against the Catholic faith concerning the spirits of dead men and women, avowed spontaneously and several times when appearing for questioning before my lord the bishop of Pamiers and Brother Gaillard of Pomiès, substitute for the inquisitor of Carcassonne, by Arnaud Gélis also called Botheler of Mas-Saint-Antonin, which he has claimed to believe and have believed from as along as he can remember, and to have taught:

1. That in the other world the spirits of the dead do no other penance than to travel from church to church and, along the roads, some faster, others slower according to their degree of sin at the time of their death; except that he has said that one of these dead ones told him that he passed through the fire of Purgatory and was merely passing through. He said that his above named cousin told him this at her own home at La Force.

2. That after the spirits of the dead cease to travel by churches and by roads, they go to Repose, and that this place of Repose is on the earth, where the spirits of the dead rest after finishing their penance until Judgement Day. But, he said, he does not know what the rest consists of, nor the place where it is found. It was the late Athon d'Unzent who told him this, after he was already dead, and he himself told it to Brune, the wife of Raimond Sache.

3. That the spirit of a man, at least if it was not very holy, does not enter or will not enter into heaven or the celestial kingdom until after Judgement Day. And this, it seems, was told him by Pons Bru, already dead and he himself told it to the above-named Brune.

4. That the spirits of infants who die before Baptism are sent to an obscure place until Judgement Day, in which she suffer no pain, nor any good, but at the Judgment Day Christ will take pity on them and bring them into Paradise. It was Bernarde, the wife of Guillaume Arignac, already dead, who told him this.

5. That no spirit of a dead person, no matter how perverse it had been, enters or will enter into Hell until Judgement Day (and this had been told him by Pons Bru, already dead), nor will it every enter into Hell, since the time the Lord harrowed Hell (and this was told him by Guillaume d'Arignac, already dead).

6. That the Lord will have pity at the Judgment Day on the spirits of all those who held the faith of Christ and received his sacraments, with the result that none of them will be damned, no matter how evil they have been (said by Pierre Durand, already dead).

7. That Christ will have pity on Judgment Day on the spirit of all heretics, Jews, pagans, with the result that none of them will be damned for all eternity (said by Barcelone, wife of Pons Fauré, already dead.)

8. That human souls, both when they were embodied and when they have left their bodies, have their own bodies joined to themselves, like to their exterior body, and that these bodies united to spirits have distinct members just like exterior bodies, such as hands, eyes, feet and other members. He had found this out by himself, he said.

9. That Hell is a place reserved for demons, and for now and until Judgment Day and later, there will only be demons in Hell.

Item he said that although the spirits of the dead do not eat, they drink quite a bit of good wine and warm themselves by the fire when they are in houses where there is a lot of wood. He said also that the quantity wine does not diminish even though the spirits of the dead drink it.

We find in the testimony of certain witnesses that he has said that the place of Repose which he says is found on the earth is the terrestrial Paradise.

We find in certain other witnesses that he has said that the spirits of heretics will be entirely annihilated by God in the other world.

We find in certain other witnesses that he has said that the spirit of no man, not even John the Baptist will enter into the heavenly kingdom until Judgement Day.

Item he has said that the spirits of Jews, their penance acomplished, go to Repose just like the spirits of Christians, and one finds according to other witnesses that he has said that Holy Mary, on Judgement Day, will intercede for the spirits of all the Jews, because she was of their race and that all the Jews will be saved by the prayer of Holy Mary.

Interrogated as to which persons had told him these things and which persons he had subsequently told them to, he responded as is contained in the individual articles.

After this my said lord bishop admonished the said Arnaud once, twice and three times, to return at once to the Catholic faith and the unity of the Roman Church and to abajure all heresy; item, to denounce heretics if he knew of them andto tell to which persons he had told the errors above avowed by him. And he gave him eight days to reflect.

On the assigned day Arnaud presented himself before my said lord bishop, assisted by the said Brother Gaillard, in the above-mentioned Chamber; since my said lord bishop, because of certain facts which had come to his attention in this affair after the fixing of the day, and wished to investigate other persons, he remitted and deferred the admonition made previously.

After this, the same year as above, the year of of the Lord 1320, the 3rd of April, the said Arnaud Botheler appeared for questioning before my said lord bishop, assisted by Brother Gaillard of Pomiès, at the chateau of Allemans, and said, under oath

Concerning the first article, retracting the error contained therein, that although he had believed what he said, he now believed firmly that the spirits of dead men and women go to Purgatory, where they accomplish the penance that they have not done in this world. When this is done, they go to the celestial paradise where is found the Lord christ, the holy Virgin, the angels and the saints.

Concerning the second, retracting.... he says he now believes now that the spirits of the dead, after penance, go into the joy of the celestial paradise, and that there is no place of repose for spirits on the earth, but only in the celestial paradise.

Concerning the third, retracting... that the spirits of all the dead men adn woman, after penance, if there is need in purgatory, enter immediately into the heavenly kingdom.

Concerning the fourth, retracting.....that the spirits of unbaptized infants will never be saved, nor will they enter into the heavenly kingdom.

Concerning the fifth, retracting.....that the spirits of evil men, by which he understand those men who have perpetrated terrible crimes, which they do not confess, make reparation for or repent of, are sent to Hell as soon as they die. And they will rest in Hell and be punished there for their sins, and there will be many such sinners in Hell even after the Lord Christ harrowed Hell.

Concerning the sixth, retracting.....that all those who have held the faith of Christ, received his sacraments and respected his precepts will be saved at Judgement, but that those who, although they have held the faith of Christ and His sacraments, have not lived according to his precepts, will be damned.

Concerning the seventh, retracting.......that the spirits of all heretics, pagans, and Jews who did not wish to believe in Christ will be damned at Judgement Day and that subsequently God will never have pity on their souls. And even though he once said that the souls of heretics will be annihilated in the other world, he believes now that they will not be annihilated, as if they had never existed, but that they will be punished for all eternity in Hell. And although he has said that the Holy Virgin Mary will intercede on Judgement Day for the souls of the Jews, and that they will be saved by her prayer, he retracts this and sais that neither the Holy Virgin nor any other saint will intercede for the spirits of the Jews and that they will not be saved on Judgement Day by the prayer of anyone, but that they will be damned.

Concerning the eighth, retracting.....that human souls, both when they are embodied and when they are disembodied, because they are spirits do not have bodies and do not have memebers to which they are united, nor do they eat or drink nor do they have such needs.

Concerning the ninth, retrating..... that Hell is and will be the place of demons and impious men, in which both the one and the others will be eternally punished according to their merits.

After this, the year of the Lord 1320, the 25th of April, the said Arnaud Botheler, appearing for questioning at the chateau of Allemans before my said lord bishop, assisted by the venerable person my lord Brother Jean de Beaune, inquisitor of the heretical deviation in the kingdom of France and named by the Apostolic See, swore on the holy Gospels of God to tell the pure and simple truth concerning various points touching the Catholic faith and matters of faith, as much concerning himself as principal as concerning others both living and dead as witness. Required by my said lords bishop and inquisitor to tell the truth as he had sworn, he said and avowed that he had confessed before my lord bishop and that everything he had confessed (which was read to him and explained intelligibly and word by word) was true, that it contained no falsehood and because it was true and properly made he approved, ratified and confirmed it with full knowledge, and wished it to be known that he had renounced these things.

And at once the said Arnaud, in the presence of the above-mentioned lord bishop and inquisitor appointed as judges, abjured all heresy, belief, patronage, defense, reception, or commendation of any sect contrary to faith and all gatherings of heretics or those who call themselves the Poor of Christ of Lyons, (or any other name); he swore also to hold and serve the Catholic faith as the sacrosanct Roman Church, mother and master of all holds, teaches, preaches and observes, on pain of the punishment decreed for those who, having abjured, relapse into heresy; he then swore that he would follow, investigate, seize by himself and by others and cause to be brought to the lord bishop and inquisitors (insofar as he was able by his own power or through others) all heretics, Waldensians, Insabbatatos and those who call themselves the Poor of Lyons and their believers, patrons, defenders, friends, messengers and fugitives for heresy, whether Waldensian or other. He swore also to abide and obey the mandates of the Church and the lords bishop and inquisitors and their successors and to submit to and complete all punishment, penance, satisfaction or charge which the aforesaid lord bishop and inquisitor or their successors might cause to be imposed on the said Arnaud on his own person or on his goods both in life and in death, and from now as from then and from then as from now he pledged himself and wished all his goods to be pledged, both movable and not, to the lord bishop and inquistor and their successors as surety for whatever punishment, penance, or charge would now be imposed or enjoined on the person of this Arnaud or on his goods by the lords bishop and inquisitor or their deputies or mandates.

And he was reconciled by the said lords bishop and inquistor.
This was done the same day and year as above, in the presence of the religious persons my lord Germain de Castelnau, archdeacon of the church of Pamiers, Brother Gaillard de Pomiès, brother Arnaud du Carla of the order of Preachers of the convent of Pamiers, Brother Jean Estève, of the same order, companion of my said lord inquisitor, and Brother David, monk of Fontfroide, witnesse to the preceding, and of Masters Guillaume Peyre-Barthe, notary of my lord bishop and Barthélemy Adalbert, public notary by royal authority and the charge of the inquistor, who were present at all the proceedings of this day and approved them.

After this, the last Wednesday of the month of April (30 April 1320), I, Guillaume Peyre-Barthe, above-mentioned notary, came in person to the chateau of Allemans and on the order of my said lords bishop and inquisitor, cited the said Arnaud to appear in person the following day before the church of the said place, there to hear sentence passed on the above facts, which he had avowed before them; he declared himself ready to appear and hear his sentence.

Present were Master Marc Rivel, notary of the terre du paréage (terre pariagii), Garnot, sergeant of the terre du paréage, and Master Guillaume Peyre-Barthe, above-mentioned notary, who has written all this on the order of the said lords bishop and inquisitor.
The tenor of the commission of Brother Gaillard, who is mentioned above in the proceedings, is the following "To the Reverend Father in Christ...." (abbreviated in MS.)
This sentence was pronounced on Thursday, May 1, and is written in the Book of Sentences of the Inquisition.
And I, Rainaud Jabbaud, sworn to the service of the Inquisition, have, on the order of my said lord bishop, faithfully corrected this confession against the original.
English Translation © 1996 by Nancy P. Stork.

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