Bernard Délicieux
| Bernard Délicieux | |
|---|---|
L'agitateur du Languedoc at Musée des Augustins
|
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | Order of Friars Minor |
| Rank | Friar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
c. 1260-1270 Montpellier, France |
| Died | 1320 Carcassonne, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Bernard Délicieux (c. 1260-1270 – 1320) was a Spiritual Franciscan friar who resisted the Inquisition in Carcassonne and Languedoc region of southern France.
Born in Montpellier, France sometime in 1260-1270, Délicieux joined the Franciscan Order in 1284 and worked in Paris prior to the start of the fourteenth century.
In c. 1299, Délicieux became prior of the Franciscan convent in Carcassonne. In 1299, he led a revolt against the city's inquisitors, which prevented the arrest of two heretics sheltered in the Franciscan convent.
In July 1300, Délicieux appealed the accusation that Castel Fabre, deceased in 1278 and buried at the Franciscan convent, was a heretic. Délicieux claimed the inquisition registers were fraudulent and contained accusations from non-existent informants. This incident caused the inquisitors to temporarily flee Carcassonne.
In 1301, Délicieux befriended the newly appointed viceroy of Languedoc, Jean de Picquigny. Together, they visited King Philip The Fair in October and argued that Carcassonne inquisitor Foulques de Saint-Georges and Bishop Castanet were corrupt and abused their power, and thereby endangered loyalty to the French Kingdom. As a result, friar Foulques was reassigned and support from royal constables to arrest subjects suspected of heresy was reduced. Bishop Castanet was fined 20,000 livres and no longer was the noble (secular) ruler of Albi (only the church).
In c. 1302, Délicieux was transferred from Carcassonne to the Franciscan convent in Narbonne, but he travelled extensively throughout Languedoc preaching. In the spring, a second visit to the royal court failed to release the inquisition prisoners from Albi and Carcassonne.
In 1303, Délicieux returned to Carcassonne and pressured to reveal the secret accord of 1299, which reversed Carcassonne's earlier excommunication in 1297 by the inquisitor Nicholas d'Abbeville. On August 4, 1303, Délicieux gave a fiery sermon and claimed the 1299 accord admitted people of Carcassonne were (reformed) heretics and, hence, liable to be burned at the stake if they found to have relapsed. The following week, the inquisitor Geoffroy d'Ablis tried to dispel the accusations that the accord was unfair for Carcassonne, but a riot ensued. Based upon encouragement from Délicieux and to reduce tensions between the townsfolk and the inquisitors, Jean de Picquigny, backed by royal troops, forcibly transferred the prisoners from inquisitor's jail to the more humane royal jail.
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