The poison of error...” The penance of the Cathars, according to the inquisitor Rainiero Sacconi

Abstract

 In the Summa de catharis et pauperibus de lugduno, an anti-heretical writing more widely spread in the Middle Ages, composed in 1250, the inquisitor Rainiero Sacconi did not ignore the traditional repertoire of toxic images applied to the groups who were considered heretical. Especially, in the chapter devoted to the penance of the "Cathars" Sacconi made ample use of them. This article is intended to analyze the penance of dissidents of the perspective of Dominican friar as well as the multiple meanings that the metaphor of the poison of heresy could evoke in the context of intense anti-heretical mobilization.