Ad abolendam
A decree of Pope Lucius III, issued with the emperor Frederick I at his side, that places a list of named groups under anathema, among them ‘those who falsely call themselves Humiliati or Poor of Lyon’, and all who preach without authority.
Read the text at archive.org ↗The same decree as shortened in the Decretals of Gregory IX, book 5, title 7, chapter 9 (Bibliotheca Augustana) ↗
The decree opens with the words Ad abolendam, “to abolish” the depravity of various heresies, and says that it is issued in the presence and with the support of the emperor Frederick and on the advice of bishops and princes gathered from many parts. It is a general measure against heresy and names the Cathars and Patarenes first.
It is the judgment of the authority that condemned the Waldensians. In the opening part cited here the charge against such groups is that they preach without being sent. A shortened text was taken into the Decretals of Gregory IX and so became part of the church’s standing law.
Cited in
- about 1173, estimated date