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Clergy In Southern France: A Document Analysis

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This document served two purposes. One was to be a testament of the problem of heresy in Southern France. Considering the boldness of the heretics in their refusal to even answer questions and recognize their errors when the churched deemed them so, the gravity of heresy in France would doubtlessly have been communicated. However, the document being a record that could have been sent to higher church authorities, it is probable that this narrative also served as proof that the clergy were trying to bring their flock back. In 1209 a council in Avignon rebuked Southern French clergy for their neglect and being, “indistinguishable from laymen in conduct.” Pope Innocent III would blame clerical neglect and refer to the clergy as, “blind creatures,

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