Talk:Erfurt massacre (1349)

A Few Historical Errors

"These beliefs, and the accompanying massacres, were frequently encouraged by local bishops or itinerant Catholic Flagellants."

1. The Flagellants might have been Catholics, but their doctrines and practices were condemned by both Clement VI and his successor Innocent VI. So they can hardly be called "Catholic Flagellants" as if their practices and beliefs had the backing of the Catholic Church. 2. Local bishops might have encouraged such behavior, but the Catholic Church as a whole was against such practice. One manuscript of Froissart's Chronicles has the following statements regarding the 1349 massacre of Jews:

"At that time the Jews were taken and burnt everywhere throughout the world, and their possessions seized by the rulers under whom they lived, except in Avignon and the domains of the Church beneath the protection of the Pope." (Jean Froissart, ed. and tr. Geoffrey Brereton, Froissart Chronicles, Penguin Classics (1978), p.112, n.2; bold emphasis added).

Avignon was the residence of the Pope from 1309 to 1378. So all Jews there or in other lands under his control were SAFE. Another manuscript (B6) adds:

"for the Church does not hold that they should be put to death, because they would be saved if they were willing to return to our faith." (Ibid.)

Therefore, especially since the very next sentence seems to contradict the implications of that sentence, I changed it to the following:

"Although these beliefs, and the accompanying massacres, were frequently encouraged by local bishops or itinerant Flagellants, the Catholic Church, including Pope Clement VI under whom the Flagellants and the Black Death began, and his successor, Innocent VI, were firmly against it." Cornelius (talk) 11:11, 16 June 2013 (UTC)