Biography
He was born at Royères, in the Limousin, in 1261.
He entered the Dominican Convent at Limoges, and made his profession in 1280. Ten Years later he was made Prior of Albi, and subsequently at Carcassonne, at Castres, and at Limoges.
Working in the area of Toulouse (in modern France), his inquisition of those examined as suspected, known, reputed, or accused of the crime of heresy or support to heretics, led to over 900 guilty verdicts in fifteen years of office. People convicted of heresy during the time of the Inquisition were turned over to the secular arm (Nobles and city leaders) for punishment. Out of all those convicted during examination by Gui, 42 were executed. The four sects of Christian heretics Gui wrote about in his Inquisitor’s Guide were the Manicheans, the sect of the Waldensians, the sect of False Apostles, and the Béguin sect. Other groups which were not considered Christian but were cited in Gui’s Inquisitor’s Guide as “treacherous” were Jews, as well as Sorcerers, Fortune-tellers, and those who Summon Demons.
In recompense for his services as Inquisitor he was made Bishop of Tui in Galicia, by Pope John XXII, and a year later Bishop of Lodève.
Bernard Gui died on 30 December 1331 at the castle of Lauroux in the present-day Hérault department, south France.
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