If there was no persecution of pagans by the church, as claimed by The Da Vinci Code, why did so man?

Answer 1

Under the code of law that existed at the time, being accused of wrong-doing made a person “semi-guilty.” This permitted the use of torture, and torture was applied not only until the people confessed their crimes, but until they described (imaginary) circumstances and accomplices.

The letter of a condemned burgomaster (to his daughter) still survives. He wrote:

Now, dear child, here you have all my confession, for which I must die. And they are sheer lies and made-up things, so help me God. For all this I was forced to say through fear of the torture which was threatened beyond what I had already endured. For they never leave off with the torture till one confesses something; be he never so good, he must be a witch. Nobody escapes, though he were an earl. . . .,

Dear child, keep this letter secret so that people do not find it, else I shall be tortured most piteously and the jailers will be beheaded. So strictly is it forbidden. . . . Dear child, pay this man a dollar . . . . I have taken several days to write this: my hands are both lame. I am in a sad plight. . . .

Good night, for your father Johannes Junius will never see you more. July 24, 1628. (Klaits, 130)

Klaits mentions a witch hunt in the German village of Ellwangen in 1611, in which the torture of one unpopular 70-year-old woman led to the torture and execution of over 400 people. A contemporary observer of the Ellwangen “trials” wrote:

“I do not see where this case will lead and what effect it will have, for this evil has so taken over, and like the plague has affected so many, that if the magistrates continue their office, in a few years the city will be in miserable ruins.” (Klaits, p. 144)

There may have been genuine witches who were prosecuted during this chaotic time, but the relatively abundant historical evidence available to researchers implies that the overwhelming majority of those executed for witchcraft were innocent people caught up in a tragic hysteria.

Answer 2

Because, if you read the Vaticans "papal bulls" about that time, you will find the word Pagan was hardly ever used (as Pagan meant a country dweller/rustic/peasant). It says Heretics... and that meant ANYONE who was accused of going against the church. A neighbor could lie and say that you said something bad about the bishop in that area and they would drag you off and torture you. You were then branded a heretic... of course, that didn't matter, you would never get out of the dungeon in order for others to have a say in whether or not you were a heretic. Witches, Heretics and Devils Oh My... this is what you will find in the old writings of the Church. Even the "Witches Hammer" shows this. So maybe that is what the Da Vinci is trying to show.

And you will find many pagans who claim the church killed millions during the inquisitions... but history itself shows that it was more likely no more than a 100,000 and many of the names listed, were names on the register for local christian churches. So, Da Vinci Code really isn't that far off the mark.

Answer 3

I am not sure what you're question is, but history makes the statement that pagans (termed at that time Heretics and Witches, though not all of those weren't actually Christian, mind you) were not persecuted by the Church a hysterical one. There is so much historical evidence that they were that it's pretty much pointless to say there wasn't. However, one must also note that Christians were persecuted heavily in Pagan Rome as well. They were accused of everything from sacrificing babies to having drunken orgies. Sound familiar?

Answer 4

the mistakes in the Da Vinci code are almost endless

Im sure there were many mistakes in the Salem witch trials and through history, not just in Christian decisions but in all forms of courts