some the latter. Many of these took refuge secretly at Mainz. They were discovered, and the archbishop, John II., holding them to be heretics, ordered them to be prosecuted. The matter was intrusted to Master Henry von Stein, who set vigorously about it. The refugees from Strassburg, mostly women, were thrown into prison; we also hear of a nun who was likewise incarcerated, and of a youth from Rotenburg, who was mounted on a hogshead in the public square, and in the presence of the populace was obliged to accept the penance of crosses, in an auto de fé much less impressive than those which Bernard Gui was wont to cele- brate.[1] It was not long before this that the Brethren of the Free Spirit were deprived of their greatest leader, Nicholas of Basle. As a wandering missionary he had for many years been engaged in
propagating the doctrines of the sect, and had gained many pros-
- ↑ Chron. Cornel. Zantfliet ann. 1400 (Martene Amplis. Coll. V. 358).—Haupt, Zeitschrift für K. G. 1885, pp. 513-15.-Chron. Glassberger ann. 1410 (Analecta Franciscana II. 233-5).-Martini Append. ad Mosheim p. 559. Mosheim p. 455. —Serrarii Lib. v. (Scriptt. Rer. Mogunt. I. 724).In 1399 an outbreak very similar to that of the Flagellants took place in Italy, stimulated by a pestilence which was ravaging the land. The pilgrims were known as Bianchi, from the white linen vestments which they wore, and they first brought to popular notice the "Stabat Mater," which was their favorite hymn. The only reference to flagellation, however, is that in Genoa they were joined by the old fraternities of the Verberati or guilds, founded in 1306, which publicly used the scourge. The Archbishop of Genoa and many of the Lombard bishops lent the movement their countenance; universal peace was proclaimed, enemies forgave each other, and even the strife of Guelf and Ghibelline for a moment was forgotten. When we are told that twenty-five thousand Modenese made the pilgrimage to Bologna, we can readily understand why suspicious rulers, such as Galeazzo Visconti and the Signory of Venice, forbade the entry of their states to such armies. Boniface IX. probably felt the same alarm when the movement reached Rome, and the whole population, including some of the cardinals, put on white garments and marched in procession through the neighboring towns. He caused one of the leaders to be seized at Aquapendente; the free use of torture brought a confession that the whole affair was a fraud, and the poor wretch was burned, when the movement collapsed.—Georgii Stella Annal. Genuens. ann. 1399 (Muratori, S. R. I. XVII. 1170).—Matthæi de Griffonibus Memor. Historial. ann. 1399 (Ib. XVIII. 207).-Cronica di Bologna ann. 1399 (Ib. XVIII. 565).—Annal. Estens. ann. 1398 (Ib. XVIII. 956-8).-Conrad Urspurgens. Chron. Contin. ann. 1399.—Theod. a Niem de Schismate, Lib. II. c. 26.
