Dulcinians!

This is coolbert:

Here is an occurrence of guerrilla warfare only mentioned in passing by the myth man, Joseph Campbell, in his book, "The Masks of GOD: Occidental Mythology".

Described as:

"one of the most amazing episodes of desperate guerrilla warfare in the history of Europe."

Apparently, an anti-clerical, anti-feudal, anti-authority movement having a strong religious basis to it.

This was "The Dulcinian religious movement" [circa 1300 A.D.].

Originally a peaceful movement, descending into violence and destructiveness as a reaction to persecution, primarily from papal authority.

According to Campbell, "yielding many members to the stake".

A peaceful movement that became very violent. A GROUP OF TRUE BELIEVERS! I AM RIGHT - - YOU ARE WRONG- - GET OUT OF MY WAY - - OR ELSE!!!

"Dolcino justified everything committed by the Dulcinians in this period by affirming that they were so perfect they could do anything they wanted without Sin, basing his affirmation on Saint Paul (Epistle to Titus 1,15): To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted."

[Dolcino of course was "pure", as was his paramour [in spirit hopefully, Dolcino being a monk], Margherita di Trank.]

"paramour - - c.1300, noun - - "passionately, with strong love or desire," Originally a term for Christ (by women) or the Virgin Mary (by men)"

A Crusade was actually launched against these "heretics", a Crusade only succeeding after great difficulty, due to the rough terrain of the Italian Piedmont and the fanaticism of the "guerrillas".

The fate of the leaders of this fanatical movement was grim. According to Campbell:

"Segarelli [founding member of the Dulcinians] himself was burned in the Great Papal Jubilee 1300 . . . the leaders of the largest company of his followers - - Dolcino . . . Catteneo, and Margherita di Trank . . . were captured and executed: the woman . . . was roasted slowly before Dolcino's eyes, and he himself was driven about the city of Vercelli in a cart, being gradually torn to bits with battery of red-hot pincers, while his colleague, Cattaneo, was suffering the same piecemeal dismemberment"

"he was tortured with hot instruments, evirated, his fingers, his nose, his ears were amputated, his tongue and his eyes extirpated and when they reached Vercelli he was finally burned at the stake."

"Evirate - - to castrate; To emasculate; to dispossess of manhood."

"ex·tir·pate - - 2. to pull up by or as if by the roots; root up"

[someone must have really had it in for Dolcino.]

Such was the ways things were handled in those days.

coolbert.