Stranger Than Fiction: The Truths Behind the Tale
Burning crosses, an arch-heretic, flesh-eating separatists, and a papal coup
Unholy Empire begins with The Burning of Saint-Gilles, which opens in the year 1126, and the series culminates with Jonathan Harker’s visit to Transylvana in the 1890s. Throughout the series, the fictional story of Dracula will be interwoven with real-life events, including major events like the Black Plague, Great Famine, Inquisition, Friday the 13th Massacre, and Fall of Constantinople. This is an era rife with historical gems, but the genesis of Unholy Empire can be traced all the way back to a single point of origin: Peter the Venerable.
“O ye masters of errors, and blind leaders of the blind, the dregs of heresies, and the relics of schismatics. In your parts, the people are re-baptised, the churches profaned, the altars overthrown, crosses burnt, and flesh eaten on the very day of our Savior’s passion. Priests are whipped, monks are imprisoned and forced by terrors and torments to marry. The heads of which contagion, ye have indeed, by the divine assistance, and by the help of Catholic princes, driven out of your country; but as I have already said, the members yet remain amongst you, infected with this deadly poison, as I myself lately perceived.”
This was written in 1130 by a man named Peter the Venerable (also known as Peter of Cluny), who was the abbot of Cluny Abbey. Although not an actual vampire hunter (as far as I know), Peter caught my attention with these wild accusations. Naturally, I had to follow the thread to see what Peter was talking about. What I found seemed too unbelievable to be real.
Peter’s criticism was aimed at a sect of people, the Petrobrusians, who followed the teachings of a man named Peter of Bruys (a different Peter). This Peter drew the ire of the Church by publicly burning crosses in Saint-Gilles in or around the year 1130. He was called a “heresiarch” or arch-heretic (the leader of a heretical movement) by the Roman Catholic Church because he: “rejected infant baptism, the Mass, church buildings (because every place is equally suitable for prayer), prayers for the dead, the veneration of the Cross (as being the instrument of crucifying Christ afresh), as well as large parts of the Scriptures and the authority of the Church.”
An arch-heretic known for burning crosses—his nemesis a renowned monk who accused him of eating flesh.
It was too good to pass up. Given these two Peters’ enmity toward one another, the accusations of eating flesh, and Peter of Bruys’ penchant for burning crucifixes, it was an easy decision to insert Dracula's story into this real-life drama here... but the scandals didn’t stop there. I dug a little bit further and discovered a coup at the highest levels of the Catholic Church.
Pope Honorius II was pope until his death in February 1130. As he lay dying, a group of six cardinals elected Gregorio Papareschi in a late-night coup, naming him Pope Innocent II. The gates of the palace were sealed and Honorius II was hastily buried without ceremony. The rest of the cardinals refused to accept Innocent II, claiming he hadn’t been canonically elected. They elected their own pope, Anacletus II, and labeled Innocent II as the Antipope, forcing him to flee. For eight years, the Church was divided. The schism only ended when Anacletus II died and opposition against Innocent II lost steam. As history is recorded by the victorious, Anacletus II became known as the Antipope.
Popes Honorius II, Innocent II, and Anacletus II all make appearances in The Burning of Saint-Gilles, alongside Arnaud de Lévézou, the Archbishop of Narbonne. The Knights Templar also play a prominent role in this story, as do two of the Templar’s first Grandmasters: Hugues de Payens and Everard des Barres. The story follows these characters through Medieval France, the Kingdom of Alba (Scotland), the Kingdom of Bohemia (Prague/Praha), the Papal States, and the Holy Roman Empire. Many languages area have even been incorporated into the novel, with in-text translations, to increase the sense of immersion (Romanian, French, Latin, Arabic, Hungarian, and Scots English).
Trinkets for historical treasure-hunters
Direct link to quote by Peter the Venerable. Adam Blair. History of the Waldenses: With an Introductory Sketch of the History of the Christian Churches in the South of France and North of Italy, Till These Churches Submitted to the Pope, when the Waldenses Continued as Formerly Independent of the Papal See, Volume 1. (1832).
The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church: Peter de Bruys
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