Stephen of Narbonne, St.

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STEPHEN OF NARBONNE, ST.

Inquisitor (known also as Stephen of Saint-Thibery);d. Avignonet, France, May 29, 1242. Stephen, a Franciscan, had been appointed an inquisitor by Gregory IX in 1237 (see inquisition). In May 1242 he was sent to Avignonet with the vigorous Dominican inquisitor, wil liam arnaud, apparently to moderate Arnaud's decisions. The village of Avignonet, located in the lands of Count Raymond VII of Toulouse, was a center of the ca thari. While there, the inquisitors stayed at the house of Count Raymond, whose agent, Raymond of Alfar, rounded up local accomplices and massacred the whole inquisitorial court during the night of May 28, 1242. Stephen's remains were buried in the Franciscan church at Toulouse. His cult was confirmed by Pius IX in 1866.

Feast: May 29.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 7:177179. j. guiraud, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 5:115462.

[j. a. corbett]

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