Many of the Followers of Berengarius, Called Berengarians, in the Year 1100

It is stated that after the death of Berengarius, his doctrine (spoken of above) about baptism and the Supper, against the belief of the Roman church, won much favor among his followers, who were called Berengarians; so that England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and even part of the Netherlands became filled with it. A certain writer says: "They did not adhere to Berengarius as to a reed which is swayed by the wind; and their faith did not rest on men, however pious or godly these may have been, but upon the pure Word of God, which abides forever."

So Pope Urban the Second, in the year 1095, as if compelled, called a great council against them in the city of Piacenza, in Italy. Many bishops came from Italy, Burgundy, France, Germany, Bavaria, and other countries, so that no church could hold all the people, and they had to meet outside the city, in an open field.

Bertoleus Constantiensis says that in this council a canon or rule was established, by which the views of Berengarius, which were called a heresy, were again, as had repeatedly been done before, anathematized or cursed, while the views of the Roman church were confirmed as a precious matter. Compare Bertho. Constant., in Chron., in the year 1095. Baron. Annal., volume 11, with A. Mell., folio 395, columns 2 and 3.