Synod of Verona

November 4, 1184

Pope Lucius III and Barbarossa met at Verona and issued the bull Ad abolendam, defining heresy and instructing bishops to search out Cathars, Waldensians, and Humiliati in their dioceses. It is usually cited as the first step toward the institutional inquisition of the next century. The bull required bishops to visit suspected heretical communities twice a year and hand convicted heretics over to the secular arm for punishment.