In 1184 the first Episcopal Inquisition was established by
Papal bull, for the purpose of doing away with the Cathars of southern France. Somewhat
aligned with the Order of Hermes, as the conflict grew into the Albigensian Crusade, the Magi of the Order found themselves directly in conflict with the
Catholic church. The treaty of Paris (1229) and the burning of 200 Cathars at Montsegur
(1244), marked the collapse of the Cathar heresy, the forces of the inquisition
turned their attention to the eradication of hidden sorcery and the Order of Hermes from Europe.As the secret war between church and sorcery spread, the covenants of the Order and its allies were one by one isolated and destroyed. The Baltic crusades (1198-1290) extended the Dominion far to the east, and the eradication of the Templars (1307-1313) shattered the last alliance with the mundane world. The plagues of 1347-1351 gave the Inquisition the tools to scapegoat the last great covenants, and the triumph of the Dominion over faerie with the union of Lithuania and Poland, led to the withdrawal of the Last of the Fay, and the sealing of the gates to the otherworld.
The spread of the early Renaissance and the fall of Constantinople to the Turks (1454) gave the last few winter Covenants some respite from the fury of the Inquisition, but the inexorable penetration of the Dominion to every community, hidden valley, forest and cave sealed the fate of the Order and the practice of organised magic in Europe.Finally as the crisis of the reformation (1517) developed into the Wars of Religion (1524 – 1651), the common man turned against anyone exhibiting magical talents, no matter how minor. The hysteria of the witch trials (1580 – 1630) led to the execution of 10’s of thousands of innocents alongside petty practitioners and the last aged harmless Magi of the Order of Hermes.
Disputes continue as to precisely which was the last Covenant to be destroyed by the witchfinders, and plausible contenders have had their names erased from history. Whereas documents and legends have survived from the great Covenants of history, passed down to us through the free societies, the stories of these faded remnants of Hermetic history are lost to us.
