Ramihrdus of Cambrai, a known priest who had been practicing his own sects of religion, was accused of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

in 1076 or 1077 for being unwilling to accept communion from priests, including the bishop, after being summoned to court because he believed that the priesthood was corrupt. Although his refusal to accept the sacrament bears some resemblance to the

Donatist Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...

heresy, which states that sacraments performed by corrupt priests are actually invalid, it was not clear at the time whether Ramihrdus should actually be condemned or not, since his refusal could also be interpreted in the context of

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

's contemporary attempt to

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

the church, which included several initiatives directed towards the reform of the clergy. However, an

angry mob Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majorit ...

(unclear whether or not it was, in fact, priest, the locals of Cambrai, or even both) seized Ramihrdus from where he was being kept in a hut, after the clergy had been deliberating his circumstances of accusations against the corrupt priests, and burned him as a heretic. It is possible, therefore, to consider him the first person burned as a heretic, and to have died as a martyr, in Europe.

References

* {{christian-bio-stub Year of birth unknown 1076 deaths Persecution of Christian heretics