CORRADO of MARBURGO. — A celebrated inquisitor, born in Marburgo (Assia), and a member of the secular clergy of the diocese of Magonza. Called magister by his contemporaries, he distinguished himself through his erudition, disinterestedness, and rigid conduct toward himself and others alike. In 1215 he fervently preached the Crusade in northern Germany and, on his own initiative, launched a campaign against the heretics. From Gregory IX he received, on 12 June 1227, the authority to gather companions and seek out heretics and then, in 1231, also the authority to judge them, an authority until then reserved to the bishops.
Unfortunately, C. and his companions, among whom was the Dominican Brother Dorso, in their excessive zeal ex-
ceeded their competence, sending numerous victims themselves to the stake. Attacked by several knights, C. and his companion Gerardo di Lützclöckl O.F.M. were killed on 30 July 1332 near Marburgo. Gregory IX, informed by C.’s party, defended his memory and demanded the punishment of the assassins.
Esteemed for his piety by the landgrave of Turingia, C. had been entrusted by him with the distribution of certain ecclesiastical benefices, an office confirmed for him by Gregory IX on 12 June 1227. C. heard the confession of and directed St. Elisabetta d’Ungheria during the last five years of her life and, after the death of his penitent, promoted her canonization.
By virtue of erroneous chronicle reports, C. was falsely counted at times among the Dominicans and at times among the Franciscans; for example, in the Martirologio domenicano (1604, p. 89) and in the Martirologio Francescano of Arturo da Münster (ed. I. Beschin-G. Palazzolo, Roma 1939, p. 426), he is listed under 3 November 1257. Today his affiliation with any Order is not accepted.