Leutard of Vertus

Leutard of Vertus (died c. 1000) was a French peasant who was denounced as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. He is recorded in an account by the chronicler Rodulfus Glaber who states Leutard's beliefs began after dreaming his body had been invaded by bees. Leutard went on to deface a crucifix and speak out against church tithes. He was summoned by the Bishop of Châlons who spoke against Leutard's interpretation of scripture and persuaded his followers to return to the church's teachings. Leutard is afterwards said to have committed suicide by throwing himself down a well.

Preaching Leutard was a peasant who lived in Vertus, north-eastern France. He is recorded in an account by the Benedictine chronicler Rodulfus Glaber. According to Rodulfus "about the end of the year 1000" Leutard dreamt that his body was invaded by bees as he slept in a field. The bees entered Leutard's genitals, exited via his mouth and stung him all over. Leutard then claimed that the bees spoke to him; Rodulfus records that the bees ordered Leutard "to do things impossible for humankind".

Leutard interpreted the event as a mandate from God to preach the gospel. He soon after entered his parish church and defaced a crucifix, justifying the act to locals as being in accordance with a revelation from God. He left his wife after interpreting a passage of the Bible as permitting divorce without ecclesiastical approval.

Rodulfus (d.1047), writing in the years after the incident, describes Leutard as "an envoy of Satan".

Modern assessment R. I. Moore, Professor of History at Newcastle University, considers that Leutard may have been characterised as mentally ill by the church authorities to dissuade any popular support for tithe reform. Fichtenau considers Leutard's destruction of the crucifix as evidence for a possible belief in the rejection of the image of Christ's torture as a central element of worship. This belief was associated with Bogomilism and the Leutard incident may demonstrate a spread of these beliefs from the Balkans to France. Geoffrey Koziol, Professor of History at University of California, Berkeley considers Leutard's actions indicate a belief in the rejection of the church as the official interpreter of the word of God and in its role in granting and annulling marriages.

American historian Brian Stock suggests Leutard's preachings might have been anti-feudal in stance or an early form of Catharism; the latter interpretation also being put forward by Henry Charles Lea in the 19th century. Stock considers that the bees in the story might be symbolic as a representation of chastity, of diabolical thought entering the body or a portent of Leutard's appeal to the masses.

Though not considered such at the time, American historian Richard Landes wrote that Leutard was something of a messianic figure, connected with millenarianism. Landes suggests that Rodulfus modelled Leutard's story on that of the "false Christ" described by Gregory of Tours, a labourer driven mad by flies. Landes considers the bees represent the traumatic experience common among messiah figures.