Nothing held him back, and years ago he had had his grave hollowed out in the church of St.Germain, choosing that church for his last long sleep because it had been built by Pope Urban IV when he was bishop of Mende.
Abbe Duchayla extended his visitation over six months, during which every day was marked by tortures and executions: several prophets were burnt at the stake; Francoise de Brez, she who had preached that the Host contained a more venomous poison than a basilisk's head, was hanged; and Laquoite, who had been confined in the citadel of Montpellier, was on the point of being broken on the wheel, when on the eve of his execution his cell was found empty.

No one could ever discover how he escaped, and consequently his reputation rose higher than ever, it being currently believed that, led by the Holy Spirit as St.Peter by the angel, he had passed through the guards invisible to all, leaving his fetters behind.
This incomprehensible escape redoubled the severity of the Arch-priest, till at last the prophets, feeling that their only chance of safety lay in getting rid of him, began to preach against him as Antichrist, and advocate his death.

The abbe was warned of this, but nothing could abate his zeal.

In France as in India, martyrdom was his longed-for goal, and with head erect and unfaltering step he "pressed toward the mark." At last, on the evening of the 24th of July, two hundred conspirators met in a wood on the top of a hill which overlooked the bridge of Montvert, near which was the Arch-priest's residence.

Their leader was a man named Laporte, a native of Alais, who had become a master-blacksmith in the pass of Deze.