Heresy: threat or fiction?
Seminar and Essay Questions
- To what extent did medieval heresy pose a threat to the Church?
- What actions did the Church take to combat heresy?
- Did the impetus to persecute heretics come mainly from the authorities or from the local communities?
If you are interested in the Albigensian crusade, you could also consider the following essay questions:
What were the reasons behind the wide appeal of the Albigensian crusade?
Is it justified to view the Albigensian crusade as part of the overall Capetian expansion?
Did the Albigensian crusade manage to eradicate heresy in southern France?
Documents
- The Conversion of Peter Waldo and The Testament of St Francis
- Bernard Gui on the Cathars and Bernard Gui on inquisitorial procedure
- Arnaud Cogul de Lordat and Agnes Francou
- For other documents on the inquisition: see Inquisition Records of Jacques Fournier
Essential Reading
Barber, The Two CitiesLink opens in a new window, 131 - 184 [Sections on the friars and 'Popular Religion and Heresy'].
Bernard Hamilton, 'The Albigensian Crusade and Heresy' in The New Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 5, pp. 164 - 181.
R.I. Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society (2007), pp. 1 - 25; 94-143.
McGuire, B, Monastic and Religious Orders (c.1100-c.1350) in The Cambridge History of Christianity. Volume 4 Christianity in Western Europe, c.1100–c.1500. eds. Miri Rubin, Walter Simons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) pp. 54-72
Book Reviews
Mark Pegg's Review of Claire Taylor, Heresy in Medieval France: Dualism in Aquitaine and the Agenais, 1000-1249 and Claire Taylor, Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Medieval Quercy. Heresy and the Inquisition in the
Middle Ages.
Peter Biller's Review of R.I. Moore's The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe
(scroll down for R. I. Moore's response)
Claire Taylor's Review of R.I. Moore's The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe (pp.628-688)
Further Reading
John H. Arnold, 'Heresy and Gender in the Middle Ages', The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe, J.M. Bennet and R.M.Karras (eds) (Oxford University Press, 2012),
John H. Arnold, Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe (2005)
R.I. Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society (2007).
R.I. Moore, The War on Heresy (2012)
Peter Biller, 'Through a Glass Darkly: Seeing Medieval Heresy', in Peter Linehan and Janet Nelson (eds.), The Medieval World (London, 2001), pp. 308-326.
Peter Biller, The Waldenses, 1170–1530 (2001).
M.D. Lambert, The Cathars (1998).
B. Hamilton, The Medieval Inquisition (1981).
Mark Pegg, The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245–1246 (2001).
Claire Taylor, Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Medieval Quercy (2013)
