The War On Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval EuropeThe war on heresy obsessed medieval Europe in the centuries after the first millennium. R. I. Moore's vivid narrative focuses on the motives and anxieties of those who declared and conducted the war: what were the beliefs and practices they saw as heretical? How might such beliefs have arisen? And why were they such a threat? In western Europe at AD 1000 heresy had barely been heard of. Yet within a few generations accusations had become commonplace and institutions were being set up to identify and suppress beliefs and practices seen as departures from true religion. Popular accounts of events, most notably of the Albigensian Crusade led by Europe against itself, have assumed the threats posed by the heretical movements were only too real. Some scholars by contrast have tried to show that reports of heresy were exaggerated or even fabricated: but if they are correct why was the war on heresy launched at all? And why was it conducted with such pitiless ferocity? To find the answers to these and other questions R. I. Moore returns to the evidence of the time. His investigation forms the basis for an account as profound as it is startlingly original. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - AndreasJ - LibraryThingAccording to the traditional account, the Cathars were a dualist sect of Balkan origin (and possibly ultimately derived from the Manichees) which arrived in western Europe during the eleventh or ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Caomhghin - LibraryThingA perverse enjoyment from history as you grow older is that what was mainstream when you started reading history has been proven wrong, contradicted or altered out of recognition. Now this has ... Read full review
Contents
List of Maps | |
List of Illustrations | |
Preface | |
Death and a maiden | |
Cry Havoc | |
The avenging flames | |
The gift of the holy spirit | |
The apostolic life | |
The Dogs of | |
Exposed to contumely and persecution 11 Sounding the alarm | |
Drawing the lines | |
Speaking of principles | |
The enemy at the gate | |
To war and arms | |
Politics by other means | |
The sleep of reason | |
Monks miracles and Manichees | |
The simoniac heresy | |
Routing out these detestable plagues | |
Sowers of the word | |
Sheep in the midst of wolves | |
Making enemies | |
The vineyard of the lord | |
A winter journey | |
The war among the scholars | |
Chronology | |
Further Reading | |