[books 2013] The War on Heresy
Aug. 23rd, 2013 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inulro49. The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe by RI Moore
Or, why everything that's been written about heresy in the high middle ages for the last century is Not Quite Right as a result of too much taking the sources at face value without questioning ulterior motives.
A really good examination of how secular and church institutions were taking a lot more control of people's lives in the 11th and 12th centuries, the insecurities and anxieties these created in the institutions and the people, and how this led to accusations of heresy.
I wasn't sure I was going to agree with this, so I got it from the library, but a couple of chapters in it was clear that this book is spot on, so I bought my own copy. I have made notes but will want to re-read and refer to bits of it.
When I was a medievalist I did some work on the Cathar heresy, and I've spent a fair amount of time in its supposed heartland, the Languedoc. I liked the idea of heresy because I liked the idea of there being an alternative to what is often presented (wrongly) at undergrad level as a monolithic "medieval mindset". At the same time, a lot of it struck me as so obviously the precursor of the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries (a period when the Church, Catholic or Protestant, was sticking its nose even more firmly in everyone's business, but there's a whole essay in that) and very dubious in that the Church seemed to need heresy to promote itself and create an enemy.
Keeping people scared and compliant - the Powers That Be have been doing it for a very, very long time.
This book was a somewhat harder going than I expected (they sell it in Waterstones, I was expecting more popular history than academic history and I was wrong), but entirely worth it. The author has written a few books on the development of medieval society and I definitely want to read them now.
Or, why everything that's been written about heresy in the high middle ages for the last century is Not Quite Right as a result of too much taking the sources at face value without questioning ulterior motives.
A really good examination of how secular and church institutions were taking a lot more control of people's lives in the 11th and 12th centuries, the insecurities and anxieties these created in the institutions and the people, and how this led to accusations of heresy.
I wasn't sure I was going to agree with this, so I got it from the library, but a couple of chapters in it was clear that this book is spot on, so I bought my own copy. I have made notes but will want to re-read and refer to bits of it.
When I was a medievalist I did some work on the Cathar heresy, and I've spent a fair amount of time in its supposed heartland, the Languedoc. I liked the idea of heresy because I liked the idea of there being an alternative to what is often presented (wrongly) at undergrad level as a monolithic "medieval mindset". At the same time, a lot of it struck me as so obviously the precursor of the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries (a period when the Church, Catholic or Protestant, was sticking its nose even more firmly in everyone's business, but there's a whole essay in that) and very dubious in that the Church seemed to need heresy to promote itself and create an enemy.
Keeping people scared and compliant - the Powers That Be have been doing it for a very, very long time.
This book was a somewhat harder going than I expected (they sell it in Waterstones, I was expecting more popular history than academic history and I was wrong), but entirely worth it. The author has written a few books on the development of medieval society and I definitely want to read them now.
