The Great Medieval Heretics: Five Centuries of Religious Dissent

by Michael Frassetto

Overview

Replete with terror, passion, and hope, this gripping narrative history explores the intricate mysteries of medieval Europe through the lives of the great heretics whose beliefs and practices challenged the teachings of an all-powerful church. Five centuries of social and spiritual turmoil are covered through a vivid and telling mix of events, personalities, and ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933346236
Publisher:	BlueBridge
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Michael Frassetto teaches history at the University of Delaware and has written extensively on the history of medieval heresy, religion, and society. He was the religion editor for Encyclopaedia Britannica for a number of years. He lives in Medford, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Map vi

Illustrations viii

Introduction: Heribert's Warning 1

1 Pop Bogomil and Cosmas the Presbyter: The Tenth Century 7

2 Stephen and Lisois: Heretics in the Eleventh Century 22

3 Henry the Monk and the Earlier Twelfth Century 38

4 Valdes of Lyons and the Waldenses 56

5 Raymond VI of Toulouse: The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade 75

6 Pierre Autier: The Last Cathars 102

7 Fra Dolcino and the Apostolict 121

8 Marguerite Porete: Mysticism and the Beguines 135

9 John Wyclif: England and the Lollards 151

10 Jan Hus: Reform and Heresy in Bohemia 175

Conclusion: Five Centuries of Religious Dissent 199

Chronology 203

Notes 210

Bibliography 222

Index 227

Acknowledgements 241

What People are Saying About This

Hans J. Hillerbrand

Frassetto has made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of medieval society and religion . . . Here are utterly fascinating (and complex!) stories. (Hans J. Hillerbrand, author, The Division of Christendom)

Jeffrey Burton Russell

A refreshing new view of medieval religious dissenters and their effect on Christianity as a whole. Michael Frassetto presents a human and very readable account. (Jeffrey Burton Russell, author, A History of Heaven Library Journal)

John R. Sommerfeldt

Frassetto offers a detailed examination of the lives and teachings of learned heresiarchs, pesky troublemakers, and power-filled women mystics. Intellectual, social, and Church historians will all profit from this well-indexed work. (John R. Sommerfeldt, author, Bernard of Clairvaux: On the Life of the Mind)

Editorial Reviews

"'The Great Medieval Heretics is a refreshing new view of medieval religious dissenters and their effect on Christianity as a whole. Michael Frassetto presents a human and very readable account."  —Jeffrey Burton Russell, author, A History of Heaven

"Michael Frassetto clears a path through the thicket of religious dissent to deliver clear-eyed biographical sketches of the holy heresiarchs who gave so much grief to the medieval Church. A non-polemical introduction to a thorny subject."  —Stephen O'Shea, author, The Perfect Heresy

"Frassetto offers a detailed examination of the lives and teachings of learned heresiarchs, pesky troublemakers, and power-filled women mystics. Intellectual, social, and Church historians will all profit from this well-indexed work."  —John R. Sommerfeldt, author, Bernard of Clairvaux: On the Life of the Mind

"'The Great Medieval Heretics is a refreshing new view of medieval religious dissenters and their effect on Christianity as a whole. Michael Frassetto presents a human and very readable account."  —Jeffrey Burton Russell, author, A History of Heaven

From the Publisher

Frassetto admirably demonstrates that many who were declared heretics have much to teach us and some may not have been as far from orthodoxy as originally thought. He argues that those who rejected sacred and secular authority and traditions, though with intent to reform, were threats that the society of the time could not ignore.

Library Journal