The War On Heresy (Ebook)
Faith and Power in Medieval Europe
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A passionate history of the war on heresy which dominated medieval Europe, now available in paperback.
The 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.
The War On Heresy (Paperback)
Faith and Power in Medieval Europe
Buy from
A passionate history of the war on heresy which dominated medieval Europe, now available in paperback.
The 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.
Reviews for The War On Heresy
Tom Holland
Daily Telegraph
History Today
BBC History Magazine
Literary Review
Times Literary Supplement
America
The Historian
Tom Holland Toronto Globe and Mail
The Medieval Review
Church History
Standpoint
René Weis Professor of English, University College London, and author of The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars, 1290-1329
Anders Winroth Professor of History, Yale University, and author of The Conversion of Scandinavia: Vikings, Merchants, and Missionaries in the Remaking of Northern Europe
James Simpson Professor of English, Harvard University, and author of Idolatry and Iconoclasm
R. I. Moore
R. I. Moore is professor emeritus of Medieval History at Newcastle University. His books include The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Western Europe 950-1250 , described by the Guardian as "One of the most influential and controversial books of medieval history of the last twenty years"; and The First European Revolution (2000) reviewed in History as, 'So well researched and argued that even though it asks the reader to accept yet one more period as revolutionary, it is entirely convincing.' He is also the editor of the Blackwell History of the World series.