Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe

by Edward Peters (Editor)

Throughout the Middle Ages and early modern Europe theological uniformity was synonymous with social cohesion in societies that regarded themselves as bound together at their most fundamental levels by a religion. To maintain a belief in opposition to the orthodoxy was to set oneself in opposition not merely to church and state but to a whole culture in all of its manifestations. From the eleventh century to the fifteenth, however, dissenting movements appeared with greater frequency, attracted more followers, acquired philosophical as well as theological dimensions, and occupied more and more the time and the minds of religious and civil authorities. In the perception of dissent and in the steps taken to deal with it lies the history of medieval heresy and the force it exerted on religious, social, and political communities long after the Middle Ages.

In this volume, Edward Peters makes available the most compact and wide-ranging collection of source materials in translation on medieval orthodoxy and heterodoxy in social context.

Genres: History, Medieval History, Nonfiction, Religion, Medieval, Catholic

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Do not confuse with Catholic canonist Edward N. Peters.

Reviews

[Stiobhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned this book for a history class in college called "Heresy and the Inquisition". I have kept a lot of the books from that class including this one. I really like this book as a collection of primary source readings on a specific theme. I wish I had more anthologies of this type but I do not see them so often (I have even asked at the library) and when I do they seem way too expensive. But if you want to learn history from the people who experienced it, this is the way to do it. Of course if you need analysis and context you need another book to read along side it... or class lectures or a discussion group or something... Edward Peters is definitely an historian worth following though.

[Tero Nauha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well edited collection of text concerning crusade on heresy.

[Mary Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great source book if you're interested in Medieval history, and especially the pre-protestant religious beliefs. It's mostly primary sources, but the little introduction at the beginning of each chapter are great for contextualization and are pretty easy to understand. Would definitely recommend.

[hay man · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is just a book of source material for heretical crap so i'm gonna give it five stars. please note that this does not mean that a bunch of crap written by / about waldensians or whoever is my favorite reading ever

[Elizabeth Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sure is a book of translated source documents relating to medieval heresies. If you're in the market for something like that, this is your book.

[Finian Chesser]

I read this for school, so I don't feel I can give an accurate review/rating. Though it was interesting.