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This article examines the relationship of dissidence to occupation, residence, and socioeconom­ic conditions in the inquisition register of Bologna (1291-1310). It investigates whether the oc­cupational composition of heresy suspects reflected broader patterns in Bologna’s urban social fabric and whether wealth profiles of parishes and occupational groups shaped involvement in dissidence. Comparing the proportions of the occupational groups and parishes among suspects of heresy to their proportions in the general population (using the 1296-7 estimo, or tax decla­ration, as a proxy), the study challenges prevailing scholarly assumptions. Contrary to earlier interpretations highlighting textile and leatherworkers as especially prone to dissidence in Bo­logna around 1300, the analysis reveals no significant overrepresentation of these occupational groups among heresy suspects. Instead, the findings point to the role of professional zoning and neighborhood dynamics in shaping patterns of religious dissent, suggesting that heresy spread through communal ties rather than being tied to specific economic classes or professions.

Around the year 1215, female mystics and their sacramental devotion were among orthodoxy's most sophisticated weapons in the fight against heresy. Holy women's claims to be in direct communication with God placed them in positions of unprecedented influence. Yet by the end of the Middle Ages female mystics were frequently mistrusted, derided, and in danger of their lives. The witch hunts were just around the corner. While studies of sanctity and heresy tend to be undertaken separately,Proving Womanbrings these two avenues of inquiry together by associating the downward trajectory of holy women with medieval society's progressive reliance on the inquisitional procedure. Inquisition was soon used for resolving most questions of proof. It was employed for distinguishing saints and heretics; it underwrote the new emphasis on confession in both sacramental and judicial spheres; and it heralded the reintroduction of torture as a mechanism for extracting proof through confession. As women were progressively subjected to this screening, they became ensnared in the interlocking web of proofs. No aspect of female spirituality remained untouched. Since inquisition determined the need for tangible proofs, it even may have fostered the kind of excruciating illnesses and extraordinary bodily changes associated with female spirituality. In turn, the physical suffering of holy women became tacit support for all kinds of earthly suffering, even validating temporal mechanisms of justice in their most aggressive forms. The widespread adoption of inquisitional mechanisms for assessing female spirituality eventuated in a growing confusion between the saintly and heretical and the ultimate criminalization of female religious expression.

The starting point of this article is the conception of Bernard Hamilton from 1974 assuming that the Bogomil Church of Drugunthia was formed under Paulician influence. Its radically dualistic doctrine was later accepted by some Cathars described in the sources as belonging to the Drugunthian order (ordo Drugonthiae). The article attempts to verify this concept through doctrinal analysis, and to answer the question whether distinctive features of the Paulician doctrine can be found in the teachings of the Cathars of the Drugunthian order. Analysis of sources of various provenance-polemical, inquisitorial and Cathar (the so called \"Manichaean Treatise\")-show clearly that traces of specific Paulician \"time-focused dualism\" can be found in Cathar teachings, which confirms Hamilton's conception and is an important argument for the Eastern origins of Catharism.

El presente artículo propone una revisión de la identificación del senhal “Bells Arquiers de Laurac” con Blanca de Laurac, citada en la canso-sirventes Mos cors s’alegr’e s’esjau del trovador tolosano Peire Vidal (BdT 364,27, v. 15). En la primera parte se plantean algunas cuestiones formales acerca del senhal trovadoresco y se presenta una relación de las atribuciones de senhals particulares a figuras femeninas históricas. Posteriormente, se ofrece una relación toponímica de BdT 364,27 y se revisa la historiografía de la casa de Laurac con el objetivo de situar a Blanca en un contexto más amplio.

Cette contribution souhaite fournir à la redécouverte de la Chanson de la Croisade albigeoise, telle qu’analysée par Philippe Martel, le cadre historiographique dans lequel elle s’inscrit. «  Siècle de l’histoire », le xixe, fondateur pour la discipline qui s’érige en science autonome, passe aussi pour être un grand siècle pour les cathares, devenus objet d’histoire, avec de nombreuses monographies et éditions de sources. Mais, effet pervers de cet engouement qui a gagné un grand public féru de Moyen Âge, le siècle est aussi celui du mythe, de la fabrique du légendaire et de l’instrumentalisation de la Croisade albigeoise à des fins tant politiques et nationalistes que culturelles et religieuses, jusqu’à intéresser l’occultisme.

The world's three great monotheistic religions have spent most of their historical careers in conflict or competition with each other. And yet in fact they sprung from the same spiritual roots and have been nurtured in the same historical soil. This book--an extraordinarily comprehensive and approachable comparative introduction to these religions--seeks not so much to demonstrate the truth of this thesis as toillustrateit. Frank Peters, one of the world's foremost experts on the monotheistic faiths, takes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and after briefly tracing the roots of each, places them side by side to show both their similarities and their differences. Volume I,The Peoples of God, tells the story of the foundation and formation of the three monotheistic communities, of their visible, historical presence. Volume II,The Words and Will of God, is devoted to their inner life, the spirit that animates and regulates them. Peters takes us to where these religions live: their scriptures, laws, institutions, and intentions; how each seeks to worship God and achieve salvation; and how they deal with their own (orthodox and heterodox) and with others (the goyim, the pagans, the infidels). Throughout, he measures--but never judges--one religion against the other. The prose is supple, the method rigorous. This is a remarkably cohesive, informative, and accessible narrative reflecting a lifetime of study by a single recognized authority in all three fields. The Monotheistsis a magisterial comparison, for students and general readers as well as scholars, of the parties to one of the most troubling issues of today--the fierce, sometimes productive and often destructive, competition among the world's monotheists, the siblings called Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

This book reflects on Western humanity's efforts to escape from history and its terrors--from the existential condition and natural disasters to the endless succession of wars and other man-made catastrophes. Drawing on historical episodes ranging from antiquity to the recent past, and combining them with literary examples and personal reflections, Teofilo Ruiz explores the embrace of religious experiences, the pursuit of worldly success and pleasures, and the quest for beauty and knowledge as three primary responses to the individual and collective nightmares of history. The result is a profound meditation on how men and women in Western society sought (and still seek) to make meaning of the world and its disturbing history. In chapters that range widely across Western history and culture,The Terror of Historytakes up religion, the material world, and the world of art and knowledge. \"Religion and the World to Come\" examines orthodox and heterodox forms of spirituality, apocalyptic movements, mysticism, supernatural beliefs, and many forms of esotericism, including magic, alchemy, astrology, and witchcraft. \"The World of Matter and the Senses\" considers material riches, festivals and carnivals, sports, sex, and utopian communities. Finally, \"The Lure of Beauty and Knowledge\" looks at cultural productions of all sorts, from art to scholarship. Combining astonishing historical breadth with a personal and accessible narrative style,The Terror of Historyis a moving testimony to the incredibly diverse ways humans have sought to cope with their frightening history.

A Tale of Two Monasteriestakes an unprecedented look at one of the great rivalries of the Middle Ages and offers it as a revealing lens through which to view the intertwined histories of medieval England and France. This is the first book to systematically compare Westminster Abbey and the abbey of Saint-Denis--two of the most important ecclesiastical institutions of the thirteenth century--and to do so through the lives and competing careers of the two men who ruled them, Richard de Ware of Westminster and Mathieu de Vendôme of Saint-Denis. Esteemed historian William Jordan weaves a breathtaking narrative of the social, cultural, and political history of the period. It was an age of rebellion and crusades, of artistic and architectural innovation, of unprecedented political reform, and of frustrating international diplomacy--and Richard and Mathieu, in one way or another, played important roles in all these developments. Jordan traces their rise from obscure backgrounds to the highest ranks of political authority, Abbot Richard becoming royal treasurer of England, and Abbot Mathieu twice serving as a regent of France during the crusades. By enabling us to understand the complex relationships the abbots and their rival institutions shared with each other and with the kings and social networks that supported and exploited them,A Tale of Two Monasteriespaints a vivid portrait of medieval society and politics, and of the ambitious men who influenced them so profoundly.

C. G. Jung, son of a Swiss Reformed pastor, used his Christian background throughout his career to illuminate the psychological roots of all religions. Jung believed religion was a profound, psychological response to the unknown--both the inner self and the outer worlds--and he understood Christianity to be a profound meditation on the meaning of the life of Jesus of Nazareth within the context of Hebrew spirituality and the Biblical worldview. Murray Stein's introduction relates Jung's personal relationship with Christianity to his psychological views on religion in general, his hermeneutic of religious thought, and his therapeutic attitude toward Christianity. This volume includes extensive selections from Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity,\" \"Christ as a Symbol of the Self,\" from Aion, \"Answer to Job,\" letters to Father Vincent White from Letters, and many more. Murray Stein, Ph.D., is the author of Jung's Treatment of Christianity, Practicing Wholeness, Transformation--Emergence of the Self, and Jung's Map of the Soul. He is an international lecturer and teacher, and currently vice president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. He is also a training analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago.

Most anyone interested in such topics as creation mythology, Jungian theory, or the idea of \"secret teachings\" in ancient Judaism and Christianity has found \"gnosticism\" compelling. Yet the term \"gnosticism,\" which often connotes a single rebellious movement against the prevailing religions of late antiquity, gives the false impression of a monolithic religious phenomenon. Here Michael Williams challenges the validity of the widely invoked category of ancient \"gnosticism\" and the ways it has been described. Presenting such famous writings and movements as theApocryphon of Johnand Valentinian Christianity, Williams uncovers the similarities and differences among some major traditions widely categorized as gnostic. He provides an eloquent, systematic argument for a more accurate way to discuss these interpretive approaches. The modern construct \"gnosticism\" is not justified by any ancient self-definition, and many of the most commonly cited religious features that supposedly define gnosticism phenomenologically turn out to be questionable. Exploring the sample sets of \"gnostic\" teachings, Williams refutes generalizations concerning asceticism and libertinism, attitudes toward the body and the created world, and alleged features of protest, parasitism, and elitism. He sketches a fresh model for understanding ancient innovations on more \"mainstream\" Judaism and Christianity, a model that is informed by modern research on dynamics in new religious movements and is freed from the false stereotypes from which the category \"gnosticism\" has been constructed.