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IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 1711: At the Chalk Face: Confronting Popular Heresy in Practice

Thursday 9 July 2015, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Medieval Heresy & Dissent Research Network, University of Nottingham / Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University, Brno
Organiser:Claire Taylor, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Moderator/Chair:Claire Taylor, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Paper 1711-aFrom Armenia to Bulgaria?: The Transmission of Heterodoxy in Peter of Sicily's History of the Paulicians
(Language: English)
Carl Dixon, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Language and Literature - Greek, Politics and Diplomacy, Religious Life
Paper 1711-bThe Cistercians and Violence: The Cistercian Approaches to the Violent Persecution of Heretics, 1145-1209
(Language: English)
Stamatia Noutsou, Department for the Study of Religions, Masarykova univerzita, Brno
Index terms: Canon Law, Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 1711-cWilliam Raffard: A Converted Cathar Perfect and His Community
(Language: English)
Harry Barmby, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Index terms: Genealogy and Prosopography, Lay Piety, Religious Life, Social History
Abstract

This session brings together work on the confrontation of popular heresy by secular and monastic authorities who encountered real-world examples. Peter of Sicily's 9th-century tract concerning Paulicians is examined for its dating in the context of his diplomatic activity involving the sect. Cistercian discourses on the use of violence against religious dissidents are explored as changing phenomena, and as the work of monks involved in anti-heretical missions. The deposition of the converted perfectus William Raffard is discussed for the insights it gave 13th-century inquisitors into specific familial and social networks. Together, the papers address medieval approaches to religious dissent as they emerged in practical contexts.