History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition

This concise and balanced survey of heresy and inquisition in the Middle Ages examines the dynamic interplay between competing medieval notions of Christian observance, tracing the escalating confrontations between piety, reform, dissent, and Church authority between 1100 and 1500. Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane explores the diverse regional and cultural settings in which key disputes over scripture, sacraments, and spiritual hierarchies erupted, events increasingly shaped by new ecclesiastical ideas and inquisitorial procedures. Incorporating recent research and debates in the field, her analysis brings to life a compelling issue that profoundly influenced the medieval world.

Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane is associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

Introduction: The Contours of Authority in Medieval Christendom Chapter 1: Good Christians, Heresy, and the Apostolic Model Chapter 2: Poverty, Preaching, and the Poor of Lyon Chapter 3: Lawyer Popes, Mendicant Preachers, and New Inquisitorial Procedures Chapter 4: Spiritual Franciscans, the Poverty Controversy, and the Apocalypse Chapter 5: Mysticism, Lay Religious Women, and the Problem of Spiritual Authority Chapter 6: Medieval Magic, Demonology, and Witchcraft Chapter 7: Wyclif, the Word of God, and Inquisition in England Chapter 8: Reform, Revolution, and the Lay Chalice in Bohemia Epilogue