Detection and Eradication of Heresy
In 1258 inquisitors were on the hunt
trying to detect heresy. The question was raised of weather their charge
included sorcery or magic. The elaboration of the concept of what heresy
includes left the inquisitors puzzled of what to do next. Pope Alexander IV
addressed this problem in a letter. Yet later Pope Boniface VIII reissues the
problem under his own name in 1298.
Throughout the readings heresy is about
members of the Church going against the priest and the Catholic Church.
Heretics would use divination or sorcery to go against the beliefs of the rest
of the Church.
I find heresy interesting because in the
beginning of the use of magic for healing was not frowned upon but once the
magic got darker, then the Church had to get involved. Another point is that
many believe that “white magic” was the same as prayer. I can understand where
the inquisitors were coming from and believing that the members were rebelling and
going against the Church.
Do
you think that heresy was a large problem that led to the witch-hunts to
escalate? Or in that time period they were overly superstitious?
An interesting topic and a rather difficult question to ponder. On the one hand, heresy seems to be simply a different belief system than that of the Catholic church, which was deemed devious to the rest of the societal norm. On the other hand, many accounts of these heretic groups seem quite gruesome. However, this could very well be due to spies and inquisitors purposefully trying to make heretic groups seem gruesome by lying so that they can have the "okay" to persecute them. It's all very possible. It's a shame we don't have Hermione's time-turner or the Doctor's Tardis to go back in time and experience everything ourselves.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, it definitely got me thinking more about heresy. It is hard to say what made the witch-hunts escalate, the fear the villagers had which made the inquisitors to be more harsh. Or was it the rebellious people of this time going against the Church. It is hard to say what exactly led to the witch-hunts but I do believe both heresy and "superstitions" contributed to it.
I honestly don't think that the people of the time period were any more superstitious than previously. The main change was that magic moved from being a more acceptable part of life as it had been previously to becoming associated with darker portions of Christian ideology. Before that i'm not sure that the church cared as much about the magical ramblings of common people.
ReplyDeleteI personally would say that heresy was a pretty big step in the direction of the witch-hunts. They bear a large number of characteristics when being described or depicted by the church. One image that stands out to me was the image shown in Friday's class of Waldensians riding around on brooms. It was almost a spitting image of a stereotypical witch.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Zach. Especially since as you mentioned white magic was not only accepted but even used within the church. It seems to me that not until the rise in heresy did the church have to attack witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteNice entries everyone. I think the word I used in class on Friday--"judicial machinery" is helpful here. The investigation into heresy provides some judicial framework for later investigations during the time of the witch-hunts. Ian you raise a good point too! When thinking about Eden's comments, consider how the papacy begins to use the terminology of magic in the late medieval sources. Many though these primary sources begin to show an interchange of terms so that heresy becomes demarcated as magic, although of course it wasn't even a major interest of Bernard Gui or Jacques Fournier.
ReplyDelete