2. Definition
Heresies: “Theological or religious
opinion or doctrine maintained in
opposition, or held to be contrary, to
the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of
the Christian Church, or, by extension,
to that of any church, creed, or religious
system, considered as orthodox” -OED
3. Perspectives on Heresy
“Kill them all. God will know his own”
-Arnaud Amaury, 1209 (slightly altered
version, p. 153)
“They jeopardize the very order of the
civilized world” -Abbot p. 151
5. Catharists
Believed the world had strict divide between
good and evil
Built a church that distinguished between “the
perfect” and “simple people”
Built a hierarchy that wasn’t against power
holders
They rejected hell and denied matrimony
Two groups: Moderate and Radical Dualists
6. Catharists
“What sensible man measures another by
his parentage? Certainly not the
philosophers of the gentiles”
- Lambert le Bègue, an heir of catharism
while imprisoned
8. Waldensians
Started by Valdès, a wealthy merchant of
Lyons in 1173. The precursor to St. Francis.
Inspired by the Biblical quote: “Go, sell all your
possessions, give the proceeds to the poor,
and you will have riches in heaven” - Matt.19:21
Declared heretics after they continued to
preach without permission of the local clergy
Descendants of this group still exist today
10. Bogomils
Arose in Bulgaria in the 10th century
Opposed materialism, believe it was derived
from the devil
Against basically everything the Church
preached (Incarnation, Baptism, Eucharist,
eating of meat, drinking of wine, marriage)
11. Fraticelli
Or as we’ve been referring to them... Spiritual
Franciscans
“They’re stained with unmentionable crimes,
they do not recognize matrimony, they deny
hell, they commit sodomy, they embrace the
Bogomil heresy” -p. 150
12. Patarine
Group of peasants and workmen in Milan
around 1058
Opposed simony (paying for holy offices) and
clerical marriage
Idealized poverty
Named after the word “pate” meaning rags,
name was reappropriated by Cathari to mean
“suffering” after “pati”
14. Apostolici
Meaning Pseudo-Apostle, it was founded by
Gerard Segarelli in 1260
Came under the leadership of Fra Dolcino in
the 1300s, where the sect became openly
heterodox (not conforming with orthodox
views) and anticlerical (believed in God alone)
Believed in absolute poverty but plundered to
survive
Highly persecuted by the Church
15. Heresy and Semiotics
Heretics were frequently identified by certain
“signs”
Dress - Spiritualists were known (and
burned) for their skimpy habits
Phrases -“Penitenziagite,” said Salvatore
(p. 64)
Ideas - Heretics were frequently recognized
if they had ideas that didn’t align with the
Church
