Alert for students

THIS TOPIC IS NOT CURRENTLY OFFERED

Overview

The medieval period is often stereotyped as an ‘Age of Faith’, a time when power-hungry religious institutions imposed their beliefs and practices on an uneducated and unquestioning populace. But what did medieval people really believe? Could they adopt different ways of thinking that contradicted, challenged, and rejected orthodox beliefs and … For more content click the Read More button below.

Aims

This topic aims to:

  • Introduce the history of medieval Christian, Jewish, and Islamic heresies and situate these heresies within the broader cultural context of European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern history between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries
  • Provide students with a nuanced understanding of different medieval conceptions of religious orthodoxy and unorthodoxy, and familiarise them with a range of modern historiographical approaches to medieval heresy
  • Explain the historical, philosophical, social, cultural, economic, and political forces that produced and shaped heresy, inquisition, and the persecution of heretics in the medieval Christian, Jewish, and Islamic worlds

Learning outcomes

On completion of this topic you will be expected to be able to:
1.
Analyse the key features of major medieval heresies from a range of cultural contexts
2.
Analyse the factors that led to the emergence of heresies within medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
3.
Evaluate complex historical and philosophical debates on the contexts, characteristics, and conceptualisation of medieval heresies
4.
Examine both the practical and philosophical reasons behind the persecution of heretics in the Middle Ages

Requisites information

Pre-requisites: