High Middle Ages (800–1299) and Late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance (1300–1520)
'' depicts the Holy Ghost supplying the book burning fire. From the late 11th century onward, heresy once again came to be a concern for Catholic authorities, as reports became increasingly common. The reasons for this are still not fully understood, but the causes for this new period of heresy include popular response to the 11th-century clerical reform movement, greater
lay familiarity with the
Bible, exclusion of lay people from
sacramental activity, and more rigorous definition and supervision of
Catholic dogma. The question of how heresy should be suppressed was not resolved, and there was initially substantial clerical resistance to the use of physical force by secular authorities to correct spiritual deviance. As heresy was viewed with increasing concern by the
papacy, however, the
secular arm was used more frequently and freely during the 12th century and afterward.
Medieval heresies There were many Christian
sects,
cults,
movements and individuals throughout the Middle Ages whose teachings were deemed heretical by the established church, such as: •
Paulicians – an
Armenian group (6th to 9th centuries) who sought a return to the purity of the church at the time of
Paul the Apostle. •
Tondrakians – an
Armenian group (9th to 11th centuries) who advocated the abolition of the
Church along with all its traditional rites. •
Bogomils – a group arising in the 11th century in
Bulgaria who sought a return to the spirituality of the early Christians and opposed established forms of government and church. •
Gundolfo – an itinerant 11th century preacher near
Lille,
France, who taught that
salvation was achieved through a virtuous life of abandoning the world, restraining the appetites of the flesh, earning food by the labor of hands, doing no injury to anyone, and extending charity to everyone of their own faith. •
Cathars – a major Christian movement in the
Languedoc region of southern
France from the 12th to 14th centuries. The Cathars believed that human
souls were the spirits of
angels trapped within the physical creation of an evil god. Through living a pure and sinless life, the soul could become perfect and free from the snare of matter. •
Arnoldists – a 12th-century group, inspired by the example of controversial figure
Arnold of Brescia (c. 1090 – June 1155), from
Lombardy who criticized the wealth of the
Catholic Church and preached against
baptism and the
Eucharist. •
Petrobrusians were 12th century followers of Peter of Bruys in southeastern
France who rejected the authority of the
Church Fathers and of the Catholic Church, opposing
clerical celibacy,
infant baptism,
prayers for the dead and
organ music. •
Henricans were 12th century followers of Henry of Lausanne in France. They rejected the
doctrinal and disciplinary authority of the
church, did not recognize any form of
worship or
liturgy and denied the
sacraments. •
Waldensians – a movement that began in the 12th century in
Lyon,
France, and still exists today. They held that
Apostolic poverty was the way to spiritual perfection and rejected what they perceived as the
idolatry of the
Catholic Church. •
Humiliati – a 12th-century group from northern Italy who embraced poverty, charity and
mortification. Initially approved by the church, they were suppressed for disobedience in 1571. •
Brethren of the Free Spirit – a term applied in the 13th century to those, primarily in the
Low Countries,
Germany,
France,
Bohemia and northern
Italy, who believed that the
sacraments were unnecessary for
salvation, that the
soul could be perfected through imitating the life of
Christ, and that the perfected soul was free of
sin and beyond all
ecclesiastical,
moral and secular law. •
Apostolic Brethren (later known as
Dulcinians) – a 13th to 14th century sect from northern Italy founded by
Gerard Segarelli and continued by
Fra Dolcino of
Novara. The Apostolic Brethren rejected the worldliness of the church and sought a life of perfect sanctity, in complete poverty, with no fixed domicile, no care for the morrow, and no vows. •
Fraticelli (or Spiritual Franciscans) –
Franciscan through the 13th to 15th centuries who regarded the wealth of the Church as scandalous. •
Neo-Adamites – a term applied in the 13th to 15th century to those, including
Taborites,
Picards and some
Beghards, who wished to return to the purity of the life of
Adam by
living communally, practicing social and religious
nudity, embracing
free love and rejecting
marriage and individual ownership of property. •
Nicholas of Basel – a 14th-century
Swiss leader who, after a spiritual experience, taught that he had the authority to use
episcopal and
priestly powers (even though he was not ordained), that submission to his direction was necessary for attaining spiritual perfection, and that his followers could not
sin even though they committed crimes or disobeyed both the
Church and
pope. •
Lollards – the 14th century followers of
John Wycliffe. They advocated
translating the Bible into English, rejected
baptism and
confession, and denied the doctrine of
transubstantiation.
Inquisition At the beginning of the 13th century, the Catholic Church instituted the papal or monastic
Inquisition which began as an extension and more rigorous enforcement of pre-existing episcopal powers (possessed, but little used, by bishops in the early Middle Ages) to inquire about and suppress heresy, but later became the domain of selected
Dominicans and
Franciscans under the direct power of the Pope. The use of torture to extract confessions was authorized by Innocent IV in 1252. or his views on religion and
afterlife. == Reformation and Modern Era (1520–present) ==