The Devil's World: Heresy and Society 1100-1300 [1 ed.] 0582279607, 9780582279605

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T H E D E V I L’ S W O R L D




The Medieval World Series editor: Julia Smith, University of St Andrews Alfred the Great Richard Abels

Bastard Feudalism M. Hicks

The Western Mediterranean Kingdom David Abulafia

The Formation of English Common Law John Hudson

The Fourth Crusade Michael Angold

The Mongols and the West Peter Jackson

The Cathars Malcolm Barber

Cnut K. Lawson

The Godwins Frank Barlow

The Age of Robert Guiscard Graham Loud

Philip Augustus Jim Bradbury

The English Church, 940–1154 H. R. Loyn

Medieval Canon Law J. A. Brundage

Justinian J. Moorhead

Crime in Medieval Europe Trevor Dean

Ambrose John Moorhead

Charles I of Anjou Jean Dunbabin

The Devil’s World Andrew P. Roach

The Age of Charles Martel Paul Fouracre

The Reign of Richard Lionheart Ralph Turner/Richard Heiser

Margery Kempe A. E. Goodman

The Welsh Princes Roger Turvey English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages J. Ward

T H E D E V I L’ S WORLD




HERESY AND SOCIETY 1100–1300

A N D R E W P. R O A C H

First published 2005 by Pearson Education Limited Published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2005, Taylor & Francis. The right of Andrew Roach to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN 13: 978-0-582-27960-5 (pbk) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Roach, Andrew. The Devil’s world : heresy and society, 1100–1320 / Andrew Roach. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0–582–27960–7 (pbk.) 1. Heresies, Christian—History—Middle Ages, 600–1500. 2. Christian sociology— History—Middle Ages, 600–1500. I. Title. BT1319.R63 2005 273′.6—dc22 2004063815 Set by 35 in 10.5/13pt Galliard

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CONTENTS




LIST OF MAPS AND PLATES

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

viii

SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE

ix

PREFACE

xi

ABBREVIATIONS OF SOURCES MOST FREQUENTLY CITED TIMELINE

xiii xv

MAPS

xvii

INTRODUCTION

1

chapter 1

THE MONOPOLY: 900–1135

10

chapter 2

THE NEW ECONOMY: MARKETS, TROUBADOURS, UNIVERSITIES AND HERETICS

34

A WORLD OF CHOICES: ORGANISED HERESY IN EASTERN AND WESTERN EUROPE

59

NAILS TO DRIVE OUT NAILS: THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE, THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL, DOMINIC GUSMAN AND FRANCIS OF ASSISI

84

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

COMPETING FOR SOULS: FROM THE DEATH OF FRANCIS TO THE FALL OF MONTSÉGUR

·v·

108

CONTENTS

chapter 6

RESTRICTING CHOICE: THE INQUISITION AND THE DECLINE OF THE CATHARS

132

THE DECLINE OF THE HOLY MEN: 1244–1300

159

chapter 8

WOMEN AND HERESY

182

chapter 9

‘JUST AS THERE ARE 72 TONGUES . . .’: THE DECLINE OF ORGANISED HERESY

193

NOTES

215

FURTHER READING

243

INDEX

255

chapter 7

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LIST OF MAPS AND PLATES


Maps

1. The Spread of European Heresy 2. Languedoc and Lombardy

Plates 1. Medieval manuscript illumination of troubadours from Alphonse le Sage’s Las Cantigas, c. thirteenth century. 2. Castello Scaligero, Sirmione, on Lake Garda: last refuge of the Italian Cathars, captured 1276. 3. Plan scénographique de 1550: Archives municipales de Lyon. Sixteenthcentury plan of the city of Lyon, showing cathedral, fortified ecclesiastical quarter, and cathedral wharf from the time of Valdes. 4. Saint Dominic Sending Forth the Hounds of the Lord, with Saint Peter Martyr and Saint Thomas Aquinas, c.1369 (fresco) by Andrea di Bonaiuto: the scene shows Thomas using books to convert heretics as well as making the punning reference to ‘domini canes’, dogs of the Lord. 5. The staircase under which lived Saint Alexis, the inspiration for Valdes of Lyon. Staircase now in the church of Sant’Alessio, Rome. 6. Italian fresco with Saint Francis of Assisi, without halo or stigmata; probably the earliest picture. 7. View of Carcassonne from the west side, state of the fortifications and the city in 1853 before ‘restoration’. 8. Saint Francis of Assisi: Cimabue’s fresco in the Lower Basilica, Assisi. 9. Saint Francis Releases the Heretic, 1297–99 (fresco) by Giotto di Bondone: a posthumous miracle of Saint Francis (flying left!). Giotto’s painting depicts the penitent heretic (Pietro d’Alife) with some dignity; earnest, bearded and barefoot. 10. Montségur Castle, Languedoc, by Simon Marsden: a besieger’s view of the Cathar redoubt captured in 1244. 11. Saint Peter Martyr (oil on panel) by Vittore Carpaccio, c. fifteenth century. 12. Ruined Arena, Verona. Execution site of heretics captured at Sirmione. 13. Keeping the customers happy: the Bishop of Paris Blessing the Lendit Fair in the fourteenth century. 14. The Porziuncola (Portiuncola), Assisi. First home of the Franciscans. Now completely endorsed in church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. 15. Interior of Franciscan church of Santa Croce, Florence.

· vii ·

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS




T

he publishers are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

Financial Times for use of an extract derived from Richard Tomkins’ article ‘Christ replaces Coke as the focus of youthful longing’ (30 July 2004); the Bridgeman Art Library for use of images BAL130097, BEN113975, XIR63359, BAT201228, XIR217771 and MES97834; the Bridgeman Art Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France for use of image BAL52371; the Bridgeman Art Library and Simon Marsden for use of image TMA220587; Archives municipales de Lyon for use of Plan scénographique de 1550; Corbis for use of images WN001950, CS004509, IH64074, and SL003793; Eva Duve for image of the Porziuncola (Portiuncola), Assisi; Helena Bruce for image of the staircase under which Saint Alexis lived, Sant’Alessio, Rome. In some instances we may have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we would appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.

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SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE




T

he history of medieval heresy intrigues and appals. Combining tales of defiance and repression, principle and expedience, conviction and cravenness, it invites us to think equally hard about the role of belief and the power of institutions in human actions. In the pages that follow, Andrew Roach helps us to do this by exploring what makes beliefs ‘work’ in specific social milieux. Moving gracefully between the Balkans, France, Italy and the Rhineland, he draws on his own detailed knowledge of religious and archival sources to offer us a fresh and invigorating look at religion in action in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Against a backdrop of the rise of a market economy associated with the growth of towns and long-distance trade, we are invited to view religion from the perspective of its lay consumers, rather than its clerical providers. What did people want? For what purposes? Where could they most conveniently get it? How much did it cost, in social and political, as well as in economic terms? Dr Roach’s argument is that the twelfth century saw the end of the Roman Catholic Church as a monopoly provider; thereafter consumers could pick and choose among competing goods in what he terms the ‘spiritual market place’. Here many different preachers set up stall, some acceptable to the papal church, others not. He compares their tactics of persuasion and the currencies in which they bargained as well as analysing the consumers whom they attracted – urban and rural, rich and poor, men and women. In towns and villages, on the roads and in the mountains, we meet ordinary folk and colourful characters – preachers, missionaries, inquisitors, devout lay men and women, local rulers, whose fears, beliefs and aspirations form the substance of this book. Andrew Roach offers the striking conclusion that that the successful repression of most heresy in the course of the thirteenth century did not eliminate choice, as we might expect. Far from it: by the early thirteenth century, such a wide range of styles of Christian observance were available within the Catholic Church itself that the exercise of choice no longer necessarily forced the consumer outside it. The argument that pluralism and choice, rather than homogeneity and obedience, characterised the Church of the high middle ages is a vote for the autonomy and individuality of religious expression in an age more frequently · ix ·

SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE

presented as one of group solidarity and conformity. I welcome this addition to the Longman Medieval World for the challenges it brings to our assumptions about religion and belief in the Middle Ages. Julia M. H. Smith

·x·

PREFACE


I

n 1995 Longman contracted me to write a short history of heresy in relation to the twelfth- and thirteenth-century Church. The end product has been nine years in the making for which my only excuse is that I am a slow worker, have got married, become a father and moved into a respectable house with a small lawn. During this time ‘the book’ has held much of the status as I imagine bread blessed by a Cathar perfectus did in the middle ages; stale and mouldering at the back of the cupboard, I could neither show it off nor throw it away and forget about it. Only at this stage in the process do I realise how many friends this book has made me, how many interesting conversations it has triggered, how many confidences have been shared because of it. This is where my real debt of gratitude lies and why I suspect I may try another one before too long. In the meantime my sincere thanks to everyone who has helped me to produce this one. The staff of Oxford, Cambridge and Glasgow university libraries were unfailingly helpful, as were the librarians and archivists of the Vatican, although my tip is not to turn up there saying you are interested in heresy. My stay in Rome was made infinitely more congenial thanks to being able to be part of the American Academy there. I owe a great debt to two further institutions: the Historisches Seminar at Johannnes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, suggested an exchange with the Glasgow History department in 2001–2, so that for four months I was able purely to teach and write, a luxury most British academics can only dream of. I have also been able to spend extended periods at Saint Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden, for some of the time on a Moorman scholarship. It is a place of divine learning and serious fun; I benefited from both. Research visits were made possible by grants at various times from the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Carnegie Fund, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and History Department of the University of Glasgow who also granted me study leave. I am grateful to all these bodies. In addition, thanks are due to Jack Baldwin who allowed me three months living in a real medieval tower in Morricone, Eva Duve who started me thinking about the illustrations and Alison Peden who patiently scanned them.

· xi ·

PREFACE

An extended family of friends and colleagues have either read parts of the text or been willing to discuss matters of belief and heresy over the years. I learnt much from the views of all of the following: Stuart Airlie, John Arnold, Malcolm Barber, Peter Biller, William Burgwinkle, Sam Cohn, Marilyn Dunn, Simon Fowler, Sharon Gauld, Hilary Greer, Sarah Hamilton, Annette Handrich, Jill Kirkwood, Malcolm Lambert, the late Michael Kennedy, Elizabeth McCahill, Steve Marritt, Lily Mo, Jim Murphy, Sandy Murray, Paul Ormerod, Daisy Roach, John Roach, Jonathan Shepard, Jim Simpson, Graeme Small, Matthew Strickland, the late John Thomson, Simon Tugwell and Sue Vice. Despite their best efforts, I am sure there are still errors for which I am, of course, responsible; please e-mail me if you spot one. A much smaller group have had the dubious privilege of being close to me throughout the writing process. David Bates was both an understanding boss and perceptive editor, Heather McCallum was unfailingly courteous and patient throughout her time at Longman as deadlines came and went. Her successors processed the manuscript with efficiency and enthusiasm. Nicola and Jonathan Shepard put me up in both Cambridge and Oxford at various times over the years and helped with innumerable acts of generosity and kindness. For help with the index, I thank John Roach and Helena Bruce. My parents, John and Beryl Roach, and my aunt, Pat Ellerby, encouraged me with this as they have everything else in my life. My thanks to them all. Finally, for the reader who has got this far, two people’s presence lie behind each page: my daughter Imogen who helped me get this in perspective; it is, after all, only a book, and Helena, dearest of all to me, who has been willing to share her life with The Devil’s World as well as its author and to whom it is respectfully dedicated. University of Glasgow St Andrew’s Day, 2004

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ABBREVIATIONS OF SOURCES MOST FREQUENTLY CITED




AASS

AFH AFP Annales ESC Barber, Cathars Biller & Hudson CEHE

Doat MS DMA FAED

Fontes Fournier

G&L

JEH Mansi

Acta Sanctorum quotquot toto urbe coluntur: . . . notis illustravit Joannes Bollandus, 67 vols (Paris, 1863–1983) Archivum Franciscanum Historicum Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum Annales: Economies, sociétés, civilisations now Annales, histoire, sciences sociales M. C. Barber, The Cathars: dualist heretics in Languedoc in the high middle ages (Harlow, 2000) P. Biller and A. Hudson (eds), Heresy and Literacy, 1000–1530 (Cambridge, 1994) Cambridge Economic History of Europe: planned by the late Sir John Clapham and the late Eileen Power, 8 vols (Cambridge, 1960–89) ‘Fonds Doat’, Bibliothèque Nationale, 258 vols (Paris, 1669) Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. J. R. Strayer, 13 vols (New York, 1982–9) Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, eds R. J. Armstrong, J. A. W. Hellmann, W. J. Short, 4 vols (New York, 1999–2002) Fontes Franciscani, eds E. Menestó et al. (Assisi, 1995) Le Registre de Jacques Fournier, évêque de Pamiers (1318–1325): Manuscrit no. Vat. Latin 4030 de la Bibliothèque Vaticane, ed. J. Duvernoy, 3 vols and Errata (Toulouse, 1965) Petri Vallium Sarnaii monachi Hystoria albigensis, eds P. Guébin and E. Lyon, 3 vols (Paris, 1926 – 39) Journal of Ecclesiastical History Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, ed. J. D. Mansi, 53 vols (Paris, 1759–1927)

· xiii ·

ABBREVIATIONS OF SOURCES MOST FREQUENTLY CITED

MGH SS MOPH PL

TRHS WEH

Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica Patrologiae cursus completus . . . ab aevo apostolico ad tempora Innocentii III, anno 1216 . . . series Latina, ed. J.-P. Migne (Paris, 1844–64) Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Heresies of the High Middle Ages, eds W. L. Wakefield and A. P. Evans (New York, 1969, reprinted 1991)

· xiv ·

TIMELINE




909 c.970 1072–84 1073–85 1079–1142/4 1090–1153 1095 1097–1104 c.1100–55 1112–c.15 1115–40 1116–45? 1122 1135 1152–90 1162 c.1170 1170–1221 1173–1205/18? 1179 1181–1226 1184 1187 1190s–c.1250 1198–1216 1199 c.1200–c.1240? 1206 1209–29 1215 1218 c.1218–74 1229 1231–5 1240s

Foundation of Cluny Cosmas the Priest reports on Pop Bogomil Otfried de Watten fl. Pope Gregory VII Peter Abelard Bernard of Clairvaux Launch of First Crusade Trial of Basil the Bogomil in Constantinople Arnold of Brescia Tanchelm of Antwerp fl. Aibert of Crespin, fl. as hermit Career of Henry of Le Mans Concordat of Worms Council of Pisa Reign of Frederick Barbarossa Destruction of Milan Council of Saint Félix? Dominic of Calaruega Valdes of Lyon fl. Third Lateran Council Francis of Assisi Council of Verona Fall of Jerusalem Nazario,Cathar bp. of Concorezzans fl. Pope Innocent III Vergentis in senium Belesmanza, Cathar bp.of Albanenses fl. Death of Amaury of Bène Albigensian Crusade Fourth Lateran Council Waldensian Council of Bergamo Bonaventure of Bagnoreggio Treaty of Paris/Meaux First inquisitors operating John of Lugio, Book of the Two Principles · xv ·

TIMELINE

1242 1244 1250 1256 c.1260–1300 1269 1274 1294–1303 1296–1321 1300–07 1321 1370s

Massacre of Avignonet Fall of Montségur Rainerius Saccone, ‘Summa’ on the Cathars and Poor of Lyon William of Saint Amour, On the Perils of the Most Recent Times Gerard Segarelli fl. Gerard of Abbeville, Against the enemy of Christian Perfection Second Council of Lyon Pope Boniface VIII Autier Cathar revival Fra Dolcino fl. Death of Cathar William Belibaste John Wyclif teaching at Oxford

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Map 1

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