Heresy in Medieval France by Claire Taylor

Heresy in Medieval France explores the origins and spread of popular heresy in western Europe from a new regional perspective, that of the medieval duchy of Aquitaine.

Part I concerns the origins of ‘heresy’ reported there in c.1000. Through extensive engagement with the historiography of this subject, it argues that whilst Aquitaine could have given rise to indigenous forms of dissent that clerics might misrepresent as doctrinally dissident, new evidence makes a reassertion of the case for the influence of Balkan dualism viable. A supporting account of Aquitainian and Gascon society is offered, the latter under-explored in Anglophone literature. Debate concerning the rate and nature of social change in this period is also made relevant, as is the relationship between heresy, the Peace of God and the cults of saints.

Part II is an account of Catharism in the north-western Languedoc, under the influence of both Aquitaine and Toulouse. Neglected evidence for the reception and rejection of the heresy by the families and towns of the county of Agen sheds important light on our understanding of heretical adherence in the Languedoc more widely; in peace-time, during the Albigensian Crusade, and under the Inquisition.

This book will be invaluable to all scholars interested in the sociological location of religious dissent in the high-medieval west, as well as to those of Catharism and the societies of south-western France specifically.

Claire Taylor is a Lecturer in the School of History and a library representative.