The Devil's World: Heresy and Society 1100-1300(The Medieval World)

'Issues of religious doctrine and beliefs are once more at the forefront of political and cultural conflicts around the world. Andrew Roach's interesting book can help us understand our modern world better, and should have a wide appeal to non-specialist readers. 'Paul Ormerod, author of the best-selling Death of Economics and Butterfly Economics Recent academic scholarship has emphasised the idea that 'heresy is in the eye of the beholder'. Greater definition of the Church's role and Catholic belief in the 12th and 13th centuries 'created' heretics, people who represented or championed local variation in religious practices or adherence to old-fashioned doctrines. In his fascinating new study, Andrew Roach argues that, by contrast, the emergence of heresy in the twelfth century reflected lay impatience with the monopoly of the medieval Church. Unprecedented consumer choice in food, clothing and less tangible products such as troubadour entertainment and higher education meant that people looked at religion in a new light. Not only did they expect to be cared for in this life and the next, but they also hoped to enhance their wealth and social standing through their involvement in religious organizations. Consequently, they turned to informal groups such as the Cathars and Waldensians who were there at pivotal moments in their lives and offered them simple theology, explained through preaching. This is not to say that medieval religion was insincere, only that there was a range of commitment. 'Heresy' literally means choice, and medieval heresy saw the birth of the modern consumer. For a brief period in the early thirteenth century there was more choice in religion in Western Europe than at any period before the Reformation. Only a combination of systematic persecution of heresy through inquisitors and a change in lay taste brought this to an end. Placing the rise and fall of the heresies of the central Middle Ages in their broader context, this book is essential reading for students, scholars, and anyone with an interest in economic or religious history. Andrew Roach is a Lecturer in History at the University of Glasgow. This is his first book.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction 1. The Monopoly, 900-1135 2. Markets, Troubadours, Universities and Heretics 3. A World of Choices: Organised Heresy in Easter and Western Europe 4. Nails to Drive out Nails: The Albigensian Crusade, Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic Gusman and Francis of Assisi 5. Competing for Souls: From the Death of Francis to the fall of Montsegur 6. Restricting Choice: The Inquisition and the Decline of the Cathars 7. The Decline of the Holy Men: 1244-1300 8. Women and Heresy 9. Just as there are Seventy Two Tongues...': The Decline of Organised Heresy Further Reading Abbreviations

About the Author :
Andrew Roach is currently a Lecturer in History at the University of Glasgow.  In the early 1990s he wrote economic predictions for the Henley Centre for Forecasting.  Besides articles on Catharism and the Inquisition he has written on early censorship, Occitan identity, and, in conjunction with an econophysicist, heresy and scale-free network theory.   

Review :
Runner-up, General History Book of the Year, "Ancestors Magazine" 'Issues of religious doctrine and beliefs are once more at the forefront of political and cultural conflicts around the world. Andrew Roach's interesting book can help us understand our modern world better, and should have a wide appeal to non-specialist readers' "Paul Ormerod, author of the best-selling 'Death of Economics' and 'Butterfly Economics'" 'fascinating new study...a refreshing look at the church of the high middle ages' "Morning Star" "'"a well written work. And as with the best academic texts the footnotes are a joy in themselves. ' "Ancestors Magazine" '...a stimulating contribution to Longman's excellent Medieval World series...a scholarly and cogently assembled work that succeeds in making an important contribution to the history of medieval heresy.' "Jonathan Phillips, The Times Higher Education Supplement, July 7 2006" Medieval Europe was a market-place whose principal commodity was religion. Because heresy meant choice, it was as subject to market forces as to the terrors of the devil or the Inquisition. Catharism was a lifestyle rather than a frightening secret society. This is the controversial argument sustained with great lucidity throughout this book. It is original, accessible and scholarly, as well as being an excellent guide to the most recent research.' "Michael Clanchy FBA, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London" Here, in Andrew Roach's nuanced reconstruction, is a clear and objective analysis of the way the close relationship between social and economic change and religious dissent worked in real life, devoid of the ideological baggage which has so often distorted such interpretations in the past.' "Malcolm Barber, Professor of Medieval European History, University of Reading"