Heretics and Heresy

Posted by Paula Stiles Oct 28, 2006

The focus of medieval Christian religious intolerance was not on witchcraft, as people usually believe, but on heresy. Christians both educated and ordinary considered heretics the true enemies of Christendom, even more than pagans, Jews and Muslims. These were external enemies who had never pretended to be anything else. One could come to an accord with them. Heretics were the enemies within, traitors to Christianity. One should show them no quarter.

In simplest terms, a heretic was someone who defied the laws and authority of the Church. Everyone hated heretics, at least in theory, but the problem was that nobody could agree on what was heresy and who was a heretic. Who was the true religious authority on Earth? Who stood in for Christ when making new laws or revising old ones? Could anyone stand in for Christ or should each Christian talk directly to God him or herself? What was Christ's nature? Was it human or divine? Was it holiest to be tolerant and let everyone worship their own way or did people have to follow a set code? Was it acceptable or even holy to fight and kill the enemies of Christendom or should Christians always turn the other cheek? We still can't agree on these questions.

Early Christians argued vociferously amongst each other over questions of theology and practicality. In times of persecution, for example, should one openly defy the laws of Rome or publicly participate in the Roman imperial cult while secretly practicing as a Christian? The Roman Emperor Constantine added a new dimension to this debate when he turned to Christianity in 313 and ordered the Christian leaders to come up with an "official" Christianity--a coherent collection of accepted writings that established Christianity as a single body of theological knowledge and practice. This process culminated in the First Council of Nicea (325), where the Nicene Creed (familiar to all Christians) was established and the popular Arian sect declared heretical.

Though Church authorities continued to argue with each other and sects continued to rise up, heresy did not become a major concern in the Western Church until the 11th century. Possibly due to concerns with the idea that Christ would come again in the year 1000, Christians in Western Europe became increasingly concerned about heterodox (not official or mainstream) practices and beliefs. They also began to ascribe bizarre fantasies to people whom they identified as heretics, in which heretical groups would make blood pacts with Satan where they would engage in secret orgies and even human sacrifice. As these stories spread and increased, non-Christian groups like Jews were accused as well. The Crusades actually increased the hostility against heterodox Christians and non-Christians because they advertised the idea that using violence to defend one's faith was acceptable to a Christian, even holy.

First, smaller Christian groups like the Spanish Mozarabs, who followed an old non-Latin rite, were assimilated or suppressed. Later, in the 13th century, Jews and Muslims, who had previously been tolerated, were recast as heretics. Following the suppression of the Templars in 1312, it became clear that no one, however well respected or outwardly orthodox, was safe. The early 13th century St. Francis of Assisi, for example, escaped condemnation as a heretic due to the patronage of Innocent III, but some of his more radical followers, the Fraticelli, were less fortunate.

And then, in the 14th century, the real fun began.