Earlier histories have linked women with heresy in a variety of ways. More recent work dispells t... more Earlier histories have linked women with heresy in a variety of ways. More recent work dispells the idea that women were particularly prominent or active in heresy. But heresy can be analyzed via gender: this article analyzes gendered orthodox representations of "heresy," discusses the particular roles available to women within different heretical sects, and argues that a key issue is the nature of our interest in female agency and dissent.
Recent work on medieval heresy has emphasized the ‘constructedness’ of heresy by orthodox power, ... more Recent work on medieval heresy has emphasized the ‘constructedness’ of heresy by orthodox power, thus undermining the coherence of heretical sects and tending to suggest that those tried as heretics were essentially unwitting victims. This article examines the evidence from the entire range of surviving Lollard trials, and argues that we can see consciously ‘dissenting’ speech alongside the standard theological positions associated with (and perhaps imposed upon) Lollardy. In each area of dissent anticlerical, sceptical, disputational and rebellious a wider cultural context is explored, demonstrating that the language of dissent is not limited to ‘Lollardy’; at the same time however it is argued that it is precisely through the voicing and reception of such wider referents that a heretical movement comes to exist. The article traces trends in medieval speech through which specific opinions and beliefs are voiced as a challenge, and the linguistic and social contexts within which the...
... Innocent men-tioned no other church ornaments or liturgical objects: bells thus assume a clea... more ... Innocent men-tioned no other church ornaments or liturgical objects: bells thus assume a clear and transcendent importance, evoking the practical and material needs of the physical church, and also the spiritual communion of ecclesia, the “church” as the gathering of the ...
ABSTRACT The historiography of pre-modern popular uprisings tends to ascribe a religiose ‘naïveté... more ABSTRACT The historiography of pre-modern popular uprisings tends to ascribe a religiose ‘naïveté’ to earlier revolts, placing religion as innately antithetical to popular politics. This article challenges that opposition, and argues that whilst (as Sam Cohn has recently demonstrated) medieval revolts were not by any means all ‘religious' in outlook, leadership or inspiration, those which did involve religious elements can be read more sympathetically and with greater nuance. Focusing particularly on structural similarities between the Drummer of Niklashausen (1476) and the Capuciati (1183), the article argues that longue durée forms of revolt persist, driven by a plebeian reappropriation of certain elements in orthodox religion.
Abstract We command you to cite at once, and immediately, Béatrice, widow of Otho de Lagleize to... more Abstract We command you to cite at once, and immediately, Béatrice, widow of Otho de Lagleize to appear in person next Saturday before us in our Seat at Pamiers, to respond to certain allegations concerning the Catholic faith.(Duvernoy 1965: 216)
This engagement with Christopher Tomlins’s In the Matter of Nat Turner (2020) focuses on a key me... more This engagement with Christopher Tomlins’s In the Matter of Nat Turner (2020) focuses on a key methodological issue faced by the author, namely how one reads and positions the “authentic voice” of a past subaltern subject, known to us only through a hostile written source. This challenge is well-known to social historians of the European middle ages, and this essay suggests various ways in which Tomlins’s monograph contributes to existing debate, regarding both method and how one culturally situates and interprets the voice(s) thus identified, particularly with regard to the politics of apocalypticism.
This is a draft version of a chapter published in J M Bennett and R M Karras, eds, The Oxford Han... more This is a draft version of a chapter published in J M Bennett and R M Karras, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Women and Gender (OUP, 2013), chapter 31, pp 496-510
Overview of religious repression in the later middle ages. Draft of my contribution to M. Rubin a... more Overview of religious repression in the later middle ages. Draft of my contribution to M. Rubin and W. Simons, eds, Cambridge History of Christianity vol 4
On religious culture and popular politics in the middle ages. Draft of piece published in the jou... more On religious culture and popular politics in the middle ages. Draft of piece published in the journal Cultural and Social History, vol 6 (2009)
On doubt/scepticism and the nature of lay belief in late medieval England. Draft of my contributi... more On doubt/scepticism and the nature of lay belief in late medieval England. Draft of my contribution to Sophie Page, ed, The Unorthodox Imagination in Medieval Britain
reflection on the history of emotions, and on medieval confession and lay piety. Draft version of... more reflection on the history of emotions, and on medieval confession and lay piety. Draft version of my contribution to Miri Rubin, ed, European Religious Cultures
Earlier histories have linked women with heresy in a variety of ways. More recent work dispells t... more Earlier histories have linked women with heresy in a variety of ways. More recent work dispells the idea that women were particularly prominent or active in heresy. But heresy can be analyzed via gender: this article analyzes gendered orthodox representations of "heresy," discusses the particular roles available to women within different heretical sects, and argues that a key issue is the nature of our interest in female agency and dissent.
Recent work on medieval heresy has emphasized the ‘constructedness’ of heresy by orthodox power, ... more Recent work on medieval heresy has emphasized the ‘constructedness’ of heresy by orthodox power, thus undermining the coherence of heretical sects and tending to suggest that those tried as heretics were essentially unwitting victims. This article examines the evidence from the entire range of surviving Lollard trials, and argues that we can see consciously ‘dissenting’ speech alongside the standard theological positions associated with (and perhaps imposed upon) Lollardy. In each area of dissent anticlerical, sceptical, disputational and rebellious a wider cultural context is explored, demonstrating that the language of dissent is not limited to ‘Lollardy’; at the same time however it is argued that it is precisely through the voicing and reception of such wider referents that a heretical movement comes to exist. The article traces trends in medieval speech through which specific opinions and beliefs are voiced as a challenge, and the linguistic and social contexts within which the...
... Innocent men-tioned no other church ornaments or liturgical objects: bells thus assume a clea... more ... Innocent men-tioned no other church ornaments or liturgical objects: bells thus assume a clear and transcendent importance, evoking the practical and material needs of the physical church, and also the spiritual communion of ecclesia, the “church” as the gathering of the ...
ABSTRACT The historiography of pre-modern popular uprisings tends to ascribe a religiose ‘naïveté... more ABSTRACT The historiography of pre-modern popular uprisings tends to ascribe a religiose ‘naïveté’ to earlier revolts, placing religion as innately antithetical to popular politics. This article challenges that opposition, and argues that whilst (as Sam Cohn has recently demonstrated) medieval revolts were not by any means all ‘religious' in outlook, leadership or inspiration, those which did involve religious elements can be read more sympathetically and with greater nuance. Focusing particularly on structural similarities between the Drummer of Niklashausen (1476) and the Capuciati (1183), the article argues that longue durée forms of revolt persist, driven by a plebeian reappropriation of certain elements in orthodox religion.
Abstract We command you to cite at once, and immediately, Béatrice, widow of Otho de Lagleize to... more Abstract We command you to cite at once, and immediately, Béatrice, widow of Otho de Lagleize to appear in person next Saturday before us in our Seat at Pamiers, to respond to certain allegations concerning the Catholic faith.(Duvernoy 1965: 216)
This engagement with Christopher Tomlins’s In the Matter of Nat Turner (2020) focuses on a key me... more This engagement with Christopher Tomlins’s In the Matter of Nat Turner (2020) focuses on a key methodological issue faced by the author, namely how one reads and positions the “authentic voice” of a past subaltern subject, known to us only through a hostile written source. This challenge is well-known to social historians of the European middle ages, and this essay suggests various ways in which Tomlins’s monograph contributes to existing debate, regarding both method and how one culturally situates and interprets the voice(s) thus identified, particularly with regard to the politics of apocalypticism.
This is a draft version of a chapter published in J M Bennett and R M Karras, eds, The Oxford Han... more This is a draft version of a chapter published in J M Bennett and R M Karras, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Women and Gender (OUP, 2013), chapter 31, pp 496-510
Overview of religious repression in the later middle ages. Draft of my contribution to M. Rubin a... more Overview of religious repression in the later middle ages. Draft of my contribution to M. Rubin and W. Simons, eds, Cambridge History of Christianity vol 4
On religious culture and popular politics in the middle ages. Draft of piece published in the jou... more On religious culture and popular politics in the middle ages. Draft of piece published in the journal Cultural and Social History, vol 6 (2009)
On doubt/scepticism and the nature of lay belief in late medieval England. Draft of my contributi... more On doubt/scepticism and the nature of lay belief in late medieval England. Draft of my contribution to Sophie Page, ed, The Unorthodox Imagination in Medieval Britain
reflection on the history of emotions, and on medieval confession and lay piety. Draft version of... more reflection on the history of emotions, and on medieval confession and lay piety. Draft version of my contribution to Miri Rubin, ed, European Religious Cultures
Review of Ian Forrest, The Detection of Heresy in Late Medieval England (Oxford University Press,... more Review of Ian Forrest, The Detection of Heresy in Late Medieval England (Oxford University Press, 2005) for the IHR's Reviews in History
Review of Richard E. Zeikowitz, Homoeroticism and Chivalry: Discourses of Male Same-Sex Desire in... more Review of Richard E. Zeikowitz, Homoeroticism and Chivalry: Discourses of Male Same-Sex Desire in the Fourteenth Century. (Palgrave, 2003) for The Medieval Review
Review of Susan Crane, The Performance of Self: Ritual, Clothing, and Identity During the Hundred... more Review of Susan Crane, The Performance of Self: Ritual, Clothing, and Identity During the Hundred Years War (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002) for H-France
Review of Refiguring History: New Thoughts on an Old Discipline, by Keith Jenkins (Routledge, Lon... more Review of Refiguring History: New Thoughts on an Old Discipline, by Keith Jenkins (Routledge, London, 2003) for European History Quarterly (I think!)
Review of Peter Lake, The Boxmaker’s Revenge: ‘Orthodoxy’, ‘Heterodoxy’, and the Politics of the ... more Review of Peter Lake, The Boxmaker’s Revenge: ‘Orthodoxy’, ‘Heterodoxy’, and the Politics of the Parish in Early Stuart London (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001) for Reformations (journal)
review of Mark Gregory Pegg, The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245-1246. (Princ... more review of Mark Gregory Pegg, The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245-1246. (Princeton University Press, 2001) for H-France
Review of Ruth Mazo Karras, From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity in Late Medieval Europe, ... more Review of Ruth Mazo Karras, From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity in Late Medieval Europe, (University of Pennsylvania Press 2003.) for the IHR's History in Focus
Review of Karen Sullivan, Truth and the Heretic: Crises of Knowledge in Medieval French Literatur... more Review of Karen Sullivan, Truth and the Heretic: Crises of Knowledge in Medieval French Literature. (University of Chicago Press, 2005) for H-France - nb that the author wrote a response also on H-France: http://www.h-france.net/vol7reviews/vol7no30sullivan.pdf
Review of Justine Firnhaber-Baker, Violence and the State in Languedoc, 1250-1400 (Cambridge Univ... more Review of Justine Firnhaber-Baker, Violence and the State in Languedoc, 1250-1400 (Cambridge University Press, 2014) for H-France
Review of The Theft of History, by Jack Goody. (Cambridge University Press, 2006) for European Hi... more Review of The Theft of History, by Jack Goody. (Cambridge University Press, 2006) for European History Quarterly (2010)
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