Heresy and Literacy, 1000-1530 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature) [Paperback]

Peter Biller (Editor), Anne Hudson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521575761 | ISBN-13: 978-0521575768 | Publication Date: June 28, 1996

Did growing literacy in the later medieval period foster popular heresy, or did heresy provide a crucial stimulus to the spread of literacy? This collective volume, by established scholars from Britain, continental Europe and the United States, considers the importance of the written word in pre-Lutheran heresies, and explores the extent to which heretics' familiarity with books paralleled or exceeded that of their orthodox contemporaries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a rich collection of articles with not a single dud in it." Malcolm D. Lambert, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"Superior scholarship marks this collaborative work by seasoned writers from England, continental Europe, and the US...Each chapter is illustrative of the most current and creative work being done in the history of medieval heresy and literacy...This book is a 'must' purchase to enhance research on medieval heresy and the question of literacy."-G.H. Shriver, Georgia Southern University, Choice

"This volume of sixteen essays written by European and American scholars evaluates the importance of the written word among pre-Lutheran popular heresies in several European countries." Manuscripta

"Its editors deserve our congratulations for a difficult job well done." Christina von Nolcken, Modern Philology

Book Description

This collective volume, by established scholars from Britain, continental Europe and the United States, considers the importance of the written word in pre-Lutheran heresies. It explores the extent to which heretics' familiarity with books paralleled or exceeded that of their orthodox contemporaries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521575761
• ISBN-13: 978-0521575768
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When the bookworm turned, December 23, 2007

By 

Harry Eagar (Maui) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heresy and Literacy, 1000-1530 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature) (Paperback)

Which came first, heretical thoughts driving people to learn to read to reinforce their opinions, or wider opportunities to read exposing innocents to subversive but attractive ideas?

It has generally been accepted that the invention of printing was a propellant to the success of the Reformation, and this seems probable, since there had been heresies before Luther but they were restricted, contained and in most instances in decay before the revolution of the 16th century.

In "Heresy and Literacy," a team of scholars asks the chicken-and-egg question. To leap to the conclusion, with literacy and heresy it is much as with chickens and eggs -- the pairs co-evolved and neither can claim priority.

The range of the scholars is impressive: the book originated in the UK, with France the next biggest participant, but with papers from the USA, Italy, Germany, Russia and (what was in 1994) Czechoslovakia.

The literary remains of Cathars, Lollards, Waldensians, Beguines, Hussites and a few lesser sects are examined. Not for their theological arguments but for their origin, replication and transmission; and especially to assess who was able to and/or who did read them.

The essays, while solid, were easily digestible. I am more familiar with (and more interested in) the development of literacy than in heresy, but there was just enough context about the belief systems to keep me oriented.

Although the authors cannot have been thinking about Islam, the general proposition of "Heresy and Literacy" seems just as applicable to Islamic societies in the 21st century as to Christian ones a millennium ago. In each case, expanding access to literacy and new technology brought masses of people into the discussion of religion who had been excluded when the texts were the exclusive possession of elites.

In the most interesting paper, R.I. Moore's "Literacy and the making of heresy, c. 1000-c. 1150, we read:

"They spoke for their age in measuring their belief and conduct against the text, confident that virtue and orthodoxy consisted in stripping away the encrustations and deformations of tradition which literacy alone . . . enabled them to recognise as departures from the historically authenticated canon upon which they took their stand."

"They" refers to "Christianists" of 1024 AD in Arras, but substitute "Islamists" and it sounds modern.

Though written for specialists, "Heresy and Literacy" can be read for pleasure by anyone curious about the turnover of Europe from medieval to modern.