The Papacy, Heresy, and Religious Dissent

The chapter discusses the recent trends in the historiography of the papacy and the repression of medieval dissent. It offers an overview of the way in which the papacy confronted the perceived menace of heresy in the central Middle Ages and how its responses developed over time. Leaving aside the motives and way of life of individuals and groups at the margins of orthodoxy, the focus of attention is on the representations of and responses to religious dissent displayed by the official Church alongside its own motifs and transformations. The implementation of anti-heresy measures is observed in light of the main historical developments of the papacy in the central centuries of the Middle Ages: the “Gregorian” reform and its institutional legacy; the thirteenth-century zenith of papal monarchy; and the long-lasting relocation of the papal court in the Provençal city of Avignon. In all these different contexts, variously permeated by the ideal of papal theocracy, the Holy See refashioned appropriate legal and theological responses to contain the everlasting threat of heresy.