FF:RLB521 The Devil and Heresy - Course Information

RLB521 Devil Worship in the Medieval Imagery About Heresy

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2017

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. František Novotný, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Šárka Londa Vondráčková
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts

Timetable

each odd Tuesday 15:50–17:25 U36

Prerequisites (in Czech)

RLA06 Christianity I || RLKA06 Christianity I

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

Study of Religions (programme FF, B-HS)
Study of Religions (programme FF, B-PH) (3)

Course objectives

The course focuses on an important aspect of the medieval anti-heretical campaign: accusations of the devil worship, which were raised against the heretics and which became a substantial component of the late medieval witches’ sabbath imagery. The course presents the topic in the context of multiple changes occurring in the high- and late medieval society. It focuses particularly on the changes of institutions (political administration and power, law and trial procedures), and the shifts in the medieval thought (theology, relations between the learned culture and orality). Students are introduced into the context of selected important sources which relate to the topic, and into possibilities and problems of their analysis. The development and current state of the research is also discussed during the course.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

discuss the most important sources related to the medieval imagery about devil worship and the interrelations of those sources;

interpret these sources in respect of both the context of their origin and their subsequent influence;

recognize the importance of these sources for raising and answering research questions relevant for the study of religions, historiography, and anthropology;

understand the connections between different aspects of the medieval culture, such as theological discussions, development of legal systems, or oral culture, including actual examples of such connections;

discuss the development and current state of the research of the topic, including their relations to the broader study of the medieval culture.

Syllabus

1. Legacy of the Bible and the antiquity; ancient imagery about the antinomian heresy.
2. First „devil worshippers“ in the medieval West: „Manichees“ from Aquitania and the canons of Orléans.
3. Alleged devil worshippers of the 11th and 12th century.
4. Imagery about a diabolical sect as an instrument of education.
5. The bull Vox in Rama (1233) and origins of the papal inquisition.
6. Imagery about the initiation into a diabolical sect; fear of a diabolical conspiracy.
7. Fall of the Templar order: Blasphemy, apostasy and the cult of the devil.
8. Alleged diabolical heretic in the trial.
9. Heresy and diabolical magic during the 14th century.
10. Early imagery about the witches’ sabbath, first half of the 15th century.
11. The devil in the imagery about the sabbath and in the political trials of the late middle ages.
12. Female witch as the subject of the witch hunt.

Literature

required literature

OSTORERO, Martine. The Concept of the Witches’ Sabbath in the Alpine Region (1430-1440), Text and Context. In Klaniczay, Gábor - Pócs, Eva. Demons, Spirits, Witches 3: Witchcraft Mythologies and Persecutions. Budapest: CEU Press, 2008, p. 15-34. info
HERGEMÖLLER, Ulrich-Bernd. Black Sabbath Masses: Fictitious Rituals and Real Inquisitions. In Auffarth, Christoph - Stuckenbruck, Lauren T. The Fall of the Angels (Themes in Biblical Narrative). Leiden: Brill, 2004, p. 176-191. info
GINZBURG, Carlo. Židé, kacíři a čarodějnice. In Noční příběh: Sabat čarodějnic. 1st ed. Praha: Argo, 2003. info
RUSSELL, Jeffrey B. and Mark W. WYNDHAM. Witchcraft and de Demonization of Heresy. In Levack, Brian P. Witchcraft in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages. London - New York: Garland, 1992, p. 305-325. info

Teaching methods

Lectures; Reading the sources and literature for each lecture; presentation of a selected source (see below); writing the commentary for the colloquium. (see below).

Assessment methods

Presentation of a selected source, delivered as a part of a lecture during the semester. This presentation is a necessary condition for the successful completion of the course. Presentations are supposed to summarize the content of the source and the context of its origin. A commentary on a selected topic related to the source presented during the semester. The presentation shall be 3600-5400 characters long and shall answer questions assigned to the source. It should prove the student’s ability to analytically approach the source from the perspective of the study of religions. It shall be delivered during the exam period, at least 3 days before the colloquium, for which the student is registered. Presentation of the commentary at the colloquium and an active involvement in the subsequent discussion, which proves the student’s orientation in the topic.

FF:RLB521 The Devil and Heresy - Course Information

RLB521 Devil Worship in the Medieval Imagery About Heresy

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