The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis
of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter
Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2)

k 2022

The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2)

SHAW, Robert Laurence John, Tomáš HAMPEJS and David ZBÍRAL

Basic information

Original name

The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2)

Authors

SHAW, Robert Laurence John (826 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Tomáš HAMPEJS (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and David ZBÍRAL (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

International Medieval Congress 2022, 4-7 July 2022, Leeds, UK, 2022

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/22:00126801

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords (in Czech)

hereze; inkvizice; víra; rituál; Languedoc; Petr Seila; kataři; valdenští; trest; pokání

Keywords in English

heresy; inquisition; belief; ritual; Languedoc; Peter Seila; Cathars; Waldensians; punishment; penance

Abstract

V originále

How much did inquisitors actually consider the specifics of the beliefs voiced by alleged religious dissidents in judging guilt? While one might presume that this was a central consideration, it is a relatively common historiographical view that early inquisitors were much more interested in actions - especially ritual actions - than actual statements of belief, and that the latter only gradually gained weight in the minds of those repressing heresy. This paper seeks to put this theory to the test, by subjecting the record of one of the earliest inquisitions - the register of Peter Seila’s inquisition in the Quercy region of Languedoc (1241-2) - to computational analyses. WIth every sentence of the register captured as structured data via Computer-Assisted Semantic Text Modelling (CASTEMO), the relationship between crimes (including beliefs) and penances was evaluated by way of Qualitative Comparative Analysis and multiple regression modelling. The results show that, while ritual actions appear the most powerful drivers of punishment, strong theological statements of belief generated harsher penances than positive social views concerning dissident ministers or their general potential to save souls.

Links

101000442, interní kód MU

Name: Networks of Dissent: Computational Modelling of Dissident and Inquisitorial Cultures in Medieval Europe (Acronym: DISSINET)

Investor: European Union, ERC (Excellent Science)

Citovat

SHAW, Robert Laurence John, Tomáš HAMPEJS and David ZBÍRAL. The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2). In International Medieval Congress 2022, 4-7 July 2022, Leeds, UK. 2022.

@proceedings{2222261,
   author = {Shaw, Robert Laurence John and Hampejs, Tomáš and Zbíral, David},
   booktitle = {International Medieval Congress 2022, 4-7 July 2022, Leeds, UK},
   keywords = {heresy; inquisition; belief; ritual; Languedoc; Peter Seila; Cathars; Waldensians; punishment; penance},
   language = {eng},
   title = {The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2)},
   url = {https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2022/},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 2222261
AU  - Shaw, Robert Laurence John - Hampejs, Tomáš - Zbíral, David
PY  - 2022
TI  - The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2)
KW  - heresy
KW  - inquisition
KW  - belief
KW  - ritual
KW  - Languedoc
KW  - Peter Seila
KW  - Cathars
KW  - Waldensians
KW  - punishment
KW  - penance
UR  - https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2022/
N2  - How much did inquisitors actually consider the specifics of the beliefs voiced by alleged religious dissidents in judging guilt? While one might presume that this was a central consideration, it is a relatively common historiographical view that early inquisitors were much more interested in actions - especially ritual actions - than actual statements of belief, and that the latter only gradually gained weight in the minds of those repressing heresy. This paper seeks to put this theory to the test, by subjecting the record of one of the earliest inquisitions - the register of Peter Seila’s inquisition in the Quercy region of Languedoc (1241-2) - to computational analyses. WIth every sentence of the register captured as structured data via Computer-Assisted Semantic Text Modelling (CASTEMO), the relationship between crimes (including beliefs) and penances was evaluated by way of Qualitative Comparative Analysis and multiple regression modelling. The results show that, while ritual actions appear the most powerful drivers of punishment, strong theological statements of belief generated harsher penances than positive social views concerning dissident ministers or their general potential to save souls.
ER  -

SHAW, Robert Laurence John, Tomáš HAMPEJS and David ZBÍRAL. The inquisitorial punishment of belief : a statistical analysis of the effects of social and theological beliefs in Peter Seila’s register of sentences (1241-2). In \textit{International Medieval Congress 2022, 4-7 July 2022, Leeds, UK}. 2022.

Detailed Information on Publication Record