- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (23 July 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0631137467
- ISBN-13: 978-0631137467
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,383,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
The 10th to the 13th centuries in Europe saw the appearance of popular heresy and the establishment of the inquisition; expropriation and mass murder of Jews; the foundation of leper hospitals in large numbers and the propagation of elaborate measures to segregate lepers from the healthy. These have traditionally been seen as distinct and separate developments, and explained in terms of the problems which their victims presented to medieval society. This book argues that the coincidences in the treatment of these and other minority groups cannot be explained independently, and that all are part of a pattern of persecution which new appeared for the first time to make Europe become, as it has remained, a persecuting society.
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First Sentence
In this famous decree the prelates assembled at the Fourth Lateran Council in November 1215 promulgated a working definition (after baptism) of the Christian community, and stated the essential conditions of membership for all Western Europeans for the next three centuries. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In this famous decree the prelates assembled at the Fourth Lateran Council in November 1215 promulgated a working definition (after baptism) of the Christian community, and stated the essential conditions of membership for all Western Europeans for the next three centuries. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant piece of analysis, but beware there is a revised edition, which contains author's response to criticism and new literature on subject. Booksellers will quietly dump their stock of the older version on you unless you check publication dates carefully before ordering!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
useful overview, interesting and topical subject
19 Aug 2002
Format:Paperback
Since i started to study European (Medieval and Renaissance) history, I got the distinct impression that intolerance, a fear of the other, although a human universal throughout world history, plays a particularly important role in European history. Prof. Moore gives a good overview or pulling together various sources on how this phenonemon reared its ugly head again, and especially toward what were deemed new heretical movements in Europe from the 11/12th century onward, after relative calm son that front since the 7th century or so.
Although he does not really offer altogether new insights or sources, which he himself freely admits, this is nevertheless an interesting and useful overview of the creation and treatment of various considered 'marginal' groups in society, such as heretics, lepers, Jews, homosexuals and prostitutes. He tries to explain why in this particular period heretical movements made their comeback, and why persecution started to become much more vigourous and vicious. It is an interesting question and he links it to a number of reasons such as the rise of the money economy that greatly upset existing social arrangements in that time. His main point however, and an interesting one, is that persecution did not necessarily reflect popular sentiment at all, but that to find cogent reasons one needs to look more to the persecutors rather than the persecuted. He states that persecution was the decision of princes and prelates for their own political reasons. This much reflects or coincides with Misha Glenny's observation on the persecutions in Balkan history that nearly each genocide has had the more or less active support of local governments. Also, the political use of disease is well documented elsewhere and so this did not add much new, but it was still good to read it here again.
Although he does not really offer altogether new insights or sources, which he himself freely admits, this is nevertheless an interesting and useful overview of the creation and treatment of various considered 'marginal' groups in society, such as heretics, lepers, Jews, homosexuals and prostitutes. He tries to explain why in this particular period heretical movements made their comeback, and why persecution started to become much more vigourous and vicious. It is an interesting question and he links it to a number of reasons such as the rise of the money economy that greatly upset existing social arrangements in that time. His main point however, and an interesting one, is that persecution did not necessarily reflect popular sentiment at all, but that to find cogent reasons one needs to look more to the persecutors rather than the persecuted. He states that persecution was the decision of princes and prelates for their own political reasons. This much reflects or coincides with Misha Glenny's observation on the persecutions in Balkan history that nearly each genocide has had the more or less active support of local governments. Also, the political use of disease is well documented elsewhere and so this did not add much new, but it was still good to read it here again.
The author does elaborate on this interesting conclusion, and it is indeed central to Moores' book, but I did miss a more specific or detailed discussion or explanation of why these princes and prelates indeed did think it to their political advantage to start perscution and build the elaborate machinery for this in these particular times. Another point that i would have liked to see discussed a bit more is whether these developments are uniquely European or could be found with as much roots in other societes in that time as well. For this the book is too short and leaves one wondering. Nevertheless, i do recommend the book as it deals succinctly with a very important subject that has obvious links with present Europe and elsewhere.
19 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Exploring the rise of intolerance
27 May 2000
Format:Paperback
This book is an insightful, if brief, examination of the how and why behind the rise of intolerance and persution in the mid to late middle ages. Lots of books are written about one of the specific topics or groups Moore analyzes (lepers, Jews, homosexuals, people considered religious heretics, etc.) but Moore connects these various expressions of persecution to the historical context and the factors encouraging intolerance at particular times of European culture. Unlike many authors, Moore unpacks and questions assumptions about the inevitability of religious persecution and the creation and persecution of so-called heretical religious beliefs and behavior.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A new perspective for me...and lessons for present times
27 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback
"In the early middle ages as in the later," writes R. I. Moore, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, "persecution began as a weapon in the competition for political influence, and was turned by the victors into an instrument for consolidating their power over society at large." Victims like heretics and Jews, he argues, "owed their persecution in the first place not to the hatred of the people but to the decision of princes or prelates." Accusations of witchcraft, for instance, first appear in the royal and ecclesiastical courts during political intrigues. Ambitious nobles and clerics charged their rivals as Satan worshippers. When confession under torture or trial by ordeal confirmed these charges, authorities executed the guilty and often transferred the titles, powers, and estates of the guilty to their accusers. In later centuries, authorities applied the legal precedents and institutions that developed from these proceedings against increasingly independent townsmen and restive peasants.
Moore makes important contributions to understanding medieval history and the rise of the national state in Europe. Violent power wielded against a "dangerous" few is legitimized and institutionalized, ready for later use against the many. Although Moore doesn't apply his historical thesis to later history or current times, his book should be of interest to political scientists, legal scholars, criminologists, sociologists, and historians, especially those studying the tragedies of the past century--or speculating on future events.
A caveat: I'm no expert on medieval history, but I am uncomfortable with the author's de-emphasis of the role of popular prejudice in these persecutions, particularly of European Jews. Contemporary history and social research indicate that popular hatred and inter-group rivalry facilitate official persecutions of minority and outcast groups. Spontaneous persecutions by the masses occur and have occurred without official sanction or support.
Moore makes important contributions to understanding medieval history and the rise of the national state in Europe. Violent power wielded against a "dangerous" few is legitimized and institutionalized, ready for later use against the many. Although Moore doesn't apply his historical thesis to later history or current times, his book should be of interest to political scientists, legal scholars, criminologists, sociologists, and historians, especially those studying the tragedies of the past century--or speculating on future events.
A caveat: I'm no expert on medieval history, but I am uncomfortable with the author's de-emphasis of the role of popular prejudice in these persecutions, particularly of European Jews. Contemporary history and social research indicate that popular hatred and inter-group rivalry facilitate official persecutions of minority and outcast groups. Spontaneous persecutions by the masses occur and have occurred without official sanction or support.
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