This course will explore to what extent religious dissent was possible in the long middle ages and to what extent its internal enemies were a product of the medieval Church's own imagination. The course will cover a selection of heretical movements according to student interests, but may include Bogomils, Cathars, Waldensians, Amalricians Wyclifites, Lollards, Hussites, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Calvinists and Roman Catholics

10 x 2hour sessions throughout semester, one hour of lectures and one hour of seminars.

None

None.

3500 word essay at 70%, a 15 min oral presentation and associated powerpoints 20% and 10% for general oral contribution to seminars.

This course aims to:

■ Examine the allegations of heresy in Western Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

■ Relate the religious cultures of eastern and western Europe in the Middle Ages by examination of a selection of Bogomils, Saint Sava and Jan Hus.

■ Trace the rise of the machinery for the policing of religious belief through the Inquisition and the intervention of the secular state into religious affairs.

■ Account for the waves of religious enthusiasm in Western Europe by reference to network theory.

■ Examine a range of primary source material from the period concerning heresy and its repression.

■ Consider the academic controversies concerning heresy over the last decade by reference to the work of Brunn, Moore, Pegg, Roach and Foucault among others.

■ Consider how the subject might be presented to the wider public and academics from other disciplines.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Analyse source material from chronicles, papal decrees and inquisition depositions.

■ Evaluate alternative historical interpretations of the rise, persistence and elimination of religious dissent from medieval Europe.

■ Conduct further research at an advanced level.

■ Discuss the nature of religious dissent and its repression in the Middle Ages and form an opinion as to its nature and effectiveness.

■ Identify areas for possible research projects related to medieval heresy for Masters Dissertation and doctoral level.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.