New Histories of Anglo-German Diplomacy under Elizabeth I and James VI and I

In his 1569 account of ‘The State of Germany’, the English diplomat Robert Beale recorded that, at mealtimes, the Count Palatine of the Rhine kept twenty-four tables of eight people each in two different rooms.  ‘In the one place … sitteth himself, his wife, and Children standing att one Table, alone … And his gentlewomen …

The Heresy of Peter Garcias, Toulouse 1247

In 1247 a townsman of Toulouse named Peter Garcias was accused of heresy and made subject to a processus (the collection of evidence against the alleged heretic from a series of witnesses) administered by the inquisition.  The statements in this case were from monks who claimed to have heard Peter proclaim a series of heretical …

The Cathar Heresy: Fact or Fiction?

In the 11th century, the Western Christian church began to act against “popular” heresy, that is to say, dissident religious movements involving people at many social levels.  By the mid-13th century in France this effort had solidified into the series of courts and inquiries known as “inquisitions ” (medievalists no longer call this collection of …