Heresy and aristocracy in thirteenth-century Languedoc
This thesis responds to the historiographical emphasis which has traditionally been placed on aristocratic support for Catharism in thirteenth-century Languedoc. It advocates a shift away from reliance on outdated ideas and assumptions about the aristocracy, its coherency as a group, and the bonds which both held it together and linked it to the rest of society. Instead, it looks to construct a more nuanced understanding of aristocratic support, opening up a dialogue with new work that has been done in the field of the southern French aristocracy in order to refine our understanding of social bonds as mechanisms which produced opportunities for Cathar activity and for the transmission of Cathar ideas. It also responds to the idea that the appearance of predominantly aristocratic support suggested by the inquisition records may be more a result of inquisitorial interest in elite groups than an objective reflection of reality. It does this by pushing beyond the immediate quantitative evidence and shedding light on the different modes of support that were provided to the Cathars by the aristocracy and by other social groups. Introducing other social groups as comparisons or controls helps to build a more nuanced
Hardstaff, Rachael
Heresy and aristocracy in thirteenth-century Languedoc. This thesis responds to the historiographical emphasis which has traditionally been placed on aristocratic support for Catharism in thirteenth-century Languedoc. It advocates a shift away from reliance on outdated ideas and assumptions about the aristocracy, its coherency as a group, and the bonds which both held it together and linked it to the rest of society. Instead, it looks to construct a more nuanced understanding of aristocratic support, opening up a dialogue with new work that has been done in the field of the southern French aristocracy in order to refine our understanding of social bonds as mechanisms which produced opportunities for Cathar activity and for the transmission of Cathar ideas. It also responds to the idea that the appearance of predominantly aristocratic support suggested by the inquisition records may be more a result of inquisitorial interest in elite groups than an objective reflection of reality. It does this by pushing beyond the immediate quantitative evidence and shedding light on the different modes of support that were provided to the Cathars by the aristocracy and by other social groups. Introducing other social groups as comparisons or controls helps to build a more nuanced
heresy aristocracy thirteenth_century responds historiographical emphasis traditionally place aristocratic support thirteenth century advocate shift_away reliance outdated idea assumption aristocracy group bond hold_together link rest society instead look construct nuanced aristocratic support open dialogue new work field southern french aristocracy order refine social bond mechanism produce opportunity activity transmission idea also respond idea appearance predominantly aristocratic support suggest inquisition record may inquisitorial interest elite_group objective reflection reality push beyond immediate quantitative_evidence shed_light different mode support provide aristocracy social_group social_group comparison control help build nuanced