Heretics as devil’s servants. The construction of religious otherness in Silesian historiographical sources from the late Middle Ages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/fhc.28102Keywords:
heresy, narrative sources, Silesia, Hussitism, Jan HusAbstract
Since the times of St Augustine, the medieval society was firmly convinced about the connection between heresy and the devil, and heretics were often considered members of the civitatis diaboli. In the Silesian milieu, a similarly constructed religious identity can be more often encountered in the late Middle Ages, when the society was facing the threat of Hussitism. This was reflected in the works of contemporary chroniclers (e.g., Peter Eschenloer, Caspar Borgeni, Johannes Froben, etc.). The descriptions of heretics were created in accordance with the already existing Christian tradition and predominantly consisted of stereotypes and topoi associated with heresy. The paper focuses on the analysis of narrative strategies used by Silesian chroniclers and endeavours to explain how the image of heretics was created, with an emphasis on the role the devil played in these descriptions, therefore it analyses the relationship between heretics and the devil.
References
Annales Glogovienses bis z. J. 1493. Nebst urkundlichen Beilagen, ed. by H. Markgraf, Breslau 1877 (Scriptores Rerum Silesiacarum, 10).
Bruschi C., Biller P., Text and the Repression of medieval Heresy: Introduction, in: Text and the Repression of medieval Heresy, ed. by C. Bruschi, P. Biller, York 2002.
Čapský M., Prix D., Slezsko v pozdním středověku (do roku 1490), in: Slezsko v dějinách českého státu, vol. 1: Od pravěku do roku 1490, ed. by Z. Jirásek, Praha 2012, pp. 261–430.
Čapský M., Město pod vládou kazatelů. Charizmatičtí náboženští vůdci ve střetu s městskou radou v pozdně středověkých českých korunních zemích, Praha 2015.
Chronik des Martin von Bolkenheim, in: Geschichtschreiber Schlesiens des XV. Jahrhunderts, ed. by F. Wachter, Breslau 1883 (Scriptores Rerum Silesiacarum, 12).
Čornej P., Bartlová M., Velké dějiny zemí Koruny české, vol. 6: 1437–1526, Praha–Litomyšl 2007.
Czarnecki R., Kronika Namysłówa autorstwa Johannesa Frobena jako utwór dziejopisarstwa miejskiego, Warszawa 2015.
Delumeau J., Strach na západě ve 14. – 18. století, part 2: Obležená obec, Praha 1999.
Drabina J., Rola argumentacji religijnej w walce politycznej w późnośredniowiecznym Wrocławiu, Kraków 1984.
Eschenloer P., Geschichte der Stadt Breslau, part 1: Chronik bis 1466, part 2:
Chronik ab 1467, ed. by G. Roth, New York–München–Berlin 2003.
Filip V., Borchardt K., Schlesien, Georg von Podiebrad und die römische Kurie, Würzburg 2005.
Grundmann H., Der Typus des Ketzers in mittelalterlicher Anschauung, in: Kultur- und Universalgeschichte: Walter Goetz zu seinem 60. Geburtstage, Leipzig–Berlin 1927, pp. 91–107.
Grünhagen C., Die Hussitenkämpfe der Schlesier, Breslau 1872.
Iwańczak W., Piotr Eschenloer – świadek epoki, in: Tysiącletnie dziedzictwo kulturowe diecezji wrocławskiej, ed. by A. Barciak, Katowice 2000, pp. 160–170.
Iwańczak W., Táborité v polské historiografii 19. a začátku 20. století, “Husitský Tábor” 12 (1999), pp. 69–75.
Jan Hus, Knížky o svatokupectví, ed. by J. Hrabák, Praha 1954.
Knoetel P., Der Verfasser der “Annales Glogovienses”, “Zeitschrift des Vereins für Geschichte und Alterthum Schlesiens” 22 (1888), pp. 94–109.
Machilek F., Ludolf von Sagan und seine Stellung in der Auseinandersetzung um Konziliarismus und Hussitismus, München 1967.
Mrozowicz W., Regional identity in Silesia (until 1526), in: The Long Formation of the Region Silesia (c. 1000–1526) ed. by P. Wiszewski, Wrocław 2013, pp. 215–237.
Muchembled R., Dějiny ďábla, Praha 2008.
Pastoreau M., Dějiny symbolů v kultuře středověkého západu, Praha 2018.
Patchowsky A., Bludiště pravé víry: Sektáři, kacíři a reformátoři ve středověkých Čechách, Praha 2018.
Potkowski E., Stereotyp heretyka–innowiercy w piśmiennictwie kaznodziejskim, in: Kultura elitarna a kultura masowa w Polsce późnego średniowiecza, ed. by B. Geremek, Wrocław 1978, pp. 121–135.
Proces beginek świdnickich w 1332 roku. Studia historyczne i edycja łacińsko-
-polska, ed. by P. Kras, T. Gałuszka OP, A. Poznanski, Lublin 2017.
Radek D., Bolek V. Opolský. Život a legenda (okolo 1400–1460), Opava 2018.
Ratiborer Chronik (ed. by A. Weltzel), “Zeitschrift des Vereins für Geschichte und Alterthum Schlesiens” 4 (1862), pp. 114–126.
Roth G., ’Wider die Anfechtungen der Ketzer’. Nikolaus Tempelfelds Traktat Ordo nature et racionis in der Übersetzung durch Peter Eschenloer. Edition und Erläuterungen, “Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung” 69 (2020), pp. 209–254.
Sigismundi Rosiczii chronica et numerus episcoporum Wratislaviensium itemque gesta diversa transactis temporibus facta in Silesia et alibi. Ab anno C. 1051 usque 1470, in: Geschichtschreiber Schlesiens des XV. Jahrhunderts, ed. by F. Wachter, Breslau 1883 (Scriptores Rerum Silesiacarum, 12).
Šmahel F., Husitská revoluce, vol. 1–4, Praha 1995–1996.
Šmahel F., Život a dílo Jeronýma Pražského, Praha 2010.
Soukup P., Jan Hus. Život a smrt kazatele, Praha 2015.
Szymański J., Ruchy heretyckie na Śląsku w XIII i XIV wieku, Katowice–Kraków 2007.
Urbánek R., Věk poděbradský, vol. 3, Praha 1930.
Výzva Jana Želivského. Výbor z kázání, ed. by A. Molnár, Praha 1954.
Zilynská B., Synodální opatření proti husitům v diecézích širší střední Evropy, in: Ve znamení Koruny české. Sborník k šedesátým narozeninám prof. PhDr. Lenky Bobkové, CSc., eds. L. Březina, J. Konvičná, J. Zdichynec, Praha 2006, pp. 265–288.
Żerelik R., Dzieje Śląska do 1526 roku, in: Historia Śląska, ed. by M. Czapliński, Wrocław 2002, pp. 98–118.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author declares that he or she has full copyright to the work, and such copyright it is not limited to the extent applicable to this declaration, that the article is an original work and that it does not infringe any third-party rights.
The author agrees to a free-of-charge, non-exclusive and non-restricted use of the work by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow i.e.:
- to record and duplicate: make copies of the work by means of printing, reprography, magnetic or digital storage;
- to circulate the original or the copies of the work (disseminate, lend or lease the original or copies thereof, publicly display, screen or make the work publicly available so that everyone is able to access it at the time and in place they wish to do so);
- to include the work in a compilation;
- the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow may grant sublicenses Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow makes the work available on the Platform Periodicals belonging to the University, according to the licence Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland. Accordingly, the author authorises all interested parties to use the work on the following conditions:
- the author and the title of the work will be listed,
- the place of publication (name of the periodical and an Internet link to the originally published work),
- the work will be distributed in a non-commercial way,
- no derivative works will be created.
