Norman Cohn's classic study of millenarian movements in the Middle Ages, The Pursuit of the Millennium, documents the heresy of the Free Spirit. This movement of amoral free thinkers persisted for about five centuries, from about 1000 A.D. to about 1500 A.D. The heresy of the Free Spirit is known primarily from the records of the attempts of the Catholic Church to suppress it. These records consist of:

• Pronouncements of the Pope and bishops condemning it and warning the public of its dangerousness.
• Interrogations of accused adherents by the Inquisition
• Confessions and renunciation by former followers
• Philosophical rebuttals of its doctrines.

There are also a small number of documents produced by adherents to the movement which survived the burning and banning. These are:

• The Mirror of Simple Souls by Marguerite Porete, a French woman burned for heresy in 1310
• Sister Catherine, a study concerning mysticism written in Middle High German in the 14th century
• Articles of Faith written in Latin and discovered in the 15th century.

The origins of the Free Spirit heresy were in mysticism and the search for a simple, ascetic life, but it morphed (developed) into a doctrine that the pure could commit no sin. The abrogation of the concept of sin led to amorality and the commission of the acts which the Catholic Church condemned as sinful. In particular this abrogation of sin led the Brethern of the Free Spirit to fornication and promiscuity as acts of faith. Also they felt the concept of private property was no longer relevant so acts of theft were no crime or sin.

Beghards and Beguines

(To be continued.)