Feudal Relations in Italy, France, and Germany in the 12th–13th Centuries and Their Impact on Heretical Movements

Abstract

The study examines the factors and preconditions that determined the emergence of heretical movements in the three major Western European countries—Italy, France, and Germany—during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Based on documentary evidence and existing scholarship, it concludes that the origin and spread of these heresies resulted from two principal factors: the specific social, economic, and political circumstances of the time, on the one hand, and the influence of Eastern heresies, including the Bulgarian Bogomil movement, on the other.

The heresies reflected the deep antagonisms within feudal society—the conflicts between the secular and ecclesiastical feudal aristocracy and the peasant and plebeian masses, the oppressed and exploited populations in both villages and towns. This interpretation allows for a realistic and objective assessment of the influence of the Bulgarian Bogomil movement on the ideology and struggles of the heretical movements in Western Europe.