Schools of Asceticism: Ideology and Organization in Medieval
Religious Communities
University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 1998
In graduate school I became interested in Max Weber's Protestant Ethic
thesis, which led me to explore precursors to inner-worldly asceticism in
medieval religious groups. I studied orthodox monastic and lay groups, but what
interested me most were medieval heretical groups, such as the Waldensians and
the Cathars. Out of this interest developed what ultimately turned into a book (click
on the picture on my home page, which is its cover). It explores how religious
ethics (doctrines and other elements of belief structures) and organizational
arrangements of religious communities interacted to shape their members'
conduct, or how they acted in everyday life. Social class and gender are part of the analysis.
For an updated version on the chapter on the Cathars, see my article
“Sociological Explanations of Cathar Success and Tenacity in Languedoc: A New Perspective Focusing on the ‘Houses of Heretics.’”
Heresis: Revue semestrielle
d’histoire des dissidences médiévales 38 (2003): 31-49.
The book has been reviewed in the following journals:
- American Journal of Sociology
105 (1999): 592-94 (Ilana Silber).
- Antiquity 73 (1999): 238-39 (G.R.
Evans).
- Canadian Journal of History 34
(1999): 249-51 (Lawrin Armstrong).
- Catholic Historical Review 85
(1999): 599-600 (Henrietta Leyser).
- Church History 69 (2000): 165 (Charmarie
Blaisdell).
- Contemporary Sociology 29
(2000): 649-50 and 30 (2001): 430 (Arpad Szakolczai). See also my “Comment” in Contemporary Sociology 30 (2001):
428-29.
- English Historical Review 114
(1999): 1294 (Jonathan Hughes).
- Historische Zeitschrift 271
(2000): 428 (Dieter Berg).
- Journal of Ecclesiastical History
51 (2000): 400 (Janet Burton).
- Medioevo Latino 12 (2001): 1062
(
E. Ch.
).
- Ons geestelijk erf 73 (2000):
248-49 (Wybren
Scheepsma).
- Parergon 17 (1999): 233-36
(Carole Cusack).
- Review of Religious Research 42
(2000): 111-13 (George Becker).
- Religion (30) 2000: 192-94
(Andrew Jotischky).
- Revue historique 301 (1999):
970-71 (Marcel Pacaut).
- Social Forces 78 (1999): 402-5
(James Kelly).
- Sociology of Religion 60 (1999):
199-200 (William Swatos).
- Speculum 76 (2001): 744 (Bruce
Venarde).
- Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review of Letters, Philosophy, and Science
88 (1999): 241-44 (William Kingston).
- Soziologische Revue 23 (2000):
360-63 (Jens Jetzkowitz and Peter Gemeinhardt).
- Theological Studies 60 (1999):
579 (Charles Healey).
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