Let God sort them out

Dick Harrison is a Swedish history professor who has published a long series of introductory books to various subjects related to Swedish or European history. They are often based on his more extensive volumes on the same topics. This book, “Kättarna – de kristna rebellerna”, seems to be an exception.  It´s an overview of heretical movements within mostly Western Christianity from Roman times onwards. I don´t think Harrison has previously touched on this issue.

Despite being a popularized work, it is surprisingly comprehensive. The “classical” heretics, meaning the Bogomils, Cathars and Waldensians, are of course mentioned. So are Giordano Bruno and Michael Servetus.  However, Harrison is at pains to point out that many suspected ”heretics” were really Christians who simply happened to belong to the wrong theological faction, such as the Arians or Pelagians during Roman times, the Spiritual Franciscans and Beguins during the Middle Ages, or the Protestants during the Reformation. In Protestant lands, the Catholics were the “heretics”!

Groups considered too socially unruly were another potential target. Thus, the flagellants during the Black Death (who were Catholics) often ended their days on the stake after their movement had gotten out of hand. The charge of heresy could also be a cover for political machinations, as when Joan of Arc was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake by the English during the Hundred Years´ War between England and France. A Swedish example was the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520, when Danish king Christian II (who also claimed the Swedish throne) executed almost 100 opponents from the Swedish nobility after they had first been accused of heresy by the Swedish archbishop (who supported Christian). In reality, the conflict was completely political, both sides being Catholic at the time.

The most interesting chapter deals with a number of almost unknown Swedish heretics. There is the curious case of Botulf Botulfsson, an early 14^th century peasant with no known connection to any heretical group, who repeatedly denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements. His ultimate fate is unknown, but since he was condemned as a heretic by the Church, Harrison assumes that he was indeed burned at the stake. Another virtually unknown heretic is Hemming of Vadstena, who started preaching in 1442 and claimed to be a conduit for Virgin Mary. Although Hemming was supposedly a simple peasant, the fact that he preached in Vadstena is significant. After all, the Vadstena abbey was founded a century earlier by Saint Bridget, who claimed to have received visions from…you guessed it…Virgin Mary.

Although I studied Church history at college level, there were some surprises in this book even for me. One is the heretical movement known as Antonianism, which erupted in the Kongo Empire in Central Africa during the 18^th century (Kongo controlled parts of modern Congo-Kinshasa and Angola). Antonianism was a peculiar blend of Catholicism, an iconoclasm closer in kind to radical Protestantism, a cargo cult-like apocalypticism, and Black supremacy. The female prophet, Beatriz Kimpa Vita, was burned at the stake in 1706 and the movement collapsed three years later when its “capital” was overrun by Kongo and Portuguese troops.

The last person in the Christian world executed for heresy was Cayetano Ripoll, who was hanged in Spain in 1826 for being a Deist (the secular authorities had “commuted” the sentence from death by burning to death by hanging). According to one urban legend, the Catholic priests insisted on burying his corpse in a barrel on which flames had been painted! Another tall tale has it that the barrel was later burned on the stake…

Since “Kättare” is intended as a brief overview, Harrison never discusses the deeper issues connected to the heresy meme. Why is this meme a feature rather than a bug of Christianity? Could there be a connection to monotheism, for instance? He also denies that heresy and heresy-hunting exists today, surely an ironic statement in a book published in 2020. True, we don´t burn people at the stake today, we just “cancel” them, but maybe tomorrow…? After all, authoritarian secular movements such as Communism also combat “heresy”, so what makes us think we are more safe than our ancestors?

With that little reflection, I close this review of “Kättare – de kristna rebellerna”.