| This dissertation looks at how, during the latter half of the thirteenth century and the first half of the fourteenth century, the papal inquisitors in Languedoc questioned deponents in heresy trials. Using three inquisitors' manuals, written in the late 1240's, the late 1270's, and the early 1320's, I will examine how, by questioning deponents on their actions, the inquisitors hoped to uncover, and thus correct, heterodox thoughts. By doing so, they forced the people of Languedoc to examine their own actions in light of another's perception of those actions. This in turn created a self-disciplined social network that aided the inquisitors in their desire to extirpate heresy. This trajectory complicates the understanding of the shift from a punishment to a discipline society happening only with the Enlightenment, as well as the understanding of heresy as entirely the inquisitors' own. |
