A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, Volume II
Lea, Henry Charles, 1825-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 4.5- Word count
- 1.5M words
- Chapters
- 146
Tags
English Originals World HistoryReligion Historical ReappraisalPower OppressionSocial CritiqueAcademic StudyMedieval HistoryInquisitionSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles LeaAuthor: Lea, Henry Charles, 1825-1909,Language: English, Class: BX: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Churches, Church movements, Release Date: Apr 16, 2012Editor's review
This is the second volume of Henry Charles Lea's history of the medieval Inquisition, a representative work of nineteenth-century positivist historiography. Drawing on a large body of primary sources, the author systematically traces the development, institutional operation, and typical cases of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, with a calm and restrained narrative that emphasizes the collation of sources and institutional analysis rather than emotional judgment. The second volume continues the book's combined chronological and thematic structure and is an important reference for understanding the judicial mechanisms of the medieval Church, heresy trial procedures, and the expansion of religious power. This English electronic text is released free of charge by Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and cite, and suitable as supplementary reading for university history courses or as a source base for researchers. Readers should note the author's nineteenth-century positivist stance and his selection of sources, and should not treat this as the only authoritative account; it is best read alongside more recent scholarship. Overall, this is a densely academic historical monograph that requires patient close reading, not a light introductory work.Who it's for
A good fit for
- University students in medieval and church history
- Researchers needing reference to collated primary sources
- Serious readers interested in the institutional history of the Inquisition
- History enthusiasts with English reading ability
Not a good fit for
- General leisure readers seeking light historical stories
- Beginners lacking medieval background knowledge and unwilling to look up terminology
- Readers expecting strong evaluative judgments rather than source collation
Reading tips
- Read the introduction and table of contents first to grasp the second volume's place and themes within the whole work
- Mark source references while reading for later verification and citation
- Compare with more recent scholarship on the Inquisition to discern the author's stance
- Read by topic, focusing on one institution or case thread at a time
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
Is this book an academic monograph or popular reading?
It is a positivist historiographical monograph by the nineteenth-century historian Henry Charles Lea, based on collated primary sources, academically dense, and calmly restrained in narrative; it is not a popular history for a general audience.Can I read it without a background in medieval history?
You can, but it is quite difficult. The book involves a great deal of terminology on church institutions, heretical sects, and judicial procedures; it is advisable to first acquire a basic outline of medieval church history and read with reference works at hand.Why is only the second volume available?
Project Gutenberg releases public-domain electronic texts volume by volume; this entry corresponds to the second volume of the work. Before reading, you may look for other volumes released by the same project to form a complete picture.Does the author's stance affect the presentation of sources?
The author holds a nineteenth-century positivist stance and emphasizes source collation and institutional analysis, but his selection of sources and narrative framework bear the marks of his era. It is best to compare with more recent scholarship and not treat it as the only authoritative conclusion.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Lea, Henry Charles, 1825-1909 AuthorHenry Charles Lea (1825–1909) was an American historian known for his studies of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The library holds eight of his works, including the four-volume A History of the Inquisition of Spain and the three-volume A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, as well as Superstition and Force. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, he examined the organization, trial procedures, and social impact of the Inquisition. His detailed, well-documented narratives remain foundational works frequently cited in the field. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here, and readers may come to know his historical contribution mainly through his writings.