Given at the Museum of London on September 27, 2018
There was no intellectually sophisticated or articulate ‘atheism’ in the Middle Ages, but there was plenty of raw skepticism and incredulity. Church courts regularly heard blasphemy cases which went as far as outright denial of God.
This lecture will take a tour of medieval unbelief, showing how and why some medieval people defied the powerful orthodoxies of their day: fired not by intellectual or philosophical doubts but by the suspicion that ‘God’ was being used to swindle and manipulate them.
How to Be an Atheist in Medieval Europe
Lecture by Alec Ryrie
Given at the Museum of London on September 27, 2018
There was no intellectually sophisticated or articulate ‘atheism’ in the Middle Ages, but there was plenty of raw skepticism and incredulity. Church courts regularly heard blasphemy cases which went as far as outright denial of God.
Learn more on this video from Gresham College.
Top Image: Bust of Frederick II – photo by Sailko / Wikimedia Commons
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