ABSTRACT
Quoted by the cardinals at Anagni in 1255 examining the works of Joachim of Fiore, Gratian defined heresy as when 'each man chooses for himself the teaching he thinks best. Whoever understands Holy Scripture in a manner other than is required by the judgement of the Holy Spirit by whom it was written, is to be called an heretic even if he does not leave the Church'. Self-criticism among churchmen was one way in which the Church mobilized itself to combat heresy. Most critical enthusiasts were anti-sacerdotal. Enthusiasts, both orthodox and heretical, found simony heretical. This attitude derived from the Gregorian age when the 'reformers' had disinterred this ancient weapon to beat the clergy who were loyal to the old state churches. Lay anti-sacerdotalism was restrained by the fact that enthusiasts lived within a Church in which, until after 1300, lay religious passions were normally channelled into monastic or quasi-monastic groups.
