ABSTRACT
We hear a jumble of heterodox voices growing louder, many inspired by the example of the early apostles and the purity and simplicity of the primitive Church, some drawing upon a reinvigorated classical tradition of logic and philosophy. Some voices are reformist, some are apocalyptic, some call for greater lay involvement in the faith, some come to challenge the very authority of the Catholic Church. Core tenets of faith are questioned – the nature of the sacraments, the Eucharist in particular – and radical preachers decry the suitability of the clergy to their task, denouncing the twin taints of sex and money. Secular powers become increasingly involved, certain battle lines are drawn, and bloodily, over time, it becomes more or less clear where the Catholic faith ends and heresy begins. In response to the agonistic struggle of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, the papacy champions the radical ideas of new mendicant religious orders (ideas which depend in part upon adapting and translating the heterodox challenge into new tools for the maintenance of Catholic orthodoxy); and convenes a great reforming council, which regularizes the powers and duties of the clergy across Europe, reinvigorating the parochial system, and attempting to ensure that the laity can be made truly (Catholic) Christian.
