Beginning in the 1360s and lasting until 1410, Waldensian heretics experienced an intense wave of repression and conversion in German-speaking Europe. The inquisitor Petrus Zwicker (d.1403) played a leading role in this campaign. In his monograph, Reima Välimäki explores the innovations of Zwicker's approach, which Välimäki argues completely changed existing models of inquisition, creating new approaches to heresy and new definitions of heresy and orthodoxy.
Zwicker was the German provincial of the Celestine order, from the monastery of Oybin in Saxony. Between 1391 and 1404, he operated in several German dioceses, overseeing the interrogations and conversions of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Waldensians. As both an inquisitor and polemicist, Zwicker affected not only individual heretics, but the late medieval approach to heresy more generally. It was Zwicker's combination of duties--conducting interrogations, writing about heresy, and directing parish priests--that accounted for his influence.In order to demonstrate the breadth of Zwicker's influence, Välimäki focuses not on trials and outcomes for heretics, but on the wider impact of Zwicker's work. This impact can be summed up by Välimäki's phrase "the pastoralization of heresy." In this development, the battle against heresy took to the pulpits, and preaching rather than interrogation became its most formidable tool. This shift parallels the general movement in the later Middle Ages towards pastoralization, particularly the education of the laity and promotion of their orthodoxy.
In the portrait painted by Välimäki, Zwicker appears as a determined and energetic pursuer of heretics. But he also appears as an inquisitor particularly in tune with his opponents. Välimäki argues thatZwicker's writings demonstrate an attentive consideration of Waldensian beliefs. This allowed him to approach heretics, in person and in writing, not as demonic others, but as rational beings who could be persuaded to convert.
Välimäki's exposition of Zwicker's writings displays the careful attention to language and detail necessary for good medieval research. Using these skills, Välimäki makes several valuable contributions. He demonstrates that the Refutatio errorum, an unattributed text on the Waldensian heresy, was in fact authored by Zwicker and can be read as a first draft of Zwicker's better knownCum dormirent homines. He also exposes other details of Zwicker's literary output. One interesting observation is that Zwicker shaped his own writing to reflect the Waldensian insistence on the bible as the sole source of doctrine. Thus, Zwicker's anti-Waldensian polemics omitted patristic sources and argued from scripture alone, with one exception. The only non-biblical source was De consolatione Philosophiae, revealing the Celestinian inquisitor's fondness for Boethius.
In addition to looking backward and tracing the influences on Zwicker's writings, Välimäki also looks forward, following the transmission of Zwicker's work in the popular devotional literature of Ulrich von Pottenstein and Johlín of Vodňany. This transmission demonstrates the spread of the pastoral theological approach from Zwicker's circle into surrounding society, and reveals that Zwicker's texts were aimed at the widespread propagation of knowledge of heresy to a mixed audience of clergy and laity.
Välimäki also provides a detailed breakdown and analysis of the complex collection of inquisitorial materials known as the Processus Petri, mapping its transmission and utilization. One aspect of Välimäki's work that will open new avenues of scholarship is his discussion of Zwicker's use of summonses. He observes that summonses and public penance acted as channels of communication for instructing and guiding both orthodox Catholics and heretics. Especially noteworthy is Välimäki's observation that summonses were spoken during Lenten sermons in order to reach Waldensians preparing for Easter communion. Such practices reveal the overlaps between preaching and inquisition as methods of instruction and pastoral care. Particularly, Välimäki reveals the shift in Zwicker's inquisitorial approach away from interrogations based on rooting out heresiarchs and co-heretics, and towards an emphasis on faith and doctrine. Välimäki successfully positions this approach within the larger movements of the era towards lay education and church reform.
Välimäki's work makes a wider contribution to scholarly understandings of the cultural and intellectual landscape of upper Austria. He displays the many overlaps between Waldensian beliefs and those of progressive Christians of the time--their biblicism, rejection of saints and relics, and criticism of the clergy.Finally, Välimäki reveals the way that current anxieties were reflected in the treatment of heresy. For example, Waldensians supposedly posed a threat to the dignity of the clergy because they disputed the validity of sinful priests. This was an especially menacing position at a time when criticism of the clergy was ubiquitous and doubts about the salvational efficacy of priests in opposing papal camps was widespread. Thus, Waldensian anticlericalism had to be distinguished from orthodox critiques of the church. On the other hand, the anticlericalism of Waldensians led to the label of "Waldensian" being applied to opponents in ecclesiastical quarrels. Anyone who criticized his clerical opponents came to run the risk of being deemed a "Waldensian," especially during the crisis of the Great Western Schism. Indeed, the Schism acts as a background to all of Zwicker's work against heresy. One odd feature of Zwicker's writings is his omission of any mention of the Schism. Välimäki attempts to explain this silence by suggesting that Zwicker did not wish to mention anything that would weaken the Church's validity, but the omission remains mysterious.
In conclusion, this book offers a satisfying and valuable contribution to our understanding of late medieval spiritual life. Välimäki's analysis is erudite and meticulous. For anyone with an interest in heresy, it is a must. In addition, this work will demonstrate to a wider audience that the German-speaking lands, while sometimes overlooked, produced some of the seminal experiences and developments of late medieval life in Europe.