The evolution of the orthodox view of the Eucharist in the light of Western European anti-heretical texts of the 11th and 12th centuries

Abstrakt

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the change in the perception of the Eucharist in Western Europe through an analysis of medieval anti-heretical texts regard­ing heresies from the years 1000–1150. This period witnessed heated discussions regard­ing the sacrament of the Eucharist resulting from the Berengarian controversy and the Gregorian Reform. An analysis of the various descriptions of heresy shows how the fre­quency of accusations of rejection of the Eucharist increases during the period under study, and how they expand to include other aspects of the celebration of the sacrament. The article is divided into two sections corresponding to the 11th and 12th centuries, re­spectively, and subsections containing analyses of individual cases.