The Department of History and the History Society present Professor Alexander Angelov. He is an assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary and specializes in Eastern Christianity, Byzantine history, and anthropology of religion. He will be presenting a lecture titled “Sins, Demons, and Redemption: Cultural Notions and Practice of the Medieval Inquisition” on Thursday, April 17, at 2:30 p.m. in 111 Olscamp Hall.

Apart from a brief historical overview of the emergence and practice of the Catholic Inquisition, the lecture will explore the particular cultural notions and theological assumptions that sustained this important medieval institution. In the process of re- evaluating the Inquisition’s legacy, we will also explore more broadly how categories of “sin,” “trespassing,” “crime,” and “punishment” formed and functioned in society. Focal examples will include the medieval Christian attitudes to “Jews,” “Lepers,” “Sexual Deviants,” and the ‘Possessed.’