Hi, welcome to the garden of the historical building of the University of Barcelona. In this, our second weekly video, we're going to address some of the questions and ideas brought up by your contributions to the forums. Let me start by thanking you all for your enthusiasm and continued commitment to this course. We, the organizers, are thrilled with the way in which magic in the Middle Ages is working, and rest assured that we know it is you who make it work because your participation and feedback helps us make it better. And that's my cue to apologize because as some of you have noted I do need to slow down a bit. I'm really sorry if I speak so quickly that you had trouble understanding this week's videos. There is so much information in each of them and I tend to get a bit carried away, especially when talking about these kinds of things. I'll try to make it up to you by speaking at a more reasonable pace today in this video. That said, let's start by discussing the activities suggested for unit two. You were supposed to compare the character of Bernardo Gui, portrayed in Jean-Jacques Annaud's movie, The Name of the Rose, which is based on Umberto Eco's novel, and played by Fahrid Murray Abraham. You had to compare him, I said, with the historical figure we presented in video form. On the one hand, as many of you have pointed out, the fictional characterization of Bernardo Gui sort of embodies several different stereotypes of the inquisitor. It presents him as a villain without exploring his background or his reasoning. He simply acts as WIlliam of Baskerville's evil counterpart. On the other hand, the image we provided is based on the historical analysis of Bernardo Gui, not only is as an inquisitor, but also as an actual person with his own motivations and beliefs. Which leads us to a rather interesting point. We entitled video four The Tale of The Not So Evil Inquisitor. And one of your course mates was worried about it being a bit frivolous approach to a rather serious topic. Why the not so evil part? Well, we are not in any case claiming, that sending almost 60 people to a terrible death by fire is morally justifiable in any way. Or makes him less evil than, for example, Conrad of Marburg, an early inquisitor we have discussed at the specialized forum. And who sent hundreds of people to the stake after forcing their confessions through torture. As human beings, better yet, as 21st century human beings, it is only natural for us to take sides, especially to take the side of the victims who were condemned for their beliefs. Something most of us find unthinkable, even though it still happens today in some parts of the world. But as historians, that cannot be a way to approach the subject. Our first and foremost mission is to understand the people of the past, accused and inquisitors alike and to try and place them within their context. And see them as persons, not only as victims and monsters, respectively. Moral judgments are not ours to pass. However, one of our main aims when we were creating this course was to dispel some of the most common misconceptions about magic in the Middle Ages. Among them, as we have seen this week and we will see again in the next unit, the demonstration of inquisitors needed to be addressed. For, medieval inquisitors were actually a voice of reason, at least sometimes, whereas spontaneous lynch mobs who were just as cruel as death at the stake offered absolutely no legal shelter for those suspected of being sorcerers and having harmed others through the use of magic. Another concern of yours throughout this week was why we wanted you to analyze a movie when there is so much nonfictional literature relevant to the topic of magic and heresy. Well, at the end of the videos, you can see lots of specialized videography on this subject. And you also have a PDF file on your course dashboard which you can check out and download if you want to know more about it. We will also add online resources over the next few weeks. But, in any case if we wanted you to reflect on the figure of the inquisitor as depicted in movies was because movies have played a major role in shaping the most widespread conception of that evil inquisitor I was talking about. Like it or not, cinema mirrors our own references as a society. And it is important for us historians, and also for anyone interested in history, just as yourselves, to develop a critical spirit that helps us give artistic credit where credit is due. But also compare the artistic product with what we actually know about that historical period, especially now that the interest in the Middle Ages has been rekindled by so many movies, novels, and TV shows. There was a point of this exercise, which you have performed outstandingly well, by the way. As for the tests that accompanied the videos of this unit, I'd like to briefly review the correct answers. First, the difference between natural and demonic magic lies in the power they tap into. Whereas natural magic is related to the power of nature, demonic magic has to do with demons and their intervention in human affairs. As for the second test, the views of the church on magic. Churchmen were absolutely constant, as one might expect, in considering demonic magic and evil that had to be persecuted but the views on natural magic varied throughout the Middle Ages as we have seen. The most problematic test has been the third one. Why were inquisitors in charge of persecuting sorcerers? Although the argument, insofar as magic was demonic in nature, it fell under the purview of inquisitors, was one used by many inquisitors who wanted to get there hands on this subject. It was not until the time of Pope John the 22nd that is early 14th century that they were actually ordered to take care of it. Up until then, they were supposed to pass these cases over to secular authorities unless they were directly linked to heretical beliefs. As for the fourth question, you have no problems there, Gui's Practica was a manual he wrote for his colleagues on the basis of his own experience. And finally, necromancy was mostly practiced by educated clerics who knew their Latin. Next week's unit, we'll address at length the topic of witchcraft and its persecution. Dr. will accompany you through the construction of the stereotype of the witch and the alleged crime of witchcraft. You will see how the first trials worked, and also the roles secular and ecclesiastical authorities played in those trials at the end of the Middle Ages. I'm sure you will enjoy it. Please keep telling us what you think about our course and contributing your opinions at the forums. We really appreciate it. Thanks and see you soon.
