ward expression of spirituality, for the eleventh and twelfth centuries saw a spate of church-building which helped to enhance the reputation as well as the appearance of the Holy See.

There was much, then, to attract those who did not find themselves in direct political conflict with the papacy and, as we shall see, the aggressive assertion of the Christian faith against non-believers was to have considerable political consequences. But there were dangers. Growing suspicion between Greek and Latin resulted from papal claims to supremacy in the Church and an increased suspicion of differences in theology and ritual which, paradoxically, sprang from greater mutual contacts. There was also a much more dangerous problem, that of those who followed paths to spiritual improvement of which the Church hierarchies could not approve.

Those whom the Church dubbed heretics always believed that they were practising what Christ had taught, even when this conflicted with what the representatives of the Church were declaring as truth. From the Church's point of view, however, heretics were those who embraced any belief explicitly or implicitly condemned by the papacy, or who, when confronted with the evidence of their error, refused to obey the teaching of the Church and retract their own beliefs. Heretics, however genuinely their beliefs might be held, were seen as those through whom the Devil worked to undermine the faith. They constituted a major source of infection and disease within the body of the faithful.

Heresy was not solely a Mediterranean phenomenon, but there is no doubt that some of the strongest influences on western heresy came from its contacts with the east. The change in the nature of heresy in the twelfth century is a testimony to these contacts. In the eleventh century, heresy had often taken the form of a flight from the world and a concern to live the life of poverty taught by Christ. An Italian group, led by one Gundulf, may serve as an example of this type of behaviour. Gundulf and his followers rejected the validity of church possessions and all the outward symbolism of the services--bells, incense, and altars. They denied the sacra-

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