The pervasiveness of the Christian religion has long been treated as one of the key features of medieval society. Indeed, Europe in the Middle Ages is often described simply as a Christian culture. Yet what do we mean when we say that medieval Europe was a Christian society, and what did it mean to be a Christian in the Middle Ages? These questions are fundamental to any understanding of the Middle Ages, yet the variety of theoretical approaches and conclusions represented in this carefully selected and provocative collection of key works in the field highlights the complexity of the answers....

The pervasiveness of the Christian religion has long been treated as one of the key features of medieval society. Indeed, Europe in the Middle Ages is often described simply as a Christian culture. Yet what do we mean when we say that medieval Europe was a Christian society, and what did it mean to be a Christian in the Middle Ages? These questions are fundamental to any understanding of the Middle Ages, yet the variety of theoretical approaches and conclusions represented in this carefully selected and provocative collection of key works in the field highlights the complexity of the answers....

By 1300 theologians had established a consensus position concerning predestination stating that God predestines without regard to human causes, but reprobates with regard to sin. In the fourteenth Century this consensus was shattered, first by those arguing that God also predestines on account of human causes, and then by those who asserted that God does neither with regard for human causes.
The first part of the book examines the theology of Peter Aureol, who first broke with the consensus position on predestination. The second part traces the impact of his theology on late Medieval...