The Treatise of the Three Impostors: History of a Blasphemous Book That Never Existed
Publisher
:
Albin Michel
Parution date
:
2009
EAN
:
9782226183125
Number of pages
:
327
Description
Religious scandal and political intrigue in the thirteenth century involved the Holy Roman Emperor, three popes, blasphemy, excommunication, religious wars . . . and a book—a book that probably never existed. Georges Minois, in his latest examination of forgotten religious history, tells the story of an antireligious book that roiled religion and rulers for centuries: The Treatise of the Three Impostors.
In the early thirteenth century, there was a struggle for power between the pope and Frederick II, the holy Roman emperor. Church and state disputed territory, the right way to think of the Arabs, and scientific reason. It was a nasty fight. Then a nefarious rumor began to circulate that Frederick had written a blasphemous book that rejected the three great monotheistic religions. Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, the book was said to claim, were illusionary symbols of religion—and yet people were dying in their names.
Rumors of the book reached many people, but for hundreds of years, no one had laid hands on a copy. Then, starting in the eighteenth century, a succession of printed texts appeared—and in an increasing number of languages.
Historians have debated the origins and influences of these texts ever since. Now, Georges Minois has written the biography of the supposed book. He discusses two important versions—one Latin, one French—that differ in content. In doing so, he provides a new view of the existence and power of atheism, blasphemy, and free thought during a time when it was claimed that everyone was a true believer. Through the centuries, the book was an intellectual resistance to the religious power held by rabbis, priests, and imams and was considered clandestine literature. The Treatise of the Three Impostors changed history even though it never existed.
Author
Georges Minois : Georges Minois is a historian, a specialist in religious history, and the author of Les Origines du mal: Une histoire du peché original (Fayard, 2002), Histoire de l’athéisme (Fayard, 1998), Histoire de l’avenir: Des prophètes à la perspective (Fayard, 1996), and L’Eglise et la science: Histoire d’un malentendu (Fayard, 1990–1991).
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