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The Medieval inquisition: scale-free networks and the suppression of heresy

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  • Ormerod, Paul
  • Roach, Andrew P

Abstract

Qualitative evidence suggests that heresy within the medieval Church had many of the characteristics of a scale-free network. From the perspective of the Church, heresy can be seen as an infectious disease. The disease persisted for long periods of time, breaking out again even when the Church believed it to have been eradicated. A principal mechanism of heresy was through a small number of individuals with very large numbers of social contacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ormerod, Paul & Roach, Andrew P, 2004. "The Medieval inquisition: scale-free networks and the suppression of heresy," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 339(3), pages 645-652.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:339:y:2004:i:3:p:645-652
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.03.020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barabási, Albert-László & Albert, Réka & Jeong, Hawoong, 2000. "Scale-free characteristics of random networks: the topology of the world-wide web," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 281(1), pages 69-77.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jason Potts & Stuart Cunningham & John Hartley & Paul Ormerod, 2008. "Social network markets: a new definition of the creative industries," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 32(3), pages 167-185, September.
    2. Lenore Newman & Ann Dale, 2007. "Homophily and Agency: Creating Effective Sustainable Development Networks," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 79-90, February.
    3. Ausloos, Marcel, 2012. "Econophysics of a religious cult: The Antoinists in Belgium [1920–2000]," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(11), pages 3190-3197.
    4. Gamannossi degl’Innocenti, Duccio & Rablen, Matthew D., 2020. "Tax evasion on a social network," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 79-91.
    5. Ausloos, M. & Petroni, F., 2009. "Statistical dynamics of religion evolutions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 388(20), pages 4438-4444.
    6. Paul Ormerod, 2006. "Hayek, ‘The Intellectuals And Socialism’, And Weighted Scale‐Free Networks," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 41-47, March.
    7. Ormerod, Paul, 2007. "Extracting deep information from limited observations on an evolved social network," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 378(1), pages 48-52.

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