Guibert attributes Eastern heresy to a supposed climate-induced mental agility
Evidence
Apparently, these men, because of the purity of the air and sky in which they are born, as a result of which their bodies are lighter and their intellect consequently more agile, customarily abuse the brilliance of their intelligence with many useless commentaries. Refusing to submit to the authority of their elders or peers, “they searched out evil, and searching they succumbed” [Ps. 63:7]. Out of this came heresies and ominous kinds of different plagues. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 785 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Guibert tied Easterners’ cleverness to their air and blamed intellectual agility for heresy. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 785; Medieval polemicists tailored heresy temptations to regional climates; Guibert blames the Eastern empire’s fall to Arabs on Greek heresy (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Guibert tied Easterners’ cleverness to their air and blamed intellectual agility for heresy.
#corroborates(1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 785 - Medieval polemicists tailored heresy temptations to regional climates
#qualifies(1.00) - Guibert blames the Eastern empire’s fall to Arabs on Greek heresy
#complicates(1.00) - Guibert blamed Eastern Christianity’s doctrinal instability for its fall into heresy.
#complicates(1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 783 - Guibert fathered the trope of the heretic Oriental conquered by the orthodox West
#responds-to(1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 786