The Cheese and the Worms: Uneducated heretics in Renaissance Italy (Live Read)

"I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed – just as cheese is made out of milk – and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The most holy majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time, and he was named lord with four captains, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. That Lucifer sought to make himself lord equal to the king, who was the majesty of God, and for this arrogance God ordered him driven out of heaven with all his host and his company; and this God later created Adam and Eve and people in great number to take the places of the angels who had been expelled. And as this multitude did not follow God's commandments, he sent his Son, whom the Jews seized, and he was crucified."

The Cheese and The Worms follows the religious ideas and cosmology of an Italian miller who was burned for his heretical ideas just one year before Giordano Bruno. First tried for heresy in 1583, Menocchio abjured his statements in 1584, but spent 20 months in prison in Concordia. Released in 1586, he claimed to have reformed. In 1598, he was arrested again as a lapsed heretic, having continued to speak to many people about his beliefs. He was burnt for heresy in 1599. He came from a peasant background and never went to university.

The book can be found here. The author is Carlo Ginzburg.

The exact choice of extracts might be modified on the day of reading depending on the interests of the participants, but chapters 9, 11, 12 and 33 are of particular relevance to our group's interests.
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About the book:

"Probably the most popular and widely read work of microhistory".
(Richard M. Tristano, St Mary's University of Minnesota)

"It persists as one of the earliest and most influential examples of microhistory." (Julie Fox-Horton, East Tennessee State University)
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This group examines the history of Philosophy and Science by looking primarily at European thinkers in chronological order. Great effort is made to include lesser known thinkers whose thought has historical significance. We will also examine non-European Philosophy and Science too to provide context and comparison.

The organizer is not an expert but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.

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Our meeting time is: Thursday 2 pm(Los Angeles)/5 pm (New York)/10 pm (London).