Heresiarch

In Christian theology, a heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the Oxford English Dictionary; from Greek: αἱρεσιάρχης, hairesiárkhēs via the late Latin haeresiarcha^[1]) or arch-heretic is an originator of heretical doctrine or the founder of a sect that sustains such a doctrine.^[1]

In this Gustave Dore engraving, Dante and Virgil speak to a Heresiarch trapped within a burning tomb. Dante placed arch-heretics in the Sixth Circle of Hell.

List of heresiarchs

• Simon Magus, the purportedly founder of Gnosticism
• Nicholas of Antioch, one of the Seven Deacons, founder of Nicolaism
• Montanus, founder of Montanism
• Theodotus of Byzantium, propounder of Adoptionism
• Valentinus, founder of Valentinianism
• Sabellius, founder of Sabellianism
• Marcion, founder of Marcionism
• Basilides, founder of Basilideanism
• Novatian, founder of Novatianism
• Arius, founder of Arianism
• Donatus Magnus, founder of Donatism
• Apollinaris of Laodicea, founder of Apollinarianism
• John Philoponus, founder of tritheism
• Macedonius I of Constantinople, founder of Macedonianism
• Aëtius & Eunomius, leaders of Anomoeanism
• Bonosus of Serdica, propounder of Antidicomerianism
• Priscillian, founder of Priscillianism
• Pelagius, founder of Pelagianism
• Eutyches of Constantinople, founder of Eutychianism
• Sergius I of Constantinople, founder of monoenergism
• St. Augustine refers to Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, as a heresiarch.^[2]
• Menocchio, an Italian miller who was burned at the stake in 1599
• Catholics, especially traditionalist Catholics such as Hilaire Belloc, consider Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other leaders of the Protestant Reformation to be arch-heretics.^[3]
• Conversely, some fundamentalist Protestants (including Alexander Hislop and Charles Chiniquy) have used the term to refer to the papacy and the members of the Roman Curia.
• Martin of Armenia, the fictional founder of the Old Russian Rite used by the Old Believers

Dante's Inferno

In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri represents the heresiarchs as being immured in tombs of fire in the Sixth Circle of Hell. In Cantos IX and X of the Inferno, Virgil describes the suffering these souls experience, saying "Here are the Arch-Heretics, surrounded by every sect their followers... / Like with like is buried, and the monuments are different in degrees of heat."^[4] Among the historical figures that Dante specifically lists as arch-heretics are Epicurus, Farinata Degli Uberti, Frederick II of Sicily, and Pope Anastasius II.

See also

• Christianity portal

• List of Christian heresies
• Heresy in Christianity