Medieval Heresies

Christine Caldwell Ames received a BA in Russian Studies from Brown University, an MA in Church History from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in Medieval History from the University of Notre Dame. Her training included coursework and examination fields in heresy and inquisition; medieval Iberia; Islam; medieval Judaism, and interreligious relations in the Middle Ages. Her teaching experience includes courses on medieval history, heresy and orthodoxy, Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages, the Crusades, medieval violence, and the history of Christianity. At the University of South Carolina, where she is an associate professor of history, Ames has received the Mortar Board Society's award for teaching. Her first book, Righteous Persecution: Inquisition, Dominicans, and Christianity in the Middle Ages (2009) investigated how friars from the Order of Preachers, the religious order most closely involved with heresy inquisitions, understood that work within their foundational pastoral and apostolic mission. She has received support from the Fulbright Scholar Program (France), the National Endowment of the Humanities, and the Mellon Foundation. Her professional memberships include the Medieval Academy, the American Society of Church History, and the American Academy of Religion. She presently serves on the award committee for the American Historical Association's James Henry Breasted Prize, which is given to the best book of history in any area before the year 1000.