Modern historians, limited by the nature of the documentation, tend to emphasize
“political” or imperial millennialism in their analyses. The presence and strength of
popular and revolutionary millennialism, rarely reported except by hostile clerical
sources or by later spokesmen eager to downplay millenarian origins, are more difficult
to assess. If one limits oneself only to explicitly millenarian groups, the numbers are few;
if one identifies such groups by their patterns rather than their or others’ claims about
them, they are far more numerous. Given how dangerous even proimperial millennialism
could be (e.g., Spiritual Franciscans or John of Roquetaillade), the prominence of
conservative millennialism in medieval thought may testify to the ineradicable nature of
its appeal to the populace at large. In short, millennial beliefs and aspirations must be
ranked among the most profound and versatile of medieval ideologies of social change.
Richard Landes
[See also: ANTICHRIST; ANTI-SEMITISM; BLACK DEATH; CHARLEMAGNE;
CRUSADES; GREGORIAN REFORM; HERESIES, APOSTOLIC; JACQUERIE;
PASTOUREAUX; PEACE OF GOD; POPULAR DEVOTION; RAOUL GLABER]
Bietenhard, Hans. “Millennial Hope in the Early Church.” Scottish Journal of Theology
6(1953):12–30.
Cohn, Norman R.C. The Pursuit of the Millennium. Rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press,
1970.
Daniels, Theodore T. Millennialism: An International Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1992.
Emmerson, Richard K., and Bernard McGinn. The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, 1993.
Fredriksen, Paula. “Apocalypse and Redemption in Early Christianity: From John of Patmos to
Augustine of Hippo.” Vigiliae christianae 45(1991):151–83.
Fried, Johannes. “Endzeiterwartung um die Jahrtausendwende.” Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung
des Mittelalters 45.2 (1989):385–473.
Landes, Richard. “Lest the Millennium Be Fulfilled: Apocalyptic Expectations and the Pattern of
Western Chronography, 100–800 CE.” In The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle
Ages, ed. W.Verbeke, D.Verhelst, and A.Welkenhuysen. Louvain: Catholic University Press,
1988, pp. 141–211.
——. “Millenarismus absconditus: l’historiographie augustinienne et le millénarisme du haut
moyen âge jusqu’en l’an mil.” Moyen âge 98(1992):355–77; 99(1993):1–26.
Lerner, Robert E. “Refreshment of the Saints: The Time After Antichrist as a Station for Earthly
Progress in Medieval Thought.” Traditio 32(1976):99–144.
McGinn, Bernard. Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1979.
Reeves, Marjorie. Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future. London: SPCK, 1976.
St. Clair, Michael J. Millenarian Movements in Historical Context. New York: Garland, 1992.
Williams, Ann, ed. Prophecy and Millenarianism: Essays in Honour of Marjorie Reeves. Harlow:
Longman, 1980.
MILLS AND MILLING
. Taken to mean the mechanical devices and processes utilized in the preparation of
foodstuffs and manufactured goods, mills and milling experienced notable technical
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