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GCSE History · key term
Religious beliefs judged to be contrary to the official teachings of the Church.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1, Paper 2
Holding religious beliefs that contradict the accepted teachings of the established Church.
Revise: Nature and Changing Definitions of Criminal ActivityHeresy and treason were not new either. The important changes were in the circumstances encouraging crime, the threats authorities feared and the behaviour the law treated as criminal.
A religious belief judged contrary to the Church’s accepted doctrine.
Paper 3
A belief judged contrary to the authorised teaching of a church. In Tudor England, religious authorities could prosecute heresy, and persistent offenders could face execution.
Revise: English Reformation c.1520–c.1535Nevertheless, Protestants remained a minority, and their beliefs could be prosecuted as heresy.
Paper 1
Revise: Change overviewBeliefs accepted under one ruler could therefore become unacceptable under another. These tensions help explain the importance of heresy, meaning beliefs contrary to official religious teaching. Heresy concerned belief; treason concerned offences against the ruler or state.
Distinguish heresy, which concerned religious beliefs, from treason, which challenged the ruler’s authority. Explain why they could overlap when the monarch also headed the Church.
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