E-mail: frantisek.novotny@upce.cz
Phone: +420 732 487 046
Consultations: Wednesday 16:00 – 17:00
Research topics:
Medieval Christianity; Persecution of Heresy in the Middle Ages; Theory of Myth and Para-Mythical Narratives; Studies od Conspiracy theories Fake News and Urban Legends.
Previous Jobs:
- 2020-2021: Translator from English to Czech.
- Spring 2020: Translation Corrector, Ando Translations, s.r.o.
Education:
- 2016-2021: PhD in the Study od Religions, Masaryk University Brno. Thesis: Mysteries od Evil: The Thematization of Ritual Devil Worship Imagery in Late Medieval Inquisitorial Trials.
- 2013–2016: MA in the Study of Religions, Masaryk University Brno. Thesis: Procesy s templáři a pozdně středověké představy o antinomické herezi.
- 2010–2013: BA in the Study of Religions, Masaryk University Brno. Thesis: Utváření obrazu kacířské iniciace templářů: Studie o vybraném prameni z jara 1310.
Study and research fellowships:
- Spring 2019: Erasmus + Traineeship, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands).
- September 2024 - May 2025: Mellon Fellowship, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto (Canada).
External collaboration:
ERC Project DISSINET, principal investigator prof. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Publications:
- "Heretical Mind Control: Cultist 'Brainwashing' Theories and their Pre-Modern Parallels", Central European Journal of Contemporary Religion 1 (2022), 43-55 [published 2026].
- "Reduktivní tanec s vlky: Ke knize Monomýtus Jana A. Kozáka", Religio: Revue pro religionistiku 32/1 (2024), 157-166.
- "Podvedeni jistým vesničanem: Vertikalita šíření satanského spiknutí od lidu k elitám ve středověku", Dingir 26/1 (2023), 27-29.
- "Čekali inkvizotoři na kacíře? K dynamice šíření valdenství a jeho perzekuce ve střední Evropě první poloviny 14. století", in: Okouzleni neznámem: Cesty a cestování středovýchodní Evropou v proměnách času, Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart 2023, 83-100.
- "Harbinger of the Witches' Sabbath? The Emergence of Devil Worship Imagery in the Trial of the Templars", Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft 17/3 (2022), 367-392.
- "Předmluva", in: Petr z Vaux-en-Cernay, Albigenská historie, přel. Jana Zachová, Praha: Argo 2022, 5-17.
- "The Birth of the Luciferians: Revisiting the Persecution of Heretics by Conrad of Marburg", Mediaeval Studies 83 (2021), 119-164.
- František Novotný – David Zbíral, „Démon zrcadlem pravdy: Teologie, morální ponaučení a hereze v porýnském líčení exorcismu z okolí roku 1200“, Religio: Revue pro religionistku 29/1 (2021), 57-85.
- „Bestie a zrádci: Francouzská královská propaganda o templářích, fámy a jejich vztahy, 1307-1312“, Sacra 13/1 (2015), 24-37.
Conference papers (selected):
"Stereotypical heresy and social resistance: Gallus of Neuhaus’ Inquisition in t"Attributing Idolatry to the Heretics: The Role of the Stedinger CrusadeL, Conference Medieval Heresies: Along the Roads Less Travelled, Vienna, March 2023. he 14th century Bohemia", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2026.
"Discourses About Heresy in the Works by Caesarius of Heisterbach", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2024.
"Sense of Technology in the Witches Sabbath Imager: The Treatise Errores Gazariorum", Conference EASR, Vilnius, September 2023.
"Body-related Metaphors and Legitimation of Violence in the Establishment of the Medieval Papal Inquisition", Conference Legitimation of Violence, Pardubice, September 2023.
"Attributing Idolatry to the Heretics: The Role of the Stedinger CrusadeL, Conference Medieval Heresies: Along the Roads Less Travelled, Vienna, March 2023.
"The Imagery of Luciferians in the Early 14th Century Central Europe", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2022.
"Repression, Resistance, and Politics in the Inquisitorial Trials in Piedmont", 1387-1388, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2021.
"Conrad of Marburg: Inquisitor or Heresy Hunter?", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2019.
"Foolhardy Exorcists and Cautious Conjurers in Caesarius of Heisterbach's Dialogus Miraculorum", Conference EASR, Tartu, July 2019.
"Multi anni elapsi, multi fratres mortui": Time, Distance, and Self-Defense of the Interrogated Knights Templar", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2018.
Wolves, Poisons, Cloven Hoof: Cultural Exchanges and the Origins of the Witches' Sabbath Imaginations. In Evil/Le Mal: 14th Annual Symposium of the International Medieval Society (IMS-Paris), Paris, July 2017.