PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

František Novotný earned his PhD in the Study of Religions, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic). His thesis, entitled “Mysteries of Evil: The Thematization of Ritual Devil Worship Imagery in Late Medieval Inquisitorial Trials,” was written under the supervision of David Zbíral. Before his Mellon Fellowship, Dr Novotný was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Pardubice (Czech Republic). He already has seven publications, including an article in Mediaeval Studies entitled “The Birth of the Luciferians: Revisiting the Persecution of Heretics by Conrad of Marburg.” During his time at PIMS, Dr Novotný will be examining narratives concerning miracles, revelations, demonic apparitions, and other aspects of the praeternatural in the works of Caesarius of Heisterbach, an early thirteenth century Rhineland Cistercian.