David Zbíral has just published a monograph Pokřtění ohněm: Katarské křesťanství ve světle pramenů (12.-14. století) / Baptized by Fire: Cathar Christianity in the Light of Sources (12th-14th Century). The book offers an analytical overview of Cathar Christianity, accompanied by commented Czech translations of the most important sources and detailed study of the individual texts.
In a new study published in Human Nature, LEVYNA was part of a team lead by A.K. Willard, studying how witchcraft beliefs affect social norms and behaviors. Specifically, researchers investigated whether witchcraft is regarded to be motivated by envy and how this notion influences community interactions. The findings show that, while witchcraft accusations were common, they were mostly directed at persons suspected of acting out of envy.
In a new article, Anestis Karasaridis and Aleš Chalupa used epidemiological SIR/SEIR models to simulate different pathogen scenarios and found that the death toll might not have been as high as ancient sources suggest.
