Mark Gregory Pegg (born 1963) is an Australian professor of

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, currently teaching in the United States at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, Missouri. His scholarship focuses upon

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

, the

inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

, the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

, and the history of

holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

. Apart from these specific scholarly pursuits, he writes more broadly about what shapes and defines the medieval West from 200 to 1500. He is the author of ''The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245–1246'', ''A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom'', and ''Beatrice's Last Smile: A New History of the Middle Ages''.

Biography

Pegg was born in 1963 in

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

, New South Wales, Australia, and grew up in

Woy Woy Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of the New South Wales state of Australia. The town is located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water and near the mouth of Brisbane Water at the Pacific Ocean, it is a popular holiday de ...

. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1987 from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. Between 1988 and 1990 he was research assistant to the anthropologist

Mary Douglas Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture, symbolism and risk, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkhei ...

in London. He received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

(1993) and Ph.D. (1997) from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where his dissertation advisor was

William Chester Jordan William Chester Jordan (born April 7, 1948) is an American medievalist who serves as the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University; he is a recipient of the Haskins Medal for his work concerning the Great Famine of 1315–131 ...

. He was a Member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

in Princeton in 1997. He was a visiting assistant professor at Washington University in 1998 before being hired as a tenure-track assistant professor in 1999. He was promoted to associate professor in 2004 and full professor in 2009. In 2005, he was awarded an

Andrew W. Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), known also as A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. The son of Mellon family patriarch Thomas Mellon ...

New Directions Fellowship;"New Directions Fellowship – Recipients 2005"
,

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...

in 2009-2010, he received the Supplemental Award to the New Directions Fellowship. In 2016-2017 he was a Fellow at the Collegium de Lyon: Institut d'études avancées, Université de Lyon, and in Spring 2022 he was a visiting professor at the

Université de Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the world. The university was split into ...

III (Paul-Valéry).

Works

Pegg publishes widely on the crusades, heresy, the inquisition, and the Middle Ages generally. Selected works include: ;Books * ''The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245–1246'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001) . * ''A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom'' (New York: Oxford University Press 2007) . * ''Beatrice's Last Smile: A New History of the Middle Ages'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023) . ;Articles * "Le corps et l’autorité: la lèpre de Baudouin IV,” '' Annales ESC'', 45 (1990): 265–287. * "On the Cathars, the Albigensians, and good men of Languedoc," ''

Journal of Medieval History The ''Journal of Medieval History'' is a major international academic journal devoted to all aspects of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. Each issue contains 4 or 5 original articles on European history, including the British Isles, North ...

'', 27 (2001):181–195. * "The Paradigm of Catharism; or the Historians’ Illusion," in ''Cathars in Question'', ed. Antonio Sennis (Woodbridge: York Medieval Press—Boydell and Brewer, 2016), pp. 26–57. * "Le catharisme en questions : falsifiabilité, vérité historique et une nouvelle histoire du christianisme médiéval," ''Cahiers de Fanjeaux : Le catharisme en question'', 55 (2020): 331–369. * "The Albigensian Crusade and the Early Inquisitions into Heretical Depravity, 1208-1246," in ''The Cambridge World History of Genocide'', eds. Ben Kieran, T.M. Lemon, and Tristan Taylor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 1, pp. 470–497.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060828075850/http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/695.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20061019135220/http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~relst/pegg.htm
"Research profile: Mark Pegg"
in ''The Centre for Medieval Studies Newsletter'', vol. 4, no. 2, July 2001, pp. 11, 12. University of Sydney

by John H. Arnold, University of East Anglia, in ''H-France Review'', vol. 1, no. 31, November 2001 Living people Australian medievalists Australian historians Expatriate academics in the United States Washington University in St. Louis faculty Princeton University alumni University of Sydney alumni 1963 births People from Woy Woy {{Australia-academic-bio-stub