Papism, Mahometism and the Tree of Heresies

Abstract

The main objectives of this paper are: 1) to identify the editorial context in which appear two 16th and 17th centuries’ engravings representing the family tree of heresies, surmounted by the figures of the pope and the Ottoman sultan; 2): to explain the ideological significance of this iconographic motif; 3): to examine some signs of their reception in 17th century Protestant circles. Having located the books containing these pictures, it is concluded that: a) both reflected effectively the idea, widespread in Protestant environments, that the Catholic Church and Islam are two great heresies serving the Antichrist and developed from preexisting heretical doctrines. b) The simultaneous attack against Popery and Islam (the latter identified with the religion of the Ottoman Empire), beyond its polemical orientation, is conditioned by a millenarian mentality.