Conclave: A novel

One day, Peter was reading a book. He showed it to his younger brother William, and asked him what he thought. William replied, ‘It seems to me that we have lost our souls.’ Peter nodded his assent and said, ‘Let us go therefore, brother, and seek the salvation of our souls.’83 What book they were reading remains unknown, but René Weis conjectures

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That heresy seems to have died down almost completely in the second half of the eleventh century is possibly related to the fact that the Church was starting a programme of reform that had been initiated by Pope Leo IX (1049–54). The greatest of the reforming pontiffs of this period – and indeed one of the most significant of all mediaeval popes –

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