[…] Therefore Arianism (named after its founder, Arius) became widespread in the 4th century.  This tenet recognized only the human nature of Christ, making him subordinate to God the Father.  Monophysitism, however, another heretic movement, conceived of Christ as having a unitary and exclusively holy nature.

These tenets aroused heated debate and much blood was shed because of them, since behind these dissenting beliefs there were currents of resistance to the dominant church and the slave state that supported it.  In denying the godly nature of Christ, Arianism was denying the godly nature of the Christian Church as well.  The Arianist clergy did not form a privileged group, they did not hold positions of power, nor did they own vast property, as was the case with the Orthodox Church.  Arianists stoutly opposed the wealth of the church and especially its ownership of estates.  It is therefore understandable that the orthodox clergy, especially those among the higher ranks, despised and disapproved of the tenets of the Arianists.  The first ecumenical council summoned in 325 condemned these tenets.  In spite of this, Arianism gained adherence among the masses who were enraged by the greed, luxury and riches of the prelacy who were living off enormous estates and exploiting the poor.  Even some emperors, who were trying to increase their material resources by confiscating church lands, showed an inclination towards Arianism.  Arianism had become widespread among the "barbarians" who hated the empire.

Monophysitism (see chapter 4) was especially prevalent in the eastern parts of the Empire, in Syria and Egypt, where the oppression of the Roman State imposed a heavy burden on the people.  These territories, therefore, wanted to separate from the empire.  Monophysitism also combined its teachings with protest against the wealth of the church.  The monophysits, by denying the human, mortal nature of Christ, demanded that the clergy give up earthly goods, wealth and luxury.

There had been heresies that gave expression to the aspirations of the oppressed classes, especially those of the slaves and colons, and demanded the total change of the slave-owning societies.  An example of this is the "agnostics" movement (for more see the chapter3).  They tried to realize the egalitarian teachings of the early Christians, which the ruling church considered achievable only in the afterlife.  Although the church fiercely opposed such heresies they still attracted numerous followers among the masses.

 
The movement of the agnostics' can be regarded as the protest of the masses against social repression but it was carried out under religious cover, using the slogans of the fight against the ruling church.  The agnostics, maintaining the tradition of the early Christian sects, preached a return to original Christianity and aimed to achieve social equality and community of goods and took a stand against private property.  Their teachings found a sympathetic response among the oppressed masses of people in the Roman province of Africa. 

The movement of the agnostics grew to considerable size especially in the years 409 and 410.  The center of one of the largest revolts of the slaves and COLONUSOK was Numidia but the conflict extended to many other areas of the African provinces.  It is Augustine (Augustinus), the famous theologian and bishop of the African City of Hippo, he describes how in the province of Africa villagers (ristici) rebel against their masters and the escaped slaves not only leave their masters but they also threaten them, or even murder them".

The agnostics had close links with the natives of Africa, since the slaves and colons on the estates of the big African landowners were mainly of local, Berber (Mauritanian) origin.  As a result, the downtrodden natives were always active supporters of the Berber tribes raiding the province of Africa.  The savage persecution of the agnostics, beginning in 411-412, temporarily weakened the movement, but it flared up again all over North Africa.  Historical sources reveal a resurgence of the agnostic rebellion in the years 418 and 420.  In Numidia, which still remained the center of the revolt, the agnostics fought bloody and desperate battles against the Roman troops.  This revolt was put down with unusual cruelty.  The Roman troops killed many of the agnostics and forced others to fling themselves into the fire to escape the hands of their executioners. We can find evidence of the scale of the uprising in contemporary written sources, in which we read that in the course of the fighting thousands of slaves and colons were killed and even more escaped.

 
In today's bourgeois literature the iconoclastic movement is characterized as a purely religious one.  This is particularly true of the works of contemporary bourgeois historians.  Soviet scientists have proved that underlying this religious conflict there was an intense social conflict.  It was the battle of the masses against the ruling church and it involved the efforts of the military aristocracy to limit the size of church lands.

The main strength of the struggle came from the popular forces, it was they who gave an impelling force to the movement.  The popular forces, with their destruction of icons and relics, fought against the oppression of the official church and the government, as well as against the hierarchy of the church.  The tasks and aims of the military aristocracy in leading the iconoclastic movement were completely different.  This aristocracy fought not against the Orthodox Church as such but was striving simply to limit the influence of the clergy; it only used this popular movement to serve its own interests.  Iconoclastic emperors, as well as their power-base, the military aristocracy, represented a moderate course, while the Paulikians, consisting of masses of people, represented the revolutionary wing of the movement.  They were striving to put an end to social inequalities and the dominant church as well.

 
Among the workers and especially among the diverse peasantry, on the other hand, there was a growing discontent with the church.  The feudal church masters seemed to be the cruelest exploiters of peasants: they stubbornly held on to serfdom and to soakage and villein services.  The church at the same time constantly burdened them with the tithes and other sorts of taxes.  A wide range movement had started among the people, against the Catholic Church.  They gained support from the lower clergy as well, some of whom had been pauperized and despised the wealthy church and understood the needs of the people.

In England, folk preachers, the so-called Lollards appeared.  Dressed in coarse shirts of hair, they roamed all over England, preaching against the rich and power-greedy church.  Subjects expressing the strivings of the masses dominated their speeches.  The Lollards stoutly opposed the abuses of the feudal lords and royal officials.  They denounced the unfairness of this system which obliged people to work for others all their lives.  They often said that God created men equal: 
"When Adam delved and Eve span 
     Who was then the gentleman?"

With his talent and the strength of his conviction, John Ball had especially excelled among popular preachers.  He demanded the abolition of the church tithe and the confiscation of the huge wealth of the church.  Masses of people gathered to listen to him.  Church authorities despised and prosecuted him; the people however sheltered him.  Eventually he was caught and was put into the prison of the Bishop of Canterbury.  The teachings of John Ball and the Lollards expressed the interests of great masses of the rural and urban poor.  Engels points to/underlines the fact that John Ball was the representative of a medieval peasant-plebeian heresy 

"Who – from the idea of all men being equal in front of God- drew conclusions regarding civic equality and even the community of goods as well".
With the sharpening of the class struggle, religious heresies spread all over Northern Italy: the movement of the patrenians had existed for two centuries, while that of the Waldensians extended to a great territory 

The plans of the heretic movements to reform society had gradually become more radical.

For the sect of the Apostolic Brothers, social elements became dominant.  This sect was established by Segarelli (around 1260) in the province of Parma.  The Apostolic Brothers did not have private property but gave all their possessions to the community and called each other 'brother'.  The sect's growing popularity among a wide range of people awoke worries in the church until eventually it was banned by the Pope.  After Segarelli`s troops were driven out of Parma he began preaching all over Northern Italy and gained much support among the poor.  Eventually he was captured and in 1300 was burnt at the stake in Parma.

Shortly after that Dolcino, a Franciscan novice who had run away from a monastery took Segarelli's place.   He, together with a nun named Margherita, began to agitate against the authorities.  He taught that the source of all evil is property and wealth, that communal ownership of property should be introduced; and that the downfall/corruption started when it got hold of wealth/fortune, but soon the thousand year kingdom of God would come, which will be the rule of social justice as well and the community of all goods will come true; the rule of justice will triumph by taking away the fortune of the church and the rich and by exterminating the clergy.  Dolcino lost faith in realizing/actualizing his ideas with the support of the secular/non-clerical powers and rested all his hopes in the armed uprising of the oppressed.  With his followers he marched into the Piemont Alps, near the city of Vercelli.  The peasants languishing under the heavy burden of feudal service joined him en masse.

The uprising peasants defeated the troops sent against them and attacked the monasteries and the manors of the lords/upper class, which made feudal lords to make some minor tactical concessions.  As a result of this trick, a large part of Dolcino`s troops had fallen off.  The Pope, Clement V, declared a crusade against the rebelling peasants.  They were forced back to the hills where they were surrounded but only starvation broke their resistance.  The rebels were defeated in 1307.   Most of them were put to the sword, while the rest were tortured and executed.  Dolcino and Margherita were executed after dreadful torture.

This uprising is the first in the chain of peasant wars, continuing with the Jacquerie in France, the peasant's revolt lead by Watt Tyler in England and the Taborite movement in Bohemia.