Heresiarch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the Oxford English Dictionary) is a founder or leader of a heretical doctrine or movement, as considered by those who claim to maintain an orthodox religious tradition or doctrine. For example, according to traditional Roman Catholic doctrine, King Henry VIII of England was a heresiarch, as he influenced the Archbishop of Canterbury to break away from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England. The miller Domenicio Scandella of Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms was also declared a heresiarch by the inquisition judges.
