The Cathars: Dualist Heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages (The Medieval World)

The Cathars are one of the most famous heretical movements of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. They infiltrated the highest ranks of society and posed a major threat not only to the Catholic Church but also to secular authorities as well. The movement was finally smashed by the crusade and the inquisitional proceedings that followed. This new study is the first comprehensive history of the Cathars. It addresses major topics in medieval history including heresy, orthodoxy and the Crusades as well as providing a history of the social and political history of Languedoc and the rise of the Capetian dynasty. A fascinating study of the development of radical religious belief and its violent suppression.

The Cathars were dualist heretics who, in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, presented more coherent doctrinal opposition to the Catholic church than any contemporary movement. They were present in most areas of Latin Christendom, but they were particularly strong in southern France and northern Italy, where they drew adherents from all social classes.

This new book traces the origins and spread of dualist ideas, assesses their attraction for contemporaries, and describes the reaction of the ecclesiastical and lay authorities in the form of preaching campaigns, intellectual refutation, crusade, and inquisitorial investigations. A fascinating account of the development of radical religious belief and the means used to suppress it, this book raises many important issues which transcend the specifics of time and place, including the nature of evil, the ethics of warfare, and the use made of history by later generations.

Richly illustrated, this book will have a wide appeal for all those interested in medieval perceptions of the world, the Crusades and the Inquisition.

Malcolm Barber is Professor of History at the University of Reading. He is the author of The Two Cities:Medieval Europe, 1050-1320 (1992), and two books on the Templars, The Trial of the Templars (1978) and The New Knighthood (1994).

Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Tables, Maps and Illustrations 10 Editor's Preface 12 Author's Preface 14 Abbreviations 16 Introduction 18 1. The Spread of Catharism 23 Dualism 23 The Bogomils 29 The origins of dualism in the West 38 2. The Cathars and Languedocian Society 51 The nobility 51 The territorial lords 60 The clergy 75 Urban society 80 Catharism and social structure 85 3. The Cathar Church 88 The Cathar hierarchy 88 The consolamentum 93 Cathar theology 98 Moral and ethical teaching 110 Popular Cathar belief 113 The attraction of Catharism 121 4. The Catholic Reaction 124 The justification for force 124 The campaigns against heresy in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries 128 The Albigensian Crusades 137 5. The Decline of Catharism 158 The Treaty of Paris, 1229 158 The inquisitors 161 Resistance 167 The Italian connection 181 The operation of the Inquisition 186 6. The Last Cathars 193 The Autier revival 193 Heresy in Carcassonne and Albi 207 The end of Catharism in Languedoc 213 7. Cathars after Catharism 220 Déodat Roché, Simone Weil, and Otto Rahn 220 Protestantism and Catharism 229 The Cathars and Occitan identity 233 Further Reading 243 References 256 Tables 271 Maps 277 Index 284 "This new book traces the origins and spread of dualist ideas, assesses their attraction for contemporaries, and describes the reaction of the ecclesiastical and lay authorities in the form of preaching campaigns, intellectual refutation, crusade, and inquisitorial investigations. An account of the development of radical religious belief and the means used to suppress it, this book raises many important issues which transcend the specifics of time and place, including the nature of evil, the ethics of warfare, and the use made of history by later generations." "Richly illustrated, this book will have a wide appeal for all those interested in medieval perceptions of the world, the Crusades and the Inquisition."--Jacket The Cathars infiltrated the highest ranks of society & posed a threat not only to the Catholic Church in France but also to the secular authorities. This text examines their heretical beliefs & their violent suppression under the Crusades & Inquisition