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Catharism ( / ˈkæθərɪzəm / KATH-ər-iz-əm; [1] from the Ancient Greek: καθαροί, romanized : katharoí, "the pure ones" [2]) was a Christian quasi- dualist or pseudo- Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. [3] .
- Origins & Beliefs
- The Book of Two Principles
- Conflict with The Church
- Growth & Organization
- Courtly Love & The Cathars
- Albigensian Crusade
- Conclusion
Almost everything known about the Cathars comes from confessions of “heretics” taken by Catholic clergy during the inquisition which followed the Albigensian Crusade. The belief structure can easily be traced back to Manichaeism which traveled via the Silk Road from the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East to Europewhere it became entwined, under c...
The only books of the New Testament they accepted were the gospels, completely rejecting the epistles of Paul and the others, with a special emphasis on the Gospel According to John. Their central religious text was The Book of Two Principles, passages of which would be read by one of the perfecti to a congregation and interpreted for them by anoth...
This view contrasted sharply with the Church's vision of a Garden of Eden in which woman, in the form of Eve, had caused humanity's fall by seducing Adam into eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and of humanity's later redemption from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the son of a single, all-powerful, male g...
The Cathars lived in communities which varied in size from 60 to 600 individuals. They shared their possessions and took care of each other as a family. The faith gained a strong foothold in Italy and Southern France through its appeal to the peasantry. Scholar Martin Erbstosser notes how “it was the life of the perfecti rather than the teachings o...
Courtly love poetry developed in Southern France at the same time as the Cathar heresy. The common theme of this body of medieval literature is the beautiful woman who commands worship and service by a courteous, brave, and noble knight. The famous literary motif of the damsel-in-distress who must be rescued comes from this genre, and its most famo...
Whether the poetry was religious allegory helping spread the faith or whether the Cathars simply seemed to provide a better alternative to the medieval church, by the late 12th century, Catharism was winning more adherents than ever. Papal legates had been sent to Southern France to try to win the heretics back to orthodoxy, and councils had been c...
According to scholars Bryson and Movsesian, the Albigensian Crusade destroyed the tolerant culture of Southern France, replacing it with the far more rigid vision of the medieval Church but did nothing to stamp out Catharism itself. The Cathars who survived the purge of the early 13th century continued to live as they had before, only with greater ...
- Joshua J. Mark
- Catharism was a dualistic faith. Instead of accepting the Catholic church’s dogma involving the Holy Trinity, the Cathars believed that the universe was ruled by two gods in conflict: a good, kind, and loving god who had created the spiritual realm, and an evil god who had created this material, earthly world with all of its suffering.
- They were very accepting of women. Cathars who wanted to be as spiritually pure as possible lived a strict life of celibacy, humility, and adherence to the bible, and were called perfecti.
- They were vegetarian/vegan. With the exception of fish, Cathar perfecti were expected to live on vegan fare, excluding eggs, cheese, and even the animal fat so often used in medieval cooking from their diets.
- Their faith was a rejection of – and reaction to – the Catholic church. Medieval Christians of all sorts were uncomfortable with how the church was run, from its wealth and how it gathered it (for example, through the sale of indulgences) to its reliance on priests and Latin.
May 3, 2024 · Cathari, (from Greek katharos, “pure”), also spelled Cathars, heretical Christian sect that flourished in western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathari professed a neo-Manichaean dualism—that there are two principles, one good and the other evil, and that the material world is evil.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Feb 8, 2017 · Learn about the basic tenets of Catharism, a medieval Christian sect that believed in two universal principles, a good God and a bad God. Explore how Cathar beliefs influenced their practices, rituals, hierarchy, afterlife and legacy.
Jun 25, 2019 · The Cathars were a Gnostic group who believed in two gods, one good and one evil, and rejected the material world. They faced persecution and crusades from the Catholic Church, which condemned their doctrines and practices as heresies.
Learn about the Cathars, a medieval religious group who believed in dualism, gnosticism and reincarnation. Explore their history, beliefs, practices, wars, legacy and tours in the Languedoc region of France.
