Catharism (pronounced KATH-er-iz-um) was a Christian religious movement that existed in northern Italy and southern France from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The movement was called a heretical group by the Catholic Church. Because of this, the Church started the Albigensian Crusade and later the Medieval Inquisition to stop Catharism. By 1350, the movement was destroyed, and many Cathars were killed, hanged, or burned.

Cathars were also called Albigensians, named after the French city Albi where the movement began. They called themselves "Good Christians." Cathars believed in two gods: a good god who created the spiritual world and an evil god who controlled the physical world. They connected the evil god to Satan and the God of the Old Testament.

Cathars believed human souls were angelic spirits trapped in the physical world. They thought these souls would be reborn many times until they received a special baptism called the consolamentum, which was performed when death was near. They believed this ritual would allow their souls to return to the good god as "Cathar Perfect." At first, Cathar leaders did not set strict rules, so beliefs and practices varied in different areas over time.

The first written record of Catharism was in 1143. Four years later, the Church criticized Cathar practices, especially the consolamentum. Pope Innocent III tried to stop Catharism by sending missionaries and urging local leaders to act. In 1208, a Church official named Pierre de Castelnau was killed while returning to Rome after blaming Count Raymond VI of Toulouse for being too kind to Cathars. Pope Innocent III declared de Castelnau a martyr and began the Albigensian Crusade in 1209. This 20-year campaign greatly weakened Catharism. The Inquisition that followed finally ended the movement.

Scholars debate whether Catharism was a true organized religion or if the Church exaggerated its existence. Because Cathars had no central leadership and beliefs varied by region, some experts question whether the Church overestimated the threat of Catharism or if the movement was as significant as described.

Term

The term "Cathar" has been used for many years to describe a religious movement. However, it is unclear whether the people of this movement called themselves by that name. In writings from the Cathar group, they often referred to themselves as "Good Men," "Good Women," or "Good Christians."

In records from the Inquisition, a group of people who were questioned about their beliefs did not use the word "Cathar" to describe themselves. Instead, the term "Cathar" (also called "Gazarri") was created by Catholic religious leaders and used only by the Inquisition or by people who supported the Roman Catholic Church. For example, an anonymous writing from 1430 titled The Errors of the Gazarri, or of Those Who Travel Riding a Broom or a Stick described the beliefs of this group.

There is no doubt that many different religious groups existed in France during the 12th and 13th centuries, and their beliefs and practices were considered different from those of the Roman Catholic Church. Historical documents from that time clearly support this.

Some of these groups, such as the Waldensians or Valdeis, shared similarities with the beliefs and traditions that later became known as Catharism. It is clear that a spiritual movement existed, as many people were willing to face death to protect their beliefs. Whether they defended their ideas or the people who held them, the fact that many chose to die rather than change their beliefs is important evidence.

Scholar Claire Taylor argues that denying the existence of the Cathars, as some scholars like Pegg and Moore have done, ignores the suffering of people who were persecuted for their beliefs. Historians believe that thousands of people were willing to endure severe punishment and death because of a religious belief that was different from the Church's teachings.

The term "Cathar" was used to describe different groups of people who were considered heretics at different times in history. For example, Saint Augustine, writing in the 4th century, described a group called "Catharistas" who believed in a ritual involving mixing male and female bodily fluids with flour to create a "sacrament." John Damascene, writing in the 8th century, also wrote about an earlier group called the "Cathari" who refused to allow people to remarry or seek forgiveness for sins after baptism. These groups were likely the same as those mentioned in a church rule from 325 AD, which stated that people who called themselves "Cathari" should be allowed to join the Church if they agreed to accept people who had remarried or committed sins. These "Cathars" were not the same as the "Perfecti" of the Albigensians, who were part of a later religious movement. The term "Cathar" was used by the Church to describe any group that was considered a heretic.

Origins

The origins of the Cathars' beliefs are unclear, but most theories suggest they came from the Byzantine Empire, spread through trade routes, and moved from the First Bulgarian Empire to the Netherlands. The movement was greatly influenced by the Bogomils of the First Bulgarian Empire and may have started in the Byzantine Empire, specifically through followers of the Paulician movement in Armenia and eastern Anatolia who were resettled in Thrace (Philippopolis).

The name "Bulgarians" (Bougres) was also used for the Albigensians, and they shared connections with the Bogomils ("Friends of God") of Thrace. Scholars agree that there was a clear exchange of rituals and ideas between Bogomilism and Catharism. Their beliefs closely resemble those of the Bogomils and Paulicians, who influenced them, as well as the earlier Marcianists, who lived in the same areas as the Paulicians, Manicheans, and early Christian Gnostics. However, many scholars, including Mark Pegg, note that it is incorrect to assume direct historical links based only on similar ideas.

Most Cathar writings were destroyed because the Papacy saw their beliefs as a threat. Therefore, most information about the Cathars comes from their opponents. Cathar ideas remain debated, with critics often accusing each other of making guesses, misrepresenting facts, or being biased. Only a few Cathar texts remain, preserved by their opponents (such as the Rituel Cathare de Lyon), which offer some insight into their beliefs. One major surviving text is The Book of Two Principles (Liber de duobus principiis), which explains dualistic theology from the perspective of some Albanese Cathars.

Most scholars now agree that Catharism as a distinct religious movement did not appear until at least 1143, when a group with similar beliefs was first reported in Cologne by the cleric Eberwin of Steinfeld. A key event in Cathar history was the Council held in 1167 at Saint-Félix-Lauragais, attended by local leaders and the Bogomil papa Nicetas, the Cathar bishop of northern France and a leader of the Cathars in Lombardy.

The Cathars were mainly a Western European/Latin Christian group that appeared in the Rhineland cities, especially Cologne, in the mid-12th century, northern France around the same time, and the Languedoc region. They also spread to northern Italian cities in the mid-to-late 12th century. The Cathars were most popular in the Languedoc and northern Italy, surviving in the Languedoc in a weakened form until about 1325 and in Italian cities until the Inquisitions of the 14th century eliminated them.

Catharism is generally thought to combine elements from Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, and Manichaeism.

Beliefs

Gnostic cosmology described two creator gods. The first was the god of the spiritual realm found in the New Testament, while the second was the demiurge, a figure from the Old Testament who created the physical universe. The demiurge was often called "Rex Mundi," meaning "King of the World."

Some Gnostic groups, like the Cathars, believed that the creation of the world showed a conflict between two opposing forces: good and evil. The demiurge was sometimes linked to Satan or seen as Satan’s father, creator, or tempter, but these ideas were not universally accepted. Some Cathar communities believed in a less strict form of dualism, similar to earlier beliefs held by the Bogomils, stating that Satan had once been a servant of the true God before rebelling. Others, likely the majority over time, believed in a strict dualism, where the two gods were equal in power and importance.

According to Cathar beliefs, all visible matter, including the human body, was made by Rex Mundi and was considered tainted with sin. Humans were thought to be angels who had been tempted by Satan before the War in Heaven, where Michael’s army defeated Satan. After this war, these angels were trapped in the material world. To return to their angelic state, Cathars believed people had to completely reject their physical bodies. Until then, they would remain in a cycle of reincarnation, suffering endless lives on Earth.

Zoé Oldenbourg compared the Cathars to "Western Buddhists" because she thought their view of resurrection in Christianity was similar to the Buddhist idea of rebirth.

Cathars honored Jesus Christ and called themselves "Good Christians," but they rejected the idea that he had a physical body or that he rose from the dead. They believed Jesus was an angel in human form, and his physical body was only an illusion. Some thought this illusion was given by the Virgin Mary, who was also believed to be an angel in human form, or by a human born without a father.

They rejected the Christian belief in the Resurrection, seeing it as a symbol of rebirth. They also viewed the cross as a tool of torture and evil. They considered John the Baptist, who was linked to the prophet Elijah, as an evil figure who hindered Jesus’ teachings through false baptism. For the Cathars, the "resurrection" mentioned in the New Testament was a symbol of rebirth, not a literal event.

Most Cathars did not accept the traditional Christian belief that Jesus is part of a Trinity. Instead, they believed in views similar to non-Trinitarian ideas, such as modalistic Monarchianism in the West or adoptionism in the East. Some sources suggest they also shared ideas linked to Arianism, though this is debated.

Some Cathar communities believed in a spiritual realm created by the good God, called the "Land of the Living." This realm’s history and geography might have inspired the corrupt material world. In this view, the events of Jesus’ life happened in the spiritual realm, while the physical Jesus was seen as evil, a false messiah, and a lover of the material world. The true Jesus was believed to have influenced the physical world through actions similar to the "Harrowing of Hell," such as inhabiting the body of Paul. This idea was recorded by a 13th-century writer named Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay.

Some Cathars believed in a version of the Enochian story, where Eve’s daughters had children with demons, creating giants. The Great Flood was thought to have been caused by Satan, who was upset when demons revealed he was not the true God. Alternatively, the flood might have been an attempt by the invisible God to destroy the giants. The Holy Spirit was sometimes seen as a single entity or as a group of angels who had not followed Satan in his rebellion.

Cathars believed that the sexual appeal of women made it harder for men to reject the material world. However, some communities allowed exceptions. One belief suggested the invisible God had two spiritual wives, Collam and Hoolibam, who were linked to Oholah and Oholibah. This story claimed the invisible God caused the War in Heaven by seducing the wife of Satan, or the reverse. Those who followed this belief thought having families would not prevent them from reaching God’s kingdom.

Some Cathars believed in a Day of Judgment that would occur when the number of righteous people equaled the number of fallen angels. At that time, believers would ascend to the spiritual realm, while sinners would be cast into eternal fire with Satan.

Cathars followed a pescatarian diet, eating fish but avoiding meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. They believed these foods were by-products of sexual acts. They also avoided killing animals, except for fish, which they thought were created through spontaneous generation. They believed animals carried souls from past lives.

Cathars shared some similarities with early Protestant ideas. They rejected the belief in transubstantiation (the idea that bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ during the Eucharist), purgatory, prayers for the dead, and prayers to saints. They also believed the Bible should be read in the local language, not in Latin.

The sacred texts of the Cathars, in addition to the New Testament, included the Bogomil text The Gospel of the Secret Supper (also called John’s Interrogation), a modified version of The Ascension of Isaiah, and the Cathar work The Book of the Two Principles (possibly written by John Lugio of Bergamo). They viewed the Old Testament as written by Satan, except for a few books they accepted. They saw The Book of Revelation not as a prophecy about the future but as an allegory describing Satan’s rebellion. Their reinterpretation of these texts included ideas common in Gnostic writings.

Organization

Cathars were a group that opposed the Catholic Church before the Reformation. They believed the Church had become corrupt in its moral, spiritual, and political actions. Unlike the Church, the Cathars had only one main religious ceremony called the Consolamentum, or Consolation. This ceremony was a short spiritual event that removed sin from a person and allowed them to join a higher spiritual group called the Perfect.

Many Cathars received the Consolamentum near the end of their lives. This was because the Perfect were expected to follow strict rules of purity, which were easier to follow temporarily. Some who received the Consolamentum at the end of their lives stopped eating solid food, only drinking cold water until they died. This practice was called the endura. Some church writers claimed that if a Cathar showed signs of recovery after receiving the Consolamentum, they might be smothered to ensure their entry into paradise. However, there is little evidence to support this as a common practice.

The Cathars rejected the Catholic Church’s sacraments, including the Eucharist (the ritual of communion) and Baptism by water. They believed the Eucharist could not be the body of Christ, arguing that if it were, Christians would have consumed it completely long ago. They also claimed the water used in Baptism was material and corruptible, not holy. They accused the Church of selling holy items, such as water for baptism and oil for sick people, for money.

Cathars strongly opposed killing and avoided eating meat, though fish was sometimes allowed. The Perfect, who followed the strictest rules, avoided foods linked to reproduction. They also rejected war and capital punishment, which was unusual in medieval Europe. However, some Cathars were prepared to fight, as seen when the Papal Legate Pierre de Castelnau was killed in 1208.

The Cathars believed reproduction was a moral evil because it continued the cycle of reincarnation and suffering. If someone was accused of being a Cathar, the charge was often dismissed if they could prove they were legally married.

Although the Cathars had negative views about the Old Testament God, they did not hate Jewish people as a group. In some areas, Jews held higher status than elsewhere in Europe. Cathars even appointed Jews to official roles, which angered the Catholic Church.

Despite their rejection of reproduction, the Cathars grew in numbers in southeastern France by the early 1200s. Many towns in Provence and nearby areas were mostly inhabited by Cathars. Local knights were criticized for not pursuing Cathars more aggressively because they had family ties to them and saw them living virtuous lives.

The Cathar Church had a simple structure with two main groups: the baptised Perfecti (called bonhommes by Cathars) and ordinary believers (credentes). By 1140, they had developed religious rituals and beliefs. They established bishoprics in places like Albi, Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Agen by 1200. Additional bishoprics were added later, such as Razès in 1225. Bishops were supported by assistants and deacons, and the Perfecti were respected for their lives of austerity and charity.

Cathars gave women unique opportunities to lead, as women could be Perfecti and administer the Consolamentum. They believed people were reincarnated until they committed to rejecting the material world. A person could be reincarnated as a man or woman, and the spirit was seen as sexless and immaterial. This belief led Cathars to view women as equal spiritual leaders.

Women accused of heresy in early medieval times included Cathars, Gnostics, and Beguines. Cathars, like Gnostics, believed Mary Magdalene played a key role in spreading Christianity, which influenced their view of women as spiritual leaders. Many women became Perfecti, especially after becoming widows. They lived in communal homes called ostals, where they were educated in Cathar beliefs and raised children who became believers.

While women helped spread Catharism, the faith was not fully equal. Some Cathars believed a person needed to be reborn as a man in their final life to achieve salvation. This idea was later taught by French Cathars.

Suppression

In 1147, Pope Eugene III sent a representative to the Cathar region to stop the spread of Cathar beliefs. Although Bernard of Clairvaux had some limited successes, the mission overall failed, showing how strong the Cathar movement was in the Languedoc at that time. Later missions, like those led by Cardinal Peter of Saint Chrysogonus in 1178 and Henry of Marcy in 1180–81, also had only short-term success. Henry’s military action captured the stronghold at Lavaur, but it did not end the Cathar movement.

Decisions made by Catholic Church councils, such as the Council of Tours in 1163 and the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179, had little effect on the Cathars. When Pope Innocent III became Pope in 1198, he decided to take stronger action against them.

At first, Innocent tried to convert Cathars peacefully, sending many representatives to their regions. These representatives faced challenges not only from the Cathars themselves but also from local nobles who protected them, people who respected them, and some bishops who resented the Pope’s authority. In 1204, Innocent III removed several bishops from their positions in Occitania. In 1205, he appointed a new bishop of Toulouse, Foulques, who was once a troubadour. In 1206, Diego of Osma and his assistant, Saint Dominic, began a campaign to convert Cathars in Languedoc. Public debates between Catholics and Cathars were held in places like Verfeil, Servian, Pamiers, and Montréal.

Dominic met with Cathars in 1203 during his mission to Languedoc. He realized that only preachers who showed true holiness, humility, and self-discipline could persuade Cathars to change their beliefs. He believed the Church as a whole lacked these qualities. His ideas eventually led to the creation of the Dominican Order in 1216. The order followed his principle: "Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth." However, even Dominic was only able to convert a few Cathars.

In January 1208, the Pope sent Pierre de Castelnau, a Cistercian monk, theologian, and canon lawyer, to speak with Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse. Castelnau excommunicated Raymond for helping Cathars, after an argument where Raymond allegedly threatened him. Soon after, Castelnau was murdered on his way back to Rome, supposedly by a knight in Raymond’s service. His body was returned to the Abbey of Saint-Gilles for burial.

When the Pope learned of Castelnau’s murder, he ordered the legates to preach a crusade against the Cathars and wrote to King Philip Augustus of France, asking for help. This was not the first request, but some historians believe the murder marked a change in the Pope’s policy, as he had previously avoided using military force. Raymond of Toulouse was excommunicated for the second time in 1209.

King Philip II of France refused to lead the crusade himself and could not send his son, Louis, because of other conflicts, including battles in Flanders and the threat of an Angevin revival. However, Philip allowed some of his nobles, like Simon de Montfort and Bouchard de Marly, to join the crusade. The 20-year war against the Cathars and their allies in Languedoc became known as the Albigensian Crusade, named after Albi, the capital of the Albigensian district.

This war involved French nobles fighting against those in Languedoc. The Pope’s decree allowing the seizure of lands owned by Cathars and their supporters angered both southern lords and King Philip II, who was the nominal ruler of those lands. Philip wrote strongly to Pope Innocent III to object, but the Pope refused to change the decree. This made the region a target for northern French nobles seeking new lands.

The first major target of the crusade was the Trencavel family, powerful lords who controlled Carcassonne, Béziers, Albi, and the Razes. Little effort was made to unite southern forces, and the crusaders captured Carcassonne, imprisoning Raymond Roger Trencavel in his own fortress, where he died within three months. Some claimed he was murdered. Simon de Montfort was given Trencavel’s lands by the Pope, which angered Peter II of Aragon, who had previously stayed out of the conflict.

Simon de Montfort focused on holding his gains during the winter, facing desertions from local lords who had pledged loyalty out of necessity. His forces were later strengthened by reinforcements from northern France, Germany, and other regions. His summer campaigns recovered losses from the winter and expanded the crusade’s reach, including battles in the Aveyron at St. Antonin and near Beaucaire on the Rhône. Simon de Montfort’s greatest victory came at the Battle of Muret in 1213, where his small cavalry force defeated a much larger army led by Raymond of Toulouse, his Occitan allies, and Peter II of Aragon. Peter II’s death ended the influence of the Aragonese house in Languedoc.

In 1214, King Philip II’s victory at Bouvines near Lille ended the Anglo-French War and weakened the Angevin Empire, allowing Philip to focus more on the Albigensian Crusade. This victory also prevented an Anglo-German alliance from harming the crusade. In 1226, Louis VIII of France led a large force into southeastern France to support the crusade.

The crusader army was led by Arnaud Amalric, the Abbot of Cîteaux, both spiritually and militarily. In July 1209, the town of Béziers was besieged. Catholic residents were allowed to leave unharmed, but many stayed to fight with the Cathars. The city’s defenders tried to attack the crusaders but were defeated and driven back into the city. Arnaud Amalric wrote to Pope Innocent III, explaining that his soldiers acted without waiting for orders. The doors of the church of St. Mary Magdalene were broken…

Later history

After the end of Catharism, people who were Cathars faced unfair treatment. Sometimes, they were forced to live outside towns and their protective walls. Even after joining the Catholic Church, they kept their Cathar identity. Therefore, using the word "Cathar" to describe people after the 14th century refers to their culture or family background, not their religion. However, people continue to study and show interest in the Cathars, their history, and their beliefs.

The term "Pays cathare," which means "Cathar Country" in French, is used to recognize the Cathar heritage and history in the region where Catharism was most common. This area includes places like the fortresses of Montségur and Carcassonne. The Aude département in France uses "Pays cathare" in its tourist materials. The region has ruins from the wars against the Cathars that are still visible today.

Interrogation of heretics

To find the few remaining people with different religious beliefs in and around the village of Montaillou, Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers, who later became Pope Benedict XII, questioned those suspected of heresy. These interviews were recorded by writers who wrote down the conversations. A document from the late 13th to early 14th century, called the Fournier Register, was found in Vatican archives in the 1960s. It was edited by Jean Duvernoy and is the foundation for Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's book Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error.

Historical and current scholarship

In the 1930s, a book called Crusade Against the Grail was published by Otto Rahn, a young German man who later became an SS officer. This book renewed interest in the connection between the Cathars and the Holy Grail, especially in Germany. Rahn believed that the 13th-century story Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach secretly described the Cathars. Alfred Rosenberg, a Nazi official and writer, praised the Cathars in his book The Myth of the Twentieth Century.

English-language academic books about the Cathars first appeared in the early 2000s, such as The Cathars by Malcolm Lambert and The Cathars by Malcolm Barber.

Starting in the 1990s, historians like R. I. Moore questioned whether Catharism was a real, organized religion. Building on the work of French scholars like Monique Zerner and Uwe Brunn, Moore argued in The War on Heresy that Catharism was not a secret religion brought from the East. Instead, he claimed that people labeled as Cathars were part of a larger spiritual movement in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Moore’s ideas reflect a growing trend among historians to study how the church created the image of heresy.

Scholars since the 1990s have described the fear of Cathars as a "moral panic." The crusade against Cathars has been compared to other historical events, such as witch-hunts, anti-Semitic persecution, and the Satanic Panic.

In 2016, a book titled Cathars in Question, edited by Antonio Sennis, included different opinions from scholars about medieval heresy. These scholars, including Feuchter, Stoyanov, Sackville, Taylor, D'Avray, Biller, Moore, Bruschi, Pegg, Hamilton, Arnold, and Théry-Astruc, had met in London in 2013. Sennis called the debate about whether Catharism was a real medieval phenomenon.

Dr. Andrew Roach, writing in The English Historical Review, noted that scholars still disagree about Catharism. He asked whether historians can be certain that the church’s descriptions of heresy were not influenced by their own biases or assumptions.

Professor Rebecca Rist refers to the debate as the "heresy debate." She explains that some historians believe Catharism was a real religious movement with roots in the Balkans, while others think it was invented by the medieval church to target religious dissenters. Rist agrees that the church may have exaggerated the threat of Catharism but says there is evidence that the heresy existed.

Professor Claire Taylor has called for a "post-revisionism" approach, arguing that older historians saw Catharism as a form of dualism linked to Bogomilism, while newer scholars focus on social causes of the movement. Lucy Sackville says that while revisionists highlight the unclear origins of Cathars and their labeling as "Manichaeans," this does not mean all evidence of their organized beliefs should be ignored.

In art and music

The main legacy of the Cathar movement is found in the poems and songs created by Cathar troubadours. However, this artistic contribution is only a small part of the larger Occitan language and artistic traditions. A specific Occitan song called Lo Boièr is closely connected to Catharism. Recent artistic projects that focus on the Cathar influence in Provençal and troubadour art include recordings by Thomas Binkley, electric hurdy-gurdy musician Valentin Clastrier, La Nef, and Jordi Savall.

In popular culture, Catharism has been connected to the Knights Templar, a religious group of monks formed after the First Crusade (1095–1099). This connection has led to unusual theories about the Cathars and the idea that they may have possessed the Holy Grail, as suggested in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

Reinterpretations

In the 16th century, John Foxe and in the 20th century, Jean Duvernoy, both Protestants, claimed that Cathars followed ideas similar to early Protestant beliefs. However, many historians disagreed with this view. Foxe specifically argued that Cathars believed in Calvinist ideas about salvation. Others suggested that accusations of dualism (a belief in two opposing forces) against Cathars were incorrect, either because they misunderstood Cathar beliefs or because the claims were made by people who opposed Cathars.

Some historians later said that Cathars may have followed Protestant ideas because the Reformation, a religious movement that spread quickly, occurred in the same region where Cathars lived. These historians believed that people in that area held Protestant ideas before the Reformation began. However, most scholars consider this argument weak, as it ignores the differences between Cathar beliefs and Protestantism, such as the lack of dualism in Protestantism.

In the 20th century, some Baptists claimed that Cathars were part of a theory called Baptist successionism, which suggests that Baptists have historical roots in earlier groups, including the Cathars. James Milton Carroll, in his book The Trail of Blood, stated that the Novatianists, also called Cathari, were early groups connected to Baptist communities. However, Dwight Longenecker, writing for Catholic Answers, argued that there is no historical evidence to support Baptist successionism.

Hisel Berlin, who supported the Baptist successionist theory, claimed that many beliefs about Cathars were false, including the idea that they rejected infant baptism. Since the late 19th century, most academic studies of Baptist history have moved away from the successionist theory, instead believing that modern Baptists developed from 17th-century English Separatism.