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The Origin of the Papacy - Apologetics Press

On October 10, 366, a man named Damasus was elected Bishop of Rome. He was an energetic man who fought for the pontificate against his opponent Ursinus, another bishop elected by a small number of followers (see “Damasus I,” 1997, 3:865-866). During his pontificate, Damasus fought to confirm his position in the Church of Rome. He also fought to compel the other cities to recognize the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all other bishops. Damasus even went as far as to assert that the “Church of Rome was supreme over all others, not because of what the council [of Rome in 369 and of Antioch in 378—MP] decided, but rather because Jesus placed Peter above the rest, elevating him as the cornerstone of the church itself” (“Saint Damasus,” 2005).

In spite of Damasus’ efforts to establish the preeminence of Rome and his pontificate, he did not finish his work. After his death in December 384, Siricius was elected as the Pontiff of Rome. He was less educated than Damasus, but empowered himself with a higher level of authority than other bishops had demanded. Siricius claimed inherent authority without consideration of the Scriptures. He demanded, and threatened others, in order to gain more and more power. He was the first to refer to himself as Peter’s heir (see Merdinger, 1997, p. 26). Siricius died on November 26, 399. Without a doubt, he and Damasus were principal forces behind the development of a universal ecclesiastical hierarchy.

In 440, Leo I became the pontiff. He was an ardent defender of the supremacy of the Roman bishop over the bishops in the East. In a declaration to the Bishop of Constantinople, he stated:

Constantinople has its own glory and by the mercy of God has become the seat of the empire. But secular matters are based on one thing, and ecclesiastical matters on another. Nothing will stand which is not built on the Rock which the Lord laid in the foundation…. Your city is royal but you cannot make it Apostolic (quoted in Mattox, 1961, pp. 139-140).

The supremacy referred to by Leo I was based on the assumption that the Lord exalted Rome, including its church and pontiff, over other major cities because of traditions about Peter. By that time it was accepted as “fact” that Peter had been the first Bishop of Rome and that he had been martyred there. Those traditions, along with Rome’s legacy as an evangelistic influence in the first century, gave the city a “divine aura” that supposedly connected it to the apostolic age and distinguished it from other cities. These beliefs greatly influenced the development of a hierarchy in the church.

On September 13, 590, Gregory the Great was named Bishop of Rome. He was another advocate of Petrine tradition, and named himself “Pope” and the “Head of the Universal Church.” By the end of his pontificate, the theory of Peter’s primacy and that of the Bishop of Rome was firmly established. Finally, with the appearance of Boniface III on the papal throne on February 19, 607, Roman papacy became universally accepted. Boniface III lived only a few months after his election. Many other bishops followed his legacy of “runners for supremacy.”

The East–West Schism (also known as the Great Schism or Schism of 1054) is the break of communion since 1054 between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.[1] Immediately following the beginning of the schism, it is estimated that Eastern Christianity comprised a slim majority of Christians worldwide, with the majority of remaining Christians being Western.[2] The schism was the culmination of theological and political differences which had developed during the preceding centuries between Eastern and Western Christianity.

A succession of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West preceded the formal split that occurred in 1054.[1][3][4] Prominent among these were: the procession of the Holy Spirit (Filioque), whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist,[a] the bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the See of Constantinople in relation to the pentarchy.[8]

In 1053, the first action was taken that would lead to a formal schism: The Greek churches in southern Italy were forced to conform to Latin practices and, if any of them did not, they were forced to close.[9][10][11] In retaliation, Patriarch Michael I Cerularius of Constantinople ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople. In 1054, the papal legate sent by Leo IX travelled to Constantinople for purposes that included refusing Cerularius the title of "ecumenical patriarch" and insisting that he recognize the pope's claim to be the head of all of the churches.[1] The main purposes of the papal legation were to seek help from the Byzantine emperor, Constantine IX Monomachos, in view of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and deal with recent attacks by Leo of Ohrid against the use of unleavened bread and other Western customs,[12] attacks that had the support of Cerularius. The historian Axel Bayer says the legation was sent in response to two letters, one from the emperor seeking assistance in arranging a common military campaign by the eastern and western empires against the Normans, and the other from Cerularius.[13] On the refusal of Cerularius to accept the demand, the leader of the legation, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, O.S.B., excommunicated him, and in return Cerularius excommunicated Humbert and the other legates.[1] According to Ware, "Even after 1054 friendly relations between East and West continued. The two parts of Christendom were not yet conscious of a great gulf of separation between them. … The dispute remained something of which ordinary Christians in East and West were largely unaware".[14]

-- In the course of the Fourth Crusade of 1202–1204 Latin crusaders and Venetian merchants sacked Constantinople itself (1204), looting the Church of Holy Wisdom and various other Orthodox holy sites,[222] and converting them to Latin Catholic worship. The Norman Crusaders also destroyed the Imperial Library of Constantinople.[223][224][225] Various holy artifacts from these Orthodox holy places were taken to the West. The crusaders also appointed a Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.[222] The conquest of Constantinople and the final treaty established the Latin Empire of the East and the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (with various other Crusader states). Later some religious artifacts were sold in Europe to finance or fund the Latin Empire in Byzantium – as when Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople (r. 1228–1261) sold the relic of the Crown of Thorns while in France trying to raise new funds to maintain his hold on Byzantium.[226] In 1261 the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos brought the Latin Empire to an end. However, the Western attack on the heart of the Byzantine Empire is seen[by whom?] as a factor that led eventually to its conquest by Ottoman Muslims in the 15th century.[citation needed] Many scholars believe that the 1204 sacking of Constantinople contributed more to the schism than the events of 1054.[227]

In northern Europe, the Teutonic Knights, after their 12th- and 13th-century successes in the Northern Crusades,[228] attempted (1240) to conquer the Eastern Orthodox Russian Republics of Pskov and Novgorod, an enterprise somewhat endorsed by Pope Gregory IX[228] (r. 1227–1241). One of the major defeats the Teutonic Knights suffered was the Battle of the Ice in 1242. Catholic Sweden also undertook several campaigns against Orthodox Novgorod. There were also conflicts between Catholic Poland and Orthodox Russia, which helped solidify the schism between East and West.

The term Inquisition is somewhat misleading in that over the centuries there have been a number of inquisitions. They have been directed against all of the groups we have looked at — Pagans and supposed Witches, dissenting sects, Cathars, Jews, Heretics, Philosophers, Freethinkers, Blasphemers, Apostates, Humanists, Pantheists, Unitarians, Deists and Atheists as well as Muslims, Hindus and members of other religions.

• The Medieval Inquisition and the Knights Templar
• The Spanish Inquisition
• The Portuguese and Goan Inquisitions
• The Roman Inquisition

In 1184 Pope Lucius III and the Emperor Frederick formulated a programme for the repression of heretics. This document, Ad abolendum, is sometimes known as the charter of the Inquisition, because it set the tone for future developments. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 ordered all bishops to hold an annual inquisition, if there was a suspicion of heresy in their See. But these Episcopal inquisitions were found to be inadequate for the task.

One of the oldest popes, Lucius was a political man as well as a negotiator. Lucius was born around 1097, making him 84 when he ascended to the chair of Peter. Born Ubaldo Allucingoli, he was likely the son of Orlando, a member of a prominent Lucca family. 

Little is known of Ubaldo’s early life. He may have been a Cistercian monk. He was first noticed by the Curia when Pope Innocent II named him a cardinal-deacon of San Adriano in late 1138. Only three years later, he was raised to cardinal-priest of Santa Prassede, where he remained until 1158. During that time, he was also a legate to France.  

In early 1158, Pope Adrian IV promoted Ubaldo to cardinal-bishop of Ostia, where he remained until his papal election 23 years later. During that time, the cardinal was a legate to Sicily and the dean of cardinals during the papacy of Pope Alexander III. He was privileged to take part in the negotiations for the Treaty of Venice in 1177. 

On August 30 1181, Pope Alexander III died after many years on the throne. The cardinals, many of whom were in Velletri to witness the death of the old pope, immediately voted Ubaldo the new pope. He was consecrated six days later, taking the name Lucius III

Until 1184, action to repress heresy in Italy was the affair of bishops in the areas affected. The Third Lateran Council (1179), which discussed the incidence of heresy, directed its attention to southern France. However, in 1184, Lucius III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa met at Verona and jointly condemned the Cathars, Patarines, Humiliati, the Poor Men of Lyons and other sects. The papal bull Ad abolendam also prescribed penalties for heretical clerics and laymen and established a procedure of systematic inquisition by bishops.

It was Innocent III (1198-1216) who pressed papal action to wider limits. Innocent sent a stream of letters about heresy to archbishops, bishops, and secular rulers. He saw the basic necessity, reform of the Church, as the first requirement. Italy was not the scene of preaching missions against heresy or of a crusade, which was the case in southern France. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council summed up and reaffirmed the pontifical legislation already in existence. In its first canon, the Council provided a statement of doctrine based on traditional professions of faith, but was amended to take account of present heresies. The third canon -- given below -- specified procedures against heretics and their accomplices and reproduced the Ad abolendam of Lucius III. Other canons touched on the issue of heresy in various ways.

Although the Council's attention was focused primarily on the situation in southern France, the legislation was equally pertinent to Italy where, by the time of Innocent's death (1216) the Church was mobilizing its forces against heresy and lacked only the papal inquisition, for which the precedents were already being established.

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We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy raising itself up against this holy, orthodox and catholic faith which we have expounded above. We condemn all heretics, whatever names they may go under. They have different faces indeed but their tails are tied together inasmuch as they are alike in their pride. Let those condemned be handed over to the secular authorities present, or to their bailiffs, for due punishment. Clerics are first to be degraded from their orders. The goods of the condemned are to be confiscated, if they are lay persons, and if clerics they are to be applied to the churches from which they received their stipends. Those who are only found suspect of heresy are to be struck with the sword of anathema, unless they prove their innocence by an appropriate purgation, having regard to the reasons for suspicion and the character of the person. Let such persons be avoided by all until they have made adequate satisfaction. If they persist in the excommunication for a year, they are to be condemned as heretics. Let secular authorities, whatever offices they may be discharging, be advised and urged and if necessary be compelled by ecclesiastical censure, if they wish to be reputed and held to be faithful, to take publicly an oath for the defense of the faith to the effect that they will seek, in so far as they can, to expel from the lands subject to their jurisdiction all heretics designated by the church in good faith. Thus whenever anyone is promoted to spiritual or temporal authority, he shall be obliged to confirm this article with an oath. If however a temporal lord, required and instructed by the church, neglects to cleanse his territory of this heretical filth, he shall be bound with the bond of excommunication by the metropolitan and other bishops of the province. If he refuses to give satisfaction within a year, this shall be reported to the supreme pontiff so that he may then declare his vassals absolved from their fealty to him and make the land available for occupation by Catholics so that these may, after they have expelled the heretics, possess it unopposed and preserve it in the purity of the faith -- saving the right of the suzerain provided that he makes no difficulty in the matter and puts no impediment in the way. The same law is to be observed no less as regards those who do not have a suzerain.

The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229; French: Croisade des albigeois, Occitan: Crosada dels albigeses) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, in southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect, resulting in not only a significant reduction in the number of practicing Cathars, but also a realignment of the County of Toulouse in Languedoc, bringing it into the sphere of the French crown, and diminishing both Languedoc's distinct regional culture and the influence of the counts of Barcelona.

The Cathars originated from an anti-materialist reform movement within the Bogomil churches of the Balkans calling for what they saw as a return to the Christian message of perfection, poverty and preaching, combined with a rejection of the physical to the point of starvation. The reforms were a reaction against the often perceived scandalous and dissolute lifestyles of the Catholic clergy in southern France. Their theology, neo-Gnostic in many ways, was basically dualist. Several of their practices, especially their belief in the inherent evil of the physical world, conflicted with the doctrines of the Incarnation of Christ and Catholic sacraments. This led to accusations of Gnosticism and attracted the ire of the Catholic establishment. They became known as the Albigensians because there were many adherents in the city of Albi and the surrounding area in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Between 1022 and 1163, the Cathars were condemned by eight local church councils, the last of which, held at Tours, declared that all Albigenses should be put into prison and have their property confiscated. The Third Lateran Council of 1179 repeated the condemnation. Innocent III's diplomatic attempts to roll back Catharism were met with little success. After the murder of his legate Pierre de Castelnau in 1208, and suspecting that Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse was responsible, Innocent III declared a crusade against the Cathars. He offered the lands of the Cathar heretics to any French nobleman willing to take up arms.

From 1209 to 1215, the Crusaders experienced great success, capturing Cathar lands and systematically crushing the movement. From 1215 to 1225, a series of revolts caused many of the lands to be regained by the Cathars. A renewed crusade resulted in the recapturing of the territory and effectively drove Catharism underground by 1244. The Albigensian Crusade had a role in the creation and institutionalization of both the Dominican Order and the Medieval Inquisition. The Dominicans promulgated the message of the Church and spread it by preaching the Church's teachings in towns and villages in order to stop the spread of alleged heresies, while the Inquisition investigated people who were accused of teaching heresies. Because of these efforts, all discernible traces of the Cathar movement were eradicated by the middle of the 14th century. Many historians consider the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars an act of genocide.[3][4

The Albigensian Crusade (aka Cathars' Crusade, 1209-1229 CE), was the first crusade to specifically target heretic Christians - the Cathars of southern France. Not successful in repressing the heresy, the on-off campaigns over two decades, led by Simon IV de Montfort, did achieve their real purpose: the political annexation of the Languedoc region, eventually bringing it under the control of the French Crown. The Crusade set a precedent for attacking fellow Christians which would be repeated in Germany, Bosnia and the Baltic regions.

Languedoc & the Cathars

Medieval Languedoc was a region of southern France with its unofficial capital at Toulouse. The literary language there was Occitan, which gave its name to the wider cultural region of southern France, Occitania, of which Languedoc was a part. The Albigensian Crusade directed against this region in the first quarter of the 13th century CE takes its name from Albi, the cathedral city 65 kilometres north-east of Toulouse. Albigensian means 'from Albi' but the heretics are more accurately known as the Cathars of Languedoc, even if their first important centre was established at Albi.

THE CATHARS, WITH THEIR OWN CHURCHES, BISHOPS & FOLLOWERS OF ALL SOCIAL CLASSES, WERE A DANGEROUS THREAT TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The region of Languedoc was a stronghold of the Cathars, a group of heretics who sought to promote their own ideas regarding the age-old problem of how the Christian God, a Good God, could create a material world which contained evil. Their name derives from katharos, the Greek word for 'clean' or 'pure' and they probably derived from the more moderate Bogomil heretics of Byzantine Bulgaria. The Cathars, who were also present in Lombardy, the Rhineland and Champagne regions, believed that there were two principles of Good and Evil, a dualist position that was not new and had been promoted by such groups as the 7th century CE Paulicians. The Cathars believed that an evil force (either a fallen angel - Satan - or an eternal evil god) had created the material world while God was responsible for the spiritual world. Humanity must, as a consequence of this evil, find a way to escape their material bodies and join the pure Good of the spiritual world. As the two worlds were entirely separate, the Cathars did not believe that God had appeared on earth as Jesus Christ and had been crucified.

Albigensian Crusade, Crusade (1209–29) called by Pope Innocent III against the Cathari, a dualist religious movement in southern France that the Roman Catholic Church had branded heretical. The war pitted the nobility of staunchly Catholic northern France against that of the south, where the Cathari were tolerated and even enjoyed the support of the nobles. Although the Crusade did not eliminate Catharism, it eventually enabled the French king to establish his authority over the south.

Historical background

By the middle of the 12th century, control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land was no longer the only goal of the Crusades. Rather, Crusading became a special class of war called by the pope against the enemies of the faith, who were by no means confined to the Levant. Crusades continued in the Baltic region against pagans and in Spain against Muslims. Yet in the heart of Europe a more serious threat faced Christendom: heresy, which was viewed in the medieval world not as benign religious diversity but rather as a cancerous threat to the salvation of souls. It was held to be even more dangerous than the faraway Muslims, because it harmed the body of Christ from within.

During the late 12th century and early 13th century, the most powerful and vibrant heresy in Europe was Catharism. Centered around the Languedoc region and the city of Albi in southern France, the religious movement was tolerated by the local aristocracy and allowed to thrive.

The Roman Catholic Church, wary of a center of Christian teaching over which they had limited control, had attempted for years to cut out the heresy from southern France. in this they were often thwarted by the Barons of the area such as Raymond VI of Toulouse. Things came to a head in 1208, when the Pope called a crusade against Raymond and the Cathars.

The Heresy of Mysticism

Catharism held that the universe was a battleground between good, which was spirit, and evil, which was matter. Human beings were believed to be spirits trapped in physical bodies. Their leaders lived with great austerity, remained chaste, and were vegetarian, avoiding all foods that came from sexual union.

• Joan of Arc: Divinely Inspired or Mentally Ill?
• Asherah: did the God of the Hebrew Bible have a Wife?

This abstinence was of no concern for the Catholic Church, but the teachings were more problematic. Cathar doctrines of creation had led them to rewrite the biblical story, rejecting the doctrine of the Old Testament.

Cathars believed that Jesus was merely an angel, and his human sufferings and death were an illusion. These beliefs struck at the roots of orthodox Christianity and the political power base of Christendom, and a military response from the Church looked increasingly likely as the movement grew.

Cathars grew in influence in the Languedoc throughout the twelfth century. Catholic chroniclers record that Cathars had become the majority religion in many places, and that Catholic churches were abandoned and in ruin. Of the Catholic clergy that remained some, perhaps most, were themselves Cathar believers. The Papacy responded initially be intigating preaching campaigns and engaging in public debates, both of which proved humiliating failures for the crack teams of theologians sent by the Pope.

The next response, in 1208, was a war, or more accurately a series of wars. Modern writers refer to them as the Cathar Wars, but traditionally the series was refered to as the Albigensian Crusade. It was a formal crusade in the full sense of the word - preached and directed by the papacy, and offering participants the remission of sins and an assured place in heaven. The Crusaders regarded themselves as being "on God's business" and referred to themselves as "pilgrims".

From the first major siege (at Béziers) in 1209 the War bacame one of French (+ their allies) against the independent people of the Languedoc (+ their allies). Instead of Catholics against Cathars it was, up until 1242 at least, consistently Catholics on one side against Cathars and Catholics on the other.

The war saw many sieges, including those of Béziers, Carcassonne, Bram, Lavaur, Lastours, Saissac, Minerve, Termes, Les Casses, Puivert, Toulouse, Muret, Castelnaudary, Foix, Beaucaire, Marmande, Montsegur.

These sieges were of castra, ie castles and their associated walled villages, towns or cities. Some gave up without a fight - the desired result of the Crusaders's deliberate terror tactics. These included Fanjeaux and Castelnaudary (after the fall of Béziers and Carcassonne), Lastours and Foix (both for diplomatic reasons after withstanding repeated sieges), Le Bezu and Coustaussa (after the fall of Termes), Peyrepertuse, Queribus, Puilaurens and Aguilar.

Terror tactics included mass indiscriminate slaughter as at Béziers and Marmande (and planned for Toulouse), various attrocities as at Bram and Lavaur, and mass burnings as at Minerve, Lavaur, Les casses and Montsegur.

The Cathars (also known as Cathari from the Greek Katharoi for “pure ones”) were a dualist medieval religious sect of Southern France which flourished in the 12th century CE and challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. They were also known as Albigensians for the town of Albi, which was a strong Cathar center of belief. Cathar priests lived simply, had no possessions, imposed no taxes or penalties, and regarded men and women as equals; aspects of the faith which appealed to many at the time disillusioned with the Church. Cathar beliefs ultimately derived from the Persian religion of Manichaeism but directly from another earlier religious sect from Bulgaria known as the Bogomils who blended Manichaeism with Christianity.

Cathars believed that Satan had tricked a number of angels into falling from heaven and then encased them in bodies. The purpose of life was to renounce the pleasures and enticements of the world and, through repeated incarnations, make one's way back to heaven. To this end, the Cathars observed a strict hierarchy:

• Perfecti – those who had renounced the world, the priests and bishops
• Credentes – believers who still interacted with the world but worked toward renunciation
• Sympathizers – non-believers who aided and supported Cathar communities

Cathars rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church as immoral and most of the books of the Bible as inspired by Satan. They criticized the Church heavily for the hypocrisy, greed, and lechery of its clergy, and the Church's acquisition of land and wealth. Not surprisingly, the Cathars were condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church and massacred in the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229 CE) which also devastated the towns, cities, and culture of southern France.

Origins & Beliefs

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 Europe where it became entwined, under certain circumstances, with Christian belief and symbolism.

Whenever the Templars are mentioned, the Cathars are generally not far behind. Tied together with some interesting data and facts, they tend to be the focus of intense esoteric and mystical knowledge. Taking a look at them with the facts we have may answer questions, or create deeper ones.

The Cathars were the followers of a 12th to 14th C.E. Gnostic movement in Southern France and Italy. This movement, Catharism, comes from the Greek word katharoi, or “Pure Ones.” Scholars agree that the people who practiced this religion did not call themselves by this name; in all honesty, it seems unclear what they did call themselves except “The Good Christians.” The movement first took hold in the small town of Albi, in France, and the followers were also known as the Albigensians, especially to the Catholics. The ideas of Catharism were around for centuries before this larger movement took place, and possibly has its roots in what is called Paulicianism.

In the Paulicianism belief system, the adherents do not believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and in fact believe that Jesus was “adopted” by God to be his “son” and endure the necessary trials. Paulicianism was vibrant around the 7th to 9th centuries C.E., particularly in Armenia. Cathars, like the Paulicians, primarily believed in a dualistic Christian system, wherein the were two “Gods,” one good, one evil, as well as deeper Gnostic concepts. The basic tenants of the Cathar religion seem to have come from a single priest, Bogomil, during the First Bulgarian Empire in the 10th century C.E. as a response to the rise of feudalism. In other words, the oppression and slavery of Feudalistic ideas spurred this priest and his followers toward a mindset of individual freewill and worth. Like later Cathars, Bogomilism did not believe in the ecclesiastical hierarchy nor did they believe in the need for church buildings. In a sense, Bogomils, and then Cathars, were an itinerant religion, spread by men and women of the church elite – Travelers.

Most of their beliefs were radical to a still-struggling Catholic Church, and in a time prior to Luther, Catholic ideas were the only “Christian” meal to be had. The church had struggled for over a thousand years to get itself “right,” and it did not need yet one more renegade group to get in its way. Cathars believed in reincarnation of humans and animals, and did not eat the flesh of animals for this reason. They had a vibrant tradition in their troubadours, and were traveling craftsmen of many trades. Men and women were mainly seen as equals, although it is thought that their last incarnation needed to be male in order to be “close to God.” Their Good God was the creator of all that was spiritual, ethereal and thought, while the Evil God was the creator all that was material. They did not believe in hell, it being the earth in which we currently live, but heaven was populated by angels and spirits performing the will of the Good God. 

The cathar castles of southern France are among the most fascinating castles in France, both because of their dramatic locations and the tales of bravery and persecution that surround them.

No visit to the cathar castles would be complete without some knowledge of the cathar religion itself, to better understand the events that unfolded here

Background - cathar religion

The Cathar religion has its roots in eastern religions of 2500 years ago, with the ideas o Zoroastre (Zarathoustra) that the world consisted of two opposing forces, representing good and evil. Many subsequent religions take this starting point, and the Cathar religion that arrive in Europe via the Balkans in the 11th century is one of these.

The fundamental difference between a 'dualist' religion like the cathars, and a religion like Christianity, is the importance given to the evil forces. Cathars and other dualists believe that these are of equal importance, whereas Christians believe that the forces of good are superior.

Although it shares many principles with Christianity, the Cathar religion differs from the Christian religion in some important respects. Marriage was outlawed, as was the private ownership of property. The cathars believed in reincarnation as a path towards eternal life, were strictly vegetarian, and had to abstain from all sexual pleasures. The abstinence from sex was because the cathars believed that a good soul, created by God, was trapped in an evil body, created by the devil. The goal was to reach heaven, not to perpetuate life on an evil earth.

The goal of the cathar religion was to obtain purity, to become 'parfaits'. As with all religions perhaps, the number of truly dedicated, who followed the rules to the letter, was substantially less than the number who broadly supported the principles of the religion but did not forego all earthly pleasures.

The word kathari, from which cathar is probably derived, is the Greek word for pure.

Cathars in France

The Cathars in France were based largely in the Languedoc region, near Toulouse, and Albi and Carcassonne, with a popularity arising at least in part as a reaction to the over-excesses of the Roman Catholic church. The Cathar religion was supported by many in the region, both peasants and nobles alike - perhaps 10% of the population were supporters.

At this stage, the Toulouse Counts owned large parts of the south of France, and were more 'modern' than the northern part of the country, rejecting the feudal structures of northern France. It was also this 'modernism' - for example, cities were allowed to elect their own representatives - that helped allow the Cathar religion to spread.

Initially attempts were made to unite the Cathars and the Catholics, but these were not successful. The Catholic church considered the Cathar religion as heretical, because it rejected significant parts of both the old and New Testaments, including the notion that God created a fundamentally good earth. Cathars attributed the creation of the heavens to God, and the Earth to the devil.

Hence the greater the strength of the cathar religion, the greater the threat perceived by the Catholic church. When Pope Innocent III was elected in 1198 the battle against the Cathars started in earnest, and this conflict between the cathar religion and the catholics would eventually be the downfall of the cathars.

Early in the 1208 a papal legate was murdered by a representative of the Count of Toulouse (quite possibly without his knowledge or support) and this provided a pretext for the Pope to launch a crusade against the Cathars - the Albigensian Crusade - because of the threat the Roman Catholic church believed it poised to their authority. In reality, the Crusade has as much to do with controlling the southern nobles as defeating the Cathars, and it was with the support of the King and northern nobles that the crusade was launched.

Cathars rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church as immoral and most of the books of the Bible as inspired by Satan. They criticized the Church heavily for the hypocrisy, greed, and lechery of its clergy, and the Church’s acquisition of land and wealth. Not surprisingly, the Cathars were condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church and massacred in the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229 CE) which also devastated the towns, cities, and culture of southern France.

The religion flourished in an area often referred to as the Languedoc, broadly bordered by the Mediterannean Sea, the Pyrenees, and the rivers Garonne, Tarn and Rhône -— and corresponding to the new French region of Occitanie (or the old French regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées)

The word Cathar comes from the Greek word katharoi meaning "pure." The Cathars called themselves simply the Good Men. (Incidentally, the world Catholic is also from a Greek root word, katholikos, meaning "universal" or “in general”.) The Cathars were also known as the Albigensian, named for the town of Albi where there was a large settlement. Their beliefs many historians accept spread westward from Bulgaria, Bosnia and Dalmatia. It is believed to have its roots in Manichaeism, Paulicianism, Bolomilism and/or Zoroastrianism. However, recently some researchers are finding evidence to support the idea that the Cathar faith arose locally and the seeds may have been planted, at least in part, by Pythagoras.

When Pythagoras left Greece he studied in Egypt before founding a school in Croton at the toe of the Italian peninsula boot. There also were known to be other Greek settlements in Languedoc along the shore of what is now Marseilles and further westward. Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) is believed to have founded schools in these Greek settlements.

The parallels between the Pythagorean schools and that of the Cathars is noteworthy. They are as follows:

• Believed in reincarnation
• Believed in two supreme opposing powers or gods, or sets of divine or demonic beings, that created the world. They were dualists.
• Teachings were orally transmitted – it was forbidden to write them down
• Accepted both men and women equally into their ranks - gender was not a barrier to rising in the ranks
• Had an inner and outer circle of believers – the inner circle was held to much stricter standards of behavior than the outer circle of the believers known as croyants (believers). The inner circle was privy to the higher secrets unavailable to the outer circle of followers.
• Personal property of all kinds was relinquished to the church. This was expected of the inner circle but not the outer circle.

Cathars did believe in the teachings of Jesus in their purest form, which they felt had been corrupted by the Catholic Church. They did not recognize the authority of the Pope but maintained their own loose structure of a church with bishops at varies levels and overseeing different territories. As an oral tradition, the Cathars had few written books they considered sacred but there were a few- besides the New Testament, The Gospel of the Secret Supper, or John's Interrogation and The Book of the Two Principles. There has been confusion concerning Cathar attitude toward John the Evangelist and John the Baptist. Strangely Cathars did not look favorably upon John the Baptist, describing him as a "demon."[1] They believed Jesus passed on his secret teachings to his inner circle which included young Saint John.

Cathars found the Catholic practice of worshipping a crucifix, an effigy of their savior dying of a cross, abhorrent. In fact, some Cathars believed Jesus was never crucified or that he had survived the crucifixion and had come to southern France to escape further persecution. Why France? It has been suggested that during the so-called “lost years” of Jesus he spent his time in Egypt (just at Pythagoras did) learning the esoteric secrets he revealed to his inner circle and preached in his ministry.