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{{short description|Medieval southern European Christian dualist movement}}
{{redirect2|Cathar|The Albigenses|the ''Star Wars'' race|Cathar (race)|the novel by Charles Maturin|The Albigenses (novel){{!}}''The Albigenses'' (novel)}}
{{Distinguish|Cathare|Kathar (disambiguation){{!}}Kathar}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Gnosticism}}
'''Catharism''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|θ|ər|ɪ|z|əm}} {{respell|KATH|ər|iz|əm}};<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Catharism |encyclopedia=Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catharism |access-date=9 May 2024}}</ref> from the {{langx|grc|καθαροί|katharoí}}, "the pure ones"{{sfnp|OED|1989|loc = "Cathar"}}) was a Christian quasi-[[Dualistic cosmology|dualist]] and [[Pseudo-Gnosticism|pseudo-Gnostic]] movement which thrived in [[northern Italy]] and [[southern France]] between the 12th and 14th centuries.{{sfn|Huey|2012|loc=Cathars}}
Denounced as a [[heresy|heretical sect]] by the [[Catholic Church]], its followers were attacked first by the [[Albigensian Crusade]] and later by the [[Medieval Inquisition]], which eradicated them by 1350. Thousands were slaughtered, hanged, or burned at the stake.{{sfnp|Martin|2005|pp=105–121}}{{sfnp|Sibly|Sibly|2003|p=128}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tatz |first1=Colin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1WaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 |title=The Magnitude of Genocide |last2=Higgins |first2=Winton |year=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3161-4 |page=214 |language=en}}</ref>

Followers were known as '''Cathars''' or  '''Albigensians''',{{sfn|Huey|2012|loc=Cathars}} after the French city [[Albi]] where the movement first took hold,{{sfn|Le Roy Ladurie|1990|p=vii}} but referred to themselves as '''Good Christians'''. They believed that there were not one, but two Gods{{em dash}}the good God of Heaven and the evil god of this age ({{Bibleverse|2 Corinthians| 4:4}}). According to tradition, Cathars believed that the good [[God]] was the God of the [[New Testament]] faith and creator of the spiritual realm. Many Cathars identified the evil god as [[Satan]], the master of the physical world, who was the same as the God of the [[Old Testament]]. The Cathars believed that [[Soul|human souls]] were the sexless spirits of angels trapped in the material realm of the evil god. They thought these souls were destined to be [[Reincarnation|reincarnated]] until they achieved [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] through the "[[consolamentum]]", a form of [[baptism]] performed when death is imminent. At that moment, they believed they would return to the good God as "[[Cathar Perfect]]".{{sfnp|Schaus|2006|p=114}} Catharism was initially taught by [[Asceticism|ascetic]] leaders who set few guidelines, leading some Catharist practices and beliefs to vary by region and over time.{{sfnp|Lambert|1998|p=21}}

The first mention of Catharism by chroniclers was in 1143; four years later, the Catholic Church denounced Cathar practices, particularly the ''consolamentum'' ritual. From the beginning of his reign, [[Pope Innocent III]] attempted to end Catharism by sending missionaries and persuading the local authorities to act against the Cathars. In 1208, [[Pierre de Castelnau]], Innocent's [[papal legate]], was murdered while returning to [[Rome]] after excommunicating [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|Count Raymond VI of Toulouse]], who, in his view, was too lenient with the Cathars.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=15–16}} Pope Innocent III then declared de Castelnau a [[Christian martyrs|martyr]] and launched the [[Albigensian Crusade]] in 1209. The nearly twenty-year campaign succeeded in vastly weakening the movement. The [[Medieval Inquisition]] that followed ultimately eradicated Catharism.

There is academic controversy about whether Catharism was an  organized religion or whether the medieval Church imagined or exaggerated it. The lack of any central organisation among Cathars and regional differences in beliefs and practices has prompted some scholars to question whether the Church exaggerated its threat while others wonder whether it even existed.{{sfn|Roach|2018|pp=396–398}}

==Term==
Though the term ''Cathar'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|θ|ɑː|r}}) has been used for centuries to identify the movement; whether it identified itself with the name is debated.{{sfnp|Pegg|2001a|pp=181 ff}} In Cathar texts, the terms ''Good Men'' ({{lang|fr|Bons Hommes}}), ''Good Women'' ({{lang|fr|Bonnes Femmes}}), or ''Good Christians'' ({{lang|fr|Bons Chrétiens}}) are the common terms of [[self-identification]].{{sfnp|Théry|2002|pp=75–117}}

In the testimony of suspects who were put to the question by the [[Inquisition]], the term 'Cathar' was not used amongst the group of accused heretics themselves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inquisition Records of Jacques Fournier {{!}} People {{!}} San Jose State University |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/people/nancy.stork/jacquesfournier/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.sjsu.edu}}</ref> The word 'Cathar' (aka. Gazarri etc.) was coined by Catholic theologians and used exclusively by the inquisition or by authors otherwise identified with the Orthodox church—for example in the anonymous pamphlet of 1430, ''Errores Gazariorum'' (Re: ''Errors of the Cathars'').<ref>RE: for example, [[:fr:Errores Gazariorum|Errores Gazariorum]] (c. 1430)</ref> The full title of this treatise in English is, "''The errors of the Gazarri, or of those who travel riding a broom or a stick."''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Joseph |title=L'aboutissement du concept de sorcellerie |url=https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=zfk-001:1992:86::332 |archive-url=}}</ref>

However, the presence of a variety of beliefs and spiritual practices in the French countryside of the 12th and 13th centuries that came to be seen as [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] relative to the Church in Rome is not actually in question, as the primary documents of the period exhaustively demonstrate.{{sfn|Wakefield|Evans|1991}}{{page needed|date=May 2024}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv512txz |title=Materials Toward a History of Witchcraft |volume=1 |date=1939 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |jstor=j.ctv512txz }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Porete |first1=Marguerite |title=The mirror of simple souls |last2=Babinsky |first2=Ellen L. |year=1993 |publisher=Paulist Press |series=The Classics of Western spirituality |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8091-0464-2 }}{{page?|date=May 2025}}</ref>

Several of these groups under other names, such as the [[Waldensians]] or [[Waldensians|Valdeis]], bear a close similarity to the 'creed' or matrix of beliefs and folk-traditions pieced together under the umbrella of the term 'Catharism.'{{sfn|Wakefield|Evans|1991}}{{page needed|date=May 2024}}<ref name=":2" /> The fact that there was clearly a spiritual and communal movement of some sort can scarcely be denied, since legions of people were willing to part with their lives to defend it. Whether they acted in defense of the doctrine or in defense of the human community who held these beliefs, the fact that many gave themselves up willingly to the flames when the option to recant was given to them in many or most cases is significant.<ref name="Taylor 2018 244">{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Claire |title=Cathars in Question |date=2018 |publisher=York Medieval Press |isbn=978-1-903153-81-9 |editor-last=Sennis |editor-first=Antonio |series=Heresy and inquisition in the Middle Ages |location=Woodbridge |page=244 |chapter=Looking for the Good Men in the Languedoc}}</ref><ref name="Graham-Leigh">{{Cite web |last=Graham-Leigh |first=Elaine |title=Review of Cathars in Question |date=25 September 2017 |url=http://medievallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2017/09/sennis-ed-cathars-in-question.html}}</ref>

As the scholar Claire Taylor puts it, "[This issue] matters at an ethical level, because by being cleverly iconoclastic and populist in suggesting that those using 'Cathar' have made 2+2=5, Pegg and Moore [re: scholars questioning whether or not the Cathars exist] make 2+2=3 by denying the existence of the persecuted group. The missing element is a dissident religious doctrine, for which historians using a fuller range of sources believe thousands of people were prepared to suffer extreme persecution and an agonising death."<ref name="Taylor 2018 244"/><ref name="Graham-Leigh"/>

== Origins ==
The origins of the Cathars' beliefs are unclear, but most theories agree they came from the [[Byzantine Empire]], mostly by the [[trade route]]s, and spread from the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] to the [[Netherlands]]. The movement was greatly influenced by the [[Bogomilism|Bogomils]] of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]],{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} and may have originated in the [[Byzantine Empire]], namely through adherents of the [[Paulicianism|Paulician]] movement in [[Armenia]] and eastern [[Anatolia]] who were resettled in [[Thrace]] ([[Plovdiv|Philippopolis]]).

The name of [[Bulgarians]] ({{lang|fr|Bougres}}) was also applied to the Albigensians, and they maintained an association with the similar Christian movement of the [[Bogomilism|Bogomils]] ("Friends of God") of [[Thrace]]. "That there was a substantial transmission of ritual and ideas from Bogomilism to Catharism is beyond reasonable doubt."{{sfnp|Lambert|1998|p=31}} Their doctrines have numerous resemblances to those of the Bogomils and the [[Paulicianism|Paulicians]], who influenced them,{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=505}} as well as the earlier [[Marcianists]], who were found in the same areas as the Paulicians, the [[Manicheans]] and the Christian [[Gnostics]] of the first few centuries AD, although, as many scholars, most notably [[Mark Gregory Pegg|Mark Pegg]], have pointed out, it would be erroneous to extrapolate direct, historical connections based on theoretical similarities perceived by modern scholars.

[[File:Routes des châteaux cathares.svg|thumb|upright=2.5|A map of the routes of the Cathar castles (blue squares and lines) in the south of France around the turn of the 13th century]]
The writings of the Cathars were mostly destroyed because of the doctrine's threat perceived by the Papacy;{{sfnp|Murphy|2012|pp=26–27}} thus, the historical record of the Cathars is derived primarily from their opponents. Cathar ideology continues to be debated, with commentators regularly accusing opposing perspectives of speculation, distortion and bias. Only a few texts of the Cathars remain, as preserved by their opponents (such as the {{lang|fr|Rituel Cathare de Lyon}}) which give a glimpse into the ideologies of their faith.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=505}} One large text has survived, ''The Book of Two Principles'' ({{lang|la|Liber de duobus principiis}}),{{sfnp|Dondaine|1939}} which elaborates the principles of dualistic theology from the point of view of some [[Albanenses]] Cathars.{{sfnp|Wakefield|Evans|1991|pp=511–515}}

It is now generally agreed by most scholars that identifiable historical Catharism did not emerge until at least 1143, when the first confirmed report of a group espousing similar beliefs is reported being active at [[Cologne]] by the [[Clergy|cleric]] Eberwin of [[Steinfeld Abbey|Steinfeld]].{{efn|name=consideration}} A landmark in the "institutional history" of the Cathars was the [[Council of Saint-Félix|Council]], held in 1167 at [[Saint-Félix-Lauragais]], attended by many local figures and also by the [[Bogomilism|Bogomil]] ''papa'' [[Nicetas, Bogomil bishop|Nicetas]], the Cathar bishop of [[France|(northern) France]] and a leader of the Cathars of [[Lombardy]].

The Cathars were a largely local, Western European/Latin Christian phenomenon, springing up in the [[Rhineland]] cities, particularly Cologne, in the mid-[[12th century]], northern France around the same time, and particularly the [[Languedoc]]—and the northern Italian cities in the mid-late 12th century. In the Languedoc and northern Italy, the Cathars attained their greatest popularity, surviving in the Languedoc, in much reduced form, up to around 1325 and in the Italian cities until the [[Medieval Inquisition|Inquisitions]] of the 14th century extirpated them.{{sfn|Le Roy Ladurie|1990|p=}}{{sfn|Lansing|1998|p=}}

Catharism is generally believed to be a syncretic form of Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism and the heir to Manichaeism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Harvey |date=2021-04-06 |title=The Persecution of The Cathars |url=https://westonmuseum.org/the-persecution-of-the-cathars/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Weston Museum |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Costagliola |first=Michel |date=2015-09-30 |title=Fires in history: the cathar heresy, the inquisition and brulology |journal=Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=230–234 |issn=1592-9558 |pmc=4883611 |pmid=27279813}}</ref>

== Beliefs ==
=== Cosmology ===
[[File:Paradise Lost 1.jpg|thumb|War in heaven. Illustration by [[Gustave Doré]]]]

[[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] cosmology identified [[Dualism in cosmology|two creator deities]]. The first was the creator of the [[Vitalism|spiritual]] realm contained in the New Testament, while the second was the [[demiurge]] depicted in the [[Old Testament]] who created the physical universe.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} The demiurge was often called {{lang|la|Rex Mundi}} ("King of the World").{{sfn|Bütz|2009|p=}}

Some gnostic belief systems including Catharism began to characterise the duality of creation as a relationship between hostile opposing forces of good and evil.{{sfn|Fichtenau|2010|p=161}} Although the demiurge was sometimes conflated with [[Satan]] or considered Satan's father, creator or seducer,{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} these beliefs were far from unanimous. Some Cathar communities believed in a mitigated [[Dualism in cosmology|dualism]] similar to their [[Bogomil]] predecessors, stating that the evil god Satan had previously been the true God's servant before rebelling against him.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}} Others, likely a majority over time given the influence reflected on the ''Book of the Two Principles'',{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}} believed in an absolute dualism, where the two gods were twin entities of the same power and importance.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}}

All visible matter, including the human body, was created or crafted by this {{lang|la|Rex Mundi}}; matter was therefore tainted with [[sin]]. Under this view, humans were actually [[angels]] seduced by Satan before a [[war in heaven]] against the army of [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], after which they would have been forced to spend an eternity trapped in the evil God's material realm.{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} The Cathars taught that to regain angelic status one had to renounce the material self completely. Until one was prepared to do so, they would be stuck in a cycle of [[reincarnation]], condemned to suffer endless human lives on the corrupt Earth.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=11}}

[[Zoé Oldenbourg]] compared the Cathars to "Western Buddhists" because she considered that their view of the doctrine of "resurrection" in Christianity was similar to the Buddhist doctrine of [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]].

=== Christology ===
Cathars venerated [[Jesus Christ]] and followed what they considered to be his true teachings, labelling themselves as "Good Christians".{{sfnp|Théry|2002|pp=75–117}} However, they denied his physical incarnation{{sfn|Bütz|2009}} and Resurrection.<ref name="Belloc 1938 86">{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=86}}</ref> Authors believe that their conception of Jesus resembled [[Docetism]], believing him the human form of an angel,{{sfnp|Townsend|2008|p=9}} whose physical body was only an appearance.<ref>{{harvnb|CUP|2022a}}</ref><ref name="Belloc 1938 86"/> This illusory form would have possibly been given by the [[Virgin Mary]], another angel in human form,{{sfnp|Barber|2000}} or possibly a human born of a woman with no involvement of a man.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}

[[File:File"-Saint Paul Writing His Epistles" by Valentin de Boulogne.jpg|thumb|St. Paul, by [[Valentin de Boulogne]].]]
They firmly rejected the [[Resurrection of Jesus]], seeing it as representing reincarnation, and the Christian [[Christian cross|symbol of the cross]], considering it to be no more than a material instrument of torture and evil. They also saw [[John the Baptist]], identified as the same entity as the prophet [[Elijah]], as an evil being sent to hinder Jesus's teaching through the false sacrament of [[baptism]].{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} For the Cathars, the "resurrection" mentioned in the New Testament was only a symbol of re-incarnation.{{sfn|Crawford|2020}}

Most Cathars did not accept the normative [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] understanding of Jesus, instead resembling [[nontrinitarian]] [[modalistic Monarchianism]] ([[Sabellianism]]) in the West and [[adoptionism]] in the East, which might or might not be combined with the mentioned Docetism.<ref>{{harvnb|CUP|2022b}}</ref> [[Bernard of Clairvaux]]'s biographer and other sources accuse some Cathars of [[Arianism]],{{sfnp|Lambert|1998|p=41|ps=: "Bernard's biographer identifies another group in Toulouse which he calls Arians, who have sometimes been identified as Cathars though the evidence is scant. It is most likely that the first Cathars to penetrate Languedoc appealed&nbsp;..."}}{{sfnp|Luscombe|Riley-Smith|2004|p=522|ps=: "Even though his biographer does not describe their beliefs, Arians would have been an appropriate label for moderate dualists with an unorthodox Christology, and the term was certainly later used in Languedoc to describe Cathars."}} and some scholars see Cathar Christology as having traces of earlier Arian roots.{{sfnp|Johnston|2011|p=115|ps=: "However, they became converts to Arian Christianity, which later developed into Catharism. Arian and Cathar doctrines were sufficiently different from Catholic doctrine that the two branches were incompatible."}}{{sfnp|Kienzle|2001|p=92|ps=: "The term 'Arian' is often joined with 'Manichean' to designate Cathars. Geoffrey's comment implies that he and others called those heretics 'weavers', whereas they called themselves 'Arians'."}}

Some communities might have believed in the existence of a spirit realm created by the good God, the "Land of the Living", whose history and geography would have served as the basis for the evil god's corrupt creation. Under this view, the history of Jesus would have happened roughly as told, only in the spirit realm.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} The physical Jesus from the material world would have been evil, a false messiah and a lustful lover of the material [[Mary Magdalene]]. However, the true Jesus would have influenced the physical world in a way similar to the [[Harrowing of Hell]], only by inhabiting the body of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}} 13th century chronicler [[Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay]] recorded those views.{{sfn|Petrus Sarnensis|1998|pp=10–11}}

=== Other beliefs ===
[[File:Hieronymus Bosch - The Fall of the Rebel Angels (obverse) - WGA2572.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''The Fall of the Rebel Angels'' by [[Hieronymus Bosch]]]]
Some Cathars told a version of the [[Book of Enoch|Enochian]] narrative, according to which [[Eve]]'s daughters copulated with Satan's [[demon]]s and bore [[Nephilim|giants]]. The [[Genesis flood narrative|Deluge]] would have been provoked by [[Satan]], who disapproved of the demons revealing he was not the real god, or alternatively, an attempt by the Invisible Father to destroy the giants.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}} The [[Holy Spirit]] was sometimes counted as one single entity, but to others it was considered the collective groups of unfallen angels who had not followed Satan in his rebellion.

Cathars believed that the sexual allure of women impeded a man's ability to reject the material world.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=42}} Despite this stance on sex and reproduction, some Cathar communities made exceptions. In one version, the Invisible Father had two spiritual wives, Collam and Hoolibam (identified with [[Oholah and Oholibah]]), and would himself have provoked the war in heaven by seducing the wife of Satan, or perhaps the reverse. Cathars adhering to this story would believe that having families and sons would not impede them from reaching God's kingdom.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}

Some communities also believed in a [[Day of Judgment]] that would come when the number of the just equalled that of angels who fell, when the believers would ascend to the [[heaven|spirit realm]], while the sinners would be thrown to everlasting fire along with Satan.{{sfnp|Barber|2000}}

The Cathars ate a [[Pescetarianism|pescatarian]] diet. They did not eat cheese, eggs, meat, or milk because these are all by-products of sexual intercourse.{{sfn|Preece|2008|p=}} The Cathars believed that animals were carriers of reincarnated souls, and forbade the killing of all animal life, apart from fish,{{sfn|Preece|2008|p=}}{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}} which they believed were produced by [[spontaneous generation]].{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}}

The Cathars could be seen as prefiguring [[Protestantism]] in that they denied [[transubstantiation]], [[purgatory]], [[prayers for the dead]] and [[intercession of saints|prayers to saints]]. They also believed that the scriptures should be read in the [[vernacular]].<ref name=":02">{{harvnb|Walther|1968|p=missing}}</ref>

=== Texts ===
The alleged sacred texts of the Cathars, besides the New Testament, included the [[Bogomil]] text ''[[Gospel of the Secret Supper|The Gospel of the Secret Supper]]'' (also called ''John's Interrogation''), a modified version of ''[[Ascension of Isaiah]]'', and the Cathar original work ''The Book of the Two Principles'' (possibly penned by Italian Cathar John Lugio of Bergamo).{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}{{sfn|Barnstone|Meyer|2006|p=751}} They regarded the Old Testament as written by Satan, except for a few books which they accepted,{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=108|loc=The Cathars}} and considered the [[Book of Revelation]] not a prophecy about the future, but an allegorical chronicle of what had transpired in Satan's rebellion. Their reinterpretation of those texts contained numerous elements characteristic of [[Gnostic]] literature.{{sfn|Smith|2015|p=11}}

== Organization ==
=== Sacraments ===
Cathars, in general, formed an anti-[[sacerdotal]] party in opposition to the pre-Reformation Catholic Church, protesting against what they perceived to be the moral, spiritual and political corruption of the Church.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=505}} In contrast, the Cathars had but one central rite, the [[Consolamentum]], or Consolation.<ref name="Belloc 1938 91">{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=91}}</ref> This involved a brief spiritual ceremony to remove all sin from the believer and to induct him into the next higher level as a [[Cathar Perfect|Perfect]].{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}}

Many believers would receive the Consolamentum as death drew near, performing the ritual of liberation at a moment when the heavy obligations of purity required of Perfecti would be temporally short. Some of those who received the sacrament of the consolamentum upon their death-beds may thereafter have shunned further food with an exception of cold water until death. This has been termed the {{lang|la|endura}}.{{sfn|Murray|1998|pp=189–190}} It was claimed by some of the church writers that when a Cathar, after receiving the Consolamentum, began to show signs of recovery he or she would be smothered in order to ensure his or her entry into paradise. Other than extreme cases, little evidence exists to suggest this was a common Cathar practice.{{sfnp|Barber|2000|pp =103–104}}

[[File:Berruguete ordeal.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Pedro Berruguete]] portraying the story of a disputation between [[Saint Dominic]] and the Cathars (Albigensians), in which the books of both were thrown on a fire and Dominic's books were miraculously preserved from the flames.]]

The Cathars also refused the sacrament of the [[eucharist]], saying that it could not possibly be the body of Christ. They also refused to partake in the practice of [[Baptism]] by water. The following two quotes are taken from the [[Inquisitor]] [[Bernard Gui]]'s experiences with the Cathar practices and beliefs:

{{Blockquote|Then they attack and vituperate, in turn, all the [[sacraments]] of the Church, especially the sacrament of the eucharist, saying that it cannot contain the body of Christ, for had this been as great as the largest mountain Christians would have entirely consumed it before this. They assert that the host comes from straw, that it passes through the tails of horses, to wit, when the flour is cleaned by a sieve (of horse hair); that, moreover, it passes through the body and comes to a vile end, which, they say, could not happen if God were in it.{{sfnp|Burr|1996}}

Of baptism, they assert that the water is material and corruptible and is therefore the creation of the evil power, and cannot sanctify the spirit, but that the churchmen sell this water out of avarice, just as they sell earth for the burial of the dead, and oil to the sick when they anoint them, and as they sell the confession of sins as made to the priests.{{sfnp|Burr|1996}}}}

=== Social relationships ===
Killing was abhorrent to the Cathars. Consequently, abstention from all animal food, [[Pescetarianism|sometimes exempting fish]], was enjoined of the Perfecti. The Perfecti avoided eating anything considered to be a by-product of sexual reproduction.{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}} War and [[capital punishment]] were condemned—an abnormality in Medieval Europe,<ref name="Belloc 1938 91"/> despite the fact that the sect had armed combatants prepared to engage in combat and commit murder on its behalf.<ref name="Belloc 1938 92">{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=92}}</ref> For example, the [[Papal Legate]], [[Pierre de Castelnau]], was assassinated in January 1208 in Provence.<ref name="Madaule 1967">{{harvnb|Madaule|1967|p=missing}}</ref>

To the Cathars, reproduction was a moral evil to be avoided, as it continued the chain of reincarnation and suffering in the material world. Such was the situation that a charge of heresy levelled against a suspected Cathar was usually dismissed if the accused could show that he was legally married.<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=95}}</ref>

Despite the implicit [[anti-Semitism]] of their views on the Old Testament God, the Cathars had little hostility to Jews as an [[Ethnic groups in Europe|ethnic group]]: probably, Jews had a higher status in Cathar territories than they had elsewhere in Europe at the time. Cathars appointed Jews as bailiffs and to other roles as public officials, which further increased the Catholic Church's anger at the Cathars.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/albigenses | title=Albigenses }}</ref>

Despite their condemnation of reproduction, the Cathars grew in numbers in southeastern France. By 1207, shortly before the murder of the Papal Legate Castelnau, many towns in that region, i.e., Provence and its vicinity, were almost completely populated by Cathari,<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> and the Cathari population had many ties to nearby communities. When [[Folquet de Marselha|Bishop Fulk]] of [[Toulouse]], a key leader of the anti-Cathar persecutions, excoriated the [[Militia of the Faith of Jesus Christ|Languedoc Knights]] for not pursuing the heretics more diligently, he received the reply, "We cannot. We have been reared in their midst. We have relatives among them and we see them living lives of perfection."{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=42}}

=== Hierarchy ===
It has been alleged that the Cathar Church of the Languedoc had a relatively [[Flat organization|flat structure]], distinguishing between the baptised {{lang|la|Perfecti}} (a term they did not use; instead, {{lang|fr|bonhommes}}) and ordinary unbaptised believers ({{lang|la|credentes}}).{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}} By about 1140, liturgy and a system of doctrine had been established.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=49–50}} They created a number of [[Episcopal see|bishoprics]], first at [[Albi]] around 1165{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=2–4}} and after the 1167 Council at [[Saint-Félix-Lauragais]] sites at [[Toulouse]], [[Carcassonne]], and [[Agen]], so that four bishoprics were in existence by 1200.{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}}{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=49–50}}{{sfnp|Lambert|1998|p=70}}{{sfnp|Lambert|2002|p=140}}

In about 1225, during a lull in the [[Albigensian Crusade]], the bishopric of [[Razès]] was added. Bishops were supported by their two assistants: a {{lang|la|filius maior}} (typically the successor) and a {{lang|la|filius minor}}, who were further assisted by deacons.{{sfnp|Moore|1995|p=137}} The {{lang|la|Perfecti}} were the spiritual elite, highly respected by many of the local people, leading a life of austerity and charity.{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}} In the apostolic fashion, they ministered to the people and travelled in pairs.{{sfn|Johnston|Renkin|2000|p=252}}

=== Role of women ===
[[File:Cathars expelled.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|Cathars being expelled from [[Carcassonne]] in 1209.]]

Catharism has been seen as giving women the greatest opportunities for independent action, since women were found as being believers as well as Perfecti, who were able to administer the sacrament of the ''consolamentum''.{{sfnp|Ward|2002|pp=241–42}}

Cathars believed that a person would be repeatedly reincarnated until they committed to self-denial of the material world. A man could be reincarnated as a woman and [[vice versa]].{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=10–12}} The spirit was of utmost importance to the Cathars and was described as being immaterial and sexless.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=10–12}} Because of this belief, the Cathars saw women as equally capable of being spiritual leaders.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=25–26}}

Women accused of being [[Heresy|heretics]] in early [[medieval Christianity]] included those labelled [[Gnostics]], Cathars, and, later, the [[Beguines]], as well as several other groups that were sometimes "tortured and executed".{{sfnp|Clark|2001|p=412}} Cathars, like the Gnostics who preceded them, assigned more importance to the role of [[Mary Magdalene]] in the spread of early Christianity than the Church previously did. Her vital role as a teacher contributed to the Cathar belief that women could serve as spiritual leaders. Women were included in the Perfecti in significant numbers, with numerous receiving the {{lang|la|consolamentum}} after being widowed.{{sfnp|Ward|2002|pp=241–42}} Having reverence for the [[Gospel of John]], the Cathars saw Mary Magdalene as perhaps even more important than [[Saint Peter]], the founder of the Church.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=80–81}}

Catharism attracted numerous women with the promise of a leadership role that the Catholic Church did not allow.{{sfnp|Schaus|2006|p=114}} Catharism let women become a Perfect.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=40–43}} These female Perfects were required to adhere to a strict and ascetic lifestyle, but were still able to have their own houses.{{sfnp|Kaelber|1997|p=120}} Although many women found something attractive in Catharism, not all found its teachings convincing. A notable example is [[Hildegard of Bingen]], who in 1163 gave a rousing exhortation against the Cathars in [[Cologne]]. During this discourse, Hildegard announced God's eternal [[damnation]] on all who accepted Cathar beliefs.{{sfnp|Newman|1998|pp=753–755}}

While women Perfects rarely travelled to preach the faith, they still played a vital role in the spreading of Catharism by establishing group homes for women.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=41}} Though it was extremely uncommon, there were isolated cases of female Cathars leaving their homes to spread the faith.{{sfnp|Weis|2001|p=122}} In Cathar communal homes (ostals), women were educated in the faith. These women would go on to bear children who would then become believers. Through this pattern, the faith grew exponentially through the efforts of women, as each generation passed.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=41}}

Despite women having a role in the growth of the faith, Catharism was not completely equal. For example, the belief that one's last [[incarnation]] had to be experienced as a man to break the cycle.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=42}} This belief was inspired by later French Cathars, who taught that women must be reborn as men in order to achieve [[salvation]].{{sfnp|Schaus|2006|p=114}} Toward the end of the Cathar movement, Catharism became less equal and started the practice of excluding women Perfects.{{sfnp|Schaus|2006|p=114}} However, this trend remained limited. For example, later on,{{when|date=November 2021}} Italian Perfects still included women.{{sfnp|Schaus|2006|p=114}}

== Suppression ==
[[File:Garotte - Excerpt from Pedro Berruguete - Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe.jpg|thumb|200px|Condemned Cathars at an [[auto-da-fé]], as depicted by the Spanish artist [[Pedro Berruguete]]]]

In 1147, [[Pope Eugene III]] sent a [[Papal legate|legate]] to the Cathar district in order to arrest the progress of the Cathars. The few isolated successes of [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] could not obscure the poor results of this mission, which clearly showed the power of the sect in the Languedoc at that period. The missions of Cardinal Peter of Saint Chrysogonus to Toulouse and the Toulousain in 1178, and of [[Henry of Marcy]], [[cardinal-bishop of Albano]], in 1180–81, obtained merely momentary successes.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=505}} Henry's armed expedition, which took the stronghold at [[Lavaur, Tarn|Lavaur]], did not extinguish the movement.

Decisions of Catholic Church councils—in particular, those of the [[Council of Tours (1163)]] and of the [[Third Council of the Lateran]] (1179)—had scarcely more effect upon the Cathars. When [[Pope Innocent III]] came to power in 1198, he was resolved to deal with them.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|pp=505–506}}

At first, Innocent tried peaceful conversion, and sent a number of legates into the Cathar regions. They had to contend not only with the Cathars, the nobles who protected them, and the people who respected them, but also with many of the bishops of the region, who resented the considerable authority the Pope had conferred upon his legates. In 1204, Innocent III suspended a number of bishops in [[Occitania]].{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} In 1205, he appointed a new and vigorous [[bishop of Toulouse]], the former [[troubadour]] [[Folquet de Marselha|Foulques]]. In 1206, [[Diego of Osma]] and his canon, the future [[Saint Dominic]], began a programme of conversion in Languedoc. As part of this, Catholic–Cathar public debates were held at [[Verfeil, Haute-Garonne|Verfeil]], [[Servian (commune)|Servian]], [[Pamiers]], [[Montréal, Aude|Montréal]] and elsewhere.

Dominic met and debated with the Cathars in 1203 during his mission to the Languedoc. He concluded that only preachers who displayed real sanctity, humility and asceticism could win over convinced Cathar believers. The institutional Church as a general rule did not possess these spiritual warrants.{{sfnp|Johnson|1976|p=251}} His conviction eventually led to the establishment of the [[Dominican Order]] in 1216. The order was to live up to the terms of his rebuke, "Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth." However, even Dominic managed only a few converts among the Cathars.

=== Albigensian Crusade ===
{{main|Albigensian Crusade}}
[[File:Albigensian Crusade 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Pope Innocent III]] excommunicating the Albigensians (left), massacre of the Albigensians by the crusaders (right)]]

In January 1208, the papal legate, [[Pierre de Castelnau]], a [[Cistercian]] monk, theologian and canon lawyer, was sent to meet the ruler of the area, [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse]].{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=68–69}} Known for excommunicating noblemen who protected the Cathars, Castelnau [[excommunication|excommunicated]] Raymond for [[abettor|abetting]] heresy, following an allegedly fierce argument during which Raymond supposedly threatened Castelnau with violence.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=72–73}} Shortly thereafter, Castelnau was murdered as he returned to Rome,<ref name="Madaule 1967"/> allegedly by a knight in the service of Count Raymond.<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> His body was returned and laid to rest in the [[Abbey of Saint-Gilles]].

As soon as he heard of the murder, the Pope ordered the [[Papal legate|legate]]s to preach a [[Albigensian Crusade|crusade]] against the Cathars,<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> and wrote a letter to [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus, King of France]], appealing for his intervention—or an intervention led by his son, [[Louis VIII of France|Louis]]. This was not the first appeal, but some see the murder of the legate as a turning point in papal policy, which had hitherto refrained from the use of military force.<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|pp=89–91}}</ref> Raymond of Toulouse was excommunicated, the second such instance, in 1209.<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/>

King Philip II of France refused to lead the crusade himself, and could not spare his son, Prince Louis VIII, to do so either—despite his victory against [[John, King of England]], as there were still pressing issues with Flanders and the empire along with the threat of an [[House of Châteaudun|Angevin]] revival. While King Philip II could not lead the crusade nor spare his son, he sanctioned the participation of some of his barons, notably [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> and Bouchard de Marly. The twenty years of war against the Cathars and their allies in the Languedoc that followed were called the [[Albigensian Crusade]], derived from [[Albi]], the capital of the Albigensian district, the district corresponding to the present-day [[Tarn (department)|French department of Tarn]].<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=89}}</ref>

[[File:Carcasonneouterwall.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Cité de Carcassonne]] in 2007]]
This war pitted the nobles of France against those of the Languedoc. The widespread northern enthusiasm for the Crusade was partially inspired by a papal decree that permitted the confiscation of lands owned by Cathars and their supporters. This angered not only the lords of the south,<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|pp=92–93}}</ref> but also the King Philip II of France, who was at least nominally the [[Suzerainty|suzerain]] of the lords whose lands were now open to seizure. King Philip II wrote to Pope Innocent in strong terms to point this out—but Pope Innocent refused to change his decree. As the Languedoc was supposedly teeming with Cathars and Cathar sympathisers, this made the region a target for northern French noblemen looking to acquire new fiefs.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The first target for the barons of the North were the lands of the [[Trencavel]], powerful lords of Carcassonne, Béziers, Albi, and the Razes. Little was done to form a regional coalition, and the crusading army was able to take Carcassonne, the Trencavel capital, incarcerating [[Raymond Roger Trencavel]] in his own citadel, where he died within three months. Champions of the [[Occitania|Occitan]] cause claimed that he was murdered. Simon de Montfort was granted the Trencavel lands by Pope Innocent, thus incurring the enmity of [[Peter II of Aragon]], who previously had been aloof from the conflict, even acting as a mediator at the time of the siege of Carcassonne.

The remainder of the first of the two Cathar wars now focused on Simon de Monfort's attempt to hold on to his gains through the winters. With a small force of confederates operating from the main winter camp at [[Fanjeaux]], he was faced with the desertion of local lords who had sworn fealty to him out of necessity—and attempts to enlarge his newfound domain during the summer. His forces were then greatly augmented by reinforcements from northern France, Germany, and elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

De Montfort's summer campaigns recaptured losses sustained in winter months, in addition to attempts to widen the crusade's sphere of operation. Notably he was active in the [[Aveyron]] at [[Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val|St. Antonin]] and on the banks of the [[Rhône]] at [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]]. Simon de Monfort's greatest triumph was the victory against superior numbers at the [[Battle of Muret]] in 1213—a battle in which de Montfort's much smaller force, composed entirely of cavalry, decisively defeated the much-larger, by some estimates 5–10 times larger<ref>{{harvnb|Oman|2012|pp=530–534}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sumption|2011|p= 245}}</ref> and combined-force allied armies of Raymond of Toulouse, his Occitan allies, and [[Peter II of Aragon]].<ref>{{harvnb|Oman|2012|p=529}}</ref> The battle saw the death of Peter II,<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=94}}</ref> which effectively ended the ambitions and influence of the house of Aragon/Barcelona in the Languedoc.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogers|2010|p=37}}</ref>

In 1214, Philip II's [[Battle of Bouvines|victory at Bouvines near Lille]] ended the [[Anglo-French War (1213-1214)|Anglo-French War of 1213–1214]], dealt a death blow to the [[Angevin Empire]], and freed Philip II to concentrate more of his attentions to the Albigensian Crusade underway in the south of France.<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=93}}</ref> In addition, the victory at Bouvines was against an Anglo-German force that was attempting to undermine the power of the French crown. An Anglo-German victory would have been a serious setback to the crusade.<ref>{{harvnb|Tyerman|2006|p=595}}</ref> Full French royal intervention in support of the crusade occurred in early 1226, when [[Louis VIII of France]] led a substantial force into southeastern France.<ref>{{harvnb|Tyerman|2006|p=missing}}</ref>

=== Massacre ===
{{Main|Massacre at Béziers}}
The crusader army came under the command, both spiritually and militarily, of the papal legate [[Arnaud Amalric]], [[Abbot]] of [[Cîteaux]]. In the first significant engagement of the war, the town of [[Béziers]] was [[siege|besieged]] on 22 July 1209. The Catholic inhabitants of the city were granted the freedom to leave unharmed, but many refused and opted to stay and fight alongside the Cathars.

The townsmen spent much of 1209 fending off the crusaders. The Béziers army attempted a [[sortie (siege warfare)|sortie]] but was quickly defeated, then pursued by the crusaders back through the gates and into the city.  [[Arnaud Amalric]], the [[Cistercian order|Cistercian]] abbot-commander, wrote to Pope Innocent III, that during negotiations his soldiers had taken the initiative without waiting for orders. The doors of the church of St Mary Magdalene were broken down and the refugees dragged out and slaughtered. Reportedly, at least 7,000 men, women and children were killed there by Catholic forces, though some scholars dispute this number.{{sfn|Tyerman|2006|p=591}} Elsewhere in the town, many more thousands were mutilated and killed. Prisoners were blinded, dragged behind horses, and used for target practice.{{sfnp|Johnson|1976|p=252}}  What remained of the city was razed by fire.

Arnaud Amalric wrote "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex."{{sfnp|Sibly|Sibly|2003|p=128}} The permanent population of Béziers at that time was then between 10,000 and 14,500, but local refugees seeking shelter within the city walls could conceivably have increased the number to 20,000, though scholars dispute the figure as figurative.<ref name=marvin>{{cite web|url=http://warandgame.com/2009/03/25/the-storm-of-beziers-2|author=Laurence M. Marvin|title=The Storm of Béziers|publisher=Warandgame.com|date=25 March 2009|accessdate=22 November 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426000448/http://warandgame.com/2009/03/25/the-storm-of-beziers-2|archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref>

According to a report thirty years later by a non-witness, Arnaud Amalric is supposed to have been asked how to tell Cathars from Catholics. His alleged reply, according to [[Caesarius of Heisterbach]], a fellow Cistercian, was {{lang|la|"[[Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]]"}}—"Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own".{{sfnp|Moore|2003|p=180}}

After the success of his siege of Carcassonne, which followed the massacre at Béziers in 1209, Simon de Montfort was designated as leader of the Crusader army. Prominent opponents of the Crusaders were [[Raymond Roger Trencavel]], viscount of Carcassonne, and his feudal overlord [[Peter II of Aragon]], who held fiefdoms and had a number of [[vassal]]s in the region. Peter died fighting against the crusade on 12 September 1213 at the [[Battle of Muret]]. Simon de Montfort was killed on 25 June 1218 after maintaining [[Siege of Toulouse (1217–1218)|a siege of Toulouse]] for nine months.<ref>''[[Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise]]'' laisse 205.</ref>

=== Treaty and persecution ===
{{Confusing|section|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Filip2 albigensti.jpg|thumb|The burning of the Cathar heretics]]

The official war ended in the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)]], by which the king of France dispossessed the [[House of Toulouse]] of the greater part of its [[fiefdom|fiefs]], and the house of the [[Trencavel]]s of the whole of their fiefs. The independence of the princes of the Languedoc was at an end. In spite of the wholesale massacre of Cathars during the war, Catharism was not yet extinguished, and Catholic forces would continue to pursue Cathars.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}}

In 1215, the bishops of the Catholic Church met at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran]] under Pope Innocent III. Part of the agenda was combating the Cathar heresy.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=179–181}}

The Inquisition was established in 1233 to uproot the remaining Cathars.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=230–232}} Operating in the south at Toulouse, Albi, Carcassonne and other towns during the whole of the 13th century, and a great part of the 14th, it succeeded in crushing Catharism as a popular movement, driving its remaining adherents underground.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=230–232}} Cathars who refused to recant or relapsed were hanged, or burnt at the stake.{{sfnp|Martin|2005|pp=105–121}}

On Friday 13 May 1239, in [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]], 183 men and women convicted of Catharism were burned at the stake on the orders of the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] inquisitor and former Cathar Perfect {{ill|Robert le Bougre|fr}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Haskins|1902|p=missing}}</ref> Mount Guimar, in [[Grand Est|northeastern France]], had already been denounced as a place of heresy in a letter of the Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège|Liège]] to [[Pope Lucius II]] in 1144.<ref>"Ce lieu est terrible, le Mont-Aimé en Champagne", père Albert Mathieu</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://data.bnf.fr/15058149/albert_mathieu/ |title=Albert Mathieu |website=BnF |access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

From May 1243 to March 1244, the Cathar fortress of [[Montségur]] was besieged by the troops of the [[seneschal]] of Carcassonne and the [[archbishop of Narbonne]].{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=238–240}} On 16 March 1244, a large and symbolically important massacre took place, wherein over 200 Cathar Perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the {{lang|fr|prat dels cremats}} ("field of the burned") near the foot of the castle.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=238–240}} The Church, at the 1235 [[Council of Narbonne (1235)|Council of Narbonne]], decreed lesser chastisements against laymen suspected of sympathy with Cathars.<ref>{{Citation |type=[[Papal Bull|Bull]] |author-link=Pope Innocent IV |last=Innocent IV |title=Ad extirpanda |year=1252 |title-link=Ad extirpanda}}.</ref>

[[File:CatharCross.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|Inquisitors required heretical sympathisers—repentant first offenders—to sew a yellow cross onto their clothes.{{sfnp|Weis|2001|pp=11–12}}]]
A popular though as yet unsubstantiated belief holds that a small party of Cathar Perfects escaped from the fortress prior to the massacre at {{lang|fr|prat dels cremats}}. It is widely held in the Cathar region to this day that the escapees took with them "the Cathar treasure".<!-- Translated from the French "le trésor cathar" - obvious meaning, no need to use French here --> What this treasure consisted of has been a matter of considerable speculation: claims range from sacred [[Gnostic texts]] to the Cathars' accumulated wealth, which might have included the [[Holy Grail]] (see {{section link|#Historical and current scholarship}} below).

Hunted by the Inquisition and deserted by the nobles of their districts, the Cathars became more and more scattered fugitives, meeting surreptitiously in forests and mountain wilds. Later insurrections broke out under the leadership of [[Roger-Bernard II, Count of Foix]], [[Aimery III of Narbonne]], and [[Bernard Délicieux]], a [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan]] friar later prosecuted for his adherence to another heretical movement, that of the [[Fraticelli|Spiritual Franciscans]] at the beginning of the 14th century. By this time, the Inquisition had grown very powerful. Consequently, many presumed to be Cathars were summoned to appear before it.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}}

Precise indications of this are found in the registers of the Inquisitors [[Bernard de Caux|Bernard of Caux]], Jean de St Pierre, [[Geoffroy d'Ablis]], and others.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} The ''perfects'', it was said, only rarely recanted, and hundreds were burnt. Repentant [[laity|lay]] believers were punished, but their lives were spared as long as they did not relapse. Having recanted, they were obliged to sew yellow crosses onto their outdoor clothing and to live apart from other Catholics, at least for a time.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

=== Annihilation ===
After several decades of harassment and re-proselytising, and, perhaps even more important, the systematic destruction of their religious texts, the sect was exhausted and could find no more [[adept]]s. In April 1310, the leader of a Cathar revival in the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenean]] foothills, [[Peire Autier]], was captured and executed in [[Toulouse]].{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=237–38}}{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=242–43}} After 1330, the records of the Inquisition contain very few proceedings against Cathars.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} In the autumn of 1321, the last known Cathar ''perfect'' in the Languedoc, [[Guillaume Bélibaste]], was executed.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=239–246}}{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=242–43}}

From the mid-12th century onwards, Italian Catharism came under increasing pressure from the Pope and the Inquisition, "spelling the beginning of the end."{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=230}} Other movements, such as the [[Waldensians]] and the pantheistic [[Brethren of the Free Spirit]], which suffered persecution in the same area, survived in remote areas and in small numbers through the 14th and 15th centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Stephens|1998|p=missing}}</ref> The Waldensian movement continues today. Waldensian ideas influenced other [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]] sects, such as the [[Hussites]], [[Lollards]], and the [[Moravian Church]].

==== Genocide ====
{{Excerpt| Genocides in history (before 1490)|13th-century extermination of the Cathars|paragraphs=-1}}

== Later history ==
After the suppression of Catharism, the descendants of Cathars were discriminated against; at times, they were also required to live outside towns and their defences. They retained their Cathar identity, despite their reintegration into Catholicism. As such, any use of the term "Cathar" to refer to people after the suppression of Catharism in the 14th century is a cultural or ancestral reference and has no religious implication.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} Nevertheless, interest in the Cathars and their history, legacy and beliefs continues.

=== {{lang|fr|Pays cathare}} ===
[[File:Montsegur-w02.jpg|thumb|The [[Château de Montségur|castle of Montségur]] was razed after 1244. The current fortress follows French [[military engineering|military architecture]] of the 17th century.]]

The term {{lang|fr|Pays cathare}}, French meaning "Cathar Country", is used to highlight the Cathar heritage and history of the region in which Catharism was traditionally strongest. The area is centered around fortresses such as Montségur and Carcassonne; also, the French [[departments of France|département]] of the [[Aude]] uses the title {{lang|fr|Pays cathare}} in tourist brochures.<ref>{{harvnb|Pays Cathar|2008}}</ref> The areas have ruins from the wars against the Cathars that are still visible today.

== Interrogation of heretics ==
In an effort to find the few remaining heretics in and around the village of [[Montaillou]], Jacques Fournier, [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pamiers|Bishop of Pamiers]], future [[Pope Benedict XII]], had those suspected of heresy interrogated in the presence of scribes who recorded their conversations. The late 13th- to early-14th-century document, the [[Fournier Register]], discovered in the Vatican archives in the 1960s and edited by [[Jean Duvernoy]], is the basis for [[Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie]]'s work ''[[Montaillou (book)|Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error]]''.{{sfn|Le Roy Ladurie|1990|}}

== Historical and current scholarship ==
The publication of the early scholarly book ''Crusade Against the Grail,'' by the young German and later [[SS]] officer, [[Otto Rahn]] in the 1930s, rekindled interest in the connection between the Cathars and the [[Holy Grail]], especially in Germany. Rahn was convinced that the 13th-century work ''[[Parzival]]'' by [[Wolfram von Eschenbach]] was a veiled account of the Cathars. The philosopher and Nazi government official [[Alfred Rosenberg]] speaks favourably of the Cathars in ''[[The Myth of the Twentieth Century]].''{{sfn|Rosenberg|1980|p=95}}

Academic books in English first appeared at the beginning of the 21st century: for example, Malcolm Lambert's ''The Cathars''{{sfnp|Lambert|1998}} and Malcolm Barber's ''The Cathars.''{{sfnp|Barber|2000}}

=== Debate on the nature and existence of Catharism ===
Starting in the 1990s and continuing to the present day, historians like [[R.&nbsp;I. Moore]] have challenged the extent to which Catharism, as an institutionalised religion, actually existed. Building on the work of [[French historians]] such as Monique Zerner and Uwe Brunn, Moore's ''The War on Heresy''{{sfn|Moore|2012a|p=}} argues that Catharism was "contrived from the resources of [the] well-stocked imaginations" of churchmen, "with occasional reinforcement from miscellaneous and independent manifestations of local anticlericalism or apostolic enthusiasm."{{sfn|Moore|2012b|p=}} In short, Moore claims that the men and women persecuted as Cathars were not the followers of a secret religion imported from the East. Instead, they were part of a broader spiritual revival taking place in the later twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Moore's work is indicative of a larger [[historiography|historiographical]] trend towards examining how heresy was constructed by the church.<ref>{{harvnb|Biller|2014}}</ref>

Scholars since the 1990s have referred to the fearful rumours of Cathars as a [[moral panic]]. The crusade against Cathars as a possibly-imaginary enemy has been compared to European [[witch-hunt]]s, [[anti-Semitic]] persecution, and the [[Satanic Panic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Victor|1998|p=missing}}</ref>

In 2016, ''Cathars in Question,'' edited by Antonio Sennis, presented a range of conflicting views by academics of medieval heresy, including Feuchter, Stoyanov, Sackville, Taylor, D'Avray, Biller, Moore, Bruschi, Pegg, Hamilton, Arnold, and Théry-Astruc, who had met at [[University College London]] and the [[Warburg Institute]] in London in April 2013.{{sfn|Roach|2018|pp=396–398}} Sennis describes the debate as about "an issue which is highly controversial and hotly debated among scholars: the existence of a medieval phenomenon which we can legitimately call 'Catharism.'"{{sfn|Sennis|2016|p=}}

Dr. Andrew Roach in ''[[The English Historical Review]]'' commented that "Reconciliation still seems some distance away [among the] distinguished, if sometimes cantankerous, scholars" who contributed to the volume. He said:

{{blockquote|The debate is a now familiar one which has been rehearsed for a number of periods and contexts, namely, given that the overwhelming majority of sources about medieval heresy come not from "heretics" themselves but from their persecutors, is there any way historians can be sure that this classification is not just a result of [[mindset]]s driven by pre-conceptions of what is correct or the conscious "fitting up" of opponents?|source={{harvnb|Roach|2018|pp=396–398}} }}

Professor Rebecca Rist describes the academic controversy as the "heresy debate"—"some of it very heated"—about whether Catharism was a "real heresy with Balkans origins, or rather a construct of western medieval culture, whose authorities wanted to persecute religious dissidents." Rist adds that some historians say the group was an invention of the medieval Church, so there never was a Cathar heresy; while she agrees that the medieval Church exaggerated its threat, she says there is evidence of the heresy's existence.{{sfn|Rist|2015}}

Professor Claire Taylor has called for a "post-revisionism" in the debate, saying that legacy historians assumed the heresy was a form of dualism and therefore a form of [[Bogomilism]], whereas "revisionists" have focused on social origins to explain the dissent.{{sfn|Rist|2015}} Lucy Sackville has argued that while the revisionists rightly point to the Cathars' opaque origins and their branding as 'Manichaeans,' this does not mean we should disregard all evidence that their heresy had an organised theology.{{sfn|Rist|2015}}

==In art and music==
The principal legacy of the Cathar movement is in the poems and songs of the Cathar [[troubadours]], though this artistic legacy is only a smaller part of the wider [[Occitan language|Occitan]] linguistic and artistic heritage. The Occitan song ''[[Lo Boièr]]'' is particularly associated with Catharism.<ref name=Blum>{{harvnb|Blum|2007|p=missing}}</ref> Recent artistic projects concentrating on the Cathar element in Provençal and troubadour art include commercial recording projects by Thomas Binkley, electric hurdy-gurdy artist [[Valentin Clastrier]],<ref>{{harvnb|Martí|et al|1975}}</ref> La Nef,<ref>{{harvnb|La Nef|1996}}</ref> and [[Jordi Savall]].<ref>{{harvnb|Savall|2009}}</ref>

In [[popular culture]], Catharism has been linked with the [[Knights Templar]], an active order of monks founded after the [[First Crusade]] (1095–1099). This link has caused [[fringe theories]] about the Cathars and the possibility of their possession of the [[Holy Grail]], such as in the pseudohistorical ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]].''<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=missing}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2004}}</ref>

== Reinterpretations ==

=== Protestants ===
Protestants such as [[John Foxe]], in the 16th century, and [[Jean Duvernoy]], in the 20th century, argued that Cathars followed [[Proto-Protestantism|Proto-Protestant]] theology, though they were criticised by many historians.{{Who|date=January 2023}} Foxe argued that they followed Calvinist soteriology. Such have argued that Cathars did not follow [[dualism in cosmology|dualism]] but instead argued that such accusations were either [[Pseudo-Gnosticism|misinterpretations of Cathar theology]], wrongly attributed to Cathars or merely hostile claims.

Other historians{{Who|date=January 2023}} have also argued that Cathars instead followed Protestant theology because the Reformation spread rapidly to the land in which Cathars mainly existed. They argued that the people "held Protestant ideas" well before the Reformation. However, such arguments are generally viewed as weak, for instance because of the need to downplay the dualism not present in Protestantism.<ref>{{harvnb| Stoyanov|2000|p=missing}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Pegg|2009|p=missing}}</ref><ref name=":02"/>

=== Baptists ===
Twentieth-century Baptists have argued that the Cathars are part of [[Baptist successionism]], placing the Cathars as forerunners of [[Baptist beliefs|Baptist theology]]. [[James Milton Carroll]] claimed in his book ''[[The Trail of Blood]]'' that the [[Novatianism|Novatianists]], or [[Cathari]], were ascendants of Baptist groups. Writing for [[Catholic Answers]], Dwight Longenecker, says there is no historical proof for Baptist successionism.<ref>{{harvnb|Longenecker|2009}}</ref>

Hisel Berlin, advocating for the Baptist successionist theory, argued that claims about the Cathars were mainly false and that they denied things such as infant baptism.<ref>{{harvnb|Berlin|2017|pp=157–165}}</ref> Since the end of the 19th century, the trend in academic Baptist [[historiography]] has been away from the successionist viewpoint to the view that modern day Baptists are an outgrowth of 17th-century [[English Separatist|English Separatism]].{{sfn|Cross|1990|p=174}}

== See also ==
* [[Antonin Gadal]]
* [[Athinganoi]]
* [[Comparison of Catharism and Protestantism]]
* [[Crusades]]
** [[Albigensian Crusade]]
* [[Edmund Hamer Broadbent]] – The Pilgrim Church
* [[Positive Christianity]]
* [[Strigolniki]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=consideration|See especially {{harvnb|Moore|1977|p=}}, and the collection of essays edited by {{harvnb|Frassetto |2006|p=}} for a consideration of the origins of the Cathars, and proof against identifying earlier heretics in the West, such as those identified in 1025 at Monforte, outside [[Milan]], as being Cathars. Also see {{harvnb|Wakefield|Evans|1991|p=}} }}
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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* {{Citation |last=Théry |first=Julien |title=L'Hérésie des bons hommes (XIIe-début du XIVe s.). Comment nommer la dissidence religieuse non-vaudoise ni béguine en Languedoc? |language=fr |trans-title=The Heresy of the Good Men (12th-early 14th century). How to name the non-Vaudois or Beguine religious dissidence in Languedoc? |url=https://www.academia.edu/924035 |series=Heresis |volume=36–37 |year=2002 |pages=75–117 }}
* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Damian |date=2008 |title=Counterknowledge: How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History |publisher=Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1-84354-675-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Townsend |first=Anne Bradford |title=The Cathars of Languedoc as Heretics: From the Perspectives of Five Contemporary Scholars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVnqswEACAAJ |year=2008 |publisher=Union Institute & University |isbn=978-0-549-59664-6 |id={{ProQuest|3311971}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Tyerman |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Tyerman |date=2006 |title=God's War: A New History of the Crusades |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULDUopVCVPoC |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674023871 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior: A Theory and Application to the Case of Ritual Child Abuse |first=Jeffrey S. |last=Victor |journal=[[Sociological Perspectives]] |volume=41 |number=3 |year=1998 |pages=541–565 |doi=10.2307/1389563 |jstor=1389563 |s2cid=18583486}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wakefield |first1=Walter Leggett |last2=Evans |first2=Austin P. |title=Heresies of the High Middle Ages |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookonlawpe00coolgoog |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0231096324 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Walther |first=Daniel |date=1 January 1968 |title=Were the Albigenses and Waldenses Forerunners of the Reformation? |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/auss/vol6/iss2/5 |journal=Andrews University Seminary Studies |volume=6 |issue=2 |issn=0003-2980 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Jennifer |title=Women in Medieval Europe, 1200–1500 |publisher=[[Longman]] |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-0582288270}}
* {{cite book |last1=Weis |first1=René |title=The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars 1290–1329 |publisher=[[Random House]] |location=New York |year=2001}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Barber |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Barber |editor1-last=Bloxham |editor1-first=Donald |editor1-link=Donald Bloxham |editor2-last=Moses |editor2-first=A. Dirk |editor2-link=A. Dirk Moses |date=2010 |chapter=The Albigensian Crusade and the Inquisition |title=The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies |publication-place=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=407–422 |isbn=978-0199232116}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=John H. |title=Inquisition and Power |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |isbn=0-8122-3618-1 |date=24 August 2001}} Deals with Catharism in the context of the Inquisition's evolution and analyses Inquisitorial practice as the construction of the "confessing subject".
* {{Cite book |last=Berlioz |first=Jacques |title=Tuez-les tous Dieu reconnaîtra les siens. Le massacre de Béziers et la croisade des Albigeois vus par Césaire de Heisterbach |trans-title=Kill them all God will recognise his own. The Béziers massacre and the Albigensian crusade seen by Césaire de Heisterbach |publisher=Loubatières |year=1994 |language=fr}} A discussion of the command "Kill them all, God will know his own." recorded by a contemporary Cistercian Chronicler.
* {{Cite book |last=Biget|first=Jean-Louis |year=2007  |title=Hérésie et inquisition dans le midi de la France |location=Paris |publisher=Picard |series=Les médiévistes français |language=fr }}
* {{Cite book |last=Biget|first=Jean-Louis |year=2020 |title=Eglise, dissidences et société dans l'Occitanie médiévale |location= Lyon, Avignon |publisher= CIHAM Editions |series=Collection Mondes médiévaux |language=fr }}
* {{Citation |last=Caernaii |first=Petrus Vallis |url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1209-1218__Petrus_Vallis_Caernaii__Historia_Albigensium_Et_Sacri_Belli_In_Eos_AD_1209__MLT.pdf.html |title=Historia Albigensium et Sacri Belli in Eos |language=la |series=Migne Patrologia Latina |volume=213 |at=0543–0711 }}. A history of the Albigensian war told by a contemporary.
* {{Citation |last=Chesterton |first=G. K. |author-link=G. K. Chesterton |title = What's Wrong with the World |year=1910 }}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Cathars |volume=5 |pages=515–517 |first=Frederick Cornwallis |last=Conybeare |author-link=Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Frassatto |editor-first=Michael |title=Heresy and the Persecuting Society in the Middle Ages: Essays on the Work of R.I. Moore |publisher=Medieval Academy of America |year=1996 |orig-year=1975 |isbn=978-9004150980 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Given |first1=James |title=Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power, Discipline, and Resistance in Languedoc |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0801487590}}
* {{Citation |last1=Godlike Productions |url=http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1085242/pg1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130722221715/http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1085242/pg1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2013 |title=Web Forum: Before the Catholics, The Cathars taught of Jesus, Power of Love |publisher=Godlike Productions, Zero Point Ltd. |year=2010 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gui |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard Gui |last2=Shirley |first2=Janet |title=The Inquisitor's Guide: A Medieval Manual on Heretics |publisher=Ravenhall Books |location=[[Welwyn Garden City]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1905043095}}
* {{Citation |last1=Henry |first1=William |url=http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_autor_whenry04.htm |title=Secrets of The Cathars: Why the Dark Age Church Was Out to Destroy Them |publisher=Biblioteca Pleyades and Atlantis Rising |year=2002 }}
* {{cite book |last=Le Roy Ladurie |first=Emmanuel |title=Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error, Barbara Bray translator |author-link=Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1979 |isbn=978-0807615980}}
* {{Citation |last=Magee |first=M. D. |url=http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianity/0811Inquisition.html |title=Heresy and the Inquisition II Persecution of Heretics |date=12 December 2002 }}
* {{Citation |url=http://gnosistraditions.faithweb.com/ |title=The Trail of Gnosis |first=Judith |last=Mann |publisher=Gnosis Traditions Press |year=2002 }}
* {{Citation |last=Markale |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Markale |title=Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars |publisher=Inner Traditions |year=2003 |isbn=978-0892810901 |url=http://www.innertraditions.com/titles/momyca.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204135937/http://www.innertraditions.com/titles/momyca.html |archive-date=4 December 2003 }}
* {{Citation |last=Maris |first=Yves |title=Cathars – Memories of an initiate |publisher=AdA |year=2006}}
* Mathieu, Albert, "[http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb43633711v Ce lieu est terrible, le Mont-Aimé en Champagne]" Vendredi 13 mai 1239 Réf : Bibliothèque Nationale de France
* {{cite book |last=Moore |first=R.&nbsp;I. |author-link=R. I. Moore |title=The Formation of a Persecuting Society |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |orig-year=1992 |year=2006 |isbn=978-1405129640 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Moreland |first=Miles |title=Miles Away: A Walk Across France |year=1992 |publisher=[[Random House]] |place=New York |isbn=0-679-42527-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/milesawaywalkacr00morl }}
* {{Cite book |last=Pegg |first=Mark |chapter=Heresy, good men, and nomenclature |title=Heresy and the Persecuting Society in the Middle Ages |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Frassetto |series=Studies in the History of Christian Traditions |number=129 |place=Leiden |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2006 |pages=227–239}}
* {{cite book |last=Pegg |first=Mark |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11602867 |chapter=Innocent III, les 'pestilentiels Provençaux' et le paradigme épuisé du catharisme/Innocent III, 'Pestilential Provençals' and the Obsolete Paradigm of Catharism |title=Innocent III et le Midi |series=Cahiers de Fanjeaux, 50 |isbn=9782708934542 |publisher=[[Presses Universitaires de Rennes]] |location=Toulouse |chapter-format=Privat (English and French abstracts) |year=2015 |pages=277–207 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Riparelli |first=Enrico |title=Il volto del Cristo dualista. Da Marcione ai catari |trans-title=The face of the dualistic Christ. From Marcion to the Cathars |publisher=Peter Lang |place=Bern |year=2008 |isbn=978-303911490-0 |language=it}}
* {{citation |last1=Roach |first1=Andrew P. |title=The Devil's World: Heresy and Society 1100–1320 |location=Harlow |publisher=[[Pearson Longman]] |year=2005}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stork |first1=Nancy P. |title=The Inquisition Record of Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers 1318–1325 |url=http://www.sjsu.edu/people/nancy.stork/courses/c4/s1/jacques_fournier |publisher=[[San Jose State University]] |location=California }}
* {{Citation |last=Théry |first=Julien |year=2010 |chapter=Les Hérésies, du XIIe au début du XIVe&nbsp;s. |trans-chapter=The Heresies, from the 12th to the beginning of the 14th century. |title=Structures et dynamiques de la vie religieuse en Occident (1179–1449) |trans-title=Structures and dynamics of religious life in the West (1179–1449) |editor-last=de Cevins |editor-first=Marie-Madeleine |editor2-last=Matz |editor2-first=Jean-Michel |language=fr |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/499340 |publisher=[[Presses Universitaires de Rennes]] |location=[[Rennes]] |pages=373–386 }}
* {{citation |last1=Walther |first1=Daniel |article=A Survey of Recent Research on the Albigensian Cathari |title=Church History |volume=34 |issue=2 |year=1965 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=146–177 |jstor=3162901 |doi=10.2307/3162901 |s2cid=162047282}}
* {{Citation |last1=Weber |first1=Nicholas |contribution-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm |contribution=Albigenses |publisher=[[New Advent]] |title=Catholic Encyclopedia |year=1908a |title-link=Catholic Encyclopedia }}
* {{Citation |last1=Weber |first1=Nicholas |contribution-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03435a.htm |contribution=Cathari |publisher=[[New Advent]] |title=Catholic Encyclopedia |year=1908b |title-link=Catholic Encyclopedia }}
* {{cite book |last1=Zerner |first1=Monique |year=1998 |title=Inventer l'hérésie? Discours polémiques et pouvoirs avant l'Inquisition |language=fr |trans-title=Inventing heresy? Controversial speeches and powers before the Inquisition |location=Nice |publisher=Centre d'études médiévales}}
* {{cite book |last1=Zerner |first1=Monique |year=2001 |title=L'histoire du catharisme en discussion: le "concile" de Saint-Félix (1167) |language=fr |trans-title=The history of Catharism under discussion: the "council" of Saint-Félix (1167) |location=Nice |publisher=Centre d'études médiévales}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Cathars}}
* {{Citation |url=http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb43633711v |title=Ce lieu est terrible [Texte imprimé]: le Mont-Aimé en Champagne |year=2013 |publisher=A. Mathieu |trans-title=Forgotten Story of France: Northern Cathar in Champagne}}
* {{Citation |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/cathtx.htm |publisher=The Gnostic Society Library |title=''Cathar texts''}}, including the ''Lyon Ritual''.
* {{Citation |url=http://www.cathar.org/ |title=Cathars Today}}: Official website of the Cathar Temple
* {{In Our Time|Catharism|p005488v|Catharism}}
* {{Citation |url=http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/cathars |title=Catharism and the Cathars of the Languedoc |website=Castles & Manor Houses |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607030845/http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/cathars/ |archive-date=7 June 2011}}: History, origins, theology and extirpation.
* {{Citation |url=http://www.catharcastles.info/ |title=''Cathar castles'' |publisher=catharcastles.info}}: details, histories, photographs, plans and maps of 30 Cathar castles.
* {{Citation |url=http://www.aude-aude.com/content/view/81/40 |title=''Cathar castles'' |publisher=Aude-Aude |format=interactive map |access-date=15 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324224133/http://www.aude-aude.com/content/view/81/40 |archive-date=24 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Citation |url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/travel/09Languedoc.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=9 May 2010 |title=The Besieged and the Beautiful in Languedoc |author-first=Tony |author-last=Perrottet}}
* {{Citation |url=http://paratge.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/heretiquespyrenees/ |title=Des hérétiques dans les Pyrénées catalanes à la fin du XIe siècle? |language=fr |trans-title=Heretics in the Catalan Pyrenees at the end of the 11th century? |publisher=Paratge |format=article |year=2013}}
* {{Citation |url=http://www.catharism.info |title=Cathars |publisher=cathar.info}}: Cathar history & theology
* {{Citation |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Cathars |title=Cathars |author-first=Joshua J. |author-last=Mark |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |date=2 April 2019}}

{{Gnosticism topics}}
{{History of Christianity}}
{{Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Catharism| ]]
[[Category:Ascetics]]
[[Category:Christian mysticism]]
[[Category:Gnostics]]
[[Category:History of Catholicism in France]]
[[Category:History of Christianity in France]]
[[Category:Religion in France]]
[[Category:Nontrinitarianism]]
[[Category:Persecution of Christian heretics]]