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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > A > Albigenses


ALBIGENSES

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(From Albi, Latin Albiga, the present capital of the Department of Tarn).

A neo-Manichæan sect that flourished in southern France in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. The name Albigenses, given them by the Council of Tours
(1163) prevailed towards the end of the twelfth century and was for a long time
applied to all the heretics of the south of France. They were also called
Catharists (katharos, pure), though in reality they were only a branch of the
Catharistic movement. The rise and spread of the new doctrine in southern France
was favoured by various circumstances, among which may be mentioned: the
fascination exercised by the readily-grasped dualistic principle; the remnant of
Jewish and Mohammedan doctrinal elements; the wealth, leisure, and imaginative
mind of the inhabitants of Languedoc; their contempt for the Catholic clergy,
caused by the ignorance and the worldly, too frequently scandalous, lives of the
latter; the protection of an overwhelming majority of the nobility, and the
intimate local blending of national aspirations and religious sentiment.




PRINCIPLES


DOCTRINAL

The Albigenses asserted the co-existence of two mutually opposed principles, one
good, the other evil. The former is the creator of the spiritual, the latter of
the material world. The bad principle is the source of all evil; natural
phenomena, either ordinary like the growth of plants, or extraordinary as
earthquakes, likewise moral disorders (war), must be attributed to him. He
created the human body and is the author of sin, which springs from matter and
not from the spirit. The Old Testament must be either partly or entirely
ascribed to him; whereas the New Testament is the revelation of the beneficent
God. The latter is the creator of human souls, which the bad principle
imprisoned in material bodies after he had deceived them into leaving the
kingdom of light. This earth is a place of punishment, the only hell that exists
for the human soul. Punishment, however, is not everlasting; for all souls,
being Divine in nature, must eventually be liberated. To accomplish this
deliverance God sent upon earth Jesus Christ, who, although very perfect, like
the Holy Ghost, is still a mere creature. The Redeemer could not take on a
genuine human body, because he would thereby have come under the control of the
evil principle. His body was, therefore, of celestial essence, and with it He
penetrated the ear of Mary. It was only apparently that He was born from her and
only apparently that He suffered. His redemption was not operative, but solely
instructive. To enjoy its benefits, one must become a member of the Church of
Christ (the Albigenses). Here below, it is not the Catholic sacraments but the
peculiar ceremony of the Albigenses known as the consolamentum, or
"consolation," that purifies the soul from all sin and ensures its immediate
return to heaven. The resurrection of the body will not take place, since by its
nature all flesh is evil.


MORAL

The dualism of the Albigenses was also the basis of their moral teaching. Man,
they taught, is a living contradiction. Hence, the liberation of the soul from
its captivity in the body is the true end of our being. To attain this, suicide
is commendable; it was customary among them in the form of the endura
(starvation). The extinction of bodily life on the largest scale consistent with
human existence is also a perfect aim. As generation propagates the slavery of
the soul to the body, perpetual chastity should be practiced. Matrimonial
intercourse is unlawful; concubinage, being of a less permanent nature, is
preferable to marriage. Abandonment of his wife by the husband, or vice versa,
is desirable. Generation was abhorred by the Albigenses even in the animal
kingdom. Consequently, abstention from all animal food, except fish, was
enjoined. Their belief in metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, the
result of their logical rejection of purgatory, furnishes another explanation
for the same abstinence. To this practice they added long and rigorous fasts.
The necessity of absolute fidelity to the sect was strongly inculcated. War and
capital punishment were absolutely condemned.


ORIGIN AND HISTORY

The contact of Christianity with the Oriental mind and Oriental religions had
produced several sects (Gnostics, Manichæans, Paulicians, Bogomilae) whose
doctrines were akin to the tenets of the Albigenses. But the historical
connection between the new heretics and their predecessors cannot be clearly
traced. In France, where they were probably introduced by a woman from Italy,
the Neo-Manichæan doctrines were secretly diffused for several years before they
appeared, almost simultaneously, near Toulouse and at the Synod of Orléans
(1022). Those who proposed them were even made to suffer the extreme penalty of
death. The Council of Arras (1025), Charroux, Dep. of Vienne (c. 1028), and of
Reims (1049) had to deal with the heresy. At that of Beauvais (1114) the case of
Neo-Manichæans in the Diocese of Soissons was brought up, but was referred to
the council shortly to be held in the latter city. Petrobrusianism now
familiarized the South with some of the tenets of the Albigenses. Its
condemnation by the Council of Toulouse (1119) did not prevent the evil from
spreading. Pope Eugene III (1145-53) sent a legate, Cardinal Alberic of Ostia,
to Languedoc (1145), and St. Bernard seconded the legate's efforts. But their
preaching produced no lasting effect. The Council of Reims (1148) excommunicated
the protectors "of the heretics of Gascony and Provence." That of Tours (1163)
decreed that the Albigenses should be imprisoned and their property confiscated.
A religious disputation was held (1165) at Lombez, with the usual unsatisfactory
result of such conferences. Two years later, the Albigenses held a general
council at Toulouse, their chief centre of activity. The Cardinal-Legate Peter
made another attempt at peaceful settlement (1178), but he was received with
derision. The Third General Council of the Lateran (1179) renewed the previous
severe measures and issued a summons to use force against the heretics, who were
plundering and devastating Albi, Toulouse, and the vicinity. At the death (1194)
of the Catholic Count of Toulouse, Raymond V, his succession fell to Raymond VI
(1194-1222) who favoured the heresy. With the accession of Innocent III (1198)
the work of conversion and repression was taken up vigorously. In 1205-6 three
events augured well for the success of the efforts made in that direction.
Raymond VI, in face of the threatening military operations urged by Innocent
against him, promised under oath to banish the dissidents from his dominions.
The monk Fulco of Marseilles, formerly a troubadour, now became Archbishop of
Toulouse (1205-31). Two Spaniards, Diego, Bishop of Osma and his companion,
Dominic Guzman (St. Dominic), returning from Rome, visited the papal legates at
Montpellier. By their advice, the excessive outward splendour of Catholic
preachers, which offended the heretics, was replaced by apostolical austerity.
Religious disputations were renewed. St. Dominic, perceiving the great
advantages derived by his opponents from the cooperation of women, founded
(1206) at Pouille near Carcassonne a religious congregation for women, whose
object was the education of the poorer girls of the nobility. Not long after
this he laid the foundation of the Dominican Order. Innocent III, in view of the
immense spread of the heresy, which infected over 1000 cities or towns, called
(1207) upon the King of France, as Suzerain of the County of Toulouse, to use
force. He renewed his appeal on receiving news of the assassination of his
legate, Peter of Castelnau, a Cistercian monk (1208), which judging by
appearances, he attributed to Raymond VI. Numerous barons of northern France,
Germany, and Belgium joined the crusade, and papal legates were put at the head
of the expedition, Arnold, Abbot of Cîteaux, and two bishops. Raymond VI, still
under the ban of excommunication pronounced against him by Peter of Castelnau,
now offered to submit, was reconciled with the Church, and took the field
against his former friends. Roger, Viscount of Béziers, was first attacked, and
his principal fortresses, Béziers and Carcassonne, were taken (1209). The
monstrous words: "Slay all; God will know His own," alleged to have been uttered
at the capture of Béziers, by the papal legate, were never pronounced (Tamizey
de Larroque, "Rev. des quest. hist." 1866, I, 168-91). Simon of Monfort, Earl of
Leicester, was given control of the conquered territory and became the military
leader of the crusade. At the Council of Avignon (1209) Raymond VI was again
excommunicated for not fulfilling the conditions of ecclesiastical
reconciliation. He went in person to Rome, and the Pope ordered an
investigation. After fruitless attempts in the Council of Arles (1211) at an
agreement between the papal legates and the Count of Toulouse, the latter left
the council and prepared to resist. He was declared an enemy of the Church and
his possessions were forfeited to whoever would conquer them. Lavaur, Dep. of
Tarn, fell in 1211, amid dreadful carnage, into the hands of the crusaders. The
latter, exasperated by the reported massacre of 6,000 of their followers, spared
neither age nor sex. The crusade now degenerated into a war of conquest, and
Innocent III, in spite of his efforts, was powerless to bring the undertaking
back to its original purpose. Peter of Aragon, Raymond's brother-in-law,
interposed to obtain his forgiveness, but without success. He then took up arms
to defend him. The troops of Peter and of Simon of Montfort met at Muret (1213).
Peter was defeated and killed. The allies of the fallen king were now so
weakened that they offered to submit. The Pope sent as his representative the
Cardinal-Deacon Peter of Santa Maria in Aquiro, who carried out only part of his
instructions, receiving indeed Raymond, the inhabitants of Toulouse, and others
back into the Church, but furthering at the same time Simon's plans of conquest.
This commander continued the war and was appointed by the Council of Montpellier
(1215) lord over all the acquired territory. The Pope, informed that it was the
only effectual means of crushing the heresy, approved the choice. At the death
of Simon (1218), his son Amalric inherited his rights and continued the war with
but little success. The territory was ultimately ceded almost entirely by both
Amalric and Raymond VII to the King of France, while the Council of Toulouse
(1229) entrusted the Inquisition, which soon passed into the hands of the
Dominicans (1233), with the repression of Albigensianism. The heresy disappeared
about the end of the fourteenth century.




ORGANIZATION AND LITURGY

The members of the sect were divided into two classes: The "perfect" (perfecti)
and the mere "believers" (credentes). The "perfect" were those who had submitted
to the initiation-rite (consolamentum). They were few in number and were alone
bound to the observance of the above-described rigid moral law. While the female
members of this class did not travel, the men went, by twos, from place to
place, performing the ceremony of initiation. The only bond that attached the
"believers" to Albigensianism was the promise to receive the consolamentum
before death. They were very numerous, could marry, wage war, etc., and
generally observed the ten commandments. Many remained "believers" for years and
were only initiated on their deathbed. If the illness did not end fatally,
starvation or poison prevented rather frequently subsequent moral
transgressions. In some instances the reconsolatio was administered to those
who, after initiation, had relapsed into sin. The hierarchy consisted of bishops
and deacons. The existence of an Albigensian Pope is not universally admitted.
The bishops were chosen from among the "perfect." They had two assistants, the
older and the younger son (filius major and filius minor), and were generally
succeeded by the former. The consolamentum, or ceremony of initiation, was a
sort of spiritual baptism, analogous in rite and equivalent in significance to
several of the Catholic sacraments (Baptism, Penance, Order). Its reception,
from which children were debarred, was, if possible, preceded by careful
religious study and penitential practices. In this period of preparation, the
candidates used ceremonies that bore a striking resemblance to the ancient
Christian catechumenate. The essential rite of the consolamentum was the
imposition of hands. The engagement which the "believers" took to be initiated
before death was known as the convenenza (promise).


ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH

Properly speaking, Albigensianism was not a Christian heresy but an
extra-Christian religion. Ecclesiastical authority, after persuasion had failed,
adopted a course of severe repression, which led at times to regrettable excess.
Simon of Montfort intended well at first, but later used the pretext of religion
to usurp the territory of the Counts of Toulouse. The death penalty was, indeed,
inflicted too freely on the Albigenses, but it must be remembered that the penal
code of the time was considerably more rigorous than ours, and the excesses were
sometimes provoked. Raymond VI and his successor, Raymond VII, were, when in
distress, ever ready to promise, but never to earnestly amend. Pope Innocent III
was justified in saying that the Albigenses were "worse than the Saracens"; and
still he counselled moderation and disapproved of the selfish policy adopted by
Simon of Montfort. What the Church combated was principles that led directly not
only to the ruin of Christianity, but to the very extinction of the human race.




ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Weber, N. (1907). Albigenses. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm

MLA citation. Weber, Nicholas. "Albigenses." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Tim Drake.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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