Source: “Custodians of Truth : The Continuance of Rex Deus”, by Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins, Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, 2005.
Genocide and Repression and the Holy Inquisition.wav
This podcast describes the historical context and events surrounding the Albigensian Crusade and the Holy Inquisition's campaign against the Cathar heresy in Languedoc. It highlights the region's initial religious tolerance, particularly towards the Jewish population and the emerging Cathar faith, contrasting it with the prevalent intolerance elsewhere in Christian Europe. The text details the beliefs and practices of the Cathars, including their dualistic worldview and the role of their spiritual leaders, the Perfecti, and explains how the Church's decline in the region contributed to Catharism's rise and the support it received from the nobility. Finally, it recounts the brutal response of the Roman Catholic Church, culminating in the genocidal crusade and the establishment of the Inquisition, which used torture and terror to suppress heresy, ultimately aiming to eradicate the Cathar movement entirely.
Topic 1 The land of Septimania, later known as Languedoc, maintained a unique environment of religious tolerance for centuries, acting as a buffer against Moorish invasion after the Carolingian era. This region was ruled by nobles linked to the Rex Deus families. A large and prosperous Jewish population, led by their semi-autonomous prince or nasi, coexisted harmoniously with their Christian neighbors, despite repeated condemnations from popes and archbishops who were displeased by concessions of property to Jews and their ownership of Christian slaves. Church councils in the 6th and 7th centuries showed ongoing concern about Jewish land ownership in the area. By the 11th century, councils claimed Jews possessed lands that had been subject to Church tithes. Although the nasi's political power declined by the mid-12th century, they still held significant land. Regular contact with the Muslim world, facilitated by Arab merchants and doctors, also influenced the region. Jewish doctors and scholars were highly respected, and Jewish communities in cities like Narbonne and Montpellier had their own religious schools, or yeshivas, which were instrumental in creating early written versions of the Kabbala. Jewish and Muslim apocryphal writings were widespread, even among Catholic clergy and the general populace. Unusually for the time in Christian Europe, Jews in some towns held public offices like consul or magistrate, demonstrating their integration into public life. This high degree of tolerance stood in stark contrast to the treatment of Jews elsewhere in Christian Europe, where they were often viewed as an alien minority, tolerated only under specific protection, feared as moneylenders or officials, publicly humiliated, and intermittently persecuted like heretics by the late 12th century. This prevailing tolerance in Septimania/Languedoc positively impacted both education and trade. Montpellier, by the mid-12th century, gained a reputation as a medical learning center due to its Jewish community's skilled doctors who were knowledgeable in Islamic medical traditions. By the end of that century, even before the university was founded, students were studying art and law in the town.
Topic 2 A significant factor contributing to the rise and spread of Catharism in Languedoc was the state of the Catholic Church in the region during that period. The source describes the Church in Languedoc at this time as being in an almost terminal decline, lacking authority and prestige, and effectively spiritually dead. Many churches were empty and unused because there were not enough priests to minister to them. Some ecclesiastical buildings were even repurposed for holding dances or local revels. Widespread clerical corruption and apathy led to a general state of religious indifference among most people. Acts from Church councils detailed numerous abuses, ordering clergy to adhere to their vows and habits, forbidding gambling, swearing, entertaining actors or musicians, hearing matins in bed, engaging in frivolous gossip during divine office, and using excommunication for personal gain. The clergy were also accused of laxity in calling synods, taking fees for holy orders, celebrating illegal marriages, and quashing legitimate wills. Corruption and negligence were so rampant that respectable citizens would not consider training their sons for the priesthood. The few lower clergy who existed were poorly chosen, neglected by their bishops, and held in contempt by the populace. Their miserable lives led many, according to contemporary accounts, to abandon their calling for more profitable occupations. The Church hierarchy largely ignored parish priests and displayed blatant indifference to papal authority, making them deeply unpopular in their own dioceses. The people refused to support them against the barons and criticized them for their lack of concern for the poor. Abbots, residing in their richly endowed monasteries, were equally unpopular with peasants and townspeople. This widespread spiritual emptiness and lack of respect for the established Church hierarchy created fertile ground for a new religious movement to take root.
Topic 3 The source details the rise of a new religion in Languedoc, which came to be known as Catharism. Assessing its origins requires caution due to the hostile nature of surviving sources, primarily from the Church, which sought to vilify and suppress it. However, some historians trace its lineage as a dualist tradition through various historical movements, including Gnosticism, Manichaeism, the Paulicians, and the Bogomils. This view is supported by a contemporary chronicler who asserted that heresy was prevalent throughout a wide area of Languedoc and may have originated in Bulgaria, spreading along routes used by the Crusaders. The Cathar faith established a strong presence in northern Italy and Languedoc before expanding into other parts of France. Crucially, the Cathars were not viewed as merely dissident Catholics but as representing a faith perceived as far more ancient and authentic than the Catholic Church, which made them particularly dangerous to Rome. The strength of Catharism in Languedoc was significantly bolstered because the local nobility were not just tolerant but became notable supporters of the new religion.
Topic 4 Catharism is described as a dualist, gnostic, and initiatory form of Christianity that preached a "Gospel of Love," identified by them as the secret Gospel of St. John the Divine. This teaching was strongly colored by dualism, which posited the existence of two opposing gods: an evil god, the demi-urge, responsible for creating the Earth and all material things, including human bodies; and a good god who was pure spirit. Cathars believed that by following the true teachings of Jesus and living a simple life, their souls could unite with the good god after death. Conversely, sinners were believed to be reincarnated into the material, evil world. A central aspect of Cathar theology was the denial of hell, which the source notes removed a principal source of fear for ordinary people. Jesus was seen not as a redeemer through sacrifice, but as a revealer of divine truth and the first to perform baptism by the Holy Spirit, a rite they believed was first taught by John the Baptist. They believed John the Baptist taught Jesus, who in turn taught John the Divine, the author of the only scripture they credited. Salvation was achieved through Jesus' teaching, not his death. The Cathars explicitly rejected the god of the Old Testament, viewing him as unrighteous because he had caused events like the Flood, destroyed the Pharaoh's army, annihilated Sodom, and ordered massacres, actions they saw as incompatible with a righteous deity. This rejection of the Old Testament God and the claim to possess the true teachings of Jesus meant the Cathars were seditious in the eyes of the Catholic hierarchy. The Catholic Church found it particularly intolerable that Cathar teaching essentially nullified the Catholic sacraments and painted the Church itself as being founded on deception. Cathars viewed the Catholic Church's wealth and worldly power as proof that it belonged to the evil, material world and saw the pope as an agent of satanic powers. In contrast, the Cathars offered teachings based on a Gospel they claimed was the true one, presented in a language ordinary people could understand, free from dogma, tradition, and superstition. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, actively resisted attempts to translate scriptures or liturgy into local languages, potentially accusing those who desired to read the Gospels in their own tongue of heresy.
Topic 5 The Cathar faith developed a structured organization, despite the severe demands placed on its most dedicated members. Within the Cathar community, lay members were known as credentes, meaning believers. Their religious ministers, drawn from both sexes, were called les bonhommes, or good men, by their followers, but were referred to by critics as perfecti, a term derived from "hereticus perfectus," or alternatively as Cathari, meaning "pure ones." These perfecti were highly respected and visited people in various settings, including country cottages, villages, castles, and city streets, often being received with veneration. The structure of the Cathar Church grew sufficiently to necessitate a formalized system of dioceses with recognized boundaries, indicating substantial growth and an intention to establish a structured church presence despite their views on the material world and the Catholic clergy. By 1167, four Cathar dioceses were established in Languedoc: Albi, Agen, Carcassonne, and Toulouse, with another later founded at Razès. Further dioceses were created elsewhere, including in the County of Champagne and France, and several in Lombardy, Tuscany, and the Balkans. Each diocese was led by a bishop who was assisted by two elected deacons from the ranks of the perfecti, designated as a "major" and a "minor" son. Upon the death of a bishop, the major son would become the new bishop, the minor son would be promoted to major son, and a new minor son would be elected. This sophisticated structure highlights the widespread support the Cathar faith received from both the general population and the local nobility, as such an organization would not have been necessary or possible without it.
Topic 6 The perfecti, the ministers within the Cathar faith, adhered to a rigorous and demanding lifestyle. They lived in working communities regardless of their social status before joining, and typically traveled in pairs. Their duties included tending to the pastoral needs of the credentes, preaching, and healing. Their healing abilities were believed to combine spiritual insight with herbalist skills, reminiscent of their purported Essene predecessors. As initiates, they believed they possessed the divine gift of gnosis, or sacred knowledge, which allowed them to achieve spiritual union with God by following Jesus' teachings. A key practice for the perfecti was the Consolamentum, the only sacrament in Catharism. This was a ritual laying on of hands that invoked baptism by the Holy Spirit. It was granted to credentes who had undergone a three-year novitiate to demonstrate humility and dedication. The Consolamentum was considered the start of a lifelong initiatory process, with perfecti ascending through degrees of enlightenment and receiving increasing spiritual knowledge. The ritual itself was performed in a private home with other perfecti present. The officiating perfectus would ritually wash their hands before touching the Gospel or laying hands on the candidate, emphasizing ritual purity. Perfecti were required to abstain completely from all sexual activity and followed strict dietary restrictions, avoiding meat and animal by-products like eggs, cheese, milk, or butter. These restrictions stemmed from their belief in the transmigration of human souls into animals, fearing that an animal might house an imperfect human soul awaiting spiritual revelation. They were permitted to drink wine and eat fish, which they believed arose from spontaneous generation in water. In contrast to the perfecti, credentes faced no such dietary or sexual restrictions; their primary religious obligation was to prepare themselves to potentially receive the Consolamentum on their deathbed. Beyond this, the only other ritual obligation for credentes was to perform melioramentum, an act of veneration towards a perfectus, which involved bowing three times and exchanging simple prayers. Credentes were even permitted to attend Catholic Mass if they desired, highlighting a degree of flexibility for lay members.
Topic 7 A significant factor in the flourishing of Catharism in Languedoc was the strong support it received from the local nobility and the urban bourgeoisie. The literate and sophisticated Rex Deus nobility in the region had become overtly anticlerical by the mid-12th century. They did not merely tolerate the Cathar Church but actively supported and encouraged it from its inception. Notable examples of this support included Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, who traveled with a perfectus; the Count of Foix and his family, whose wife even became a perfecti; and Roger TrenÇavel, Viscount of Carcassonne and Béziers, who was educated by perfecti and became a staunch defender of Cathars in his territories, a stance that ultimately cost him his life in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Contemporary Catholic historians also noted that virtually all the minor nobility in populous areas like the Lauragais were Cathars, as were their subjects. Furthermore, support extended beyond the nobility to many members of the bourgeoisie in the towns, who also joined the new religion and held control of town governments in many places. This widespread support from the ruling and influential classes provided Catharism with protection and resources that allowed it to grow and challenge the dominance of the Catholic Church.
Topic 8 The Cathar community in Languedoc became not only numerous but also remarkably prosperous by the late 12th century. Perfecti, many of whom came from wealthier social strata, donated all their property to the Cathar Church upon joining. Credentes, particularly those from mercantile families, also contributed significantly, with some bequeathing their entire fortunes and others making substantial donations of money and property during their lifetimes. Despite the vow of absolute poverty taken by the perfecti, they accepted these gifts and used them for the benefit of the local population. Communities of perfecti provided emergency relief for the poor and needy. They also maintained communal houses that served multiple roles as schools, monasteries, and hospitals. The Cathar community founded and operated working craft guilds, large weaving establishments, leather works, and paper mills. These establishments served as educational centers for young people and training grounds for those in the novitiate phase. Wealthy noblewomen also surrendered their homes and fortunes to the community, establishing Cathar convents that provided aid to the daughters of poorer credentes and offered refuge and spiritual guidance to children of the nobility seeking a life dedicated to God's service. The source argues that this environment of tolerance and spirituality led to a reinvigoration of religious and creative life, fostering a vibrant civilization based on spiritual principles that encouraged commerce, nascent democracy in cities, economic stability, creative freedom, love, and religious toleration. It is even suggested that without the Church's severe response, a Renaissance might have occurred in Languedoc two centuries earlier than it did in Italy.
Topic 9 The Catholic Church's reaction to the growing Cathar religion in Languedoc evolved from initial, seemingly reasonable attempts at persuasion to a full-scale military campaign. In 1145, Bernard of Clairvaux was dispatched to Toulouse to investigate the spread of heresy, noting the derelict state of Catholic churches and the prevalence of heretical attitudes. Despite this, he described the Cathars as a people of simple and devout spirituality led by a gifted priesthood, even commenting positively on the perfecti's sermons. By the late 12th century, with Catharism displacing Catholicism, the situation became intolerable for the Church in Rome. Persuasion was attempted through preaching missions, such as the one led by Dominic Guzman, a Spanish priest, which proved largely unsuccessful; a house he founded for repentant Cathar women saw little use. Following the failure of preaching, a brutal warning was delivered, promising force where gentleness had failed, predicting princes and bishops would be stirred up, leading to destruction and enslavement. This prophecy set the stage for the Albigensian Crusade. The murder of the papal legate, Peter de Castlenau, in 1208, allegedly by a vassal of Count Raymond IV, provided the trigger for the pope's call to arms. The pope explicitly called for an attack on heretics, deeming them more evil than Saracens, and urged soldiers of Christ to avenge the legate's death. Recruits were promised absolution for all sins, past, present, and future, in exchange for just forty days of service. They were also given license to seize the property of any heretic and implied permission for violence and plunder. Despite being an official crusade launched by the pope, neither the Knights Templar nor the Knights Hospitaller, the main military orders, played a significant role. The source notes their surprising unanimity in abstaining, claiming their extensive holdings in the region were purely commercial and agricultural, understaffed, unfortified, and therefore unsuitable for military use, and that the deeds of donation for these lands specifically forbade their use for warfare. The source suggests that the Rex Deus foundation of the Templars, the fact that Rex Deus families in Languedoc had donated these lands, and that these same nobles supported the Cathars, help explain this reluctance.
Topic 10 The Albigensian Crusade, initiated by the Catholic Church against the Cathars, was marked by extreme brutality and lasted for nearly thirty years. The initial major target was the walled city of Béziers in 1209. Despite many citizens being Catholic, the papal legate instructed the crusaders to show no mercy to order, age, or sex, stating, "Cathar or Catholic—kill them all...God will know his own." Following the city's fall, over 20,000 people were massacred indiscriminately, including thousands who had sought sanctuary in the cathedral. This massacre served as a stark example of the fate awaiting those who resisted. Carcassonne was the next major target. After a siege, the viscount, Raimond-Roger TrenÇavel, was imprisoned despite being offered safe-conduct for surrender discussions and later died in prison, likely due to foul play. The city's inhabitants were spared but were forced to leave naked, forfeiting all their possessions to the invading army. Simon de Montfort, the appointed leader, gained the TrenÇavel family's lands and titles. The brutality continued throughout the conflict, including mass burnings of perfecti of both sexes after sieges, such as 140 at Minerve and 400 at Lavaur. At Marmande, 5,000 people were killed. Simon de Montfort was known for his cruelty, ordering the mutilation of defenders at Bram by cutting off noses, lips, and ears and gouging out eyes, leaving only one man with partial sight to lead the others to a Cathar stronghold as a warning. The source also details the treatment of the defenders of Lavaur, where knights were initially sentenced to hang (though their sentences were commuted), and the chatelaine, Lady Guiraude, was subjected to sexual violence before being killed. These acts were justified by the crusaders as defending the true religion against heresy and were conducted with papal approval, benefiting the local Catholic hierarchy through the seizure of heretics' property. The war officially ended with the fall of the last Cathar stronghold, Montségur, in 1244. Although the fighting men were spared during this final siege, 225 perfecti were burned alive. Despite the Crusade's violence, Catharism survived secretly in Languedoc. Following the military campaign, the Church introduced the Holy Inquisition, primarily staffed by the Dominican order, to systematically root out heresy through perpetual terror, using procedures that disregarded established legal protections, including the widespread use of torture, formally sanctioned later, which focused on causing pain without shedding blood to circumvent traditional Church prohibitions. The Inquisition became a permanent tribunal that confiscated property, with profits divided between the Inquisitors and the Pope, and relentlessly persecuted those accused of heresy, even harassing the descendants of convicted individuals, ensuring that heresy was considered an indelible, hereditary stain.