Heresy of the Week: Albigensism

This week's heresy is a more recent (relatively speaking) Gnostic heresy that appeared in France during the end of the Middle Ages.

Albigensism, also called Albigensianism, is a 12th-13th century French heresy, also known as the Cathars or Cathari (Catharism). While named for the French city Albi, they actually seemed to be centered in the city of Toulouse. The extent of their teachings remains unclear, as all surviving documentation originates from the Catholic Church (their opponent). They appear to have subscribed to a dualistic theology (of the Gnosticism vein) with two principle forces: good (this God was Jesus) and evil (Satan and the God of the Old Testament were both considered evil). The material world also was considered evil, and they denied the Resurrection of the body, since the body was material and therefore evil. Those who strictly followed the doctrine were called “perfects” or “perfecti”, which included eschewing all the trappings of the physical world (much like Asceticism), if they were good enough, salvation would come upon death—if not, they would be reincarnated as an animal or human to try again. There is some indication that suicide may have been practiced by some as a way to rid themselves of the “evil” material body. The Albigensis particularly protested the clergy and material wealth of the Church, and in the 12th century, Pope Innocent III waged a crusade to snuff out the Albigensis heresy, which was successful. Albigensism was accused of being a Neo-Manichaean (Manichaeism) movement.