The
Albigensian Crusades were a series of military attacks
carried out against Christian heretics at the beginning of the thirteenth
century in
the French Languedoc region. The heretics
were called Cathars, "pure" by
their enemies, but they were referred to locally as the "bonhommes" (good
men) or the "good christians." The teachings of the Cathars gained
extraordinary popularity among the people of the region, even among men
of power and property. The Cathars taught that the Church was not only
evil, but in servitude to the "god of the world," and was owed neither
tithes nor allegience. The Church, which required both for its continued
survival, prepared to move against this dangerous(to their interests, that
is) doctrine.
Fortune-hunting
Knights seduced by Pope Innocent III with promises of land and goods
were gathered together; they descended upon the region and seized
the Cathar stronghold
at Beziers. When the Catholics of Beziers refused to turn over their Cathar
neighbors, the entire population of the city, some 10-20,000 people, were
slaughtered. Many more cities fell, and in 1210, the first massive burning
of Cathars at the stake was carried out in the city of Minerve.
The efforts to destroy Catharism continued, and after many years of fighting,
most of the remaining Cathars had been forced into a few remaining strongholds.
The last of these to fall was the Fortress at Montsegur, where five hundred
Cathars and their supporter held off the crusaders for ten months. The fortress
was captured, and the last Cathars were executed in a mass burning.
Gnosticism
A belief system with a unique worldview, Gnosticism is both an ancient Pagan
religion and an early Christian Heresy. Gnostic belief is purported
by some to be the original Christianity, by others the greatest heresy.
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