CATHARS. – The term “c.”, of Greek derivation (καθαροί, pure), served in antiquity to designate certain heretical sects, but in current usage the word now refers to a particular form of medieval heresy, and it is only in this sense that it is treated here.
Landolfo the Elder, c. 1100, uses the word “cathari” to describe opponents of ecclesiastical marriage and establishes the rejection of marriage as a point of contact between the heretics of Montfort and the followers of the Pataria; in the second half of the 12th century the name “c.” was employed to designate certain heretics (Eberwin of Schönau, *Sermones contra catharos*), and from that moment the usage quickly took hold. It is superfluous to point out that there is no coincidence between the Cathars and the Pataria, even if similar attitudes and doctrinal points of contact can easily be found. These are two movements that were not contemporary and arose from different exigencies, yet were brought together by practical necessities of struggle. Nor can parallels be drawn or filiations established between the Cathars and the Waldensians, even if in this case we are dealing with two religious phenomena that broke away from the Catholic fold under similar circumstances; the original disagreement remains, even if reciprocal influences are not lacking.
The principal centres of diffusion of Cathar heresy were three: Champagne, southern France, and Lombardy; yet the origin of this phenomenon remains obscure, and the explanations given about the long journeys undertaken by Manichaean or Gnostic dualist thought to arrive at the development of the aforementioned centres do not satisfy. Rather, it is a matter of local movements that only later established connections among themselves and sought justifications for their stance in ancient historical precedents. It is nevertheless the case that from the second half of the 12th century the Churches of the Western Cathars were in a relationship of doctrinal and hierarchical dependence on the leaders of the various and opposed dualist communities of the Balkan or eastern countries.
Various theories have been advanced regarding the genesis and characteristics of medieval heresy; and, leaving aside the details, it can be said that there are two main approaches: some give precedence to the theological-doctrinal aspect, while others accentuate the ascetic-practical aspect. The former consequently see a very close relationship between medieval Cathars and ancient Manichaeans and dualist derivations, while the latter regard this apparatus as a superstitious vow and recognise as the primum movens the desire for an ascetic life, simplicity in worship, etc.; according to the latter, opposition to the official and hierarchical Church is brought fully to light, to the point of affirming that heresy represents a new lay system of perfection and salvation within Christian life. In the embryonic phase of the heretical phenomenon, which it is now almost impossible to trace in the formation of a movement that was at once religious and social, it is, however, easy to see that among those Christians of the 11th and 12th centuries philosophical doctrines could not have been widespread or have taken hold through abstruse arguments, even if such elements were present among the educated, whereas themes of evangelical poverty, apostolic action, and the like could be understood and inspire enthusiasm. This does not exclude the fact that some among the heretics felt the need to give support to their stance and first of all turned to the sacred texts, finding in them many declarations about the opposition between the kingdom of God and the world, the wickedness of carnal life, and the duty to be humble, submissive, and disinterested; later they also revived long-standing dualist doctrines, which enabled Catholic polemicists to turn against them the authoritative refutations once directed by St Augustine and other Fathers. Thus was formed the traditional cliché that interpreted medieval heresies sub specie philosophiae; nor did the new criterion sto-
Of figures worthy of respect, followers of a rigid morality and animated by true religious sentiment, one cannot fail to underscore the terrible consequences arising from the way of life advocated and promoted by the Cathars. The mass of simple believers could abandon themselves with impunity to every sort of dissolution and violence, in the hope of consolation at the moment of death; the destruction of the family and the disintegration of society were the inevitable fruits of these premises, and there is no doubt that a wide diffusion of that heresy would have endangered all of Christian European civilization. This may serve in part to explain the violence of the Catholic reaction when the gravity of the threat was fully realized.
It is not possible here to follow in detail the fortunes of all the groups of Cathars scattered across Europe; an examination of their doctrines would document the origins of their varied dualistic teachings. Suffice it to say, with regard to non-Italian Catharism, that the Eastern branch merged rather with Bogomilism and is referred to as such; traces are encountered in England and Spain, more substantial ones along the banks of the Rhine, where the fierce Conrad of Marburg carried out severe repression. Instead, it was very widespread both in northern and southern France; for the latter, see the history of the Albigensians (v.), well known for many reasons. In the north, the principal center was the castle of Montwimer (Montaimé, diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne), from which the heresy spread into Flanders, Picardy, and Burgundy; but the execution of about 200 inhabitants of that center in 1239 marked the end of the movement in the entire region.
The first sign of the presence of Cathars in Italy appears around 1030 with the capture of the heretics of the castle of Monforte near Alba, examined by Archbishop Aribert of Milan; from the accounts in the chronicles, it emerges that they had a good organization, wide development, and a complex doctrinal system based on the usual principles. Subsequently, the events of the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy, and the ensuing conflicts between the Swabian emperors and the popes, overshadowed, in the sources, the news about the heretics; in 1184, Pope Lucius III, at the meeting with Frederick Barbarossa in Verona, issued the constitution *Ad abolendam*, aimed at a systematic repression long delayed due to political difficulties; in this document, various heretical currents are also partially enumerated, but the first place is given to Catharism, an unmistakable sign of the vastness and scope of that phenomenon. Setting aside all those episodes that may pertain rather to general history for their social and political implications, one need only recall that while Milan remained the principal center, the Cathars flourished also in Verona, Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Cremona, Rimini, Orvieto, and Viterbo; nor are there lacking proofs of their existence in Calabria, Apulia, and the islands. A podestà of Orvieto, Peter Parenzo, was killed by the heretics on 21 May 1199; preachers and inquisitors were also assassinated.
Within Italian Catharism, three sects or orders are distinguished, divided among themselves by doctrinal disputes (a different matter are the Cathar churches understood as hierarchical organizations, headed by a bishop, assisted by a *filius maior* and a *filius minor*: R. Sacconi enumerated 16 of these in the entire Cathar world): the Albanenses (v.), or extreme dualists; the Concorrezzi (v.), also called Garati from the name of their leader Garatus, and the Bagnolenses (v.), or Calojani from their bishop Calojanus, who were, in turn, mitigated dualists but diverged in that the former admitted the material reality of Christ’s body, while the others were also docetists; moreover, the former were *traducianists*, while the latter held that souls had all been created by God at once before the formation of the world and had already sinned in heaven.
Among the most significant works cf. Ch. U. Hahn, *Geschichte der Ketzer im Mittelalter, besonders im 11., 12., und 13. Jahrhundert nach den Quellen*, I, Stuttgart 1845, passim; Ch. Schmidt, *Histoire et doctrine de la secte des Cathares ou Albigeois*, 2 vols., Paris 1849; F. Tocco, *L'eresia nel medioevo*, Florence 1884, pp. 73-134; Ch. Molinier, *Rapport sur une mission exécutée en Italie. Étude sur quelques manuscrits de bibliothèques concernant l'inquisition et les croyances hérétiques du XIIe et du XIIIe siècle*, in *Archives des Missions scientifiques et littéraires*, 3e série, 14 (1888), pp. 133-336; J. Dollinger, *Beiträge zur Sektengeschichte des Mittelalters*, Munich 1890; P. Alphandéry, *Les idées morales des hérétiques latins au début du XIIIe siècle*, Paris 1903, passim; Ch. Molinier, *L'église et la société cathares*, in *Revue historique*, 94 (1907), pp. 225-48; 95 (1907), pp. 1-22, 263-91; id., *Un texte de Muratori concernant les sectes cathares*, in *Annales du Midi*, 22 (1910), pp. 180-220; id., *L'endura, coutume religieuse des derniers sectaires albigeois*, Toulouse 1881; E. Broeck, *Le catharisme. Étude sur les doctrines, la vie religieuse et morale, l'activité littéraire et les vicissitudes de la secte cathare avant la croisade*, Hoogstraten 1916; G. Volpe, *Movimenti religiosi e sette ereticali nella società medioevale italiana*, Florence 1922, passim; E. Holmes, *The Albigeusian or Catharist Heresy. A Story and a Study*, London 1925; J. Guiraud, *Histoire de l'Inquisition au moyen âge*, I, Paris 1935; H. Grundmann, *Religiöse Bewegungen im Mittelalter*, Berlin 1935, passim; R. Morghen, *Osservazioni critiche su alcune questioni fondamentali riguardanti le origini e i caratteri delle eresie medioevali*, in *Archivio della reale deputazione romana di storia patria*, 67 (1944), pp. 97-151; Ilario of Milan, *L'eresia di Ugo Speroni nella confutazione del maestro Vacario* (*Studi e Testi*, 11), Città del Vaticano 1945, pp. 432-36; and by the same author the various studies already cited; also *Le eresie popolari del secolo XI nell'Europa occidentale*, in *Studi gregoriani*, collected by S. B. Borino, II, Rome 1947, pp. 43-89; Paolo Brezzi.