3. What are the main differences between Cathars and Catholics?
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- Created on: 01-06-18 15:40
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- 3. What are
the main differences between Cathars and Catholics?
- Cathar belief derived from form of 'dualism' that originated in early medieval Bulgaria
- It was called Bogomilism
- It spread into Byzantine Empire in C11th, establishing itself at Constantinople
- Centre of Orthodox Church
- From there, found a way to western Europe where it was present in Rhineland in 1140s and its adherents were first called 'Cathars'
- Cathars established in France and Northern Italy by second half of C12th
- Most closely associated with Languedoc
- Due to dualist beliefs, Cathars were
- Were anti-sacramental and anti-clerical
- Rejected infant baptism, Mass, confession and extreme unction
- Rejected Old Testament
- Believed its god to be evil, creator God, whereas god of New Testament was loving creator of souls
- Opposed many Catholic beliefs
- In contrast with some Catholic clergy, Cathars lived very simply
- Cathars owned no property, required no church buildings and worked for thier keep
- Cathar route to salvation simpler than Catholics
- because everything material was evil, it had to be given up as far as possible
- Cathars lived very austere lives indeed, with clear set of rules to guide them
- because everything material was evil, it had to be given up as far as possible
- Cathars, unlike Catholics, believed when a person died their soul was trapped in human and animal bodies by creator god, instead of going to heaven via purgatory
- because of this they ate nothing resulting from coition (i.e. meat, eggs or dairy products, although they did eat fish
- Cathars renounced sexual intercourse, which produced more bodies in which evil god could imprison souls
- For Cathar, becoming perfectus or perfecta (complete)
- Only way to escape cycle of reincarnation
- When one of these died soul escaped to live with good god
- Perfect's life of renunciation was far too difficult for most people
- Did not matter
- Did not matter how you lived, mattered how you died
- As long as believer received consolamentum (the herecation rite performed by perfecti) on their deathbed and did nothing forbidden after this, their souls too would escape to heaven when they died
- Because they too were 'perfected'
- Contrasts Catholics who had to strive all of his/her life against sin and had to experience genuine remorse for it
- The Cathar faith allowed credentes to live as they pleased until just before point of death
- For worldly and warlike southern French lords this was a non-judgemental and simple sect of favour, even if some followers do not appear to have understood dualist theology in a meaningful way
- As a result, towns and castra of Languedoc were full of Cathars and they were closely woven into its social as well as religious life
- For worldly and warlike southern French lords this was a non-judgemental and simple sect of favour, even if some followers do not appear to have understood dualist theology in a meaningful way
- As long as believer received consolamentum (the herecation rite performed by perfecti) on their deathbed and did nothing forbidden after this, their souls too would escape to heaven when they died
- Did not matter how you lived, mattered how you died
- Did not matter
- Cathars had its own ecclesiastical hierarchy
- Perfecti were elite, living in houses together and each had a companion with whom they travelled
- Organised into dioceses
- with their own bishops and deacons, such as Bernard of La Mothe
- Bishops had an 'elder' and 'younger son'
- When Bishop died, elder would replace him and younger would replaced elder
- Bishops had an 'elder' and 'younger son'
- with their own bishops and deacons, such as Bernard of La Mothe
- Structures were established at Cathar councils such as that at Saint-Felix-de-Carman in either 1167 or between 1174 and 1177
- There Bogomil Papa Nicetas travelled to Languedoc and established bishops at Toulouse, Carcassonne and Agen, as well as consoling a new bishop at Albi
- Nicetas reformed Cathar belief
- Western dualists had been 'moderate' dualists, believing good god had been tricked into allowing his eldest son to create world
- 'Absolute' dualists like Nicetas and Cathars of Languedoc after him considered two gods to be 'co-eternal' - always to have existed
- Nicetas raised issues of belief about nature of creation and about lineages in organisational authority
- Brief schism in Cathar church in 1226, during crusade when heretic Bartholemew of Carcassonne converted Cathar bishop of Agen, Vigouroux of la Bacone and his followers back to moderate dualism
- Cathar belief derived from form of 'dualism' that originated in early medieval Bulgaria
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