by Sean Martin
Texerant According to Eckbert of Schönau, this was the name used for dualist heretics in France. The name derives from the word for weaving, a craft long associated with heresy.
Waldensians Founded by the preacher Waldo of Lyons (1140–1217), the group espoused evangelical poverty and was also known as the Poor of Lyons as a result. They were declared heretical in the bull Ad abolendam in 1184 – which also denounced the Cathars. Despite persecution, the Waldensian church survives to this day.
Suggestions for Further Reading
The most comprehensive book on the Cathars in English is Malcolm Lambert’s The Cathars (Blackwell, 1998). As a slightly easier read, Malcolm Barber’s The Cathars: Dualist Heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages (Longman, 2000; second edition 2013) is also recommended. The second edition brings the state of current scholarship up to date.
Stephen O’Shea’s The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars (Profile Books, 2000) is perhaps the best non-academic introduction to the Cathars, although the book mainly concentrates on events in the Languedoc (but it does come with copious – and frequently entertaining – endnotes). Italian Catharism is covered by Carol Lansing’s Power & Purity: Cathar Heresy in Medieval Italy (OUP, 1998).
Late Catharism is most famously represented by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie’s Montaillou (Paris, 1975; English edition, 1980). More recently, René Weis’s brilliant The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars 1290–1329 (Penguin, 2001) has covered the same ground in painstaking – and moving – detail.
Older classics on the subject include Sir Steven Runciman’s The Medieval Manichee (1947) and Zoé Oldenburg’s Massacre at Montségur (1959).
For actual Cathar texts, the best source remains Heresies of the High Middle Ages, edited by Wakefield and Evans (Columbia University Press, 1969).
The two major contemporary accounts of the Albigensian Crusade are The Song of the Cathar Wars: A History of the Albigensian Crusade by William of Tudela and an anonymous successor, translated by Janet Shirley (Scolar Press, 1996) and The History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay’s Historia Albigensis, translated by W A and M D Sibly (Boydell, 1998).
In addition to these titles, the curious reader is directed towards the works of Anne Brenon, Jean Duvernoy, Bernard Hamilton and Michel Roquebert, all of whom are major authorities on Catharism.
For the history of Dualism, one should look no further than Yuri Stoyanov’s masterly The Other God (Yale University Press, 2000), the first edition of which was published as The Hidden Tradition in Europe (Penguin, 1994).
With regard to early Christianity, John Davidson’s The Gospel of Jesus: In Search of His Original Teachings (Element, 1995) is a benchmark in the field, as is Robert Eisenman’s James, the Brother of Jesus (Faber and Faber, 1997).
The Cathars have been rather ill-served by writers of fiction. Many Cathar novels tend to treat the myths as actual history (which for a novel is, arguably, acceptable), and should be approached with caution. One notable exception is Patrick Harpur’s The Serpent’s Circle (Macmillan, 1985).
Finally, I would like to recommend the works of Arthur Guirdham – the T C Lethbridge of Cathar studies – in particular his The Cathars and Reincarnation (Neville Spearman, 1970) and The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars (Neville Spearman, 1977).
And for the adventurous, there is always Chris Ratcliffe and Elaine Connell’s Cycling in Search of the Cathars (Pennine Pens, 1990).
Select Bibliography
The Cathars
Arnold, John H., Inquisition and Power: Catharism and the Confessing Subject in Medieval Languedoc (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001)
Barber, Malcolm, The Cathars: Dualist Heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages (Longman, 2000; second edition, 2013)
Birks, Walter, and Gilbert, R A, The Treasure of Montségur: A Study of the Cathar Heresy and the Nature of the Cathar Secret (Crucible, 1987)
Brenon, Anne, Le Vrai Visage du Catharisme (Loubatieres, 1988)
_____ , Les Femmes Cathares (Perrin, 1992)
Bruschi, Caterina, The Wandering Heretics of Languedoc (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Cartner, George, Flames of Faith: The Cathars of the Languedoc (B & C Press, 2003)
Costen, Michael, The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade (Manchester University Press, 1997)
Cowper, Marcus and Dennis, Peter, Cathar Castles: Fortresses of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209–1300 (Osprey Publishing, 2006)
Dutton, Claire, Aspects of the Institutional History of the Albigensian Crusades 1198–1229 (Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London, PhD Thesis, 1993)
Duvernoy, Jean, Le Catharisme (2 Vols, Privat, 1976/9)
Gordon, James, The Laity and the Catholic Church in Cathar Languedoc (Oxford PhD Thesis, 1992)
Guirdham, Arthur, The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars (C W Daniel, 1993)
Hamilton, Bernard, The Albigensian Crusade (Historical Association, 1974)
_____ , Monastic Reform, Catharism and the Crusades 900–1300 (Variorum, 1979)
_____ , Crusaders, Cathars and the Holy Places (Ashgate/ Variorum, 2000)
Ladurie, Emmanuel Le Roy, Montaillou (Penguin, 1980)
Lambert, Malcolm, The Cathars (Blackwell, 1998)
Lansing, Carol, Power & Purity: Cathar Heresy in Medieval Italy (Oxford University Press, 1998)
Markale, Jean, Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars (Inner Traditions, 2003)
Mundy, John Hine, The Repression of Catharism at Toulouse: The Royal Diploma of 1279 (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1985)
_____ , Men and Women at Toulouse in the Age of the Cathars (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1990)
Oldenbourg, Zoé, Massacre at Montségur: A History of the Albigensian Crusade (Phoenix, 1998)
O’Shea, Stephen, The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars (Profile Books, 2000)
_____ , The Friar of Carcassonne: The Last Days of the Cathars (Profile Books, 2011)
Pegg, Mark Gregory, The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245–1246 (Princeton University Press, 2001)
_____ , A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom (Oxford University Press, 2008)
Rahn, Otto, Crusade Against the Grail: The Struggle Between the Cathars, the Templars and the Church of Rome, Christopher Jones (trans.) (Inner Traditions Bear & Company, 2006)
_____ , Lucifer’s Court: A Heretic’s Journey in Search of the Light Bringers, Christopher Jones (trans.) (Inner Traditions Bear & Company, 2008)
Ratcliffe, Chris, and Connell, Elaine, Cycling in Search of the Cathars (Pennine Pens, 1990)
Roach, Andrew, The Relationship of the Italian and Southern French Cathars, 1170–1320 (University of Oxford, PhD Thesis, 1989)
Roché, Déodat, Le Catharisme (Toulouse, 1947)
_____ , L’Église romaine et les cathares albigeois (Éditions Cahiers d’études cathares, 1969)
Roquebert, Michel, L’Epopée cathare (5 Vols, Privat/Perrin, 1970–98)
Roquette, Yves, Cathars (Loubatieres, 1992)
Sumption, Jonathan, The Albigensian Crusades (Faber and Faber, 1978)
Strayer, Joseph R, with a new epilogue by Carol Lansing, The Albigensian Crusades (University of Michigan Press, 1992)
Taylor, Claire, Heresy in Medieval France: Dualism in Aquitaine and the Agenais, 1000–1249 (Royal Historical Society/Boydell, 2005)
_____, Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Medieval Quercy (York Medieval Press/Boydell & Brewer, 2011)
Wakefield, Walter L., Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100–1250 (Allen & Unwin, 1974)
Weis, René, The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars, 1290-1329 (Penguin, 2001)
Contemporaneous Accounts and Sources
Hamilton, Janet and Hamilton, Bernard (eds./trans.), with the assistance of Yuri Stoyanov (trans.), Christian Dualist Heres
ies in the Byzantine World, c. 650–c. 1450: Selected Sources (Manchester University Press, 1998)
Léglu, Catherine, Rist, Rebecca and Taylor, Claire (eds.), The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade: A Sourcebook, (Routledge, 2014)
Shirley, Janet (trans.), The Song of the Cathar Wars: A History of the Albigensian Crusade by William of Tudela and an anonymous successor (Scolar Press, 1996)
Sibly, W A and Sibly, M D (eds./trans.), The History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay’s Historia Albigensis (Boydell, 1998)
_____ , The Chronicle of William of Puylaurens: The Albigensian Crusade and its Aftermath (Boydell & Brewer, 2003)
Wakefield, Walter L. and Evans, Austin P. (eds./trans.), Heresies of the High Middle Ages (Columbia University Press, 1991)
Selections from James Fournier’s Inquisition proceedings have been translated by Nancy P. Stork and can be viewed online at the website of San José State University, http://www.sjsu.edu/. Search for ‘Jacques Fournier’ on the home page to find the current location of the pages.
Heresy
Biller, Peter and Hudson, Anne (eds.), Heresy and Literacy, 1000–1530 (Cambridge University Press, 1994)
Bruschi, Caterina and Biller, Peter (eds), Texts and the Repression of Medieval Heresy (York Medieval Press/Boydell & Brewer, 2003)
Fichtenau, Heinrich, Heretics and Scholars in the High Middle Ages 1000–1200, Denise A. Kaiser (trans.) (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998)
Frassetto, Michael, Heretic Lives: Medieval Heresy from Bogomil and the Cathars to Wyclif and Hus (Profile Books, 2007)
George, Leonard, The Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics (Robson Books, 1995)
Lambert, Malcolm, Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation (Blackwell, 2002)
Moore, R I, The Birth of Popular Heresy (Edward Arnold, 1975)
_____, “Heresy as Disease”, in The Concept of Heresy in the Middle Ages (11th-13th C.), ed. W. Lourdaux and D. Verhelst (Louvain University Press, 1976)
_____, The War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe (Profile Books, 2012)
Runciman, Sir Steven, The Medieval Manichee (Cambridge University Press, 1947)
Russell, Jeffrey Burton, Dissent and Reform in the Early Middle Ages (University of California Press, 1965; reprint: Wipf & Stock, 2005)
Stoyanov, Yuri, The Other God: Dualist Religions from Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy (Yale University Press, 2000)
Early Christianity
Baigent, Michael and Leigh, Richard, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception (Arrow Books, 2001)
Davidson, John, The Gospel of Jesus: In Search of His Original Teachings (Element, 1995)
Eisenman, Robert, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (with Michael Wise) (Penguin, 1992)
_____, James, the Brother of Jesus (Faber, 1997)
Elliott, J K and James, M R (eds.), The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford University Press, 1993)
Kersten, Holger, Jesus Lived in India (Element, 1986)
Meyer, Marvin, (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume (HarperCollins, 2007)
Miller, Robert J. (ed.), The Complete Gospels (HarperCollins, 1994)
Pagels, Elaine, The Gnostic Gospels (Penguin, 1982)
Robinson, James M. (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English (HarperCollins, 1990)
Sparks, H F D (ed.), The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford University Press, 1984)
Vermes, Geza (trans./ed.), The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Penguin, 2004)
Wilson, A N, Paul: The Mind of the Apostle (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1997)
Satanology
Pagels, Elaine, Adam, Eve and the Serpent (Penguin, 1990)
_____ , The Origin of Satan (Allen Lane, 1996)
Maxwell-Stuart, P G, Satan: A Biography (Amberley Publishing, 2012)
Russell, Jeffrey Burton, Satan: The Early Christian Tradition (Cornell University Press, 1981)
_____ , Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Cornell University Press, 1984)
Related Interest
Anderson, William, Dante the Maker (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980)
Angebert, Jean-Michel The Occult and the Third Reich (Macmillan, 1974)
Angelov, Dimiter, The Bogomil Movement (Sofia Press, 1987)
Armstrong, T J, Cecilia’s Vision (Headline, 2001)
Baigent, Michael, Leigh, Richard and Lincoln, Henry, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (Corgi, 1983)
Baigent, Michael and Leigh, Richard, The Inquisition (Penguin, 2000)
Barber, Malcolm, The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050–1320 (Routledge, 1992; second edition, 2004)
Bihalji-Merin, O. and Benac, Alojz, with photographs by Tošo Dabac, The Bogomils (Thames & Hudson, 1962)
Boyce, Mary, Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979)
Clarke, Lindsay, Parzival and the Stone from Heaven (Godstow Press, 2011)
Cohn, Norman, The Pursuit of the Millennium (Pimlico, 1993)
_____, Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonisation of Christians in Medieval Christendom (Pimlico, 1993)
Fine Jr, J V A, The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation (East European Quarterly, 1975; second edition, Saqi Books, 2007)
Frayling, Christopher, Strange Landscape: A Journey through the Middle Ages (Penguin, 1996)
Garsoïan, Nina G., The Paulician Heresy (Mouton & Co, 1967; reprint: De Gruyter, 2010)
Ginzburg, Carlo, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a 16th Century Miller (Penguin, 1992)
Godwin, Malcolm, The Holy Grail: Its Origins, Secrets & Meaning Revealed (Bloomsbury, 1994)
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas, The Occult Roots of Nazism (I B Tauris, 1992)
Guirdham, Arthur, The Cathars and Reincarnation (C W Daniel, 1990)
_____ , We are One Another (C W Daniel, 1991)
_____ , The Lake and the Castle (C W Daniel, 1991)
_____ , A Foot in Both Worlds (C W Daniel, 1991)
Hamilton, Bernard, The Medieval Inquisition (Edward Arnold, 1981)
Hanratty, Gerald, Studies in Gnosticism and the Philosophy of Religion (Four Courts Press, 1997)
Harpur, Patrick, The Serpent’s Circle (Macmillan, 1985)
Holroyd, Stuart, The Elements of Gnosticism (Element, 1994)
Levack, Brian P., The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Longman, 1995)
Magre, Maurice, The Return of the Magi, Reginald Merton (trans.) (Sphere, 1975)
Martin, Lois, The History of Witchcraft (Pocket Essentials, 2002; second edition, 2007)
Martin, Sean, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order (Pocket Essentials, 2004; second edition, 2009)
_____ , The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics (Pocket Essentials 2006; second edition, 2010)
Moore, R I, The Origins of European Dissent (Blackwell, 1985)
_____ , The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in Western Europe, 950–1250 (Blackwell, 1987; second edition, 2007)
Obolensky, Dmitri, The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism (Cambridge University Press, 1948; reprint: Anthony C. Hall, 1972)
Panichas, George (ed.), The Simone Weil Reader (Moyer Bell, 1977)
Picknett, Lynne, and Prince, Clive, The Templar Revelation (Bantam, 1997)
Richards, Jeffrey, Sex, Dissidence and Damnation: Minority Groups in the Middle Ages (Routledge, 1990)
Roszak, Theodore, Flicker (No Exit Press, 2005)
Sharenkov, Viktor N., A Study of Manichaeism in Bulgaria, with special reference to the Bogomils (New York, 1927)
Tashkovski, Dragan, Bogomilism in Macedonia (Macedonian Review Editions, 1975)
Tuchman, Barbara W., A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (Macmillan, 1992)
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival and Titurel, Cyril Edwards (trans.) (Oxford University Press, 2006)
Index
Ad abolendam, (i)
Al
bi, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix)
Albigensian Crusade, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii)
Alexander III, Pope, (i)
Amaury, Arnold, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)
apparellamentum, (i)
Armenia/Armenian church, (i)
Arnold of Brescia, (i), (ii), (iii)
Autier, Peter, (i), (ii), (iii)
Autier, William, (i), (ii)
Barber, Malcolm, (i)
Basil the Physician, (i), (ii)
Bech, Jacob, (i)
Bélibaste, William, (i), (ii)
Believer (ie Cathar or Bogomil rank), (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii)
Béziers, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix)
Black Brotherhood, (i)
Blanche of Castile, (i)
Blanche of Laurac, (i)
Bogomil (the founder of Bogomilism), (i)
Bogomilism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Bogomils, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)
Book of the Two Principles, The, (i)
Bosnian Catharism, (i)
Bram, (i), (ii)
Buddhism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Cabaret, (i), (ii)
Carcasonne, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv)
Cathar writings, (i)
Catharism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvi), (xvii), (xviii), (xix), (xx), (xxi), (xxii), (xxiii), (xxiv), (xxv), (xxvi), (xxvii), (xxviii), (xxix), (xxx)
Catholicism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)
Châlons-sur-Marne, (i), (ii)
Cistercians, (i), (ii), (iii)
Clergue, Peter, (i)
Cologne, (i), (ii), (iii)
Comnenus, Alexius, (i)
Concorezzo, (i), (ii), (iii)
Conrad of Marburg, (i)