The religion of the Cathars, the death of the Cathars and the castles of the Cathars
On the pages of TOPWAR more than once and not two were told about cruel religious wars, which were unleashed in the name of God and to the glory of Him. But perhaps the most illustrative example is the Albigoyan Wars in the South of France, launched to eradicate the Cathar heresy. Who are they, why did Catholic Christians consider them heretics, and they themselves called themselves true Christians, and also about the Cathar castles that have survived to the present day, and our story will go today ...
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BREAKING CATARS (part of 1)
"Everything has its time, and time
all things under heaven:
time to be born, and time to die ...
hug time and shy time
hugs ...
time of war and time of peace "(Ecclesiastes 3,2-8)
Let's start with the fact that Christianity has long been split into two large currents (in this case, you can not even remember the many sects: there were so many of them!) - Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and both those and others in the past considered each other friends as heretics, and some, especially zealously believers, consider their "opponents" as such now! This split was longstanding: for example, the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople cursed each other in 1054 year! However, the differences of churches on the issue of a number of church dogmas and, above all, such an important dogma, such as, for example, the Symbol of Faith, took place at the beginning of the 9th century, and the initiator of such a disagreement was, oddly enough, not the Pope or the Patriarch, and the emperor of the Franks, Charlemagne. This is a theological argument on the question of “Filioque” - “Filioque” (lat. Filioque - “and the Son”).
The gospel of John clearly speaks of the Holy Spirit as coming from the Father and sent by the Son. Therefore, the First Council of Nicaea, back in 352, adopted the Symbol of Faith, later approved by the Council of Constantinople 381 of the year, according to which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. But in the 6th century at the Toledo local council, “for the sake of a better explanation of dogma,” the Creed introduced the first addition to the Creed: “and the Son” (Filioque), which resulted in the following phrase: “I believe ... in the Holy Spirit, which comes from the Father and the Son. " Charlemagne, who had a great influence on the popes, insisted that this addition be made into the Creed. And it was precisely this that was one of the reasons for the desperate church disputes, which eventually led to the split of the Christian church into Catholic and Orthodox. The Orthodox Creed reads like this: “I believe ... And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giver, Outgoing from the Father's Izh ...” That is, the Orthodox Church is guided by the decisions of the First Nicene Council. One of the fundamental sacral festivals of Christians - the Eucharist (Greek - expression of gratitude) differs; otherwise, communion, which is held in memory of the last meal organized by Christ with his disciples. In this sacrament, an Orthodox Christian tastes the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ under the guise of bread and wine, while Catholics partake of unleavened bread, Orthodox Christians - fermented bread.
Everything in the world is afraid of time, the last Qatar has long since burned down in a fire flame, but the Toulouse Cross is still seen on the wall of a house in the fortress of Carcassonne.
But besides the Catholics and Orthodox believing each other as heretics, separated from each other by the peculiarities of nature, even in Europe, within, for example, France and Germany, there were many religious trends that differed significantly from the traditional Christianity according to the Catholic pattern. Especially a lot at the beginning of the XII century. such Christians were in Languedoc, a region in the south of France. It was here that a very powerful movement of the Cathars (which had other names, by the way, arose, but this is the most famous, therefore, we dwell on it), whose religion was significantly different from traditional Christianity.
However, the Cathars (which means “pure” in Greek) began to be called later, and the most common name at first was the “Albigoyan heretics”, after the city of Albi, which they were given by followers of Bernard Klervosky, who preached in the cities of Toulouse and Albi 1145 year. They didn’t call themselves that, because they believed that real Christians are exactly that! Following Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the good shepherd,” they called themselves “bon hommes” —that is, “good people.” It was about a dualistic religion of Eastern origin, which recognizes two creative divine beings - one good, which is closely connected with the spiritual world, and the other evil, associated with life and the material world.
The Cathars rejected any compromise with the world, did not recognize marriage and the production of offspring, justified suicide and abstained from any food of animal origin, with the exception of fish. Such was their small elite, which involved both men and women from the aristocracy and the rich bourgeoisie. She also supplied cadres of clergy - preachers and bishops. There were even "houses of heretics" - real monasteries and convents. But the majority of the faithful led a less strict lifestyle. If a person received before his death a unique sacrament - consolamentum (lat. - "consolation") - and if he agrees to leave this life, then he will be saved.
Albi City. From here it all began, it was from here that the “Alibigoy heresy” began. Now it looks like this: an ancient arched bridge, the bulk of the cathedral-fortress of St. Cecilia in Albi, built after the defeat of the Cathars, as a reminder of the power of the mother church. Here every stone is soaked history. There will be an opportunity, take a look at this city ...
The Cathars did not believe in hell or paradise, or rather, they believed that hell - this is the life of people on earth, that confessing to priests is an empty matter and that prayer in the church is equivalent to prayer in an open field. The cross for the Cathars was not a symbol of faith, but an instrument of torture, they say, in ancient Rome people were crucified on it. The souls, in their opinion, were forced to move from one body to another and could never return to God, since the Catholic Church points the way to salvation to them incorrectly. But, believing, so to speak, “in the right direction,” that is, following the commandments of the Cathars, any soul can be saved.
This is how it looks from below ... It is conceived by the local bishop (concurrently also an inquisitor) as the stronghold of the true faith, reliably protected from heretical concessions. Hence, such a strange, fortification architecture with thick walls and a minimum of openings. And all the lace of the Gothic style is decorated only with the entrance portal, which is stuck on its colossal structure from the side. In the tower (its height 90 m) there is no entrance at all outside.
The Cathars taught that since the world is imperfect, only the elect can obey all the commandments of their religion, and all the rest should only follow their instructions, not tying themselves with the burden of fasting and prayers. The main thing was to receive "consolation" from one of the elect, or "perfect" before death, and so, before his deathbed, no religious morality of the believer had any meaning. Since the world is so hopelessly bad, thought the Cathars, no bad act will be worse than another. Again, just a wonderful faith for knights — something like a life “by notions,” but by no means according to the law, since in “hell any law is bad.”
In what way the Cathars instructed their flock can be imagined with examples that have come down to us in the descriptions of Catholic priests: for example, one peasant went to “good people” to ask if he could eat meat when true Christians have fasting? And they answered him that in lean and shorter days, meat food defiles the mouth in the same way. “But you, the peasant, have nothing to worry about. Go with the world! ”- they were comforted by the“ committed ”and, of course, such parting words could not but reassure him. Returning to the village, he told what the “perfect” taught him: “If nothing is possible with a perfect person, then it means that we are imperfect, everything is possible” - and the whole village began to eat meat in fasting places!
Naturally, the Catholic abbots were horrified by such "sermons" and assured that the Cathars are true worshipers of Satan, and accused them of the fact that they, apart from eating meat in fasting, also indulge in usury, theft, murder, perjury and all other carnal vices. At the same time they sin with great enthusiasm and confidence, they are convinced that they do not need confession or repentance. It is enough for them, by their faith, before their death to read “Our Father” and to partake of the Holy Ghost - and all of them are “saved”. It was believed that they give any oath and immediately break it, because their main commandment is this: “Swear and bear false witness, but do not disclose secrets!”
And this is how it looks from above and ... it is difficult to imagine a more magnificent structure.
The Cathars wore on the buckles and buttons the image of a bee, which symbolized the secret of fertilization without physical contact. Denying the cross, they idolized the pentagon, which was for them a symbol of eternal diffusion - dispersion, dispersion of matter and the human body. By the way, their stronghold - the castle of Montsegur - just had the shape of a pentagon, diagonally - 54 meters, in width - 13 meters. For the Cathars, the Sun was a symbol of Good, so Montsegur was at the same time their sunny temple. The walls, doors, windows, and embrasures were oriented in it by the sun, and in such a way that only by one observation of the sunrise on the day of the summer solstice one could count its rise on any other days. Well, and, of course, it didn’t go without a statement that there is a secret underground passage in the castle, which, branching into many underground passages, penetrates all the nearest Pyrenees.
Castle Montsegur, modern look. It is hard to imagine that during the siege hundreds of people were placed there!
This was a pessimistic faith, cut off from earthly life, but it received a rather broad response, primarily because it allowed the feudal lords to reject the earthly and moral authority of the clergy. At least the fact that Bernard-Roger de Roquefort’s own mother, Bishop of Carcassonian, had been “perfect” with 1208, had his own mother’s influence on the scale of this heresy, his brother Guillaume was one of the most ardent Qatar’s seniors ! Qatari churches stood directly opposite Catholic cathedrals. With such support from the authorities, it quickly spread to the regions of Toulouse, Albi and Carcassonne, where the most important was the count of Toulouse, who ruled the lands between Garonne and Rhone. However, his power did not extend directly to many feuds, and he had to rely on the power of other vassals, such as his brother-in-law Raymond Roger Trankawel, Viscount Beziers and Carcassonne or his allies King of Aragon or Count of Barcelona.
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Modern reconstruction of the castle of Montsegur.
Since many of their vassals themselves were heretics or sympathized with heretics, these lords could not or did not want to play on their lands the role of Christian princes defending the faith. The Count of Toulouse reported this to the Pope and the King of France, the church sent missionaries there, and, in particular, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who in 1142 studied the state of affairs in the Provencal eparchies and delivered sermons there, but did not have much success.
After becoming pope in the 1198 year, Innocent III continued the policy of returning the Cathars to the bosom of the Catholic Church through the methods of persuasion. But numerous preachers were met in Languedoc rather more cool than joyfully. Even Saint Dominic, who was distinguished by his eloquence, even failed to achieve tangible results. Representatives of local nobility, and even some bishops dissatisfied with the church order, actively helped the Qatari leaders. In 1204, the Pope removed these bishops from their posts, and instead appointed their legate. In 1206, he tried to find support among the aristocracy of Languedoc and set it against the Cathars. Seniors, who continued to assist them, began to excommunicate themselves. In May, 1207, even the powerful and powerful Count Raimund VI of Toulouse, fell under excommunication. However, after meeting him in January 1208, the deputy of the father was found slaughtered in his own bed, and this finally put the father out of himself.
Inside the cathedral of sv. Tsitsilii is an equally impressive body.
Then an angry dad responded to this murder with a bull, in which he promised to bestow the lands of the heretics of Languedoc, all those who would take part in a crusade against them, and in the spring of 1209, declared a crusade against them. 24 June 1209, at the call of the Pope in Lyon, gathered the leaders of the crusade - bishops, archbishops, lords from the whole north of France, with the exception of King Philip Augustus, who expressed only restrained approval, but refused to lead the campaign itself, more fearing the German emperor and the English king . The aim of the crusaders, as it was declared, was not at all the conquest of the Provencal lands, but their liberation from heresy, and at least 40 days — that is, the term of the traditional knightly service, above which the employer (whoever he was!) was already paying!
And the ceiling is covered with a fantastically beautiful painting, clearly to the envy of everyone who believed in the Lord otherwise!
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