Catharism in the context of "Cathar Perfect"

The Albigensian Crusade (French: Croisade des albigeois), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect. It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished.

The Cathars originated from an anti-materialist reform movement within the Bogomil churches of the Balkans calling for what they saw as a return to the Christian message of perfection, poverty and preaching, combined with a rejection of the physical. The reforms were a reaction against the often perceived scandalous and dissolute lifestyles of the Catholic clergy. Their theology, Gnostic in many ways, was basically dualist. Several of their practices, especially their belief in the inherent evil of the physical world, conflicted with the doctrines of the Incarnation of Christ and Catholic sacraments. This led to accusations of Gnosticism and attracted the ire of the Catholic establishment. They became known as the Albigensians because many adherents were from the city of Albi and the surrounding area in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Aude (/oʊd/ OHD; French: [od] ; Occitan: [ˈawðe]) is a department in southern France, located in Occitania and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Cathar Country" (French: Pays cathare) after a group of religious dissidents active in the 12th to 14th centuries.

Its prefecture is Carcassonne and its subprefectures are Limoux and Narbonne. As of 2019, it had a population of 374,070. Aude is a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother of Eudo, brother of Saint Hubertus. Aude was the name of Roland's fiancée in the chansons de geste.

The Medieval Inquisition was a series of Inquisitions (Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184–1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). The Medieval Inquisition was established in response to movements considered apostate or heretical to Roman Catholicism, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in Southern France and Northern Italy. These were the first of many inquisitions that would follow.

The Cathars were first noted in the 1140s in Southern France, and the Waldensians around 1170 in Northern Italy. Before this point, individual heretics such as Peter of Bruis had often challenged the Church. However, the Cathars were the first mass organization in the second millennium that posed a serious threat to the authority of the Church. This article covers only these early inquisitions, not the Roman Inquisition of the 16th century onwards, or the somewhat different phenomenon of the Spanish Inquisition of the late 15th century, which was under the control of the Spanish monarchy using local clergy. The Portuguese Inquisition of the 16th century and various colonial branches followed the same pattern.

In medieval Europe, attitudes toward homosexuality varied from region to region, determined by religious culture; the Catholic Church, which dominated the religious landscape, considered sodomy as a mortal sin and a "crime against nature". By the 11th century, "sodomy" was increasingly viewed as a serious moral crime and punishable by mutilation or death. Medieval records reflect this growing concern. The emergence of heretical groups, such as the Cathars and Waldensians, witnesses a rise in allegations of unnatural sexual conduct against such heretics as part of the war against heresy in Christendom. Accusations of sodomy and "unnatural acts" were levelled against the Order of the Knights Templar in 1307 as part of Philip IV of France's attempt to suppress the order. These allegations have been dismissed by some scholars.

Pseudo-Gnosticism is a term used for groups which have been labelled Gnostic, either by their contemporaries or modern historians even when the accuracy of this label is questionable. Examples include some ancient groups like the Thomasines or the Bardaisanites, but more often refer to medieval sects accused of Gnosticism by other Christian authorities such as the Paulicians or according to some, the mainstream Cathars.

Similar accusations occurred during the Christianisation of Ireland and the Baltic Crusade, when the Roman Catholic Church would accuse these of worshipping gods from Roman Paganism.

The Archdiocese of Albi (Latin: Archidioecesis Albiensis–Castrensis–Vauriensis); (French: Archidiocèse d'Albi–Castres–Lavaur) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Toulouse, and it comprises the department of Tarn.

In the 12th century, the spread of alternative beliefs in the region led to the arrival of church authorities to refute and try the "heretics". Among them were the Good Men, from whom the Cathars became known as Albigensians. The latter held their own council in 1167, and their bishopric was defined. In 1179, Pope Alexander III summoned the Third Lateran Council, where he condemned them. In the early 1200s, a religious and military crusade was waged against the movement and they were largely destroyed.