HIST-102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Anti-Clericalism, Missus Dominicus, Transubstantiation
18 Nov 2020
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By far the most significant were the cathars, also known as the albigensians. They numbered in the tens of thousands and dominated certain areas in southern france. especially around toulouse, although large cathar communities existed in northern italy, The cathars were a dualist sect. meaning that they believed in the existence of two eternal and equally powerful gods, one good and one evil. Satan, the evil deity, created the physical universe. By a primeval trick, satan entrapped human souls the creation of the good and loving god in their physical bodies. with the result that human beings became the battleground upon which the cosmic struggle between good and evil takes place. The cathars believed that only the destruction of the physical could liberate one"s spiritual essence; hence they forbade sex, practiced self-flagellation, ate severely restricted diets, rejected the use of medicines, and generally engaged in a highly asceticized deathwatch. They condemned marriage, denied christ"s divinity, and rejected transubstantiation.
