« Catharisme » : différence entre les versions

<blockquote>"In any age, when a doctrine is taken to be a truth, and when fanaticism compels lip service to exclusive group beliefs, the ideas of Theosophy seem buried and forgotten. We discover, however, that this is never entirely the case. The insistences of dogma and prejudice are like the snows which hide the promise of spring. But seeds survive beneath the snow and, even during the darkest centuries of Western history, there was heat and warmth enough under the surface to allow some of these seeds to germinate. In a sense, then, the history of the relationship between "heretics" and the "renaissance" is the history of every age."</blockquote>]

THE anti-sacerdotal heresies of the Middle Ages were directed against the abuses in doctrine and practice which priestcraft had invented to enslave the souls of men. In briefly reviewing the vicissitudes of the heretics it must be borne in mind that with scarce an exception the authorities are exclusively their antagonists and persecutors. Saving a few Waldensian tracts and a single Catharan ritual, their literature has wholly perished. (Lea I, 61-2.)

The population and civilization of the midi [in France] were wholly different from those of the north. A strange admixture of races rendered the citizens of Narbonne or Marseilles quite different from the inhabitants of Paris -- quite as different as the Langue d'Oc from the Langue d'Oyl. The feudal tie which bound the Count of Toulouse, or the Marquis of Provence, or the Duke of Aquitaine to the King of Paris or the Emperor was but feeble, and when the last named fief was carried by Eleanor to Henry II, the rival pretensions of England and France preserved the virtual independence of the great feudatories of the South, leading to antagonisms which came to full fruition in the Albigensian crusades. (Lea I, 66-7.)

The contrast of civilization was as marked as that of race. Nowhere in Europe had culture and luxury made such progress as in the south of France. Chivalry and poetry were assiduously cultivated by the nobles. At the brilliant courts of Toulouse, of Provence, of Montpelier, lords and ladies listened with rapture to the songs and tales of the troubadours, who were gladly received in all the castles, where the nobles of both sexes engaged in poetry. All this no doubt goes to prove the high degree of culture attained in those regions by the feudal society of that day. Even in the cities, proud of their wealth, enriched through their trade with the orient or by their industry, citizens boasted a degree of education and enlightenment unknown elsewhere. Nowhere in Europe, moreover, were the clergy more negligent in their duties or more despised by the people. There was little earnestness of religious conviction among either prelates or nobles to stimulate persecution, so that there was considerable freedom of belief. In no other land did the despised Jew enjoy such privileges. His right to hold land in franc-alleu was similar to that of the Christians; he was admitted to public office, and his administrative ability rendered him a favorite in such capacity with both prelate and noble; his synagogues were undisturbed, and the Hebrew school of Narbonne was renowned in Israel as the home of the Kimchis. (Lea I, 67.) Provence was even filled with Jewish poets and philosophers. (Schmidt I, 66.)

Under such influences, those who really possessed religious convictions were but little deterred by prejudice or the fear of persecution from criticising the shortcomings of the Church, or from seeking what might more nearly respond to their aspirations. (Lea I, 67.) The Church in demanding a submission which to the lords seemed incompatible with the honor and the joyous liberty of the life of chivalry, saw the most powerful men of the country drift away; they resented its authority and were indifferent to the dangers facing catholicism. The clergy itself was affected by the same spirit; some of its members were to be found among the troubadours and most of them, far from setting an example of Christian austerity, were eager to gain the friendship of the lords in order to share their pleasures and enjoy their protection. Those who benefited most by this freedom of thought were the heretics. (Schmidt I, 66.)

[Of the more durable and formidable heresies which took stubborn root in the south of France during the twelfth century none is better known than that of the Cathari, being variously called Pataris, Poblicans, Bulgars, Albigenses. Their history, as already mentioned, is difficult to trace due to the fact that the only source of information available is the testimony of their enemies. The origin of the sect is very obscure and a number of often contradictory theories have been advanced. C. Schmidt, considered one of the foremost authorities on the subject, disagrees with the view held by other scholars that Catharism is a renewal of Manichaeism. He thinks the Cathari have an origin independent of earlier dualistic heresies, to be looked for in Slavish countries, and that it is from there that they spread over the rest of Europe. H. C. Lea, another authority, disagrees with Schmidt and points out]: "A further irrefrangible evidence of the derivation of Catharism from Manichaeism is furnished by the sacred thread and garment which were worn by all the Perfect among the Cathari. This custom is too peculiar to have an independent origin, and is manifestly the Mazdean kosti and saddarah, the sacred thread and shirt, the wearing of which was essential to all believers, and the use of which by both Zends and Brahmans shows that its origin is to be traced to the prehistoric period anterior to the separation of those branches of the Aryan family. Among the Cathari the wearer of the thread and vestment was what was known among the inquisitors as the 'haereticus indutus' or 'vestitus,' initiated into all the mysteries of the heresy." (Lea I, 92.)