Who were the Catharists?

Abstract

Much has been written about Medieval heresies, especially the Catharists. Nowadays, scientific conferences throughout World Medieval Centers attests to the interest in this field shown by medievalists. Nevertheless, two guest ions remain open without precise and uniform answers: 1 Who were the Catharists, and 2. The question of the possibility of Catharist influence on the history and civilization of the Middle Ages. The article, intending Io give a consistent answer to the first guestion and, at the same time, to set forward a theme neglected in Yugoslavian studies of Romanic languages, offers a condensed account of the history of the Catharists and establishes: - their beginnings and expansion; - their religio-philosophical doctrines and theories; - their rituals; - the organization of their church hierarchy; - I heir rare preserved remains. The author concludes till, according to the Catholic church, (he Catharists were apostates, heretics, but from the perspective of their philosophical and religious conceptions, they were dc facto Manichaens and dualists. As far as their social orientation is concerned, they were revolutionaries in the spirit of the Medieval conception of Humanism. The article cites numerous relevant bibliographical facts both of older and more recent date.