PROJECT DEMONSTRATING EXCELLENCE The Cathars of Languedoc as Heretics: From the Perspectives of Five Contemporary Scholars by Anne Bradford Townsend Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in Arts And Sciences and a specialization in Medieval Religious Studies July 9, 2007 Core Faculty Advisor: Robert McAndrews, Ph.D. Union Institute & University Cincinnati, Ohio UMI Number: 3311971 Copyright 2008 by Townsend, Anne Bradford All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3311971 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the Cathar community of Languedoc, far from being heretics as is generally thought, practiced an early form of Christianity. A few scholars have suggested this interpretation of the Cathar beliefs, but none have pursued it critically. In this paper I use two approaches. First, this study will examine the arguments of five contemporary English language scholars who have dominated the field of Cathar research in both Britain and the United States over the last thirty years, and their views have greatly influenced the study of the Cathars. Each historian represents a different approach to Cathar research, such as religious studies, political history, etc.; so their research exemplifies a broad spectrum of historical and religious ideas. This is a unique opportunity to examine a body of scholarly work that has had an impact on this area of history. Four of these scholars view the Cathars as heretics. One of the five, an American scholar, has formulated a new approach which argues that the phenomenon of "good men" and "good women" (as the Cathars were known locally) was local only, and has no important effect on European history. It is my argument that these five historians' conclusions prevent them from asking the questions that would have led to a more fair and accurate assessment of the Cathars and their place in history. The second approach is to examine two ritual texts used by the Cathars of Languedoc - The Vision of Isaiah and the consolamentum - that demonstrate their roots in early Christianity. The Vision of Isaiah was their meditative ascension text for the living, and the consolamentum was their ritual ascension text for helping those who were dying. This analysis shows that the Cathars incorporated the ascent practice in their belief system. Ascension, which is a process whereby a visionary would ascend to the heavenly i realms and return with messages from the journey, was used not only in the Judaic tradition but also in early Christianity, and later emerged in mystical Christianity. These rituals are examined by taking a phenomenological approach within the context of religious studies. When the Cathars are viewed within the sociological and historical framework of Languedoc in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, what emerges is that the troubadours and the Kabbalists were also using the ascent practice, in a form that incorporated the divine fenunine. And Bernard of Clairvaux, taking as his text the Song of Songs, was reintroducing the ascent practice into the Christian mystical community. The use of this practice was possible because a cultural renaissance was in progress in Languedoc that created an unusually open atmosphere at that time in the Middle Ages. By moving beyond the arguments of these five scholars, a more inclusive world view of the Cathars emerges through the phenomenological approach of examining them from within their ritual practices and in the context of the culture of Languedoc. This community made an important contribution to mystical Christianity through their revival of the ascent practice. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members who have kept me going with this project and on track. I appreciate their direction, clarity, and wisdom in all aspects of my program. In particular, Rabbi Schultz, Lin Rising, and Karin Di Giacomo worked with me on my New Learnings and their help and advice was invaluable. My internship with Karin's Montsegur Institute was another tremendously helpful experience. Our meetings were always helpful and insightful, and she gave generously of her time and energy. I would like to thank Rabbi Schultz for urging me to include the troubadour tradition and Mary Magdalene in my paper as it added a dimension to the research that was important. Also added research ended the silence on my part. This project would never have been written were it not for the help, supervision, and guidance of Susan Edwards. She kept me on track with this dissertation when I was ready to give up and her insights into the outline and the editorial work were clear and to the point. I would like to thank all my friends who have listened to me and helped me through some rough moments of looking into the abyss. Kathleen Spellman kept me connected to body, mind, and spirit as well as keeping me laughing. Scott and Haz also kept me going when I thought that all was lost. I always left their office feeling reconnected, positive, and ready to re-immerse myself in my work with a new attitude. Many thanks for all your wonderful work! Also, Angelique has been my computer wizard and computer translator. Thanks for all the great help! I thank my best friend, Ami, who had to put up with a degree of neglect with all iii my free moments consumed in this project. She is ever so faithful and she did keep some humor going just when I needed it the most. I would like to make a brief acknowledgment of Union's policy of using non- sexist language in all our work. I have been very conscious of my use of language in this paper; however, some of the references in the quotations I have used do not employ non- sexist language. It is difficult when writing about certain institutions in the Middle Ages to attempt to be more creative with one's use of words. All the French texts quoted in this PDE have been translated by me. iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ill CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 CATHAR ROOTS IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY 8 LANGUEDOC: A BRIEF OVERVIEW 20 POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF THE CATHARS OF LANGUEDOC 28 THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE AND THE INQUISITION 35 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 46 THE CATHARS, THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE, AND THE INQUISITION 47 DID THE BOGOMILS BRING DUALISM TO THE WEST? 57 A CLOSER LOOK AT HERESY, THE CATHARS, AND LANGUEDOC 71 THE PRIMARY SOURCE MOST COMMONLY USED BY SCHOLARS: MANUSCRIPT 609 OF THE BDBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE OF TOULOUSE 90 GENERAL HISTORY OF HERESY, THE CHURCH, AND THE CATHARS 100 MARY MAGDALENE AND THE CATHARS 106 ASCENSION WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION , 109 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 119 CHAPTER FOUR: LANGUEDOC: FERTILE GROUND 132 ASCENSION AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON 133 THE TROUBADOURS 136 ST. BERNARD, THE SONG OF SONGS, AND MARY MAGDALENE 144 THE JEWISH TRADITION OF THE KABBALAH 148 THE VISION OF ISAIAH 151 CHAPTER FIVE: THE CONSOLAMENTUM: A CHRISTIAN RITUAL 165 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 183 BIBLIOGRAPHY 186 APPENDIX I 201 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION What is the importance of the Cathars to medieval religious history? What is their significance for our contemporary understanding of their religious impact? The Cathars made significant contributions to Western civilization and Christianity that need to be reexamined from an inclusive perspective. For many historians, the Cathars are seen as interlopers and heretics on the religious landscape of Europe, which made their elimination inevitable. I refer to the alternative view as the new lens or perspective through which the Cathars need to be understood, and there are many historians who have begun to recognize their importance, both as antagonists to the Church of Rome and as carriers of an earlier Christian tradition. It is as if the Church decided to remove the traces of Christianity's roots, particularly through the Cathars because they were dualists (among other accusations) and therefore heretics. The Cathars were Christians and practiced an early form of Christianity that the Church of Rome chose to ignore along its path to power. How did the Cathars enter into my life and why have they become such a passion that I am now writing a dissertation on them? It was through my studies as a historian that I first heard of the Cathars, though it was not in the United States. I was working on a B.A. in history and French at the University of Arizona and spent my junior year at a university in Aix-en-Provence. It was the professor of my Medieval history class who first introduced the Cathars into my historical perspective, which was forever changed by that tutorial. It was a shock because in my historical studies in the U. S. the subject of this religious movement that had impacted not just Languedoc but Italy and parts of northern 1 Europe was never mentioned. What intrigued me the most at that time was that the Cathars were vibrantly involved in Languedoc and then the Church of Rome stepped in and exterminated them, which seemed to be the end of the story.