Religious Devotions in the Southern Low Countries as an Opposition to Catharism 1150‐1300 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA degree in Religious Studies Classics and Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa © Darcy Sawilla, Ottawa, Canada 2014 ii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................... v 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Context ............................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Importance of the Vita Apostolica .......................................................................................... 12 1.3 Beguines and Religious Orders in the Southern Low Countries ................................. 17 1.4 Catharism in the Southern Low Countries .......................................................................... 21 1.5 Bodily Actions and Devotional Attributes .......................................................................... 26 2 Signs Received ....................................................................................................................................... 29 2.1 The Receiving of Visions ............................................................................................................ 30 2.2 Raptures, Ecstasies and the Humanity of Christ ............................................................... 33 2.3 Purgatorial Sufferings and the Sighting of Demons ........................................................ 35 3 Signs Exhibited (Materializations) ................................................................................................ 43 3.1 Three Categories of Abundant Tears .................................................................................... 44 3.2 Blinding Light in the Darkness ................................................................................................ 47 3.3 Dripping Oil and the Song of Songs........................................................................................ 50 3.4 Dancing, Laughter and Uncontrollable Tics ....................................................................... 54 3.5 The Gift of Prophecy ................................................................................................................... 58 4 Self‐denial ............................................................................................................................................... 62 4.1 The Practice of Physical Austerities and Fasting to Oppose Catharism ................... 65 5 The Purpose of Devout Devotions .................................................................................................. 69 5.1 The Dispersion of Devotions .................................................................................................... 71 5.2 Devotion to the Trinity as Against Catharism ................................................................... 74 5.3 A Devotion to Saint John the Evangelist ‐ Confirming His Orthodox Status ............ 77 5.4 The Practice of Eucharistic Devotion to Combat Catharism ......................................... 81 5.4.1 Devotion to the Eucharist (Female Specific) ........................................................................... 83 5.4.2 Devotion to the Priesthood and Male use of Female Piety ................................................ 85 5.4.3 Stopping the Spread of Catharism: Institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi ........... 88 6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 90 7 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 99 7.1 Primary Sources ........................................................................................................................... 99 7.2 Secondary Sources ....................................................................................................................... 99 iii Table of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Percentage of studied religious exhibiting the attribute _____________________________________________ 28 Figure 2: Number of Distinct Attributes Exhibited Per Individual ______________________________________________ 29 Figure 3: Timeline 1150‐1300 (less detailed) ___________________________________________________________________ 94 Figure 4: Timeline 1150‐1169 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 94 Figure 5: Timeline 1170‐1189 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 94 Figure 6: Timeline 1189‐1207 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 95 Figure 7: Timeline 1205‐1223 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 95 Figure 8: Timeline 1224‐1242 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 96 Figure 9: Timeline 1240‐1257 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 96 Figure 10: Timeline 1258‐1276 __________________________________________________________________________________ 97 Figure 11: Timeline 1276‐1293 __________________________________________________________________________________ 97 Figure 12: Timeline 1292‐1305 __________________________________________________________________________________ 97 Figure 13: Specific instances by each individual ________________________________________________________________ 98 Table 1: List of Attributes by Category __________________________________________________________________________ 27 Table 2: Corpus of Hagiographies in This Thesis ________________________________________________________________ 93 iv Abstract Through contemplation, and the practice of actions with religious meaning, faith is taught and reinforced. Beliefs that conflict with the established teaching of a religious group are sometimes ruled by it as heretical. Effective in countering heresy are religious practices that would not be performed by those deemed heretical. The practices indicate those who are orthodox and safeguard them from accusations of heresy. Catharism was an expanding heretical sect in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, enticing adherents away from the Roman Catholic Church, rejecting the Catholic sacraments and holding to a dualistic theology. Through the study of eleven hagiographies (idealized biographies of saints) this thesis identifies and examines sixteen attributes of people who lived in the southern Low Countries, corresponding with contemporary Belgium and northeastern France. We show how these attributes aided the Catholic Church’s struggle against Catharism through the confirmation, dissemination, and distinction of orthodoxy, while serving to nullify heterodox suspicion of the hagiographical subjects. A travers l’étude et la pratique des actions de significations religieuses, la foi est cultivée et renforcée. Les croyances en conflit avec les pensées enseignées par un groupe religieux sont parfois jugées hérétiques. Les coutumes religieuses, effectuées par ceux qui ne seraient pas jugés hérétiques, se trouvent efficaces contre ce conflit de l’hérésie. Ces traditions indiquent ceux qui sont orthodoxes et les protègent contre des accusations d’hérésie. Le Catharisme était une secte hérétique en expansion durant les XIIe et XIIIe siècles, incitant les fidèles à s’éloigner de l’Église catholique romaine, rejetant les sacrements catholiques en tenant une théologie dualiste. A travers onze hagiographies (les biographies idéalisées des saints) la thèse identifie et examine seize caractéristiques des personnes qui habitaient les Pays‐Bas méridionaux, correspondant à la Belgique et le nord‐est de la France de nos jours. Ces attributs ont aidé l’Église catholique contre la lutte du catharisme à travers la confirmation, la dissémination et la distinction de l’orthodoxie, tout en servant d’invalider la suspicion d’hétérodoxie et des sujets des hagiographies. v Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Emma Anderson. Thank‐you for imparting in me a love for the discipline of Religious Studies during the classes I took from you in my undergraduate degree. I would not have perused the topic in this master’s thesis had I not been so passionately introduced to some of the hagiographical subjects in your classes. I also appreciate the guidance and knowledge you have given me through the process of completing the research and the writing of this thesis. Your input has been invaluable, and without your reality check, I would not be at the point that I have finally reached. I also would like to thank Dr. Adele Reinhartz. Your undergraduate classes likewise had a great impact on my love for Religious Studies. The wonderful mixing of theology and culture I was presented with in your classes has provided me with many exceptional