Catharism was a Christian dualist movement that flourished in parts of Western Europe, above all in Languedoc in southern France and in northern Italy. Its followers held that the material world was evil and that salvation came through a life of strict spiritual purity, and the movement was probably influenced by earlier dualist groups such as the Bogomils of the Balkans. The Catholic Church denounced it as heresy, and in 1209 Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade against Cathar lands. Fortresses such as Montsegur fell, and the Inquisition pursued survivors for generations. Historians still debate how far Catharism was a coherent church and how far the Catholic accounts shaped the image we have of it.
Before and after
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- from April 1096 to October 1096People's Crusade
- 1098Birth of Hildegard of Bingen
- from 15 July 1099 to 18 May 1291Kingdom of Jerusalem
- from 11th century to 14th centuryOrigins of Catharism
- 11th centuryPublication of The Song of Roland
- 11th centuryBayeux Tapestry
- from 11th century to 17th centuryConstruction of Bagrati Cathedral
- 11th centuryConstruction of Daphni Monastery
More in Art, literature & culture
- 631 CEOrigins of Islam
- 823 CEOrigins of Shingon Buddhism
- 12th centuryPublication of Primary Chronicle
- c. 1260sPublication of Poetic Edda
- 14th centuryPublication of Water Margin
- 1499Pietà (Michelangelo)
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes.