The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs Ordinary Believers ("Credentes";
or Listeners - "Auditores")
  Like
the members of most religions, ordinary Cathar believers
held a range of beliefs at different times and in different
places. In general, their beliefs would be almost
indistinguishable from those of most modern Christians.
Certainly, their beliefs would seem unremarkable
to most people in the western world. Certainly too,
ordinary Cathars and ordinary Catholics in the Languedoc
got on together perfectly well before the Crusades.
Ordinary Cathar believers behaved much like anyone else
at the time, they contracted marriages, had children, ate
meat, fought in wars, and followed the Ten Commandments
when it suited them. The distinguishing feature was
that they undertook to undergo a special ceremony (called
the Consolamentum)
before their death. They generally deferred this rite
until they were on their deathbeds, just as early Christians
normally deferred baptism until they were on theirs.
This rite ensured that their soul would be released from
the cycle of earthly imprisonment. Instead it would
be free to return to the realm of light.
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Although undergoing the Consolamentum
before their death was the only obligation on them,
adherents of the sect seem to have led more ascetic
lives than their conventional Catholic neighbours.
They made serious efforts to follow not only the Ten
Commandments (especially about killing and lying)
but other biblical injunctions (for example not swearing
oaths in any circumstances). They kept three
Lents each year, and fasted on Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays of each week. During these fasts
a diet of bread and water was usual. Believers
would also engage in a regular form of public confession
which, they were taught, dated from the earliest days
of Christianity.
Some believers chose to undertake the Consolamentum
before the prospect of death loomed. This changed
the believer into one of the Elect,
which had profound implications for the rest of their
lives. This was not a step to be undertaken
lightly. Such a believer would be put under
a period of probation for initiation, which lasted
at least one and often several years, during which
they fasted continuously, before being considered
for the Consolamentum.
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Cathars in England
Cathars spread throughout Europe and are recorded
in many countries. A group of some 30 men and
women, referred to as Publicans, were detected
in England. They were brought before a synod
of bishops and King Henry II at Oxford probably
in the winter of 1165.
In those days there came to England certain
erring folk of the sect commonly thought to
be called Publicans. These seem to have originated
in Gascony under an unknown founder, and they
spread the poison of their infidelity in a
great many regions; for in the broad lands
of France, Spain, Italy, and Germany so many
are said to be infested with this pestilence
that, as the Psalmist of old complained, they
seem to have multiplied beyond number
... When they were questioned systematically
upon the articles of holy faith, they answered
correctly enough on the nature of the Celestial
Physician, but as to the remedies by which
He deigns to heal human infirmities - that
is, the divine sacraments - they gave the
wrong replies. They scorned holy baptism,
the Eucharist, and matrimony, and with wicked
rashness they disparaged the Catholic unity
which these divine aids instil.
...They laughed at threats uttered in all
piety against them in the hope that through
fear they might be brought to their senses,
and misapplied the word of the Lord "Blessed
are they that suffer persecution for justice's
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".
Thereupon, the bishops, taking precautions
lest the heretical poison should spread more
widely, publicly denounced them as heretics
and handed them over to His Catholic Highness
for corporal punishment. He commanded that
the brand of heretical infamy be burned on
their brows, that they be flogged in the presence
of the people, and that they be driven out
of the city. And he strictly enjoined anyone
from presuming to give them shelter or offer
them any comfort. When the sentence had been
declared, they were led away, rejoicing in
their just punishment, their master leading
them jauntily and chanting "Blessed are
ye when men shall revile you". ... Then
the detestable group were branded on the brows,
and suffered a just severity - as a mark of
his primacy he who was their leader receiving
a double brand on brow and chin. Stripped
of their clothing to the waist and publicly
flogged with resounding blows, they were driven
out of the city, and perished miserably in
the bitter cold, for it was winter and no
one offered them the slightest pity.
The quotation is from William of Newburgh's
history of the Kings of England, written around
1199-1201: Willelmi Parvi, canonici de Novoburgo,
historia rerum anglicarum 1. xiii ed.
by Richard Howlett, in Chronicles of the
Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I
(Rolls Series, LXXXII [4 vols, London, 1884-1889]
I 131-34). English translation from Wakefield
and Evans, Heresies of the High Middle Ages,
40 (pp 245 - 247).
We can only speculate at how gratified the
bishops must have been that not a single member
of their Christian flock offered not "the
slightest pity" to their mutilated, stripped,
resoundingly scourged, Christian brethren from
overseas, but instead left them to starve or
freeze to death in the bitter winter cold.
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