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Albigensian

Albigensian is a historical term referring to members of a Christian movement known as the Cathars who were active in the Languedoc region of southern France, especially near the city of Albi (Albegia). The name is attested in medieval sources and is commonly used in historical writing to designate Cathar communities in Occitania. In contemporary scholarship the term is often treated as archaic, with "Cathars" preferred for describing the broader movement.

Cathar belief combined dualist cosmology with a critique of the visible church; they taught a spiritual realm

From the late 12th century onward, the Catholic Church and the French crown pursued suppression of Catharism.

Today the term "Albigensian" is mainly of historical interest, with "Cathars" used in most modern accounts.

opposed
to
matter
and
viewed
the
material
world
as
created
by
a
malevolent
force.
The
movement
recruited
two
main
groups:
Perfecti
(or
Perfect)
who
led
ascetic
lives
and
administrated
the
community,
and
Credentes
(believers),
who
followed
but
did
not
renounce
the
world.
Central
rites
included
the
consolamentum,
a
form
of
baptism
of
imparted
spiritual
grace.
The
Cathars
rejected
the
Catholic
sacraments
and
the
authority
of
the
Roman
pope
and
bishops,
which
made
them
a
target
of
Church
and
secular
rulers.
In
1209
the
Albigensian
Crusade,
proclaimed
by
Pope
Innocent
III,
led
to
military
campaigns
in
Languedoc,
the
massacre
at
Béziers,
the
siege
of
Carcassonne,
and
the
eventual
collapse
of
most
Cathar
communities.
In
the
following
decades
repression,
inquisitorial
activity,
and
political
incorporation
of
Occitania
into
the
crown
of
France
ended
the
movement
as
a
political
and
social
force;
Montségur
fell
in
1244.