The Albigensians: Their Origins and the Action of the Church in the 12th Century

which are explained by the progress of error and the difference in times and places, is sufficient to establish their kinship. The ecclesiastical authors of the 13th century saw this and said it.

But there is more.

The ManichaeansFollowers of a dualistic religion founded by the prophet Mani, which taught a cosmic struggle between light and darkness. from the time of the Roman emperors are not strangers to the AlbigensiansA group of dualist heretics in southern France during the 12th and 13th centuries, named after the city of Albi. of the era of the vain counts of Toulouse; it is possible to reconstruct the chain of facts that links the latter to the former: from the Manichaeans to the Albigensians, there is a true historical lineage. Manichaean dualismThe belief in two co-equal and opposing principles, usually good/spirit versus evil/matter. spread, from the 3rd to the 7th century, through eastern countries, along the banks of the Tigris, in the regions near the Caspian Sea, north of the Black Sea, and in the Danubian provinces. But, at this same time, Slavic peoples moved down from the north of the Caspian Sea, crossed the plains of southern Russia, and settled on the banks of the Danube. On the other hand, it is proven that Albigensian dualism cannot be attributed solely to the sectarians of LanguedocA historical province in southern France where the Albigensian movement was most prominent.. Neither the Manichaeans of Africa, nor the PriscillianistsFollowers of Priscillian, a 4th-century bishop in Spain who was executed for heresy involving asceticism and dualism. of Spain, nor the PauliciansAn Armenian dualist sect that emerged in the 7th century, often viewed as ancestors to later European dualist groups. of Asia Minor, nor the BogomilsA dualist religious sect that emerged in Bulgaria in the 10th century, influencing western heresies. of Bulgaria, nor the PatarinesA name used to describe various religious dissidents in Italy, later applied to dualists similar to the Albigensians.