A New Paradigm: “The Middle Ages without Catharism” and the Testimony of the Inquisitional Sources

Abstract

The article discusses the radical interpretation of Catharism which is getting more and more popular in the recent years. It’s adherents assume, that this heresy never existed for real in the regions of contemporary southern France, but was only a construct of the Catholic clergymen. In their opinion the image of well-organized and doctrinally consistent heresy was created by the Catho­lic polemists, basing on the ancient anti-heretical writings (mainly anti-man­ichaean scriptures of St. Augustine) and than it was imposed on the innocent people questioned during an inquisitorial procedure. The adherents of this interpretation (based on the interpretation of inquisitorial sources) propose a total change in the perception of Catharism, and writing it’s history anew, to fit a new paradigm—“Middle-Ages without Catharism.” The main aim of this article is to verify these revolutionary claims, basing on the analysis of the inquisitorial sources and to answer the following questions: Can we really say, that the image of Catharism in the inquisitorial sources is identical as in the Catholic polemics? Can we assume, that it was imposed on the interro­gated people by the inquisitors? And finally—is it really an image of the well‑organized counter-church?