ALBIGENSES, in Church History, the name of religious party, distinguialied by their opposition to Oa church of Rome.
Is is very difficult to ascertain either their origin or their opinions. As to their origin, Mosheim maintains. that they were Paulicians, who, flying from the persecu tions of the Greeks, gradually spread themselves over the south of Europe, but settled chiefly in the south of France ; and they were denominated Albigenses, from Albi, in Latin ?lbigia, in Languedoc ; not, it seems, be cause that was the chief place of their residence, but be cause their opinions were condemned in a council held there in the year 1176. The chief argument in favour of this origin of the name, arises front the circumstance, that they never were known by that appellation till af ter the council held at Albi ; though it MIlst be confessed that this etymology is disputed by some, who refer it to Albigensium, formerly the general name of Narbonne Gaul, where the Albigenses had their chief settlements. Vide Histoire Generale de Languedoc, tom. iii. note 1;;. p. 552.
But allowing this to be the origin of the sect, and of its designation, we are still as far as ever from being able to ascertain the peculiar tenets by which it was distinguished. Of the Paulicians, we have nothing but the most imperfect account, and that too from the writ ings of their adv'?rsaries, who, we may believe, would give an exaggerated statement of their errors, and throw su shade over their virtues. Six heavy charges are brought. against them by the orthodox writers of those days ; the principal of which are, that they denied this inferior and visible world to he the production of the Supreme Being ; that they showed contempt for the Virgin lacy, for the cross, and for the sacraments. These, with other errors imputed to the Paulicians, may be collected from Photius, Petrus Siculus, and Ccdrenus ; and they agree pretty well with the charges brought against the Albigenses by their enemies ; for they are universally accused of Manicheism; which the first of the Paulician tenets, as stated above, evidently implies. It is probable, however, that this odious charge was fixed upon them by their adversaries, with a view to bring their opinions into discredit ; and that the chief heresies of which they were guilty were, denying the Pope's supremacy, and laughing at purgatory, and the seven sacraments. These were charges which they never attempted to evade ; and as nothing could render them so obnoxious to the Roman hierarchy, we need not be surprised at the invectives and misrepresentations with which they are loaded by the supporters of that spiritual despotism. They are represented as maintain
ing marriage to be unlawful ; the amount of which charge is, in all probability, no more than this, that they denied marriage to be a sacrament. They are also ac cused of holding the eucharist in abhorrence, probably because they rejected it in the form of transubstantia tion. Accordingly, most Protestant writers maintain, that the opinions of the Albigenses were nearly the same as those afterwards adopted by the reformers ; and it is certain, that all of those who remained till the time of the Reformation, readily embraced the doctrines and dis cipline which it introduced.
But the term Albigenses was very generally used in a much more extensive sense than that which we have now assigned to it, and was employed to denote every description of heretics ; that is, all, of whatever denom ination, who dissented from the church of Rome. This we learn from Petrus Sarnensis, who in the dedication of his history of the Albigenses to Innocent ex presses himself thus : " Tolosani allarum et castrorum /heretic', et defensorrs forum, generaliter Al bigenses This circumstance renders it next to impossible to ascertain the precise opinions of the Albigenses ; since all who differed from the church of Rome, however much they might differ from each other, were comprehended under this denomination. This may also account for the great variety of appella tions by which the Albigenses were known ; for they were called by different authors, Ilenricians, Abclardists, Catharcsts, Publicans, and Bulgarians ; either on ac count of the persons who patronized them, the cha racter they assumed, or the country from which they came. They are also frequently confounded with the Waldenses.
The Albigenses were persecuted with the utmost fury by the church of Rome. A crusade was proclaim ed against them, in the name of the Pope ; and, in the year 1209, a formidable army, commanded by the famous, Simon, earl of Montford, was led into the field against them. This war, distinguished by the intrepid bravery and unparalleled barbarity with which it was conducted on the part of the commander in chief, ended in the complete discomfiture of the Albigenses, and in the ruin of the Counts of Toulouse, who support ed them. See Ilume's Hist. vol. ii. p. 70. chap. ix. Velley's Nen, Hist. of France. Mosheim's Church His tory. (g)