Talk:Cathars
There is a much better article under Albigensians that I plan to bring over here -- JHK
The two should be merged. The 1911 article on Albigensians is infected with the British variant of "medieval heretics were proto-protestants" problem - note paragraph 3 -- before the author explains (what little) is known about their beliefs, he sets them up as an anti-sacerdotal party protesting the corruption of the clergy. HMPH. The new article has its good points, but it suffers from a modern variant -- you know, "medieval heretics were proto-moderns", and thus we're told that the Cathars treated women as equals (though at least the author gives a good reason for it - the fact that they deprecated the real body). The evidence for 'equal treatment' is about as useful as the evidence for sacrificing babies - it comes from the inquisitorial processes, and has to be treated like all legal evidence. I think the explanation of what is known about Cathar theology isn't at all bad. --MichaelTinkler
I think you're right -- I was swayed a bit by the LeRoy Ladurie ref -- and the fact that this article is pretty weak... JHK
The article mentioned this was an outgrowth of neoplatonism, but shouldn't its similarity to gnosticism also be mentioned? Wesley 15:16 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC)
The Cathars originated with the followers of Novatian, and were originally excommunicated in 251. So the article starts off very badly. The movement was over a thousand years old when the CC exterminated it. the librarian
Is the text at the bottom: "Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed " still relevant???
kh7 Mar 23, 2003
Start a discussion about improving the Cathars page
Talk pages are where people discuss how to make content on Wikipedia the best that it can be. You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve the "Cathars" page.
