Catharism and the Albigensian Crusade

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t is thought that Wolfram began writing his poem Parzival in about 1200. At this time there was a sect in what is now southern France, the Oc region or Languedoc. One of their centres was the town of Albi. It has been suggested (in the writings of Otto Rahn, E. Anitchkof and J. Evola) that some of the ideas provided to Wolfram by the mysterious Kyot originated with this sect, with whom Kyot may have come into contact in Provence or the Languedoc. The Albigensians or Cathars, were a sect with dualistic beliefs similar to those of the Manicheans. Although they seem only to have studied the canonical Gospels, their beliefs seem more closely related to some of the Gnostic Gospels. The word Cathar comes from the Greek καθαροι, meaning Pure Ones. Little is known about them, because in 1208 Pope Innocent III launched a Crusade against these heretics that, in a succession of campaigns over a period of forty years, destroyed their communities with great cruelty. Later, the Catholic Church created the Inquisition, initially with the purpose of eliminating all traces of Cathar heresy from France, Spain and northern Italy.

hat is known about the Cathars includes the following. The Pure Ones were strict vegetarians, abstaining from all animal products. They were celibate, although many of the ordinary believers were married. They worshipped a deity who was above Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. The latter seems to have been identified with the devil or Lucifer, and thus the Catholic Church (and presumably also the Jewish believers, although they seem to have been treated with unusual tolerance in this region) were regarded as devil-worshippers. The world had been created by Lucifer and belonged to the devil. They believed that Lucifer had waged war against Heaven, as a result of which souls had been trapped in fleshly bodies. We may note, in passing, that one of the stories about the origin of the Grail says that it was a jewel that fell from Lucifer's crown. According to Wolfram and to the Wartburgskrieg, the Grail was a stone that was brought to the earth by the neutral angels, i.e. those who did not take sides in the warfare between God and Lucifer.

he Cathars awaited a Messiah who would be the son of a widow; like Parzival. One of their symbols was the dove, which according to Wolfram was the bird that brought a wafer to the Grail on each Good Friday. It is also said that they believed in reincarnation, and that through good works one could obtain redemption from sins committed in a previous life.