Everything about Cathar Yellow Cross totally explained
In the
Middle Ages, the
Cathar yellow cross was a distinguishing mark (essentially a
badge of shame) worn by repentant
Cathars, who were ordered to wear it by the
Roman Catholic Church.
Background
Catharism was a religious movement with
dualistic and
Gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France around the middle of the
12th century. Cathars were dualist in their beliefs, and the
Catholic symbol of the
crucifix was, to the Cathars, a negative symbol. In the words of one 14th century Cathar
Perfect Pierre Authié:
...just as a man should with an axe break the gallows on which his father was hanged, so you ought to try and break crucifixes, because Christ was suspended from it, albeit only in seeming.
The Albigensian Heresy and the Inquisition
The office of the
Inquisition was formulated in response to
Catharism, and a crusade was ultimately declared against Catharism. To be acquitted of charges of
heresy, all a suspected Cathar needed to do was provide proof of
marriage (since the Cathars didn't believe in the practice).
Repentant first offenders (who admitted to having been Cathars), when released on licence by the inquisition were ordered to:
...carry from now on and forever two yellow crosses on all their clothes except their shirts and one arm shall be two palms long while the other transversal arm shall be a palm and a half long and each shall be three digits wide with one to be worn in front on the chest and the other between the shoulders.
In addition they were ordered "...not to move about either inside or outside" their houses and were required to "...redo or renew the crosses if they're torn or are destroyed by age."
At the time these crosses were known locally as "las debanadoras" - which in
Occitan literally meant reels or winding machines. It is thought that this name is derived from the fact that the Cathars thought that crosses tied the wearers to a line that could be reeled in.
Montaillou
An example of this type of punishment is to be found in the French village of
Montaillou, one of the last bastions of the Cathar belief; here the local Bishop and future Pope,
Jacques Fournier launched an extensive inquisition which involved dozens of lengthy interviews with the locals, which were all faithfully recorded. When Fournier became Pope he brought the records with him and they remain to this day in the
Vatican Library.
Examples of residents from Montaillou being forced to wear the cross include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cathar Yellow Cross'.
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