The yellow cross was a medieval ornament worn by repentant Cathars, who were ordered to wear it by the Roman Catholic Church. Image File history File links CatharCross. ... Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ...

Background

Catharism was a religious movement with dualistic and Gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France around the middle of the 12^th 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: The term dualism is the state of being dual, or having a twofold division. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The term dualism is the state of being dual, or having a twofold division. ... A crucifix amidst the cornfields near Mureck in rural Styria, Austria A handheld crucifix A crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in KoÅ¡ice, Slovakia A crucifix is a cross with a representation of Jesuss body, or corpus. ... A Perfect (also known as a Parfait) was the name given to a Cathar priest. ...

"...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 did not believe in the practice). Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ... Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Matrimony redirects here. ...

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 are 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 reeled in. Occitan, or langue doc is a Romance language characterized by its richness, variability, and by the intelligibility of its dialects. ...

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, 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. Montaillou is a small village and commune in southern France. ... The Cathars, also known as the Albigensians, were adherent to the beliefs of Catharism. ... Benedict XII, né Jacques Fournier ( 1280s – April 25, 1342), was Pope from 1334 to 1342. ... Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Vatican Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. ...

Examples of residents from Montaillou being forced to wear the cross include:

• Béatrice de Planisoles
• Raymonde Arsen

Raymonde Arsen née Vital was a servant in the Comté de Foix in the early fourteenth century. ...

Cross of Toulose

• The cross of Toulose is sometimes incorrectly known as the "Cathar Cross". There is no historical justification for this - especially as Cathars hated all representations of the Christian Cross which they regarded as an instrument of torture.

Cathar Cross

References

• The Yellow Cross - the story of the last Cathars 1290 - 1329. René Weis . Penguin Viking 2000. ISBN 0-14-027669-6
• Limborch - Historica Inquisitionis 1692

External links

• Crosses known as the Cross of Toulouse, the Languedoc Cross, the Occitan Cross and the Cathar Cross