Benoît de Termes

Benoît de Termes (* around 1160; † 1230/1233) was a personality from the narrower circle of the Cathars or Albigensians in southern France.

Life

Little data is available about the life of Benoît de Termes: the first mention of his name is found in the files of a religious dispute between Catholics and Cathars in 1207 in Pamiers and Montréal . At that time he was referred to as the 'deacon' ( filius major ) of the historical province of Razès , which at the time was still part of the 'Cathar diocese' of Carcassonne . In the context of this religious dispute he was elected spokesman alongside Arnaud Oth on the Cathar side; Diego de Acebo , who was traveling in the south of France with Domingo de Guzman , was appointed spokesman for the Catholic side.

Nothing was heard from him during the Albigensian Crusades (1209–1229). In 1226 - the year of the beginning of the crusade of Louis VIII against the Albigensians - his name is mentioned in connection with a meeting of leading sect members in the Pieusse Castle ; he himself is ordained 'bishop' of the newly founded Cathar diocese of Razès. Guilhabert de Castres , just appointed Bishop of Toulouse , donates the Consolamentum to him . In 1230, according to an accusation at an inquisition tribunal , he is said to have sold fish pie, which was taken as an outward sign of his heretical belief. He spent his twilight years at Quéribus Castle , where he died between 1230 and 1233.

meaning

In the absence of reliable data, a historical classification of Benoît de Termes is difficult. The fact that he was chosen to be the spokesman in a religious dispute and his election as a bishop show, however, that he knew a lot about the Cathar doctrine and knew how to articulate its content.

Others

Possibly Benoît de Termes was the younger brother of Raymond de Termes and thus the uncle of Olivier de Termes , one of the most important knights or faydits of the time.

See also

• Albigensians (chronological table)
• Termez Castle
• Nicetas (Bogumil Bishop)

literature

• Christoph Auffarth : The heretics: Cathars, Waldensians and other religious movements , CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-50883-9 .
• Jörg Oberste: The crusade against the Albigensians. Heresy and power politics in the Middle Ages , Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-89678-464-1 .
• Steven Runciman: Heresy and Christianity: Der Mittelalterliche Manichäismus , Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-7705-2498-5 .
• Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay: Crusade against the Albigensians - The 'Historia Albigensis' translated into German by Gerhard E. Sollbach , Manesse, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-7175-8228-3 .
• Gauthier Langlois: Olivier de Termes, le cathare et le croisé (vers 1200-1274) , private, Toulouse, 2001.