Guilhabert de Castres

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Guilhabert de Castres (* around 1165, † around 1240) was Cathar bishop of Toulouse from 1226 to 1240. He may have been the father or older brother of Izarn de Castres , a Cathar preacher and theologian.

biography

The biographical data on his person are extremely sparse and probably by no means all reliable: For the year 1193 it is mentioned that he had a house in Fanjeaux in which the 'perfect' ( parfaits ) of the religious community met. In 1204 he is referred to as filius major ('deacon') by Gaucelm , the then Cathar bishop of Toulouse; In the same year he is said to have given four high-ranking women ( Esclarmonde de Foix , Aude de Fanjeaux, Fays de Durfort and Raymonde de Saint-Germain) the Consolamentum , the only sacrament of the Cathars. In 1207 he was at the so-called Pamiers Colloquiumat the last big debate between Catholics and Cathars, in which Domingo de Guzman , who later became St. Dominic , also took part on the Catholic side .

When the papal envoy Pierre de Castelnau was murdered at Saint-Gilles du Gard in the following year (1208) , the talks and discussions between the two parties were over. From now on the guns should speak.

During the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) Guilhabert de Castres must have fled. In any case, he escaped from the besieged town of Castelnaudary in 1220 with the help of Bernard-Othon de Niort . In 1226 he founded a new diocese in Pieusse - the diocese Razès ; the following year he appears in Mirepoix . From 1229 to 1232 he sought refuge with Jourdain Hunaud de Lanta in the castle of Bézu (or castle Albedun ). In 1232 he negotiated with Raymond de Péreille , Lord of Montségur , 'whether the Catholic church or congregation could from now on have their residence and headquarters in that castle and the preachers could come and go' ( ... ad hoc ut in ipso castro posset ecclesia hereticorum habere domicilium et caput et inde possent transmittere et diffundere predicatores suos ). It is unclear whether Guilhabert de Castres lived to see the siege and fall of Montségur (1243/4).

Quote

Zoé Oldenbourg writes in her book on the history of the Cathar movement:

"It is a little disconcerting to find history telling us so little about this man, and indeed about the other leaders of the movement ... Yet Guilhabert himself seems to have been one of the greatest personalities of thirteenth-century France. The history of the deeds and actions of these persecuted apostles may well have proved as rich in inspiration and instruction as that of a Francis of Assisi: They too were messengers of God's love. It is not immaterial to recall that these torches were put out forever, their faces obliterated and their example lost to all those whose lives they might have guided during the centuries that followed. "
(Translation: "It is a little disturbing that history tells us so little about this man and the other leaders of the movement ... Guilhabert himself seems to have been one of the greatest personalities in France in the 13th century. The history of the The deeds of these persecuted apostles may have been as rich in spirit and doctrine as those of Francis of Assisi - they too were ambassadors of divine love. It is not unimportant to remember that these torches are gone forever, their faces extinguished and you Example erased for all those whose lives they might have directed in the centuries that followed. ")

See also

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 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Zoe Oldenbourg: Massacre at Montségur. A history of the Albigensian Crusade. Phoenix 2006, p. 236 ISBN 1-84212-428-5
personal data
SURNAME Guilhabert de Castres
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Cathar, Cathar Bishop of Toulouse
DATE OF BIRTH around 1165
DATE OF DEATH around 1240