Can the Cathars survive in Southern France to the present day?

The most likely scenario I can think of is a Druze-type situation, in which the Cathars retreat to mountain fortresses while pledging not to proselytize among the Catholics, in return to being left alone by the Church. Now, the POD for such a scenario would IMO have to be before the Albigensian crusade, since by that point it would already be too late to dissuade the Pope from trying to convert the heretics by force.
 
Catharism, or rather possibly Catharisms, wasn't that well demographically present in Languedoc to begin with : maybe 10% of urban population at best in the region they were present, less than 2 or 1% in countryside except in specific regions.
The problem never was they threatened Catholicism numerically or even by proselytism (Catharism was a relatively demanding doctrine, especially in its Golden Age), but that it was pervasive and relatively accepted by local lineages that if not converted to it, at least didn't care for it and made social-familial solidarities playing a lot, as well a genuine respect for Cathars bonomes for their evangelical life (which means a lot in an Europe right in the middle of spiritual awakening.
Even after the Crusade, the heresy remained quite alive, hence why the Inquisition became an institution to root it out of southern society; especially as heresy was assimilated to a lese-majesty crime as well than spiritual errance in the early XIIIth century.

So, regardless of actual support for Catharism in the mid-XIIIth century, it was far to associated with both a remaining Occitan nobility still searching to get back its power (such as with Raimond VII), and a perceived threat against royal authority, medieval society (especially their refusal of oaths) and Christianity (being perceived as a poisonous root always ready to expand if not held in check) that anyone would allow more or less rebellious nobles in the borders with Aragon (and with the blessing of its king) to survive : neither the Capetians (that gradually took control of Corbières' castles), neither the Church.

The problem of western medieval Christian Dualism (Cathars, Tisserands, western Bogomils) was that they were set in a society that took very seriously the link between institutions, Christianity and power. Deviating from this norm, especially claiming the Church is corrupt and that its dogmas and requirements aren't really good and that everything built on it is satanic...
Bogomilism essentially survived in Bosnia because it was really remote and in a peripheral region.

You'd argue that Vaudois managed to remain a thing during all the Middle-Ages before joining the Reform.
But they had no real political support there, and went in highlands regions that (at the contrary of Pyrénées) didn't were a strongly watched border, but rather an inner remote region within Savoy.
 
Last edited:
Top