RLB99 Catharism

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2012
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Václavík, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each odd Wednesday 14:10–15:45 C33
Prerequisites
Basic orientation in the western Christianity in the 11th-14th century.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course offers a comprehensive survey of Catharism, a medieval Christian “heretical” movement that appeared mainly in Italy and south-western France between the 12th and the 14th century and was finally eradicated by the Inquisition. The course begins with a chronological and geographical survey. Than, it analyses rituals, ways of living of the Cathar “Perfecti”, and the institutionalization of the Cathar groups.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- describe very well the groups of religious dissent, identified as Cathar (11th-14th c.);
- express the link between the development of heresy and the overall development of Western Christendom in 11th-14th century;
- evaluate the information of inquisitional and polemical sources from the area of Western Christendom;
- contest the categories of orthodoxy and heresy;
- illustrate general problems of method in the study of religions (genealogies, formation of concepts...) by examples from the field of medieval Christian dissenting movements.
Syllabus
  • (1) Introduction.
  • (2) Problem of heresy; notion of catharism and its problems.
  • (3) Local movements in the 11th century.
  • (4) “Cathars” in Rhineland and northern France.
  • (5) Cathars in Italy.
  • (6) Cathars in south-western France.
  • (7) Inquisition; dissent in the Alpine valleys in the 14th-15th century.
  • (8) Cathar churches and their institutions.
  • (9) Rituals, customs and religious life of the Cathars I.
  • (10) Rituals, customs and religious life of the Cathars II.
  • (11) John of Lugio and the Book of Two Principles.
  • (12) The reform of brothers Authier in south-western France, 1299-1321.
  • (13) Final revision.
Literature
  • JIMÉNEZ SANCHEZ, Pilar. Les catharismes: Modèles dissidents du christianisme médiéval (XIIe-XIIIe siècles). 1st ed. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2008, 457 pp. ISBN 9782753506220. info
  • ZBÍRAL, David. Největší hereze: Dualismus, učenecká vyprávění o katarství a budování křesťanské Evropy (The Greatest Heresy: Dualism, Scholarly Narratives about Catharism and the Making of Christian Europe). 1st ed. Praha - Brno: Argo – Ústav religionistiky Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, 2007, 170 pp. Každodenní život 37. ISBN 978-80-7203-914-2. info
  • ZBÍRAL, David. Katarský komentář k Otčenáši ve Florentském obřadním spise (A Cathar Gloss on the Pater noster in the Florence Cathar Ritual). Religio: Revue pro religionistiku. Brno: Česká společnost pro religionistiku, 2004, vol. 12, No 2, p. 255-264. ISSN 1210-3640. info
  • ZBÍRAL, David. Bogomilsko-katarský apokryf Otázky Jana Evangelisty (Bogomil/Cathar apocryphon Questions of John the Evangelist). Religio: Revue pro religionistiku. Brno: Česká společnost pro studium náboženství, 2003, vol. 11, No 1, p. 109-130. ISSN 1210-3640. URL info
  • BRENONOVÁ, Anne. Kataři :život a smrt jedné křesťanské církve. 1. vyd. Brno: CDK, 2001, 182 s. ISBN 80-85959-85-2. info
  • LAMBERT, Malcolm. Středověká hereze. Translated by Tomáš Vítek. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2000, 598 s. ISBN 8072032917. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussions, home reading of (a) literature and (b) essays by other participants.
Assessment methods
1) Written essay (9,000-18,000 characters including spaces) with notes and bibliography (evaluated: passed × failed).
2) Passing of final oral revision (evaluated: passed × failed).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2005, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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