The conflict of the church with the heretics in Medieval Europe: The case of the Cathars

Catharism emerged in the 7th century in southern France in the Languedoc region, also known as Occitania, and was declared heresy by the Catholic Church. The political, religious and socio-cultural structure of this region allowed for the rapid growth and spread of Catharism. Although the Church at first hoped to take deterrent action by preaching against the Cathars, whom it began to see as a threat to its own authority, it was unable to achieve the desired success. Then came Pope III. Innocent (1198-1216), reacting to the murder of Peter of Castelnau, the envoy he had sent to the region, called for a crusade against the Cathars, just as was done against the Muslims. So this time the Christians would organize a crusade against their co-religionists. Under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, who was elected commander with the support of personalities of the time, a great slaughter took place. King of France VIII. When Louis left for a new crusade to Languedoc, the crusaders again conquered many places after bloody battles. Despite the wars and massacres, the Catholic Church, unable to stop the Cathars, created a special court to solve the problem. Given the inadequacy of the clergy at the time and the questioning of the heretics, a special team was needed to handle the entire process. These courts, which instilled fear and eradicated the Cathar movement with methods of persecution, investigation and torture, are known as the Inquisition. This form of jurisdiction, whose effect was proven after the Cathars, continued for a long time in regions such as Spain, Italy, Germany.