Albigenses

The Albigenses were the followers of a medieval Christian sect associated with Manichaeism. They were present in Languedoc, centred on the settlement of Albi. They were declared heretics by the Roman Catholic Church.de Plancy, J. C., (1863). Dictionnaire Infernal. 6ed. pg.15
There was mutual conflict between them and the Roman Catholic Church, wherein they are said to have killed monks and priests, burned crosses, and destroyed churches. The Catholic Church launched a crusade against them, led be Simon V de Montfort. 
By the 19th century, the Albigenses were a topic for debate between Protestants and Catholics, with the Protestants and many scholars accusing the Catholics of genocide, while the Catholics were claiming the facts had been distorted through time to make the crusaders seem worse than they actually were. 
== Beliefs ==
Their main belief was that Lucifer was the firstborn son of God, who was exiled from Heaven alongside his followers for rebelling against his father. After his exile, Lucifer created the Earth to rule, which caused everything to go horribly wrong. God then had his second son, Jesus, to restore order to the chaos Lucifer made. 
Their religious doctrine seems to have varied between subsects, but generally they denied the resurrection of the faithful, as well as the existence of Hell and Purgatory. Instead, they believed that our souls were demons bound to mortal forms as punishments for their crimes. 
== Further Reading ==
* Legends of the Crusades
== References ==
Category:Christian Sects
Category:Dictionnaire Infernal