ALBIGENSES, in Church History, a sect or party of reformers, about Toulouse and Albigeois, in Languedoc, who sprung up in the 12th century, and distinguished themselves by their opposition to the discipline and ceremonies of the Romish church.

This sect had their name, it is supposed, either by reason there were great numbers of them in the diocese of Albi, or because they were condemned by a council held in that city. In effect, it does not appear that they were known by this name before the holding of that council. The Albigenses were also called Albiani, Albigesei, Albii, and Albanenses, though some distinguish these last from them. Other names given to them are Henricians, Abelardists, Bulgarians, &c.; some on account of the qualities they assumed; others on that of the country from whence it is pretended they were derived; and others on account of persons of note who adopted their cause, as Peter de Brius, Arnold de Bresse, Abelard, Henry, &c. Bcrengarius, if not Wickliffe himself, is by some ranked in the number. The Albigenses are frequently confounded with the Waldenses ; from whom, however, they differ in many respects, both as being prior to them in point of time, as having their origin in a different country, and as being charged with divers heresies, particularly Manicheism, from whence the Waldenses are exempt. But several Protestant writers have vindicated them from that imputation. Dr Allix shows that a great number of Manichees did spread over the western countries from Bulgaria, and settled in Italy, Languedoc, and other places, where there were also Albigenses ; by which means, being both under the imputation of heresy, they came, either by ignorance or malice, to be confounded, and called by the same common name, though in reality entirely different.

Other errors imputed to them by their opponents, the monks of those days, were, that they admitted two Christs; one evil, who appeared on earth; the other good, who has not yet appeared: that they denied the resurrection of the body, and maintained human souls to be demons imprisoned in our bodies, by way of punishment for their sins: that they condemned all the sacraments of the church, rejected baptism as useless, held the eucharist in abhorrence, excluded the use of confessions and penance, maintained marriage unlawful, laughed at purgatory, prayers for the dead, images, crucifixes, &c. There were likewise said to be two classes of them, the Perfect and the Believers. The perfect boasted of their living in continence, of eating neither flesh, eggs, nor cheese. The believers lived like other men, and were even loose in their morals; but they were persuaded they should be saved by the faith of the perfect, and that none were damned who received imposition of hands from them. But from these charges also they are generally acquitted by Protestants, who consider them as the pious inventions of the Romish church, whose members deem it meritorious by any means to blacken heretics.

. However this be, the Albigenses grew so formidable, that the Catholics agreed upon a holy league or crusade against them. They were at first supported by Raymond, count of Toulouse· Pope Innocent III., desirous to put a stop to their progress, sent a legate into their country; which failing, he stirred up Phil ip Augustus, king of France, and the other princes and great men of the kingdom, to make war upon them. Upon this the count of Toulouse, who had sided with them, made his submission to the pope, and went over to the Catholics; but soon after, finding himself plundered by -the crusaders, he declared war against them, and was joined by the king of Arragon. His army was defeated at the siege of Muret, where he himself was killed, and the defeat followed by the surrender of the city of Toulouse, and the conquest of the greater part of Languedoc and Provence. His son Raymond succeeded him, who agreed with the king and the pope to set up the inquisition in his estates, and to extirpate the Albigenses. In an assembly held at Milan; the archbishop of Toulouse drew up articles, agreeably to which the count made a most ample declaration against them, which he published at Toulouse in 1253. From this-time the Albigenses dwindled by little and little, till the time of the Reformation, when such of them as were left fell in with the Vaudois, and became conformable to the doctrine of Zuinglius and the discipline of Geneva.

Albigenses is also a name sometimes given to the followers of Peter Vaud or Waldo, and hence synonymous with what we more properly call Waldenses, or Poor Men of Lyons. In this sense the word is applied by Camerarius, Thuanus, and several other writers. The reason seems to be, that the two parties agreed in their opposition to the papal innovations and encroachments, though in divers other respects said to be different enough. The bishop of Meaux labours hard to support a distinction between the two sects, alleging that the Albigenses were heretics and Manichees; whereas the Waldenses were only schismatics, not heretics; being sound as to articles of faith, and only separating from the church of Rome on account of forms and discipline. Dr Allix endeavours to set aside the distinction, and shows that both of them held the same opinions, and were equally condemned and held for heretics; and this not for points of faith, but for declaiming against the papal tyranny and idolatry, and holding the pope to be the Antichrist; which last, according to Μ. de Meaux, constitutes nothing less than Manicheism. In this sense, the Lollards and Wickliffites in England were not only Albigenses, but Manichees.