Founding of the Cathar church at Saint-Felix

1163

Cathar perfecti from across Languedoc met at Saint-Felix-de-Caraman and formalized their separate dualist church, with bishops and deacons of their own. The council effectively declared independence from Rome. Within half a century the area would be devastated by the Albigensian Crusade. The Cathar church's organizational structure, mirroring that of the Catholic hierarchy, demonstrated how deeply the heresy had penetrated the social fabric of southern France.