§ 80. THE CATHARI. 477
fecti and tlie Credentes, or Believers. The Perfect were those who had received the rite of the consolamentum, and were also called bons hommes,1 good men, or good Chris tians, or the Girded, vestiti? from the fact that after receiv ing the consolamentum they bound themselves with a cord. The number of the Good Men, Rainerius, about 1250, gave as four thousand. The Credentes corresponded, in a general way, to the catechumens of the early Church, and placed all their hope in the consolamentum, which they looked for ward to receiving. By a contract, called the convenenza, the Catharan officials pledged themselves to administer the con solamentum to the Credentes in their last hours.
The consolamentum took the place of baptism and meant more. Its administration was treated by the Catholic authori ties as equivalent to an initiation into heresy — hcereticatio, as it was called. The usual form in which the court stated the charge of heresy was, " He has submitted to heretication." 3 The rite, which women also were allowed to admin ister, was performed with the laying on of hands and the use of the Gospel of John, which was imposed upon the head or placed at the candidate's breast.4 The candidate made a confession of all his sins of thought, word, work, and vision, and placed his faith and hope in God and the consolamentum which he was about to receive. The kiss of peace followed.5
The Perfect had a monopoly of salvation. Those not re ceiving the consolamentum were considered lost or passed at death into another body and returned to the earth. The rite involved not only the absolution of all previous sins but of sins that might be committed thereafter. However,
1 Boni homines, Dollinger, II. 22, 27, etc. ; Boni Christian^ II. 4, 17, 25, etc. In Southern France one of the oft-repeated charges was that the accused called the Cathari bons hommes, Douais, II. 9, 11, 14, 25, etc. The Credentes are so called by French synods, by Innocent III., in letters written by papal legates, etc. See Hefele, V. 846, 850, etc. ; Dollinger and Douais under Credentes in Index.
2 Synod of Toulouse, 1229, etc. See Schmidt, II. 127. 8 Hasreticationi interfuit, Douais, II. 17, 19, 22, etc.
4 Ante pectus, Rainerius, p. 1764. An elaborate description is given in an Appendix to Rainerius, Martene, V. 1776.
6 Ermengaud, Migne, 204. 1302; Raim-rius, p. 1764 ; Bellinger, II. 41,
478 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
relapse was possible and sometimes occurred.1 At death, the spirit was reunited with the soul, which had been left behind in heaven. There is no resurrection of the body. The administration of the consolamentum seems to have been confined to adults until the fourteenth century, when it was administered to sick children. Those who submitted to it were said to have "made a good ending."2
The consolamentum involved the renunciation of the seven sacraments. Baptism with water was pronounced a material and corruptible thing, the work of the evil god. Even little children Avere not saved who received absolution and imposi tion of hands.3 The baptism of the established Church was the baptism of John the Baptist, and John's baptism was an invention of the devil.4 Christ made a clear distinction between baptism with water and the baptism of power, Acts 1 : 5. The latter he promised to the Church.
As for the eucharist, the Cathari held that God would not appoint the consecrated host as a medium of grace, nor can God be in the host, for it passes through the belly, and the vilest part of the body.5 For the mass was substituted consecrated bread before the common meal. This bread was often kept for months. There was also, in some quarters, a more solemn celebration twelve times a year, called the apparellamentum, and the charge was very frequently made that the accused had attended this feast.6 Some deposed that they were eating Christ's body and drinking his blood while they were listening to the words of Scripture. Among the requirements made of those who received the consola mentum were that they should not touch women, eat animal
1 Among those who recanted was the rich citizen Morand of Toulouse, who did penance by standing naked to the waist at the altar of St. Saturninus and allowing himself to be scourged in the presence of the papal legate. He went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but on his return went back to the Cathari and died as one of the Perfect. Schmidt, I. 77 sqq.
2 Bellinger, II. 30. 3 n>id., n. 5, 322. * Ibid., II. 21, 34, 65, 90, 283, etc.
5 In latrinam ventris et per turpissimum locum, quce non possunt fieri, si esset ibi deus. Dollinger, II. 5. r> Douais, II. 17, 22, 27, 45, etc.