1268: Processo ai Catari / 1268: Cathars on trial

Orvieto, Umbria in central Italy, XII-XIII centuries, the city is caught in the middle of the historical fight between the Papacy and the Empire. The Cathars appeared in the city in a moment of turmoil and their beliefs became widespread among the burghers. It all started in 1199, when Pope Innocent III appointed Pietro Parenzo mayor of Orvieto to restablish order in Orvieto where Cathars had appeared during the turmoil between the papal and imperial followers. But Parenzo was a ruthless ruler and the Cathars are said to have killed him. Cathar beliefs are thought to have included a fierce anti-clericalism and the Manichean dualism which divided the world into good and evil principles, with matter being intrinsically evil and mind or spirit being intrinsically good, The Church would not accept that. After the Inquisition moved against the heretics, in 1268, the Church started a trial versus the Cathars in Orvieto. See on "Storia Doc" (www.storiadoc.com)