Date of Award
8-1983
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Medieval Studies
First Advisor
Dr. Otto Gründler
Second Advisor
Dr. Rozanne Elder
Third Advisor
Dr. Guntram Bischoff
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
That the Albigensian heresy represents a resurgence of early Christian Gnosticism is the thesis of this work. The study defines Gnosticism in terms of its pattern of prevalent characteristics and traces the course of Gnosticism and its emergence as the Albigensianism of the Middle Ages. Using the finding of Hans Soderberg's La Religion des Cathares: Etudes, sur le gnosticisme de la basse antiquite et du moyen age as a point of departure through the analysis of documents discovered since 1949, the study shows that Gnosticism and the Albigensian heresy represent a continued tradition of religious expression as a recognizable alternative to the accepted and established institutions of Christianity in the Western world.
Recommended Citation
Penman, John Stine, "The Albigensian Heresy and the Gnostic Tradition" (1983). Masters Theses. 1621.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1621