SC - Languedoc/Cathar

[david friedman]

>It's entirely possible, given the nature of the faith, that
>there was no cohesive cuisine.

My guess sould be that Cathars in Languedoc ate the same cuisine as 
other people in Languedoc, save that the Perfecti would have followed 
a highly ascetic diet.

>However, the following quote might help:
>"Originating in Asia Minor and brought to Europe by way of Bulgaria, the
>rise of Catharism

There is no suggestion there of any migration of peoples--"catharism" 
is a doctrine, not a nation.

>  >with heavy ties to the Mohammedans and other faiths,
>
>*What is the source for that?
>
>I should have also mentioned Zaroastrianism and Judaism. However, the
>following quote, which appears in a review for the book The Albigensian
>Crusade by Joseph R Strayer (Paperback - 283 pages (July 1992) Univ of
>Michigan Pr; ISBN: 0472064762 ), and the knowledge that Cathars in Languedoc
>acted as a shelter for other religions in the area. Religious tolerance
>seemed to be unusually high for them, compared to Catholicism, according to
>what I've read so far.
>
>"Languedoc, lay at the end of a main trade route that ran through Italy and
>into the East, and by 1200, the area was more like Italy with it's
>independent cities based on commercial wealth, than the feudal north with
>it's huge rural estates owned by landed nobility. New ideas and new people
>settled in Occitania, bringing diverse religious practices. In addition to
>the Cathars, the area was home to Jews, Mohammadens, and Waldensians. Roman
>Catholic clergy soon found their limited authority challenged, and one thing
>led to another until the Pope launched two crusades to eliminate "heretical
>faiths" that infested Occitania. Most of Strayers's account is about the
>subsequent Albigensian crusades (Albi was one of the "heretical" cities)."

The presence of Jews and Mohammedans doesn't imply anything one way 
or the other about doctrinal ties. There were Muslims in southern 
Italy, Spain, and southern France, although the last got driven out 
earlier than the other two. There were Jews more or less all over the 
place, certainly including Italy.

>Aoife
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/