Tag Archives: Gwendoline Hancke

Catharism a refuge for women – talk by Gwendoline Hancke at ‘The golden thread of the free mind’

GET ACCESS TO THE FULL SYMPOSIUM VIDEO (MORE THAN 7 HOURS) FOR € 10,-

To bring up ‘a free space’ for women in medieval society of Southern France, might at first sight seem to be a paradox or even an anachronism. In the Languedoc of the 13th century however, women of all social classes moved in social and religious structures that were dominated by men.

Yet, through their prestige in the Cathar teachings and their priestly role in religious life, women could in a modest way open the gates of that male domination. Precisely because the Cathar religion was so deeply rooted in Continue reading