Ok, the Albigensians were dualistic gnostics from most sources or accounts. I fully understand that as such they were not in communion with any type of orthodox Christian beliefs.
However, where did Jesus Christ give His flock the right to take up the sword against another group of people not involved in armed combat?
The Holy Spirit sorts out souls. Not our swords.
Christ did mention selling one’s cloak and buying a sword.
I am certain that he did not meant for it to be a wooden or plastic sword.
-— However, where did Jesus Christ give His flock the right to take up the sword against another group of people not involved in armed combat? -—
In the Middle Ages, the public promulgation of heresy was considered a crime against the State. Heretics were prosecuted. This was the case in Catholic and Protestant kingdoms.
The idea is incomprehensible to modern man, but becomes understandable when one properly classifies Mohammedanism as a great heresy.
Catharism was a “New Age” religion that forbade marriage. Its spread would have literally wiped out the nation. For this reason, Catharism was viewed as a grave threat to the State.
The Mormons stirred up similar passions in the USA, and had they not moved west, the majority to far west, they might haste suffered the same fate as the Cathars. In the 1880s, the US Government came close to suppressing that sect, and they saved themselves only by abandoning polygamy and becoming “americanized.”