(n) a Christian movement considered to be a medieval descendant of Manichaeism in southern France in the 12th and 13th centuries; characterized by dualism (asserted the coexistence of two mutually opposed principles, one good and one evil); was exterminated for heresy during the Inquisition, Syn. Catharism
{ ‖ } n. pl. [ From Albi and Albigeois, a town and its district in the south of France, in which the sect abounded. ] (Eccl. Hist.) A sect of reformers opposed to the church of Rome in the 12th centuries. [ 1913 Webster ]
The Albigenses were a branch of the Catharists (the pure). They were exterminated by crusades and the Inquisition. They were distinct from the Waldenses. [ 1913 Webster ]