Liber de Duobus Principiis – Codices Cathari inventi
The Secret Legacy of the Cathars
The Cathar argument against orthodox theology
There is only one manuscript of the Liber de Duobus Principiis (Book of the Two Principles), dating from the late 13th century, which belongs to the Conventi Soppressi collection of the National Library of Florence.
The Book of Two Principles (Liber de Duobus Principiis) is the most extensive work preserved from Cathar literature. It is an important testimony to the sophistication of the Cathar argument against orthodox theology, a debate in which the Good Christians prevailed, at least in the contemporary opinion of much of the population of southern France during the 12th and 13th centuries.
The Good Christians dominated the debate and won the hearts of Languedoc; what they lost was a genocidal, generational crusade against them by the Pope and the kings.
Liber de Duobus Principiis: the most important Cathar manuscript
Liber de Duobus Principiis: the most important Cathar manuscript
The work consists of seven sections, all probably written in the early 13th century by the Cathar Giovanni de Lugio, considered one of the most distinguished theologians of the Society of Jesus.
It displays great subtlety in its reasoning: it compiles and subjects the various opinions to in-depth examination and sets out its own with remarkable clarity. A “true Christian” who lived near Lake Garda (between Brescia and Verona) around 1240.
In the 14th century, the manuscript Conv. Soppr. J.II.44, one of the most significant Codices Cathari inventi, fell into orthodox hands and remained in Dominican monastic libraries until it was transferred in modern times to the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence.
On the authorship of the Liber de Duobus Principiis (Book of the Two Principles)
The author had a thorough knowledge of the Latin Vulgate Bible and the arguments used by Catholic polemicists against the Cathars. As proof of the author’s erudition, it has been pointed out that the treatise includes quotations from Roman law, a pseudo-Aristotelian work, and phrases from the writings of Solomon ibn Gabirol, an 11th-century Andalusian Jewish philosopher.
Giovanni de Lugio, its probable author, explains his purpose in the introduction:
“Since many people have difficulty understanding the truth correctly, in order to enlighten them, to stimulate those who do have a correct understanding, and also for the delight of my soul, I have set out to explain our true faith through evidence from the Holy Scriptures and with eminently suitable arguments, invoking the help of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for my efforts.”
The Cathars and the Templars: between history and legend
Technical details
Alternative titles: The Book of the Two Principles – Liber de Duobus Principiis – Codices Cathari inventi / Ms. Conv. Soppr. J.II.44
Current location: Ms. Conv. Soppr. J.II.44 – Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (Florence, Italy).
Physical characteristics: Handwritten book on parchment.
− 17.8 × 11.8 cm − 112 pages.
Origin: ca. 1240 − Lake Garda (Italy).
Illumination: 232 initials and rubrics.
Genre(s): Religion – Theology / Treatises / Secular books.
Language: Latin.
Handcrafted binding: Natural lambskin parchment.
Exquisite quality integral fine facsimile edition: Liber de Duobus Principiis – Codices Cathari inventi
Fine facsimile edition of Liber de Duobus Principiis – Codices Cathari inventi
Complete worldwide fine facsimile edition: unique, handcrafted, folded and sewn by hand, bound in authentic aged natural lambskin parchment and limited to 963 copies, numbered and authenticated.
Includes holes made by insects in the folios and partial damage to the pages. Vegetable parchment is used as the support for all 112 pages.
It contains a 12th-century neo-Manichaean treatise, the Liber de Duobus Principiis (Book of the Two Principles), and includes the Latin Cathar ritual in the middle of the last treatise of the book, which is dedicated to persecutions.
Fine facsimile edition Liber de Duobus Principiis – Codices Cathari inventi by Patrimonio Ediciones
An exceptional find among the Codices Cathari inventi
It consists of seven treatises and the Cathar ritual. In 1939, the Dominican priest Antoine Dondaine made an exceptional discovery in a codex preserved in the National Library of Florence: it was an extensive Cathar treatise, the Book of the Two Principles (Liber de Duobus Principiis), which also included a fragment of a ritual of the heretics, both written in Latin.
Until then, the Cathar religion had been known almost exclusively through indirect testimonies: anti-rhetorical treatises, chronicles, ecclesiastical documents and Inquisition records. Hence the enormous importance of the Liber de Duobus Principiis, which is undoubtedly the most important original Cathar text of the few that escaped destruction.
It reflects the conceptions of the heretical Church of Desenzano or the Albanenses, which spread across an area roughly between Bergamo and Verona, south of Lake Garda.
Structure and doctrinal content of the Book of the Two Principles
In particular, the doctrines of Giovanni di Lugio Bergamensis, summarised by the inquisitor and former Cathar Raniero Sacconi in his Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno, can be clearly recognised.
Giovanni may even be its author, although considering that these doctrines differ somewhat from his ideas, it is more likely that the book is the work of one of his disciples.
Saint Dominic and the Albigensians, by Pedro Berruguete
The theology of the Liber de Duobus Principiis is based on a radical dualism, according to which there are two uncreated or “principal” Principles: that of Good and that of Evil, creators respectively of spiritual realities and material realities.
This gives rise to a conception of salvation that presupposes the liberation of our spiritual component (spirit and soul) from the captivity of the physical body.
The seven treatises of the Liber de Duobus Principiis
- The Liber de Duobus Principiis consists of seven treatises that address the themes of the two creations, free will, and the persecution of heretics:
Summary to serve as instruction for the ignorant – expounds the doctrine of absolute dualists. - Free Will – denies the existence of free will.
- Creation and Universal Signs – complement the first, and together the three form the basis of the theory of the existence of two Principles.
- Summary to serve as instruction for the ignorant – expounds the doctrine of absolute dualists.
- Against the Garatenses – a piece directed against the mitigated dualism of the church of Concorezo.
- On free will (part two) – adds new arguments against the existence of free will
- The Persecutions – a selection of quotations showing, with the authority of the New Testament, that true Christians must expect to be persecuted. In the middle of this treatise is the Cathar ritual.
Commentary and complementary studies
A volume of commentaries, complementary to the fine facsimile, by the prestigious professor of Romance Philology at the University of Trento, Francesco Zambon.
It contains the essence of the corpus of original Cathar texts discovered a few decades ago —Codices Cathari inventi—, which provides access to the knowledge of a secret religion that was previously only known through indirect testimonies in the chronicles and writings of its Catholic opponents.
Scholarly essay on the Liber de Duobus Principiis, the Cathar Ritual and the Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, one of the rare examples of esoteric gnosis bequeathed to us by the Western Middle Ages.
It concludes with a separate chapter on modern historiography between the Templars and the Cathars, an occult and speculative subject that arouses enormous interest among the general public, broadening its appeal to both scholars and lovers of the mystery surrounding the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the Cathars and the Templars.
Chapters of the introductory commentary volume, complementary to the fine facsimile
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- The discovery of the Book of the Two Principles and the original Cathar texts.
- Contents and dating of the codex.
- The Cathar Church of Desenzano or the Albanenses.
Giovanni di Lugio. - The doctrine of Giovanni di Lugio in Raniero Sacconi’s summary.
- The doctrine set out in the Book of the Two Principles: the two uncreated Principles, the two creations, the universal signs, the free will of angels, the persecution of heretics.
- The fragment of the Cathar ritual included in the Florence manuscript.
- The Cathar texts contained in the Dublin codex: The Church of God, Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, The Holy Church.
- Final chapter on modern historiography between the Templars and the Cathars, linking history and myth around the Liber de Duobus Principiis and the Codices Cathari inventi.
