The topoi of «Three Orients» and translatio studii in Waldensian anti-Cathar polemic

Abstract

The article discusses the list of Cathar «masters» written by former Waldensian Durand de Osca. He describes the Cathar predecessors as the emissaries of the historical impure Orient, which is a mirror to the classical positive Orient, the source of translatio imperii. By the mechanism of translatio studii the erroneous doctrine was translated to the Occident from Biblical (eternal) and Antique heresiarchs, weak Greek philosophes, and Oriental magicians. This set of characters became typical for all later Catholic anti-Cathar polemic and made a turning point in the formation of a medieval negative image not only of the contemporary Orient but also of the historical one