Bogomil Sect - Bulgaria and Bosnia
This peasant religion of anti-materialist ascetics had a wide following in the Middle Ages.
The Bogomils were a religious sect in both Bulgaria and Bosnia during the Middle Ages. The Bogomils had a widespread peasant following.
The Bogomils were a sect of religious dualists who practiced in Bosnia and Bulgaria between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The Bogomils were mostly peasants, and, in turn, had a wide peasant following. This can be attributed to the peasants' relative distrust of the Orthodox church; it is possible they felt this richly-ornamented religion did not reflect their ways of worship and that the exacting power of local monasteries did nothing but make hard lives even more difficult.
The Bogomils were severely anti-materialistic ascetics. The material world was borne of evil, and only through avoidance of all things material could person attain closeness with the spiritual world. The Bogomils, therefore, rejected religious symbolism, such as the cross. They also rejected the Trinity, sainthood, religious art, and the Old Testament. Even the body itself was of the material world. Spiritual growth and denial of the material world led to salvation.
Interestingly, because the Bogomils felt that the material world (including human bodies) was created by Satan, men and women achieved religious equality. Women were permitted to be ordained and become spiritual leaders.
Female Bogomil members were also given access to writings-literacy was both rare among women and among peasants of this time. In addition, the concept of "Judgment Day" was also denied by the Bogomils, who felt that all souls were able to attain salvation.
References
Frucht, Richard. Eastern Europe: An Introduction to People, Lands, and Culture. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005. 628, 802.
Iwersen, Julia. "Gnosticism: Gnosticism from the Middle Ages to the present." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Vol. 5. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 3524-3525.
Spencer, Colin. The Heretic's Feast. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1995.157.
Vasilev, George. "Bogomils, Cathars, Lollards, and the High Social Position of Women During the Middle Ages." Facta Universitatis. Vol. 2, No.7, 2000. 325-336.
