Christian Cyclopedia

Manichaean sect practically identical with the Albigenses*; found in W Eur., N It., Fr., Ger., and Flanders. Not sound in the doctrine of the Trin.; believed in a baptism of the Spirit in a very peculiar sense connected with ordination; claimed to have a perfect degree of purity in doctrine and life; flourished chiefly in the 11th and 12th centuries. Innocent Ill proclaimed a crusade against them, but they flourished under persecution. See also Bogomiles; Manichaeism, 3; Saints, Veneration of, 7.