in church-history, a sect of Christians which appeared in the 12th and 13th centuries. They are ranked among the grossest heretics, the Manicheans, by Roman Catholics; from which charge Protestants generally acquit them, though with some limitation. See Manicheans.

At the time of the Reformation, those of the Albigenenses who remained embraced Calvinism.

ALBIGENSES is also a name sometimes, though improperly, used for a sect more usually known by that of Waldenses. See Waldenses.