Songs for Theists!

Bogomilism was a dualist religiopolitical sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century.^[1][2][3] It most probably arose in what is today the region of Macedonia^[4][5] as a response to the social stratification that occurred with the introduction of feudalism and as a form of political movement and opposition to the Bulgarian state and the church.

The Bogomils called for a return to what they considered to be early Christianity, rejecting the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and their primary political tendencies were resistance to the state and church authorities. This helped the movement spread quickly in the Balkans, gradually expanding throughout the Byzantine Empire and later reaching Kievan Rus', Bosnia, Dalmatia, Rascia, Italy, France.

The Bogomils were dualists in that they believed the world was created not by the Abrahamic God, but by an evil demiurge—the Devil. They did not use the cross nor build churches, preferring to perform rituals outdoors.

(...) The Bogomils spread westwards and settled in Serbia, where they were to be known as Babuni. At the end of the 12th century Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and the Serbian council deemed Bogomilism a heresy, and expelled them from the country. Large numbers took refuge in Bosnia and Dalmatia where they were known under the name of Patarenes (Patareni).^[6]

Providing refuge to heretics, including bogomils was a recurrent pretext for Hungarian rulers to declare crusades against Bosnia and extend their influence in the region. A first Hungarian complaint to the Pope was averted by the public abjuration of the Bosnian ruler Ban Kulin in 1203.^[14] A second Hungarian crusade against Bosnia on bogomil heresy pretext was launched in 1225, but failed. In 1254, rebelling against the Papal order to accept a Hungarian bishop, the Bosnian Church chose the schism. In the following centuries, the Bosnian Church (autonomous from Rome but mainly following Catholic doctrine) and the heretic sect of the bogomils came to be identified with each other, due to the scarcity of documents after the Ottoman conquest.^[15]