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kiwi_fruit's review
5.0
Catharism was the most popular heresy of the Middle Ages, such was its success that the Catholic Church and its apologists referred to it as the Great Heresy. It combined a tradition of itinerant preachers with a very ascetic quality of life. The Cathars rejected the entire structure of Roman Catholic Church. They stated they were the only true Christians and developed an alternative religion, an alternative hierarchy, an alternative priesthood that attracted many adherents. The popes were obviously concerned and eventually pope Innocent III launched in 1208 the Albigensian crusade which was named after the town of Albi in southwestern France in the mountains of the Pyrenees.
The appointed crusade leader was Simone de Montfort who led an invasion of south-western France by knights from north and central France. It was a very bloody affair. The extermination of populations, cities and crops during the crusade was extensive enough so as to constitute what might be called the first "genocide" in modern European history. One of the key events was the massacre of Beziers when the Papal legate, when asked how to recognise Cathars from the Catholics within the walls uttered the notorious command: ‘Kill them all. God will recognise his own.’
The crusade itself however was not sufficient, heresy had to be eradicated from people’s minds on an ongoing basis and from all over Europe, so the papacy next step was the institution of The Inquisition. It starts in Germany in 1143, then in northern France and Flanders and finally in 1233 in southwestern France in Languedoc where the heresy was still rampant. From May 1243 the Cathar fortress of Montségur (which had become a refuge for Cathars) was besieged and on 16 March 1244, a large and symbolically important massacre took place, where over 200 Cathar Perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the prat dels cremats ("field of the cremated") near the foot of the castle.
Similarly, another Cathar refuge (Quéribus) was destroyed 1255.
The Cathars were driven underground and enjoyed a brief revival in the Pyrenean foothills in the early 1300s under the leadership of Peire Autier. Eventually he was captured and executed (burnt at the stake) in April 1310 in Toulouse and after several decades of harassment and increasing clampdown from the Inquisition the sect was exhausted. After 1330, the records of the Inquisition contain very few proceedings against Cathars. The last known Cathar perfectus in the Languedoc, William Bélibaste, was executed in 1321. Only few Cathars cells survived in Italy for a while longer and Bosnia till the 1800s.
This exciting history book reads like a novel, the author provides a brief history of heresies (dualism, Manichaeism and Bogomil in particular) before detailing the political events, the military campaigns of the crusade and the activities of the Inquisition leading to the religious order annihilation. It concludes with references to literary works linked to the Cathars and legends of their treasure and the Holy Grail. Highly recommended to anyone interested in this fascinating period in European medieval history. 4 1/2 stars rounded up
The appointed crusade leader was Simone de Montfort who led an invasion of south-western France by knights from north and central France. It was a very bloody affair. The extermination of populations, cities and crops during the crusade was extensive enough so as to constitute what might be called the first "genocide" in modern European history. One of the key events was the massacre of Beziers when the Papal legate, when asked how to recognise Cathars from the Catholics within the walls uttered the notorious command: ‘Kill them all. God will recognise his own.’
The crusade itself however was not sufficient, heresy had to be eradicated from people’s minds on an ongoing basis and from all over Europe, so the papacy next step was the institution of The Inquisition. It starts in Germany in 1143, then in northern France and Flanders and finally in 1233 in southwestern France in Languedoc where the heresy was still rampant. From May 1243 the Cathar fortress of Montségur (which had become a refuge for Cathars) was besieged and on 16 March 1244, a large and symbolically important massacre took place, where over 200 Cathar Perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the prat dels cremats ("field of the cremated") near the foot of the castle.
Similarly, another Cathar refuge (Quéribus) was destroyed 1255.
The Cathars were driven underground and enjoyed a brief revival in the Pyrenean foothills in the early 1300s under the leadership of Peire Autier. Eventually he was captured and executed (burnt at the stake) in April 1310 in Toulouse and after several decades of harassment and increasing clampdown from the Inquisition the sect was exhausted. After 1330, the records of the Inquisition contain very few proceedings against Cathars. The last known Cathar perfectus in the Languedoc, William Bélibaste, was executed in 1321. Only few Cathars cells survived in Italy for a while longer and Bosnia till the 1800s.
This exciting history book reads like a novel, the author provides a brief history of heresies (dualism, Manichaeism and Bogomil in particular) before detailing the political events, the military campaigns of the crusade and the activities of the Inquisition leading to the religious order annihilation. It concludes with references to literary works linked to the Cathars and legends of their treasure and the Holy Grail. Highly recommended to anyone interested in this fascinating period in European medieval history. 4 1/2 stars rounded up
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