The Cathars
eBook - ePub

The Cathars

The Most Successful Heresy of the Middle Ages

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Cathars

The Most Successful Heresy of the Middle Ages

About this book

Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Flourishing principally in the Languedoc and Italy, the Cathars taught that the world is evil and must be transcended through a simple life of prayer, work, fasting, and non-violence. They believed themselves to be the heirs of the true heritage of Christianity going back to apostolic times, and completely rejected the Catholic Church and all its trappings, regarding it as the Church of Satan. Cathar services and ceremonies, by contrast, were held in fields, barns, and in people's homes. Finding support from the nobility in the fractious political situation in southern France, the Cathars also found widespread popularity among peasants and artisans. And, unlike the Church, the Cathars respected women; they played a major role in the movement. Alarmed at the success of Catharism, the Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade to exterminate the heresy. While previous Crusades had been directed against Muslims in the Middle East, the Albigensian Crusade was the first Crusade to be directed against fellow Christians, and was also the first European genocide. With the fall of the Cathar fortress of Montségur in 1244, Catharism was largely obliterated, although the faith survived into the early fourteenth century.
Today, the mystique surrounding the Cathars is as strong as ever, and Sean Martin recounts their story and the myths associated with them in this lively and gripping book.

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Yes, you can access The Cathars by Sean Martin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & European Medieval History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. About the Author
  4. Title
  5. By the same author
  6. Dedication
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Contents
  9. Prologue: Béziers
  10. Heresy and Orthodoxy
  11. The Foxes in the Vineyard of the Lord
  12. The Albigensian Crusade
  13. The Inquisition
  14. The Autier Revival
  15. Italy and Bosnia
  16. The Cathar Treasure
  17. Endnotes
  18. Appendix I: Chronology
  19. Appendix II: An Heretical Lexicon
  20. Suggestions for Further Reading
  21. Index
  22. Copyright