Overview

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 again unlike the Church, the Cathars respected women, and women 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 Montsegur 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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9780857303097

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Reviews

Sean Martin's Pocket Essential is an exemplary introduction to the Cathars -- Christopher Bland * The Telegraph * This little book is a remarkable account of an obscure religious order in Europe in the Middle Ages. It is most definitely thought-provoking.... in only 164 pages author Sean Martin manages to do something that more prolific writers have failed to do with volume upon volume of exhaustively and ridiculously over-researched text; provide a concise and focused rendering of a topic of historical interest and do so in a way that is not condescending, pedantic or self-complimentary. Martin's style of writing is simple, but never dull as he relates the history of Catharism... This is history at its best and a great read -- Chris Schwarzkopf * Bookstove *

Author Information

Seán Martin is a writer, poet and filmmaker. He is the author of The Knights Templar, The Cathars, The Gnostics, The Black Death, Alchemy and Alchemists, A Short History of Disease and, for Kamera Books, Andrei Tarkovsky and New Waves in Cinema. His films include Lanterna Magicka: Bill Douglas & the Secret History of Cinema ('a fine documentary' – Guardian), Folie à Deux, and a series of documentaries on Tarkovsky: Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev: A Journey and The Dream in the Mirror.

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