It might seem strange for a bookshop in the English Pennines to have a page on a medieval religious sect based in the south of France, but fascination persists with the Cathars, their beliefs and the long-drawn-out persecution and suppression of the Albigenses by the authorities. The remains of the almost inaccessible castles in which they took refuge are still to be seen on spectacular rocky peaks in the Languedoc or Occitanie area. An account of a bicycle exploration of the area by local publishing partners Chris Ratcliffe and Elaine Connell (Pennine Pens) sells briskly at The Book Case to customers around the world, and we can now add a good base for you to stay if you want to visit the area yourself!
Concise Oxford Dictionary (9e): Cathar: a member of a
medieval sect which sought to achieve great spiritual purity. (fr. Greek
Katharoi "pure")
Macmillan Encyclopaedia: Albigenses:
Followers of the Christian heresy of Catharism who flourished in southern
France in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Albigenses, named after the town of
Albi in Languedoc, were the object of the Albigensian Crusade, launched in 1208
and led by the father of Simon de Montfort. They were finally suppressed by the
Inquisition, which operated in the area from 1233.
“The Cathars were vegetarian, pacifist, recognised women priests, believe in reincarnation and were against marriage and the feudal system of medieval southwest France. ... This is the story of an historical investigation carried about by bicycle in the foothills of the Pyrenees into what some have described as ‘the Buddhists of the West’.”
The Cathars - Sean Martin (£9.99)
"The gripping true story of a peaceful sect who were wiped out in Europe's first genocide, the Albigensian Crusade. Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. 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 and completely rejected the Catholic Church and all its trappings, regarding it as the Church of Satan. Alarmed at the success of Catharism, the Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade to exterminate the heresy. Martin recounts the Cathars' story and the myths associated with them."
God's Heretics: the Albigensian Crusade - Aubrey Burl (£20.00)
Colourful narrative captures the drama and passion of both sides in this war of Christian against Christian.
The Perfect Heresy: the life and death of the Cathars - Stephen O'Shea (£7.95)
Sympathetic, vivid and well-informed account of the Cathars, their beliefs and the destruction of the movement, with reference to present-day Languedoc, and with an epilogue on how their myth has fared subsequently.
The Yellow Cross - the story of the last Cathars, 1290-1329 - Rene Weiss (£7.99)
Revisits Montaillou to cover the final uprising and the hiding-places of the Cathars, many of which can still be seen.
The famous reconstruction of daily life in a French medieval village, based on documents from the inquisition court’s interrogations of witnesses.
First published in France in 1951 as Le Bucher de Montsegur. Shows how the Catholic Church’s crusade against the Cathars was not only a war against a more ancient faith but also an attempt to end the independence of the Languedoc region of France.
Walks in the Cathar Region (Cathar Castles of South West France) - Alan Mattingly (£12)
22 walks based on the castles that dominate the foothills of the Pyrenees and other locations which featured in Cathar history. Practical advice, brief histories of each site, colour photos, sketchmaps. The three long-distance walks, Le Sentier Cathare, Le Chemin des Bonshommes and the Grande Randonnees 7 & 71, are also included.
The Historia Albigensis was written between about 1212 and 1218 by a young monk at the Cistercian abbey of les Vaux-de-Cernay, where his uncle Guy, who was active against the Cathars, was abbot. Peter was present at many events of the crusade and wrote a full, if biassed, account. This edition has extensive explanatory footnotes, plus appendices.
Well-reviewed, brisk overview of the twelth-century crusades against the Albigenses, mostly from the point of view of the various military leaders.
An introduction to the war against the heretics of Languedoc launched in 1209, combined with a description of the political, economic, religious and social conditions of south-western France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Relates how a 20th-century English schoolgirl recalled her previous life in 13th-century Languedoc.
Argues that Catharism was the medieval expression of one of the oldest and most influential philosophies, and is amazingly contemporary in its implications. The first fourteen chapters deal with the history and beliefs of the Cathars; the second section is concerned with reincarnation, auras, alchemy, the healing power of jewels, and other subjects.
"The history and philosophy of the mysterious Cathar religion and its lost treasure."
Reissued by Yale UP in their Nota Bene series. Traces the evolution of dualism from later Egyptian religion and Zoroastrianism through its rise and suppression in the West and its later fate in the Balkans.
"The Church's War Against the Spirit of Sophia". This book on the feminine aspect of God, suppressed by Christianity's Judaic element, contains a chapter on the Albigensian Holocaust.
In Search of Zarathustra: the first prophet and the ideas that changed the world - Paul Kriwaczek (£8.99)
Zarathustra taught of a single universal god, the battle between good and evil and the eventual end of the world. The author traces the Zarathustran legacy under layers of Islam in Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere, discusses its relationship with Manicheism, Mithraism, Judaism and the Parsees amongst much else, and shows how its moral vision and revolutionary religious ideology survived in the world of the Cathars (and also Nietzsche). An engaging, geographically and historically wide-ranging and informative book.
This historical novel by a well-known French historian is part 3 of the trilogy which began with The World is Not Enough and The Cornerstone. The novels are generally about the Crusades, but the third deals specifically with the Albigensian Crusade.
Colour of a Dog Running Away - Richard Gwyn (£6.99)
Set in the bohemian under-belly of Barcelona, this novel combines an urban thriller and a gothic historical drama focusing on Catharism.
Labyrinth - Kate Moss (£7.99)
Another Holy Grail novel,
moving from Ancient Egypt to the present day, but involving 13th-century
Carcassonne where two skeletons are unearthed. "Too late, Alice realises she's
set in motion a terrifying sequence of events that she cannot control and that
her destiny is inextricably tied up with the fate of the Cathars 800 years
before. "
To order any of the above books, PHONE 0800 69 89 666 (free - UK only) or +44 (0)1422 845353, FAX +44 (0)1422 844295, or E-MAIL bookcase@btinternet.com
For pleasant accommodation in the area, near Carcassonne, click here: (Les Ourtets, Cuxac)
For a highly informative site on the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade, click here and for information on Languedoc and how to visit it, click here.
The Book Case, 29 Market Street, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 6EU, UK