Massacre at Montségur

Massacre at Montségur
Author: Zoé Oldenbourg
Publisher: Phoenix
Total Pages: 420
Release: 1998-01
Genre: Albigenses
ISBN: 9780753802021

In 1208 Pope Innocent III called for a Crusade against a country of fellow- Christians. The new enemy was Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, one of the greatest princes in Western Christendom, premier baron of all the territories in southern France. So began the Albigensian Crusade, which was to culminate in 1244 with the massacre of Cathars at the mountain fortress of Montsegur.

Massacre At Montsegur: A History Of The Albigensian Crusade

Massacre At Montsegur: A History Of The Albigensian Crusade
Author: Zoe Oldenbourg
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2015-01-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 147460031X

A best-selling history of the Third Crusade, when the Catholic Church waged war against heretics in its own ranks In 1208 Pope Innocent III called for a Crusade against a country of fellow-Christians. The new enemy was Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, one of the greatest princes in Western Christendom, premier baron of all the territories in southern France where the langue d'oc was spoken. So began the Albigensian Crusade (named after the French town of Albi), which was to culminate in 1244 with the massacre of Cathars at the mountain fortress of Montségur. This Crusade was the Catholic Church's response to the rapid growth of a rival Christian religion in the very heart of Christendom - the religion of the Cathars (or 'pure ones'). These heretics drew their strength from the consciousness of belonging to a faith that had never seen eye to eye with Catholicism and was more ancient than the Church itself. From the beginning this religious war was to show all the characteristics of a national resistance movement, so that in the end it was not just the survival of the Cathar faith that was at stake but also that of the Languedoc itself as an autonomous and independent region of France.

The Albigensian Crusades

The Albigensian Crusades
Author: Joseph Reese Strayer
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 1992
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780472064762

Interprets thirteenth-century crusades in terms of the development of Europe, especially France

Crusade Against the Grail

Crusade Against the Grail
Author: Otto Rahn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2006-09-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1594777217

The first English translation of the book that reveals the Cathar stronghold at Montségur to be the repository of the Holy Grail • Presents the history of the Papal persecution of the Cathars that lies hidden in the medieval epic Parzival and in the poetry of the troubadours • Provides new insights into the life and death of this gifted and controversial author Crusade Against the Grail is the daring book that popularized the legend of the Cathars and the Holy Grail. The first edition appeared in Germany in 1933 and drew upon Rahn’s account of his explorations of the Pyrenean caves where the heretical Cathar sect sought refuge during the 13th century. Over the years the book has been translated into many languages and exerted a large influence on such authors as Trevor Ravenscroft and Jean-Michel Angebert, but it has never appeared in English until now. Much as German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann used Homer’s Iliad to locate ancient Troy, Rahn believed that Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic Parzival held the keys to the mysteries of the Cathars and the secret location of the Holy Grail. Rahn saw Parzival not as a work of fiction, but as a historical account of the Cathars and the Knights Templar and their guardianship of the Grail, a “stone from the stars.” The Crusade that the Vatican led against the Cathars became a war pitting Roma (Rome) against Amor (love), in which the Church triumphed with flame and sword over the pure faith of the Cathars.

Massacre at Montségur

Massacre at Montségur
Author: Zoé Oldenbourg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 460
Release: 1962
Genre: Albigenses
ISBN:

In 1208 Pope Innocent III called for a Crusade--this time against a country of fellow Christians. The new enemy: Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, one of the greatest princes in Christendom, premier baron of all the territories in southern France where the langue d'oc was spoken. Thus began the Albigensian Crusade, named after the town of Albi. It culminated in 1244 at the mountain fortress of Montsegur with the massacre of the Cathars, or "pure ones"--A faith more ancient than Catholicism. At stake was not only the growth of this rival religion right in the heart of the Catholic Church's territory, but also the very survival of the Languedoc itself as an autonomous and independent region of France.

The Yellow Cross

The Yellow Cross
Author: René Weis
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 557
Release: 2001-08-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0140276696

This work aims to reconstruct one of the most vividly documented fragments of medieval life concerning the late Cathar community in south-west France. Following the inquisition of the 1240s in which 10,000 Cathars were burned at the stake, it seemed this early heretical movement had been fully quashed. Fifty years later however, a revival was started, centred around the small town of Montaillou and led by the charismatic Authies brothers. It would be another 30 years before Rome finally stamped out the movement.

The Cathars

The Cathars
Author: Malcolm Barber
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2014-06-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317890396

The Cathars are one of the most famous heretical movements of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. They infiltrated the highest ranks of society and posed a major threat not only to the Catholic Church but also to secular authorities as well. The movement was finally smashed by the crusade and the inquisitional proceedings that followed. This new study is the first comprehensive history of the Cathars. It addresses major topics in medieval history including heresy, orthodoxy and the Crusades as well as providing a history of the social and political history of Languedoc and the rise of the Capetian dynasty. A fascinating study of the development of radical religious belief and its violent suppression.

Cathars

Cathars
Author: Sean Martin
Publisher: Oldacastle Books
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2012-02-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 184243568X

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.

Graëlfire

Graëlfire
Author: Stephen Chamberlain
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2017-06-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1788030575

Graëlfire is a gripping new twist on Grail mythology. Based on the medieval legend of the Grail as a stone that fell from Heaven, the adventure is set in present-day Switzerland and medieval Occitania within a fictional cosmos where universes emerge from the cosmic soup of Graëlfire—the source of all Creation.

The Heretics' Revenge

The Heretics' Revenge
Author: Martin Barrett
Publisher:
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2020-05-16
Genre:
ISBN:

Condemned as heretics by the Catholic Church, the 13th-century Cathars are persecuted, tortured, and finally burned alive at Montségur. But according to legend, they hide their riches and relic beyond the castle walls on the eve of their demise. In the 1930s, Otto Rahn dedicates his life to recovering the long-forgotten relic, and coerced by Himmler joins the SS to find the 'Holy Grail' for the Nazis. Exposed as both Jewish and homosexual, Rahn commits suicide. But not before he entrusts his notes to his niece. Notes that have never been found. Seeking a challenge after retiring early, businessman Steve Jackson embarks on a modern-day search for the fabled Cathar cache. With French girlfriend, Manon Lubin, they locate Rahn's abandoned clues in the Black Forest. The notes become a key to locating a religious discovery even greater than the Dead Sea Scrolls and unleash a 750-year old time-capsule of revenge that threatens to shake the Church of Rome to its foundations. The massacre of the Cathars and the true story of Otto Rahn are interweaved and then continued with the fictional search for the treasure and relic. Rich in historical detail, this fascinating and absorbing story, set in France and London, climaxes with a thought-provoking and controversial conclusion that brings - The Heretics' Revenge.