Book Review - Short History of the Cathars by Sean Martin

Short History of the Cathars by Sean Martin

Harpenden: Oldcastle Books, 2018                 ISBN 9780857303097

This book is a great introduction to one of the most fascinating periods in Church history, one that is shrouded in mystery and myth: who were the Cathars? What did they believe? Why did the Church see them as such a threat? Short History of the Cathars tries and mostly succeeds in answering these questions in a series of short informative chapters.

The origin of the Cathars is murky: it seems that the heresy known as Catharism in Southern France and Northern Italy was imported from the Balkans. Catharism was one of many dualist heresies in the early Church, believing that the Earth was the domain of Satan, and that God ruled only in heaven. The Cathars had their own structure of "Believers" and "Perfect". "Believers" being those that followed the beliefs of Catharism, while the "Perfect" were like the priesthood, and abstained from most human indulgences.

In fact, to Cathars everything of the world was corrupted with evil, including the Church, which they particularly regarded as the work of Satan. The reason Catharism became a problem for the Church, especially in the Languedoc region of France, was that the Church there was notoriously corrupt and venal, and had lost the respect of not only the lower classes, but of the nobility as well. The Cathars, with their life of physical denial and holiness, seemed more holy than the official members of the Church, and soon gathered much support.

Initially the Church tried to use persuasion rather than force to convert the heretics, but when that didn't work they moved to harsher measures, including military action and executions. That it took over 100 years to finally suppress Catharism, with much bloodshed, shows how much hold it had over the population in Languedoc. It could be argued that much of the lingering anti-clericalism in France can be traced back to this time.

I was drawn to this book remembering Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou, which I read whilst at University, and found completely fascinating. Short History of the Cathars is no less fascinating, although far less detailed. A great introduction into this era of Church history.

Cheers for now, from
A View Over the Bell