Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28744 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

A Very Good Introduction to Catharism
Sean Martin's book on The Cathars is a worthy follow-up to his best-selling book on the Templars. Like the Templars, Martin in this book recounts what we know of the Cathars, and also deals with the myths surrounding the sect (i.e. that they possessed the Holy Grail) without being judgmental about them.

Overall, the book takes a deeply sympathetic pro-Cathar view-point and differs from most other treatments of the subject by including chapters not only on the south of France, where Catharism what as its strongest and where the Albigensian Crusade took place, but also includes material on the Cathars in Italy and Bosnia. Martin also puts the heresy in the context of the development of dualism, and also of the church reforms of the High Middle Ages.

The book is easy to read and clearly written. All in all, a perfect introduction to the subject.

The Cathars
By John Rodenbeck
I've lived in Cathar country 1987 and have watched this medieval sect, known then chiefly through the distinguished fiction of Zoë Oldenbourg, become both an international rage and a major local tourist commodity. I own 18 non-fiction titles specificallyabout them, including Otto Rahv's early study (1933), Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou (1978), which introduced important new material from the records of the Inquisition, and three recent books by Anne Brenon, the acknowledged doyenne of Cathar studies.
For my money, Sean Martin's The Cathars is by far the best of the lot. Though small and utterly readable, it is the widest in scope, treating the Cathars correctly as part of a far wider European movement and explaining in detail their beliefs and practices, as well as their unfortunate history, all without recourse to mere legend or to the amateur scholar's "presumably possible likelihood." Sean Martin is a poet and writes with a poet's trenchant conciseness, letting the mere facts have their own impact.
The Cathars: The Most Successful Heresy of the Middle Ages

The Cathars
Having recently travelled to the Languedoc region, specifically researching Bernard Sermon 1210 of Le Bezu, I purchased this book to get a better insight into the Cathars. I found it a fascinating read and would recommend it to others.