The Cathars, the dark page in the history of the Roman-Catholic church
The Cathars were a religious movement that thrived in the 12th untill the 14 century in the south of France and the north of Italy. They were inspired by the life of Jesus but the mystical interpretation of the Bible differed from the views of the Roman-Catholic church. The Vatican considered the Cathars as heritics, a movement that had to be annihilated and that happened. With the execution of the last “parfait” Guillaume Bélibaste in 1321 and the last four believers on the stake in Carcassonne in 1329 Catharism ceased to exist. The genocide in the name of the God and executed by the Roman-Catholic church had been completed. A very dark page in the history of the Roman-Catholic church and Christianity.
Untill today you can find many traces of the Cathars in the south of France. The old city of Carcassonne has been restored and brought back to its medieval splendour. There are also remains of castles that remind us of the existence of this intriguing and deeple religious people. A people that has been annihilated just because they had a different prespective on the Bible.
Thank you for your post i love middle age history. And about cathars was really a horrible genocyde, and a legend say when the soldiers asked to the pope how to recognize the christians from the Cathars he said " God know who is under him or not " . By the way i still have not visited Carcassonne but i must visit it!
Carcassonne is absolutely a marvallous place to visit. But the whole region of the Ariège is also very beautiful.
Very interesting! I just visited Carcassone not a few months ago and I did not know this history! I have a picture of Carcassone on my introductory page. I'll probably post more on my travels in France soon.
@foolishness. If you want to read about the Cathars , there are somem marvelous novels written by Kate Mosse, the famous English writer. The titles: Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel. Very good novels. There is also a tv adoption of these books.