The Cathars: Dualist Heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages

by Malcolm Barber

Overview

In the second half of the twelfth century, the Catholic Church became convinced that dualist heresy was taking root within Christian society and that it was particularly strong in southern France. The nature and extent of this heresy and the reaction of the Church to the perceived threat have been the focus of extensive research since the mid-nineteenth century, research which has become especially intense in the last decade.

Malcolm Barber's second edition of The Cathars (which first appeared in 2000) brings readers up-to-date with the challenges to previous conclusions of recent scholarship. At the same time, the wider implications of the subject remain relevant, most importantly the fundamental questions raised by the belief in the existence of evil, the ethical problems presented by the use of coercion to suppress forms of dissent believed to threaten the social and religious fabric, and the distortion of the past to underpin present-day policies and arguments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408252581
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/27/2013
Series:	The Medieval World
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	358
Sales rank:	804,440
Product dimensions:	11.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Malcolm Barber

Table of Contents

Illustrations, tables, maps, Series editor’s preface to the first edition, Preface to the first edition, Author’s preface to the second edition, Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Introduction, 1. The spread of Catharism, 2. The Cathars and Languedocian society, 3. The Cathar Church, 4. The Catholic reaction, 5. The decline of Catharism, 6. The last Cathars, 7. Cathars after Catharism, Further reading, References, Tables, Maps, Index

Editorial Reviews

Presenting more coherent doctrinal opposition to the Catholic church than any other movement of the 12th and early 13th century, the dualist Cathars were spread throughout Christendom but particularly concentrated in southern France and northern Italy. Barber (history, U. of Reading) traces the origins and spread of dualist ideas, reactions by church and lay authorities, the development of radical religious beliefs, and the means of suppressing it. From the events, he culls issues about the nature of evil, the ethics of warfare, and the use made of history by later generations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

This book is beautifully written. While it is, generally, a work of synthesis, the sources have been read afresh in the context of recent research. Barber's cool common sense gives a chance to see the religion and the society in which it became rooted in a new light. Highly recommended, but it will disappoint romantics.

Jonathan Riley-Smith, Times Higher Educational Supplement

The book is especially notable for its careful and sensitive attempt to see the Cathars and their beliefs in a concrete, localised context. The author has done his homework on the regional geography and topography of Languedoc to good effect; the location, role and significance of the castrum, or fortified village, which made Catharism as much a rural as an urban heresy, is particularly well set out.

Malcolm Vale, English Historical Review

From the Publisher