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Cathars
In the region there are brown road signs informing you that you are in Cathar Country. This French tourist initiative refers to the crusade launched in 1209 by the French king Philip Augustus and Pope Innocent III against the heretical sect known as the Cathars or Albigensians.
Among many beliefs that the Church found unacceptable, the dualist Cathars maintained that every man and woman could commune directly with God without the necessity of clerical intervention; dispensing with the clergy would have put perhaps a third of the population out of a job and was totally unacceptable to both king and Church. The crusaders were not entirely indifferent to the prospect of the rich and sunny lands of Languedoc that would be up for grabs following a successful campaign and nor, undoubtedly, was Philip Augustus.
For those interested in this colourful and tragic episode of history, English versions of booklets on the Cathars are widely available. Places to visit include the last-ditch fortresses of Montségur, Quéribus and Peyrepertuse (Montségur is particularly stunning and the village below the fortress has a small museum) and the towns of Minerve, Foix and Carcassonne.
The little town of Fanjeaux, incidentally, was the home of the Spanish monk who became St Dominic, the founder of the unit for the interrogation of heretics that later became known as the Spanish Inquisition.
Elizabeth Harris
© Roger Budd 2007-2008
In the region there are brown road signs informing you that you are in Cathar Country. This French tourist initiative refers to the crusade launched in 1209 by the French king Philip Augustus and Pope Innocent III against the heretical sect known as the Cathars or Albigensians.
Among many beliefs that the Church found unacceptable, the dualist Cathars maintained that every man and woman could commune directly with God without the necessity of clerical intervention; dispensing with the clergy would have put perhaps a third of the population out of a job and was totally unacceptable to both king and Church. The crusaders were not entirely indifferent to the prospect of the rich and sunny lands of Languedoc that would be up for grabs following a successful campaign and nor, undoubtedly, was Philip Augustus.
For those interested in this colourful and tragic episode of history, English versions of booklets on the Cathars are widely available. Places to visit include the last-ditch fortresses of Montségur, Quéribus and Peyrepertuse (Montségur is particularly stunning and the village below the fortress has a small museum) and the towns of Minerve, Foix and Carcassonne.
The little town of Fanjeaux, incidentally, was the home of the Spanish monk who became St Dominic, the founder of the unit for the interrogation of heretics that later became known as the Spanish Inquisition.
Elizabeth Harris
© Roger Budd 2007-2008
Cathars expelled from Carcassonne in 1209