Those interested in Le Pays Cathare might like to read the following critique
of Michael Costen’s book: The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade,
reproduced from: http://www.findarticles.com. It serves as an introduction
to the Cathar religious movement that featured so prominently in Languedoc-Roussillon
during AD 1100 to 1250 and thereafter for a further 75 years during the Cathar Inquisitions. 
MONTAILLOU FOOTNOTE

Le Pays Cathare encompasses the Aude regions of Carcassonne (Le Carcassès),
Montagne Noire, Lauragais, Minervois, Quercorb, Corbières and Razès Limouxin.
It also includes portions of the neighbouring Départements of Tarn, Ariège
and Hérault. Many regional châteaux (including Puivert, closest to our homestay B&B)
defended the old border with Spain and provided
temporary shelter for Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade.
An important Cathar refuge was the castle at MONTSÉGUR (just in Ariège
and near "Cathar" village, Montaillou). Most of these Occitan defences
had already been constructed when Catharism spread from eastern Europe.

As a reward to the Crusading Barons, 'Languedoc' was annexed
to the French monarchy at the Crusade’s conclusion. It was not until 1659, however,
that the Catalan district of 'ROUSSILLON' (formerly administered by the Counts 
of Barcelona and the Kings of Aragon) finally became part of France
with the signing of the "Pyrenees Peace Accord".
The Département of Aude (illustrated above) was founded in 1790
during the French Revolution and Carcassonne made its capital.
The former nation-province of Occitania,
which originally extended north just beyond Limoges,
is partially replaced today by Languedoc-Roussillon province
and its administrative centre at Montpellier.

This is a sound, readable introduction to the Cathar dualist heresy and to the society and politics of southern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, based on a synthesis of recent scholarship, much of it French. Though there is little original research in it, and no direct use of archival Inquisitorial sources, the author is judicious in his choice of secondary authorities, and is quite good at weaving them into a seamless narrative. The controlling thought and sensibility throughout is that of Michael Costen.

Even more than Walter Wakefield's excellent Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100-1250 (1974), which covers much of the same ground, Costen places the heresy within a wider political, ecclesiastical, and cultural framework within the region. His thesis is that the success of Catharism was, in part, a result of Languedoc's "arrested" political development. Twelfth-century Languedoc remained a land dominated by a highly militarized petty nobility, who ruled the countryside from their castles, largely independent of their theoretical overlords. Central authority was conspicuously lacking, as even the count of Toulouse was merely one among many lords. This political fragmentation had profound implications for the Church, the rise of Catharism, and its ability to survive in the Languedoc until suppressed by outside forces.

Costen rejects the suggestion that Catharism was a response to the poverty and corruption of the Catholic Church in Languedoc. The forces that produced Catharism were the same that produced Church reform and spurred the new monasticism of the mid-eleventh and twelfth centuries, a call for a renewal of the Christian life during a period of rapid economic development that generated anxieties as well as commercial profits. For many, Catharism's dualist theology provided a persuasive explanation for the injustice and evils in life; it provided meaning in a world that seemed unstable, unfair, and often terrifying.

The Cathar clergy, the perfecti, lived the pure, ascetic life that orthodox and heretic reformers alike preached, presenting an attainable ideal of sanctity to the ordinary believers. The religion's rejection of material goods, including tithes, made it especially attractive to the local nobility who chafed under the financial demands of the Catholic clergy. In twelfth-century Languedoc, the alliance between Church and state that marked the growth of comital and royal power in northern France failed to develop because of the political fragmentation of the region. The lay and clerical elites regarded each other with suspicion. Though Cathars constituted only a small percentage of the population of southern France, they were over-represented among the local nobility. Even more to the point, they were by the late twelfth century an established church. In Languedoc, by the year 1200, the Catholic Church had become merely a church rather than the one universal Church.

The situation was impossible for the new papal monarchy to accept. The repression of heresy through crusade and Inquisition was the natural response. Costen chronicles both. The crusade, which began as a war to suppress heresy and enforce religious unity at the insistence of Innocent III, soon became a colonization of the south by northern barons, led by Simon de Montfort. The Capetian monarchy, initially reluctant to wage war against a vassal, took advantage of de Montfort’s success to expand royal power over the south. Though the crusade failed to end the heresy, it succeeded in annexing Languedoc to "France".

The failure of the crusade to eradicate the heresy led the papacy to establish the Inquisition, a new "apparatus of repression aimed at controlling the behaviour, the beliefs and the freedom of expression of the population ... the prototype of the numerous secret police forces which have plagued Europe throughout modern times" (167). With the support of the royalist state, the Inquisition accomplished what crusade had failed to do, extirpate Catharism. The process was gradual but all but complete by the second decade of the fourteenth century. In return, the new French state gained the Church as an ally in strengthening its control over town and countryside.

Costen’s sympathies are clearly with the Cathars, and even more so with the people of Languedoc whose courtly culture he so admires. In the final analysis, Costen’s book is about a lost cause, Occitan independence, and the "War of Northern Aggression" that ended it.

Further recommended reading (and footnote*):

Montaillou – Cathars and Catholics in a French village from 1294 to 1324.
Based on direct testimony collected by the religious courts of
Jacques Fournier (Bishop of Pamiers) who instigated the last Cathar Inquisition.
Published in English by Penguin Books isbn 0 - 14 - 013700 - 9.

* To understand the orthodox Catholic church's forceful opposition to "Heretical" beliefs (whether Pagan, or radical, as with the early-gnostic Christians and the later Cathar "Parfaits" or "Perfecti" or even Lutheran Reformationists)  a good book to read is "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels, now published in the UK in paperback by ORION BOOKS, ISBN 0-7538-2114-1. Elaine Pagels is Professor of Religion at Princeton University and one of the scolars editing texts from Nag Hammadi.

LEFT-CLICK PHOTO for extra picture

The village of Montaillou, and the remains of its mediæval château & settlement, still exist
just over the border in Ariège close to snow-capped mountains and a
choice of wonderfully scenic (medium task, long duration) walks ranging in altitude
from 800 TO 2,000 METRES. The village – as well as the former Cathar stronghold at château Montségur
– are both reasonably close to each other and about one hour’s drive from our " B&B in the Razès ".
Another attraction in the area is  RENNES - LE - CHÂTEAU.

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Come and stay in the Razès hills . . .
Be central to places of interest in the Languedoc . . .
Have easy access to the high mountains & Mediterranean coast. . .
Unwind in our informal homestay environment . . .

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