Malcolm Barber (1) (1943–)

THE CATHARS:
DUALIST HERETICS IN LANGUEDOC IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

The Cathars were dualist heretics who, in the twelfth and carly
thirteenth centuries, presented more coherent doctrinal oppositiorn
to the Catholic church than any contemporary movement. They
were present in most areas of Latin Christendom, but they were
particularly strong in southern France and northern Italy, where
they drew adherents from all social classes.

This new book traces the origins and spread of dualist ideas
assesses their attraction for contemporaries, and describes the
reaction of the ecclesiastical and lay authorities in the form of
preaching campaigns, intellectual refutation, crusade, and
inquisitorial investigations. A fascinating account of the development
of radical religious belief and the means used to suppress it, this book
raises many important issues which transcend the specifics of time
and place, including the nature of evil, the ethics of warfare, and
the use made of history by later generations.

Richly illustrated, this book will have a wide appeal for all those
interested in medieval perceptions of the world, the Crusades and
the Inquisition.

MALCOLM BARBER
is Professor of History at the University of
Reading. He is the author of The Two Cities Medieval Europe,
1050-1320 (1992), and two books on the Templars, The Trial of
the Templars (1978) and The New Knighthood (1994)… (mehr)