The Friar Of Carcassonne

Download The Friar Of Carcassonne full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online The Friar Of Carcassonne ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

The Friar of Carcassonne

Author : Stephen O'Shea
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802778011
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Friar of Carcassonne by : Stephen O'Shea

Download or read book The Friar of Carcassonne written by Stephen O'Shea and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1300, the French region of Languedoc had been cowed under the authority of both Rome and France since Pope Innocent III 's Albigensian Crusade nearly a century earlier. That crusade almost wiped out the Cathars, a group of heretical Christians whose beliefs threatened the authority of the Catholic Church. But decades of harrowing repression-enforced by the ruthless Pope Boniface VIII , the Machiavellian French King Philip the Fair of France, and the pitiless grand inquisitor of Toulouse, Bernard Gui (the villain in The Name of the Rose)-had bred resentment. In the city of Carcassonne, anger at the abuses of the Inquisition reached a boiling point and a great orator and fearless rebel emerged to unite the resistance among Cathar and Catholic alike. The people rose up, led by the charismatic Franciscan friar Bernard Délicieux and for a time reclaimed control of their lives and communities. Having written the acclaimed chronicle of the Cathars The Perfect Heresy , Stephen O'Shea returns to the medieval world to chronicle a rare and remarkable story of personal courage and principle standing up to power, amidst the last vestiges of the endlessly fascinating Cathar world. Praise for The Perfect Heresy : "At once a cautionary tale about the corruption of temporal power...and an accounting of the power of faith ...It is also just a darn good read."-Baltimore Sun "An accessible, readable history with lessons ...that were not learned by broad humanity until it saw 20th-century tyrants applying the goals and methods of the Inquisition on a universal scale."-New York Times

The Friar of Carcassonne

Author : Stephen O'Shea
Publisher : Profile Books(GB)
ISBN 13 : 9781846683206
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (832 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Friar of Carcassonne by : Stephen O'Shea

Download or read book The Friar of Carcassonne written by Stephen O'Shea and published by Profile Books(GB). This book was released on 2012 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly a century had passed since Languedoc had been put to the sword in the Albigensian Crusade, but the stain of Catharism still lay on the land. Any accusation of Catharism invited peril. But repression bred resentment and it was in Carcassonne that resistance began to stir. In 1300 a great orator emerged who brought together the currents of resistance. Three years later the terrible prisons were stormed and the inmates set free. The orator was a Franciscan friar, Bernard D�licieux. The forces ranged against Delicieux included the ruthless Pope Boniface VII, the Machiavellian French King Philip IV and the grand inquisitor of Toulouse Bernard Gui (the villain of The Name of the Rose). This magnificent book, which forms a kind of sequel to Stephen O'Shea's bestselling The Perfect Heresy, tells his inspiring life and tragic story.

The Passion of Dolssa

Author : Julie Berry
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0698157478
Total Pages : 496 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (981 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Passion of Dolssa by : Julie Berry

Download or read book The Passion of Dolssa written by Julie Berry and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Printz Honor winner that garnered five starred reviews and was hailed by the New York Times as "magnificent"! Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl who's been branded a heretic, on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire and wants Dolssa executed, too. Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to keep herself and her sisters on the right side of the law in their seaside town. When their lives collide by a dark riverside, Botille rescues a dying Dolssa and conceals her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Aided by her sisters and Symo, her surly but loyal neighbor, Botille nurses Dolssa back to health and hides her from her pursuers. But all of Botille’s tricks, tales, and cleverness can’t protect them forever, and when the full wrath of the Church bears down upon them, Dolssa’s passion and Botille’s good intentions could destroy the entire village. From the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning All the Truth That's in Me comes a spellbinding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page and make you wonder if miracles really are possible.

Almost Innocent

Author : Jane Feather
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 : 0307426262
Total Pages : 434 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Almost Innocent by : Jane Feather

Download or read book Almost Innocent written by Jane Feather and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2009-11-04 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dear Reader, Almost Innocent is a romance that is particularly dear to me, with a heroine who surprised me with her strength and resourcefulness, and a hero who will always be one of my favorites. Growing up behind the impenetrable walls of an English fortress, young Magdalen does not know that she is the illegitimate daughter of a powerful English prince and his murdered French mistress -- or that she has been a pawn in the struggle between England and France ever since she slipped from her dying mother's womb. All she knows is that she longs for excitement. And then one day, as if in answer to her prayers, the splendid figure of Guy de Gervais, a true knight in shining armor, rides into her cloistered world and spirits her away. For Magdalen it is love at first sight. The one and only love of her life. Yet Guy sees only his responsibility to keep Magdalen safe until she can be wed to his nephew and thus fulfill her political destiny. Then duty calls Guy to the bloody battlefields of France, and when he returns, time has transformed Magdalen into a stunningly sensual beauty. Suddenly the noble knight is fighting the fiercest battle of his life: against a searing desire for a woman he cannot have. I hope that you will be thrilled by Magdalen and Guy's passionate love story, and that you will have as much pleasure reading it as I had writing it. Warmest wishes, Jane Feather P.S. Don't miss my latest novel, The Widow's Kiss, featuring an enchantress who has been widowed no less than four times ... and the formidable hero who finds himself reluctantly falling under her spell.

The Hammer of the Inquisitors

Author : Alan Friedlander
Publisher : Cultures, Beliefs and Traditio
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Hammer of the Inquisitors by : Alan Friedlander

Download or read book The Hammer of the Inquisitors written by Alan Friedlander and published by Cultures, Beliefs and Traditio. This book was released on 2000 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography of a controversial religious figure of the fourteenth century offers material that illuminates critical issues in the social, political and spiritual transformations - the repression of heresy, the rise of national monarchies - at the decline of the Middle Ages.

Sea of Faith

Author : Stephen O'Shea
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802718426
Total Pages : 430 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Sea of Faith by : Stephen O'Shea

Download or read book Sea of Faith written by Stephen O'Shea and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Sea of Faith, O'Shea chronicles both the meeting of minds and the collisions of armies that marked the interaction of Cross and Crescent in the Middle Ages-the better to understand their apparently intractable conflict today. For all the great and everlasting moments of cultural interchange and tolerance-in Cordoba, Palermo, Constantinople-the ultimate "geography of belief " was decided on the battlefield. O'Shea vividly recounts seven pivotal battles between the forces of Christianity and Islam that shaped the Mediterranean world-from the loss of the Christian Middle East to the Muslims at Yarmuk (Turkey) in 636 to the stemming of the seemingly unstoppable Ottoman tide at Malta in 1565. In between, the battles raged round the Mediterranean, from Poitiers in France and Hattin in the Holy Land during the height of the Crusades, to the famed contest for Constantinople in 1453 that signaled the end of Byzantium. As much as the armies were motivated by belief, their exploits were inspired by leaders such as Charles Martel, Saladin, and Mehmet II, whose stirring feats were sometimes accompanied by unexpected changes of heart.

Back to the Front

Author : Stephen O'Shea
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802719090
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Back to the Front by : Stephen O'Shea

Download or read book Back to the Front written by Stephen O'Shea and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War I is beyond the memory of almost everyone alive today. Yet it has left as deep a scar on the imaginative landscape of our century as it has on the land where it was fought. Nowhere is that more evident than on the Western Front-the sinuous, deadly line of trenches that stretched from the coast of Belgium to the border of France and Switzerland, a narrow swath of land in which so many million lives were lost. For journalist Stephen O'Shea, the legacy of the Great War is personal (both his grandfathers fought on the front lines) and cultural. Stunned by viewing the "immense wound" still visible on the battlefield of the Somme, and feeling that "history is too important to be left to the professionals," he set out to walk the entire 450 miles through no-man's-land to discover for himself and for his generation the meaning of the war. Back to the Front is a remarkable combination of vivid history and opinionated travel writing. As his walk progresses, O'Shea recreates the shocking battles of the Western Front, many now legendary-Passchendaele, the Somme, the Argonne, Verdun-and offers an impassioned perspective on the war, the state of the land, and the cultivation of memory. His consummate skill with words and details brings alive the players, famous and faceless, on that horrific stage, and makes us aware of why the Great War, indeed history itself, still matters. An evocative fusion of past and present, Back to the Front will resonate, for all who read it, as few other books on war ever have.

Against the Friars

Author : Tim Rayborn
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786468319
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Against the Friars by : Tim Rayborn

Download or read book Against the Friars written by Tim Rayborn and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-10-23 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The friars represented a remarkable innovation in medieval religious life. Founded in the early 13th century, the Franciscans and Dominicans seemed a perfect solution to the Church's troubles in confronting rapid changes in society. They attracted enthusiastic support, especially from the papacy, to which they answered directly. In their first 200 years, membership grew at an astonishing rate, and they became counsellors to princes and kings, receiving an endless stream of donations and gifts. Yet there were those who believed the adulation was misguided or even dangerous, and who saw in the friars' actions only hypocrisy, deceit, greed and even signs of the end of the world. From the mid-13th century, writings appeared denouncing and mocking the friars and calling for their abolition. Their French and English opponents were among the most vocal. From harsh theological criticism and outrage at the Inquisition to vulgar tales and bathroom humor, this thoroughly documented work is suitable for the newcomer, as well as for readers who are familiar with the subject but might like to investigate specific topics in more detail.

The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade

Author : M. D. Costen
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780719043321
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (433 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade by : M. D. Costen

Download or read book The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade written by M. D. Costen and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1997-11-15 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling introduction to the war against the heretics of Languedoc launched in 1209, combined with a description of the political, economic, religious and social conditions of south-western France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Michael Costen shows why the Cathar heresy came to flourish and how the campaign against it developed into a programme of conquest by which an alliance of church and state finally destroyed the heresy and united the region with the newly expanding French kingdom.

Kill Them All

Author : Sean McGlynn
Publisher : The History Press
ISBN 13 : 075095194X
Total Pages : 420 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (59 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Kill Them All by : Sean McGlynn

Download or read book Kill Them All written by Sean McGlynn and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bloody Albigensian Crusade launched against the Cathar heretics of southern France in the early thirteenth century is infamous for its brutality and savagery, even by the standards of the Middle Ages. It was marked by massacres and acts of appalling cruelty, deeds commonly ascribed to the role of religious fanaticism. Here, in the first military history of the whole conflict, Sean McGlynn tells the story of the crusade through its epic sieges of seemingly impregnable fortresses, desperate battles and destructive campaigns, and offers expert analysis of the warfare involved, revealing the crusade in a different light – as a bloody territorial conquest in which acts of terror were perpetrated to secure military aims rather than religious ones. The dramatic events of the crusade and its colourful leading characters – Simon de Montfort, Louis the Lion, Innocent III, Peter of Aragon, Count Raymond of Toulouse – are brought to life through the voices of contemporary writers who fought and experienced it.

The Nature and the Effect of the Heresy of the Fraticelli

Author : Decima Langworthy Douie
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Nature and the Effect of the Heresy of the Fraticelli by : Decima Langworthy Douie

Download or read book The Nature and the Effect of the Heresy of the Fraticelli written by Decima Langworthy Douie and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1932 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Heresy, Crusade, and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100 - 1250

Author : Walter L. Wakefield
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520348222
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (23 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Heresy, Crusade, and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100 - 1250 by : Walter L. Wakefield

Download or read book Heresy, Crusade, and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100 - 1250 written by Walter L. Wakefield and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.

CHRONICLE OF THE TWENTY-FOUR GENERALS OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR

Author : ARNALD OF SARRANT
Publisher : TAU Franciscan Communicatins - Malta
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 988 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis CHRONICLE OF THE TWENTY-FOUR GENERALS OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR by : ARNALD OF SARRANT

Download or read book CHRONICLE OF THE TWENTY-FOUR GENERALS OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR written by ARNALD OF SARRANT and published by TAU Franciscan Communicatins - Malta. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 988 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the Order of Friars Minor during the first one and a half centuries of its existence is maybe the most studied period of the 800 years of Franciscan presence in the Church. The publication of the Sources for the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi in all the main European languages has been of considerable help to spread the historical knowledge regarding Francis of Assisi and his movement and make it available to the average reader. Among these Sources, the Chronica XXIV Ministrorum Generalium Ordinis fratrum Minorum by Arnald of Sarrant merits particular attention. It tells the story of the Franciscan Order from the time of Saint Francis till the beginning of the Western Schism in 1378, and therefore contains valuable information regarding the initial period of Franciscan history. Unfortunately it is not easily available in translation because of its voluminous nature. In fact, it covers a total of 712 pages of the third volume of Analecta Franciscana, published by the Franciscan editors of Quaracchi in 1897. Our aim has been that of embarking on the arduous task of translating this voluminous work of history into English from the original Latin. This translation is the fruit of three years of work, and we are now happy to present it to the general public. Because of its voluminous nature we intend to divide it into 5 sections, four of which cover the 575 pages of text and one the appendixes. The whole 575 page Chronicle is here available in 4 sections covering respectively the following historical periods: (1) Saint Francis and the early Franciscan fraternity; (2) The Generals from brother Elias as vicar (1227) to Saint Bonaventure (1274); (3) The Generals from Jerome of Ascoli (1274) to Michael of Cesena (1328); (4) The Generals from Gerard Eudes (1329) to Leonard of Giffoni (1378). A last section will be the translation of the appendixes. The translation is enriched by footnotes and explanations on the various historical events narrated and on the personages of the Chronicle. Our aim has been simply that of providing a readable translation, without pretending to be scholars of mediaeval Latin. We hope that the service we are offering at such an enormous cost of time and personal effort will be of benefit both to students of Franciscan history as well as to those who are qualified to correct its inaccuracies, and who we gratefully thank for their eventual advice and corrections

Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

Author : Angela Montford
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351931210
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries by : Angela Montford

Download or read book Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries written by Angela Montford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-28 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries explores the attitudes and responses of the mendicant orders to illness, their contribution to medical history, the influence of health and sickness as a factor in the orders' decision making, the extent of their participation in treatments, their relationship with physicians or their own involvement in medical practice, and the problems which occurred as a result of these matters. Apart from brief details of the last illness noted in some convent obituaries, the sick friar is usually conspicuous by his absence from the records. This book addresses this absence. By focusing on these neglected aspects of the mendicant orders it is possible to begin to reconstruct their attitudes and practices towards sickness, health and medical treatment. In so doing, a picture begins to emerge which provides a much fuller understanding of both mendicant and wider medical history. Through such an approach, the book demonstrates how preserving health as well as treating illness were matters of interrelated and vital concern to the friars, a concern that coincided with a rising interest in health matters in wider society during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The Cathars and Carcassonne

Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781985581364
Total Pages : 70 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (813 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Cathars and Carcassonne by : Charles River Charles River Editors

Download or read book The Cathars and Carcassonne written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-15 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes medieval accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "The Roman Church...[says] that the heretics they persecute are the church of wolves. But this is absurd, for the wolves have always pursued and killed the sheep, and today it would have to be the other way around for the sheep to be so mad as to bite, pursue, and kill the wolves, and for the wolves to be so patient as to let the sheep devour them!" - Excerpt from the alleged writings of the Cathars Carcassonne today is the capital of the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France, about 58 miles from Toulouse. It lies by the "eastward bend" of the glittering cobalt waters of the River Aude, which serves as a barrier between the two towns of the city: the Cit� and the Ville Basse. It is the old Cit� that attracts most of Carcassonne's visitors (3 million of them each year), for it houses the historic fortress that looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale and supposedly became the muse behind the captivating castles featured in Walt Disney's acclaimed 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. But this breathtaking town is so much more than just the perfect spot for wedding shoots and social media narcissism, for it is a place that oozes medieval history. This land is also home to several legends and local traditions. When the earth is drenched by heavy storms, the crumbling red soil drifts into the River Aude, staining the water with crimson. This beautiful, yet haunting phenomenon, which the locals call the "blood of the Cathars," is a symbolic reminder of the blood shed by these "heretics" at the hands of the Catholic Church. Despite the controversial events, and their supposed heresy, it seemed that the fall of the Cathars brought an everlasting curse upon the region. As one unnamed farmer, documented by French medievalist Jean Duernoy, put it, "Since the heretics were chased away from Sabartes, there is no longer good weather in this area." Another notary from Tarn echoed his sentiments, asserting, "When the heretics lived in these lands, we did not have so many storms and lightning. Now that we are with Franciscans and Dominicans, the lightning strikes more frequently..." The Cathars and Carcassonne: The History and Legacy of the Medieval Christian Group and Its Last Stronghold examines the origins of the group and the city. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Cathars and Carcassonne like never before.

The Corruption of Angels

Author : Mark Gregory Pegg
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400824753
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Corruption of Angels by : Mark Gregory Pegg

Download or read book The Corruption of Angels written by Mark Gregory Pegg and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On two hundred and one days between May 1, 1245, and August 1, 1246, more than five thousand people from the Lauragais were questioned in Toulouse about the heresy of the good men and the good women (more commonly known as Catharism). Nobles and diviners, butchers and monks, concubines and physicians, blacksmiths and pregnant girls--in short, all men over fourteen and women over twelve--were summoned by Dominican inquisitors Bernart de Caux and Jean de Saint-Pierre. In the cloister of the Saint-Sernin abbey, before scribes and witnesses, they confessed whether they, or anyone else, had ever seen, heard, helped, or sought salvation through the heretics. This inquisition into heretical depravity was the single largest investigation, in the shortest time, in the entire European Middle Ages. Mark Gregory Pegg examines the sole surviving manuscript of this great inquisition with unprecedented care--often in unexpected ways--to build a richly textured understanding of social life in southern France in the early thirteenth century. He explores what the interrogations reveal about the individual and communal lives of those interrogated and how the interrogations themselves shaped villagers' perceptions of those lives. The Corruption of Angels, similar in breadth and scope to Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou, is a major contribution to the field. It shows how heretical and orthodox beliefs flourished side by side and, more broadly, what life was like in one particular time and place. Pegg's passionate and beautifully written evocation of a medieval world will fascinate a diverse readership within and beyond the academy.

Cathars

Author : Sean Martin
Publisher : Oldacastle Books
ISBN 13 : 184243568X
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (424 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Cathars by : Sean Martin

Download or read book Cathars written by Sean Martin and published by Oldacastle Books. This book was released on 2012-02-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Flourishing principally in the Languedoc and Italy, the Cathars taught that the world is evil and must be transcended through a simple life of prayer, work, fasting, and non-violence. They believed themselves to be the heirs of the true heritage of Christianity going back to apostolic times, and completely rejected the Catholic Church and all its trappings, regarding it as the Church of Satan. Cathar services and ceremonies, by contrast, were held in fields, barns, and in people's homes. Finding support from the nobility in the fractious political situation in southern France, the Cathars also found widespread popularity among peasants and artisans. And, unlike the Church, the Cathars respected women; they played a major role in the movement. Alarmed at the success of Catharism, the Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade to exterminate the heresy. While previous Crusades had been directed against Muslims in the Middle East, the Albigensian Crusade was the first Crusade to be directed against fellow Christians, and was also the first European genocide. With the fall of the Cathar fortress of Montségur in 1244, Catharism was largely obliterated, although the faith survived into the early fourteenth century. Today, the mystique surrounding the Cathars is as strong as ever, and Sean Martin recounts their story and the myths associated with them in this lively and gripping book.