Re: NEW PAPER TOPIC -- Medieval History Fall 2002

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 05:51:31 10/15/02 Tue
Author: Matthew Cason
Subject: Re: NEW PAPER TOPIC
In reply to: John Norris 's message, "NEW PAPER TOPIC" on 16:13:15 10/14/02 Mon

Hi, John.

Have a couple book recommendations for you. I've done some research in the past on the Cathars/Albigensians (the two names are often used interchangably, which can be a little confusing), and thought I might share a couple of my favorite books on the subject:

The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and
Death of the Medieval Cathars
by Stephen O'Shea
ISBN: 0802776175

and also

The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars
By Arthur Guirdham
ISBN: 0852072716

The former is more of a 'historical' take, focusing on the important dates and events in the life of the Albigensian/Cathar heresy. It also gives some really unique character sketches of the important figures in the rise and fall of the Cathars, from Simon de Montfort to Innocent III. Mr. O'Shea is, unfortunately, a little biased in his approach to the Albigensians, tending to villify the Catholic Church for its Inquisition (the first official inquisition, believe it or not) and Crusade against the Cathars. That bias aside, he does take a very narrative and easily readable approach, and it's not nearly as dry as a lot of old, moldy texts you're likely to find in a library. If I remember correctly, it's a fairly recent book, and I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble about a year ago, when it was first published.

If you're looking for 'meat and bones' description of Cathar/Albigensian beliefs and practices, the latter is probably your best shot. I've never found another book to equal the sort of information this book gives on Cathar doctrine, and how that translated into how they lived their every-day lives. A lot of general Albigensian/Cathar history in here, too, but it'd probably do you most good in the wealth of information it affords on how their peculiar (and I DO mean peculiar!) ideas were worked out in their society, from political allegiance to local government to their doctrines on sex, welfare, salvation, and everything in between.

Hope some of this helps, and great topic! I think the Albigensians/Cathars are really overlooked by a lot of Medieval historians, and that's a shame, because it was such an interesting movement, albeit one with some glaring theological flaws. Anyhew, best of luck, and if there's any further help I can render, just let me know!

-Matt Cason

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]