God's Heretics

Believing in a radical separation of good and evil, the heretical medieval Cathar sect separated themselves from the rest of the world. The full power of the Church was unleashed against these heretics, called the Albigensian Crusade. This work recreates medieval Languedoc and the array of characters who died for their beliefs under the hot Provencal sun. It discusses the way the Crusade and its legacy turned and twisted for over 100 years. It focuses on the personalities on both sides, their motivations and objectives, creating for the modern reader an impression of the powerful beliefs that drove persecutor and victim. The Albigensian Crusade and the heresy it sought to suppress were of great significance in medieval Europe.