{"product_id":"montsegur-and-the-mystery-of-the-cathars","title":"Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLindsay's Review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScattered across the inhospitable Pyreness’ mountain peaks remain a string of mysterious ancient ruined fortresses. Whose were they? And why were they important? This fascinating book is a valuable piece of the religious entanglement of the Medieval period. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reader dives deeply into the realm of the Cathar religion, once deemed so heretical by the Catholic Church that the inquisition burned 200 practitioners on pyres. Legend has it that all the Cathars walked calmly into the flames without a struggle. This is the story of how the Castle of Montségur, on the French\/Spanish border, a Cathar stronghold, was finally defeated by the Church and the remaining Cathar peoples were erased from history.\u003cbr\u003eJean Markale is one of the old school researchers, who brings a lifetime of knowledge on European culture to this work. Unlike many modern scholars who are too hyper focused to see how the many parts of history work together, Markale is able to show the integration of Cathar practices in France using his prior studies of Druidic and Celtic culture. We find that Catharism is not a Christian heresy, but is a dualistic belief system related to Persian Zoroastrianism, that over the centuries travelled from its foundations in Bulgaria, to its final resting place in the isolated Pyrenees Mountains of France. Here it comes into contact with the Gnostic teachings brought to Europe by Mary Magdalene, as taught to her by Jesus after the resurrection. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe central ideas of the Cathars, a type of stoicism and purely ascetic life, free from wealth, hierarchy, and religious dogma, brought a new and personal way to have a relationship with God that was percieved as a threat to the wealth and power accumulation of the Catholic Church. With no temple ruins, or sacred texts to study, and with the Cathars now disappeared into the mists of time, Markale’s brilliant research brings to life the mysteries of the Cathars, and furthers the search for remnants of their culture today. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDefinitely an important missing piece of the puzzle that is the growth of European religious beliefs coming out of the Dark Ages and into the Medieval political power struggles. Then, even later, the Huguenots and Hitler’s SS search for the Cathars’ treasure. People already well read in this period will gain much from understanding the role that the Cathars played, and how, had they survived and thrived that we could have had a very different and enlightened Europe today. The book is a thorough piece of research, but very readable with an old school scholarly tone, and peppered with personal reflections from travel in the Pyrenees region.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean Markale","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62840468865183,"sku":null,"price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0394\/7236\/5727\/files\/9780892810901_daf18f9c-37ef-440a-aa60-f3420c2f71a0.jpg?v=1785392021","url":"https:\/\/lanebook.com.au\/products\/montsegur-and-the-mystery-of-the-cathars","provider":"The Lane Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}