Cathar |ˈkaθˌär|
noun ( pl. Cathars or Cathari |ˈkaθəˌrī; -ˌrē|)
a member of a heretical medieval Christian sect which professed a form of Manichaean dualism and sought to achieve great spiritual purity.
The Cathars were an extremely strict sect of Christianity, around the 13th century, who were very critical of the corruption of the Church and were therefore dubbed ‘heretical’ by the mainstream Church. They were persecuted, beseiged, slaughtered & crusaded against and generally routed out of France over the course of a couple hundred years, mostly for political reasons. They took refuge in very remote, defensive castles across the southwest. Many are perched high on outcroppings and are very hard to get to, like the ones we visited here at Lastours. They were wonderful ruins, incredibly remote and it really made us think about what life must have been like for them. It helped that the weather was very unsettled that day, pelting rain (we took refuge in a cave), hail, interspersed with periods of sun. (Carcassonne played an important role in the history of the Cathars, Carcassonne had provided refuge to some Cathars in 1209, and was attacked because of it.) It was a harsh & beautiful spot.
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