etc.

I like to think that I have a critical mind when it comes to the things I read, and the Catholic church has always been at the receiving end of that scrutiny. I have been imminently fascinated with the evil-doings of the church ever since I first learnt the meaning of the word ‘doubt’, and this book goes a long way in feeding that fascination. It tells the story of the Cathars, a renegade religious group that lived in the south of France in the thirteenth Century. The Cathars posed a threat to the medieval Catholic church because their beliefs challenged the very fundamentals of church doctrine: they were firmly dualistic, believing all things worldly and material were evil; they rejected the Christian doctrine that the world is the product of a good God; they believed in reincarnation and practiced gender equality, rejected the Incarnation, and lived ascetically. In other words, the Cathar belief system was the very antithesis of medieval Catholic dogma and practice. Of course, in the thirteenth Century when there was no division between church and state, and church was in fact state, these opposing beliefs could seriously undermine the church’s position if they were not thwarted. So in a series of crusades, the church routinely sought out and eliminated every Cathar in the south of France, in an attempt to stamp out heresy. The story is excellently told, well researched, and O’Shea still manages to convey an accessible, pop-history flavour. The Middle Ages, gender equality, heretical beliefs, war and calumny: this is my kind of book.