MONTAILLOU

Montaillou is subtitled Cathars and Catholics in a French village 1294-1324 and tells of the prominent families caught up in the Cathar heresy that flourished amongst many of the population of this mountain village. Also known as the Albigensian heresy, these unorthodox Christians believed in metempyschosis - the circulation of human souls. Cathars thought that the human soul could enter the growing foetus having come from some other animal and upon the death of a human it could again enter the body of another creature.

Good Cathars were sceptical of the wealth of Catholic priests and monks and sought the offices of supposedly poor travelling goodmen or parfaits for religious succour and absolution. Because of these views and other ideas of theirs which went against orthodox Catholic beliefs, they were persecuted and some were sent to the stake on the orders of Bishop Jacques Fournier, the Catholic enforcer of the Inquisition.

As well as discussing these unusual beliefs, the book looks at the social, sexual and mental outlook of many inhabitants of this unique medieval village - for in their testimony to the Inquisition, they come across as very human and very distinct individuals. In matters of religion the local priest tries to run with the hare and the hounds even as he ruts extensively amongst his own flock, being the greatest lover in Montaillou. Then there are wily shepherds who kept one step away from the stake by moving through the Pyrenees to Spain until the excitement died down, only returning to Montaillou when the coast was clear.