Who were the Cathars?

A long time ago in medieval southern France a new branch of Christian religion developed called the Cathars. Fortunately today people of all sorts of different belief systems are friends. The story of the Cathars teaches us why it is so important to be kind and accepting of people even if they are different from us. The Cathars were persecuted (treated badly) because their beliefs were different.

The Cathar Crusade (Albigensian Crusade) (1209-1229 CE)

In medieval France people were scared of others who were different from them. They thought the Cathars were dangerous because they were different. Instead of trying to understand the Cathars and why they were different some of these people started a crusade, which means they attacked the Cathars. Fortunately some people did stand up for the Cathars and protected them, sheltering them in fortifications and castles. The crusade started a war that lasted 20 years.

Cathar Castles

The Cathar castles were fortifications and buildings built for lots of different reasons. A lot of them were already built before the Cathar Crusade, but were used by the Cathars as protection. A lot of the original castles were left to degrade, or were replaced by better fortifications. Some of the castles that are called Cathar castles today were not even around during the crusade! They were built in the same region to protect France from Spain.

Sources

https://www.ancient.eu/Cathars/#:~:text=The%20Cathars%20(also%20known%20as,authority%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Church.

https://www.ancient.eu/Albigensian_Crusade/

https://about-france.com/tourism/cathar-country.htm

https://cdt11.media.tourinsoft.eu/upload/guide-de-visite-peyrepertuse-en.pdf