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kittiwakeI have read this book before, a long time ago, but picked this copy up at a BookCrossing meeting in Birmingham.
The Pyrenean village of Montaillou and the surrounding area were hot-beds of Catharism at the turn of the 14th century. At the time Montaillou was in the Comté de Foix, which was still independent of France, but now the village is in the French department of Ariège. The local bishop ensured that the inquisition's questioning of suspected heretics and witnesses was documented in detail, and since he preferred to arrive at the truth through detailed interrogations rather than torture, the inquisition's records contain a wealth of information about the everyday lives of the peasants from this mountainous region, as well as about their heretical beliefs.
It's lucky that there is a list of members of Montaillou's main families at the back of the book, since so many of them are called Guillaume, Raymond, Guillemette and Raymonde that it is hard to remember which is which. There are also lots of men called Arnaud, Bernard, Jean, Pierre and Pons, and many women called Alazais, Esclarmonde, Mengarde, Rixende and Sybille.
Nottingham Round the World Reading Challenge - COMTÉ DE FOIX
The Pyrenean village of Montaillou and the surrounding area were hot-beds of Catharism at the turn of the 14th century. At the time Montaillou was in the Comté de Foix, which was still independent of France, but now the village is in the French department of Ariège. The local bishop ensured that the inquisition's questioning of suspected heretics and witnesses was documented in detail, and since he preferred to arrive at the truth through detailed interrogations rather than torture, the inquisition's records contain a wealth of information about the everyday lives of the peasants from this mountainous region, as well as about their heretical beliefs.
It's lucky that there is a list of members of Montaillou's main families at the back of the book, since so many of them are called Guillaume, Raymond, Guillemette and Raymonde that it is hard to remember which is which. There are also lots of men called Arnaud, Bernard, Jean, Pierre and Pons, and many women called Alazais, Esclarmonde, Mengarde, Rixende and Sybille.
