The Friar of Carcassonne: Revolt Against the Inquisition in the Last Days of the Cathars

The dramatic story of courageous Franciscan friar who battled king, pope and Inquisition in his search for justice.

Nearly a century had passed since the French region of Languedoc had been put to the sword in the Cathar Crusade, but the stain of Catharism still lay on the land. Any accusation of Catharism invited peril. But repression bred resentment, and it was in Carcassonne that resistance began to stir. In 1300 a great orator emerged there to bring together the currents of resistance. Three years later the terrible prisons were stormed and the inmates set free. The orator was a Franciscan friar, Bernard Delicieux.The forces ranged against him included the ruthless Pope Boniface VIII, the Machiavellian French King Philip the Fair and the grand inquisitor of Toulouse, Bernard Gui (the villain of The Name of the Rose).

The Friar of Carcasonne, a compelling sequel to Stephen O'Shea's bestselling The Perfect Heresy, tells Delicieux's inspiring life and tragic story -- a story with contemporary resonance today. Bernard stood up to abuses of power, opposed secret trials, decried torture and inhumane incarceration. Drawn from the transcripts, which have survived from Bernard's trial, the wealth of everyday detail, the unfurling of events, even the conversations whispered and speeches given all are laid bare, allowing an unparalleled glimpse into the lives and hopes of medieval men and women. Only translated into English a decade ago, O'Shea has executed exhaustive research to produce this highly readable, almost cinematic narrative.