Villerouge Termenès  by laroque

Villerouge Termenès

Continuing my project on the 'Cathar Castles', this is the castle at Villerouge Termenès. It was built and owned by the Catholic Church, but was occupied by a Cathar lord at the start of the crusade. It was taken by the crusaders in 1210 after the fall of the larger nearby castle at Termes. Its most prominent role in Cathar history, however, is that it was the site where the last Cathar priest was executed, burnt alive on a pyre in 1321. This is generally taken as the end of the Cathar religion in France.

If you want to see the other Cathar photos taken so far, click on the tag tims-cathar-castles
Who were the Cathars? What did they stand for?

Beautiful house and castle.
December 30th, 2016  
Great history, and what a winter blue sky!
December 30th, 2016  
@cottiac Well, you asked so............ The Cathars were a heretical Christain sect which developed in Europe in the 11th and 12th C, and which was particularly strong in the area that is now Languedoc, but was then frontier country between Fance and Spain. The pope declared a crusade against them which started in 1209, and which was largely conducted by lords and their armies from northern France. The Cathars were exterminated, their religion died and their lands were seized and incorporated into France.
December 30th, 2016  
Are we much more, if at all, more tolerant today I wonder...

I love the play of light and shade in your shot, plus of course the brilliant blue sky - as I sit and look at the fog outside this window.
December 30th, 2016  
p.s. didn't word that very well - fog in the brain!
December 30th, 2016  
Thanks Tim very interesting - as @quietpurplehaze says I guess there are two sides to every story. Appreciate you expanding my history knowledge bank 😊
December 30th, 2016  
I like your shadow management in this shot Tim. Too easy to have the castle blown out or the cottage just a black lump. I'm also enjoying your history vignettes (no pun intended). @quietpurplehaze you might be encouraged by the fact that were are much more tolerant now and the occurrence of oppression and violence has dropped dramatically in the last 500 years. We just get to hear about the nasty stuff that does go on through our bloodthirsty 24 hour media.
December 30th, 2016  
@chillen

I agree about the bloodthirsty media! But how do we know that we are more tolerant now?
December 30th, 2016  
@quietpurplehaze it surprised me when I found out Hazel. Historians, statisticians, psychologists and other clever people actually measure this stuff. Steven Pinker is an example. You can look up his work online. Don't want to hijack Tim's photo page any more!
December 30th, 2016  
@chillen

Have come across him in linguistics study....
December 30th, 2016  
Nice image and interesting history and discussion.
December 31st, 2016  
lovely quiet scene
January 4th, 2017  
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