Montségur: A small village in Occitania from 1294 to 1324

Author: (French) Lucien Febvre
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: Montaillou is a small pastoral village in the south of France where Occitan is spoken. In 1320, Jacques Fournier, who was then the Bishop of Pamiers (later Pope), arrived as a judge of the Inquisition. During his investigation and trial of various cases, he, like a modern detective, discovered and grasped all the secrets of the village, including the daily lives of its residents, personal privacy, as well as various contradictions and conflicts, which he recorded in detail. The famous French scholar Lucien Febvre, with the sensitivity and meticulousness of a historian, discovered and utilized these valuable historical materials. Using modern historical, anthropological, and sociological methods, he reconstructed the full picture of the life, thoughts, customs, and characteristics of the villagers six hundred years ago, as well as the features of 14th-century France.