In southern France, in the region of Languedoc, castles and walled cities stand on high promontories and rocky outcrops along the Cathar castle trail which takes us on journey of discovery back to the middle ages and the Catholic crusade against this heretical sect.
Tired of the angry criticism and growing influence of the Cathars, who rejected the physical world of power and matter and aspired to the purely spiritual, in 1208, the Catholic Church declared their beliefs heretical; so began a bloody crusade that would end over a century later with the execution of Guillaume Belibaste. The persecution ended the golden age of the Languedoc region, and brought the southern principalities under the control of the King of France, but the glory of the inaccessible castles where the martyrs sought refuge remains.
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