The Albigensian Crusade

Press, Volume C, Issue 29524, 27 May 1961, Page 3

The Albigensian Crusade

Destiny of Fire. By Zoe Oldenbourg. Gollancz. 336 PPA novel by Zoe Oldenbourg is a literary event. “The World Is Not Enough" (1949). and “The Corner Slone” (1954) established Mrs Oldenbourg as one of the leading historical novelists of the day. “Destiny of Fire," her latest work, appeared in France last year and is now translated for English readers by Peter Green. The author is. of course, an exact historian. Only another scholar of attainment similar to her own could challenge her handling and interpretation of the facts she uses. But Mrs Oldenbourg also makes the common reader feel at times that she is more at home in the Middle Ages than the modern world. This 'S. no doubt, some kind of literary clairvoyance on her part; but it gives what she writes a curious tone that can even induce uneasiness.

“The heroes of ‘Destiny of Fire’ are the Cathars, or Albigensians, a heretical sect who flourished in the Midi during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Church preached a Holy War against them, and after a long struggle their religion was stamped out. This war is generally known as the Albigensian Crusade.” With these detached sentences the author introduces her theme. The title of the book points to the means employed to destroy the movement; for those who would not recant were burnt at the stake.

“Destiny of Fire” is a story of two generations. The lord of Montgeil and his wife, Arsen, are convinced adherents to the beliefs of the Cathars. When their family of five have grown up. they hope to devote themselves wholly to the spiritual life. But in the meantime the sect is being persecuted; the dominions of the Count of Toulouse are invaded by the Northern French “Crusaders.” The Cathari are pacifists; but in the end they realise that they must defend themselves or cease to exist. In the bloody wars that follow. Ricord de Montgeil and his sons play a leading part. To the wife, Arsen, is assigned the duty of going in secret about the countryside to comfort and to confirm the afflicted. In the skirmishes and sieges of the campaign, the four Sons perish one after another. Ricord himself is captured and executed, and Arsen dies when a great fortress is stormed by the Crusaders. The daughter. Gentian, at first seems destined for brighter things Although she is disappointed when she is not accepted as a Cathar nun, she is happy in the world and marries a Knight of Toulouse, Berenger d’Aspremont. Gradually, however, they, too, are involved in war and persecution, until they are judged and handed over to the secular arm to die side by side in the flames. Such a bare summary does

scant justice to the richness of the texture of Mrs Olden-1 bourg’s prose, and to the, penetrating sympathy with! which she enters into the thoughts and feelings of people so far distant in time. After closing “Destiny of Fire," it is strange to turn to a standard work such as the second volume of Arthur McGiffert's “History of Christian Thought,” and read on page 354. “The repressive measures taken against the Cathari proved highly successful and before long the sect was virtually extinct — one of the instances in which persecution actually achieved its end.”