The History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay's `Historia Albigensis' [Paperback]

W.A. Sibly (Author), M.D. Sibly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002

The Historia Albigensis is one of the most important sources for the history of the Cathar heresy and the Albigensian crusade. This new translation makes the work available in English for the first time. The Historiawas written between about 1212 and 1218 by Peter, a young monk at the Cistercian abbey of les Vaux-de-Cernay, where his uncle Guy was abbot. Guy took part in the preaching mission against heresy in 1207 and later played an important part in the crusade and became bishop of Carcassonne. Peter several times accompanied his uncle, and not only met those involved in the crusade, but himself witnessed many episodes. The Historiathus contains a wealth of firsthand detail about the personalities and events of the crusade, and about contemporary warfare. An introduction and extensive notes draw on other contemporary sources and on recent scholarship; nine appendices range from the policies of Innocent III to the technical terms used to describe fortifications, also providing translations of other important contemporary sources.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Albigensian crusade always needed careful public relations... by giving us the whole work in translation the Siblys clearly reveal Peter as a second-rate spin doctor. For this very reason he is of course invaluable, and this book deserves to be read by a wider audience than heresy and crusade enthusiasts. --History

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851158072
• ISBN-13: 978-0851158075
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thorough book, May 6, 2000

By 

Jesper Medom Vestergaard (Aarhus, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay's `Historia Albigensis' (Hardcover)

This book is a translation of a monks latin work on the albigensian crusade (launched 1209). It was actually written during the crusade (1212-1218). It has been translated beautifully and the authors has included many interesting notes about the accuracy of the monks work. If you would like to learns something about the albigensian crusade this book is great as it contains a rather detailed first/second-hand description of the events that led to the crusade as well as the crusade itself. The monk is rather prejudiced (he's a chatholic and the target of the crusade are heretics) but that only add color to the text.

The book is rather hard to read as the monk style of writing is very compact - very much information in little space - not many superfluous words or sentences.