Crusade Against the Grail : The Struggle Between the Cathars, the Templars, and the Church of Rome

by Rahn, Otto

• ISBN13: 9781594771354
• ISBN10: 1594771359
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781594777219
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-22
• Publisher: Inner Traditions
• More Book Details
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Summary

The first English translation of the book that reveals the Cathar stronghold at Montségur to be the repository of the Holy Grail

• Presents the history of the Papal persecution of the Cathars that lies hidden in the medieval epic Parzival and in the poetry of the troubadours

• Provides new insights into the life and death of this gifted and controversial author

Crusade Against the Grail is the daring book that popularized the legend of the Cathars and the Holy Grail. The first edition appeared in Germany in 1933 and drew upon Rahn’s account of his explorations of the Pyrenean caves where the heretical Cathar sect sought refuge during the 13th century. Over the years the book has been translated into many languages and exerted a large influence on such authors as Trevor Ravenscroft and Jean-Michel Angebert, but it has never appeared in English until now.

Much as German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann used Homer’s Iliad to locate ancient Troy, Rahn believed that Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic Parzival held the keys to the mysteries of the Cathars and the secret location of the Holy Grail. Rahn saw Parzival not as a work of fiction, but as a historical account of the Cathars and the Knights Templar and their guardianship of the Grail, a “stone from the stars.” The Crusade that the Vatican led against the Cathars became a war pitting Roma (Rome) against Amor (love), in which the Church triumphed with flame and sword over the pure faith of the Cathars.

Author Biography

This is the daring book that presents the history of the Papal persecution of the Cathars that lies hidden in the medieval epic <em>Parzival</em> and in the poetry of the troubadours. <em>Crusade Against the Grail</em> has been cited in the bestseller <em>Holy Blood, Holy Grail</em>, but it has never appeared in English until now.

Table of Contents

Translator's Foreword	vii
Map of Southern France	xvi
Prologue	xix
PART ONE
Parsifal	3	(40)
PART TWO
The Grail	43	(10)
The Golden Fleece	53	(6)
Gwion's Cup	59	(8)
How the Bard Taliesin Came to the World	67	(1)
The Legend of the Bard Cervorix	68	(2)
The "Pure Ones" and Their Doctrine	70	(23)
The Caves of Trevrizent Close to the Fountain Called La Salvaesche	93	(8)
Monmur, the Enchanted Castle of Oberon	101	(3)
Muntsalvaesche and Montsegur	104	(4)
Repanse de Schoye	108	(7)
PART THREE
The Crusade	115	(42)
PART POUR
The Apotheosis of the Grail	157	(33)
Appendix: Observations on the Theoretical Part	190	(3)
Notes	193	(18)
Bibliography	211	(13)
Index	224