The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars

by Glen Craney

She will defy the most powerful pope in history.

As the 13th century dawns across Occitania, a brash, charismatic viscountess named Esclarmonde de Foix champions her persecuted pacifist faith and shocks the Church by publicly debating its greatest monastic minds.

Centuries later, she is still revered as the Cathar Joan of Arc.

Spiritual upheaval shakes Latin Christendom. In Rome, Pope Innocent III plots to crush a growing dualist sect that preaches Christ's mission has been corrupted. In the Holy Land, warrior-monks make a disturbing discovery. In southern France, roving troubadours sing of a Holy Grail that offers salvation through the intercession of a worthy lady.

And in the foothills of the Pyrenees, war clouds approach Esclarmonde's hunted heretics, who protect an ancient scroll containing shattering revelations.

Declared outlaws by the Church, the Occitan knights who defend Esclarmonde's family and followers determine to make their last stand atop Montsegur, a haunting mountain keep that protects a sacred treasure. Their heroic resistance against the papal and French armies evokes the legendary defiance of the Jewish rebels against the Roman legions at Masada.

Myth and history collide in this sweeping saga of crusading fanaticism, courtly romance, knightly valor, and monastic conspiracy set during the infamous Albigensian Crusade.

-- Foreword Book-of-the-Year Finalist/Honorable Mention Historical Fiction
-- NIEA Award for Best New Fiction
-- Nautilus Silver Award
-- IPPY Silver Award
-- Eric Hoffer Award Finalist/Honorable Mention
-- Da Vinci Eye Award Finalist

Genres: Historical Fiction, Religion, Fiction, Historical, Christian Fiction, Medieval, France

487 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

A native Hoosier, GLEN CRANEY is a novelist, screenwriter, journalist, and lawyer. He caught the history bug as a boy while tracing the steps of his ancestors on Civil War battlefields and the reconstructed forts of the first Kentucky pioneers.

His travels around the world have found him playing baseball in Cuba, walking the biblical sites of Israel, exploring the Secret Vatican Archives in Rome, and climbing Templar castles in Scotland and France. His books have taken readers to Occitania during the Albigensian Crusade, to the Scotland of Robert the Bruce, to Portugal during the Age of Discovery, to the trenches of France during World War I, and to the American Hoovervilles of the Great Depression.

He graduated from Hanover College with a major in history and holds graduate degrees from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. After a stint as a trial lawyer, he joined the Washington, D.C. press corps to report on national politics and the Iran-contra trial for Congressional Quarterly magazine. He then moved to California to write movie scripts, and his feature screenplay, Whisper the Wind, about the Navajo codetalkers of World War II, was awarded the Nicholl Fellowship Prize by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences for best new screenwriting.

With the encouragement of his mentor, Hollywood legend Harry Essex, he tried his hand at historical fiction and mystery-thrillers, and has never looked back. His debut historical novel, The Fire and the Light, was named Best New Fiction by the National Indie Excellence Awards. He is also a three-time indieBRAG Medallion Honoree, a Chaucer Award First-Place Winner, a three-time Foreword Reviews Book-of-the-Year Award Finalist, a Scéal Mystery-Thriller Award Finalist, a Nautilus Silver Award Winner, an IPPY Silver Award Winner, an Eric Hoffer Finalist and Honorable Mention Winner, a Da Vinci Eye Award Finalist, and a BTS Readers Choice Award Honorable Mention.

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Reviews

[Wayne Purdin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having researched and written a historical novel myself about a period in history shrouded in mystery, Pharaoh of the Sun: Akhenaten and the Culture of Love, I can appreciate the depth and breadth of Craney's research that went into this book. He was no armchair researcher but travelled to the sites of the battles and massacres that took place in this novel. In the preface, he relates a dream he had in which the spirit of Esclarmonde de Foix came to him and asked him to tell the world her true story. Thus he was inspired by this muse to write a truthful account that doesn't pull any punches. If you're looking for a Medieval romance with a happy ending, look elsewhere. There is romance, but it's the Romeo and Juliet kind. However, if your looking for the true teachings of Christ that were passed down from Akhenaten to Moses, the Essenes, early Christians, Bogomils, and Cathars, then this book will provide you with some clues and food for thought.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

11/19/14 Has it really been 12 days?

The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars by Glen Craney

Another great read! I love the physical presence of this hardcover edition book. The cover is beautiful and the paper is a perfect texture and color for just the right effect. I'm not sure what it is called but the edges are not exactly the same so it gives it an "ancient tome" feel. A nice display on my bookshelf (where it will be staying). The maps are good to have to help keep track of where things are happening. The chapter pictures are nice, though I did not understand some of them. I chalk that up to lack of knowledge, the quotes being unfamiliar to me. I went back to one after I finished reading and it became clearer to me. So, I will peruse them randomly and enjoy the mystery of deeper reflection.

I felt the need for a dictionary at times because even though I understood what was meant by the usage, I am a little OCD when it comes to words that I'm not 100% familiar with. I need to be - for some baffling reason. So, instead of opening the dictionary.com app or searching online I decided I would read it again on my Kindle where I have access to both with a tap of my finger. I love my Kindle. And I enjoyed this book enough to read it again. As far as needing the dictionary goes, no matter how many degrees one has, it's good to be challenged and learn. I have a high school education with some random college (no degree) and I didn't find this book above my "level". I was fascinated by the story and found the style just right for me.

The genre of historical fiction is  - narratives that take place in the past and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative (to suppose; think; conjecture) reconstruction of historical events and personages - and that means that the author is free to feign (invent) and postulate (w/out proof) as much or as little as desired. I am appreciative that writers make the effort at all. I would probably wither away without books, especially fiction. They take me away…no Calgon needed (it's a generation thing). I am appreciative to this author for introducing me to this genre. He is very clear about his work in the author's notes, sources, add'l reading… all are helpful to me. The prologue was interesting, and at the same time a little scary. Pretty sure I would not react the same way to a dream like that!

I was disgusted and angered by the behavior of many of the characters (mostly men) in this story and as I said many times in my updates I am SO completely grateful that I wasn't born and raised in those times. I've read other books that have depicted how men from long ago treated women as property and very poorly; unimaginable. We have much to be thankful for here in 2014. I was surprised that this story was about Joan of Arc. I had no idea. I have vague memories of her from my youth and I remember thinking of her as a warrior who had something to do with religion but I really didn't have any idea of her story. That is the reason I am so fond of Glen's books. He writes about history in a way that keeps me interested and wanting to know more. His books are not limited to one part/place of history. He's all over the map, and I love it! To top it off he gives such good information in the authors notes that I didn't have to go and search it out after all. For this story it seems a significant amount of history is lost to time and ignorance: thick-headed, weak-minded, asininity. A real pity. I'm sure I'll still browse around and see what comes up anyway, just for fun ;) I've found some writing of Guilhem de Montanhagol but it is in French and even though it says in the search description: translations in English, I can't figure out how that is possible at the website: http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/gui... If anyone cares to check it out and you find the magic translation trick, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll keep searching :) Glen has some great photos at his website as well. http://glencraney.com/

Loupe was my favorite. I really liked her spunk. What a tragic life for most of them; she pulled up her boots and stuck to her beliefs, loyal and protective of her friends and family no matter the cost. She seemed to me what I had imagined in my naivete to be a representation of Joan of Arc. Warrior. In fact, I liked most of the women and only a few of the men. Boars, the rest were.

I recommend this book to everyone!

I received this book from the author in printed hardcover format. This review and my opinion are entirely at my discretion. I received no compensation and was not required to review in exchange. I do thank the author for the opportunity to read his work. He is a must-read author for me!

11/7/14
I so enjoyed this book. Fascinating. I just finished and I wanted to update with a rating and date that I've finished but I think I'll take a day or two to let it sink in before I post my review. I can clearly say I recommend this to anyone - this genre is my new fave and this author is on my must read list.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing historical novel gives us the actual experience of the Albigensian Crusade better than even the best history book (in English) on the subject, Zoe Oldebourg's "The Siege of Montsegur." Why? Because history is written by the victors, and, at least in the temporal sense, the Cathars were defeated by the northern French, the papacy, and the Dominican friars' Inquisition. So, we have to resort to fiction based on history, even speculative fiction like this. Want a book with as-accurate-as-possible history, romance, adventure, poetry, spirituality, and even hard-hitting theological debate? This is your book. It will grab you by the heart, head, and imagination, and, if you're anything like me, never let you go.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

In researching this subject, the author had a dream in which Esclarmonde de Foix appeared to him and asked him to tell her story. This extensive, multilayered story tells the story of the lost teachings of Christ that were passed down from Akhenaten to Moses, the Essenes, early Christians, Bogomils and Cathars. It is about alternative teachings of the gnostic Cathars that deny the traditional Gospels and Pauline letters, the former speaking of the Light of Christ and God stemming from within each follower. It’s a religious point of view that is deeply spiritual. It began in what is now the southern part of France in Occitania and ends in Baragoza, Aragon in the 13th Century (1194 to 1250). It’s about the wild and passionate determination of Cistercian and Dominican clergy to quash these teachings and the Cathar believers.

This is history, romance, adventure, spirituality, theological debates and history told about a conflict that finally ended in disastrous massacre at Montsegur. These are the teachings of the Essenes later taught by the dynamic female leader Esclarmonde de Foix who renounced physical love that her whole being might be attuned to the Divine Light. She is an aggregate of several real women but no less credible and compelling through the poetic license taken by the author to present her character. The teachings suggest that those who practice violence will be doomed to be reborn into the same life and level of violence. If so, there are dozens of characters in these pages who make torture, persecution and death into a level of violence that at times is beyond endurable.

At the same time, it casts doubt on teachings like Purgatory, hell, and salvation that sound more like condemnation than the love of a merciful, loving God. Besides being a great story, in these pages is found several theological debates that will leave readers thinking and pondering personal beliefs.

There are Courts of Love begun by Eleanor of Aquitaine in which troubadours vie with each other to compose and sing of the ways of love, claiming them as a model of chivalric living and loving that all true knights and princes must follow. Ironically, these sayings are also a mirror for the love of God, to be followed by those who claim to be Christian. However, most of these same knights, princes, and clerical leaders manifest the exact opposite in their mission to destroy every Cathar follower, no matter their social and economic status.

This is a novel that will haunt readers long after the last pages are read. The author is to be commended for the creation of this passionate depiction of true history and spirituality which has been hidden and denied for far too long. Highly recommended historical fiction superbly created and presented!

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible, mesmerizing book! The author literally puts the reader into the scene with vivid detail so real that you feel that you are actually there. This fictional story is based on historical events that occured during the 13th century. Despite being a fictional story, the reader has the opportunity to explore the possible reality that the Cathars and Esclarmonde de Foix were subjected to. If the reader comes away with only one thing from this story...it should be the fact that no group of people, now or in the near future, should ever be forced to give up their beliefs/lifestyle nor be brutally butchered by those who claim authority over them.

[Barbara June Pettibone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific Book

Exciting and fast paced, well written. The story of the Cathars is close to my heart—. While it seems unimaginable that such violence toward a relatively small religious group could happen, we still see it today, wherever we turn. Makes you think hard about where the human race is headed.

[Cheryl Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glen Craney makes me want to be more serious about research. This is an amazing read -- especially if you're like me and wonder where all the ladies of history were. Invest the time. You'll come out with a little more resolve to accomplish what you might have thought wasn't possible.

[L doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Had a hard time putting it down. I found the story line drawing me in. The characters and how they lived seemed so real. Religious clergy held so much power over the lives of everyone! It was a brutal time to live. Definitely a great read!

[Temple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Everything about it says success...it was absolutely amazing. The style of writing was spell-binding, deep, and thought provoking. Just the kind of book you want to get lost in!

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the late 1100's Occitania or better known as Southern France was a free land with it's own official language and it was not French. Occitania was also home to a sect of gnostic Christians called the Cathars. The Cathars branched off a group of people called the Bogomils who came from the Baltic region. The Cathar doctrine was different from the Catholic doctrine in a variety of ways. In the Cathar view the God of the old testament was a evil god who created and ran the the world. The material worl was a prison for our souls and the objective was not to go through another life time but to be able to descend to heaven in a robe of light. That was the object of Jesus's life and resurection. The Catholics twisted this they believed. Of course the ideological differences would spark an even known as the Algibensian Crusades. The Cathars were eventually wiped out and Occitania was eventually taken over by the French under King Louis. The Occitanians lost their last bit of freedom during the 1240's.

The story starts off in the Occitanian city of Foix. Esclarmade is being tested for her initiation in the school of love. In Occitania Troubadors are free to go around and sing their love to young maiden. The love is not always requited. One such Troubador is named Folques de Marseille and his objective is Escalarmade. Needless to say she turns him down and chooses a Templar as her poetic champion. The Templar is poor poet yet he somehow bests Folques. Folques in his dissappointment decide to join a Catholic order called the Cistercians. These monk are out to get the Cathars. They pervade Occitania insearch of them. In Rome Folques and Almaric conniove a plan to invade Occitania with Pope permission to conquer Occitania. Mean while Esclarmade becomes associated with this group while hiking in the caves of Montsegur. She also find out her mother belonged to the sect before she disappeared. In a space of time covering the 1190's all the way to 1244 many things will happen.

Escalarmade will become a perfecta in the Cathar sect. She will fall in unrequited love with Guillhelm the Templar, win a debate against the Catholic church, be forced into a marriage after Gulhelm loses a fight and lose a child to the Catholic Church. Occitania will become over run and much like the inquisition Occitania will be over run and Cathar s will be burned at the stake like witches were. Cities are devasted and forced into submission. Humanity at it's cruelest.

Montesgur becomes a temple for the Cathars and it is there that a final confrontation takes place. The ending is not happy as you can well imagine. Esclarmade's son ends up joining the Dominicans and pursuing the fight against the Cathars. Occitania gets over run. Excelent piece of historical fiction with great attention to details. This is one well worth the read. Too bad the author has not come out with any other books.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a raging fascination with the history of religions so when presented with books, fiction or non fiction, I dive right in. The historical fiction tomes send me off to the google to figure out the reality from the story but when it comes to a sect like the Cathars who tried to co-exist with the might and power of the Catholic Church at the height of its reign well – we all know that history is written by the victors and what they write is often skewed. So what do we really know about this band of religious rebels? Not nearly enough to truly understand them but certainly enough to create a novel worth reading.

The author admits in his note that he extrapolates from history and from what I could learn he does play a little fast and loose with timelines and real people but that is the purview of “poetic license” I suppose. The book is part love story part war story as Pope Innocent III embarks on the destruction of a sect he feels is a danger to his power base.

The book is well written with engaging characters. There’s a lot of war and the subsequent description thereof but you can’t have war without it now can you? History tells us the outcome of the Cathars but Mr. Craney gives them life for another century to appreciate.

[Paul Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself in unfamiliar territory regarding location, time and subject while reading The Fire and the Light, not that that is a bad thing. The 13th Century is not my normal reading period, French history is not my usual subject and the Albigensian Crusade is just a distant history lesson long since forgotten. What I found in picking up this book is a marvelous story by Mr. Craney. He has taken the bits and pieces of this historical event and has crafted a tale worthy enough to be thought of as actual history, rather than fiction. The characters are superbly written, from the spiritual leader of the Cathars, Esclarmonde, to the dastardly members of the Church seeking to destroy her and her band of heretics. The emotions and the conflicts engendered by the Cathar beliefs are true high points in the narrative; the giving up of everything, including those you love, the willingness to die for those beliefs, the extreme suffering endured...all of this and more kept me enthralled and entertained throughout the tale. Once again, I found myself immersed in a setting so brutally real that I would put the book down for a bit, catch my breath before returning to it. 4.7 stars and a Hoover Book Review "Highly Recommended Award"

[Mary]

A novel of the Cathars and the Lost Teachings of Christ. Christians of long ago fought and disagreed often. Killing for their truth instead of loving as Jesus suggested.

[N.W. Moors · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fire and the Light is a fictional account of the Cathars and the fall of Montsegur. It is the time of the Courts of Love, originated by Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the troubadours. Mr. Craney has taken an aggregate of several women named Esclarmonde and created Esclarmonde de Foix, an Occitan noblewoman who becomes intrigued by the new religion sweeping the south of France. He weaves her story into the history of the Cathars ending with the fall of Montsegur, a fortress occupied by the Cathars just north of the Pyrenees near Carcassonne.
The author concentrates on the love story between his heroine and a renegade Templar knight named Guillhelm though he also covers the story of the wars the French king and the Catholic Church wage against the Cathars. Elements of the Cathar's secrets covered by books such as The DaVinci Code are also covered here. The writing is dense and covers a lot of material. It is a good fictional account for readers who don't know much about the Cathars and want some background.

[Uuencode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like it and stopped at chapter 3. Can't give less than 3 stars - well researched but unconvincing. A love story between a noble female cathar and a templar? I doubt it. The writing style is close to those ten-a-penny Harlequin series and not my cup of tea.

[Deby M · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Fire and the Light' by Glen Craney is historical fiction of the first order. It is set in southern France at the turn of the 12th century. The Cathars were a heretical Christian religious sect that occupied this area as an independent state around 1200 called Occitaine.
Legend has it that the Cathars were the Keepers of the Holy Grail.
The unifying thread is the love story between Esclarmonde de Foix, a mesmerizing Cathar noblewoman and a Templar Knight named Guilhelm during the Albigensian Crusade.
This crusade pitted the powerful Catholic pope and the King of France against the Cathars who were well entrenched and loosely allied with the kingdom of Aragon (Spain). The 40 year war pretty much wiped out every Catharian alive.

[Sandi De · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fire and the Light

I have read many books about the Cathars and the crusade against them, but this book has info that I was unaware of. I would highly recommend this very good historical fiction.

[Suzie Larochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!!! I highly recommend Craney's historical novel, as it is so well written that you don't want to put it down. I had read some books about the Cathar faith and this one only added to my desire to learn more about it. Glen, thank you for this wonderful treat!!

[Mr Paul Lockhart]

Excellent

Absolutely absorbing read. Couldn't put it down. Craney is a master story teller, weaving facts and fancy to develop characters of substance. An emotional rollercoaster.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it to the end... eventually. I'm not sure why I bothered.

[Christelle Faul Marais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it!

[JHM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went back and forth between really enjoying this book and wanting to throttle the author. In the end, I liked it well enough to buy my own copy after returning my reading copy to the library.

I've put this on my "historical fiction" shelf here on GoodReads, but the story is actually a myth: one person's vivid reconstruction of what might have happened to central figures in an evocative but myseterious sacred story. There is truthfulness in the tale, even if many of the facts are lost to history and even -- as one Amazon.com reviewer accused -- the author took significant liberties with the known facts.

The positive elements of the book are its strong characterizations, gripping story, and vivid writing. I cared about these characters and was deeply moved by their suffering.

The negative element is also the writing. Craney obviously put a great deal of effort into being descriptive, but he went overboard. I don't have the book in front of me to give specific examples, but when someone with a graduate degree has to pick up a dictionary to know what color a character's eyes are, the author has gone too far. Likewise, a description of a sunrise does not need three different, unrelated metaphors in a single sentence. The manuscript could have been pruned of these excesses and been stronger for it.

[Jim Galford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the time of the Cathars, a peaceful offshoot of the Catholic church that Pope Innocent destroyed for defying him. Well written, based in accurate history, the story holds your interest throughout.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started this a long time ago... want to finish.

[Earle Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all Celts