The mindset of martyrs who 'chose' to be burnt to death rather than recant their beliefs?

[AgentZigzag]

I'm just reading Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (great read ) and half of it is in 13th century France.

It centres on the (Christian) Cathars, who were opposed to the materialism of the Catholic Church, that the material world was the work of the devil and souls were trapped here until they died when they had a chance of getting back to the Kingdom of God, if they missed that chance they'd be reincarnated onto the earth to begin the process again.

The Catholic Church at the time didn't take kindly to this challenge to their political power and hunted down the ever growing population of Cathars, resulting in the Inquisition.

In the book it talks about the siege and eventual fall of Chateau de Montsegur, where in 1244 more than 200 people chose to walk the pyre they were going to be burnt to death on rather than recant their Cathar beliefs.

What was going on there then do you think?

Was it just the pure belief that they'd be betraying God if they submitted to the Catholic Church?

Could it have been social pressure? Maybe they felt they owed something to the community they lived in and couldn't let the other people down?

Did every martyr have a different reason for their choice?

But what about individual martyrs from different time periods, did they have similar motivations? Maybe their decisions can be explained just by the age they were living in, where making The Choice was a matter of principle and the way faith was understood made it impossible to make any other choice.

I can understand them knowing 'the truth' and how they thought that after death was more important than life itself, but to stake the fear everyone has of extreme pain at the time of their death, on an idea, is a huge commitment.

Why do you think they chose an agonising public death, over life?

Eeek, I hit post instead of preview, sorry for any typos

Perhaps they didn't.

Perhaps those who put them to death wanted people to see someone die an agonising death because that was a more powerful and controlling image than the threat of it could ever be. They then organised records to show that the person chose to die. I mean, if you think about it, if you have a problem with people defying you, and you burn one of them in front of everyone, and say to them that they chose this rather than recant their belief and this is your choice too. Recant or you're next - what would you do?

Or maybe their faith was so strong that they knew if they could only endure, they would pass into heaven and be with God

Or maybe some of each.

I read that last summer. It was ok. People die for their country. I don't think it's that weird to die for your beliefs.

Catholics died for their beliefs during the reign of Protestant Queen Elizabeth the first - and Protestants died during Mary the firsts reign. I think in our modern age of skepticism it is easy to dismiss these things but I think many people would still be willing to die for their religious beliefs.

People are still prepared to die for their political beliefs. And religious beliefs.

I think the martyrdom of people who resisted Nazism is often overlooked, for example.

There is a book called Jesus freaks which looks at modern day martyrdom. it was compulsive reading but unsettling also.

Some people prefer to die than become slaves. Masada being another good example. Where the occupants chose suicide rather than become slaves to the Romans.

Guru Tegh Bahadur died protecting religious freedom of all from the Mughul Emperor.

Currently Tibetan Monks are setting themselves on fire to protest about what is going on.

And there was the man whose self-immolation started the Arab Spring.

Many people around the world risk their lives every day for declaring their faith and meeting with others to worship.

"Why do you think they chose an agonising public death, over life?" ... I suppose people are choosing eternal life over physical life as it promises to be far greater than anything on Earth.

I also think that societal attitudes plays a large part, including attitudes on life, death, acceptable social control and hierarchies of power; these have obviously changed dramatically over time. Interesting question AgentZigzag.