What am I to think when encountering the following passage in what is supposed to be a work of history (pop, but history nonetheless)?
" In the thirteenth century, a group of religious extremists based in the town of Albi and known as Albigenisans, launched a series of crusades to cleanse the region of 'heretics.' Asked how to recognize a heretic from a true believer, one Albigensian leader, according to legend, said, 'Kill them all. God knows his own.' The chaos that ensued from this approach is known as the Albigensian Wars. " - Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky
The "kill them all" quote is not exactly obscure, nor is its supposed origin1. How could the writer turn the story exactly around? What am I supposed to do with all the other "facts" he offers?
There is other evidence of sloppiness, other facts unchecked and pictures that don't correspond with the descriptions in the text. In a book that intends to be nothing more than a collection of facts and stories, such carelessness undermines this reader’s trust. And it annoys the hell out of me.
. . .
1 The Cathars, or Albigensians, broke from Catholicism in the early thirteenth century. The Pope declared a Crusade to cleanse southern France of the heresy. "Kill them all. God knows his own" is supposed to have been advice offered to the Catholic forces besieging the town of Beziers by Arnaud Armaury, one of the spiritual leaders of the Catholic forces.
Posted by Martial