Hans Vogel poses some questions concerning the currently prevailing “hitparade of evildoers,” arguing that it is historically impossible to qualify or quantify evil.
Another evil force that should have been included is the Vatican, especially the genocide on the Cathars.
Historians estimate that by the end of the great crusade against Catharism, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 residents of Languedoc were slaughtered. In a world where the global population was a mere 5% of what it is today - no more than 390 million - and in a region where the entire populations of towns and villages were killed, with bodies piled up dead or alive onto enormous human bonfires - it is wholly in proportion to describe this as the first genocide in Western history.
To give you a sense of scale, in the Second World War, the Nazi war machine was directly responsible for reducing the world’s population by approximately 0.06%. It is estimated that the Catholic crusade against the Cathars reduced the global population by 0.26%. A genocide by any definition.
Another evil force that should have been included is the Vatican, especially the genocide on the Cathars.
Historians estimate that by the end of the great crusade against Catharism, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 residents of Languedoc were slaughtered. In a world where the global population was a mere 5% of what it is today - no more than 390 million - and in a region where the entire populations of towns and villages were killed, with bodies piled up dead or alive onto enormous human bonfires - it is wholly in proportion to describe this as the first genocide in Western history.
To give you a sense of scale, in the Second World War, the Nazi war machine was directly responsible for reducing the world’s population by approximately 0.06%. It is estimated that the Catholic crusade against the Cathars reduced the global population by 0.26%. A genocide by any definition.