Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

The Invisible European Caste: The Forgotten Story of the Cagots

by Cathal O'Niell
Save 10% Save 10%
Current price ₹827.00
Original price ₹920.00
Original price ₹920.00
Original price ₹920.00
(-10%)
₹827.00
Current price ₹827.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Paperback
  • ISBN13: 9798298990202
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Subject: History
  • Publisher: Independently Published
  • Publisher Imprint: Independently Published
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 146
  • Original Price: USD 10.0
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 150 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Europe / France

The Invisible European Caste: The Forgotten Story of the Cagots

The Cagots represent one of history's most puzzling cases of systematic persecution-a group subjected to eight centuries of discrimination despite being physically, culturally, and religiously identical to their oppressors. From approximately 1000 to 1800 CE, these communities across southwestern France and northern Spain endured comprehensive exclusion that touched every aspect of daily life.

Unlike other persecuted minorities who faced discrimination based on visible differences, the Cagots were marked only by inherited social designation. They were forced to live in separate quarters, use narrow church doors designed to humiliate, wear identifying badges, and work only in restricted trades like carpentry and rope-making. Medieval society created elaborate myths to justify their treatment-claiming they were descendants of lepers, heretics, or cursed bloodlines-yet genetic research confirms no distinguishing characteristics whatsoever.

What makes their story uniquely important is how it reveals the arbitrary nature of human prejudice. When the French Revolution legally ended their persecution, most Cagots chose strategic disappearance over integration, successfully vanishing into the general population through geographic mobility and concealed identities. Their systematic self-erasure means few people today know their story, despite sixty Pyrenean churches still containing the narrow "Cagot doors" that once enforced their daily humiliation.

This forgotten history offers crucial insights into how discrimination operates through seemingly natural social arrangements, making it essential reading for understanding both historical injustice and contemporary patterns of exclusion.

Trusted for over 48 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us