The Treasure of Montsegur: A Novel of the Cathars by Sophy Burnham

“Little is known of Cathar faith, and most of it only from the point of view of its enemies. They worshiped Christ, were pacifists, vegetarians, with strict rules of poverty, work, chastity, charity. They believed that humans were fallen angels. 

Pope Innocent III called for a Christian Crusade against another Christian group. The largest army ever seen in Europe, perhaps as many as three hundred thousand men, gathered in the Languedoc region, which is now the south of France, to fight the heretics – the Cathars.

Events came to a head on May 13, 1243, when the French laid siege to the fortress of Montsegur. It was one of the longest sieges in history, lasting some ten months. Two hundred Good Christians, the cream of the Cathar Church, were trapped on the mountaintop, together with a protecting garrison.

In January of 1244 the Cathars, seeing the end was near, smuggled their treasure of gold and money off the mountaintop and hid it “underground.”

They held out for another six weeks, but on March 1, 1244, the fortress fell. On the night of the surrender, three perfecti and one other, who may have been a guide, were lowered down the cliff on ropes and vanished into the woods. Their task: to keep their church alive.

The Cathar treasure has never been found. Supposedly Hitler sent an expedition to the south of France to search for it. Strange tales make more of the mystery, connecting the treasure and the Cathar heresy to the Knights Templar and various occult brotherhoods.”

In this imagined story intertwined with many historical figures, Jeanne of Beziers is a fictional heroine and becomes the “one other” guiding three perfecti down the cliff.

Her story alternates in time, present and past. She is orphaned by Crusaders who massacred her city of Beziers, killing 20,000 people. She is adopted by Lady Esclarmonde and educated in the way of Cathars - the “pure ones.”

At the age of 14, for misbehaving, she is send to Montsegur to learn chastity and appreciation. She is put under care of Bishop of Cathars, Guilhabert de Castres. He turns out to be a man of great knowledge, full of compassion and understanding. “That’s the first lesson I’m trying to teach you Jeanne – how to love – in order that you don’t need someone else’s power to make you whole.”

At Montsegur, she meets William, an Englishman with whom she discovers wall paintings in a cave.

When she is called to return to lady Esclarmonde, she finds out that her marriage is already arranged.

Later, she is back at Montsegur, when it is under the siege.

Overall, the story is well-written and pretty engrossing. The one thing that confused me was the ending. It seems as the author created two endings.

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