Cathars and the Treasure of Montsegur
The Treasure of Montsegur is a novel that follows the life of protagonist Jeanne of Béziers. This fictional account intertwines with factual events that surround the Albigensian Crusade, which culminates in the fall of the mountain fortress of Montsegur, reported to have occurred on the 1st March 1244, during which over 200 Cathari were killed.
The novel plots the life of Jeanne, through her adolescent years when she was adopted by the Cathars as a baby following a massacre by the Catholic Church (the sacking of Béziers in July 1209AD, killing 20-60,000 unarmed civilians including women and children), through her adulthood and all the pleasures and pains that accompany love and relationships, centering around her love William, a freedom fighter, and her best friend since childhood, Baiona. These relationships give us a window into the life of the Cathari, as Baiona is seen as a model Cathar by Jeanne and Baiona’s tutor, Lady Esclarmonde, whereas Jeanne is seen more as a dreamer (“She wanted to pitch herself out in the sweet heavy air and . . . fly.”).
The name Cathar was actually a name fashioned by the Catholic church to amalgamate each of the Gnostic Catholic sects, or cults as the Papal rule envisaged them, that had popped up in the Languedoc region of France in the Middle Ages. The Cathari locally, and to some degree throughout the Catholic territories within Europe, were seen as good and moral people, and the name ‘Cathari’ actually can be translate as ‘the Pure Ones’, and thus deriving their other name of the Albigensians.
From the novel, we can appreciate the similarities between the practices of the Cathari and the orthodox Catholic church through the fundamental teachings of the Bible. As Lady Esclarmonde preaches, “God is found in silence, stillness, and prayer”. However, there are very fundamental differences between the Cathar and Ordodox practices. The the keystone believe of the Catholic Church is that Christ resurrected three days after His
The novel plots the life of Jeanne, through her adolescent years when she was adopted by the Cathars as a baby following a massacre by the Catholic Church (the sacking of Béziers in July 1209AD, killing 20-60,000 unarmed civilians including women and children), through her adulthood and all the pleasures and pains that accompany love and relationships, centering around her love William, a freedom fighter, and her best friend since childhood, Baiona. These relationships give us a window into the life of the Cathari, as Baiona is seen as a model Cathar by Jeanne and Baiona’s tutor, Lady Esclarmonde, whereas Jeanne is seen more as a dreamer (“She wanted to pitch herself out in the sweet heavy air and . . . fly.”).
The name Cathar was actually a name fashioned by the Catholic church to amalgamate each of the Gnostic Catholic sects, or cults as the Papal rule envisaged them, that had popped up in the Languedoc region of France in the Middle Ages. The Cathari locally, and to some degree throughout the Catholic territories within Europe, were seen as good and moral people, and the name ‘Cathari’ actually can be translate as ‘the Pure Ones’, and thus deriving their other name of the Albigensians.
From the novel, we can appreciate the similarities between the practices of the Cathari and the orthodox Catholic church through the fundamental teachings of the Bible. As Lady Esclarmonde preaches, “God is found in silence, stillness, and prayer”. However, there are very fundamental differences between the Cathar and Ordodox practices. The the keystone believe of the Catholic Church is that Christ resurrected three days after His