7 curious pieces of information about the Cathars and the mysteries of Montsegur that passed on to me when writing Montségur: a novel

When I was writing Montségur: a novel, I was given a lot of information by people I met along the way.  When I received the information from more than one source, or when the veracity of the information rang true, I used it – which is why my book is a novel because, after 777 years, it is difficult to make reliable citations.  

1. Every person who we now refer to as the Cathars carried a personal stone.  This was the only outward representation of their true selves and over their lifetime they etched an image of their soul on it. 

2. Montségur was a protected place of prayer where people deliberately gathered in preparation for this time; it was not a refuge.

3. The Cathars had a beautiful wedding ceremony.

4. The ceremony of the sacrament of the Consolamentum included a chair with writing on it, and a small piece inserted into seat especially for the ceremony. (I was only given partial information about the ceremony so that is all I have included.)

5. The Roman Church believed that there were three known members of the Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene on Montségur, which is why it went to enormous expense to destroy the small community.

6. It was not planned to massacre the inquisitorial party at Avignonet in 1242. And as for Pierre Roger de Mirepoix drinking from the skull of a man who had just been killed minutes beforehand... would it even be possible?

7. I was given a different, plausible version of how besiegers managed to climb Roc de la Tour, which led to the end of the siege.  It fits in with suggestions that there was a betrayal on the mountain – but the story as it was told to me was not as simple as that.

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