Not She Which Burns

Montségur can be deceptive. From the approach road, the fortress appears to nestle in a valley among soaring, wooded mountain peaks. At this distance it seems vulnerable, a huddled figure, a woman bent in prayer. Nearer, it appears a giant rock slab—obdurate, unyielding, masculine. Its forbidding four thousand foot height can be safely scaled only on its southwest side—all other approaches too precipitous for any but the bravest or most foolhardy humans. On this pog the castle, a stone phallus, protrudes from craggy rocks.

Those who live within the fortress walls experience its androgynous features. Inside the castle, humans feel safe. With vast amounts of food stored there and a cistern that seemingly never goes dry, the inhabitants can imagine no attacking military force penetrating its enclosure. And with more than a hundred holy men and women—perfecti—praying day and night, it becomes a spiritual as well as a physical citadel. The Christian community within feels itself safely enclosed as in a womb.

Yet at times the mountain rebuffs even its inhabitants. The rocky infertile soil denies simple evolution to plants, to animals, to humans. The limited space of the small castle forces them into communal living that deprives everyone of privacy. The Perfecti escape their fellow humans through prayer and meditation; the rest of the population finds solitude by sleeping as in a tomb.

For twenty years of the Albigensian Crusade, Catholic and French troops slaughter more than one hundred thousand Cathars. The Catholics harass the Cahars by using Inquisition against heresy. Those who are labled heretics are burned at the stake. A line from Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale explains the title "It is a heretic that makes the fire, Not she which burns in't."

At the start of the 13th Century, Cathar Christians arrive in increasing numbers in Languedoc. Wealthy and better educated than the French of the north, they value music, poetry, and art. Count Raymond VII is politically astute. When his citizens seek protection, he raises money and helps. In retaliation, the Catholic Church excommunicates him.

Montségur serves as a church to its inhabitants. It resembles no Catholic Church. No paintings, no statues, no idols grace the whitewashed inner walls. Worship at takes place in a hall, barren save for benches. The only sacred objects include a copy of The Gospel and lighted white tapers.

Seigneur Perella is the lord of Montségur. His daughter Philippa is trained in legal matters and supervises this aspect of the fortress. The bons hommes (good men) use their special talents in debate against the Catholics. The perfecta (perfect women) practice herbal healing and laying on of hands to care for all who live there. Both genders offer psychic advice and predict future events accurately.

Philippa and Troubadour Bernart lived at Montségur Castle in their youth and planned to marry, but Philippa’s parents insist she must marry Pierre-Roger, Commander of the Montségur garrison. Brokenhearted, Bernart goes to Castle Narbonnais in Toulouse and is tutored in music and poetry by various Troubadours who perform for Count Raymond VII of Toulouse.

The marriage of Philippa and Pierre-Roger has its drawbacks. He accuses her of disobeying him and punishes her with reprimands and beatings as he might with garrison soldiers. She joins Bernart with Count Raymond in Toulouse for protection. Philippa and Bernart compose tensions—songs that tease one another about their desire for courtly love. The Count’s guests applaud their humor. Raymond adores Philippa. She is known as the Count’s Troubaritz.

In 1243, Montségur is threatened by the Catholic and French armies with siege and possible defeat. Raymond, Philippa, Bernart, and yes, Pierre-Roger, join forces militarily, politically and amorously to try to save the Cathars and the Sacred Mountain.