FRENCH JOURNEY - PROGRAMME 2

MONTSÉGUR 

South of Toulouse, on the edge of the Pyrenees, lies a region of craggy peaks and ruined castles. The remains of the Cathar castles date back to the 13th century when the region was ruled by powerful feudal lords.

The Cathars were Christians whose beliefs departed radically from the Catholic Church of the time. They believed the physical world to be the work of the Devil and were declared heretics and driven into hiding. This castle became the seat of their resistance. It’s known as Montségur, or Safe Mountain. Historian Fabrice Chambon helped David unravel the Cathar story.

Fabrice Chambon:  This mountain is like an enormous spur, 300m long. This spur ends in a cliff close to the tower.  On top of the mountain is the castle we're in now.  And the whole mountain, in the time of the Cathars, was fortified by at least four successive lines of defence, four walls.  So we can reasonably believe that up to 2,000 people lived permanently on the mountain.  They lived not just in this enclosure,  but on the whole mountain in a village that was fortified at the summit.

For over 30 years Montsegur resisted. But by 1243 not one single Cathar leader remained outside  its walls.

Fabrice Chambon:  At the start of 1243 - in May - the King of France raised a powerful army and arrived in the valley below the castle.  This army began a terrible siege which was to last almost a year.  During the first nine months of the siege all the assaults by the Crusaders were repelled.  And with each assault against Montségur's lines of defence the Crusaders suffered catastrophic losses.  Then we come to Christmas 1243.  At this point the captains of the Crusaders have an interesting idea - to attack the mountain at its most difficult line of defence on Christmas Day.  It's to be a commando operation.  It's here that the Crusaders installed their war machines  - catapults and slings, to bombard the castle in front of us.  And so on 1st March 1244 comes the final attack.  By the end of the day on 1st March 1244 the Montségur garrison realises that this is the end.  And so, after 11 months of combat Montségur raises the white flag.

On the night of 16 March 1244 the papal army finally took Montségur. As the besieged Cathars gathered for a final supper, the crusaders began to stoke pyres at the foot of the mountain.   The Cathars were given the choice of renouncing their faith and survive or perishing in the flames. The next morning, over 200 believers wound their way down the mountainside and hurled themselves into the flames.

David: Did they throw themselves into the flames voluntarily?

Fabrice Chambon:  Yes, they threw themselves in voluntarily, yes and no. If you like, they had the choice in as far as either they rejected their faith, therefore saving their life, or they kept their Cathar faith, but then they ended up in the fire. There wasn't a single Cathar - at least in Montségur - who wanted to reject their faith. They all went to the stake.

Catharism had been dealt its death blow. But to this day the castle of Montségur remains a poignant symbol of this faith.

Copyright BBC 2000.