THE CATHAR SECRET AND THE GRAIL CONNECTION

For a broader understanding, see my second last blog post entitled "THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE."

A little context...

During and after the Albigensian Crusade, an aura of mystery sprang up around the Cathars, which still exists today. This can be attributed in part to the romantic aura that surrounds any lost and tragic cause - the Bonnie Prince Charlie, for example, has a dazzling sheen, an intoxicating nostalgia, the 'stuff of legend'. At the same time, it was evident that, while the legends were elevated and romanticized, a number of real mysteries still remain.

One of these obvious mysteries is as simple as the origins of the Cathars, which, while initially appearing to be an academic topic, proves to be of tremendous importance. According to most current historians, the Cathars evolved from the Bogomils, a group active in Bulgaria during the 10th and 11th centuries, whose missionaries went westward. There is no doubt that the Albigensian heretics welcomed a handful of Bogomils. A well-known Bogomil preacher was active in political and religious issues at that point in time. Nonetheless, research revealed plenty of proof that the Cathars did not descend from the Bogomils. Actually, they appeared to be the result of something that had been growing in French thought for ages. They appeared to have arisen nearly straight from heresies that were established and cemented in France at the dawn of the Christian era (Runciman, 1982).

There are other, perhaps more intriguing mysteries surrounding the Cathars. "The king (Louis IX) once told me how several men from among the Albigenses had gone to the Comte de Montfort... and asked him to come and look at the body of Our Lord, which had become flesh and blood in the hands of their priest,'' writes Jean de Joinville, an old man writing of his acquaintance with Louis IX during the thirteenth century (Delaborde, 1894). According to the narrative, Montfort is caught aback by the invitation. He remarked, rather irritably, that his entourage may leave, but he will continue to hold convictions in line with the doctrines of the 'Holy Church.' This incident is not elaborated upon or explained further. Joinville himself just mentions it in passing. But how should we interpret that strange invitation? What exactly were the Cathars up to? What kind of ceremony was it? Aside from the Mass, which the Cathars rejected anyway, what could possibly cause "the body of Our Lord... to become flesh and blood"? Whatever it is, there is something alarmingly literal about the sentence.

The Cathar mystery

The Cathar 'treasure' is their biggest mystery.

The Cathars were reputed to be immensely affluent. Technically, their religion banned them from bearing arms; and while many disregarded this rule, the fact remains that a vast number of mercenaries were engaged at great expense. Simultaneously, the origins of Cathar wealth were evident and explicable, such as the devotion they obtained from strong landowners. Even during the Albigensian Crusade, rumors of great spiritual Cathar riches far above material wealth circulated. Whatever it was, it was said to be held at Montsegur. However, when Montségur fell, nothing important was found. And yet there are definitely singular incidents connected with the siege and the capitulation of the fortress.

Two parfaits escaped in January, about three months before the citadel fell. According to trustworthy sources, they carried the majority of the Cathars' material goods with them - a load of gold, silver, and coin that they transported initially to a fortified cave in the highlands and then to a castle fortress. The treasure then vanished and was never seen or heard of again.

On the 1st of march when Montségur fell, its defenders numbered less than 400, with between 150 and 180 of them parfaits and the remainder being knights, squires, men-at-arms, and their families.

They were given terms that were unexpectedly lenient. All previous 'crimes' committed by the fighting men were to be completely expunged. They would be permitted to leave with their weapons, luggage, and any presents, including money from their employers. Unexpected generosity was also shown to the parfaits. If they repented of their heretical ideas and confessed their 'sins' to the Inquisition, they would be set free and subjected to relatively minor penances.

The defenders asked for a two-week truce with no hostilities, giving them time to study the terms. The assailants consented in a gesture of uncommon generosity. In exchange, the defenders offered captives voluntarily. It was agreed upon that if any of the hostages attempted to flee the stronghold, they would be executed.

Were the parfaits so adamant about their views that they voluntarily chose martyrdom over conversion? Or was there something they couldn't - or wouldn't - admit to the Inquisition? Whatever the answer, as far as is known, none of the parfaits accepted the besiegers' terms. Instead, they all chose martyrdom. At least twenty of the fortress's other occupants, including six women and fifteen fighting men, voluntarily accepted the Consolamentum (see my post, THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE) and became parfaits, sentencing themselves to certain death.

The truce came to an end on March 15th. The next morning, more than 200 parfaits were carried down the slope of the mountain. Nobody fought back. There was no time to install individual stakes, so they were imprisoned into a massive wood-filled wooden palisade at the foot of the mountain and burned as a group. The rest of the garrison was confined to the castle and forced to watch. They were warned that any attempt to flee would result in death for all of them as well as the hostages.

Despite this risk, the garrison had conspired to hide four parfaits among them. And on the night of March 16th, these four men, accompanied by a guide, staged another daring escape, this time with the knowledge and cooperation of the garrison. They descended the mountain's sheer western face, dangling by ropes and descending huge drops of hundreds of meters at a time.

What were these guys up to? What was the point of their perilous escape, which put both the soldiers and the hostages in danger? They could have walked freely out of the stronghold the next day, free to continue their lives. Nonetheless, for unknown reasons, they embarked on a mission that could easily have resulted in death for themselves and their colleagues.

The Cathar treasure

According to folklore, these four soldiers carried out the famous Cathar treasure. The Cathar wealth, on the other hand, had been smuggled out of Montségur three months prior. In any case, how much 'wealth' - how much gold, silver, or coin could three or four men carry on their backs while dangling from ropes on a cliff face? If the four escapees were carrying something, it would appear that it was something beyond material wealth.

What could they have been transporting? Perhaps items profound to their faith - books, manuscripts, secret principles, relics, religious artefacts of some type; perhaps something that, for some reason, could not be allowed to fall into the hands of opposing forces. That could clarify why an escape was attempted - an escape fraught with danger for everyone concerned. But, if something so valuable had to be kept out of hostile hands at all costs, why hadn't it been smuggled out before? Why hadn't it been smuggled out with the rest of the material treasure three months ago? Why was it kept in the citadel until this final and most perilous moment?

We could figure out a plausible response to these queries based on the precise date of the truce. It had been chosen by the defenses, who had willingly offered hostages in order to gain it. For some reason, the defenders seem to have thought it was necessary, even if it only delayed the inevitable by two weeks.

Perhaps, such a wait was required to buy time.

Not time in general, but that exact moment and day. It coincided with the spring equinox, which may have had some ritual significance for the Cathars. It also happened to coincide with Easter. However, the Cathars, who questioned the Crucifixion's relevance, gave Easter no special significance. Nonetheless, a feast of some kind was conducted on March 14th, which was the day before the truce ended. There is little doubt that the truce was called for in order for this celebration to take place. And there is little doubt that the festival couldn't have been staged on a random date. It had to be on March 14th, it seemed. Whatever the event was, it definitely had an impact on the hired mercenaries, some of whom, defying death, converted to the Cathar faith. Could this fact be the key to what was smuggled out of Montsegur two nights later? Could whatever was taken out have been required in some way for the 14th festival? Could it have played a role in convincing at least twenty of the defenders to become parfaits at the last minute? And may it have in some way assured the garrison's eventual collusion, even at the risk of their lives?

If the answer to all of these questions is yes, it would explain why whatever was removed on the 16th was not removed sooner - for example, when the monetary treasure was transferred to safety in January. The festival would have required it. And it would have had to be kept out of the hands of opposing forces.

The Cathars and the Holy Grail

Despite its obscurity, there appears to be some connection between the Cathars and the Grail romances as it evolved over the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

A number of authors, including Chretien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach, have suggested that the Grail stories constitute an interpolation of Cathar ideology, veiled behind intricate symbolism, into the heart of orthodox Christianity. That assertion may be exaggerated, but it also contains some truth. Ecclesiastics railed against the Grail stories during the Albigensian Crusade, considering them injurious, if not blasphemous. And there are isolated sections in several of these romances that are not only exceedingly unconventional, but also undeniably dualist - characteristically Cathar.

Furthermore, Wolfram von Eschenbach says in one of his Grail stories that the Grail castle was located in the Pyrenees (the mountain range housing Montségur), which Richard Wagner appears to have accepted literally and the name of the Grail castle, according to Wolfram, was Munsalvaesche - a Germanicised variant of Montsalvat, a Cathar term. In one of Wolfram's poems, the lord of the Grail fortress is referred to as Perilla. And, the ruler of Montségur was Raimon de Pereille, whose name appears on papers of the time as Perilla in Latin.

As mentioned, just after the truce expired, something was smuggled out of Montségur. According to legend, the four men who escaped from the doomed fortress carried the Cathar riches with them. However, the monetary treasure had been sneaked out three months before. Could the Cathar 'treasure,' have consisted soley of a secret? Could that secret have been linked to something known as the Holy Grail in some unfathomable way? It seems impossible that the Grail romances could be taken literally.

Whatever treasure was trafficked out of Montségur had to have been transported somewhere. According to legend, it was brought to the walled caves of Ornolac in the Ariege, where a group of Cathars were soon slaughtered. But only skeletons have ever been discovered at Ornolac. The village of Rennes-le-Chateau, on the other hand, is only a half-day horseback ride from Montségur. Whatever was smuggled out could have ended up at Rennes-le-Chateau or, more likely in, one of the caves that dot the surrounding mountains. And, if the 'secret' of was what was discovered years after in one of those caves by their new parish priest Sauniere, that would surely explain a lot (stay tuned in for a potential post about Sauniere).

The word 'treasure' seems to conceal something else in the case of the Cathars - knowledge or information of some type. Given the Cathars' stubborn dedication to their beliefs and their vehement animosity for Rome, it is possible that said knowledge or information (if it existed) was tied in some way to Christianity - to its doctrines and theology, possibly to its history and origins.

Was it possible, in a nutshell that the Cathars (or at least a few Cathars) knew something that contributed to Rome's fervent desire to get rid of them (the Albigensian crusade).

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• DELABORDE, H.-F. 1894. Jean de Joinville et les seigneurs de Joinville: suivi d'un catalogue de leurs actes, Imprimerie nationale, p. 174.

• RUNCIMAN, S. 1982. The medieval Manichee: a study of the Christian dualist heresy, Cambridge University Press, p.117.

• LINCOLN, H., BAIGENT, M. & LEIGH, R. 2013. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Random House.