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The Château de Montségur is probably the best known of all Cathar Castles. It is famous as the last Cathar stronghold, which fell after a 10 month siege in 1244. A field below the hill-top castle is reputed to be the site where over 200 Cathars were burned alive, having refused to renounce their faith.
A building on this site sheltered a community of Cathar women at the end of the twelfth century. Early in the thirteenth, Ramon de Pereille the co-seigneur and Chatelaine, was asked to make it defensible, anticipating the problems to come.
It is open to the public, as is a museum in the nearby modern village of Montségur. There is an entrance fee for both. |
| The Château de Montségur |
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Getting There: Montségur is in the Ariege, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, not far from Lavelanet, due South from Mirepoix.
Montségur lies at 42°52'35" N, 1°49'51" E on a pog (a volcanic pluton) at an altitude of 1,207 meters. The castle is owned by the Commune of Montségur. There is an entrance fee, which also covers entry to a museum in the nearby town.
Guided Tours
:www://www.citaenet.com/montsegur
guide.montsegur@wanadoo.fr
Tel: 05 61 01 06 94 Fax: 05 61 03 11 27
Mairie: mairie.montsegur@wanadoo.fr
Tel: 05 61 0110 27
Tourist Information Office:
Tel: 05 61 03 03 03 |
Google map showing the location of Château de Montségur |
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 From
1232 Montsegur became the headquarters of the Cathar community in
the Languedoc, and a refugee centre for "faidits" - outlaws who
had been stripped of their lands and goods by the Roman Church.
These faidits, exact counterparts of the more recent maquis, continued
to wage a guerilla war against the invaders.
 After
the failure of the uprising against the French invaders, the defeat
of Henry
III, King of England by Louis IX of France, the events at Avignonet,
and the capitulation of Raymond
VII, all in 1243, the Council of Béziers
decided to destroy the last vestiges of Catharism. The Cathar sympathisers
responsible for killing the Inquisitors at Avignonet
were known to have come from Montségur in the the Pyrenees.
The Council therefore decided to "cut off the head of the dragon"
by which they meant to take the château there, the last remaining
major centre of Cathar belief. The château, perched on top
of a majestic hill (called a pog), had already been reinforced.
 The castle was besieged later in 1443 by Hughes des Arcis, Seneschal of Carcassonne for the King of France. For months the siege was unsuccessful but shortly before Christmas a group of Basque mercenaries scaled a seemingly impossible sheer cliff face, and overran a forward position. From here, under the direction of a Catholic bishop specialising in war machines, the French were able to construct catapults.
This spelled the end of all hope. The garrison surrendered on 2 March 1244 having negotiated a truce of two weeks, after which the Parfaits would have to abjure their faith or burn alive.
  The
story of the siege of Montségur is one of the most moving
of all the tragedies associated with the war against the Cathars.
Even the most hostile writers were struck by the significance
of events at Montségur, when against expectation the
ranks of the doomed Parfaits
increased during the two weeks' truce.
The site is spectacular, and well worth a visit. There are guided tours from February to December.
Things to note:
- You can see the modern village of Montségur from the
castle miles below: a photograph on the right shows the view from
the castle walls.
- You can see the foundations of some Cathar buildings (the original
village of Montségur) behind the present castle, which
is of course French. Despite this, you may well hear
experts on the Cathars expounding theories not only that the Cathars
built this castle, but that for religious reasons they built it
in a perfect alignment with the rising sun. - perhaps
a distorted version of the fact that the keep and and one wall
are aligned on a South-east - North-west axis.
- You can get to the donjon (keep) from the outside. Go through
the postern gate and turn left.
- Not all castles had drawbridges. Montségur, like many
others, had an external doorway far off the ground, with a wooden
access ramp that could be removed or destroyed whenever a siege
threatened. (See modern counterpart to the right)
- A single loophole (arrow slit) in the wall of the donjon, covers
the courtyard.
- You can just see the castles at Puivert
and Roquefixade
from the keep.
- At the bottom of the pog on which the Castle sat is a monument
next the the field where 225 Parfait were burned alive.
They were herded into a specially made pen in the early morning
of 16th March. They included three generations of one family -
Grandmother, Mother and Daughter. People still leave flowers there.
The French have a word for the act of burning people alive - they call it a Bûché. There is no exact counterpart in English. The nearest we have is burn at the stake. You may see the word translated in some literature as massacre or occasionally left as bûché in English translations.
A stele (shown right) marks the spot where the Cathars are believed
to have been burned alive. Another monument stone by the road reads
in French
:
EN CE LIEU LE 16 MARS 1244
PLUS DE 200 PERSONNES ONT ÉTÉ BRULÉES.
ELLES N'AVAIENT PAS VOULU RENIER LEUR FOI. |
IN THIS PLACE ON 16th MARCH 1244
MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE WERE BURNED
THEY CHOSE NOT TO ABJURE THEIR FAITH. |
The castle was classified as an Historical Monument in 1875.
     Many visitors take flowers, usually red and yellow, the colours of Aragon, of Toulouse and of Foix, to whom the victims all owed their allegiance.
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ariel view of Montségur
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ariel view of Montségur on its pog
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Montségur courtyard
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Montségur stele memorial
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view of Montségur
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| Montségur walls |
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| Montségur walls |
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Accommodation at Montségur
Camping overnight at the site of the castle is forbidden. There
are however places to stay in the nearby village of Montsegur, and
nearby. Among them are
La Taillade
de Montségur: High quality chalets, built on spacious
plots, bordered by shrubs and trees to maintain privacy, and integrated
with the landscape, combining the freedom of camping with the comforts
of a holiday cottage.
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Below are the lyrics of a song by Iron Maiden called Montségur
(from the Dance of Death album) inspired by Bruce Dickinson's holiday
stay near Montségur.
I stand alone in this desolate space. In death they are truly alive.
Massacred innocence, evil took place. The angels were burning inside.
Centuries later I wonder why. What secret that they took to their
grave.
Still burning heretics under our skies. Religion still burning inside.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
As we kill them all so god will know his own. The innocents died
for the pope on his throne.
Catholic greed and its paranoid zeal. Curse of the grail and the
blood of the cross.
Templar believers with blood on their hands. Joined in the chorus
to kill on command.
Burned at the stake for their soul's liberty. To stand with the
Cathars to die and be free.
The book of old testament crippled and black. Satan his weapon
is lust.
Living this evil damnation of flesh, back to the torture of life.
The perfect would willingly have died at the stake and all of their
followers slain.
As for the knowledge of god they had claimed. Religion still burning
inside.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
As we kill them all so god know his own. The innocents died for
the pope on his throne.
Catholic greed and its paranoid zeal. Curse of the grail and the
blood of the cross.
Templar believers with blood on their hands. Joined in the chorus
to kill on command.
Burned at the stake for their soul's liberty. Still burning heretics
under our skies.
As we kill them all so God WILL know his own. Laugh at the darkness
and in God we trust.
The eye of the triangle smiling with sin. No passover feast for
the curse of within.
Facing the sun as they went to their grave. Burn like a dog or
you live like a slave.
Death is the price for your soul's liberty. To stand with the Cathars
and to die and be free.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
At the gates and the walls of Montségur. Blood on the stones
of the citadel.
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