The Chatelaine of Montaillou

I came across this book on a vacation in the Languedoc to visit the many spectacular Cathar Castles and to learn about the Crusades in that part of the world. It was a very engaging read, clearly written and very accessible. The story is based on transcripts taken during the Inquisition, of a woman who was accused of heresy. It is a chilling story in large part because it reflects the terrible reality of those times and the terrorism of the Inquisition, which began in this area after the Crusade started in 1209 failed to eliminate heretics. In telling the story, the author weaves in much information about everyday life for people in those times. I found it an excellent supplement to the dryer historical information I read about the sites we visited, and far deeper than standard tourist brochures which are generally very brief and superficial (of necessity). Visiting Carcassone became a more vivid experience knowing that the story in the book actually took places a few steps from where I stood looking at former residence of the Dominican Inquisition near the walls of the city. Highly recommend.

Enjoyed this book.

A lovely book - very good first novel, well researched and well written. I thought this was extremely interesting and thought provoking with a good sense of place and character. The story was gripping.

Historical BackgroundCatharism had a long history of being a heretical threat to the Catholic Church. In the early thirteenth century most remaining Cathars—and probably many innocent peasants—were massacred in 1209 at the Massacre at Béziers (The proud message to the Pope read, “Our men spared no one, irrespective of rank, sex or age, and put to the sword almost 20,000 people.”) In spite of this massacre some pockets of Catharism continued to exist one hundred years later in isolated communities in the Pyrenees mountains such as the village of Montaillou. Between the years 1318 to 1325, Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers, instituted an inquisition to identify and punish all remaining heretics with the goal of complete and final eradication of the Cathar heresy. This inquisition conducted 578 interrogations all of which were fully recorded in written minutes and subsequently archived in the Vatican until 1965 when they were published and made available to historians. They are now commonly referred to as the Fournier Register.The Chatelaine of MontaillouThis book is a historical novel based upon the information contained in the Fournier Register and includes very detailed facts about the questioned people, their lives, and their relationships. In the case of Béatrice de Planisoles, the widowed Chatelaine of Montaillou, this includes the fact that in her past she had sexual relations with two different priests, one of whom was a significant target of the inquisition. This level of intimate detail is unusual for any time and place in history, particularly for an isolated community that existed seven hundred years ago. This historical novel is able to take this information and bring the known facts to life with imagined thoughts and feelings to create a compelling narrative that captures the reader’s concern and attention.The story of Béatrice is told by switching back and forth between a first person narration of her past life and a third person narration of her dungeon imprisonment and interrogation. Because of the previous history of Béziers, everyone being interrogated, including Béatrice, knows that mere causal association with Cathars can be punishable by execution—sometimes by burning at the stake. It is made clear to Béatrice that if she is found to not answer any questions truthfully that she will be subjected to torture. The reader of this book becomes intimately familiar with Béatrice and her past life, and any reader with a heart will experience a rising sense of concern and foreboding about her fate. (view spoiler)The book contains a short nonfiction history at the end that describes the fates of the others questioned by the inquisition. It’s interesting to note that Bishop Jacques Fournier was considered to be a hero of the church for his accomplishments with the inquisition, and he ended up being elected Pope Benedict XII.

This is a great story well told. I learned a lot about the Cathars after the inquisition in Languedoc. Well worth a read.