To celebrate the publication of Montségur: a novel, in the USA, I am breaking out of my comfort zone to post a series of blogs over the coming months.

The story of the Cathar community on Montségur in southern France in 1244 is captivating.  After a ten-month siege, the small community surrendered. Although given a choice, more than 200 people chose to die on a pyre rather than submit to the Roman Church. 

I went up Montsegur for the first time in 2007 and started writing about it in 2011.  It has been quite an adventure. Historically, it is a straightforward story. Spiritually, however, it is far more complex.  And for me, an Irish Catholic with an ambivalent relationship with the religion of my childhood, excitingly confronting at times. 

Who were the Cathars, why would they remain so steadfast to their beliefs, and what was their connection to the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene?

While I was writing the book, I visited many sacred and historical sites in the region to consider these questions.  I could not finish the work until I could get a sense of why so many people would choose to die on a pyre. Had they chosen to live, would they have been giving away something very deep within themselves? 

In these posts, I will take you to locations in Cathar country and share some of my insights.  There will be some history, some mystery and many beautiful places. 

And there will be an adventure into the secrets that have been lost to western Christians for centuries but are still there, hidden deep within our hearts.