Part 2 - AMORC

The crusader army was led by Simon de Montfort.was of irresolute character, once more submittedhimself to the power of Rome. The Pope, althoughunconvinced of his sincerity, was only too glad toweaken his adversaries, and for the time being,contented himself in separating Raimon from theother Lords.The powerful crusaders army pursued the“heretics” who, under the leadership of Raimon-Rogièr Trencavel, Viscount of Béziers and nephewof Raimon VI, took refuge in Béziers. Despitetheir courageous efforts, this town, and later onCarcassonne, was taken and sacked. Before thecarnage at Béziers, a knight asked Arnaud-Amaurythe Abbot of Citeaux, the crusade’s “spiritual”leader, how they were to know the Cathars fromthe other inhabitants. “Kill them all,” replied theholy Abbot, “God will know his own!”“There was seen,” an anonymous authorwrote, “the greatest slaughter of all ages; neitherold nor young people were spared, not even childrenat the breast; all were exterminated. When seeingsuch butchery, the inhabitants took refuge in the bigChurch of Saint-Nazaire. The priests of the church wereto ring the bells when all the heretics were dead. But thebells were never heard for neither robed priest nor clerkwas left alive; all were put to the sword; none escaped.The town was sacked, then burnt to the ground, and noliving creature was left in it.”The crusaders believed that they werehelping the cause of Christianity by killing theheretics, but being allowed to loot the towns theytook, may have been a more compelling reason fortheir enthusiasm. And, of course, not to be scoffedat, all their sins would be forgiven them for havingtaking part in this crusade. Rape, murder, tortureand theft, all sanctioned by the church and all sinsforgiven in advance…, what more could medievalknights and knaves want?Such was the spirit that animated the leadersof the crusade. The many crimes perpetrated in thename of God were quite literally done for God, orat least for his Vicar in Rome. Participation in thecrusade against the Cathars was therefore a blessedpath to salvation, just as killing the infidel in theEast, no matter what the brutality, was a road toheaven.But there were some who, despite theirpersecutions of the Cathars, genuinely believed intheir mission to stamp the Roman Catholic versionof Christianity on all people, regardless of thebrutality of the process. To them it was like taking abitter pill…, swallow it quick, endure the bad tasteand be done with it as quickly as possible. Theywere the monks of Citeaux, the Cistercians whowere such devoted followers of their cult. Anotherwas Saint Dominic, whose asceticism could only becompared to that of his enemies themselves.It is one of the ways of intolerance, when thePowers of Darkness, with their subtle artifices, ensnarethose who believe in their own righteousness, and blindthem with false reasoning and misunderstanding.MontségurDuring the crusades, there were many changesof fortune in both camps. Some of the defeatedCathars succeeded in escaping. Through the helpof the people and the lords who had revoltedagainst the cruel fanaticism of the church, theParticipation in the crusade against theCathars was considered a blessed pathto salvation.vanquished Cathars would sometimes be hiddenfor considerable periods of time, and continuedconverting people to their cause.This state of affairs continued up to theirfinal stand in the formidable castèl de Montsegur,the citadel better known as Montségur (MountainThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200817