Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 2.djvu/58

42 LANGUEDOC. Yet so long as heresy retained the stronghold of Montsegur as a refuge and rallying - point its secret and powerful organization could not be broken. The capture of that den of outlaws was a necessity of the first order, and as soon as the confusion of the re- belhon of 1242 had subsided it was undertaken as a crusade, not by Eaymond, but by the Archbishop of :^rarbonne, the Bishop of Albi, the Seneschal of Carcassonne, and some nobles, either led by zeal or by the hope of salvation. The heretics, on their side, were not idle. Some baiUis of Count Eaymond sent them Bertrand de la Bacalairia, a skilful maker of military engines, to aid them in the defence, who made no scruple in affirming that he came with the assent of the count, and from every side money, proisions, arms, and munitions of war were poured into the stronghold. In the spring of 1243 the siege began, prosecuted with indefatigable ardor by the besiegers, and resisted with desperate resolution by the besieged. As in the old combats at Toulouse, the women as- sisted their warriors, and the venerable Catharan bishop, Bertrand Martin, animated their devoted courage with promises of eternal bhss. It is significant of the pubhc temper that sympathizers in the besiegers' camp permitted tolerably free communication be- tween the besieged and their friends, and gave them warning of the plans of attack. Even the treasure which had been stored up in Montsegur was conveyed away safely through the investing lines, about Christmas, 1243, to Pons Arnaud de Chateauverdun in the Savartes. Secret relations were maintained with Count Eaymond, and the besieged were buoyed up with promises that if they would hold out until Easter, 1244, he would march to their rehef with forces supplied by the Emperor Frederic II. It was all in vain. The siege dragged on its weary length for nearly a year, till, on the night of March 1, 1244, guided by some shep- herds who betrayed their fellow-countrymen, by almost inaccessi- ble paths among the chffs, the crusaders surprised and carried one of the outworks. The castle was no longer tenable. A brief par- ley ensued, and the garrison agreed to surrender at dawn, dehver- ing up to the archbishop all the perfected heretics among them, 113»0 11638. - Teulet, Layettes, 11. 523, 524, 528, 534. — D'Achery, III. 621.- Berger, Registres d'Innocent IV. No. 21, 267, 360, 364, 594, 697, 1283. - Dcaais, Les sources de I'histoire de I'lnquisition (loc. cit. p. 415).