A Dancer in the Infinite - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The epitaph says, for those who can read it,
That he is a saint and martyr who shall breathe again
And shall in wondrous joy inherit and flourish
And wear a crown and sit on a heavenly throne.
And I have heard it said that this must be so -
If by killing men and spilling blood,
By wasting souls, and preaching murder,
By following evil counsels, and raising fires,
By ruining noblemen and besmirching paratge,
By pillaging the country, and by exalting Pride,
By stoking up wickedness and stifling good,
By massacring women and their infants,
A man can win Jesus in this world,
then Simon surely wears a crown, resplendent in heaven.

-          The Song of the Cathar Wars, author unknown

Nobody involved in a conflict thinks they’re the villain. – David Wong

     Simon de Montfort liked cats.  He didn’t know why, and he didn’t particularly care why.  He just liked them.  Many cats made their home in his conquered fortress in Carcassonne, and that was fine by Simon.  His family crest was that of a lion, and his nickname was the Lion de Montfort, and he found this apt.  There were those who hated Simon and considered him a cruel and barbaric man.  He knew this.  Part of maintaining a conquered people lay in making them fear you, and that he had done in spades.  But he had done the right thing, this he knew with certainty.  He fought God’s Wars for long enough, and was as devote a man as any in Europe.  His valor against the heretical enemies of God and Pope Innocent III had won him fame, fortune, and the lands of the Trencavels, and he had his eyes on those of his new rival Raymond, Count of Toulouse.

 Many hours would he spend walking through the properties of the deposed Trencavel, who had only recently died of dysentery, or so Simon claimed. He smiled quietly to himself as he thought of the dead duke.   He would stop and pet any and all cats he saw along the way.  They were his best friends and best company at times like these when his wife, Alix de Montmorency was away bringing in reinforcements of knights, and troops for the Pope’s war, the Albigensian Crusade.  Innocent and his legate Arnold Amaury wanted the Cathar heresy wiped off the face of the Earth, so God would not have to stomach the vileness of their blasphemous ways.  Simon as a devout man would see it done.

Though he had his eyes sent on the prize of Toulouse, he knew he would have to fight other battles first, more heretics must be brought to the justice of the sword, and perhaps then Raymond would reveal his Cathar sympathies for all to see.  But, first, he would remove an annoying thorn in his side … the heretic’s stronghold in the Fortress of Cabaret.

Simon came to a bench in his hall and sat down upon it.  One of his favorite cats leapt up and settled in his lap.  The Northern Duke gently stroked the cat behind the ears, scratching just a little.  The Lion de Montfort knew exactly what he would do when Alix returned with fresh crusaders.  He would show the people of Cabaret exactly who they were dealing with.  In his mind atrocities took shape.  He lifted the cat and kissed it on its purring head.  Simon smiled.

copyright 2017 Diana Hignutt