The Greater Silence

At a village near the fortress mount of Montségur, early winter months of 1244: Some from their village have found shelter here, but Renata's family has gone into the fortress itself, for there are wounded there who need tending. Though Montségur is under the siege of the Inquisitor, Renata knows she must enter too—but will not go alone. One of the Perfect reveals the secret passage into the fortress, but the way in is also a way out . . . for those who would take it. As the fortress falls, Sir Simon finally understands his quest . . . NOTES: The Cathar sects of southern France believed that only those who have led pure lives may reach Heaven—those ready to ascend were called the Perfect. Otherwise, souls were pulled from the Ladders of Heaven, and cast down to Earth to try again: same soul, different life. Transformation into the Perfect is a spiritual conversion called the Consolamentum. So inspired by their faith, at the fall of the fortress at Montségur, some of the defenders converted and were also sent to the pyre. Over 200 were burned at the foot of the fortress mount, and the site is still known as the Field of the Burned.