There is the France that you know, with its must-see monuments, its breathtaking landscapes, and its magnificent villages. But behind these places is sometimes hidden a France that is more secret, more surprising and disturbing. What if we discovered the other side of the story, the hidden side of our country? The Cathars. For the vast majority of us, this name is enigmatic, even strangely mystical. To better understand Catharism, you have to go to the south of France. Because it is here, in Occitanie, that this mysterious religious movement made its appearance at the beginning of the 12th century. Revolted by clergy abuses, The Cathars will be at the origin of an unprecedented religious protest, in total rupture with the Catholic Church. And it is in Saint-Félix-Lauragais that a most secret meeting will be organized in order to better structure Catharism in Languedoc. The Cathars are already beginning to be singled out in the southwest. They need a protected place, discreet like Saint-Félix. Overwhelmed and angry at this new religion's dazzling success, the pope will then launch a crusade to exterminate them. And the city of Béziers will be the theater of an unprecedented assault with tragic consequences. There was a massacre in Béziers and what we call one of the first holocausts in history. In Toulouse, the Cathars were also going to be the target of the terrible Inquisition. Its purpose? To eradicate them definitively. Heresy is a crime against God. It's much worse than murder. After being tried or even tortured a certain number of them will be locked up in Carcassonne prison, detained in inhumane conditions. Nicknamed "hell". It was hell. An appalling persecution. It will be the same in Montségur, where thousands of believers will be condemned to perish in the flames of the bonfire. Not a single one backed away from the bonfire. The youngest was around the age of six. So who were the Cathars? What did they believe in? Why did they unleash the wrath of the Church? Between myths and realities, we are going to try to lift the veil on the many shadowy areas that surround them. This is the story of the Cathars, these men and women with an unusual destiny. Catharism is a whole world of mysteries and legends, starting with its origin. Nobody really knows where, when, and how this religion came about. However, some people agree that it was in Saint-Félix-Lauragais near Toulouse, that everything have officially begun. The year is 1167 and it is here, in the heart of this former stronghold where a mysterious meeting has taken place, a council that brought together the main leaders and organizers of Catharism. The aim of the Council is to appoint officials, to appoint leaders at the head of the various dioceses. Because at that time Catharism has more and more followers and it needs to be organized. Catharism in the southwest of France has already taken its place, especially in fortified cities. So patriarchs had to be set up to form a hierarchy. This summit meeting took place in the greatest secrecy. Because the Cathars had become the Vatican's pet peeve. What really happened in Saint-Félix-Lauragais? Who was this mysterious and sulphurous Bulgarian guest? What strange rites did they practice? A look back at one of the most secret events in the history of the Cathars. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Cathars were established all over the Midi-Occitan, and for more than 150 years. Catharism, a new religion in total opposition to the dogma to the dogma of the Church of Rome. These are religions that are going to confront the Catholic Church in Rome, against the excesses and debauchery of the clergy of that time. Revolted by the abuses of the Church, overwhelmed by taxes, the followers of Catharism will cause a real break with the Vatican, unheard of at the time. These Cathar monks wanted to return to the sources, to the origins of Christianity. Poverty, simplicity, preaching among the people to explain what the word of Christ was, a religion of love, tolerance, openness and respect. Whether they are peasants, commoners or wealthy noblemen, almost all social classes are seduced by this new religion. The problem is, everyone practices it in their own corner. And in 1167, it becomes urgent to put things in order, discreetly. The Cathars need security for this council because there will be many of them. There are relatively well-known men from the Comtes region and discretion is important since the Cathars are already beginning to be singled out in the southwest, they need a protected place. Toulouse and Carcassonne are strongholds, but monitored, so it is best to choose a discreet place like Saint-Félix. A meeting under high security in this small village in Lauragais. Because in recent years, this new religion has been branded as heresy in Rome. And the people present at the Council know they are threatened. Especially since there is among them a high dignitary who has come from afar. A mysterious Bulgarian bishop. Nicetas, came here to Saint-Félix to form a hierarchy and introduce churches and bishops to these Cathars so that they could organize themselves, as was the case in Bulgaria. Nicetas is not here by chance. He is a bishop of the Bogomil faith, a Christian movement born in Bulgaria in the 10th century, a controversial religion that would have directly influenced Catharism in Occitanie. So there's a real correlation between Bogomils and Catharism since this correlation comes from the fact that the early Church is the very heart of their religion and not the Roman Church. Bogomils and Cathars, united by the same vision of Catholicism, far from that of the Vatican and by the same contestation, that of the clergy and the sacraments. That is why the Bishop of Nicetas came to preside over this important meeting. And it is here, inside the village castle, that it would take place. Entirely rebuilt in the 13th century it is not so different from the one known by the Cathars. So we can imagine that the Cathar Council of 1167 could have taken place in a room like this one, since we are in a fairly large room with a monumental fireplace, a fairly remarkable ceiling height. A room suitable for welcoming a good crowd. Because Nicetas is surrounded by the four future candidates for Cathar bishoprics. Influential men who will divide power over the cities of Carcassonne, Albi, Toulouse, and Agen. And getting everyone to agree will take time. One can assume and imagine that the Council could have lasted at least a week as it must be surrounded by festivities. It's still a local event. It's not just a small meeting. To take on their new roles future Cathar leaders must submit to consolament the only sacrament recognized by their church. So what did this strange ceremony look like? Visually, it is believed that consolament was limited to the laying on of hands and maybe some litanies that were being quoted at the time. But we don't know about the content at all. A kind of spiritual baptism ensuring eternal salvation, consolament is a crucial moment for those who decide to adhere to this faith. And whoever is in charge of this sacrament is certainly a senior official. Pope Nicetas gave them a link that they later put around their belt which was the only symbol attributed at that time. But it was a ceremony, let's say, relatively simple. A ceremony that will be carried out in total secrecy. This explains the lack of evidence about this event. Only a few clues remain for those who know how to decipher them. In another room in the castle carved into the stone, one can see strange inscriptions. So, I'm going to show you something pretty amazing. Look what I'm showing you. An engraving. We have the cross here. And at the end, on each section of the cross, we have small triangles. That is a depiction of the Bogomil cross. We can suggest that there was a presence of the Cathars and the Bogomils thanks to this engraving, but it is by no means a certainty. It may well have been engraved 200 or 300 years, or 400 years later. The castle of Saint-Félix-Lauragais contains many more secrets. A place still ingrained by the mystery of Cathar Council which could have taken place here more than 800 years ago. A meeting that fuels many rumours. Rumors that don't seem to stop anytime soon. The mystery and legends continue. We have fanatics, historians, lovers, religious people who come to Saint-Félix especially because they know that the Cathar Council would have taken place here. So yes, there is a kind of an atmosphere of osmosis around this Catharism. And I believe that the legend has not ended and that the mysteries will not end. Mysteries that for us have only just begun. Because you will see that while Catharism has profoundly marked the history of Occitanie, from Occitanie, it also left behind a number of very strange events. Stories where it is sometimes difficult to distinguish myth from reality. Only a few kilometers from Saint-Félix-Lauragais is another center of Catharism in France. It is here, in Fanjeaux, an ancient medieval city, an extraordinary event would have taken place in 1207, devoid of scientific explanations, and which, even today, gets a lot of attention. A divine miracle that led to a famous confrontation between the Cathars and the Church of Rome. The issue was, "Who are the representatives of the true Christian faith?" And obviously, a brilliant miracle like this played a very strong demonstrative role. The event left an impression and it is certain that it took place. A miracle whose relics attract, even today, 800 years after the events, many pilgrims. Most people who visit the village come systematically in the parish church to see this beam. If they come to see it, it is because they think that it is because they think that it's the miracle beam. What does this remnant represent? Where does it come from? And why is it the subject of many prayers? We are going to try to lift the veil on one of the most astonishing mysteries of the Cathar saga. But first of all, you have to immerse yourself in medieval Fanjeaux, precisely in the year 1206. We are halfway across Rue des Fargues which is a street that dates from the Middle Ages. It was a street lined with houses and shops, and a street that was probably very lively since there was in Fanjeaux 3,000 inhabitants at the time, which is enormous. Among these numerous inhabitants, more than half are of the Cathar faith. At that time, most of the lords of the village seem to have converted to this new belief. A true breeding ground of heretics, according to the Church of Rome, which earned Fanjeaux a nickname that was not very Catholic. It is called the capital of heresy, and it's true in a sense, as the Cathars were really well established. There are not many other places like this, where Catharism was so public. In particular in Fanjeaux there was this community of Cathar women who worked with wool. They lived like everyone else. They did not necessarily indicate their belonging to the Cathar religion. And so one can quite imagine on this street that the Cathars rubbed shoulders with traditional Catholics. For 30 years these Cathars live out their faith here away from all danger. But in 1206, a mysterious monk, accompanied by a bishop, comes to disturb their peaceful daily life. And it was while passing through Toulouse that they discovered with the bishop who accompanied him that the region was in fact now dominated by Cathars. And it was a shock, certainly for him. and Dominique with his bishop, went to Rome, probably to ask the pope what should be done to fight against the heresy in the south of France. As early as 1199, the mighty Pope Innocent III relied on Cistercian monks whom he sent in large numbers to try to convert the Cathars. The purpose? To bring them back on the right path of the Church. But this action quickly ended in failures. Dominique and his bishop met the famous Cistercian monks in Montpellier. The Cistercian monks told them that they were discouraged because their mission was a failure. And at that moment, the bishop said to these Cistercians, “But it is normal that you are not successful. You have soldiers who are with you, an escort, you have horses, you have weapons, while the Cathar preachers are poor and naked begging on the roads.” Rejecting the splendor of the Church, preaching poverty and humility, the Cathars are hermetic to the view that differs in every way from their faith and way of life. A mistake on the part of the Cistercians that Dominique the monk is going to take on the wrong foot. That's why Dominique, when he settled here in Fanjeaux, completely changed his method, came closer to the way the Cathars lived, that is to say, in a way particularly modest, to finally prepare the sermon in order to convert them. And in Fanjeaux, this atypical monk uses appropriate means to prevent these Cathars from losing their souls by persevering in this diabolical heresy. Dominique, to bring his lost sheep back to the right path he certainly visited almost all the farms in Fanjeaux and the surrounding area, both to bring back Cathars who wanted to return to the Catholic faith to also comfort Catholics who were worried and shaken in their faith. After a year, despite his efforts, the objective of the Monk Dominique has not been achieved. The Cathars, hostile to his presence decide to organize a strange duel in Fanjeaux between their respective churches. A conference supposed to designate the real enemies of the faith. So we see that the Cathars like the Catholics, were represented by their highest officials for example a bishop, a pontifical legate for some, the main Cathar officials in the region for others. It was really about showing a head-on clash between the two churches, so that the people who were attending the conference understand that Catharism is not compatible with Christianity. The problem is that, after fifteen days of debates, no winner is designated by the arbitrators. Another judge will then be chosen, a mysterious arbitrator that is invisible to all. And so it was decided that it would be God himself who would designate a winner. And to do this, a trial by fire was suggested, what is also called "a trial by ordeal". Trial by fire consists in throwing in the flames the scrolls on which the secretaries of each party noted the arguments they represent and defend. But what will happen during this ordeal will be beyond comprehension. And the memoir of the Cathars, on which their argument was noted burned immediately when thrown into the fire. But the memoir written by Dominique… did not burn. Instead it first rose into the air… then it touched a beam that was in the room. This miracle is not going to leave anyone indifferent. Fear and tremors for the Cathars while for Dominique the monk, the Catholics cry a miracle. A divine event that will be verified several times. Three times. Unlike the book of the Cathars, the memoir thrown into the fire did not burn. Meanwhile… the Cathars kept Dominique's book. They didn't want to return it. They understood that it was going to become a precious relic of a miracle that has impressed many souls. To avoid this, they kept it. We were never able to find it. Although this relic has disappeared mysteriously, there is another one, which escaped the vigilance of the Cathars. We have the beam on which the famous parchment flew… three times. And also the stone in the fireplace on which the fire was lit. Formerly preserved in the convent of the preacher friars, which is the place where this phenomenon is said to have taken place, this so-called fire miracle beam is located today in the heart of the parish church of Fanjeaux. A sacred relic that has attracted numerous pilgrims for several centuries. This beam, it was moved here because like all religious buildings, like all convents, during the French Revolution, the Dominicans were expelled from the convent. The buildings have been bought and the parish priest at the time obviously wanted that this beam remains in the church. And that's why it was brought back here and put in this chapel that bears the name Chapel of Saint-Dominique. No less than 150 Cathars would have converted to Catholicism after this unusual event. So did this miracle really happen? Is the relic of the beam an evidence to be taken seriously? Again, the mysteries remain. The criteria for a miracle are not exactly the same in the 13th century and today. Today, we would do very complicated, very prolonged checks, etc. before you say that something is miraculous. Maybe physically it's not miraculous. Maybe quite simply… Dominique's book was made of lighter parchment, which, due to the rising current of air that comes from the fire, went up to the beam. Maybe there's a natural explanation to the thing insofar as it played a big role in the affirmation of Dominique's personality, it seems a fairly likely relic. But again, we don't have absolute proof. Miracles or propaganda? What is certain is that this attempt to persuade Dominique the monk will not be enough to bring heretics back into the right path of the Church. A crusade will soon bring sword and fire to Languedoc to put an end to the Cathar heresy, and a city in particular will bear the brunt of it. This is Béziers, located on a steep headland. In the Middle Ages, it was a powerful fortified city that was deemed to be impregnable. But on July 22 of 1209, its inhabitants are going to be victims of the first of the many dramas caused by the crusade against the Cathars. There was a massacre in Béziers and especially what we call one of the first holocausts of history, since they wanted to exterminate with or without reason, part of the population. A particularly fast and deadly military operation, a terrorized population that will take refuge in the heart of the infamous Madeleine Church. Here, you have to imagine yourself in this big church. The children, the women, the men who were massacred. An abominable massacre, where, according to some accounts, more than 60,000 people died. Between myths and realities, we are going to revive one of the most terrible tragedies that medieval Languedoc has known. A real stronghold on its hill, in the 13th century, Béziers has around 10,000 inhabitants. The vast majority are Catholic. But there are some heretics who have found protection behind its ramparts. Were there Cathars in Béziers? Yes. No more than elsewhere. Their numbers could be, according to the texts, 200-300 at most. There were not only Cathars here in Béziers. there were also other people, other faiths, other cultures. But what is certain is that the entire population was massacred. So what happened here on July 29, 1209? How and by whom was such a massacre committed? And for what reasons did the pope choose to raise an army against the Cathars? The crusade that was sparked by Innocent III took over because there had been a failure in the attempts that the Dominicans had been led to reconvert heretics. It is these repeated failures that forced the pope to choose the armed route. The mighty Innocent III then raised a first army against the enemies of the faith, led by his representative and legate Arnaud Amaury. He gathered around him an army of knights from northern France with thousands of lesser lords at their side. And it's the city of Béziers that the gigantic crusader army is preparing to attack. The papal legate arrives at the gates of Béziers. He makes a list of names. Among these names, some of them are Cathars. He asks for these names to be revealed. The Biterrois people refuse. Heretics were not a problem. The consuls of Béziers, the Viscount of Béziers, even the bishop of Béziers did not see how they should hand over these heretics. If the Biterrois refuse to deliver the Cathars, how can we explain that the Crusader army succeeded in besieging this fortified city in just one day? A mystery that is very difficult to explain even today. It is believed that some troops are not respectful of instructions, what we will call ribauds who always followed the troops, who reinforced the troops, they would have advanced to the gates of Béziers and would have shown their intention to return to the city. These ribauds, types of mercenaries mainly in search of looting, according to some, would take advantage of a moment of inattention from the Biterrois to force through. It is always said that some Biterrois would have opened the doors to hunt these ribauds. At that moment, to everyone's surprise, the ribauds were able to enter the city, and in doing so, the army only had to follow. Although this famous fortress, considered impregnable, is organized and armed to withstand sieges lasting weeks, its brutal insurgency will be caused by a minor incident. A very strange fact, and what's more, unique in the history of this crusade. Basically, we say "the siege of Béziers". But there was no siege of Béziers. I think that's the reality. But the worst is yet to come for the thousands of besieged Biterrois. Those who did not fall under the blades of the mercenaries who just invaded the city, will take refuge in the Madeleine Church. It was really a place where you could take refuge without fear. It was a religious place of worship. It was a church that had symbolic value, where all oaths were taken, etc. "There, no one will come. We are safe." That was not the case. A sanctuary that will soon turn into a tomb. But the origin of this tragedy is very unclear even today. A sentence was said to have been uttered by the papal legate. An order with abominable consequences. It is said that the pronounced phrase was, “Kill them all, God will recognize his own.” Has it been spoken or not, it is difficult to say. But since the population of Biterrois had taken refuge in the Madelaine Church, it means that it was difficult to distinguish in this population who was Cathar or not Cathar. So how are the soldiers going to distinguish heretics from good Christians? The legate's response is expeditious and final. "It's not for you to judge who is a Cathar or not, we don't ask questions. Judgment will come from above. In the end, it is God who will say who are Cathars or not. Kill everyone, God will recognize his own." Although it is impossible to assert that the legate Arnaud Amaury pronounced these words, it perfectly translates the state of mind of these crusaders. "Exterminate every last one of the Cathars." It is said here that it happened in Occitanie, lo grand chaple or lo masèl, in other words, the great slaughter. Here, you have to imagine yourself in this big church the children, the women, the men, massacred, really massacred. No mercy. The cry of children. Women's tears. The screaming of men which resounded everywhere, and which therefore resonated throughout Béziers. A genocide orchestrated by the Church of Rome, and which, 800 years later is still completely incomprehensible for many Biterrois. When the pope's representative is admitted and accepted, and even pushed… for such crimes to be committed by Christians, what's more, on other Christians in a Christian church, there is something shocking and unimaginable about that. It is said that more than 60,000 people lost their lives here. A figure clearly exaggerated by the chroniclers of the time. Everything will be amplified if we say an army of 100,000 barons from the north or wherever descended on the province, faced a population of 8,000 or 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants, and massacred 7,000, 10,000 or 20,000 Biterrois, that makes history. It was time to do something. The Church had to show its power by amplifying numbers. That needs to be remembered. And to really make a difference the crusaders were not going to stop at the carnage at the Madeleine Church. It's here, on this Acropolis, inside the Saint-Nazaire Cathedral that the rest of the population who had escaped this terrible massacre, will face fate, just as dramatic. Here we are in the cloister of the Saint-Nazaire Cathedral in Béziers, and it's right here in this cathedral, that there was a huge bonfire where gigantic flames licked the ceiling of the cathedral. The fire was of such intensity that the Church shattered. This suggests what the fire in this church could have been like. It literally shattered. It split in two. An extremely violent fire that leaves no chance for its victims to escape. And again, the motivation of the crusaders remains very vague to this day. Above all, they wanted to destroy this building. We don't know the reason. But one might think that it still has symbolic value. As a result, after the Crusade the church had to be rebuilt. And that will be the opportunity, seized by the Roman Church, the Church of Rome, to mark its power, its strength. A fortified cathedral is going to be built. In the reconstruction of the cathedral what was important to the church was to assert its sovereignty, to say "We are the masters." And so, the bigger, stronger, and taller the cathedral was built the more the church asserted its power. Gothic art in opposition to roman art. The power of the north and the King of France wish to crush that of Occitanie. An exterminated population for a very specific reason. The interest in massacring the entire population is to make an example. So the city of Béziers simply served as an example. The act is clear, and the massacre of Béziers echoes like thunder all over Europe. But nevertheless, as striking as it is, this event is still far from having revealed all its mysteries. How is it that such a fortified city could have fallen so quickly into the hands of a Crusaders army who were waiting for a siege? That really remains the question. If the questions remain, the history of Béziers has left such an impression on the Biterrois people that even today, strange stories unfold among some locals, 800 years later. The archpriest of Béziers told me that he had been called during the year by several families from Béziers who lived in the historic heart because these families heard screams and voices in their homes. Haunted by those massacres at night, the archpriest himself intervened in these houses to exorcise certain places. The crusade against the Cathars devastated the south for more than 30 years. It leaves behind a region ravaged by fighting and destruction. A real carnage that some Cathars will want to take revenge on. Catharism marked the places in which it developed. But above all, it traumatized those who it persecuted. In Toulouse, for the inquisitors all means are used to get heretics to confess. In Carcassonne, a terrible prison will overcome even the toughest. Let's now head to the village of Avignonet in Lauragais, and dive in the year 1242, a little over 30 years after the sack of Béziers. This medieval village located between Toulouse and Carcassonne was the scene of one of the bloodiest and resounding assassinations in the history of Catharism. The night of May 28 has remained famous in history. Two inquisitors and their escort are going to be massacred. It's the famous Avignonet massacre. An act of resistance of the Cathars, or a dark conspiracy against them? Over seven centuries after the events, the mystery remains unsolved. Of course there is a mystery surrounding this massacre. Who ordered it? We don't know. We invite you to relive a great criminal case that marked the judicial history of the Middle Ages. 1229, date of the end of the Crusades against the Cathars. However, this war did not completely solve the problem of this heresy. Catharism has not disappeared. On the contrary, persecutions have contributed to strengthen it. In order to come to an end once and for all, Pope Gregory IX orders the Dominican order to hunt down the numerous rebels. It is the creation of the terrible Inquisition. They have a mission, these inquisitors. They have a mission to remove heresy as best as possible, and to identify networks of heretics. Their patient and methodical hunt is carried out from village to village, where everyone is heard, thus spreading terror everywhere they go. In 1242, two inquisitors, Guillaume Arnaud and Etienne de Saint-Tibéri, accompanied by their escort, decide to stop in the village of Avignonet. In 1242, in Avignonet there was the 50% of the population that was supposed to be heretics, that is to say Cathars. So the mobile court saw fit to come here and do an interrogation session. Avignonet is considered at this time as a stronghold of Catharism, like others in the region. But since it is on a major traffic route, it is much easier to spot. But against all odds, the visit of the inquisitors was not going to go as planned. On the night of May 28, 1242, a troop of Cathar conspirators is preparing to avenge theirs. In other words, all those who have already died at the stake. So the order has been given to come to massacre them while being certain that they are present in Avignonet. They had to be discreet because there was a part of the population who was Catholic, and who defended the inquisitors. Helped by part of the local population, these mysterious conspirators are going to hatch a diabolical plan against the fearsome judges that they hold to the highest degree. These murderers, there must have been 20 or 30 of them, they arrived in the evening, and when they were assured that the inquisitors were asleep, they started to come into town through this door. The group of armed Cathars sneaked into the city heading to the castle keep where the inquisitors sleep. Although the building no longer exists today, inside this modern building, one of its remains still exists. This house was built on the remains of the castle and this is the corner, the corner of the castle, the dungeon, where all these stones bear witness to everything that happened here in Avignon and during the massacre of the inquisitors. But what happened here that night? What horror scene did this wall witness? The inquisitors were housed in the heart of the castle. And so, at night, while they were sleeping, they were obviously surprised. An atrocious massacre from which none of the eleven members of the court will survive. Like any murder, it's terrible, of course, and any murder that involves some form of revenge, of course. It was later reported that the inquisitors and their escort would have had their tongues cut, which symbolically, obviously, is very interesting because it means they stop the inquisition from talking. A cut tongue to make everyone pay for those who sent the heretics and their protectors to the stake. Once the eleven members of the tribunal are murdered, the conspirators get their hands on everything that can be carried away, in particular, the famous inquisitorial registers. So what was important was also to take possession of these records, following which there were people who wever worried. Containing mainly depositions and denunciations as well as sentences pronounced against heretics, these records are very compromising for a lot of people. So it's best for them to get rid of these. So the inquisitors no longer had this ability to return to the sources. So from the moment when the scrolls were destroyed, the investigations had to be restarted. Victory for the Cathar knights. But more than 700 years after that bloody murder many gray areas remain. There is a mystery surrounding this massacre. Who ordered it? Who ordered the people to come? We don't know. So that's really the big mystery. In Avignonet, the story does not end there, because after this resounding murder, the punishments of the Church will begin to fall. So a consequence following the massacre and directly in Avignonet, it was the decision of the papacy to close, it is said, at least for 40 years, the church in Avignonet. It's a big punishment, because in the Middle Ages people were very religious. The religious service was something that came into daily life. So to deprive people for 40 years of religious services, for them, it was really very serious. 40 years without functioning, just to make sure, the Church then bricks up all the doors and windows of the religious building. A very severe sanction for the Roman Catholics of Avignon. But the most puzzling is yet to come. 40 years later, when the Church decided to reopen the doors, the legend tells us that the bells rang for a whole night and a whole day. How can this mysterious event be explained? How could these bells have rung continuously while the church was completely empty? No one has ever been able to explain it. On the other hand, the murder of these inquisitors certainly will not weaken the power of the church, but strengthen it. The two mobile courts are going to become permanent, and it is the city of Toulouse, that will inherit this sad fate. It is here, inside this courthouse, located in one of the oldest buildings of the pink city, that from now on the suspects will be questioned and judged. Now all the interrogations with the inquisitors have the same objective. To obtain a confession from the suspect. There is a kind of black legend of the Inquisition that crystallized with this slightly terrifying figure of a judge who seems to be all-powerful, and of a victim who does not know, deep down, why they are angry with him, and why they want to extract personal beliefs from him. Justice by divine law that has full powers. The Inquisition will do everything to eradicate Catharism in Occitanie. Heresy is a crime against God. It is much worse than murder. So how were the trials going? And what were the punishments incurred by heretics? Between black legends and historical facts, we will make you relive the atmosphere of an inquisitorial tribunal of the 13th century. Following the Avignonet massacre, for their security, the inquisitors decided to settle here, in Toulouse, more precisely in this small house known as the Pierre Saylan house, or the House of the Inquisition. This house is going to become the place where the inquisitors live, the brothers who are dedicated to this mission. The house is not very big. Only a handful of inquisitors could live in this house. This house in which some Dominican friars live is attached to the court where they hear every day the statements of the people they summon to appear before them. Today, it is an amphitheater. But until the beginning of the 14th century, it was a place of pure anguish. It was certainly very impressive to come face to face with the inquisitors. So we imagine that there must have been some anguish and stress in these places. The masterful staging of the inquisitors dressed in their somber Canons' clothing must have terrorized many people. One can imagine that the judges are located here, that the inquisitors are located here, and that they let the people who are being questioned enter from the back of this room. They stand before the judge and they answer the numerous questions put to them. Answers, fully transcribed and copied by scribes for the inquisitorial registers. Procedures drafted carefully, but in a very specific context. You should know that the court sits behind closed doors. The procedure is secret, but until then all proceedings were public. The accused are not entitled to a lawyer. They are not entitled to a defense. The accused are not aware of the charges against them. Today, Inquisition records are the only documents that provide information on the conduct of the hearings. But are they really accurate? And do they contain the whole truth? Describing an Inquisition Court hearing is difficult. Because all that we have are interview reports. And the very conditions of the interview are not outlined. Nor even the questions, for that matter. Within this court, the questions don't matter. What matters most to Inquisitors is getting a confession. A certain number of people, let's say, speak right away. But many also don't speak when they first appear in court. Well, there are various means of pressure. The first of these means of pressure is prison. Detained in squalid dungeons, to be released, the accused must confess. But if they don't give in, there is another way that is much more effective. To obtain a confession the inquisitors were authorised by the Pope, from 1252, to use torture. Along with everything else. But torture is not systematic. Of course, no inquisitorial register mentions its use. So it's hard to know precisely what means were used to make people talk. With a few exceptions. We know that in some cases, inquisitors subdued the defendants on a strappado, which is a form of stretching. They pull at the limbs, and the defendant either says stop and agrees to talk, or not. And then at that moment, you have serious damage to your muscles and bones. Even if the accused Cathar admits his heresy during a torture session, for the Inquisitors, this is not enough. He has to repeat his confession three days later, and away from the torture instruments. There is nevertheless some guaranteed objectivity. Torture is a powerful way to get people talking, but not always effective. There are people who have resisted to torture and who refused to speak. And those are the ones that are burnt. And of course, there's a second category. Those who, after being converted, fell back into dissent. These are called relaps. And then those people are condemned to be burned at the stake. Advocating non-violence, refusing to lie, many Cathars did not try to hide their heresy. But for those who don't confess, a terrible ordeal awaits them. Heretics are henchmen of the devil. They are sent back to hell. Their body is reduced to ashes, and as a result, their soul, before the last judgment, is condemned to wander for eternity. Thus, at the heart of this court, many Cathars are condemned to perish at the terrible bonfires of the Inquisition. But how can one explain such relentlessness against them? And why does the Church persist in eradicating Catharism in Occitanie? Heresy, as I mentioned, is an unimaginable crime. It's much worse than murder. Heresy is a crime against God. True work of the devil. Catharism does not only shock the Inquisition. It is also repugnant to a large part of the civilian population who validates and encourages the ruthless justice of the Inquisitors. People in the Middle Ages didn't think like us, they didn't believe like us. And this must be taken into account in order to understand the Inquisition. That is to say that today the constraint in matters of faith is absolutely unsustainable. But in the Middle Ages, faith, in a sense the unity of faith, required that we constraint those who were not in the mold. If, in medieval times, the fight against the Cathar heresy is normal, how can one explain that the Inquisition left behind such a terrifying image? Some judges would have overstepped their power within this court to turn into fanatical monsters. Thus, in 1235, the inquisitor Pierre Saylan, assisted by Dominican friars, will commit the unthinkable. They make themselves unbearable to the population when they want to judge the dead, the dead who have died by holding firmly to heresy. They have dead bodies dug up and burn them. These inquisitors certainly have helped to forge the image of the heinous inquisitor. If some inquisitors left terrible memories behind them in Toulouse, another famous city carries stigmas of their fearsome way of working. We are in Carcassonne, and more precisely in the heart of its splendid old town. Like the city of Toulouse, it will, from the middle of the 13th century it will become the seat of the inquisitors, hunting down heretics. Faced with the merciless repression that they inflict on the Cathars, even within the Catholic Church, some will rebel. They're going to have to pay the price. Inside one of the rampart towers, a dungeon and chains testify torture allegedly inflicted on Bernard Délicieux, an enigmatic Franciscan monk. Here, I also often imagine the poor Franciscans, attached to this pole in the shade. In November it was very cold. Who was this monk? And what were we really blaming him for? Bernard Délicieux lending his voice to the Cathars, is going to be at odds with this Catholic hierarchy. Once judged, this monk is said to have been transferred to the same prison as the Cathar heretics. A place where the chances of survival were almost zero. It was called the "Wall." It was nicknamed "hell". It was hell. If this prison no longer exists, it still testifies today of the cruel history of the Inquisition in Carcassonne. We will take you to the rampart of the most emblematic city of that dark era. A place that is far from having revealed all its mysteries. Dominating the course of the Aude River, the spectacular city of Carcassonne is known for its ramparts, which are almost three kilometers long. Its enclosures, battlements and arrow slits make this an impregnable fortress in the Middle Ages a guarantee of tranquility for the Inquisitors. On the surface only. Because the local population does not really hold them in their hearts. The Inquisitors were not the most popular characters. They were dressed in black. When people saw them pass by they made the cry of a crow to make fun of them. There were really very, very high tensions. Tensions that will, much to the surprise of the Inquisitors degenerate into a genuine popular insurgency. There will be, in the lower town, a phenomenon that will create exasperation with the Inquisition. This is what we called the Wrath of Carcassonne. A man is going to lead this local rebellion. and against all odds, he is not a Cathar. Bernard Délicieux was a Franciscan monk, and the Franciscans go their own way to be and to live, to be a little closer to the Cathar spirit of that time, since they were going to practice Christian charity. They go out onto the streets to preach. Rebellious, the monk Bernard Délicieux sympathizes with the Cathars and denounces the cruelty of the Inquisitors against them. A real betrayal in the eyes of the Catholic Church. In a way, we can say that Bernard Délicieux is lending his voice to the Cathars. He will be at odds with the Catholic hierarchy and therefore he will be arrested, and put in prison in the dungeon of the Inquisition Tower. This tower is more commonly known as the Bishop's Tower. It houses a most sinister dungeon in its basements. It is still a place that is fairly scary. Because you go down a narrow staircase, you end up in a pit, and then people were abandoned to their sad fate. For rebelling against the Inquisition and to have demanded more clemency from the Cathar heretics, the monk Bernard Délicieux will have to pay the price. This sordid dungeon marks the beginning of a long and cruel agony. And we also know that he was tortured. His screams and moans could be heard from the upper room. So we can assume that it was in this room that he suffered torture of his thumbs. His thumbs were crushed between two small boards tightened by screws. Regularly tortured pending his trial, the monk would have spent several years inside this gloomy pit. Here, I also often imagine poor Franciscans attached to this pole in the shade, in the humidity, in the draughts. But the worst is yet to come. After an interminable trial, the Inquisitors deliver their verdict. Bernard Délicieux is sentenced to life in prison. But not in any prison. Bernard Délicieux, after having been tortured and therefore convicted by the bishop, he was imprisoned in the "Wall" prison, here below. This prison no longer exists but it was located here, in these quiet gardens and houses. It was called the "Wall." It was nicknamed hell. And it was hell. Built in the 13th century at the request of the Inquisitors, this prison would have been designed to keep those accused of heresy and their supporters secret. With conditions of detention that vary according to the sentences handed down. There were two types of incarceration. There was the wide wall and the narrow wall. So the wide wall, in fact, should have been a common room where prisoners were placed. And the narrow wall is a single cell, if I may say so, where you were locked up alone in the dark, with very little food, very little water, maybe attached to the wall with iron. These are the conditions. And you stayed there until death frees you… …from the inhumane conditions of detention. Here, the chances of survival are almost zero. The monk Bernard Délicieux condemned to narrow walls for life is a sad example of this. Bernard Délicieux, who had been condemned to the "Wall" in 1319 in November, died most likely a few months later, in February or March 1320. Only a few months spent at the narrow wall got the better of this paradoxical and intrepid monk, even if the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear. What happened inside these walls, we will never be able to know completely. Today, some walls and surrounding landscapes remain. And the city, the city that dominates this hell. The tragic destiny of Bernard Délicieux would never have reached us without the records of the Inquisition. Documents that, up to the 18th century have been preserved a few meters away inside this tower. So now, we are in the tower of the Inquisitor. In other words, in the tower where, as in Toulouse, archives were undoubtedly kept to store them, to be able to consult them. These archived documents were of paramount importance in the procedure of the Inquisitors, especially for all those suspected of heresy. In 1793, there were still all these iron hooks with leather bags, and in each of these bags, scrolls, sentences, investigations, and a sort of cultivated memory the heretical memory of an entire country was preserved in this tower. These numerous registers are going to be jealously guarded and preserved throughout the Middle Ages. But one day, unfortunately, they will escape the surveillance of their guardians. In 1793, during the French Revolution, these archives, these bags were transferred to the Dominican convent in Montpellier. and that's where we lost them. They disappeared. Were they really lost? Some people think they would have been stolen. In any case, it is one more mystery at the heart of this Cathar tragedy. As for the monk Bernard Délicieux, his courage in the face of atrocities of the Inquisition left a lasting mark on the history of Carcassonne. Other places were the scene of the atrocities inflicted on the Cathars. Less than 100 kilometers away, a site is still haunted by the martyrdom of its occupants. In Occitanie, the remains of the incredible Cathar history are still numerous. In the heart of the Ussat Valley, an astonishing fortified cave would have been a major place for initiating Cathar rites. In Rennes-le-Château, a mysterious abbot is said to have discovered a fabulous treasure that would be that of heretics. Let's continue our journey to the heart of Cathar France. Located in Ariège, the Castle of Montségur symbolizes the bastion of the resistance of the heresy in Occitanie. Because this fortress would have been, at the beginning of the 13th century, the last refuge of the Cathar hierarchy put to flight by the terrible and bloodthirsty crusade. Montségur is the only place, perhaps in the whole of Catharism history, where for 40 years, the Cathars will be able to live in peace. A peace that will not last. Because the castle of Montségur would also end up falling into the hands of the crusaders. And the fate they will have for heretics will be atrocious. We will build a bonfire at the foot of the mountain and in fifteen days you deliver them to us and we will burn them. A sentence to be burned at the stake with a totally sordid staging. To burn, the Cathars of Montségur will have to climb the ladders themselves, step over the palisades, and throw themselves in human bundles, into the flames of the bonfire. This episode in the history of Catharism in Occitanie includes very strange facts and it is at the heart of a place, considered to be one of the most mysterious in France, that we have chosen to take you. Built at an altitude of 1,200 m, at the top of a rocky spur called the "pog", the castle of Montségur, with the foothills of the Pyrenees in the background, leaves no one indifferent. When we see this mountain that can be reached by all the surrounding roads, we have a type of limestone pine that stands out from all the other mountains. Then there's the shape of this mountain, that pyramid shape that makes you feel like you have a very slender block of rock that will reach the sky. However, contrary to popular belief, this castle was erected at the end of the Crusades, once Catharism had been eradicated. The castle that we see now is not that of the Cathars. It is the castle that was built after the Cathars, by the victors, by the crusaders. In the place of the current castle was the residence of the local lord. Around it, a village protected by a fortified enclosure. This architectural complex is said to have been built in 1209 at the request of the Cathars. Strange when one considers they refuted the idea of owning real estate. It is a place that was specially built to welcome Cathars. So the Cathars did not build the defense walls but they built their cabin to live in. A unique case in the entire history of Catharism. But was this place anything more than a simple den of heretics? We know that for four long decades the Cathars will make this place the seat and head of the Cathar Church. That's why some people today talk about the Cathar Vatican, because some had Rome, and others had Montségur in the 13th century. At the height of the Crusades, while almost the entire region is in the hands of the Pope's soldiers, Montségur lived in peace for almost 40 years. A surprising exception in Languedoc set ablaze. In the time of the Cathars, Montségur was a place of pilgrimage, where sometimes pilgrims came from very far away to console, give the baptism of the Spirit or simply meet one of the Cathar bishops up there. Thus, starting in 1232, in this fortified village, it would mean rubbing shoulders every day with pilgrims, senior Cathar dignitaries and men-at-arms. Something unheard of. But a question arises. Were they all under the same roof? So we knew the life of the Cathars from the testimonies of the Inquisition. We have over 7,000 interviews. But we lacked the location of the living spaces. They told us about the living quarters, but we didn't know where they were. We initially thought that everything was in the castle. A theory that will be overturned when at the end of the 1960s, archaeologists discovered amazing remains at the foot of the walls, outside the castle. So here we are at the site of one of the Cathar houses. We are in the Cathar village. These houses are built on the side of the cliff. They are built against the rock. Therefore it is likely that the openings were facing the cliff side. Exceptional remains, but they are far from providing all the answers to our questions. There is yet another mystery in Montségur, since before these houses we may have seen here, at the same table, people who advocated non-violence, and people who were killers. "Fighters" in the sense of the word in the 13th century, so extremely violent people. While some questions remain unanswered today, the Montségur site remains regularly excavated by archaeologists. And some objects speak for themselves. We have some pretty impressive objects. Including objects that correspond to the end of Montségur. I just took three out of my pocket. Arrowheads that were found in place, at the site of this house. These arrowheads attest the severity of the fighting, since we found just over a thousand pieces of iron and arrowheads on the mountain. In 1243, the Crusader army surrounded the rocky peak of Montségur. No less than four seats will be necessary to defeat this fortress. The siege of Montségur lasted about ten months. It was one of the longest sieges of the Crusade. Already due to the fact that the mountain is relatively impregnable because of all the walls that fortified the village, but also of the relentless resistance of the gunmen up there who fought really until death, one can say, until the last day during these ten months. At the end, the inhabitants of Montségur made a conditional surrender in March 1244. The military garrison will be spared. But for heretical Cathars, the condemnation is unquestionable. We tell them no, to the Cathars, we are going to make a bonfire at the foot of the mountain and in fifteen days you deliver them to us and we will burn them. The sentence is terrible for the Cathars of Montségur. And it is here, at the foot of the mountain, that the crusaders will choose to execute their plan. This is the field of the burnt. Or more exactly, lo Prats dels Crémats, which actually means the same thing, but in Occitan. The crusaders are going to make a bonfire at the foot of the mountain. A huge bonfire, they're going to dig a gigantic pit, build four walls of palisades around it, and fill it with bundles of wood. And against these palisades, they will place ladders. On March 16, 1244, it was a funeral procession composed of men, women, and children who go to the bonfire. And what they will have to do before they die is beyond comprehension. To burn, the Cathars of Montségur will have to make a final effort, namely, climbing ladders themselves, stepping over palisades, and jumping by human bundles, into the flames of the bonfire. The testimonies of medieval chroniclers tell us that not a single one backed away from the bonfire. The youngest that jumped into the flames was around the age of six. This terrible tragedy where more than 200 people have been burned alive, raises a question. If you trust the witnesses to the tragedy, what would be the meaning of this strange collective suicide? Maybe it's also a kind of mockery, to say, "You see, we all left, you didn't succeed to get even one of us, we have not betrayed our faith." After the fall of Montségur there is practically nothing left of the Cathar heresy that had during decades threatened the unity of Western Christendom. The last survivors no longer have the choice to hide away from those who hunt them relentlessly. A small village located in the department of Ariège, Ornolac-Ussat-les-Bains is a town that is home to a major underground network. These medieval fortified caves called spoulga will fall into ruins over time, and then into oblivion. However, in the middle of the 20th century, the spoulga in particular will become the object of study for many followers of esotericism. For me, it's a fortified cave, a castle of the Counts of Foix. And for the people there, it's a totally mystical place. The reason for their interest is clear. This fortified cave would have been the theater of strange Cathar initiatory rites. It is even said that a sacred treasure of invaluable value is hidden there. The treasure, the money, the fund of the Cathar Church has left Monstégur and is in transit. The text of the Inquisition is clear. It passes through one of the caves, one of the 25 fortified caves of the Counts of Foix. Maybe this one. Historical truth or wild imagination? We are taking you to discover a very strange site whose mysteries have intrigued many enthusiasts for years. At the head of a powerful county the family of the Counts of Foix is closely linked to Catharism. As far as we know, in the 12th century, heretics fleeing the Crusade seek their protection. And it is particularly in caves that have been fortified by the Counts of Foix that some Cathars would have taken refuge. We are in the Ussat Valley, and these fortresses have an amazing architecture to say the least. In fact, this fortified cave is a castle. A 12th and 13th century castle, therefore of the Middle Ages. And as in any castle, there is a perimeter wall. And then what we call in history a master tower, that is to say a dungeon. Which is in fact a part of the cave that we will see above. So that's the perimeter wall, and that's the door. Inside these foundations, hidden on the mountainside, there was a military garrison. Its purpose is to complete the defensive system of the Foix County by monitoring communication routes. The defense is really, really effective. Here, we are in a perched cave, so you have to reach it to go up. And then there's this perimeter wall. There are people above the door to defend it. With the means of attack of the time, it's almost impossible to take a cave like that. Fortifications that would have been specially designed to defend themselves against the fearsome crusaders. In reality, no army would have ever reached this point. These are defensive sites so we imagine that they are there to protect. But I don't have a trace before the crusade against the Cathars. There are no traces of wars, even small wars in the region. So maybe we missed something. A real puzzle for archaeologists. Especially since the fortified Spoulga of Ornolac is far from being an isolated case. But in this mountain, which is 1 km or 1.2 km long, there are ten. I am completely unable to justify why they put 10 fortifications, that is, one every 100 meters. So what was the real purpose of these mysterious troglodyte castles? Were they just defensive sites? Or ideal havens for stalked people? We know that two Cathars came to hide here because it's mentioned in an Inquisition interview of the 13th century that seeks to uncover the network of these people. If these documents attest to the presence of these two strange Cathars, nothing is known about their identity or even the reasons that have brought them here. We already know that they have passed. It's pretty miraculous. Archeology cannot answer to a question like that, so we could do some digging. History won't answer it anymore unless documents are discovered, but that's exceptionally rare. However, we are very unlikely to discover new documents. For lack of information our story could end there. But more than 700 years after the events, an enigmatic character will create controversy. Historian and mystic, Antonin Gadal dedicated his life to the study of Catharism, believing that their history had been falsified. He mainly carried out excavations here, in the heart of this cave that once served as a dungeon. For him, as for his many followers, doubt is not allowed. This place was a major place of introduction to Catharism. There is a part of the esoterics who finally said that here, there were consolaments, people became Cathars. We have no proof. No more here than elsewhere, but that's where they went. So for them, it's really the ceremony location where people became Cathars. They stuck to that, the cave, the stone, and a history that they imagine was watered down. Consolament or baptism of the spirit by imposition of the hands was the only sacrament recognized by the Cathars. A kind of ritual that, according to Antonin Gadal, was secretly held in this cave that acted as an initiatory church. Here, the Cathars could preach and practice their faith discreetly and in peace. The theories of this controversial historian do not end there. In addition, they even interpreted pieces of wall for example. You see, it's a vague shape with five sides. They call it the pentacle. There is a whole meaning behind it. It's true that it's hard to see, but for them, it's important. This curious pentagon shape carved into the rock, the esoterics nicknamed it the Cathar Pentacle. All you had to do was stand up inside and with the legs apart to increase the level of spirituality. For me, it's a fortified cave, a castle of the Counts of Foix. And for these people, it's a totally mystical place. There is something very important. They renamed it. I call the Ornelac Cave, like the medieval charters, the Spoulga. These are fortified caves. They call it the Bethlehem Cave. All the caves in the area have been renamed. The Bethlehem Cave wouldn't be only a spiritual high place for the esoteric. For some, the Cathars would have hidden their treasure, an invaluable asset. In the texts, when Montségur is about to be taken, the treasure, the money, the fund of the Cathar Church has left Monségur and is in transit. And the text of the Inquisition is clear. It passes through one of the caves. one of the 25 fortified caves of the Counts of Foix. Maybe this one. So, there are plenty of people who are excavating these caves. Myth or reality, this mysterious treasure fascinates. Nobody knows where it was hidden, or even if it really existed. And when it comes to specifying what it consists of, opinions differ. There are people who will say that the treasure is not money. It is an intangible asset, possibly the Holy Grail. So that explains why we have the cuts that are engraved in this cave. And indeed there are people who think that maybe here is the Grail. While some people are convinced that the treasure of the Cathars is here, somewhere in the heart of one of the caves in the Ussat Valley, others think that it was hidden from them in another very mysterious place. Here is Rennes-le-Château. This small town, perched at the top of a hill, is located in the heart of the Cathar Country, only 45 kilometers from Carcassonne. It is here, in the heart of this mysterious village, that a large number of curious people and tourists are attracted. If Rennes-le-Château attracts crowds, it's because of Bérenger Saunière. This sulphurous abbot will build, in the space of a few years, a sumptuous estate in the heart of a village almost in ruins. This priest could not build all this, obviously, with his priest's salary. So he found something. And what he found was a treasure. A mysterious rumor that will be fueled by the numerous testimonies of the inhabitants of the village. These stories that tell us that at night, Bérenger Saunière and his servant Marie Denarnaud are going to the cemetery and that obviously it was at this time that they did excavations, dug in the cemetery. Some say that they would have put their hands on a treasure of invaluable value, a treasure that would have been hidden by the Cathars at the end of the Crusades. The treasure of the Cathars is certainly a writing that handed over questioning the whole story that had forged the Church around Jesus. In the heart of an exceptional site steeped in history and mysteries we will try to shed some light on one of the most intriguing cases of the 20th century. Perched on a rocky peak overlooking the Aude valley and Salses, Rennes-le-Château was a prosperous city in the Middle Ages that had only a few hundred inhabitants. Rennes-le-Château, 800 years ago, is the opposite of the image we have today. Today, it is a very small village. At the time, you have to imagine a real small city. It was a stronghold similar in size to Carcassonne. A city that, in the 13th century, will be relatively unaffected by the devastating crusade waged against the Cathars. While the region is burning, Rennes-le-Château is growing quietly in its corner, which does not fail to attract the attention of some Cathars. This makes it possible that Cathars came here 800 years ago. Because it is an anonymous place that is not associated with Catharism. Because it is a place that offers, as we know, a fairly important underground network. So it has an interesting potential to hide something. But what did it want to hide? During the fall of Montségur in 1244, the Inquisitors would have recorded in their records the existence of a treasure. A treasure that the Cathars would have taken in their escape and which would never have been found. We don't know where it was taken. However, it is known from documents of the time that the Inquisitors looked for the treasure of the Cathars near Limoux, which is not very far from here. On the other hand, the Inquisitors, obviously, do not define this treasure. This mysterious treasure will gradually fall in oblivion, appearing only in local legends. But everything will change at the beginning of the 19th century because of a strange abbot. The link between the Cathar treasure and Rennes-le-Château, in fact, came out again because of the Saunière affair. Without the Saunière affair, we would certainly not have talked about it in this area. It was really Abbot Saunière who highlighted this possibility of a Cathar treasure in Rennes-le-Château. In 1885, a 33-year-old young man, Bérenger Saunière has just been appointed priest of Rennes-le-Château. But what he discovers when he arrives in the village is far from anything he could imagine. He is a bit desperate when he arrives in this village. Why? Because at the time, it was a village that was very poor. The houses are in a state of near ruin. And the church is in an absolutely pathetic condition. A church in an advanced state of disrepair with an uninhabitable presbytery. It was only a year later thanks to generous donors, that he began to undertake some work. He's bringing this church back to life. First, he carries out the first important works, and then he will completely redesign it, redecorate it. He's going to buy the most expensive statues in catalogs of religious objects. He's going to redo all the stained glass. The construction work and the renovations undertaken by Abbot Saunière will not stop there. Once the church was finished, he begins to furnish the exterior. He built an absolutely breathtaking estate for a country priest. He built a Renaissance-style villa. A neo-Gothic tower with a belvedere that connects this neo-Gothic tower to another tower, it is made of glass. He laid out parks and gardens around. And then he welcomes with pomp, friends who belong to the wealthy bourgeoisie, to the aristocracy. Extravagant expenses which do not go unnoticed in this small village. How can this modest country priest afford such a luxurious lifestyle? And a rumor will spread among the inhabitants of the village. This priest could not build all this, obviously, with his priest's salary. So he found something, and what he found was a treasure. The villagers are convinced of this. During the work, Abbot Saunière would have made incredible discoveries, secret places hidden from everyone, there, in his church. We know from village testimonies that he began to make discoveries when he was doing the work in the church. We know that he found archaeological pieces, he certainly found the entrance to the crypt under the church. A thesis that will be confirmed thanks to the logbook kept daily by this troublesome abbot. And the note that he was going to write on September 21, 1891 leaves little room for doubt. While he is in the middle of construction in the church, Bérenger Saunière discovered a tomb. So we know from this journal that Abbot Saunière discovered a tomb in 1891. Thanks to the same logbook we also know that he fired the masons who until then worked in the church, and that he hired others instead. Obviously he is trying to hide something. This whole mysterious affair displeases the villagers who are more and more suspicious. Some even went so far as to file a complaint against Bérenger Saunière. And these complaints tell the whole story in the years 1895-1897, that Abbot Saunière put the cemetery upside down and that he's doing some digging. Béranger, when he was rummaging in the cemetery, was not alone. He was accompanied by Marie Denarnaud. Marie was holding a storm lamp and in the meantime, Béranger was digging. But what was Saunière looking for in this cemetery? And what do we know about this woman who accompanies him in these sordid profanations? Marie Denarnaud is a central person in the life of Béranger Saunière. He's going to take her as a servant. It can be said that she is the closest person in his entire life, that she is his confidant. A complicity such as Abbot Saunière went so far as to cede the entire estate to her upon his death in 1917. But did he leave her his most precious possession? So did Marie know about the treasure and Saunière's secret? Yes, she was the closest person. If one person knew about it, it could only be her. Moreover, she would have claimed to know the secret of Abbot Saunière. She would have told people from Rennes-le-Château that they walked on gold without knowing it. Untouchable and faithful to the memory of her abbot, Marie Denarnaud, carried away this extraordinary secret in her tomb, a secret of which she was the sole custodian. The person who was there when she died said she had had one last seizure, a kind of attempt to say something, to reveal something. But she died before she revealed anything. Surprisingly, the rumours around this mysterious treasure are not going to die with the death of Marie Denarnaud. On the contrary, they will increase. In the 1960s, there was a craze. Everyone comes here looking for the famous treasure of Abbot Saunière that one imagines to be absolutely extraordinary. And for these treasure hunters, there's no question. The key to this enigma would be found here, in the heart of the Madeleine Church. There are anomalies in the church. Little things that are not quite in their place and that seem to suggest that Abbot Saunière coded the decoration of his church that he would have concealed a real message leading, for some, to the location of the treasure, and for others, to the transmission of a message. Something in this church is going to get their attention in particular. Five statues representing saints and arranged on either side of the nave. When you have fun looking at the names of these saints, you notice if you trace an M between the statues that these statues give us a message. If we take the initial letters of all these statues, we have Germaine, G. Roch, R. Antoine Hermit A. Anthony of Padua, A. And Luc L. This gives us the acronym of "grail". The Grail, a mythical object of Christendom, often associated with a cup in which the blood of Christ is said to have been shed during his crucifixion. And the statue of Saint Mary Magdalene, which is not included in this M which the statues trace, carries a cup in its hand, a cup clearly highlighted by its silver color, which could therefore be a figuration of the Grail. If these strange clues are to be believed, Abbot Saunière might have put his hand on one of the most sought-after relics in the world. The Grail would therefore, by deduction, be the famous treasure hidden by the Cathars. But according to some, it would not have the appearance of a cup. The treasure of the Cathars is certainly one of these ancient texts that date back to the beginning of Christianity. And it should be understood that the Cathars pretended to the true heirs of Christ, that they certainly had between their hands a very ancient gospel that presents Jesus from a completely different angle, different from than presented by the Catholic Church. A new document whose value would be invaluable. Sacred writings that would put the concept of the Christian Church totally in question. If today nothing really proves this hypothesis, the history of the Cathar treasure in Rennes-le-Château continues to fascinate as ever. In general, in Rennes-le-Château, we arrive with the idea of the abbot's treasure, therefore, heaps of gold, precious stones and antique jewelry. And then we dig into the question and we realize that it concerns something much more profound, which is a spiritual, religious secret. And I think that's what's captivating the crowds today. In addition, it is in line with the main questions that we can have in our contemporary materialist societies where the Church no longer has an influence but where we are still looking for answers that could really enlighten us about the meaning of our existence on Earth. Although it did not last long, Catharism has profoundly marked the many places that have witnessed its passage, but also its persecution. Whether in a village, a fortress, a cave or a castle this religion leaves behind many mysteries. One thing is certain, the history of the Cathars which has already gained much attention, still causes fascination. And it will continue to do so.