Béatrice de Planisoles

Béatrice de Planissoles was a minor noble in the Comté de Foix in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century. She was born circa 1274, probably in the mountain village of Caussou.

A great deal of information about her life was recorded in the Fournier Register, and she has a central role in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's "Montaillou"

Béatrice was the daughter of Philippe de Planissoles a noble who was later convicted of supporting the Cathar heresy. Béatrice herself had definite sympathies to Albigensinism, but also remained attached to the Catholic Church.

At around the age of twenty Béatrice was married to Bérenger de Roquefort who was the châtelain of the small, and largely Cathar, community of Montaillou. Despite living in the fortress above the town Béatrice's life was closely linked with that of the local peasants and there was much intermixing. Béatrice did not care greatly for her husband and soon began courting other men. She began a courtship with Raymond Roussel, who was the steward of the châtelain's estate. When Roussel tried to sleep with her, however, she had him fired. She was also raped by Pathau Clergue.

In 1302 Bérenger de Roquefort died and left Béatrice a widow. At this point she became the open consort of Pathau Clergue. Soon, however, a relationship began with Pathau's cousin Pierre Clergue, the priest and the most powerful man in the village. This relationship lasted two years before Béatrice decided to leave the mountain village and remarry, wedding another minor noble named Otho de Lagleize.

He too died after only a few years of marriage. In her older years Béatrice took up with a young vicar Barthélemy Arilhac. This passionate woman was past menopause but fell in love with the vicar. She approached him, propositioned him, and the mad love affair began. The vicar returned her passion, and they ran away together and remained away for a year. After a number of years this relationship ended as Barthélemy worried he would be placed in danger by Béatrice's Cathar past. He was correct in his concerns and they were both arrested by the inquisition and held for a year.

Béatrice first appeared before the Inquisition on Saturday 26 July 1320 at the Episcopal Palace in Pamiers. She had been summoned to the hearing by Jacques Fournier, the Bishop of Pamias, to answer charges of blasphemy, witchcraft, and heresy. The charge of witchcraft was supported by the contents of her purse, which included a variety of "objects, strongly suggestive of having been used by her to cast evil spells": two umbilical cords of infants; linens soaked with blood, which seemed to be menstrual, in a sack of leather, with a seed of cole-wort; and seeds of incense slightly burned; a mirror and a small knife wrapped in a piece of linen; the seed of a certain plant, wrapped in muslin (which she testified was called "ive", and had been given to her by a pilgrim as a remedy for epilepsy); a dry piece of bread that is called "tinhol" (possibly millet bread); written formulas; and numerous morsels of linen. [cite web|url=http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/Fournier/beat2.htm|title=Beatrice de Planissoles]

Barthélemy was not punished, but Béatrice was sentenced to wear the yellow cross for ever as punishment.

With her husbands she is known to have had four daughters:
*Condors,
*Esclaramonde,
*Philippa, and
*Ava.

External links

* [http://cas.memphis.edu/~jmblythe/3370/DePlanissolesConfession.htm Béatrice de Planissoles' testimony to the inquisition]

References

*Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. "Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error." translated by Barbara Bray. New York: G. Braziller, c1978.
*The Yellow Cross - the story of the last cathars 1290 - 1329. René Weis . Penguin Viking 2000. ISBN0140276696