In 1209, with the infamous words Kill them all, God will recognize his own, the papal crusade against his own Catholic faithful commenced. For two decades, this holy war to defeat the Cathar heresy decimated the troubadour culture of Southern France. But when it failed to destroy the heretical faith, the papacy gave special powers of inquisition to Dominican monks. Their mission was to root out heretics, confiscate property, and burn the unrepentant at the stake.
Purged by Fire: Heresy of the Cathars tells the stories of three people ensnared in the fatal machinations of the Inquisition. Isarn believes he has survived the wars by accepting the will of the pope and the French rule until Marsal, a child he once rescued from Crusaders, arrives on his doorstep, forcing him to question every conciliation he has ever made. Marsal has lost everything to the Inquisition. Raised to always turn the other cheek, she is ready now to fight for what the Church has stolen. Chretien, a nobleman dispossessed by the French, can barely recall his life before Marsal. Condemned and hunted by the Church, they escape to the mountain fortress of Montsegur. Here, as the forces of the Inquisition lay siege to their place of refuge, Chretien and Marsal must make one final choice--between life and love or death and faith.
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