| Esclarmonde de Foix | |
|---|---|
Esclarmonde de Foix was largely responsible for rebuilding the fortress of Montségur. |
|
| Born | after 1151 France |
| Died | 1215 France |
| Occupation | Cathar Perfect |
| Spouse | Jordan III of L'Isle-Jourdain |
| Parents | Roger-Bernard I of Foix and Cecile Trencavel |
Esclarmonde de Foix (in occitan Esclarmonda de Fois) (born after 1151 – died 1215), also called Esclarmonde the Great, was a prominent figure in Catharism in thirteenth century France.
She was the daughter of Roger Bernard I, Count of Foix, and of Cecile Trencavel. The name Esclarmonde means "Light of the World"[1] in the Occitan language. She was a sister of Raymond-Roger de Foix, Count of Foix. She married Jordan III of L'Isle-Jourdain, lord of L'Isle-Jourdain. They had several children, among them Bernard, Guillamette, Olive, Othon de Terride, and Bertrand, Baron de Launac.
She was widowed in 1200 and, sometime thereafter, turned to the Cathar Church. She received the Cathar sacrament, the consolamentum, for becoming a Parfaite, or member of the Cathar Elect, at the hands of the Cathar bishop Guilhabert de Castres in 1204 in Fanjeaux with three other women of high rank, Aude de Fanjeaux, Fays de Durfort, and Raymonde of Saint-Germain. The ceremony was conducted in the presence of her brother, Raymond-Roger de Foix, Count of Foix.
She settled in Pamiers and was likely involved in the initiative to rebuild the fortress of Montségur. She belonged to the conference of Pamiers, also called the "conference of Montreal" in 1207. It was the last debate between the Cathars and the Roman Catholic Church, represented by Dominic Guzman. The following year Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars.
Esclarmonde de Foix also was responsible for the establishment of schools for girls and for hospitals in the region. She and her sister-in-law Philippa ran a House for Parfaites at Dun in the Pyrenees Mountains, which functioned as a home for aged Parfaits and a girls' school.
[2] The University of Winnipeg offers the Esclarmonde de Foix travel scholarship in her memory.[3]
Esclarmonde is said, in at least one story, to have assumed the form of a dove in order to carry the Holy Grail away from those who had persecuted the Cathars. According to German medievalist Otto Rahn, shepherds from Montségur claimed that "a white dove escaped and flew over the walled crest" and he believed that this dove was Esclarmonde de Foix.[4] This literary folklore - which is documentable only as far back as its first mention by Rahn - has been used as the modern basis for revering Esclarmonde de Foix as a saint in several contemporary Gnostic churches.