My Pseudonym

Dear Aeryn,

I'd like to tell you about the pseudonym that I've chosen for myself on this blog. I've decided to use a pseudonym in order to guarantee my privacy and to give me more freedom to discuss esotertic topics that are close to my heart.

My pseudonym, "Don Rodrigo Bartimeo," has been created in honor of a maternal ancestor of mine. Don Rodrigo was born ca. 1220 in the Occitan city of Foix, which is situated in the Pyrenees Mountains. His family (House Bartimeo, of Catalan extraction) owed feudal service to the duplicitous Count Roger Bernard of Foix, and Don Rodrigo was therefore conscripted to fight in the Albigensian Crusade during the spring of 1243.

(As an aside, I should probably mention here that the Albigensian Crusade was Europe's first major genocidal war. It was waged against the Cathar Christians who lived in Occitania [southern France] between 1209 and 1244. The Vatican and the French monarchy conspired to suppress Cathar beliefs and managed to murder over 250,000 people in the process. The Cathars were, in a nutshell, a Christian sect that did not follow the faith and practices of medieval Roman Catholicism. Among other things, they ordained both men and women as clergy, translated the Bible into the language of the people, lived in peace and harmony with their neighbors of all faiths, and may have contributed to the culture of "Courtly Love" that spread all over Europe during the High Middle Ages.)

Don Rodrigo was compelled by his feudal obligations to fight on the side of the Vatican and French forces against the Cathars until March 16th, 1244. On that day, 200+ Cathar clergypersons were burned at the stake near their last fortress at Montsegur. Horrified at this outrage, Don Rodrigo deserted and went into hiding. Along with a small group of Cathar refugees and other members of House Bartimeo, he escaped to the Alps of northern Italy, where he wedded a young noblewoman of Occitan parentage. Eventually, the couple settled in the Rhineland, where their daughter married into House Andreae -- a lineage that figures prominently on the maternal side of my family tree.

I have learned these things about Don Rodrigo through family legends, historical research, and some rather "unconventional" sources. I shall tell you more about him sometime, as I learn more about his life and adventures...