home to Montaillou. Since the villagers had revealed all to the authorities, Maury was now a known but unabsolved heretic; and he became a fugitive from the Inquisition. He spent Christmas of 1305 with his family in Montaillou before going into the employ of Barthélemy Borrel who sent him to Catalonia to look after sheep he owned there. Living amongst the nomadic groups of shepherds Maury no longer had many dealings with Cathars and was unknown to the local Inquisition. After two years of working for Borrel, Maury visited the fair in Laroques d'Olmes. There he stayed with his 18-year-old sister, Guillemette, and brother-in-law Bertrand Piquier. That night Piquier severely beat his wife. While a husband's power was considered absolute, Maury was greatly concerned about this brutality to his sister. A few days later he returned to the town and stole away with his sister, entrusting her to a pair of parfaits. For his absenteeism during this incident Borrel fired Maury, but he soon found another job working as a shepherd for Guillaume André. He spent three years working for André, travelling through Catalonia and Foix with the flocks of sheep and other shepherds. At some point in this period he was accused of fraternizing with a known heretic, but escaped the charge by pretending to having been miles away from the incident, a story backed up by his friends. He also successfully avoided the round-up of the heretics of Montaillou in 1308, being warned by Bernard Fort, who supplied flour to the shepherds. In 1309 Maury left the employ of André and worked for Pierre Constant of Rasiguières for a year before joining with his brother Arnaud in working for Raymond Boursier. In 1311 Pierre and Arnaud left this group, Arnaud going home to Montaillou and Pierre to Catalonia where he joined a team of shepherds working for Barthélemy Companho. Bélibaste affair In Catalonia he came in contact with the small group of Cathar exiles led by the parfait Guillaume Bélibaste. Over the next several years Maury traveled through Catalonia and the eastern Pyrenees. As a skilled shepherd his services were in demand and he could find work throughout the region. Maury became comparatively wealthy for a peasant due to his skill, hard work, and ability to find the best paying employers. Despite his many travels he frequently met up with Bélibaste, who pressured the nomadic shepherd to settle