Morten St George Theory

[Morten St. George]

I'm not denying that the VMS could be depicting swallowtails or saddlebacks. I'm only saying that you can't claim this means that the VMS was written in Italy or Switzerland and not in Cathar country because we don't know what the Cathar edifices looked like. Not only Montségur, all their edifices were destroyed by the Crusaders. Carcassonne was spared only because the Cathars had already been expelled.

I don't see anybody claiming that in response to ANY of your messages and I'm tired of people putting words in other people's mouths. If it's a map, it might be territory that someone passed through, it doesn't mean it was written there. If it has Ghibelline merlons, it might be something someone heard about—it doesn't mean it was written there.

If someone claims it was written in Italy or Switzerland outside of the forum, go discuss it with them there, but don't bring straw men into the argument here because it makes it look like you are inventing detractors who don't exist. Most people on the forum, including me, have lists of possibilities, not hard and fast theories and if they do have a specific theory, then name them by name, so they can respond, rather than painting us all with the same brush and making it look like we have theories that we DON'T have.

From the very beginning I have encountered nothing but extreme antagonism to my theory that the VMS was written by Cathars who escaped religious persecution by fleeing to the New World. My suggestion of a marsh deer was rejected in favor of a goat, but no explanation of why it looks more like a goat than a deer was given.

For my suggestion that the biological section could be depicting the Louisiana swamps, it was noted that a plant that looks like the Louisiana swamp plant can be found in Asia, and that a depiction of a fish that looks like the alligator gar was found in a medieval law book. Sure sounds like an effort to keep authorship in the Old World.

For my suggestion that the VMS castle could be Montségur, it was noted that the merlons are found in Italy and that saddlebacks are found in Switzerland (implying though not claiming that VMS could have been written in those places), but no alternative description of what Montségur looked like was provided.

I was told that people here helped to write the Wikipedia article on the VMS, but I was not told who, in specific, was pointing the finger at northern Italy in the second sentence of that article. Consequently, I do not to whom I should direct further inquiry.

I am not seeking antagonism with you guys but only cooperation to help uncover the truth about the VMS. My goal is only the truth whether that be my theories or the findings of someone else. In that regard, it would be helpful if we all, including me, try to be as open-minded as possible.