Albigensian Crusade
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The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Languedoc. It is historically significant for a number of reasons: the violence was extreme--even by medieval standards; the church offered legally sanctioned dominion over conquered lands to northern French nobles and the King of France (who were acting as essentially Catholic mercenaries), who then acquired regions for France which at the time had closer cultural and language ties to Catalonia (see Occitan); finally, the Albigensian Crusade had a role in the creation and institutionalization of both the Dominican Order and the Medieval Inquisition.
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[edit] Origin
The Catholic Church had always dealt vigorously with strands of Christianity that it considered heretical, but prior to the 12th century these groups were organized in small numbers such as wayward street preachers or small localized sects. The Cathars of the Languedoc represented an alternative and popular mass movement, a phenomenon that the Roman Church had not seen for almost 900 years since Arianism and Marcionism in the early days of Christianity. In the twelfth century much of what is now Southern France was converting to Catharism, and the belief was spreading to other areas. Catharism, along with other religious movements of the period such as the Waldensians, appeared in cities and towns of newly urbanized areas. Although Cathar ideas had not originated in the Languedoc, one of the most urbanized and populated areas of Europe at the time, and for reasons unknown it was there that their theology found its most spectacular success.
The Cathars were especially numerous in what is now western Mediterranean France, then part of the Catalan-Aragonese Confederation or the Kingdom of Aragon. They were also called Albigensians, after the city of Albi; there are at least two plausible explanations of this fact - first, simply because of the movement's presence in and around the city, and second, that the name stems from a Church Council held near the city in 1176 which, after considering the Cathar doctrine, declared it to be a heresy. Political control in Languedoc was divided amongst many local lords and town councils. Before the crusade, there was little fighting in the area and a fairly advanced cultural level.
On becoming Pope in 1198, Innocent III resolved to deal with the Cathars. At first he tried peaceful conversion. However, the preachers sent out to return them to the Catholic Faith met with little success. Even St. Dominic succeeded in converting only a handful. The Cathar leadership was protected by powerful nobles, and also by some bishops, who resented papal authority in their sees. In 1204 the Pope suspended the authority of some of these bishops. Appointing papal legates to act in his name. In 1206 he sought support for wider action against the Cathars from the nobles of Languedoc. Noblemen who supported Catharism were excommunicated.
The powerful count Raymond VI of Toulouse refused to assist and was excommunicated in May, 1207. The Pope called upon the French king, Philippe II, to act against those nobles who permitted Catharism, but Philippe declined to act. Count Raymond met with the papal legate, Pierre de Castelnau, in January 1208, and after an angry meeting, de Castelnau was murdered, at Raymond's instigation, the following day. The Pope reacted to the murder by issuing a bull declaring a crusade against Languedoc — offering the land of the heretics to any who would fight. This offer of land drew much of the nobility of the north of France into the conflict, against the nobility of the south.
[edit] Crusades
The military campaigns of the Crusade can be divided into a number of periods: the first from 1209 to 1215 was a series of great success for the crusaders in the Languedoc. The captured lands, however, were largely lost between 1215 and 1225 in a series of revolts and military reverses. The situation turned again following the intervention of the French king, Louis VIII in 1226. although he died in November of that year, the struggle continued under King Louis IX. The area was reconquered by 1229, and the leading nobles made peace. After 1233 the Inquisition was central to crushing what remained of Catharism. Resistance and occasional revolts continued, but Catharism's days were numbered. Military action ceased in 1255.
[edit] Initial success 1209 to 1215
By mid 1209 around 10,000 crusaders had gathered in Lyon, before marching south. In June Raymond of Toulouse, recognizing the disaster at hand, finally promised to act against the Cathars, and his excommunication was lifted. The crusaders turned towards Montpellier and the lands of Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, aiming for the Cathar communities around Albi and Carcassonne. Like Raymond of Toulouse, Raymond-Roger sought an accommodation with the crusaders, but he was refused a meeting and raced back to Carcassonne to prepare his defences.
In July the crusaders captured the small village of Servian and headed for Béziers, arriving on July 21. They invested the city, called the Catholics within to come out, and demanded that the Cathars surrender. Both groups refused. The city fell the following day when an abortive sortie was pursued back through the open gates. The entire population was slaughtered and the city burned to the ground. According to the Cistercian writer Caesar of Heisterbach, one of the leaders of the Crusader army, the Papal legate Arnaud-Amaury, was asked by a Crusader how to distinguish the Cathars, from Catholics. He answered: Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius" — "Kill them [all]! Surely the Lord discerns which [ones] are his."[1] Contemporary sources give estimates of the number of dead ranging between seven and twenty thousand. The latter figure appears in Arnaud-Amaury's report to the Pope. The news of the disaster at Béziers quickly spread and afterwards many settlements surrendered without a fight.
The next major target was Carcassonne. The city was well fortified, but vulnerable; and overflowed with refugees. The crusaders arrived on August 1, 1209. The siege did not last long. By August 7 they had cut the city's water supply. Raymond-Roger sought negotiations but was taken prisoner while under truce, and Carcasonne surrendered on August 15. The people were not killed, but were forced to leave the town — naked according to Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay. "In their shifts and breeches" according to another source. Simon de Montfort now took charge of the Crusader army, and was granted control of the area encompassing Carcassonne, Albi, and Béziers. After Carcassonne more towns surrendered without a fight. Albi, Castelnaudary, Castres, Fanjeaux, Limoux, Lombers and Montréal all fell quickly during the autumn. However, some of the towns that had surrendered, later revolted.
The next battle centred around Lastours and the adjacent castle of Cabaret. Attacked in December 1209, Pierre-Roger de Cabaret repulsed the assault. Fighting largely halted over the winter, but fresh crusaders arrived. In March 1210, Bram was captured after a short siege. In June the well fortified city of Minerve was invested. It withstood a heavy bombardment, but in late June the main well was destroyed, and on July 22, the city surrendered. The Cathars were given the opportunity to return to Catholicism. Most did. The 140 who refused were burned at the stake. In August the crusade proceeded to the stronghold of Termes. Despite sallies from Pierre-Roger de Cabaret, the siege was solid, and in December the town fell. It was the last action of the year.
When operations resumed in 1211 the actions of Arnaud-Amaury and Simon de Montfort had alienated several important lords, including Raymond of Toulouse, who'd been excommunicated again. The crusaders returned in force to Lastours in March and Pierre-Roger de Cabaret soon agreed to surrender. In May the castle of Aimery de Montréal was retaken; he and his senior knights were hanged, and several hundred Cathars were burned. Cassès and Montferrand both fell easily in early June, and the crusaders headed for Toulouse. The town was besieged, but for once the attackers were short of supplies and men, and so Simon de Montfort withdrew before the end of the month. Emboldened, Raymond of Toulouse led a force to attack de Monfort at Castelnaudary in September. De Montfort broke free from the siege but Castelnaudary fell and the forces of Raymond went on to liberate over thirty towns before the counter-attack ground to a halt at Lastours, in the autumn. The following year much of the province of Toulouse was captured by Catholic forces
In 1213, forces led by King Peter II of Aragon, I of Catalonia, came to the aid of Toulouse. The force besieged Muret, but in September a sortie from the castle led to the death of King Peter, and his army fled. It was a serious blow for the resistance, and in 1214 the situation became worse: Raymond was forced to flee to England, and his lands were given by the Pope to the victorious Philippe II, a stratagem which finally succeeded in interesting the king in the conflict. In November the always active Simon de Montfort entered Périgord and easily captured the castles of Domme and Montfort; he also occupied Castlenaud and destroyed the fortifications of Beynac. In 1215, Castelnaud was recaptured by de Montfort, and the crusaders entered Toulouse. Toulouse was gifted to de Montfort. In April 1216 he ceded his lands to Philippe.
[edit] Revolts and reverses 1216 to 1225
However, Raymond, together with his son, returned to the region in April, 1216, and soon raised a substantial force from disaffected towns. Beaucaire was besieged in May and fell after a three month siege; the efforts of de Montfort to relieve the town were repulsed. De Montfort had then to put down an uprising in Toulouse before heading west to captured Bigorre, but he was repulsed at Lourdes in December 1216. In September 1217, while de Montfort was occupied in the Foix region, Raymond re-took Toulouse. De Montfort hurried back, but his forces were insufficient to re-take the town before campaigning halted. De Montfort renewed the siege in the spring of 1218. He was killed fighting in June.
Innocent III died in July 1216; and with Montfort now dead, the crusade was left in temporary disarray. The command passed to the more cautious Philippe II, who was more concerned with Toulouse than heresy. The conflict developed into something of a stalemate until 1219. Although the crusaders had taken Belcaire and besieged Marmande in late 1218 under Amaury de Montfort, son of the late Simon. Marmande too fell on June 3, 1219 But attempts to retake Toulouse failed, and a number of Montfort holds also fell. In 1220, Castelnaudary was re-taken from Montfort. He reinvested the town in July 1220, but it withstood an eight month siege. In 1221, the success of Raymond and his son continued: Montréal and Fanjeaux were re-taken, and many Catholics were forced to flee. In 1222, Raymond died and was succeeded by his son, also named Raymond. In 1223, Philippe II died and was succeeded by Louis VIII. In 1224, Amaury de Montfort abandoned Carcassonne. The son of Raymond-Roger de Trencaval returned from exile to reclaim the area. Montfort offered his claim to the lands of Languedoc to Louis VIII, who accepted.
[edit] French King intervenes
In November 1225 Raymond, like his father, was excommunicated. Louis VIII headed the new crusade into the area in June 1226. Fortified towns and castles surrendered without resistance. However, Avignon, nominally under the rule of the German emperor, did resist, and it took a three month siege to finally force its surrender that September. Louis VIII died in November and was succeeded by the child king Louis IX. But Queen regent Blanche of Castile allowed the crusade to continue under Humbert de Beaujeu. Labécède fell in 1227 and Vareilles and Toulouse in 1228. However, Queen Blanche offered Raymond a treaty: recognizing him as ruler of Toulouse in exchange for his fighting Cathars, returning all Church property, turning over his castles and destroying the defences of Toulouse. Raymond agreed and signed the treaty at Meaux in April 1229. He was then seized, whipped and briefly imprisoned.
[edit] Inquisition
The Languedoc now was firmly under the control of the King of France. The Inquisition was established in Toulouse in November 1229, and the process of ridding the area of Cathar heresy and investing their remaining strongholds began. Under Pope Gregory IX the Inquistion was given great power to suppress the heresy. A campaign started in 1233, burning vehement and relapsed Cathars wherever they were found. Even exhuming some bodies for burning. Many still resisted, taking refuge in fortresses at Fenouillèdes and Montségur; or inciting small uprisings. In 1235, the Inquisition was forced out of Albi, Narbonne, and Toulouse. Raymond-Roger de Trencavel led a military campaign in 1240. He was defeated at Carcassonne in October, then besieged at Montréal. He soon surrendered and was exiled in Aragon. In 1242, Raymond of Toulouse attempted to revolt in coincidence with an English invasion, but the English were quickly repulsed and his support evaporated. However, he was pardoned by the king.
The Cathar strongholds fell one by one. Montségur withstood a nine month siege before being taken in March 1244. The final holdout, a small, isolated, overlooked fort at Quéribus, quickly fell in August 1255. The last known Cathar burning occurred in 1321.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The translation most commonly given is "Kill them all! God will know his own." See Sibly and Sibly, 1998, p. 292. For references to primary documents and the arguments as to whether or not these words were spoken see this webpage on Arnaud Amaury
[edit] Historical sources
- Sibly, W. A. and M. D., translators (1998), The history of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay's Historia Albigensis, Woodbridge: Boydell, ISBN 0851158072
- Martin-Chabot, Eugène, editor and translator (1931-1961), La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise, Paris: Les Belles Lettres
- Duvernoy, Jean, editor (1976), Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145-1275: Chronica magistri Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii, Paris: CNRS, ISBN 2910352064. Text and French translation. Reprinted: Toulouse: Le Pérégrinateur, 1996.
Sibly, W.A. and Sibly, M.D., translators, The Chronicle of William of Puylaurens: The Albigensian Crusade and its Aftermath, Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge, 2003, ISBN 0 85115 925 7
[edit] Bibliography
- Sumption, Jonathan (1978). The Albigensian Crusade. London: Faber. ISBN 0-571-11064-9.
Barber, Malcolm, The Cathars: Christian Dualists in the Middle Ages, Harlow, 2000.
[edit] External links
- Albigensian Crusade
- The Cathars of the Languedoc and the Crusade against them
- The paths of Cathars by the philosopher Yves Maris.
