Albigensian Crusade

1. Albigensian Crusade By Amy Steenbergen and Cody Witt

2. What Was It? The Albigensian Crusade began in 1209- 1255 and was a crusade against the Cathars, a people of Languedoc, a region in France. Cathars were also known as Albigensians, which is where the name of the crusade originated from. It was a war declared by Pope Innocent III, initiated by the Roman Catholic Church. Its main goal was to eliminate the Cathar heresy. Catharism was a branch of Christianity with both dualistic and Gnostic beliefs. They believed in two gods, one evil and one good. Political map of Languedoc

3. Background The Catholic church regarded the Catharism sect as dangerously heretical. The Cathars of Languedoc represented an alarmingly popular mass movement with what is now much of Southern France converting to Catharism and their beliefs. The church felt threatened by the Cathars. When Innocent III became Pope in 1198, he wanted to deal with the Cathars. First he tried to peacefully meet with them, but with little success. Eventually all 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 Phillipe II to act against those nobles who permitted Catharism, but he refused to act. Count Raymond met with the papal legate Pierre de Castelnau in January 1208 and after an angry meeting, Castelnau was murdered the next day. It was widely believed that Raymond had engineered this. The pope reacted to the murder by issuing a bull (charter) declaring a crusade against Languedoc – offering the land of the heretics to any who would fight.

4. Geography Most of the Albigensian Crusade was fought in Languedoc, a region in France. This area was The coastal strip of land bordered by the Mountain ranges Cevennes and Corbieres.

5. Opponent The main opponent of the Albigensian crusade was the Cathars. In general the Cathars subscribed to a doctrine of reincarnation and to a recognition of the feminine principle in religion. Indeed, the preachers and teachers of Cathar congregations were of both sexes. At the same time the Cathars rejected the orthodox Catholic Church and denied the validity of all clerical hierarchies, all official and ordained intercessors between man and God. At the core of this position lay an important Cathar tenet -- what the Church called the repudiation of "faith". In the place of "faith accepted at second hand", the Cathars insisted on direct and personal knowledge, a religious or mystical experience apprehended at the individual in a firsthand fashion. This experience has been called gnosis, from the Greek word for "knowledge", and for the Cathars it took precedence over all creeds. Given such emphasis on direct personal contact with God -- priests, bishops, and other clerical authorities became superfluous. The Cathars were also dualists -- everything consisted of the conflict between good and evil. The church saw them as a threatening mass movement in France.

6. Military Tactics Upon arriving at Carcasonne, the siege proceeded with both sides employing the use of trebuchet and mangonel rotating-beam artillery, along with other large siege machinery. However, the most effective tactic was the crusaders’ capture of two small suburbs outside the walls. This effectively cut off the Carcassone defenders’ access to the river, which they relied on for their water supply. At the fortress of Minerve in June 1210 the crusaders brought four siege machines which they used to force Minerve to surrender. Most of the fighting was fought with infantry.

7. Goals The initial goal of the French Crusaders was to regain the Holy Land. At this point the Cathars were still in the Holy Land. But the Crusaders didn’t let that stop them. As a result this Crusade turned out to be the most violent.

8. Atrocities In the result of the battles win or loss. The Crusaders didn’t just let the enemy walk away in shame. Prisoners had their own ears or noses cut off and paraded around town. Crusaders boiled adults alive and grilled babies.

9. Legends With commercial trade came new ideas. The Carthar doctrine came from Eastern Europe and became established in the South-West. The Viscounts abandoned their ruined power and consuls elected families to take power. However the start of the 14th century brought the Hundred Year War.

10. Success The initial success of the Crusaders was astounding. By mid-1209, 10,000 crusaders gathered in Lyon to move out. In July the crusaders captured Servian and headed for Beziers. Many other cities along the way fell to the crusaders.

11. Setbacks One setback the Crusaders faced was the immense size of the army. There could be up to 10,000 men at a time. With this massive size it would be hard to feed. Another setback, once the Crusaders had land. Revolts and military reveres ,between 1215 to 1225, inflicted with the Crusaders plans.

12. Albigensian Crusade Timeline January 1208 Pope Innocent III declares a crusade against the Languedoc region of southern France Early July 1209 Simon de Montefort captures the hilltop village of Servian, to east of Beziers July 1209 Crusaders led by Simon de Montefort attack city of Beziers. Its population of about 10,000 is massacred. August 15, 1209 Carcasonne surrenders. Autumn 1209 Battle of Puysserguier December 1209 Simon de Montefort was recognized by Innocent III as a direct vassal of the Roman Pope. March 1210 Bram is captured in a three day siege. July 22 1210 Citizens of Minerve surrender to the crusaders.

13. Timeline Cont. Autumn 1211 Raymond VI unsuccessfully tried to take Cabaret. June 1226 The crusade is renewed. April 12, 1229 The Treaty of Paris formally ends crusade, however, fighting continues. November 1229 The Inquisition is established to search out and eliminate the Cathars hiding in the Languedoc region. March 1244 Montsegur, the largest remaining Cathar stronghold, falls after a nine month siege. May 1255 The last Cathar stronghold, an isolated fort at Queribus, is captured. 1321 Last known Cathar burning.

14. Conclusion The extermination of populations, cities and crops occasioned by the Albigensian Crusade was extensive enough so as to constitute what might be called the first "genocide" in modern European history. In one town, for example, fifteen thousand men, women, and children were slaughtered wholesale -- many of them in the sanctuary of the church. At Beziers Arnaud-Amaury supposedly said “Kill them all! God will recognize his own.” 10,000 to 20,000 were slaughtered with just over 200 estimated to be Cathars. An estimated 200,000 to 1,000,000 people were massacred during the crusade, many of them not even being Cathars. Therefore the Albigensian crusade was the most violent out of all the crusades.

15. Works Cited www.socialistworker.co www.deremilitari.org www.wikipedia.org http://xenophongroup.com http://www.languedoc-france.info http://www.britannica.com