History of the Crusades/The Albigensian Crusade

Background

In the 12th and 13th century the Languedoc region of Southern France became home to a religious splinter group known as the Cathars, who although called themselves Christians, held views which differed greatly from the Catholic Church. The Cathars believed that the material world was created by Satan to entrap souls and prevent them from reaching heaven, and that sex was a device of Satan to entrap more souls in material bodies. They believed that Jesus came to Earth as a spirit to teach people how to reach heaven, but Jesus was never crucified as he had no material body and the Catholic Church were agents of Satan for attempting to deceive the world with claims of Jesus being made flesh. For these beliefs, they were declared heretics by the Catholic Church. Raymond VI, the count of Toulouse was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III due to his failure to cooperate with efforts to suppress the heresy and the papal legate died on his lands under mysterious circumstances. This launched the Albigensian crusade, named for the city of Albi.

Events of the Crusade

A large crusading army arrived in the region, inducing Raymond VI to repent and switch sides, promising to aid the church against the heretics. The crusading army then attacked Beziers and Carcassonne, massacring the inhabitants with the justification "kill them all, God knows his own". Simon de Montfort took control over the crusade, but the fact that crusaders came and left with the seasons made it difficult to hold onto territory. Raymond once again was excommunicated as he failed to carry through with his promises. In 1215, Simon was able to conquer Toulouse and take the lands as his own.

A resistance movement soon formed in the Languedoc as the inhabitants of the region wanted to expel the occupiers and restore Raymond VI and later Raymond VII to power in Toulouse. After Simon de Montfort died, much of the land he conquered was lost again. Eventually, the French monarchy intervened and took control over the region, forcing Raymond VII to submit. The Albigensian Crusade came to an end, but Catharism was not wiped out. However, the church inquisition that followed was successful in rooting out Catharism. The other winner of the crusade was the French monarchy which gained a great deal of land under the personal control of the king.