the Cathars: Their Histories & Beliefs

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The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs: Vindication: Apostolic Practices

Both Catholics and Cathars claimed that their ceremonies had been preserved from apostolic times.
Church historians now accept the validity of many Cathar claims, in particular the claim that their ceromonies and practices predated Catholic ones eg the Consolamentum, public confession, blessing bread without any suggestion of transubstantiation, spiritual succession, the rejection of baptism in water and of any priesthood, recognition of gnostic passages in the New Testament, and so on.

http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011403_practices.htm

The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs: Vindication: Baptism
The Jewish practice was to baptise with water - by total submission in running water. This was the way that John the Baptist is recorded as having baptised Jesus.
According the New Testament Jesus later did away with this traditional practice, and instituted baptism of the Spirit. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit, visible as tongues of fire, descended onto the heads of the disciples.
For reasons that are not altogether clear, the mainstream Church retained the old Jewish practice. The Orthodox Church still baptises by total imersion in running water, but the schismatic Roman Church deviated from this practice and now baptises in the familiar manner. A further innovation was to baptise infants, who could not possibly understand or consent to the ceremony.
For the Cathars, infant baptism with water was not merely unscriptural, it was an appanage of the bad god Jehovah, and had been expressly rejected by Christ.
Various modern Christian sects take a range views about the question of baptism, from Baptists who practice full immersion in water, to Penecostalists who believe that the Holy Spirit descends on them in the form of tongus of flame - sadly invisible to us infidels.

http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011404_baptism.htm

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The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs: Vindication: Other Sacrements

As Cathars and Catholics alike well knew, in the early thirteenth century the Roman Church had invented its official list of seven sacrements within living memory. These sacrements all had questionable scriptural authority.
Confession. The earliest known form of Christian confession was a group activity, involving the public admission of sin. It was identical to the Cathar Apareilementum, quite different from the Medieval or modern Catholic practice.
Confirmation and Ordination. Various Catholic theologians recognised elements of the Consolamentum in their own sacrements. "Is it not curious" says one of them in the nineteenth century "to remark that the essential rite of the Consolamentum is in effect nothing but the most ancient form of Christian ordination?". The same applied to confirmation, since the Consolamentum represented an ancient usage "when the ceremonies of Confirmation and Ordination had yet to be distinguished".
Marriage. The Cathars did not recognise marriage, claiming that although it was mentioned in the New Testament it was not sanctioned by it. The Catholic position (reflected in the words of the marriage service) is that marriage was instigated by God and that Jesus himself was a guest at a wedding. While true, the fact that the God of the Old Testament instituted Jewish (polygamous) marriage could have carried little weight with the Cathars.
Extreme Unction. Extreme Unction was an innovation of the Roman Church in the Middle Ages. It has been suggested, but not proved, that it was developed as a conscious response to the Consolamentum administered to dying Cathars, popular because it ensured a place in heaven.
The Eucharist. The Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation was formally propounded in 1215 based on contemporary philosophical notions that were later discredited. The Cathar practise of blessing bread before meals by contrast is identical to the practice of the earliest Christians at communal meals called agapes (abandoned by mainstream churches in the second or third centuries when their own agapes degenerated into dispeputable occasions)

http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011405_sacrements.htm
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The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs: Vindication: Forgeries and Mistranslations

Forgery. It is now clear that characteristly Catholic teachings were founded on fabrications and forgeries. A few examples are the teachings supported by bogus documents, such as the Donation of Coinstantine and the Symachian Forgeries. It is accepted that various passages were inserted into the bible (such as an explicit reference to the Trinity, since removed again), and even tampering with the creeds (still a point of contention with the Orthodox Church).
Mistranslations Comparison of Catholic translations of the bible with non-Catholic bibles reveal a number of differences. Comparison with the Hebrew or Greek originals show that Catholic versions contain mistranslations apparently made to bolster a particular belief. So it is that "secret knowledge" becomes ordinary "knowledge", Sophia ceases to be a person and becomes "wisdom" with a small w, all Christs except one loose their titles and become merely "anointed ones", the apostles' wives become "helpers", and so on.

http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011406_forgeries.htm

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The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs: Vindication: the Priesthood

The justification for a Roman Catholic priesthood rests on certain passages in the New Testament, but the key words in the original greek do not accurately translate as "priest".
In these critical New Testament passages, certain followers are referred to as presbyters. The Greek word presbyter means elder, and references in the New Testament to presbyters are not to priests but to community elders. Nevertheless, the early forerunner of the Roman Catholic Church soon changed its presbyters into priests, borrowing much of the significance from pagan religions where priests were holy men who enjoyed a special relationship with God and made sacrifices to him. A priesthood was thus created without any biblical justification, a fact which may have contributed to the priesthood's reluctance to allow people to read the bible. When people did read the bible for themselves, and failed to find the word sacerdos (priest), only presbyter (elder), the result was widespread anger. The lack of biblical justification for a priesthood was one of the main complaints of Church dissidents and reformers, and it is for this reason that Presbyterian sects have rejected a priesthood in favour of lay leaders called Elders. Other Churches suspicious of an official priesthood call their officers Ministers or Pastors.
The New Testament does not mention priests except in the sense that all believers are priests (1 Peter 2:9 and 2:5, Revelations 1:6, 5:10, and 20:6) and believers were regarded as priests only in the sense that all Jews had been regarded as priests in the Old Testament (Exodus 19:6). Nowhere in the New Testament is the ministry of Jesus' followers described as a priesthood. Neither is any follower referred to as a priest, except in the general sense that all followers were priests. It was presumably because of these passage that the Waldensians advocated a priesthood of all believers. (They are studiously ignored by most denominations, including the Roman Church).
The Cathars for their part held that there should be no priesthood, arguing that there was no priesthood in the original version of the scriptures (which was not quite true).

http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011411_priesthood.htm
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CATHARISM

From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries a religious sect called 'Cathars' spread to parts of Europe. The word 'Cathar' is derived from the Greek 'Katharos' (meaning 'pure'). The German word 'Ketter' (meaning 'heretic') was obviously influenced from the Cathars in southern medieval Europe, as the sect was so perceived by the official Roman Catholic Church at the time. The Cathar sect held an austre belief that renounced worldly pleasures, seeing such as destructive temptations provided by an evil deity (the Devil). It believed that a second, good deity (God) created parfaits ('pure souls') that were being corrupted by the material and the pleasures of the natural world they found themselves in. Those of the Cathars who were recognized as parfaits made up the elite, and relatively small leadrship of the sect, that practiced extreme asceticism and did not marry. The parfaits held strong sway over the the much larger following refered to as croyants ('believers'), who were permited to have families. However, even these were expected, before they died, to undergo a consolamentum, a form of 'baptism' that transformed a soul back to its pure state. Though they thought of themselves as Christians, the Cathars were very opposed to the authority, teachings and clergy of the Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox churches.


The Cathars were particularly strong in southern France, in the region known as Languedoc, where the language of oc was spoken as opposed to the French language used in northern France. The northern French called the Cathars 'Albigensians' because of the strong representation of the belief's adherents in the town of Albi.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE of LANGUEDOC

Languedoc is the name of an historic region in the central southern part of what is modern France. It has no unity other than a shared spoken language called langue d'oc. The language of oc was a corruption of Latin mixed with words of various invaders that passed through. The language in this central southern area of France was closer to the older Latin than the French language spoken in northern France (langue d'oil -- especially north of the Loire), which was tinged with some Germanic influences.


Political boundaries in early medieval Languedoc were mostly defined by association with nearby strong fortresses, which might be a walled town or merely a castle. The feudal system was weaker than in northern France, and the local lords maintained considerable independence. Many towns were controled by councils. Contributing to fragmented political unity in the region were the incursions of the comtes de Barcelona. This powerful ruling house in Catalonia had been acquiring fiefs to the north of the Pyrenees from the early twelfth century. There were other 'foreign' pressures upon Languedoc. To the west was Aquitaine, its duke was technically a vassal to the king of France, but he was also the king of England. To the east, some territories in Provence were considered properities of the Catholic pope as well as of the Emperor of the Germans.

The most prominant counties in Languedoc were Toulouse, Foix, and Comminges. Of equal prominance were the vicounties of Trencavel. The comte de Toulouse, Raymond IV, was also count of Provence (east of Languedoc). His domain encompassed an area of particular active trade and commerce. The wealthy lords of the counties and vicounties in this area lived well, and they allowed an atmosphere of relatively open mindedness and tolerence of beliefs. The Roman Catholic parishes were not as strong a community focal point as they were in many other parts of France. Jews and Cathars served in many of the courts of the comte de Toulouse and the vicomte de Trencavel, the latter was very open in his support of the Cathars.

http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/albigens.htm
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CRUSADE CALLED

Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) was concerned with the growing influence of Catharism, and saw that it threatened the authority of the Church. He saw the movement as a heresy that needed to be eliminated, as were Arianism and Manichaenism in earlier times. In 1204, Innocent III tasked Abbot Arnaud-Amaury [Arnold-Amalric], head of the Cistercian Order, to be a special legate to investigate Catharism in Languedoc. The papal legate used the cloister in the monstery of Fontfroide as his main outpost. Some regular clerics were also sent by the pope. One from Spain was Domingo de Guzmán, the future St. Dominic and founder of the Dominican Order. Domingo attempted to apply the Cathar's austere methods in his promotion of orthodox Christanity, and he had some success in converting a few Cathars. The progress was inadequate, and the Church decided to use force to either convert or to eliminate the declared heretic followers of Catharism.


The pope asked Philippe II Auguste, the French king (and a cousin to comte Raymond VI de Toulouse), to take action against high nobles in southern France who permitted Cathars to openly practice their faith. Philippe II did not comply, as he was facing a more direct threat from an alliance of the English king, Flemish nobles and the German Emperor. [See link to Bouvines War at the end of this webpage.]

In 1206, the pope's legate, Amaury, sent his assistant, another Cistercian monk, Pierre de Castelnau, to Provence to form a league of knights to fight Catharism. Castelnau invited comte Raymond VI of Toulouse to lead this host. Raymond saw no value in such a campaign against this community that was widely spread and well ingranied in his lands. He rejected the "idea of waging war on his own subjects," and Castelnau called for Raymond VI's excommunication. The pope ratified the excommunication of Raymond in May 1207. On 13 January 1208, Raymond met with Pierre de Castelnau at Saint-Gilles, in Provence. The monk and Raymond argued and exchanged threats.

The next morning (14 January), Pierre de Castelnau was assassinated as he was departing the town. His assassin was believed to have been an agent of comte Raymond VI. Pope Innocent III reacted by proclaiming a crusade against the 'sinister race' of Languedoc. His Bull offered indulgences for combatants declared that the heretics' lands were open to be taken. This latter offer enticed many knights from far who needed, or merely sought more land.

One such French knight was Simon IV de Montfort l'Amaury, (1165-1218), who was disinherited from his uncle's estates of Lecicester, in England, by king John I in 1207. Simon IV was a minor lord in the Chevreuse Valley (in the modern Seine-et-Oise region) of France. He had departed with in the Fourth Crusade in 1202, but refused to participate in the attack upon Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The pope's offer of confiscated lands inspired Simon IV de Montfort to go south with many other northern French knights in the crusades against the Cathars.



http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/albigens.htm

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EVENTS of the FIRST PHASE: SIMON IV de MONTFORT's CONQUEST

1209 June, an 'army' of crusaders gathered in Lyon. The number was probably between 10,000 and 20,000 [some accounts estimate over 100,000]. Besides Simon IV de Montfort, there were the duc de Bourgogne, the counts of Nevers and Saint-Pol, the Seneschal of Anjou, and numerous other noblemen. This host marched south, along the River Rhone towards Provence. They were joined by Arnaud-Amaury, the papal legate who had a titular leadership position as 'spiritual advisor' in the 'holy' campaign.

Meanwhile, comte Raymond de Toulouse recognized the serious situtation developing and sought to be reconciled with The Church. In June, he returned to Saint-Gilles, stood barefoot before Pierre de Castelnau's sepulcher, and pleged to expel Cathars from Toulouse. The pope lifted his excommunication, and Raymond VI tentatively joined the crusade. The crusaders marched to Montpellier, (which, should be noted, was a fief of the King of Aragón).

Raymond-Roger III de Trencavel (age 24/25 and nephew of Raymond VI de Toulouse) realized that the crusaders were heading for his lands. Though he was a Roman Catholic, Roger de Trencavel tolorated particularly strong Cathar concentrations in his viscounties of Carcassonne and Albi. He met with the religious 'commander' of the crusade, Arnaud-Amaury, at Montpellier, to 'surrender to the Church'. However, Amaury refused to receive Roger de Trencavel. Knowing that his lands were to be attacked, Raymond-Roger deTrencavel quickly returned to Carcssonne to organize his defenses.
Servian
Early July 1209, Simon de Montfort captured the hilltop village of Servian, to the east of Béziers, prior to going to Béziers.

Béziers
On 21 July, the crusaders reached Béziers and demanded that the Cathars in the popularion be handed over. This was refused even by the Roman Catholics of the town. The tradition of Cathar strength in this town went back to 1167, when they murdered their vicomte, Raymond-Roger I de Trencavel, in revenge for one of his knights having killed a Cathar. In return the vicomte's son, Raymond-Roger II, had the town ransacked in 1169. Domingo de Guzmán and Pierre de Castelnau had attempted to confront the popularion in 1206.


On the afternoon of 22 July, the town launched a sortie which, when forced back into the town, was closely persued by a band of the crusaders. Once inside the walls of the town, the crusaders seized Béziers within an hour. Immediately there began a mass slaughter of Catholics and Cathars, alike. When asked by one of the crusader warriors about the possible killing of Catholics along with the heretic Cathars, Arnaud-Amaury is supposed to have delivered his nefarious statement "Kill them all! God will recognize His own!" Accounts vary as to the numbered slaughtered (10,000 to 20,000, with just over 200 estimated to have been Cathars) in this, the bloodiest and first, battle of the crusade. The massacre frightened many other towns to surrender without resistance.

Present among the crusaders was a Cistercian monk, Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay, who ten years later would write his chronical Historia Albigensis of the campaign.
Puysserguier
In autum of 1209, Guiraud de Pépieux, lord of a small estate between Carcassonne and Minerve, rallied to the crusaders' camp after the fall of Béziers. Later, he revolted and captured Puysserguier castle and took prisoner two of the knights who guraded the fortress. By the time Montfort arrived with aid, Guiraud had departed with his captives for Minerve. Out of revenge, Guiraud mutulated his prisoners (blinding them and cutting off thier noses and upper lips) and sent them naked in the cold to Carcassonne.

Carcassonne
Carcassonne was the next objective of the crusaders. They arrived before the impressive fortifications on 1 August 1209. The town's population was bloated with many Cathars and others who had fled the northern French crusading host. This perceptively impregnable fortified city of 26 [30?] towers sat above the Aude River. Its vunerable point was that it relied on access to the river for its water supply.


Pedro II d'Aragón, a Catholic monarch, who had won considerable fame in fighting the Moors in Spain, was a protector of the Trencavels [and brother-in-law to Raymond VI de Toulouse], came to Carcassonne and tried to mediate. Arnaud-Amaury continued to refuse giving any quarter in the crusade, and Pedro II departed in anger. The siege proceded with the both sides employing trebuchet and mangonel rotating-beam artillery, along with other large siege machinery. However the most effective tactic was the crusaders' capture of two faubourgs outside the walls, the first on 7 August. This effectively cut off the Carassonne defenders' access to the river.

Thirst and spreading disease forced Roger de Trencavel to seek negotiations for surrender. While supposedly under 'safe-conduct', he was made prisoner. Carcassonne surrendered 15 August 1209. Raymond-Roger III de Trencavel died in one of the fortress dungeons on 10 November. Montfort's crusaders did not conduct a massacre, but forced the residents of Carcassonne to to depart the walled city, "taking nothing but their sins." Roger III de Trencavel's wife and young son (Raymond-Roger IV) took refuge with the comte de Foix, whose sister, Esclarmonde, was a Cathar.
Simon de Montfort sought suzerain status over Carcassonne, Albi, Béziers and the Razès area. The other senior French lords of the crusade were not interested in possessing such contentious lands. Most, like the comtes de Nevers and Saint-Pol returned to their northern domains by autum of 1209. The duc de Bourgogne remained through September at Carcassone with about 300 men. He tried and burned two Cathars in October 1209.


Towns such as Castelnaudary, Fanjeaux, Montréal, Limoux, Castres, Albi or Lombers surrendered without a real fight. Montfort pushed beyond the Trencavel vicomtes and attacked lands of the comte de Foix (Mirepoix, Foix and Saverdun). However, some the towns revolted against Montfort: Castres, Lombers, Montréal, etc. Cathari and 'faidits' (lords who dispossessed of their lands) took refuge in Minerve, Termes or Cabaret and launched counter attacks against what was left of Montfort's army.
In December 1209, de Montfort was recognized by Innocent III as a direct vassal of the Roman Pope.

Lastours-Cabaret
Late in the year, Simon and the duc de Bourgogne attacked Lastours, a city nine miles north of Carcassone, where Pierre-Roger de Cabaret (a vassal of the Trencavel's) harbored many fleeing Cathars. Lastours-Cabaret was a system of four 'castles' [Cabaret being the lord's residence, Lastours the main citadel stucture, the other two being simple towers] close enough to provide cover for one another. It was a formidable stronghold that permited Pierre-Roger de Cabaret to repulsed the attack. In a raid, de Cabaret took captive Montfort's lieutenant (and cousin) Bouchard de Marly, lord of Saissac.

1210 During winter, Arnaud-Amaury took over and was elected archbishop of comte Raymond VI's port city of Narbonne. The costal town became a major entry for crusaders' supplies and additional men. New venturers came from Anjou, Frisia, Lorraine, Bavaris, Gascony, Champagne, Brittany, Flanders, Normandy, Aquitaine, and numerous parts of Europe.
Bram
In March 1210, de Montfort captured Bram in a 3-day siege. He mutulated 100 of his captives and sent them to Pierre-Roger de Cabaret, at Lastours.

Minerve
In June 1210, the crusaders arrived before the impressively positioned (flanked by deep gorges) fortress of Minerve. They brought four siege machines (trebuchets and/or mangonels), which, along with their sizable stone shot, had to be positioned in the mountains surrounding the town. The fortress town was commanded by Guilhem de Minerve. Though he was not a Cathar, he felt compelled to support his lord de Trencavel. The intense bombardment managed to destroy the staircase to the otherwise secure water well. On 27 June, a number of the besieged population made a night sortie and set fire to the machine, which they named 'Malvoisine' and believed had destroyed their well. Thurst forced Minerve to surrender on 22 July. Arnaud-Amaury refused any negotiated terms. Three women of the town agreed to convert and were spared. Reportedly 140 Cathars who refused to abjure their faith died at the stake. This was the first burning at the stake in the crusade.

Termes
In early August, de Montfort began his siege of Termes, whose lord was a devoute Cathar. However, he was hampered by Pierre-Roger de Cabaret raiding his wagon rain. One attack seriously damaged the wooden siege engines. In another attack, Pierre-Roger decimated Montfort's rearguard and mutilated those captured as a response to what Montfort had done to his captives at Bram. The siege lasted until December, when the defenders ran out of water. The Cathar lord was placed in the Carcassonne dungeon, where he eventually died.

1211 Arnaud-Amaury remained relentless in his goal to eradicate the heretics. In January 1211, he accused several prominent citizens of Toulouse as heretics. When Raymond VI refused to prosecute them, he was again excommunicated by Arnaud-Amaury.

Pedro II d'Aragón was present when Arnaud-Amaury presented his ultimatum to Raymond VI, and expressed his resentment of the outragous demands and actions of the crusaders. Raymond VI was encouraged with the Aragón king's support and began to organize a coaltion of neighboring lords (comtes de Foix and de Comminges) who were threatened by the obvious land-grabing of Montfort.
Lastours-Cabaret
With the arrival of a new host of crusaders from northern France in March 1211, Montfort was able to significantly threaten Pierre-Roger de Cabarat's formidable Lastours-Cabaret defense complex. Pierre-Roger agreed to free Bouchard and surrendered his fortresses in exchange for some land in Béziers.

Lavaur
In May, de Montfort attacked and quickly seized Lavaur, the castle of Aimery de Montréal, a lord who had revolted against Montfort. Aimery and his knights were hung and about 300 to 400 Cathars burned. Aimery's sister, Giralda de Laurac, was reportedly turned over to be abused by Montfort's soldiers before being thrown in a well and stoned to death.


During Montfort's attack on Lavaur, the comtes de Foix and Comminges managed to attack a host from Germany that was coming to join the crusaders.
Cassès
This was quickly taken in early June, and about fifty Cathars were burnt.

Montferrand
This small fortress was surrendered by Raymond VI's brother, Beaudouin, who soon after joined the ranks of the crusaders as he turned over the castle, Bruniquel, to Montfort.

Toulouse
In June, Montfort, reinforced with a large contingent from Germany, led the crusaders to besiege Raymon VI's principal town, Toulouse. It was a fromidable walled city and had also been reinforced with warriors from Commings and Foix. Montfort fended of some sorties from the city, but eventually (29 June, after two weeks of siege) had to pull back to replenish his force.

Castelnaudary
In September, Raymond VI de Toulouse and Raymond-Roger de Foix led a sizable force [possibly about 10,000] to besieged Montfort at Castelnaudary. Montfort's forces had again begun to dwindle, as the varied venturers were not finding the crusade to be very rewarding. However, Montfort was served by a **** of warriors, and Raymond VI de Toulouse was not the ablest of commanders.


Raymond-Roger de Foix engaged a relief force, led by Bouchard de Marly, heading to Castelnaudary. The encouter was about three miles from the fortress and Montfort abandoned the defense of Castelnaudary to assist the relief party. His arrival managed to turn the tied of the battle and led to a defeat of Raymond-Roger's army. However, Montfort was not strong enough to try and prevent Raymond VI de Toulouse seizure of Castelnaudary. Raymond VI was able to go on and to captured about sixty fortresses or towns held by Montfort's crusaders.
Lastours-Cabarat
In autum of 1211, Raymond VI tried unsuccessfully to retake Cabaret.

1212 In April, de Montfort was reinforced with another crusading host, which he led in a series of lightening strikes throughout Toulouse.
1213 In September 1213, Pedro II d'Aragón led an army to Toulouse with, and joined forces with Raymond de Toulouse and the comtes de foix and Comminges. It was little over a year after Pedro II had shared the honors in the epic victory over the Almoravid sultan at Las Navas de Tolsa (16 July 1212) in Spain. Pedro II had long resented de Montfort's incursion upon some of his fiefs, and now felt compelled to act against de Montfort's aggression.
Muret
Pedro II besieged Muret, one the castles de Montfort now held. The comtes de Foix and Comminges joined him immediately. Raymond VI was enroute with a large siege train, when Montfort joined his besieged garrison on 11 September.


Pedro II launched an attack on 12 September. It was repelled, and quickly followed by a daring sortie by de Montfort that forced Pedro II's army to engage in a unexpected melée. Pedro II was killed in the action, and his army panicked. De Montfort won a descive victory.
1214 Pope Innocent III appointed a new legate to replace Arnaud-Amaury. The comtes de Foix and Comminges took the opportunity to submit to the new legate in April 1214. Raymond VI was helpless to put any more resistance. He fled to England as the pope proclaimed that Toulouse was proclaimed to be a fief of the king of France, Philippe II, who heretofor had been disinterested in the campaign.

Philippe II's interest changed following his great victories over the English king John I's attempted invasion into southwest France and then over the German Emperor, Otto IV, at the battle of Bouvines (27 July 1214) in northeastern France. This climatic event freed the French monarach to consider acquiring the regions to the south of his principal domain.
Campaign along the Dordogne
In November, 1214 Simon de Montfort advanced to the northern borders of Languedoc and into Périgord, taking some castles along the Dordogne River. The region was a stronghold of Bernard de Casnac, a bold Cathar military leader. Domme castle, a Cathar stronghold was abandoned before de Montfort arrived. Next was Montfort [no relation to Simon de Montfort] castle, which also had been abandoned before de Monftort approached.

Castelnaud and Beynac
Montfort continued along the Dordogne to the impressive fortified castles of Castlenaud and Beynac, each on opposite sides of the river only a short distance apart. De Montfort found Castlenaud empty and placed a garrison in it, as he proceded to Beynac. Beynac was not owned by Bernard de Casnac, nor was it a Cathar position. De Montfort attempted to demolish the fortifications, but did not harm the people, who were under the protection of the king of France. The Dordogne operations marked the northern limits of the Albigensian wars.

1215 King Philippe II sent his son, prince Louis [future Louis VIII] to accompany de Montfort when the latter entered Toulouse in May 1215.
In autum, at the Fourth Lateran Council, the pope confirmedde Montfort's right to Toulouse. Raymond VII's rights to Provence were not affected, which meant that it remained an inheritence reserved to Raymon VI's eldest son, eighteen-year-old Raymond VII. However, the ten-year-old Raymond Trencaval, son of the deceased Raymond-Roger de Trencaval was disinherited the vicounty Trencaval lands.

Castelnaud
Early in the year, Bernard de Cazenac seized back Castelnaud and killed the garrison de Montfort had left. In October, de Montfort conducted a swift expedition back into Périgord, recapturing the castles and killing all the Cathar defenders. Bernard de Cazenac managed to avoid capture and continued to engage de Montfort.


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EVENTS of the THIRD PHASE: CONQUESTS of LOUIS VIII, BLANCHE de CASTILLE, and LOUIS IX (1225-1229)

1225 Raymond VII de Toulouse was excommunicated when he attended the Council of Bourges (November-December of 1225).
1226 In late June, Louis VIII personally led a new crusade into Languedoc. Most of the castles and towns surrendered without resistance. Raymond VII, Roger-Bernard de Foix, Raymond Trencaval and a number of 'faidits' were alone in resisting the Royal campaign.
Avignon
As a fief of the German Emperor, Avignon, refused to open its gates to the king of France when he came before it on 6 June. After a siege of three months, the city capitulated 12 September 1226. As most all Languedoc submitted, Toulouse prepared to resist alone.

Carcassonne
On 16 June, Carcassonne surrendered to Louis VIII.

Louis VIII became ill, and died in Auvergne on 8 November 1226 as he was returning to northern France. He left his seneschal, Humbert de Beaujeu, to continue the crusade. Blanche de Castille, the regent for her son Louis IX, confirmed Beaujeu's position. Humbert de Beaujeu conducted the crusade until Louis IX was old enough to take over.

1227 Labécède
Labécède was besieged by Humbert de Beaujeu and the bishops of Narbonne and Toulouse. Pounded by siege machines and set afire, the entire town was reportedly massacred.
1228 Guy de Montfort, brother of Simon de Montfort and uncle to Amaury, had returned to Languedoc to defend what was left to the Montfort's claims. He was killed besieging Vareilles in January 1228.
Toulouse was starved in the summer. Bernard and Oliver de Termes surrounded in November 1228.

Blanche de Castile decided to negotiate. She agreed to recognize Raymond VII as the legitimate owner of the county of Toulouse (and vassel of France) if he married his only daughter, Jeanne (then 9 years old), to her son, Alphonse of Poitiers (also 9 years old and brother to the young Louis IX).

1229 In the 'Treaty of Paris', Raymond VII agreed to Blanche's terms on 12 April 1229 at a meeting in Meaux. [The treaty is sometimes given the name of this town.] Raymond VII agreed to fight the Cathar 'heresy', to return all Church properity, to demolish the defenses of Toulouse, and to turn over all his castles, as well as pay damages. Raymond VII was flagelated and humulated on a parvis in front of Notre-Dame, and then imprisoned. His wife was expelled from Toulouse. This marked the end of independence in Languedoc.
More frightening was the establishment of the Inquisition at Toulouse in November 1229. The treaty ended the political part of the crusade, but the religious struggle and the campaign for the Cathar fortresses continued.


http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/albigens.htm
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EVENTS of the FINAL PHASE: INQUISITION and the CATHAR's LAST GASPS

1233 Pope Gregory IX supported the Dominican-run Inquisition, allowing it limitless powers to torture and burn heretics at the stake. The institution was established in Languedoc in April 1233. Cathati were ruthlessly sought out. As expected, many resisted and took refuge in castles of viscouny of Fenouillèdes or in Montségur. Sick, eldery, and even exhumed bodies were burned. The Inquisition's gruesome excesses incited revolts that continued for many years in Narbonne, Cordes, Carcassonne, Albi, and Toulouse.
1235 Popular uprisings against the Inquisition occured in many areas of Languedoc in 1235. The Dominicans were expelled from Toulouse. An inquisitor was thrown into the river Tarn at Albi. At Cordes, the inquisitors were thrown down a 100 foot well to their deaths. By autumn, the inquisitors had been run out of Toulouse, Albi, and Narbonne.
1240 Raymond-Roger IV de Trencavel led a final revolt. He raised an army and traveled from the Cobières region to win a few victories. He was defeated at Carcassonne on October 1240. Forced to begin negotiations in Montréal [after 34 days of siege], he retired to Aragón with the remnant of his army. The French army, under Jehan de Beaumont, entered the Fenouillèdes. Peyrepertuse, the largest of the Cathar fortresses, surrendered to Beaumont 16 November 1240 after a three-day siege.
1242 Raymond VII de Toulouse tried to clear himself of the insult he had suffered in Meaux. He obtained support from the kings of Castile, Aragón, Navarre, and England. He led an insurrection in May 1242. A small force set out from Montségur to attack and massacre several members of the Inquisition in Avignonet (28 May). Raymond's campaign attempted to take advanage of an invasion by the English king, Henry III, into southwestern France. [See link to webpage on Saintonge War of 1242 at bottom of this webpage.]

Louis IX swiftly defeated the English king Henry III at Saints and at Taillebourg in July 1242. Raymond VII's allies fell away as they saw the French king prepare for a massive campaign into Languedoc.
1243 Again, Raymond VII was compelled to submit to the French king in January 1243. The ceremony took place near Montargis. Though Louis IX pardoned Raymond VII, the Roman Catholic Church did not. Remembering the killings at Avignonet, Raymond VII remained excommunicated.
Montségur
The crusade to wipe out Catharism continued, and the followers were driven to the security of a few strong fortresses. One was Montségur, sitting 400 feet above the surrounding plain [current sturcture is a reconstruction, built upon the original site]. It had a barbican on a lower plateau to the west . The lord of Montségur and his son-in-law, Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix, held strong Cathar sympathies. They were supported by eleven knights and about 150 soldiers. Including the warriors' families, the fortress contained about 500 people.


In early May, Hugues des Arcis arrived at Montségur with 1,500 men, expecting to starve the defenders out. In November, Hugues des Arcis sent some lightly armed men to scale the precipitous eastern slope. In a daring night ascent, they acquired a foothold and began hoisting up siege machines. They finally began shooting [lobbing] stones upon the barbican to the fortress.
1244 In February 1244, Hugues des Arcis captured the barbican to Montségur. The defenders surrendered at the end of month. The fortress, called by non-Cathars 'Satan's synagogue', was emptied on 16 March, and 210 Cathars were burned in a fire at the base of the mountain.
1249 Eventually, Raymond VII assisted the Inquisition in a further effort to clear his name. He cooperated in the burning of some people at the stake in Agen in 1249. Raymond VII de Toulouse died the same year, as he was preparing to join Louis IX on the Seventh crusade. Jeanne, his daughter, became comtess de Toulouse. When she and her husband (Alphonse de Poitiers) died childless in 1271, the county of Toulouse became part of the Royal domain of France.
1255 Quéribus
The final military action in the epic 45-years' crusade was a siege of the small Cathar fortress of Quéribus. It fell in August of 1255. This remote refuge was never attacked until 1255, when Louis IX requested the seneschal of Carcassonne, Pierre d'Auteuil, to seize it from Chabert de Barberia.

http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/albigens.htm

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EPILOGUE

The fall of Quéribus in 1255 marked the last dramatic military operation of the crusades against the Cathars. An earlier date of 1229 is often used, since it marked a 'political' resolution with the Treaty of Paris [also called Treaty of Meaux]. However, there remained a few loose ends.


Raymond VII's daughter, Jeanne, became comtess de Toulouse upon her father's death. She and her husband, Alphonse de Poitiers, died without heirs in 1271. As arranged in the 1229 treaty, Toulouse was annexed to the king of France.

Incidents of Catharism re-surfaced in the fourteenth century. Pierre Authié attempted, but failed, to introduce the belief in Languedoc. Guillaume Bélibaste was reportedly the last known Cathar to have been burned at the stake in 1321. Some may detect traces of sympathy with the Cathar's movement evidenced in the much later, strong receptivity of Protestantism in Languedoc -- if only as a rejection of the Catholic Church's authority. Some bemoan the loss of the distinctive troubadour and relatively tolerant culture of the twelfth-century Languedoc. However, this was probably more affected by the later impact of the Hundred Years' War.
Amaury de Montfort retired to his modest estate in Ile-de-Fance, and went on to serve the king. He was made constable of France in 1230, and joined a crusade to the Levant, where he was captured. He was released after 18 months, and died at Otranto, Italy (1241), as he was returning to France.


His younger brother, Simon, was Simon IV de Montfort l'Amaury's youngest son and also named 'Simon'. The younger Simon de Montfort left France for England, where the king, Henry III, restored Simon (as 'earl') to his ancestral lands in Leicester and married him to his sister. Simon later fell out with the king and sided with the barons in a reform movement. He died fighting the royal forces at the battle of Evesham (1265) .

http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/albigens.htm

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THE NUMBER AND NAMES OF CATHARS PUT TO DEATH
On Wednesday, March 16, 1244, those inhabitants of Montsegur who refused to abjure the Cathar faith were burned en masse at the southern foot of the mountain. Many had asked for their consolamentum three days previously, sealing their fate on the stake.

Sources differ on the the number of victims between 200 and 224. The Chronique de Guillaume de Puylaurens, gives the number as 200; the Chronique de l'Abbaye de Berdoues, states 205; The Chronique de St-Paul de Narbonne 215; Gerard de Frachet 224.

Records, mostly depositions of survivors given to the Inquisition after the siege, identify sixty-three individuals by name from the estimated total of circa 220.



1. Raymond AGULHER. Perfect at Tarascon in 1204 and present at Montsegur from 1234.
2. Guilleme AICARD. Resident at Montsegur from 1234 with his wife and three sons. Received consolamentum on the night of March 13.
3. Pons AIS. Perfect present at Montsegur from the start of the siege where he was a miller.
4. Pierre ARAU. Perfect.
5. Bernard d'AUVEZINES. Perfect.
6. Raymonde BARBE from Mas Saintes-Puelles, sister of Perfect Raymond du Mas (Raymond de Na RIca).
7. Raymond de BELVIS. Crossbowman from Arnaud and seigneur of Usson. Arrived at Monsegur circa May-June 1243. Received consolamentum March 13.
8. Arnaud de BENSA. From Lavelanet, sergeant, wounded end of February 1244, received consolamentum March 4.
9. Etienee BOUTARRA. Perfect
10. BRESILHAC. Dispossesed knight from Caihavel. Present at Montsegur from 1236 and received consolamentum on March 13.
11. Pons CAPELLE, from Gaja. Perfect arrived at Montsegur circa 1242 with his son, a sergeant.
12. Guidraude de CARAMAN. Perfect.
13. Arnaud des CASSES. Knight and seigneur of Casses. A believer since 1220 and a perfect before 1243.
14. CLAMENS. Present at the seige. Around 13 March 1244 is named as having transfered Church treasury into the custody of Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix. Presumably a Cathar perfect.
15. Jean de COMBEL Knight from Laurac. Believed to have accepted consolamentum during the truce.
16. Saissa de CONGOST. From a seigniorial family at Puivert. Perfecta from 1240. Householder on Montsegur.
17. Raymonde de CUQ. Sister or cousin of Berenger, the seigneur of Lavelanet. Perfecta at Lauran in 1230. Lived with Corba de Pereille at Montsegur.
18. Guillaume DEJEAN, perfect from Tarabel, ordained deacon at Montsegur.
19. Guillaume DELPECH. Sergeant. Arrived to reinforce Montsegur May 21, 1243. Received consolamentum on March 13.
20. Arnaud DOMERGUE, of Laroque d'Olmes. Sergeant residing at Montsegur since since 1236 with his wife. Received consolamentum March 13, 1244.
21. Bruna DOMERGUE, wife of Sergeant Arnaud Domergue. Received consolamentum March 13.
22. Rixende DONAT of Toulouse. Perfecta.
23. India de FANJEAUX. A Lady from the Lahille branch of Fanjeaux. Perfecta in 1227 and householder on Montsegur.
24. Guillaume GARNIER. Cow herder from d'Odars near Lanta and a believer since 1230. Sergeant at Montsegur in 1243. Received consolamentum on March 13, 1244.
25. Arnajud-Raymond GAUTI, knight from Soreze and Durfort. Believer in 1237.
26. Bernard GUILHEM. Perfect.
27. Etienne ISARN of Casses. At Montsegur with his brother. Perfect.
28. Raymond ISARN, brother of Etienne. Perfect.
29. Guillaume d'ISSUS, knight and co-seigneur of Montgaillard in Lauragais. Believer in 1230. Present at Montsegur since 1243 and reported "burnt."
30. Jean de LAGARDE. Condemned by the Inquisition in Moisac in 1233 and escaped to Montsegur. Burnt.
31. Bruna de LAHILLE, sister of Guillaume. Believer in 1234. Perfecta at Montsegur in 1240
32. Guillaume de LAHILLE. Dispossesed knight from Laurac. Defender of Castelnaudary against Amaury de Montfort in 1219-1220. At Montsegur from 1240. One of the leaders of the massacre of the Inquisitors at Avignonet. Seriously wounded 26 February 1244, and received consolamentum on the night of March 13.
33. LIMOUX (Limos). Perfect at Montsegur.
34. Raymond de MARSEILLAN. Dispossessed knight from Laurac. Believer in 1232. Received consolamentum on March 13.
35. Bertrand MARTY. From Tarabel. Cathar bishop at Toulouse. Head of the Cathar Church at the time of the seige. Known to be at Montsegur in 1232 and reported "burnt with all the others."
36. Guillelme MARTY. From Montferrier. Baker at Montsegur and perfect.
37. Pierre du MAS. From Mas Saintes-Puelles, perfect in 1229 and reported present at Montsegur in March 1244. Probably executed.
38. MAURINA (MAURY) Perfecta.
39. Braida de MONTSERVER. Related to Arnaud-Roger de Mirepoix. Believer in 1227, and received consolamentum during a grave illness in 1229 at Limoux. Arrived as a perfecta at Montsegur in 1240.
40. Arsende NARBONA. Wife of sergeant Pons NARBONA, consolamentum on March 13.
41. Guillaume NARBONA, rider to knight Raymond de Marseillan, and brother of Pons Narbona, consolamentum on March 13.
42. Pons NARBONA, of Carol and Cerdagne. Sergeant, consolamentum with his wife on March 13, 1244.
43. Raymond de NIORT. Perfecta from Belesta. Arrived clandestinely at Montsegur in October 1243 with a letter from the Cathars of Cremona in Italy.
44. Arnauld d'ORLHAC, from Lavaur.
45. Corba de PEREILLE. Wife of Raymond de Pereille. A believer who received consolamentum with her daughter on March 13, 1244.
46. Esclarmonde de PEREILLE, daughter of Raymond and Corba de Pereille. Received consolamentum with her mother on March 13, and subsequently burnt on March 16, 1244.
47. PERONNE. Perfecta, arrived at Montsegur in 1237.
48. Guillaume PEYRE, sergeant, agent of Raymond de Pareille. Perfect. With CLAMENS, consigned the Cathar treasury at Montsegur to Pierre-Roger Mirepoix on March 13, 1244.
49. Guillaume RAOU. Perfect.
50. Alazais RASEIRE. From Bram or district. Captured at Montsegur and returned for execution by fire at Bram.
51. Jean REY. From Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux. Courier. Arrived at Montsegur on January 1, 1244, bearing a letters from the Cathars of Cremona. Received consolamentum March 13.
52. Pierre ROBERT. Merchant from Mirepoix. Believer since 1209 -- arrived at Montsegur 1236. Consolamentum March 13.
53. Pierre ROBERT. Perfect. Assisted in the consolamentum of Raymond de Ventenac, mortally wounded in 1243. Perhaps same individual as No. 52.
54. Martin ROLAND. Brother of sergeant Bernard de Joucou and uncle of the Narbona brothers. Believer in Lavelanet in 1232 and a perfect at Montsegur in 1240.
55. Bernard de SAINT-MARTIN. Dispossessed knight from Laurac. One of the leaders of the massacre of the Inquisitors at Avignonet. Believed to have received consolamentum with the mercenary knights Guillaume de Lahill and Brezihac de Cailhavel on March 13.. Burned on March 16.
56. Raymond de SAINT-MARTIN. Perfect and deacon.
57. Pierre SIRVEN. Perfect, assistant to Cathar Bishop Bertrand Marty.
58. TAPAREL. Perfect.
59. Rixende de TELLE (or TEILH). Mother superior of the perfectae at Montsegur during the siege.
60. Arnaud TEULY, from Limoux. Arrived at Montsegur before Feberuary 14, 1244. Received consolamentum March 13.
61. Raymond de TOURNEBOUIX. Sergeant. Received consolamentum March 13, 1244 and subsequently burnt on March 16.
62. Marquesia UNAUD of Lanta. Seamstress to the Cathars at Montsegur. Believer since 1224 and ordained a perfecta at Montsegur at 1234.
63. Ermengarde d'USSAT. Believer at Montsegur from 1240. Received consolamentum on March 16.

http://www.russianbooks.org/montsegur/montsegur5.htm
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More Information about the Cathars and Catharism

If you are interested in the Cathars, their history and their beliefs, there is no shortage of material. The problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Here is some of the wheat.

The Albigensian Crusade by Jonathan Sumption ; Paperback: 272 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.84 x 8.49 x 5.32 Publisher: Faber & Faber; (June 2000); ISBN: 0571200028 ; Hardcover; Publisher: Faber & Faber; (April 1978; ASIN: 0571110649
Massacre at Montsegur: A History of the Albigensian Crusade by Zoe Oldenbourg ; Paperback: 432 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.33 x 8.46 x 5.44; Publisher: Phoenix Press, London WC2; (June 2001); ISBN: 1842124285; ( Buché à Montsegùr)
The Other God: Dualist Religions from Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy (Yale Nota Bene); by Yuri Stoyanov; Paperback: 476 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.30 x 7.70 x 5.01 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr; (August 2000); ISBN: 0300082533. The definitive work on Dualism.
Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324, Editions Gallimard (Paris, 1978), Montaillou, abridged English version, Penguin (London, 1978), Book by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. A good account of a coda to the main story of the Cathars, based on Inquisition records of the arrest of a whole village on suspicion of Catharism.

http://www.languedoc-france.info/1212_moreinfo.htm