Did You Know?

The game Carcassonne is inspired by the heavily fortified city of the same name, which refused to surrender to the Crusaders.

Timeline of the Albigensian Crusade

Albigensian Crusade Map

Facts

▣Pierre de Castelnau was sent as an emissary of the Church to convince Count Raymond VI to eliminate the followers of Catharism. ▣As Pierre de Castelnau was exiting the state, he was assassinated. This led to the ex-communication of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. ▣The assassination of Pierre de Castelnau led to Pope Innocent III declaring a crusade against Catharism and offered land to any who would fight. ▣Simon de Montfort decided to answer the call and gathered 10,000 crusaders to attack Béziers, and the princely states loyal to Catharism. ▣10-20,000 people were slaughtered in Béziers. ▣Raymond Roger Trencavel, the nephew of Count Raymond VI realized that Simon de Montfort was heading to Carcassonne and rushed back to gather his forces. ▣During the siege of Béziers, a papal delegate, Arnaud Amaury is believed to have yelled "Slay them all! God will know his own". ▣The crusaders cut off the water supply of Carcassonne. ▣Raymond Roger Trencavel was executed and Simon de Montfort assumed control of Carcassonne and the surrounding areas. ▣After Carcassonne, the towns of Albi, Castelnaudary, Castres, Fanjeaux, Limoux, Lombers and Montréal surrendered. ▣In 1210, Simon de Montfort attacked Lastours but the attack was repelled by Pierre-Roger de Cabaret since it was bordered by four castles, with the Lord's castle right in the center. ▣Pierre-Roger de Cabaret captured Simon's cousin and lieutenant Bouchard de Marly as hostage. In retaliation, Simon seized the town of Bram and executed a hundred prisoners as a warning message. ▣In June, the crusaders attacked Minerve with trebuchets and destroyed its water system. ▣Thirst forced the residents of Minerve to surrender on July 22 to the crusaders. Arnaud Amaury refused to accept any negotiation terms and 140 believers of Catharism were burned. ▣During the siege of Termes, Pierre-Roger de Cabaret attacked one of the weapon wagons belonging to Simon de Monfort as a response to the mutilations. ▣Arnaud Amaury was relentless in his pursuit of the heretics and ex-communicated Count Raymond VI again for refusing to prosecute those of the Catharism belief. ▣With the aid of reinforcements, Simon de Montfort was able to shake the defense of Pierre-Roger de Cabaret's Lastours-Cabaret castle. ▣The fortress of Montferrand surrendered and Raymond VI's brother Beaudouin joined the crusaders. ▣On September 1213, Pedro II d'Aragón joined the forces of Raymond VI against the crusaders. ▣Pedro II tried to seize Muret but was killed in action on September 12. ▣After Pedro's death, Raymond VI soon fled to England. ▣In 1214, Pope Innocent III appointed King Philippe II as the new chief of the army. He joined forces with Simon de Montfort and continued the crusade further south. ▣On April 1216, Raymond VI and his son Raymond VII returned to claim their rightful kingdoms which caused a rebellion in the town of Languedoc.

▣In May 1216, Montfort had to relinquish his hold over the garrison of Beaucaire. He lost another battle at Lourdes. ▣In February 1217, Montfort decided to capture Montgrenier. Taking advantage of this absence, Raymond VI decided to seize Toulouse. ▣The new pope, Honorius III asked the King of France, Louis VIII to assist Amaury de Montfort, the son of Simon de Montfort in the crusade. ▣Raymond VII was able to capture Castelnaudary in 1220. During the siege, Amaury's younger brother, Guy de Montfort was killed in action. ▣In 1222, Raymond VI died and was denied a Christian burial. His son, Raymond VII, became the heir apparent and the disputed ruler of Toulouse.

▣In 1226, Louis VIII seized Avignon. Following this, Carcassone surrendered and most of the regions in Languedoc submitted, while Toulouse alone resisted. ▣On November 8, 1226, Louis VIII died. ▣The temporary regent-in-charge, Humbert de Beaujeu, took over the reins of the crusade till Louis XI was of age. ▣The town of Labécède was massacred by Humbert de Beaujeu. ▣In 1228, Guy de Montfort was killed while attacking Vareilles. ▣Blanche de Castile decided to recognize Raymond VII as the true heir of Toulouse if he agreed to the matrimony of his daughter, Jeanne to her younger son, Alphonse, the brother of Louis XI. ▣Raymond VII signed the Treaty of Paris, to surrender Toulouse as well as pay damages to the Church.