Editing Albigensian Crusade (section)

====Fall of Carcassonne====
[[File:Carcassonne JPG01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Carcassonne]] with the [[Aude (river)|Aude river]] in the foreground]]
After the Massacre at Béziers, the next major target was Carcassonne,{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=92–93}} a city with many well-known Cathars.{{sfn|Strayer|1971|p=65}} Carcassonne was well fortified but vulnerable, and overflowing with refugees.{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=92–93}} The Crusaders traversed the 45 miles between Béziers and Carcassonne in six days,{{sfn|Strayer|1971|p=64}} arriving in the city on 1 August 1209. The siege did not last long.{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=94–96}} By 7 August, they had cut the city's water supply. Raymond Roger sought negotiations but was taken prisoner while under truce, and Carcassonne surrendered on 15 August.{{sfn|Madden|2005|p=128}}

The people were not killed but were forced to leave the town. They were naked according to [[Peter of Vaux-de-Cernay]], a monk and eyewitness to many events of the crusade,{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|p=98}} but "in their shifts and breeches", according to [[Guillaume de Puylaurens]], a contemporary.{{sfn|Guillaume de Puylaurens|2003|p=34}} Raymond Roger died several months later. Although his death supposedly resulted from [[dysentery]], some suspected that he was assassinated.{{sfn|Madden|2005|p=128}}

[[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]], a prominent French nobleman, was then appointed leader of the Crusader army,{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=101}} and was granted control of the area encompassing Carcassonne, Albi, and Béziers. After the fall of Carcassonne, other towns surrendered without a fight. Albi, [[Castelnaudary]], [[Castres]], [[Fanjeaux]], [[Limoux]], [[Lombers]] and [[Montréal, Aude|Montréal]] all fell quickly during the autumn.{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=108–113}}