Editing Catharism (section)

== Suppression ==
[[File:Garotte - Excerpt from Pedro Berruguete - Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe.jpg|thumb|200px|Condemned Cathars at an [[auto-da-fé]], as depicted by the Spanish artist [[Pedro Berruguete]]]]

In 1147, [[Pope Eugene III]] sent a [[Papal legate|legate]] to the Cathar district in order to arrest the progress of the Cathars. The few isolated successes of [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] could not obscure the poor results of this mission, which clearly showed the power of the sect in the Languedoc at that period. The missions of Cardinal Peter of Saint Chrysogonus to Toulouse and the Toulousain in 1178, and of [[Henry of Marcy]], [[cardinal-bishop of Albano]], in 1180–81, obtained merely momentary successes.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=505}} Henry's armed expedition, which took the stronghold at [[Lavaur, Tarn|Lavaur]], did not extinguish the movement.

Decisions of Catholic Church councils—in particular, those of the [[Council of Tours (1163)]] and of the [[Third Council of the Lateran]] (1179)—had scarcely more effect upon the Cathars. When [[Pope Innocent III]] came to power in 1198, he was resolved to deal with them.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|pp=505–506}}

At first, Innocent tried peaceful conversion, and sent a number of legates into the Cathar regions. They had to contend not only with the Cathars, the nobles who protected them, and the people who respected them, but also with many of the bishops of the region, who resented the considerable authority the Pope had conferred upon his legates. In 1204, Innocent III suspended a number of bishops in [[Occitania]].{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} In 1205, he appointed a new and vigorous [[bishop of Toulouse]], the former [[troubadour]] [[Folquet de Marselha|Foulques]]. In 1206, [[Diego of Osma]] and his canon, the future [[Saint Dominic]], began a programme of conversion in Languedoc. As part of this, Catholic–Cathar public debates were held at [[Verfeil, Haute-Garonne|Verfeil]], [[Servian (commune)|Servian]], [[Pamiers]], [[Montréal, Aude|Montréal]] and elsewhere.

Dominic met and debated with the Cathars in 1203 during his mission to the Languedoc. He concluded that only preachers who displayed real sanctity, humility and asceticism could win over convinced Cathar believers. The institutional Church as a general rule did not possess these spiritual warrants.{{sfnp|Johnson|1976|p=251}} His conviction eventually led to the establishment of the [[Dominican Order]] in 1216. The order was to live up to the terms of his rebuke, "Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth." However, even Dominic managed only a few converts among the Cathars.

=== Albigensian Crusade ===
{{main|Albigensian Crusade}}
[[File:Albigensian Crusade 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Pope Innocent III]] excommunicating the Albigensians (left), massacre of the Albigensians by the crusaders (right)]]

In January 1208, the papal legate, [[Pierre de Castelnau]], a [[Cistercian]] monk, theologian and canon lawyer, was sent to meet the ruler of the area, [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse]].{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=68–69}} Known for excommunicating noblemen who protected the Cathars, Castelnau [[excommunication|excommunicated]] Raymond for [[abettor|abetting]] heresy, following an allegedly fierce argument during which Raymond supposedly threatened Castelnau with violence.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=72–73}} Shortly thereafter, Castelnau was murdered as he returned to Rome,<ref name="Madaule 1967"/> allegedly by a knight in the service of Count Raymond.<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> His body was returned and laid to rest in the [[Abbey of Saint-Gilles]].

As soon as he heard of the murder, the Pope ordered the [[Papal legate|legate]]s to preach a [[Albigensian Crusade|crusade]] against the Cathars,<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> and wrote a letter to [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus, King of France]], appealing for his intervention—or an intervention led by his son, [[Louis VIII of France|Louis]]. This was not the first appeal, but some see the murder of the legate as a turning point in papal policy, which had hitherto refrained from the use of military force.<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|pp=89–91}}</ref> Raymond of Toulouse was excommunicated, the second such instance, in 1209.<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/>

King Philip II of France refused to lead the crusade himself, and could not spare his son, Prince Louis VIII, to do so either—despite his victory against [[John, King of England]], as there were still pressing issues with Flanders and the empire along with the threat of an [[House of Châteaudun|Angevin]] revival. While King Philip II could not lead the crusade nor spare his son, he sanctioned the participation of some of his barons, notably [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]<ref name="Belloc 1938 92"/> and Bouchard de Marly. The twenty years of war against the Cathars and their allies in the Languedoc that followed were called the [[Albigensian Crusade]], derived from [[Albi]], the capital of the Albigensian district, the district corresponding to the present-day [[Tarn (department)|French department of Tarn]].<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=89}}</ref>

[[File:Carcasonneouterwall.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Cité de Carcassonne]] in 2007]]
This war pitted the nobles of France against those of the Languedoc. The widespread northern enthusiasm for the Crusade was partially inspired by a papal decree that permitted the confiscation of lands owned by Cathars and their supporters. This angered not only the lords of the south,<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|pp=92–93}}</ref> but also the King Philip II of France, who was at least nominally the [[Suzerainty|suzerain]] of the lords whose lands were now open to seizure. King Philip II wrote to Pope Innocent in strong terms to point this out—but Pope Innocent refused to change his decree. As the Languedoc was supposedly teeming with Cathars and Cathar sympathisers, this made the region a target for northern French noblemen looking to acquire new fiefs.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The first target for the barons of the North were the lands of the [[Trencavel]], powerful lords of Carcassonne, Béziers, Albi, and the Razes. Little was done to form a regional coalition, and the crusading army was able to take Carcassonne, the Trencavel capital, incarcerating [[Raymond Roger Trencavel]] in his own citadel, where he died within three months. Champions of the [[Occitania|Occitan]] cause claimed that he was murdered. Simon de Montfort was granted the Trencavel lands by Pope Innocent, thus incurring the enmity of [[Peter II of Aragon]], who previously had been aloof from the conflict, even acting as a mediator at the time of the siege of Carcassonne.

The remainder of the first of the two Cathar wars now focused on Simon de Monfort's attempt to hold on to his gains through the winters. With a small force of confederates operating from the main winter camp at [[Fanjeaux]], he was faced with the desertion of local lords who had sworn fealty to him out of necessity—and attempts to enlarge his newfound domain during the summer. His forces were then greatly augmented by reinforcements from northern France, Germany, and elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

De Montfort's summer campaigns recaptured losses sustained in winter months, in addition to attempts to widen the crusade's sphere of operation. Notably he was active in the [[Aveyron]] at [[Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val|St. Antonin]] and on the banks of the [[Rhône]] at [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]]. Simon de Monfort's greatest triumph was the victory against superior numbers at the [[Battle of Muret]] in 1213—a battle in which de Montfort's much smaller force, composed entirely of cavalry, decisively defeated the much-larger, by some estimates 5–10 times larger<ref>{{harvnb|Oman|2012|pp=530–534}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sumption|2011|p= 245}}</ref> and combined-force allied armies of Raymond of Toulouse, his Occitan allies, and [[Peter II of Aragon]].<ref>{{harvnb|Oman|2012|p=529}}</ref> The battle saw the death of Peter II,<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=94}}</ref> which effectively ended the ambitions and influence of the house of Aragon/Barcelona in the Languedoc.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogers|2010|p=37}}</ref>

In 1214, Philip II's [[Battle of Bouvines|victory at Bouvines near Lille]] ended the [[Anglo-French War (1213-1214)|Anglo-French War of 1213–1214]], dealt a death blow to the [[Angevin Empire]], and freed Philip II to concentrate more of his attentions to the Albigensian Crusade underway in the south of France.<ref>{{harvnb|Belloc|1938|p=93}}</ref> In addition, the victory at Bouvines was against an Anglo-German force that was attempting to undermine the power of the French crown. An Anglo-German victory would have been a serious setback to the crusade.<ref>{{harvnb|Tyerman|2006|p=595}}</ref> Full French royal intervention in support of the crusade occurred in early 1226, when [[Louis VIII of France]] led a substantial force into southeastern France.<ref>{{harvnb|Tyerman|2006|p=missing}}</ref>

=== Massacre ===
{{Main|Massacre at Béziers}}
The crusader army came under the command, both spiritually and militarily, of the papal legate [[Arnaud Amalric]], [[Abbot]] of [[Cîteaux]]. In the first significant engagement of the war, the town of [[Béziers]] was [[siege|besieged]] on 22 July 1209. The Catholic inhabitants of the city were granted the freedom to leave unharmed, but many refused and opted to stay and fight alongside the Cathars.

The townsmen spent much of 1209 fending off the crusaders. The Béziers army attempted a [[sortie (siege warfare)|sortie]] but was quickly defeated, then pursued by the crusaders back through the gates and into the city.  [[Arnaud Amalric]], the [[Cistercian order|Cistercian]] abbot-commander, wrote to Pope Innocent III, that during negotiations his soldiers had taken the initiative without waiting for orders. The doors of the church of St Mary Magdalene were broken down and the refugees dragged out and slaughtered. Reportedly, at least 7,000 men, women and children were killed there by Catholic forces, though some scholars dispute this number.{{sfn|Tyerman|2006|p=591}} Elsewhere in the town, many more thousands were mutilated and killed. Prisoners were blinded, dragged behind horses, and used for target practice.{{sfnp|Johnson|1976|p=252}}  What remained of the city was razed by fire.

Arnaud Amalric wrote "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex."{{sfnp|Sibly|Sibly|2003|p=128}} The permanent population of Béziers at that time was then between 10,000 and 14,500, but local refugees seeking shelter within the city walls could conceivably have increased the number to 20,000, though scholars dispute the figure as figurative.<ref name=marvin>{{cite web|url=http://warandgame.com/2009/03/25/the-storm-of-beziers-2|author=Laurence M. Marvin|title=The Storm of Béziers|publisher=Warandgame.com|date=25 March 2009|accessdate=22 November 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426000448/http://warandgame.com/2009/03/25/the-storm-of-beziers-2|archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref>

According to a report thirty years later by a non-witness, Arnaud Amalric is supposed to have been asked how to tell Cathars from Catholics. His alleged reply, according to [[Caesarius of Heisterbach]], a fellow Cistercian, was {{lang|la|"[[Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]]"}}—"Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own".{{sfnp|Moore|2003|p=180}}

After the success of his siege of Carcassonne, which followed the massacre at Béziers in 1209, Simon de Montfort was designated as leader of the Crusader army. Prominent opponents of the Crusaders were [[Raymond Roger Trencavel]], viscount of Carcassonne, and his feudal overlord [[Peter II of Aragon]], who held fiefdoms and had a number of [[vassal]]s in the region. Peter died fighting against the crusade on 12 September 1213 at the [[Battle of Muret]]. Simon de Montfort was killed on 25 June 1218 after maintaining [[Siege of Toulouse (1217–1218)|a siege of Toulouse]] for nine months.<ref>''[[Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise]]'' laisse 205.</ref>

=== Treaty and persecution ===
{{Confusing|section|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Filip2 albigensti.jpg|thumb|The burning of the Cathar heretics]]

The official war ended in the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)]], by which the king of France dispossessed the [[House of Toulouse]] of the greater part of its [[fiefdom|fiefs]], and the house of the [[Trencavel]]s of the whole of their fiefs. The independence of the princes of the Languedoc was at an end. In spite of the wholesale massacre of Cathars during the war, Catharism was not yet extinguished, and Catholic forces would continue to pursue Cathars.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}}

In 1215, the bishops of the Catholic Church met at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran]] under Pope Innocent III. Part of the agenda was combating the Cathar heresy.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=179–181}}

The Inquisition was established in 1233 to uproot the remaining Cathars.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=230–232}} Operating in the south at Toulouse, Albi, Carcassonne and other towns during the whole of the 13th century, and a great part of the 14th, it succeeded in crushing Catharism as a popular movement, driving its remaining adherents underground.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=230–232}} Cathars who refused to recant or relapsed were hanged, or burnt at the stake.{{sfnp|Martin|2005|pp=105–121}}

On Friday 13 May 1239, in [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]], 183 men and women convicted of Catharism were burned at the stake on the orders of the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] inquisitor and former Cathar Perfect {{ill|Robert le Bougre|fr}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Haskins|1902|p=missing}}</ref> Mount Guimar, in [[Grand Est|northeastern France]], had already been denounced as a place of heresy in a letter of the Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège|Liège]] to [[Pope Lucius II]] in 1144.<ref>"Ce lieu est terrible, le Mont-Aimé en Champagne", père Albert Mathieu</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://data.bnf.fr/15058149/albert_mathieu/ |title=Albert Mathieu |website=BnF |access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

From May 1243 to March 1244, the Cathar fortress of [[Montségur]] was besieged by the troops of the [[seneschal]] of Carcassonne and the [[archbishop of Narbonne]].{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=238–240}} On 16 March 1244, a large and symbolically important massacre took place, wherein over 200 Cathar Perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the {{lang|fr|prat dels cremats}} ("field of the burned") near the foot of the castle.{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=238–240}} The Church, at the 1235 [[Council of Narbonne (1235)|Council of Narbonne]], decreed lesser chastisements against laymen suspected of sympathy with Cathars.<ref>{{Citation |type=[[Papal Bull|Bull]] |author-link=Pope Innocent IV |last=Innocent IV |title=Ad extirpanda |year=1252 |title-link=Ad extirpanda}}.</ref>

[[File:CatharCross.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|Inquisitors required heretical sympathisers—repentant first offenders—to sew a yellow cross onto their clothes.{{sfnp|Weis|2001|pp=11–12}}]]
A popular though as yet unsubstantiated belief holds that a small party of Cathar Perfects escaped from the fortress prior to the massacre at {{lang|fr|prat dels cremats}}. It is widely held in the Cathar region to this day that the escapees took with them "the Cathar treasure".<!-- Translated from the French "le trésor cathar" - obvious meaning, no need to use French here --> What this treasure consisted of has been a matter of considerable speculation: claims range from sacred [[Gnostic texts]] to the Cathars' accumulated wealth, which might have included the [[Holy Grail]] (see {{format link|#Historical and current scholarship}} below).

Hunted by the Inquisition and deserted by the nobles of their districts, the Cathars became more and more scattered fugitives, meeting surreptitiously in forests and mountain wilds. Later insurrections broke out under the leadership of [[Roger-Bernard II, Count of Foix]], [[Aimery III of Narbonne]], and [[Bernard Délicieux]], a [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan]] friar later prosecuted for his adherence to another heretical movement, that of the [[Fraticelli|Spiritual Franciscans]] at the beginning of the 14th century. By this time, the Inquisition had grown very powerful. Consequently, many presumed to be Cathars were summoned to appear before it.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}}

Precise indications of this are found in the registers of the Inquisitors [[Bernard de Caux|Bernard of Caux]], Jean de St Pierre, [[Geoffroy d'Ablis]], and others.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} The ''perfects'', it was said, only rarely recanted, and hundreds were burnt. Repentant [[laity|lay]] believers were punished, but their lives were spared as long as they did not relapse. Having recanted, they were obliged to sew yellow crosses onto their outdoor clothing and to live apart from other Catholics, at least for a time.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

=== Annihilation ===
After several decades of harassment and re-proselytising, and, perhaps even more important, the systematic destruction of their religious texts, the sect was exhausted and could find no more [[adept]]s. In April 1310, the leader of a Cathar revival in the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenean]] foothills, [[Peire Autier]], was captured and executed in [[Toulouse]].{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=237–38}}{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=242–43}} After 1330, the records of the Inquisition contain very few proceedings against Cathars.{{sfnp|Alphandéry|1911|p=506}} In the autumn of 1321, the last known Cathar ''perfect'' in the Languedoc, [[Guillaume Bélibaste]], was executed.{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|pp=239–246}}{{sfnp|Sumption|1999|pp=242–43}}

From the mid-12th century onwards, Italian Catharism came under increasing pressure from the Pope and the Inquisition, "spelling the beginning of the end."{{sfnp|O'Shea|2000|p=230}} Other movements, such as the [[Waldensians]] and the pantheistic [[Brethren of the Free Spirit]], which suffered persecution in the same area, survived in remote areas and in small numbers through the 14th and 15th centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Stephens|1998|p=missing}}</ref> The Waldensian movement continues today. Waldensian ideas influenced other [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]] sects, such as the [[Hussites]], [[Lollards]], and the [[Moravian Church]].

==== Genocide ====
{{Excerpt| Genocides in history (before World War I) | 13th-century extermination of the Cathars|paragraphs=-1}}