Editing Albigensian Crusade (section)

===Prelude to crusade===
On assuming the papacy in 1198, Pope Innocent III resolved to deal with the Cathars and sent a delegation of friars to the province of Languedoc to assess the situation. The Cathars of Languedoc were seen as not showing proper respect for the authority of the French king or the local Catholic Church, and their leaders were being protected by powerful nobles,{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=8–9}} who had a clear interest in independence from the king.{{sfn|Graham-Leigh|2005|p=6}} At least in part for this reason, many powerful noblemen embraced Catharism despite making little attempt to follow its strict lifestyle restrictions.{{sfn|Madden|2005|p=125}}

In desperation, Innocent turned to [[Philip II of France]], urging him either to force [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse]] to deal with the heresy or depose him militarily. By 1204, he offered to bless those willing to go on a military campaign against the Cathars with the same indulgence given to crusaders travelling to the [[Holy Land]]. The [[Fourth Crusade]], in its late stages at the time, had not shown any signs of going in that direction. However, Philip was engaged in conflict with [[King John of England]], and was unwilling to get involved in a separate conflict in the Languedoc. Hence, the plan stalled.{{sfn|Madden|2005|p=126}}

One of the most powerful noblemen, Raymond VI, did not openly embrace Cathar beliefs, but was sympathetic to Catharism and hostile to the French king.<ref name="Albigenses"/> He refused to assist the delegation. He was [[excommunicated]] in May 1207 and an [[interdict]] was placed on his lands.<ref name="Albigenses"/> Innocent tried to deal with the situation diplomatically by sending a number of preachers, many of them monks of the [[Cistercian]] order, to convert the Cathars. They were under the direction of the senior papal legate, [[Pierre de Castelnau]]. The preachers managed to bring some people back into the Catholic faith, but for the most part, were renounced.{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=16–18}}

Pierre himself was extremely unpopular, and once had to flee the region for fear that he would be assassinated. On 13 January 1208, Raymond met Pierre in the hope of gaining absolution. The discussion did not go well. Raymond expelled him and threatened his safety.{{sfn|Madden|2005|p=126}} The following morning, Pierre was killed, allegedly by one of Raymond's knights. Innocent III claimed that Raymond ordered his execution;{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|pp=58–59}} [[William of Tudela]] blames the murder entirely on "an evil-hearted [[squire]] hoping to win the Count's approval".{{sfn|William of Tudela|Anonymous|2004|p=13}}

Pope Innocent declared Raymond anathematized and released all of his subjects from their oaths of obedience to him.{{sfn|Peter of les Vaux de Cernay|1998|p=36}} However, Raymond soon attempted to reconcile with the Church by sending legates to Rome. They exchanged gifts, were reconciled,{{sfn|William of Tudela|Anonymous|2004|pp=15–16}} and the excommunication was lifted. At the Council of Avignon in 1209, Raymond was again excommunicated for not fulfilling the conditions of ecclesiastical reconciliation. After this, Innocent III called for a crusade against the Albigensians, with the view that a Europe free of heresy could better defend its borders against invading Muslims. The time period of the Crusade coincided with the [[Fifth Crusade|Fifth]] and [[Sixth Crusade|Sixth]] Crusades in the Holy Land.{{sfn|Falk|2010|p=169}}