The army was led by Count Simon de Montfort, who had already participated in the fourth crusade in 1204. The Count of Toulouse also prudently took part in it, which provided his lands with immunity from the troops of the crusaders. However, he did not bring his retinue to them and ruled over the crusaders in the territories of his vassals, in every possible way avoiding direct participation in hostilities. Finally, the troops reached the Trancavel fief, and that, the young viscount and the nephew of the Count of Toulouse, had to reluctantly lead the resistance of the invaders from the north, even if they fought under the banner of the cross, and he himself was an exemplary Catholic. That is, the overlord should have protected his vassals at any cost, otherwise he risked his knightly honor. Here is how the Provencal poet Guillaume de Tudel described his position, in 1210 he composed a song about the Albigensian crusade:
Day and night, the Viscount thinks
How to protect the native land, There is no knight more courageous than him.
Count's nephew, his sister's son, He is an exemplary Catholic - they can
You will be confirmed by the priests who
He provided unselfish shelter.
But in his youth, the viscount cared
About those to whom he was then a lord, And who trusted him, and he
It seemed to them a worthy companion.
Faithful vassals sinned one -
Heretics by implicit encouragement."
Here they are "God's warriors" from the north, who came to plunder and destroy the rich culture of the blessed south of France! This is how the director and costume designer of the Soviet detective "The Casket of Maria Medici" saw them.
When the army of the crusaders came, the first on their way was the city of Beziers, which refused to hand over its heretics and was captured in a surprise attack. The gates of the fortress were attacked by the knightly servants who were in the army, who staged a real massacre in the city, as a result of which almost the entire population of the city died on July 22, 1209. The papal legate, Abbot Arnold Amalric, wrote about all this in his letter to the Pope: “… while the barons conferred on what tricks to use to get Catholics out of the city, servants and other people of low rank, and some even without weapons, attacked the city, not waiting for the orders of the leaders … shouting "To arms, to arms!" they crossed the moat, climbed over the walls, and Béziers was taken. They did not spare anyone, they betrayed everyone to the sword, almost 20,000 people, and they showed no mercy to either rank, age or gender. After this massacre, the city was plundered and burned. In such a miraculous way God's punishment was realized …”. The news of the terrible fate of Beziers spread quickly, and subsequently many fortifications of the Cathars surrendered without any resistance. By the way, it was then, as they believe, that the well-known phrase was uttered to all - "Kill everyone, God will recognize his own!", Which, presumably, Arnold Amalrik himself uttered.
Then came the turn of the fortress of Carcassonne, considered impregnable, to which the crusaders approached on July 28, that is, in the very summer heat. On the third day of the siege, they captured the first suburb and cut off the townspeople's access to the river. Then they attacked the second suburb, which was much better defended, and were forced to retreat. At the same time, they actively used various trebuchets, and continuously threw stones and various rotten meat into the city, and their diggers, under a hail of stones and logs, dug a tunnel under the wall.
The next day, early in the morning of August 8, the wall at the site of the tunnel collapsed, and the crusaders approached the ancient fortress wall, erected during the Roman rule and then fortified by Count Trancavel. Guillaume de Tudel will then write about these days:
“Fearless fighters are fighting, Their arrows strike the enemy aptly, And in every camp there are many deaths."
According to him, if it were not for so many aliens from all over the region, this fortress, in which there were both high towers and strong battlements, would never have been taken so quickly. But there was no water in the city, at that time there was a sweltering heat, from which epidemics began, and the meat of animals, which they did not have time to salt, began to rot, it became full of flies, and the inhabitants of the besieged city were seized with horror. However, the crusaders, rightly fearing a fire in the city, decided to start negotiations. It is possible that, believing his word given to him, Count Trancavel agreed to appear in the camp of the crusaders for negotiations, and there he was cunningly captured by them. It happened on August 15, 1209. After that, the city capitulated, and its inhabitants were forced to flee from Carcassonne "in only shirts and pants", taking nothing with them. Trancavel died in a cell of one of the towers of his own castle on November 10. It is possible that he simply fell ill and died, because the conditions of detention of the prisoners at that time were simply disgusting.
The expulsion of the Cathars from Carcassonne in 1209 They were lucky that, having stripped them naked, the crusaders did not kill them! Great Chronicle of France, circa 1415 British Library.
The Crusader Council handed over to Count Simon de Montfort Carcassonne and all the fiefs of Trancavel, which were yet to be conquered. Guillaume de Tudel reports that the Comte de Montfort did not know what to do, since most of the lords did not want to continue the crusade in order to die in the enemy's land during the siege of neighboring castles, where the most stubborn of the local lords were hiding. It seems that the Crusaders did not consider it too righteous to kill more Christians than heretics. They did not have the slightest desire to take possession of the lands of the Occitan knights, and therefore they did not intend to extend the forty-day campaign, for participation in which all the crusaders were promised absolution, although, of course, they were very, very pleased with the opportunity to rob the rich Languedoc!
The head of the crusaders is Simon de Montfort. This is how he is shown in the Soviet film "The Casket of Maria Medici". The film itself was shot well. But … well, why did they put a helmet with a visor on him, because it happened in 1217!
However, even after 1209, the war in the south of France lasted more than one year, but went on, then dying out, then flaring up again, for several decades. For example, in 1215 the Crusaders captured Toulouse, also transferred to Simon de Montfort, but in 1217 Count Raymond VII recaptured it. Simon de Montfort himself began a new siege of the city a year later and was killed with a stone thrower, which, according to legend, was ruled by the women of the city. Moreover, Guillaume de Tudel wrote about his death as follows:
“While Simon grieved and spoke with his brother, The Toulouse is a powerful stone thrower that the carpenter has made, Installed on the wall to fire
And the stone, describing an arc, flew over the meadow, Having got there and having landed, where God himself ordered.
Flint, hitting the helmet directly, knocked Simon off his feet, He smashed it into parts of the jaw and cut open the skull, That stone hit the count so that the count turned black
And immediately this knight got death as an inheritance …
So cruel the Count of Montfort that he was bloodthirsty, As infidel, he was killed with a stone and gave up his spirit."
(Translated by B. Karpov)
However, the campaign followed the campaign, only now the kings of France, who were able to figure out what a tidbit the lands of southern France were, took over to lead them. But only in 1244 - and then, only nine months after the beginning of the siege, the last stronghold of the Cathars - the castle of Montsegur - fell, and in 1255 - the last stronghold of their open resistance - the castle of Keribus in the Corbières mountains. Accordingly, in all the cities and castles taken by the crusaders, the Cathars either forcibly returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church, or, if they refused to do this or did, but did not pass the test by killing a living creature, for example, a dog, they were burned at the stake. The last Cathars of Languedoc hid in caves until 1330, when their refuge was opened. Inquisitor Jacques Fournier, who came to the papal throne five years later under the name of Benedict XII, ordered them to be immured alive there. The last Cathars took refuge in the mountains of Italy. However, in 1412 they were also tracked down there, and they were all killed.
Keribus castle in the Corbières mountains. Looking at this structure, which seems to be one with the rock, well preserved even today, it seems generally incomprehensible how such a fortification can be captured. But … somehow they captured me.
Despite everything, some of them still managed to escape, after which they settled in the Balkans, and, in particular, in Bosnia. Moreover, their sect survived here until the middle of the 15th century and the arrival of the Turkish conquerors. The latter did not care what dogmas their Christian subjects adhered to, as long as they did not start confusion. In this calm atmosphere, the Cathar sect died of its own accord. Many of its members have voluntarily converted to Islam. So among the Muslim Bosnians who took part in the recent Balkan War, there were also the descendants of the Cathars - the very people who, long before the Reformation, almost managed to rebuild the Catholic Church on a completely new basis.
Donjon of Keribus Castle and its entrance.
Yes, there is nothing to say, good deeds were done in that era in the name of the Lord. And it remains only to marvel at the spiritual resilience of the people of that distant time, who, even after all these horrors, found the strength and courage to adhere to the faith that they considered the only correct one, first of all, for its inherent humanism!
By the way, it is interesting to note that, by order of the church authorities, the repentant Cathars had to wear a yellow Latin cross on their clothes, so that to some extent they also became "crusaders" …
(To be continued)
