Et in Arcadia Ego Video-Magazine no 2

The following text will give you a good idea as to how we will procede. We hope to have completed the project in 2009

In the south of France in the year of 1209 on the day of St. Mary Madeline a terrible massacre took place in the town of Beziers. A Holy War was fought, a crusade to eradicate a heresy of Christians who did not abide by the official teachings of the Catholic orthodoxy.
 

20.000 people were butchered , men, women and children. The official legate of the Pope ; Arnald-Amalric when asked if the Catholics should be spared allegedly replied Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominas qui sunt eius; Kill them all, God will look after his own. What made the Catholic Pope Innocentius 3rd organise a crusading army to exterminate fellow Christians ? Who were these heretical Christians ?

Jonathan Sumption The albigension crusade

Others trace their origins back to ancient Persia 600 B.C. when the priest Zoroaster introduced the 1^st gnostic religion.. in fact he is credited with inventing the devil. In gnostic religions secret knowledge could only be given during initiation ceremony's by the priesthood, the teachings were strictly individual and reflected the grade of the person ; very much like the grade system in freemasonry today.
For Zoroaster there were two Gods : Ahura Mazda, the Lord of light creator of the soul and Ariman, Lord of Darkness creator of the world of matter, who together are locked in mortal battle ..the battleground is the soul of Man...
Zoroasters religion greatly influenced the later Christian gnostic movements of the middle east.

One of the most important gnostic religions was founded by Mani who was born in 216 A.D. in what is now Iraq . The religion he founded closely resembles the movement of the Cathars..during the 12 century.
 

	The believers were allowed to eat meat in moderation, procreate and be merry. The other group, a highly motivated priest class , the Elects of the Manicheans and the Parfaits of the Cathars, both led a penniless existence strictly celibate, vegetarian and pacifist. The rank of priest was open to both men and women.After a probationary period the believers could join the priest class.After a probationary period the believers could join the priest class.The initiation ritual for the Manicheans was similar to the Cathar ritual of the Consolamentum when the believer pledged to live further as a Parfait until death,
Mani

For most Cathar believers a penniless celibate existence was unappealing and chose to take the Consolamentum on their deathbeds. Both believed in the God of spirit... light..and the God of matter..darkness..locked in battle to free the spirit from the enslavement of the flesh .. On one important issue they differed, the Cathars rejected all matter, the Manicheans believed that matter was a mixture of light and darkness.(the symbol of yin -yang is a good illustration)

Both believed in a endless cycle of birth and death until through gnostic knowledge the soul could be reunited with the true God of Light. Both rejected purgatory and hell, life itself was hell.
The Jewish Jehovah of the Old Testament was rejected as being a spiteful , jealous, cruel demon who had tricked the Jews into worshipping him. They believed that Jesus was a spirit sent by the Lord of Light.. Jesus could not have died on the cross because he could not possibly have been born in the flesh.
The physical image of Jesus was magic and not real.
 
Suddenly ! and completely shocked ...the Catholic Church saw its self confronted head on by a heretical movement what it thought it had destroyed ,600 years earlier. They recognized the religion; ....from the epic works of St Augustine in which he attacked the teachings of Mani.
 

St Augustine had been a Manichean believer for 9 years before his conversion to the Roman Catholic Church in 386 a,d, (The propaganda against the dualist teacher Mani was so great that the word Mani became in time the associated with a mental illness : manic depression ) During the first 6 centuries, the gnostic movements were relentlessly persecuted, to survive, they went underground. Secret societies rarely write things down so their movements are difficult to trace.

St Augustine

The Bogomiels of the Balkens.
During the 12^th century the catholic church was not the only one having trouble with a gnostic heresy . In Constantinople , the Byzantine empire had already endured 200 years of confrontation with Bogolism the religion what had taken foot in Macedonia and Bulgaria.
They like the Cathars rejected the old testament which they to identified as the work of Satan . Neither did they venerate the cross, in a time when all the pieces of the true cross kept as holy relics could fill a double decker bus.
The Bogomiels and the Cathars believed that their teachings were a direct continuation from the first apostles , both regarded the church of Rome and Constantinople with its literal interpretation of the Scriptures as the church of Satan.
The Bogomils are thought to have been influenced by the Paulicians who originally came from Armenia ..and a mysterious cult the Messalians ..the praying people.. keepers of secret books and traditions who were also present in the Balkans.
In the 8^th century during the reign of the Byzantium emperor Constantine 5th thousands of Paulicians were transported from Armenia to the Balkans to help defend a risky frontier .with Bulgaria. The Paulicians were known to be gnostics and fierce warriors...
It is plausible that the Bogomils is a mixture of Paulician and Messalian gnosticism...
Bogolism spread during the 11^th century throughout Serbia,Bosnia and Croatia into Italy and France.
Many of the crusaders to the Holy Land would have had contact with the Bogomils when passing through the Balkans.
Fact is that many crusaders came from areas like the Rhineland, the low countries, Champagne and the Loire valley, the same areas where the first gnostic sects appeared in western Europe.
In all of these areas the gnostics were relentlessly persecuted by catholic lynch mobs ,those who could , left and moved to the south of France

It was where the Cathars ,around 1145 came above ground ; they came as a well organised counter religion and were rapidly overtaking the Catholics in popularity.

During the 50 years prior to 1145 the catholic clergy had believed they could turn the tide with reason. Not for a moment did they expect that a heresy could take the place of orthodox teachings.

Popular preachers went out to take on the Cathars head to head, in debates. In 1145 St Bernard of Clairvaux the most famous Catholic theologian of his time went on a preaching mission against the Cathars when he warned of a heresy of weavers. The Cathars would wander the countryside in pairs setting up weaving shops in towns and villages and teach the locals in the trade. New missionaries were created in the process.

St Bernard of Clairvaux

He was deeply shocked when the people beat upon their doors to silence his preachings ,,St Bernard pressed on and was elated with the warm welcome he received in Toulouse, He firmly believed that the Cathars could best be fought with reason., maybe he didn't realise that Cathars were absent in his audience.
When Cathars looked at the catholic church they saw the church of Wolves...
The Catholics also believed that the Cathars were doing the devils work.....spreading a false heresy....
A dangerous cocktail for the looming Holy War!!!

In 1167 the the French Cathars brimming with self confidence, and growing stronger, reputably , held a meeting in the town of St Felix de Caraman close to the city of Toulouse under the guidance of Niquinta the Bogomil Bishop of Constantinople. Present were the Cathar Bishops of northern Italy , northern France and Albi. 
Three new Cathar Bishops were appointed for Toulouse Agen and Carcassone. The Cathars came into line with the powerful faction of Bishop Niquinta when they accepted that Satan was the absolute opposite of God and not as many had thought, a fallen angel.
In the decades after Niquinta's visit the church of Rome finally woke up to the fact that they had lost the battle for the hearts and minds of the people. The call for a crusade ,a Holy war was getting louder...
All eyes were fixed on the lands of the nobility in the Lanquedoc.
In was in these lands that the Cathars were rapidly overtaking the dominate position of the Roman church.
The church demanded that Raymond 5^th Count of Toulouse together with the other powerful nobles in the Languedoc arrest the heretics......and hand them over for trial.
Raymond V did not lack either faith or will for action against the Cathars...... he lacked the backing and support of his vassals and would have to use an army of paid mercenaries.
The vassals who owed allegiance to the House of Toulouse had become a law unto themselves and in practice recognized no suzerainty but there own.
Many of the lesser nobility had family members who were Cathars some researchers even estimate that over30% of the Parfaits were from noble birth. The popular support for action just wasn't there.

Raymond V died in 1194 during his 50 year reign his influence was greatly reduced by unruly vassals who switched allegiance to his aggressive neighbour King Peter 2^nd of Aragon.
This was the unfortunate inheritance of Raymond 6^th. He had neither the military or diplomatic skills of his father who had preserved most of his own county in the face enemies who were militarily stronger.
In 1196 he was excommunicated for the expulsion of numerous Bishops and land seizure from the church. In 1198 the excommunication was lifted.  
 

It was also the year that Innocent 3rd the most powerful of all of the medieval Popes and self styled Vicar of Christ ascended the Papal throne Raymond had nothing but contempt for the emissaries of the Pope , who were from far lower nobility, when they ordered him to take measures against the Cathars.Not until the 1203 when the Pope appointed Peter of Castelnau and a year later Arnald-Amaury did he find a legates equal to the task of confronting the spread of heresy Things were about to change...lifted.

Innocent III

Almost immediately several Catholic Bishops were removed from their posts including the Bishops of Toulouse and Beziers for failing to combat heresy.
In 1205 Raymond 6^th again promised to tackle the heretics in his dominions, two years later it was evident that again no measures were being undertaken.
Then came the diplomatic surprise, the legates had organised a truce under his unruly warring vassals ,who pledged to undertake military measures against the Cathars. Raymond was invited to St Gilles close to the river Rhone in April 1207 to join forces : extremely angry with the boldness of the legates for meddling in his affairs he refused participation in the group. He was immediately excommunicated on numerous charges including protection of heretics, appointing Jews in public office, seizure of church property to name but a few.
Pope Innocent appealed to the King of France Philip Augustus to lead a crusade against the unwilling Lords of the Languedoc , the king disagreed with the launching of the crusade, but like Pontuis Pilote with the prosecution of Christ he washed his hands of the affair.
Raymond was alarmed by the actions of the Pope and let Peter of Castelnau know that he was willing to meet all his demands, if the excommunication was lifted. He invited the legates in January to a meeting at St Gilles.
Raymond had nothing of any substance to offer and the legate left the following day.
Peter was refused his right to an armed escort., later that same day on January 14^th 1208 he was assassinated by a knight,some say under orders from Raymond. 2 months after Peter was assassinated the Pope declared on the 10^th of March 1208 a holy crusade against the heretics of the Languedoc.

In Malcolm Barbers book ' The Cathars ', Innocentuis is quoted “ Attack the followers of heresy more fearlessly than even the Saracens-since they are more evil-with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Forward then soldiers of Christ! Forward brave recruits to the Christian army! Let pious zeal inspire you to avenge this monstrous crime against God.” Working under the instruction of the pope the legates started to organise the crusade. In July 1209, a year later ,the crusade gathered in Lyon was ready.

Malcolm Barbers book ' The Cathars '

The Crusade of 1209

Meanwhile in June 1209 in the western part of the county of Toulouse the crusade had already began; under the leadership of Guy the Count of Auvergne,and the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
(The video :a map of the languedoc coat of arms – knights – region ,idem, Bishops)
The expedition captured the fortified village of Puylaroque and pillaged the surrounding countryside burning many heretics at the stake.
At the town of Casseneuil the advance was checked by fierce resistance by a band of Gasgon crossbowmen led by the nobleman Seguin de Balenx.
Sorties from the town by infantry armed with the dard a thin short spear what could penetrate armour at distance, created havoc under the invaders.

Most of the crusading army consisted of solders undertaking their feudal duty of 40 days military service. This, implied that time was running out, the fierce resistance ,made Guy of Auvergne press the religious leaders to seek terms with Sequin de Balenx,.the Bishops refused and the crusade ended with the throwing of insults and incriminations.
It turned out that at the same time of the expedition Cathar Parfaits were being received at the castle of one of its leaders Bertrand de Gourdon.

In June 1209 the official crusading army had gathered in Lyon, under the leadership of the Papal legate Arnald Amaury.
Its main fighting force recruited from the aristocracy probably consisted of only a 1000 fully equipped knights ,armoured from head to foot .Depending on their individual wealth they would be supported by a unit of skilled and disciplined foot soldiers and cavalry. numbering anything from 3 to 30 combatants.
 

Lower down the military ladder were the specialised mercenaries ; the operators and builders of battering rams and the great war catapults, the trebuchets and mangonels and Sappers to fill in moats and undermine defensive walls... Lower down the ladder were the routiers , a rag tag bunch of mercenaries, dispossessed and unemployed , who scraped a living by roaming the countryside looting and killing.

trebuchets

Zoe Oldenbourg in her book' Massacre at Montsegur.' writes ;........ they were desperate fellows with nothing to lose, and therefore would plunge on through thick and thin regardless.... They formed a series of shock battalions,all the easier to use since no one had the slightest qualms about sacrificing them. The most important thing..was the terror they inspired in the civilian population.. Not content with mere pillage and rape they indulged in massacre and torture for the sheer fun of the thing, roasting children over slow fires and chopping them in small pieces”.........

Zoe Oldenbourg Massacre at Montsegur

Lowest of them all were the unpaid ribauds, a wild bunch of corpse robbers and looters who elected their own king during the crusade to lead them and divide the spoils of war.
Early July 1209 the crusaders left Lyon in a 6 kilometre long column led by the legate Arnald Amaury.
Raymond was completely without allies so left with no choice he requested to be allowed to join the crusade. In this way he would earn immunity, his title and possessions would be protected.
Stripped to the waist he underwent a humiliating public whipping by a legate at the Abbey of St Gilles, a further 4 days were spent in surrendering the control of his dominions.
On the 15^th of July they were met by Raymond- Roger Trencavel at Montpellier who begged the legates to allow him to submit to the church like the Count of Toulouse before him. The legates in defiance of church law refused!
The coming Holy war was now directed at the greatest enemy of the count of Toulouse his former vassal Raymond Roger Trencaval , Viscount of Beziers. This left the Viscount with very little time to prepare his defences. Beziers was about 2 days march from Montpellier.
Raymond-Roger rode through the night to warn the citizens of Beziers of the approaching army. He asked the citizens to defend their city and promised reinforcements. He left the same day,for Carcassonne taking with him the entire Jewish community. The Jews were a valuable source of taxes and their international connections were unrivalled in commerce., to valuable to be left in the path of the thousands of killers on the road intent to do violence.

On the 22^nd of July the crusaders sent the Bishop of Beziers to negotiate the surrender of 222 known Cathars. for immediate burning,in return that the city would be spared together with her citizens.
This was rejected outright by the people of Beziers. and the Bishop made a hurried exit across one of the bridges from the town over the river Orb.
This was were the ribouds had set up camp at some distance from the main body of the army. One of the ribouds walked onto the bridge and hurled insults and challenges at the defenders. Angered they rushed out at cut the man down and threw him in the river. To their great surprise a number of ribouds swarmed the bridge and hurled themselves at the towns defences. Within minutes armed only with primitive hand weapons the numbers of lowly camp followers attacking had grown into thousands. By the time the the main body of crusaders had arrived the ribouds had forced the gates of the town... The routiers and ribouds as they sped howling through the streets, intoxicated with a killing lust and greed , were quickly becoming frustrated in their hopes of quick riches by the knights who took from them anything of value , so instead they took out their anger on the citizens. Nowhere to hide, the poor people of Beziers were slaughtered everywhere.
It only took a few hours before the whole population was murdered. Modern scholars estimate a total between 15 to 20,000 people were killed.
A song by one of the last troubadours of the Languedoc Guiraut Riquier of Narbonne tells the tale of the tragedy:

• Beziers has fallen. They're dead, Clerks, women, children, No quarter, They killed Christians too, I rode out, 
  I couldn't see or hear, A living creature... They killed 7000 people, 7000 souls who sought sanctuary in St. Madeleine, The steps of the alter, Were wet with blood, The church echoed with the cries, Afterwards they slaughtered the monks, Who tolled the bells, They used the silver cross, As a chopping block to behead them

Arnauld Amalric wrote a proud letter to the Pope where he declared:

“Nearly 20.000 of the citizens were put to the sword, regardless of age or sex.
The workings of divine vengeance have been wondrous.”
 

The crusaders reached Carcassonne on the 1st of August, Raymond Roger had organised the defences as best he could, the surrounding countryside was stripped of food and the watermills in the river Aude destroyed, in the hope that the crusaders would run out of food before the city. The present outer wall was added after the crusade the inner wall corresponds more or less how it looked at the time. Wooden galleries had been assembled on the battlements to protect against sappers.

Carcassonne

The city was swollen with refugees the main water supply was the nearby river Aude the deep wells within the city walls could not sustain a prolonged siege. Assessing the weakness the crusaders attacked and occupied the suburb of St Vincent outside the city walls, effectually cutting off the access to the river.
A day later on the 3^rd of august the crusader attacked and destroyed the bourg ,the suburb to the north.
Confident in their actions the siege engines pounded the Castellare a well fortified suburb on the south side. Sappers had succeeded in mining the walls the crusaders took possession, only to be repelled by a surprise attack the following day. Before retreating the garrison set fire to the houses in the suburb so that the crusaders could not take cover among the houses while attacking the main walls of the city.
Lack of water meant that the city could not hold out much longer...
Much to the relief of all within the city, the King of Aragon arrived on the scene intent on securing an immediate truce and reconciliation between Viscount Raymond Roger and the Catholic Church. The House of Trencavel paid homage to the to the House of Barcelona and their King Peter 2^nd of Aragon.
King Peter was anxious that some crusading knight from the north might claim the lands of Raymond Roger or equally disagreeable the Count of Toulouse.

The leader of the crusade and papal legate Arnald Amaury again with total disregard for the principles of canon law refused Raymond Rogers submission to the church.
Not to completely alienate King Peter he offered a free passage to the Viscount with 11 companions of his own choice taking with them only what they could carry.
These terms were rejected by Raymond Roger , King Peter left, back to Spain. 
Extremely angry that his efforts were ineffectual, the siege continued ..... the assault weapons made little impression on the strong walls. Arnoud Amaury offered to renegotiate the terms of surrender and invited Raymond Roger for talks in the camp of the crusaders. No sooner than the terms were settled Raymond Roger was seized and cast into the dungeons of Carcassonne. Raymond Roger died that autumn in the dungeons of his city, aged 24 neither accused, or convicted of any crime.

In 1194 the father of Raymond Roger had been lynched by the citizens of Beziers for trying to impose his will upon them. The appointed guardian of the young viscount Betrand de Saissac was a notorious heretic, when the monks of nearby Alet le Bains appointed a new abbot with whom he greatly disagreed he forced the monks to dig up the decomposing body of the previous abbot and placed the remains on the abbots chair and declared the election void and promptly elected a Bishop of his choice for the seat. The sins of the guardian maybe.....?
The important nobles of the crusade set about electing the new viscount, giving the Papal legates the opportunity to disengage from the military campaign and concentrate on a political strategy to destroy Count Raymond of Toulouse.

After the Duke of Burgundy and other important crusaders declined , the vacancy was offered and accepted by the heir to the earldom of Leicester , Simon de Montfort a baron from the Ile-de-France.
Simon was what we would call today a religious fanatic. Contrary to popular thought Simon was a man of strong orthodox Christian convictions, one example, when the Christian crusaders on their way to the Holy Land were manipulated by the Venetians into attacking the Christian city of Zara in present day Croatia he refused and made his own way to Syria to fight the Muslims. He was a soldiers soldier, a man of blood and guts. He ordered the body of the deceased Raymond Roger to be laid out in state in the cathedral and was the first of many who paid their respects. He promised the widow an allowance of 3000 sols.
History does not remember him for his bravery strong piety and severe self discipline but by the utter ruthlessness of his leadership during the crusade. 

The military campaign of Simon de Montfort 1209 – 1211

The fate of Beziers had persuaded some 200 towns and villages to submit to the crusaders ,Pamiers, Castres, Fanjeux and Mirepoix were among those that surrendered any Cathars still around were handed over and burnt at the stake.
The Count of Foix submitted to Simon and ordered the garrison at Prexian to surrender to the crusaders. But within 8 weeks of becoming the military leader the situation changed. 
Many of the crusaders having earned their indulgences packed up and left leaving Simon come November with only 30 dedicated knights and a total than no more than 500 foot soldiers to garrison more than 10 strategic castles in the conquered territories .His most important adversaries had begun regrouping in the castle strongholds of Cabaret, Minerve and Termes.
The King of Aragon refused to accept his homage as the new viscount of Beziers even going so far to proclaim resistance to the occupation of Simon as legitimate and worthy of his support.
Shortly afterwards the bodies of two Cistercian monks assistants of the legate Milo were found close to Carcassonne savagely mutilated...... The finger pointed towards the resistance gathered at Cabaret....
 

The crusaders had marched to Cabaret shortly after taking Carcassonne, but were easily repelled, the fortress of four independent keeps so inaccessible that few defenders could withstand a large attacking force. Like the mythical old man of the mountain the fortress was led by a wily old fox Pierre-Roger Lord of Cabaret. To make things worse for Simon a daring raid was undertaken from Cabaret deep into Simons territory . A family member and strong ally Bouchard de Marly was ambushed with 50 of his men, suffering heavy losses, he was captured and taken prisoner to Cabaret.    Other bad news quickly followed,a former ally of the crusade Geraud de Pépieux a southern knight angry with the murder of his uncle by a knight close to Simon retaliated by overpowering the castle of Puisserguier north of Narbonne.

Cabaret

Simon had sentenced the murderer to be buried alive in the hope that feelings of vengeance would be stilled. Simon besieged the castle but could not prevent Geraud s men from throwing the 50 soldiers of the garrison into the moat .before escaping taking two knights who commanded the castle with him to the resistance stronghold of Minerve. After being brutally savaged and mutilated they were sent back naked in the bitter November cold to Simon at Carcassonne. Before winter had ended Simon had lost more than 45 castles, only a few poorly manned strongholds remained loyal to the crusade.
Help arrived early spring 1210 when his wife Alice de Montmorency arrived with a large number of northern knights . Foot solders and knights earning indulgences came in a constant stream for the summer fighting season enabling Simon to take the offensive.  With a vengeance he attacked !!
Citizens of Montlaur who had participated in a siege of the garrison were hanged. The priest Simon had appointed in charge of Montreal was expelled from the clergy and fastened to the tail of a horse and dragged through the streets of the town . The leftovers were left 'to hang from the walls, as punishment for surrendering the town back to its previous lord. The garrison of Bram had their noses, tongues and eyes cut out ; a 100 pitiful creatures were chained together and led to Cabaret by one who was left with one eye. 
 

Early June he laid siege to Minerve a strong natural fortress town surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs the only point of entry on a narrow strip well defended with strong fortifications. His specialist carpenters assembled the immense stone throwing sling machines, the trebuchets, .... The bombardment lasted day and night for 6 weeks. In the cover of darkness a daring sortie was made to attempt the destruction of the giant trebuchet named bad neighbour Malevoisine, only to be discovered at the last moment. Simons men were able to extinguish the burning sling and the battering bombardment continued.

Minerve

The covered passageway to the well in the gorge was destroyed, the only water supply for the town. The citadel at the entrance was badly damaged. Four days later on the 22 of July William de Minerve surrendered accepting the terms offered by the crusaders.
The crusaders marched into Minerve singing the Te Deum the song what was becoming the anthem of the crusade.
Everybody who repented would be spared,... a 140 parfaits were burned at the stake,... only 3 cathars took the cross.

At the end of July only the fortresses Termes and Cabaret in the land of Count Raymond Roger Trencavel remained defiant against the crusade. Simon decided on leaving Cabaret to last and taking the bulk of his army arrived at Termes sometime mid August. His massive trebuchets to bulky for transport to travel with the main army would join later.
The commander of Cabaret Pierre Roger launched a daring night raid attacking the assault engines of Simon awaiting transport outside the walls of Carcassonne the raid nearly succeeded in destroying Simons siege engines.
Any delay could cost Simon dear as many of his army would depart when they had earned their 40 day indulgences.
Small groups travelling to Termes were attacked, prisoners were mutilated,eyes pierced, noses cut, lips severed and sent to join Simons camp.
Early September important new arrivals made it possible for the first time to encircle Termes. The trebuchets were installed and fired but without any significant success. The defenders had their own mangonels,they in turn fired large rocks into the crusaders camp. Deadly were the ballistas ,giant crossbows capable of firing large bolts over considerable distances into the crusaders camp. The suburb and the Termenet an isolated defense tower fell to the attackers.
The trebuchets unable to find the range were unable to inflict any real damage to the castle. Many of the September reinforcements had earned their indulgences and were packing up to leave.
Unknown to Simon the water supply was critical , forcing mid October Raymond de Termes to negotiate terms for surrender. The terms Simon offered were generous.

Raymond agreed to hand over the castle until Easter,1211 when Simon would return it to Raymond. An offer what reflected the strength of the defenders . The agreement was set for the following day. A torrential downpour that night filled up the cisterns of the castle and to the elation of the defenders the bulk of the September reinforcements had left the during the night the camp of the crusaders.
Raymond revoked the agreement and decided to resit further, Simon for his part against the odds refused to lift the siege. A large army from Germany joined the crusade in November, the battering with the tebuchets resumed this time with great accuracy.

The situation inside the castle had become dramatic , the water was polluted causing widespread dysentery among the garrison. On the 22^nd of November the garrison slipped away under the cover of darkness Raymond was caught when he tried to return to retrieve some unknown object and incarcerated for life in Carcassonne.

After the fall of Carcassonne the Papal legates disengaged from the military campaign . They immediately plotted against Raymond 6^th ; Arnald Amaury was convinced that only with the removal of the Count could the heresy be eradicated. The greatest obstruction facing the papal legates was the Pope himself, the judicial principals of Innocent prevented any illegal assault on the lands of Raymond .

In September shortly after the fall of Carcassonne the legates placed a interdict on the city of Toulouse after the consuls refused to hand over a number of supposed heretics . With the threat of excommunication Count Raymond was given 6 weeks to comply with the promises he had made earlier at St Gilles, to expel Jews in his administration and to dispel with toll gates and mercenaries in his service.
On the 1^st of November Raymond was expelled from the church . In January 1210 he went to Rome to appeal his case with the Pope. Some accounts of the meeting report that he was sternly rebuked by Pope Innocent while other record that he was warmly received and even given a private showing of the holy napkin of St Veronica.
Innocent lifted the interdict on Toulouse and the excommunication of the Count and with further insult to the legate Arnald Amaury instructed that any further dealings with the Count would be handled by the legate Thedisius.
The military campaign was severely hampered by a rising insurgency between November 1209 and march 1210 .

Toulouse 1210
 

After the ranks of the crusaders were reinforced in March a violent civil war erupted in the city of Toulouse. The Bishop Folquet one of the new Bishops appointed by Arnald Amaury had created a militia calling itself the white brotherhood. who were entitled to the same indulgences as the crusaders They initiated pogroms harassing heretics and the moneylenders . The wealthy merchants and urban knights who lived in the area named the bourg built around the Grand Basilica St. Sernin offered refuge to the moneylenders and formed their own militia named the black brotherhood, often fierce battles were fought in the streets of Toulouse . Arnald Amaury arrived in March 1210 in Toulouse alone without Thedisius in contradiction to Pope Innocents instructions and ordered the consuls to take measures against heretics and pay 1000 livres to the church. The consuls agreed but could only raise 500 livres, only through the intervention of Bishop Folquet could Arnald Amaury be held from excommunicating the entire city. Raymond submitted his chateau Narbonnais in an attempt to please the legate.

Bishop Folquet

The formal reconciliation of Raymond with the church would be settled at a special meeting at St Gilles in July.
The legates met in secret to plan how they could operate within the judicial guidelines of the Pope, and still be able to excommunicate Raymond.
Raymond and his entourage arrived at St Gilles expecting to be reconciled with the church. Arnald Amaury had no objection in Raymonds return to the fold.
Thedisius read out the list of promises Raymond had made earlier and had not kept.
The matter was left unresolved until the following January 1211 when Raymond was summoned to a special council of Bishops in Montpellier. He was handed a list of conditions by the legates , to name a few;

• expel within 24 hours all his mercenaries, withdraw his employment and protection of the Jews

• the urban knights would be forced to move and live in the countryside.

• he must enrol with the templars or Hospitallers and exile himself to Palestine

Raymond left the same day without giving his reply, completely shocked with the impossible demands laid upon his shoulders... He was excommunicated by the Papal legates on the 6^th February 1211.
The Pope confirmed the sentence in April.
Raymond looked for allies .....  Total war in the Languedoc had begun.....

Crusade 1211

In March Simons army was joined by a new group of northern crusaders , ..his eye turned to Cabaret.. the last remaining resistance in the Trencavel dominions.
When word reached Pierre Roger of Cabaret of the impending attack he released from his dungeon Bouchard de Marly who had spent 18 months incarcerated.
He proposed to Bouchard that if he could arrange a safe surrender for himself and the garrison he would give Bouchard the castle as a gift.
Bouchard accepted, bathed and dressed in new clothes left on a fine horse to negotiate the surrender of Cabaret with Simon. Simon accepted and granted Pierre Roger a new fief in low lying countryside were it would be easier to combat him if it became necessary.
Pierre Roger never repented his faith or allegiances, he died of old age while exiled in Aragon.

Simons finances were running low, the next target would replenish his coffers. The town chosen was Lavour on the border of the Trencavel lands and those of Raymond of Toulouse.
Simon laid siege to the town , Lavour was commanded by Aimery de Montreal a powerful lord in the region impoverished by the crusade. His sister Giraude de Laurac was a well known Cathar in Lavour.
At the same time Bishop Folquet ordered the white brotherhood to march to Lavour, Raymond could not prevent them leaving Toulouse his own power base was eroded by the Bishop.
A band of fresh crusaders from the Rhineland on the march from Carcassonne to Lavour were attacked in the forest of Montgey by a group of knights led by the count of Foix and Giraud de Pepieux. The attack killed hundreds of crusaders.

On the 3^rd of May Simons siege engineers had succeeded in sapping the town wall the invaders poured in. The 90 or so defenders , at the mercy of Simon, were all put to the sword as revenge for the massacre of the Rhinelanders beginning with Aimery de Montreal. His sister was given to a band of routiers, abused and later thrown down the towns well and stoned to death. Somewhere between 3 or 4 hundred heretics were discovered in the town and burned an a huge fire.
The devil was dealt a heavy blow and the crusaders rejoiced, only to be disappointed in a share of the booty.
The town was rich in plunder, the entire haul was given to Simons banker Raymond de Salvagnac from the banking capital of western Europe Cahors.
The Count of Toulouse appealed to the crusade that he would comply to the wishes of the papal legates, but his pleas fell on death ears. In reply Simon marched his troops to Montgey which was raised to the ground, another atrocity took place at Les Cassés when 50 heretics were discovered hiding in the garrison ,they met their end on the wood pile,

Around the 20^th of May Simon laid siege to Montferrand commanded by Baldwyn of Toulouse the younger brother of Raymond. Baldwyn was raised from infancy at the court of Louis 7^th and had never met his brother until he arrived at the court of Raymond to lay claim to his part of the inheritance ; little love was lost between the two. He had begged Raymond to let him lead the defence of Castelnaudry a town of strategic importance , Raymond had refused and ordered him to command Montferrand a poorly and ill kept garrison.
After a short and hopeless defence Baldwyn surrendered the garrison, and made peace with Simon.

Even though Toulouse was only a few kilometres away Simon decided to first subdue parts of the Quercy and the Agenais,while awaiting the arrival of fresh troops.
 

The count of Toulouse was staying in the nearby hilltop fortress of Bruniquel. He was on the point of destroying it when his brother Baldwyn arrived and asked if he could take command.  Raymond agreed and left for Toulouse.,unaware that Baldwyn was intending to join forces with the crusade.Completely satisfied that Raymond would not satisfy the legates demands Baldwyn had no qualms in giving homage to Simon. Meanwhile Simon was reinforced with a fresh group of crusaders from Germany, and soon left to attack Toulouse. Bishop Folquet ordered his entire clergy to leave the city.

fortress of Bruniquel

A deputation of catholic citizens urged Simon to abandon his plans for the attack. To no avail Simon refused to change his plans. The city was defended by a large garrison of mercenaries and mounted contingents from the count of Foix and the count of Comminges and many of the lower aristocracy displaced during the crusade.
Simons forces were to small to cover the 5 km circumference of the walled city enabling supply's to reach the defenders. Simons forces on the other hand after a fruitless seige of 2 weeks were feeling the pangs of hunger to the surprise of the city abandoned their offensive. To show off his strength he went on a blitzkrieg burning crops and uprooting vineyards .deep into the county Raymond of Foix.
After a few days of destruction he took his forces north to the were the legate Arnoud Amuary and the bishop of the banking city of Cahors had pressurised the local barons Cardillac and Gordon to give their allegiance to Simon. Maybe to show his strength he attacked and burned the town of Caylus, before taking his troops to the shrine of the black virgin of Rocamadour , After his pilgrimage to the Black Virgin he took leave of his German reinforcements and returned to Carcassonne with what was left of his army.

When word spread that Simon had failed at Toulouse many of the conquered castles and villages threw out their occupying garrisons. To make matters worse an army had left Toulouse heading for Carcassonne. Simons instinct was not to dig in and await the siege but to attack. He decided against the odds with a small army to await the southern army of the Count of Toulouse at Castelnaudary. The first attack was easily beaten off by Simons men .The Count decided to build a defensive stockade on a nearby hill over looking the town. Both sides locked in a stalemate waiting for fresh reinforcements., a stalemate what showed that Simon was not invincible.

Important troop and supply contingents were on their way led by the old captive of Cabaret Bouchard de Marly and Martin Algai a mercenary who had fought with Richard de Lionheart. The count of Foix barred their passage to Castelnaudry at the village of St. Martin la Lande with heavy cavalry and infantry in numbers superior to the crusaders. Left with no choice the crusaders attacked .Simon took a calculated risk and dispatched with 50 knights to help his friend Bouchard de Marly leaving only 5 knights to hold Castelnaudry. The crusaders were in retreat, Martin de Algai had deserted the battlefield when Simons forces arrived ,Bouchard on seeing the arrival of Simon turned his retreating forces around and led the attack . A bloody battle ensured both sides losing many of their best knights. The Count of Foix had lost the battle and fled with the remains of his forces from the scene.

Seeing the towns weak defence the mercenaries of the Count of Toulouse attacked only to be quickly repulsed by Simon on his return. In the following days it became clear that a military stalemate was reached , for the insurgency a sign that Simon was not invincible. This resulted that nearly all the towns and castles what he had taken in the previous 6 months with the exception of Lavour expelled their occupiers. Rumours spread that Simons forces had been severely beaten and even Simon himself had been killed.

Baldwyn of Toulouse who occupied the hill fortress of Bruniquel in the Tarn for the crusaders tried to stem the revolt. He took his troops to the town of Lagrave where the city gates were opened to him, the towns people thought that Baldwyn was Raymond. 
When they explained how they had expelled the garrison left by Simon, Baldwyn turned and massacred them.
Nevertheless the uprising had taken hold forcing Baldwyn to retreat to the fortress of Bruniquel, Simon had decided to hole up for the winter at Pamiers and await the arrival of fresh troops.

Crusade 1212

New recruits arrived in the spring from northern Europe swelling Simons forces, once again the situation turned around in favour of the crusaders. He sent his brother Guy to attack the county of Foix, the crusaders laid waste to the countryside and massacred the people of Lavelanet.
Simon focussed on crushing the insurgency in the region of the Albi and Agen.
Towns like Montcuq St Marcel and Laquepie were deserted when Simon arrived with his army. The town of St Antonin succumbed when the gates were overrun by the ribouds. Wholesale slaughter took place , a mass killing in the church was only averted when Simon came to realise that dead people pay no taxes .

Simon left Baldwyn with a small army to crush any further insurgency's in the Albi region. Taking the main body of troops he left for the Guyenne ,the region known better as the Agenais. This area was given to Raymond of Toulouse by Richard the Lionheart as dowry when he married his sister Joan Plantagenet, The region inspired the chronicler of the crusade Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay to write a poetical description praising the fertility of the vineyards and agiculture.

The key to the duchy of Guyenne was the town of Penne, Its fortifications were designed by Richard the Lionheart. It had a new well, 2 smithies , a windmill and a bakery. It was defended by 400 Spanish mercenaries who were led by Raymond d'Alfaro the husband of an illegitimate daughter of the count of Toulouse and Giraud de Montfabés the bayle of Monquc. They had evacuated the town and destroyed its buildings and awaited behind the castle walls the coming of Simon . The seige began on the 3^rd June 1212.

The archdeacon of Paris had designed the largest trebuchet yet to be used in the crusade, even so only little damage was made to the keep. After many fruitless attempts to capture the castle Simon recalled his brother Guy to assist with the seige. Hot July weather and depleting water reserves forced Raymond d 'Alfaro to negotiate favourable terms of surrender. The siege ended on the 25^th July the day of St. John the Baptist ., nearly 2 months later.
The next target for the crusaders was Moissac home to the magnificent abbey, but before deploying his troops in that direction he took a quick detour to the Château Biron in the Perigord region.
 

Martin Algai over to Simon. Tied to the tail of a horse he was dragged around the castle perimeter and finally hanged by a meat hook from the gates of the castle. This episode was written in the pro crusade Histoire albigeoise and the anti crusade Chanson de la croisade by chroniclers from the period. On ascension day 15^th August 1212 the crusaders attacked Moissac under the leadership of the Bishop of Carcassonne and the archdeacon of Paris.
 

The town was not only the home of one of the great abbeys of France but also refuge of a great number of heretics. The townspeople in the face of the attack had expel' d the abbot who sided with the crusaders. Moissac had thick high walls and was well defended by a company of knights and a few hundred routiers stationed by Raymond of Toulouse. The crusaders had too few troops to completely encircle the town enabling the defenders to use a nearby hill as base for sorties behind enemy lines. Baldwyn of Toulouse and the bishop of Toul came with new troops and the archdeacon of Paris made even larger trebuchets. The dogged resistance kept the besiegers at bay inflicting heavy casualties.

abbey of Moissac

Even Simon was injured .The routiers of Moissac had captured a family member of the archbishop of Reims, who they chopped up in pieces and hurled back at the crusaders with their own magonels. The atmosphere must have been very eerie with priests singing Veni Creator Spiritus in a procession among the camp of the crusaders.,this terrified the defenders of the city gates. Fearful that they could be next induced many of the towns with the exception of Montuban to take the side of the crusade. The towns people met in secret with a delegation of the besiegers and agreed to open the gates with the promise that they would be spared. The entire garrison and the knights of Raymond were put to the sword in total about 300 were slaughtered.

Raymond was during the whole period in Bordeaux trying to secure the release of his son who was being held ransom for exchange of back pay owed to the mercenaries in his service recruited by his ally king John of England.
With nearly all of the lands of Raymond of Toulouse and his vassals in the hands of the crusaders a special meeting was held in Pamiers. The goal of the parliament was to ensure that the religious and political purification would be translated into law.
In total 46 articles were written many of which regulated the punishment of heretics ,and the confiscation of their property. Attendance to mass every Sunday was made compulsory for all including the aristocracy.