Episode 15 The Crusade Against the Cathars

1215: Years That Changed History

Dr Dorsey Armstrong (2019)

Film Review

Originating in the Balkans, Catharism (aka Albigensianism) was an anti-materialist religious movement that spread (during the 12th century) to Italy and southwestern France. The Cathars were Manichean dualists, believing that evil (ie the Devil) had equal power to God. They also blamed the corruption in the Catholic church on the Devil.

The only sacrament they recognized was baptism. Among the Cathars, a few highly spiritual individuals achieved a perfect life of austerity and charity and the rest were doomed to reincarnate after death.

Believing women to be equal to men, the Cathars viewed marriage for the sake of procreation as evil, condemning children to suffering by bring them into an evil world. Shunning procreation in cattle, as well, they were staunch vegetarians. They also rejected Christ’s divinity, crucifixion and resurrection.

Armstrong believes the cosmopolitan nature of medieval southern France provided fertile ground for Catharism, as well as tolerance for Jews, troubadours and women owning property.

Because Catholicism was a state religion throughout Western Europe, the church and state collaborated in executing heretics who spoke out against church doctrine. However with powerful nobles supporting the Cathars, the only way to crush Catharism was to declare war on the entire region.

Although not a Cathar himself, the most powerful figure in southern France Count Raymond VI of Toulouse was a strong patron. Following the assassination of a papal legate seeking to end the Cathar heresy, on June 18, 1209 the French government forced him to 1) undergo a publicly whipping and 2) expel all the Jews from Toulouse.

A month later Pope Innocent III’s called for a Crusade against the Cathars, and a northern French army invaded Baisier and slaughtered its entire population. Unable to breach the walled city of Carcassonne, they cut off the city’s water supply. After Raymond IV negotiated a truce with Simon de Montforte, residents were allowed to exit  the city unharmed provided they leave all possessions behind.

The sacking of southern French cities and villages continued, with many residents being tortured and/or burned alive.

In 1217-25, with the support of Count Raymond VI, the Cathars rebelled, with a group of women and girls killing de Montforte In 1217 with a catapult.

In 1226 Louis VIII led the French army against southern France, resulting in the surrender of the Cathars and all the nobles who supported them. In 1229 Raymond VII signed (under duress) the Treaty of Meaux, agreeing to take up arms against the Cathars and return property they had seized to the Church. He also agreed to marry his daughter to the king’s brother Alphonse, which meant his Toulouse land holdings eventually devolved to the king of France.

Five years later, Pope Gregory IX of France founded the infamous Inquisition, initially targeting any Cathars who remained in the South of France.

Film can be viewed with with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/12392969/12393000