Against the Albigensians

Adam Gish
HIST 180W
11/09/05

To justify a crusade in the 13th century, the Roman Catholic Church needed to

label the Muslim infidels and Albigensian heretics as equally deserving punishment for

their sinful ways. In response to these two threats, the church called upon crusaders from

all over Europe to act in the name of God, to vanquish these enemies of everything they

saw as good. Men and women – and even children – from every part of the land flocked

to the calling of their most holy church, donned the cross, and took up arms against any

who would stand in their path. First-hand accounts of these crusades against infidels and

heretics show just how zealous people were at this time, justifying their wars by

glorifying their own righteous indignity, and how they made no distinction between

Cathar and Saracen.

Evidence for these claims comes from the writings of very prestigious churchmen,

namely Peter of Les Vaux-de-Cernay and Pope Innocent III, but also lesser known

authors such as William of Tudela from northern Spain. Peter is a special case, because

he himself actually witnessed the horrors of war alongside his uncle, Abbot Guy. The

pope's sermons bore a heavy influence on his pro-crusade attitude, and therefore his

writings as well. Pope Innocent's letter to Arnold Amalric hints at the worry some lords

felt about losing their hard-fought lands to other lords. William's writings were actually

meant to be orated in verse, and are collectively called The Song of the Cathar Wars. Of

the Muslims, Fulcher of Chartres describes the impact of Pope Urban's declaration of war
against the infidels. Fulcher was a priest who headed off to the Holy Lands alongside

many French nobles; as with everyone else he, too, had a very one-sided mindset toward

the church's enemies. Each of these sources stem from different levels of power within

the church, and yet they all share the similar theme that heretics were no better than

infidels.

Peter's description of the origins of the Albigensian crusade – although very one-

sided – shows the justification of the church's crusade against these heretics. In 1208 AD,

a missionary by the same name (Peter) set out for Spain to "preach peace and support the

faith" (p. 196). However, according to the author, this missionary was beset upon by

minions of Satan and stabbed in the back. The ruler in this part of Spain, Count Raymond

of Toulouse, tried to cover the incident up, but soon the Catholic church discovered its

occurrence and erupted with retributive fury. Pope Innocent III was mad. "He grasped his

chin in anger" and immediately called for a crusade against these heretics (p. 201). They

saw the death of the missionary Peter as a sign that the hand of Count Raymond – as well

as those of all the Spanish Albigensians – were "now raised against all men" (p.197).

Clearly the author leaves no room for pity, for he wrote that "they should all be hanged

from fork-shaped gibbets" and, if that should fail, "the rest be put to the sword" (p. 200).

The sieges against Albigensian towns proved to be quick and deadly affairs, with the

Albigensians vastly outnumbered, and yet Peter, like every other crusader on the Catholic

side, viewed these heretics as a threat to all of humanity.

William of Tudela describes the crusading army in more detail, glorifying their

strength in comparison to the weakness of their foes. According to him, these holy

soldiers saw not only their lords among them in battle, but their kings as well. All were
leaders of great reknown. "Never in my life have I seen such a gathering," William wrote,

"as that one they made against the heretics and clog-wearers" (p. 203). He mentioned

thousands of cavalry and infantry joined under the banners of such great men as the duke

of Burgundy and the count of Nevers. He glorifies this enormous army so much that it

almost makes the Albigensian defenders seem like a pathetic rabble of peasants. The

reasons why so many would join together on such a crusade are many, but William does

specify one: that their sins would be forgiven. In the eyes of elite churchmen, so many

volunteers going off to fight for their God could only mean that they were the righteous

ones and their enemies were not.

Pope Innocent III's letter, sent to his representative in Spain, gives another reason

for crusaders to be so quick to expel the Albigensians. The victories of these glorified

leaders granted them the lands that they took from the heretics, and so many of them

became so powerful as to be recognized by King Peter II of Aragon, who felt threatened

by their military presence. The pope asked his representative to make peace among these

quarreling Christians, and instead to focus their attention on the "faithless race of

Saracens" (p. 204). It was the privilege of the crusaders to not only dispose of their

enemies, but to also claim their enemies' lands as their own, "in the expectation that the

right thinking of the new occupier may purge those lands of the heresy which has hithero

so foully defiled them" (p. 197). Pope Innocent saw the Saracens as an even greater threat

than the Albigensians, and so, after the work in Spain had been done with, he called those

crusaders back to the Holy Land. If the forgiveness of sin had not been enough of a

motivator for the crusaders, then the promise of free land would have been for sure. The
crusaders believed that they deserved to claim these territories for their own, that the

heretics and infidels "defiled" the lands somehow with their mere presence.

This same attitude was shared by those Christian soldiers who drove the Muslims

from the Holy Land during the first crusade. Whether their lords had been spurred by the

promise of salvation or free land, it was the low-ranking soldiers themselves who viewed

these infidels as defilers of the earth, who have "laid waste to God's kingdom" (p. 187).

The popes fired these soldiers up with such zeal that they could not have felt much pity

for their enemies. Fulcher of Chartres explained in his writings how the crusaders should

have viewed themselves, and how they should have viewed their Muslim foes. His

interpretation of Pope Urban II's words depicted the crusaders as "shining," "worthy,"

"pious," and "saints," while the Muslims he branded as "wicked," "despised," and

"degenerate" (p. 204). Fulcher made this crusade seem as if Christ Himself demanded it,

and those who did not volunteer to go fight Saracens should have been ashamed of

themselves. The crusader who died fighting was considered a martyr, "because if God

permitted him to live, he would come home" (p. 189), and even those who died because

of hunger were thought of as giving their lives for God.

The relationship between the crusaders' view of these infidels and their similar

view of the Albigensians becomes very clear in the writings of all these clergymen.

Perhaps it lessened the blow to the warrior's conscience when their enemies were

alienated and made to seem less than human. After all, they slaughtered thousands of

people in Spain who claimed to be Christian, though not exactly in the same way as they,

and the massacre in Jerusalem not only drove out the Muslims, but killed thousands of
innocents as well. By referring to infidels and heretics as "wicked" and "degenerate," the

crusaders could justify almost any action taken against them.