Albigensian Crusade

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Albigensian Crusade
Part of the Crusades

Massacre against the Albigensians by the Crusaders
DateJuly 1209 – 12 April 1229
Location
Result Crusader victory
Belligerents

Crusade

County of Aurenja
County of Provence-Forcalquier

Cathars
County of Toulouse

Marquisate of Provence
Template:Country data Béarn Viscounty of Béarn
County of Astarac
Crown of Aragon

Exiled knights
Commanders and leaders
Casualties and losses
At least 200,000[1] to at most 1,000,000[2] Cathars killed
Considered by many historians to be an act of genocide against the Cathars, including the coiner of the word genocide himself Raphael Lemkin[3][4]
Political map of Languedoc on the eve of the Albigensian Crusade

The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign. Pope Innocent III started it to eliminate the Cathar heresy in Languedoc and make the Roman Catholic Church supreme there again. The nobles of the Kingdom of France did most of the fighting, and it resulted in a reduction in the number of practicing Cathars. It also resulted in a realignment of Occitania, bringing it into the sphere of the French crown.

Notes[change | change source]

  1. Tatz & Higgins 2016, p. 214.
  2. Robertson 1902, p. 254.
  3. Lemkin 2012, p. 71.
  4. Pegg 2008, p. 195.

References[change | change source]

  • Lemkin, Raphael (2012). Jacobs, Steven Leonard (ed.). Lemkin on Genocide. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7391-4526-5.
  • Pegg, Mark Gregory (2008). A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-019988371-4.
  • Robertson, John M. (1902). A Short History of Christianity. London, UK: Watts & Co.
  • Tatz, Colin Martin; Higgins, Winton (2016). The Magnitude of Genocide. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-3161-4.