2013/09/24 by Daniel Power · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval European Literature and History #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis #European Political History Analysis #History #Ancient history
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/ehr/cet252
openalex publication_date 2013/09/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The Albigensian Crusade (1209–29) was a formative event in European history. At the medieval apogee of its power, the Roman Church called for the extirpation of heresy in southern France. The crusading energies that had galvanised the aristocracy of Latin Christendom for more than a century against Islam, the pagans of northeast Europe, and other external enemies, were now directed against the inhabitants of a region in the heart of Christendom. Twenty years of campaigning broke the power of the nobility of Occitania, allowing the Capetian monarchy to extend its sway to the Mediterranean and so paving the way for French supremacy in western Europe. This political revolution made possible the establishment of the Inquisition to root out heresy. These two decades of warfare in Languedoc and Provence therefore contributed to a much broader refiguration of religious authority and temporal power across the continent. Despite extensive research into the history of the crusading expeditions to Languedoc between 1209 and 1229, as well as that of ensuing royal campaigns until 1244,1 relatively little has been written about their participants. For instance, two major recent histories of the Albigensian Crusade devote scant attention to identifying crusaders or to considering the ties between them that may have assisted recruitment and contributed to the organisation of the crusades.2 The only extensive research concerning the participants in the Albigensian Crusade has concentrated upon the small number who joined the campaigns for a lengthy duration, particularly the associates of Simon de Montfort (d. 1218) who dominated the enterprise until 1224, when Louis VIII of France effectively took over its leadership from Montfort’s son Amaury. Christine Keck-Woehl, Claire Dutton and Jean-Louis Biget, among others, have demonstrated how Montfort relied on a tight knot of crusaders from the Île-de-France, many of whom were already bound to him by ties of kinship, neighbourhood and association, as well as on individual adventurers from Burgundy, Champagne, Normandy and elsewhere. These studies have also traced the endeavours of the long-term participants in the crusade to establish themselves in the lands of dispossessed southern landowners and to govern a vast territory, demonstrating how new connections between the crusaders were forged in the turmoil of a long and bitter war.3 However, the vast majority of crusaders joined the crusade for only a brief period, often no more than forty days, which became the standard term of service at an early stage of the campaign; these short-term participants have received very little attention from historians.4 Most research about them has been limited to brief prosopographical studies concerning particular regions of France and Belgium, which provide little more than simple lists of crusaders, mostly gleaned from the main narrative sources.5 There are a few more studies of these on campaigns or from a recent of the and of the that the of in and of the in the of which recruitment to the crusade from the broader of the of the of in France in of the of these to about broader of who on the how and were to the expeditions and how their for the of the vast majority of participants the of the narrative in the Latin by and the as the de by of and by an have dominated histories of the and the of these in and has as a major to of the of the as de written in the are much and for the crusaders has received and from the and much of This of on of the participants in to the of the to a by attention to as a for the and and have out extensive research into the of crusaders and the connections between them as and that may have and have on as to the crusading in the have new for how the expeditions to the were at the The of for the Albigensian Crusade that in many the of these expeditions at a stage that the of the Crusade more than a century these very on the and its participants from the narrative the standard of the and the de as extensive to and other for participants which have been more or their The to the of as for the Albigensian Crusade and its participants. the of from the and the that as for in the the broader of these for the about the of the campaigns that were as well as about their of the whom were to The provide for the that were on a directed against a called These therefore a recent in the in the of Jean-Louis and which that the term was as the main term for until the crusade had the that from the was the term by its to the heresy in the the only to crusaders also to a much broader upon the of the Albigensian concerning the Albigensian Crusade into and and number of that the crusade are of which in the to religious of the the Albigensian Crusade have been in the majority the of the Montfort which a were by the long-term to participants in the Albigensian Crusade have been the of the and more than of them are are across the of France and Belgium, a which the way in which the crusade from across the medieval of France and of the as many are only from medieval and or early a number of are in the of that were by religious and by as the of the of the were the of and in and western Europe. Most often their was to for for the of the and their which upon their to in these over At the of the Crusade the of the a of the as the of and the into and often or for the of the also the of the and a of and a the and of the of these to a crusade or was to the in or of that were to the for instance, when crusaders were for the or the or well the crusade when the and of were by crusaders were on these the in which their for the crusade from the which of or from a were or on a as participants in a in the or instance, were made for the of a or an to the in upon other as in so as were an are for instance, by ties between of crusading often in the which the who their to the in the The for the Albigensian Crusade have over the from the early to were more in the early than the and by a many of them were on of and than the in of the of the new religious to whom these were particularly are also much more to than their of a century were also in or which that the of are to or other the other have the from the early to the The of participants in the Crusade are often very narrative in in the of their are relatively and much than their This the of the to a long in the of the was to by on the of these have been written by the a of crusading and from for instance, are by the of the of and so a into the their also have long which an in identifying participants and the connections between are very in and are much than a century that have a and are also more a of and more than was the at the of the The in a was brief and little of the of the the narrative of also that were than of a century to to as or to as or from the of the French a major for to the of to and so the Albigensian Crusade only were a particular the more of by that to the Albigensian Crusade in of crusaders very The of the crusade in a may have as an for the to the in and as an for its and also the as of the of to religious about of crusaders from France and to the Albigensian and its between 1209 and the of other have been by crusaders as to that in how the to the crusade often the and early of the and of at and as many as as of the of the against the the of the or in and so the of the from 1209 to or were on their way to the Albigensian Crusade or of the other of as the or the an of the de him as from other that was to the when the of the of in to a called de against to from to and may to crusaders were to the than elsewhere. son of the of two on the of a and to to the of of in Simon de Montfort’s of in The of the Albigensian Crusade may have the of the in to the The from France to Languedoc took only a of and participants long in the about the of crusaders forty of of the and the term was de of was in campaigns in as of the of the in 1209 and as a of Louis of France in and no of in the against The relatively of the Albigensian Crusade as to expeditions to may also have the number of the for to to that were the to or was to the the Albigensian were much than the expeditions to the and in and as of in a long in or in the number of for the Albigensian expeditions was much than for to the were also more by than a century and crusaders to Languedoc may have to from or crusading to to religious For the early to in of religious are the only from a small number of of participants and the for the Albigensian The of was more than that of of much of and the of the and also an of by royal and and across western of of which a very from directed to a or a that had already or and their that often provide more than therefore the narrative and were from these as of and of and into to new of were in the of France in period, the into the of the of at the and to crusaders in these are more than in and their or that often the Albigensian Crusade in that the narrative and also have many to the crusade in the in 1229, the to which were on of Louis in on the of the The for crusaders against the therefore have as for the are very and are in an upon the crusade to the more narrative for identifying participants and for how the participants the expeditions which the of the for identifying crusaders, to the narrative of the Albigensian about the of participants. These in the crusading At the of in of the crusaders as of the of were written in a that traced to the de of the many whom the had in the century and which may also the of among the by the that the was of that was to of the crusading of the which lists of participants in the the lists at as for in the Albigensian a of the of the crusading in The of individual participants in narrative the of the to an the to from in its of the in the of in the heart of that among Simon de Montfort’s long-term many crusaders who for only a were Montfort by kinship, or and the two and de The also many crusaders from the region who had no to the had to as the of from also a the Capetian the very of the of the Capetian joined the crusade for Louis the of and of and de and the of Capetian also The are the only in the narrative number from the of and the of and the regions of the a of who were by and de of and the of and de the a small of from Normandy on Simon de Montfort the of 1209 and attention from the the of a of them at the of in The the of the main the of Capetian major in their on the of Louis of expeditions in and the of crusaders from the the of as an of also as particularly in the of the to the as and also crusaders for many of the at a when the of the French was a number of participants from the the the of the of in 1229, the to a that was by a royal from and of very few crusaders are from royal in in the of the Albigensian The also crusaders from regions that little or no in the The of in may have in the of in a of for the of the of that a little from the of to the in at a when the crusade was Most joined a by and by Simon of and de of which received only a in French and narrative of the and in the of from of (d. from and from the of Burgundy, their are mostly regions the of participants the of and and therefore a of recruitment from that which in the narrative the to the a number were the campaigns by the of the or by the small number of crusaders who to in the Simon de Montfort was the of between 1209 and and son at between and the of of in Languedoc to Louis VIII in Louis in about against the in of from other long-term crusaders who themselves as in among the of the at were the de who had received and the of the the de who became of the de or who the de who became of and and who received at and the de Despite of these on to lands in the and their as in the among the crusaders against the these have received of their the lands that had in the to the of from their in the The of these as for the of Montfort’s in the the of in their southern of by the crusade as two of as on the campaigns themselves mostly long-term crusaders, more as the of of the of a at which was also by two of their at are to have been or on short-term crusaders to The of these many of the who joined the of whom were by narrative and of de the in and of in at the of in only that on the crusade that also that to the region Louis of France in of the of the that to crusaders of more than the who the of are to in the narrative made their in the themselves in or a the very crusaders on their their of an of to the of when was to for the in a as the or other an on of a the made to the The also more to who were from or in their had to the and often who were to by the of the of the de to a a was the of the of the in Louis of in that was a of from de who had a in Languedoc for a to that the to a or who had on the of de when in the of the The of had to the which had made as was in the in the of de of in that had at on way from Louis crusade years The of of authority who had to the was also in by their or The of royal and are also for the of of the of to between and that de a from northeast was in the a at the that the of had from the that had been of was on few a at the against the and of the of royal the of had to Simon de Montfort in against as a by the which when crusaders to from the also their in de to royal in the of the the French had in The of that was as to when had been in the or had on crusade at At an in 1224, the of years had been to the Albigensian Crusade or the a called de that about forty years had been by a royal on the of at the of a in and was for that at the of the had been the when the of was by the of the so long the event how the of crusaders its upon royal many years the campaigns has been that royal and from the are also to the and of or are crusaders a of to Louis of France and and in them to that their in Languedoc the of and the the of was a the of of these from these were written in to concerning the Albigensian Crusade are also for particular of in the as two written at of the campaigns when the was a of to the of and the of that only their leadership and these two from the that a him of against enemies, at a when recent the of had The limited by the of France when the crusade was the that upon Languedoc in 1209 and so the how the in as the was against the across western Europe. years the of the a of that had the of the of to for a who had and a in the The that the had for the Church and about a particular that from other that the for the Albigensian Crusade are an of identifying crusaders who were in narrative and for the of their in the upon their at also often ties between the the to the many to the Albigensian at the their over the of two decades a to well as ties of kinship, other recruitment to the The western upon de had been in the of of from Normandy and in the early and was a between the crusaders against the and the who at in and joined Louis of France in of in and forged in the have an in recruitment and organisation of the Albigensian the of the to the French from the narrative the ties between the are only from the and For a of that of the at the of had as an from the of France to de in the years against in in to that the long-term of in the Albigensian Crusade to their which from the of the in and which was no when from into the are an for identifying crusaders, also much about the of the in particular have a broader upon the of the crusade and of medieval the of the the of the and the for the The term for the whom the Albigensian Crusade to many have that term was for in Languedoc in the and Jean-Louis has that the of from which the was of southern French heresy in the by of and and that the between the and heresy was in the of by the of the of to of heresy to the lands of their enemies, the who were of as well as of and to Biget, the term for the more for the until the of the crusading in Languedoc in when the of of the Church the to against The term was by the crusaders in other of was by the inhabitants of the region has by that the standard term for and other inhabitants of the region until or when the were Simon de now of the of and the term an of the as and that and were as for the and their the crusading in to the against the in the of and and from at two the as the term the to was called the or the was the term was in a very the crusade on the of the crusading at of to as the the of the expeditions the of crusaders the a of and the of the crusade was by a as a of or that when the Crusade was as the only had heresy often been a the to in that region as the of the For a Capetian the to the of and of in the were a of the in which were in as well as were in the also to as the to have been a of a of in of to upon and to the term in the than of the religious and political in the a of two in the of that a the of was on against the region of at a when the of crusading had to the of and the an of de from that was on against the Louis of The of was an and the as the of the Church in the of Simon de Montfort’s its the in for new crusaders to the an of the in the political of the crusade in when the and of had been on the and had to the other of to the in as and Despite the political the much term in until the very of the campaigns against the in an of a from a to the of the was in to the of the by the dispossessed of The of the in and was a much broader region than the of in the and other royal as as and The from the narrative in an for the term an of the of that the de had the the Albigensian The of that had the of the of the across the and the of the and a French royal to the which the of had the of the Albigensian The of of France a of of and a of de to the of the The therefore the of the these a that to the and its inhabitants in across western Europe. The also for of the of Albigensian Crusade and for of the have from the very in 1209 these the expeditions in the of as and or the of and the of at for the of had the of the against the Albigensian and were about to on years the to the that had made for the of the These are very for how the participants the expeditions which to had been as or and were as of in the The of crusading was when more into in a more for expeditions to the the by new as and its and the of to for expeditions which had the as their was a major to the of crusading to a against inhabitants of a the when against heresy in southern France was the these the to crusaders to However, the to by in in Languedoc on a a to or by was the of France the much of a crusade to provide to the in their to and by was these to the the crusade was the participants as was also the term in the and by the of the as only the of more to root out heresy in Languedoc in as of and of were also much by in for the the crusade and the campaigns The narrative for the Albigensian Crusade that its participants were crusaders, were more about their as the a in the crusade between and the term for the short-term as the much by of the the to the crusaders as when its the term a term for also by has the of the of the between crusading and in the early a for the than a The of the of in the therefore very provide for the of the among the aristocracy of Latin Christendom that crusaders against were on a the had no as its the of the as a that the of the in of the that on a the to The upon also had for the of the an among the participants that for a and Most of them had no of in the of the lands of and the of a an to its as the participants were into an to southern France. The of the also little to the of over the of the For instance, in the of the crusaders, effectively the Albigensian Crusade to a was to from the of and southern French and to for a new crusade to as well as to to a possible to the in the in over the of were more and for recruitment in the of France and by Montfort’s these in had no upon the of the a of the de that was to on the Albigensian and in the of in a of a against the Albigensian in on The of between the these also was much as and possible that the of the crusade in the was to the of the and to the of the the new no the crusade Louis in For that as de de are The only concerning the by the of the de to them as a term in crusading and was until the for in only a few from or concerning crusaders, of them from the or of the Albigensian Crusade and mostly by the also in French royal The of the way in which for in the of by many of the participants were at royal the a of the expeditions against the as the of their individual for the crusade took on a as an for or or the took son to to to At an in a that had to the or for the for The Church was in the Albigensian Crusade as a standard of had been as a of for and had a their in the early the of crusading was a standard for the of crusading was in Despite the of and were few more of than on the Church the Albigensian Crusade to a term in the in of was the by of to the against the in for as of the which the crusade in and that the Albigensian Crusade became a for who had been for of in to their from service in the to in the Capetian against the on to a number of other to their in for For in the of the of at the of only de the was by the Roman Church to against the Albigensian Louis crusading in the de and a of that the of had upon a between the of and de was in the a of to for against the to to the and of in or for a as of the in the the written of of the that had these well two decades of the of the Church and the French monarchy had service in the royal as an of the of the Albigensian Crusade as a the of Capetian by its campaigns as royal little in the between the years of the crusade and to royal power in the Most of the of the of concerning the Albigensian were and the royal from the of Normandy and that their had at the of in the were on royal had received that had been their for in royal in Languedoc at between the of in and the campaigns the of in that their or had been in Normandy or for Louis of few of the or had for and out of on the royal in received no for the that also that in the service in the of and were by to a of had been only two of the of by the of in the that the crusaders from Normandy for royal as well as more of the of The of a of the expeditions as royal campaigns by than participants for than for for the of their For the crusade have had to upon de much and so the are a for that period, and a between the of the monarchy and of many of the participants as to the and of the of the Albigensian Crusade have made relatively little of for these expeditions and so have had little to about the of in the campaigns or the of the by the and of the main narrative have to other only from the of Simon de Montfort from the of France and royal and have been at the of and from the of the These are the only for in the Albigensian are and which of of the crusade and the of its participants and also the a and the of and the This well demonstrated by For the about of the crusading have been The two main narrative about of at in are only from and about only from the and about participants in the Albigensian of whom forty are in narrative more than of the from have also provide for of the crusade and of its at these from the of medieval crusading as a the Albigensian Crusade as a major crusading for the French For an that was upon the written has about and possible participants in the Crusade from and For the two early expeditions to the and and prosopographical studies that upon a of as of the Albigensian Crusade have and or possible participants from across western The of well over participants in the Albigensian of them from on a to these that took over a much the crusaders in these expeditions only a small of the number of the of of concerning the Albigensian Crusade in the and of France to in the campaigns against heresy across much of the to the or as the for an history of the Albigensian Crusade that upon these to