Albigensian Crusade
20-year military campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc in the south of France
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.
Albigensian Crusade | |||||||
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Part of the Crusades | |||||||
![]() Massacre against the Albigensians by the Crusaders | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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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] |
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Tatz & Higgins 2016, p. 214.
- ↑ Robertson 1902, p. 254.
- ↑ Lemkin 2012, p. 71.
- ↑ Pegg 2008, p. 195.