Albigensian Crusade

Albigensian Crusade
	Part of the Crusades
	; Massacre against the Albigensians by the Crusaders
Date	July 1209 – 12 April 1229
Location	Languedoc, France
Result	Crusader victory
Belligerents
Crusade Papal States Episcopal Inquisition; Dominican Order; Militia of the Faith of Jesus Christ; Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit; Knights of Saint George; ; Kingdom of France Duchy of Burgundy; Duchy of Brittany; County of Nevers; County of Auxerre; County of Saint-Pol; Viscounty of Donges; Viscounty of Torèna; ; English volunteers; Duchy of Austria; Duchy of Berg; Electorate of Cologne; County of Aurenja; County of Provence-Forcalquier	Cathars; County of Toulouse Viscounty of Béziers and Albi; County de Valentinés; Lordship of Séverac; Marquisate of Provence; Template:Country data Béarn Viscounty of Béarn; County of Astarac; Crown of Aragon Template:Country data Foix County of Foix; County of Comminges; Viscounty of Carcassonne; Lordship of Menèrba; Lordship of Tèrmes; Lordship of Cabaret; Lordship of Montsegúr; Exiled knights
Commanders and leaders
Simon de Montfort †; Amaury VI of Montfort; Philip II of France; Louis VIII of France; Odo III of Burgundy; Ramon Berenguer IV of Provence; Balduin of Toulouse; Leopold VI of Austria; Adolf VI of Berg; Engelbert II of Berg;	Raymond Roger Trencavel; Raymond VI of Toulouse; Raymond VII of Toulouse; Peter II of Aragon †;
Casualties and losses
	At least 200,000 to at most 1,000,000 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

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.