Travels Through History - France: From Romans to Cathars

By Julian Worker

The south-eastern part of France has an abundance of historical interest. From the Roman theatres of Arles and Orange to the Cathar castles in the foothills of The Pyrenees there is much to see and remember.

There are mysteries too.

Why would the Roman Catholic Church create a crusade against the Cathar 'heretics' when these people were following such a devout life? How did the Romans build the Pont du Gard so quickly as part of a 40-mile water channel to provide water to Nimes? What did Bérenger Saunière discover in Rennes-le-Chateau that made him so wealthy?

Added to the history and the mystery are a host of natural wonders, beautiful scenery, and familiar names appearing in unfamiliar places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AG Books
• Release date: Jul 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781785386015

Julian Worker

“Little Known British Traditions” is my first book of humourous stories. One of my stories, Safari Sickness, has been recently published in an anthology called “Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana” by Travelers’ Tales. Other articles have recently appeared in the Expeditioner online e-zine, and in Americas the magazine of the Organization of American States. My travel stories have appeared in The Toronto Globe and Mail, The National Catholic Register, International Travel News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Southern Cross newspaper in South Africa. On the Internet my writing has appeared on the following websites: In the Know Traveller, Go World, Paperplates, Intravel, and GoNomad. I have also taken many photographs that have appeared in travel guides/articles by National Geographic, Thomas Cook, The Rough Guides, and The Guardian.

Book preview

sacrilegious.

Timeline of the Albigensian Crusade

1208

Pierre de Castelnau was sent as an emissary of the Church to convince Count Raymond VI of Toulouse to eliminate the followers of Catharism. Raymond had deep sympathy for the Cathars.

1209

As Pierre de Castelnau was crossing the Rhone, he was assassinated. This provocation led to the ex-communication of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Pope Innocent III declared a crusade against Catharism and offered land to any who would fight. This crusade was called The Albigensian Crusade as Albi was believed to be the centre of the Cathar heresy.

Simon de Montfort decided to answer the call and gathered 10,000 crusaders to attack Béziers, and the princely states loyal to Catharism. 10-20,000 people were slaughtered in Béziers on July 22nd 1209. Raymond Roger Trencavel, the nephew of Count Raymond VI realized de Montfort was heading to Carcassonne and rushed back to gather his forces.

The crusaders cut off the water supply of Carcassonne and Raymond Roger Trencavel was executed, after accepting surrender terms. Simon de Montfort assumed control of Carcassonne and the surrounding areas. After Carcassonne, the towns of Albi, Castelnaudary, Castres, Fanjeaux, and Limoux surrendered.

1210

Simon de Montfort attacked Lastours but the attack was repelled by Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix. Pierre-Roger captured Simon’s cousin Bouchard de Marly. In retaliation, Simon seized the town of Bram. In June, the crusaders attacked Minerve with trebuchets and destroyed its water system.

Arnaud Amaury, the Papal head of the Crusade was relentless in his pursuit of the heretics and ex-communicated Count Raymond VI again for refusing to prosecute those of the Catharism belief.

1213

In September, Pedro II d’Aragón joined the forces of Raymond VI against the crusaders. Pedro II tried to seize Muret but was killed in action on September 12. After Pedro’s death, Raymond VI fled to England.

1214

Pope Innocent III appointed King Philippe II as the new chief of the army. He joined forces with Simon de Montfort and continued the crusade further south.

1216

Raymond VI and his son Raymond VII returned to claim their rightful kingdoms which caused a rebellion in the Languedoc. In May 1216, Montfort had to relinquish his hold over the garrison of Beaucaire. He lost another battle at Lourdes.

1217

Montfort decided to capture Montgrenier. Taking advantage of this absence, Raymond VI decided to seize Toulouse. The new pope, Honorius III asked the new King of France, Louis VIII to assist Amaury de Montfort, the son of Simon de Montfort in the crusade.

1218

Simon de Montfort was killed by a stone hurled by the defenders of Toulouse.

1220

Raymond VII was able to capture Castelnaudary in 1220.

1222

Raymond VI died and was denied a Christian burial. Raymond VII became the heir apparent and the disputed ruler of Toulouse.

1226

Louis VIII seized Avignon. Following this, Carcassone surrendered and most of the regions in Languedoc submitted, while Toulouse alone resisted. On November 8, Louis VIII died. The temporary regent-in-charge, Humbert de Beaujeu, took over the reins of the crusade until Louis XI was of age.

1228

Guy de Montfort was killed while attacking Vareilles. Blanche de Castile decided to recognize Raymond VII as the true heir of Toulouse if he agreed to the matrimony of his daughter, Jeanne to her younger son, Alphonse, the brother of Louis XI.

1229

Raymond VII signed the Treaty of Paris, to surrender Toulouse as well as pay damages to the Church.

1234

The Inquisition was established to eliminate the remaining regions practicing Catharism and to continue the crusade by other means, eliminating any towns harbouring the remaining Cathars. The Albigensian Crusade was to continue for another 20 years resulting in the genocide of the Cathars.

Other people in this book include Esclarmonde de Foix, Pablo Casals, Charlemagne, Dante, Hitler, Van Gogh, Chagall, Moliere, Boby Lapointe and many French kings, Roman emperors and Nazis.

Palace of the Popes in Avignon

Avignon

Sur le Pont d’Avignon

On y danse, On y danse

Sur le Pont d’Avignon

On y danse tous en rond

On the bridge of Avignon

We all dance there, we all dance there

On the bridge of Avignon

We all dance there in a ring

Sur le Pont d’Avignon is a song about the Pont d’Avignon that dates back to the 15th century. The bridge is the Pont St. Bénézet, but is better known as the Pont d’Avignon. The dance took place under the bridge and not on the bridge (Sous le Pont d’Avignon, not Sur), but the lyrics were obviously misheard at some point and from then the meaning was changed.

The original Pont St. Bénézet spanning the Rhône from Villeneuve-lès-Avignon to Avignon was built between 1177 and 1185. For some reason, this early bridge was destroyed during the Albigensian Crusade, even though Avignon was the place where Raymond VI of Toulouse was excommunicated (again!) this time for refusing to support the campaign of the Roman Catholic Church and the French King against the Cathar heresy in the Languedoc. After the crusade the bridge was rebuilt with 22 stone arches across both channels of the Rhone. These arches were continually damaged when the river flooded and in the mid-1600s the bridge was abandoned. The four arches seen today date from around 1345 and were built by Pope Clement VI during the Avignon Papacy. The western end of the original bridge, now called the Tour Philippe-le-Bel, is also preserved.

Other than the bridge, the most famous building in Avignon is The Palace of the Popes. During the period 1309-1377 the Popes lived in and ran the Roman Catholic Church from Avignon instead of Rome.

Philip IV of France was instrumental in securing the election of Clement V, a Frenchman, to the papacy in 1305. This was an unpopular decision in Rome and in the next few years Clement’s life as Pope became more stressful. To escape the oppressive atmosphere, Clement chose to move the papal capital to