Albigensian Crusade: Difference between revisions

The Inquisition was established under Pope Gregory IX in 1234 to uproot heretical movements, including the remaining [[Cathar]]s. Operating in the south at Toulouse, Albi, Carcassonne and other towns during the whole of the 13th century, and a great part of the 14th, it succeeded in crushing Catharism as a popular movement and driving its remaining adherents underground. Punishments for Cathars varied greatly. Most frequently, they were made to wear yellow crosses atop their garments as a sign of outward penance. Others made obligatory pilgrimages, which often included fighting against Muslims. Visiting a local church naked once each month to be scourged was also a common punishment, including for returned pilgrims. [[Cathar]]s who were slow to repent suffered imprisonment and, often, the loss of property. Others who altogether refused to repent were burned. The Catholic Church found another useful tool for combating heresy in the establishment of the Order of Preachers, whose members were called "Dominicans", after their founder, Saint Dominic. The Dominicans would travel to towns and villages preaching in favor of the teachings of the Church and against heresy and reporting those they thought suspicious for inquisition. From May 1243 to March 1244, the Cathar fortress of Montségur was besieged by the troops that conquered Carcassonne and Pierre Amiel, the Archbishop of Narbonne. On March 16, 1244, a large massacre took place, in which over 200 Cathar perfects were burnt in an enormous pyre at the prat dels cremats ("field of the burned") near the foot of the castle. Because of these efforts, by the middle of the 14th century, any discernible traces of the Cathar movement had been eradicated.<ref>[https://energeticsynthesis.com/index.php/resource-tools/blog-timeline-shift/3433-cathars-in-france Cathars in France]</ref>