Cathar castles

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Château de Quéribus

A series of medieval castles in the Pays Cathare , in what is now the Languedoc-Roussillon region in south-western France, are colloquially known as Cathar castles . In the case of the castles built in exposed locations on mountain peaks, however, a distinction must be made between 'real' and 'false' Cathar castles .

Real Cathar castles

The real Cathar fortresses - better to speak of castra than fortified hilltop settlements - were built shortly before and during the time of the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) by supporters of the Cathar movement to defend their lives and their beliefs. Few early Cathar castles are older (z. B. Châteaux de Lastours , Château de Termes , Castle Usson ), they had 12 at the end and beginning of the 13th century lords that the Katharerglauben had accepted or at least close to him.

In the early days of the Cathar movement there were only a few castles in the Pays Cathare . The followers of the religious movement lived in the protection of the cities or in well-fortified hilltop settlements, sometimes in the protection of the castle of a local prince who sympathized with the movement. These settlements were mostly enclosed by moats or stone walls - there were no stone towers in the castra . Such plants were in Laurac , Lastours, Fanjeaux , Mas-Saintes-Puelles and elsewhere. One can therefore only speak of a “Cathar architecture” to a very limited extent. Most of these castra were razed during the Albigensian Crusade and later rebuilt as royal castles, such as Termes or Puilaurens ; Montségur, however, did not fall until 1244 after a long siege .

Fake Cathar castles

The so-called false Cathar castles are located in the Pays Cathare , but were only after the victorious end of the war against the Albigensians in 1229, i.e. H. Erected in the period after 1229 or after 1240/4. They were built by the French kings or their governors to prevent any flare-up of heresy and separatist tendencies in Occitania and to impressively document the king's presence in power. At the same time, they also served as fortresses of the French crown against the claims to power of the Kingdom of Aragon .

Cité de Carcassonne

One of the first royal fortresses in Occitania was the Cité de Carcassonne , the construction of which began after the failed attempt at conquest by Raymond II Trencavel (1240). It was followed by five castles ( Les cinq fils de Carcassonne ), which primarily formed a chain of border fortresses against the territorial and power-political interests of the Crown of Aragon , which at that time still included Roussillon :

Decay of the castles

While the Cathar castra had already been destroyed in the time of the Albigensian Crusades, the royal fortresses had also become strategically insignificant from a military perspective after the signing of the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659) and the marriage between Louis XIV and Maria Teresa of Spain (1660). Gradually they fell into disrepair and only served as a refuge for shepherds or robbers.

Other castles in the Cathar region

In addition to the Cathar fortresses, other castles were built in the former Cathar area; With a few exceptions, these are mostly on level ground:

Places (blue) and castles (red) in the Pays Cathare

See also

literature

  • Jean-Philippe Vidal: Les 36 cités et citadelles du Pays Cathare. Pelican 2005, ISBN 2-7191-0751-4 .
  • Zoé Oldenbourg: Le bûcher de Montségur - 16 mars 1244. Galimard, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-07-032507-5 .
  • Henri-Paul Eydoux: Châteaux des pays de l'Aude. In: Congrès archéologique de France. 131 e session. Pays de l'Aude. 1973 Société Française d'Archéologie, Paris 1973, pp. 169–253.

Web links

Commons : Cathar castles  - collection of images, videos and audio files