Pierre Roger II. De Mirepoix

Pierre Roger II. De Mirepoix (* 1194 ~ 1202; † 1244 ~ 1262) was an Occitan nobleman and knight in the first half of the 13th century. As a so-called Faydit (renegade), he achieved crucial importance in the final phase of the Albigensian Crusade . In contrast to his father of the same name, he was called "le jeune" (the younger).

Origin and Albigensian Crusade

Pierre Roger came from the Bellisen family, whose members, along with other noble families, included the co-lords of Mirepoix and as such were vassals of the Counts of Foix .

Even though Pierre Roger himself belonged to the Catholic faith, his closest family members were supporters of the faith movement of the Cathars (Albigensians) and were considered heretics in the judgment of the Roman Church . His father, Pierre Roger "le Vieux" (the elder), received the Consolamentum in Fanjeaux in 1204 from the Cathar bishop Guilhabert de Castres. Furthermore, Pierre Roger's cousin Raymond de Péreille belonged to the "pure", who as Lord of Montségur was responsible for the development of this castle into one of the safest places of retreat for the Cathars. This construction measure was decided at a council of the Cathars in Mirepoix in 1206.

After the papal legate Pierre de Castelnau was murdered in the spring of 1208 , Pope Innocent III called. to the crusade against the Albigensians, which started at the beginning of 1209. After the capture of Carcassonne in August 1209, the crusaders, under the leadership of Simon IV. De Montfort, turned against Mirepoix, which was captured on September 22nd. The rulership of the city was then given to Guy de Lévis , who, as Maréchal de croisade, was one of the most important followers of Montfort. Pierre Roger's family, like the families of the other co-lords of the city, went into exile in Aragon or took up the fight against the crusaders underground.

To what extent Pierre Roger or his father were involved in the following fights is unclear, in any case their names are not mentioned in connection with them. It was not until Count Raimund Roger von Foix besieged Mirepoix in spring 1223 that father and son were once again mentioned by his side. After Mirepoix was taken in March of that year, the count died of an ulcer. The older Pierre Roger also died a little later after the capture of Fanjeaux. The new Count of Foix, Roger Bernard II , took the lords of the city from the feudal oath. However, only five of the eleven remaining co-gentlemen lost this, including Pierre Roger and his brother Isarn. In January 1224 the "papal crusade" ended in failure after Count Raymond VII of Toulouse was able to take Carcassonne and the leader of the crusaders gave up the fight.

In 1226, King Louis VIII of France opened another “royal crusade” against the Albigensians, which finally ended after two years with the abandonment of the Count of Toulouse. On April 12, 1229, the leading nobility of Languedoc signed the Treaty of Meaux-Paris , which regulated the new balance of power in this region. The Count of Foix submitted to the French crown and had to accept the loss of Mirepoix as his own fief, which should be returned to Guy de Lévis. Pierre Roger and the other co-gentlemen, without any support, had to accept this and left the city.

Resistance to Crown and Inquisition

In 1234, Pierre Roger moved into the Montségur, which was still held by his cousin Raymond de Péreille. Pierre Roger married his daughter Philippa and took command of the "Pog" (mountain), which had been the capital of the Catholic Church since 1232 by decision of the Cathar Bishop of Toulouse, Guilhabert de Castres. In the years that followed, Occitan renegades, the Faydits, who fought against French rule and the Inquisition , were offered protection from persecution there. In order to prevent this, the French king asked Count Raimund VII of Toulouse in 1241 to take the Montségur as proof of his loyalty to the crown. But the count began the siege only half-heartedly and ended it after a short time without any results.Instead, the count rose against the French crown himself in 1242. In addition to the leading nobility of Languedoc , Pierre Roger also joined this uprising, who was supposed to bring about the downfall of Montségur.

The Avignonet assassination

In the spring of 1242, Pierre Roger received a message from the castellan of Avignonet , Raimund d'Alfaro, who was a nephew and henchman of the Count of Toulouse and also a secret Cathar. It is believed that this news included the arrival of the Inquisitors of Toulouse - Guillaume Arnaud and Étienne de Saint-Thibéry - in the city. Pierre Roger set out for Avignonet on May 26th with a small entourage and spent the night on May 27th in the forest of Gaja la Selve, where he received further support that night. From there he moved on to the Château d'Antioch at the gates of Avignonet. On the night of May 28, several men of Pierre Rogers broke into the city while he himself was monitoring the action from the château. The men were led by a confidante d'Alfaros, who also gave them access to the castle of Avignonet, where the inquisitors stayed. The knights Guillaume de Lahille , Guillaume de Balaguire and Bernard de Saint-Martin then entered the inquisitors' chambers and surprised them in their sleep. Armed with battle axes, they then killed them and several members of their retinue.

On the morning of May 29th, the knight Jean Acermat brought the news of the successful act to Pierre Roger, who was waiting in front of the Château d'Antioch. According to the testimony of a witness before an inquisition tribunal that was convened several years later, Pierre Roger is said to have asked the knight Acermat about his trophy when he arrived, whereupon the knight said it had broken. Thereupon Pierre Roger humorously replied that he had put the cup together with a gold ring so that he could drink from it for the rest of his days. We were talking about the skull of the inquisitor Guillaume Arnaud.

On the same day they set off again for Montségur, and the assassins in Saint-Félix-de-Tournegat were greeted with cheers.

Siege of Montségur

→ Main article : Siege of Montségur

The Montségur with castle ruins

In response to the murder, an approximately 1,000-strong royal army under the leadership of Seneschal Hugues d'Arcis was raised in front of Montségur in May 1243 . Pierre Roger had taken command of the defense and can keep well until the winter of 1243 until the attacker the outpost of the castle, the "Roc de la Tour" are taking and their siege engine down right to the castle on the top of Pogs lead could. After the food supplies were exhausted and several attempts to fail, he had to begin surrender negotiations with the besiegers on March 2, in which the abandonment of Montségur was agreed on March 16, 1244. All devout Cathars should then be handed over to the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, represented by the Archbishop of Narbonne Pierre Amiel - given the choice: conversion to the Roman faith or pyre . None of the 225 Cathars were ready to apostate, some had been consecrated as believers just a few days earlier. After the castle was handed over, 225 Cathars were burned together on a plain at the foot of Montségur. Among them were some close family members of Pierre Rogers, such as his sister-in-law Esclarmonde de Péreille, her mother Corba de Lanta and the cousin Saïssa de Congost.

Pierre Roger then retired to Montgaillard , which belonged to the domain of his former liege, the Count of Foix, where he stayed until at least May 1244. After that his track is lost. According to later statements before the Inquisition, he is said to have led the life of a Faydit until 1262, impoverished and without property, before he died.

Web links

• "Pays & Seigneurie de Mirepoix" by Robert Fauce (French)
• "Montsegur and the Cathars" by Peter Vronsky (English)

Remarks

1. ↑ Halfway between Belpech and Montréal .