Raymond VI. (Toulouse)

Raymond VI. von Toulouse ( French: Raymond de Toulouse ; Occitan: Ramon de Tolosa ; * October 27, 1156 ; † August 2, 1222 in Toulouse ) was from 1194 until his death Count of Toulouse and Margrave of Provence from the Raimundiner dynasty (House Toulouse) . He was one of the protagonists in the time of the Albigensian Crusade , whose leaders saw him as the most important protector of the Cathar religious movement and therefore their main enemy.

Seal of Count Raimund VI. from Toulouse from 1204, Center Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, XIR 221340

Early years

Raymond VI. was the eldest son of Count Raimund V of Toulouse and his wife Konstanze of France, through whom he was a grandson of the French King Louis VI. the fat one was. This made him the first Count of Toulouse to have direct family ties to the French royal family, from which, however, he was never able to draw any political benefit. He had two younger brothers, Alberic and Balduin , the latter of whom had grown up in northern France, alienated from him.

Raimund was 38 years old when he succeeded his father in 1194 in the extensive country complex that roughly defined the area of ​​today's administrative regions of Occitania , and which in the high Middle Ages made up the core region of the Occitan linguistic and cultural landscape . In addition to the actual county of Toulouse, which described the area around the city of Toulouse (Toulousain), he was also the feudal lord of the Albigeois , Rouergue , Rodez , Vivarais , Valentinois and Diois , the vice counties of Nîmes and Agde . In the south the Counts of Foix and Comminges stood in vassalage to him, as did the Vice Counts of Narbonne . In order to underline his claim to rule over the lands of what is now southern Languedoc-Roussillon ( Béziers , Carcassonne , Razès ), he carried the title of Duke of Narbonne , even though this title actually only included secular rule over the vice-county of Narbonne, as the great rest of the claimed land was ruled by the Trencavel and these in turn were owed to the Crown of Aragón for it. To the west, his influence extended to the House of Plantagenet (" Angevin Empire ") subordinate to Gascony . Formally, the House of Toulouse was a vassal of the kings of France for all these lands , but since their power could not be exercised beyond the Loire to the south for generations , the lords of Languedoc were de facto independent and the Counts of Toulouse as the mightiest of his uncrowned kings. In the east beyond the Rhone , the margravate Provence, which comprised the land between the Drôme and Durance , was part of their property, which they held as a fiefdom of the Roman-German emperors. The greatest competitors of the Toulousans for power in the Languedoc were the kings of Aragón, who strove to unite all the land from Catalonia to Provence in their kingdom.

Little is known about Raimund's biography before his inheritance except for his seemingly polygamous relationship with women. At a young age he was betrothed to Dulcia II , the heiress of the county of Provence , which was adjacent to the margraviate Provence and who would have considerably expanded the power of the House of Toulouse in the Lower Burgundian region in the event of an inheritance. However, Dulcia died in 1172 before the marriage and King Alfonso II of Aragón seized the county of Provence. Raimund then married the heiress of County Melgueil , Ermessende Pelet, who died in 1176, leaving him her inheritance. As his second wife, he finally took Beatrix von Béziers, the sister of Roger II. Trencavel , which should further improve relations between the House of Toulouse and their family, after having faced each other as enemies in previous generations. But when the English Queen Berengaria traveled through Toulouse on her way back from the third crusade to Poitiers in 1193 , Raimund fell in love with Bourgogne von Lusignan, who was in the queen's suite and who was a daughter of King Amalrich I of Cyprus . In order to be able to marry her, he rejected Beatrix, whom he had driven into the clutches of the Cathars especially for this purpose . Raimund's marriage morals, which could hardly be reconciled with the moral ideas of the Catholic Church, continued in his later biography and were, for his later opponents in the Albigensian Crusade, a symptom of the corrupting influence of the Cathar heresy, which he had willingly given himself up to. In addition to his wives, Raimund also ran a mistress farm, which was unusually open by medieval standards, from which some illegitimate children arose.

Count of Toulouse

Inheritance

The first concern of Raimund after his inheritance was to regulate his relations with his two powerful neighbors in the north, the Plantagenet Richard the Lionheart and the Capetian King Philip II August , his cousin. In 1173, his father had to pay homage to Toulouse as a fiefdom for the Duchy of Aquitaine in order to end the generation-long dispute between the two houses over the ownership rights to Toulouse. The Aquitanian vassalage remained only an episode, which was soon canceled, which, however, cost Toulouse the possession of the Quercy , which was occupied by Richard the Lionheart in 1188. In 1194, however, the position of Plantagenet in France was seriously threatened, which Raimund immediately used to travel to the north and meet Philip II in person. In February 1195 he paid homage to this in Bourges as his liege lord; a legal claim to which the Capetians had always held fast as the successors of the Carolingians . As a courtesy to the king, Raimund received the rights of disposal over the income of the royal abbey of Figeac .

Ownership of the Counts of Toulouse (green) and their vassals (light green) in the 12th century. Properties of the Crown of Aragon (yellow) and their vassals (brown).

A one-sided bond with the king was not intended by Raimund, especially after the plantation rule seemed to be strengthened again after the return of Richard the Lionheart from German captivity. Before there was a direct confrontation with him, Raimund tried to find a balance, whereby he benefited from the geostrategic predicament of Plantagenet, which could not afford a second front in the fight against Philip II August. In October 1196 a diplomatic agreement could finally be reached in Rouen , which was sealed with a marriage between Raimunds and Johanna , Richard the Lionheart's sister, for whom he, by the way, rejected Bourgogne von Lusignan. Richard renounced all inheritance and feudal rights of his house to Toulouse, returned the Quercy and endowed his sister with the Agenais as a dowry, which, however, was to remain a fief of Aquitaine. In return, Raimund agreed to post 500 knights for one month a year for military service for his brother-in-law in Gascony , but they were never deployed.

After clarifying the situation in the north, Raimund went to work on his powerful and far more dangerous neighbor, the Kingdom of Aragón, in the south. Unlike the Capetians and Plantagenets, Toulouse had opposed the Aragonese crown as a direct geostrategic rival for rule over the Languedoc in the 12th century, as both sought the formation of a contiguous area of ​​rule that would extend from the Pyrenees to Provence. From Aragón Toulouse was taken into the geographic pincer; from the county of Barcelona (today's Catalonia ) in the south and the counties of Provence, Focaulquier and Gévaudan in the east, Aragón was the liege lord of the Trencavel of Carcassonne and Béziers and protector of the highlands of Foix and Comminges. This feudal patchwork quilt of various rulers and feudal rights, which the Languedoc represented at that time, had often given rise to armed conflicts between Toulouse and Barcelona, ​​which had reached their climax under Raimund V and King Alfonso II . The death of the latter in 1196 had Raimund VI. opened a way to a diplomatic compromise with his son and successor Peter II . Because he recognized Aragón's new expansion potential in the Spanish south in the fight against the Islamic Moors, in which he could at the same time move into the nimbus of a “Catholic king”, he was dependent on calm relationships with his Toulouse neighbor in the north. Under the mediation of Count Bernard IV of Comminges and Archbishop Berengar of Narbonne , Raimund VI. and Peter II met in Perpignan in February 1198 for a personal meeting in which both agreed to maintain the status quo of their property relations.

Relationship to the Catholic and Cathar Church

Within a few years, Raimund had got rid of several areas of conflict by means of diplomacy, which he had inherited from his father, by meeting the needs of his counterpart, but without having to commit himself to them or clearly position themselves in their power struggles, let alone be militarily involved. He had demonstrated his political intelligence, which predestined him to be a cunning, cunning and courageous diplomat rather than a military leader. While he had acted within the framework of secular feudal law by being able to play off various interests against one another, his relationship with the Catholic Church turned out to be much more difficult and more conflictual. This was due to his various power struggles with local ecclesiastical institutions and his ambivalent attitude towards the Cathar religious movement, which was widespread in Languedoc and classified as heretical by the Roman Church. The dual doctrine of Catharism had spread in the country south of the Loire since the early 12th century and, apart from sporadic preaching actions by the Catholic authorities, had not met with any resistance worth mentioning. Especially among the nobility, which are closely connected with one another, as well as in the urban communities with their craft and commercial milieus, it had gained a broad following, which encouraged its establishment and made it a socially relevant factor.

While his father had tried to take restrictive action against Catharism, Raimund VI showed himself. in this question it is rather indifferent what the Church has accused him of favoring and even secretly supporting heresy. For the Cistercian monk Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay , the Count was a devout Cathar who often listened to the sermons of the Perfecti and was constantly in the company of the Bonhommes in order to be able to receive the Consolamentum if necessary . The characterization of the monk, which was biased under the impression of the crusade, cannot hide the fact that Raimund was more oriented towards the Catholic than the Cathar faith throughout his life, although he saw no reason to persecute the heretics, who after all were his subjects, advisors and relatives were.

Confrontation with Innocent III.

Because of his repeated attacks on possessions of the Abbey of Saint-Gilles Raimund was first in March 1195 by Pope Celestine III. excommunicated . He had razed a priory of the abbey and built Mirapetra Castle on it. He was also in a dispute with the Abbey of Moissac in Quercy over the sovereignty rights over the city ​​of the same name , whose communal autonomy he had recognized in 1197 against the will of the abbot and installed a Count Bailli here. On November 4, 1198 Raimund was from the new Pope Innocent III. given absolution, against the promise of an armed pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Even if he never took up this position, the Pope had hoped that he would win in Raimund a secular leader in the fight against the Cathar heresy, the destruction of which was his declared aim. But Raimund subsequently showed no will to take action on this issue. Instead, he devoted himself to private problems, which in the spring of 1199 led to his separation from his wife Johanna, who had retired to Fontevraud Abbey after she received no support from Raimund in the fight against the rebellious lords of the castle. There she died shortly afterwards in childbed.

Pope Innocent III (Fresco in the monastery of San Benedetto in Subiaco , Latium , around 1219).

In the following years Raimund was in conflict with his nephew Raimund Roger Trencavel , who enjoyed the protection of the militant Count Raimund Roger von Foix . With this, in turn, he got into a dispute about the feudal relationships of Saverdun , which was defused by an enfeoffment of the Count of Foix. In 1201 the Pope once again considered it appropriate to exhort Raimund to take action against the Cathars, which again fell on deaf ears. In the autumn of 1203, the legates Raoul de Fonfroide and Pierre de Castelnau were sent to the Languedoc with sermons to encourage the local elites to fight heresy. They succeeded on December 13, 1203 in Toulouse, the city consuls, who were riddled with Cathars, to take the oath on the Catholic Church, with the price of recognition of communal autonomy on the part of the Pope. Overall, however, their appeals went unheard among the bourgeoisie and the nobility. Meanwhile, Raimund had sought to strengthen his political closeness to Peter II of Aragón after the Angevin power as a strong partner had failed with the death of his brother-in-law Richard the Lionheart in 1199. In the spring of 1204 in Perpignan he married the Infanta Eleonore, the sister of the Aragonese king, who would also be his last wife. Immediately afterwards, the family ties were expanded into a real political alliance, as Raimund sealed a defense pact in Millau in April 1204 with Peter II of Aragon and Count Alfonso II of Provence , who committed themselves to mutual military assistance against every attacker. In addition, Raimund was able to expand his sphere of influence by lending his brother-in-law 120,000 Sous in Melgorien for his desired coronation in Rome and receiving the income from the counties of Millau and Gévaudan . It was probably this alliance that led Raimund to his ignorant attitude towards the demands of the church to combat heresy and thus to a misjudgment of his position in power politics. The union with Aragón was shortly thereafter deepened by the agreed marriage of the young Raimund VII. With the Infanta Sancha, whereby Raimund VI. became the brother-in-law of his own son.

After that for Pope Innocent III. It became apparent that Raimund could not be won over to any action against the Cathars, he had first turned to King Philip II of France in a letter dated May 28, 1204 and asked him to armed intervention in the Albigensian region. He advised the king to incorporate the land confiscated by the supporters of the heresy into the crown domain , which was the first time in this context that a principle of conquest was formulated, as was already the case for the classic crusades into the holy land. Although the king did not respond to this letter, it laid the foundation for the future crusade against the Albigensians, by offering incentives for the knighthood to participate in the battle through the prospect of land conquest. On May 31, 1204 the Pope placed his two legates under the supremacy of the Abbot of Cîteaux, Arnaud Amaury . In 1205, the former poet Folquet de Marselha (Fulk of Marseille), a staunch opponent of heresy, was elected Bishop of Toulouse , who was to prove to be a rival for Raimund in his own city.

The situation itself did not change at first until the events of 1207 rolled over. In April of this year, the Legate Pierre de Castelnau came again to Toulouse, where he publicly excommunicated Raimund VI. and pronounced an interdict over its lands. Pope Innocent III confirmed the ban in a letter to the count, in which he listed his wrongdoings: plundering of the vineyards of the Candeil monastery , expulsion of the bishop of Carpentras , conversion of churches into fortresses, financing of Aragonese mercenaries to devastate the area around Arles , transfer of public offices to Jews and ultimately the granting of protection for and refusal to act against heresy. He openly threatened him as "enemy of Christ and persecutor of the Church" with eternal damnation and with the confiscation of the county of Melgueil, which was a papal fiefdom, and the exposure of his remaining possessions for spoil as the consequences, should Raimund not immediately apologize . At the same time, King Philip II and, for the first time, the barons of northern France were once again asked to take the crucifixion with the promise of a crusade indulgence. Raimund tried to defuse this renewed rift with the Pope through diplomatic channels by seeking a personal meeting with Pierre de Castelnau in Saint-Gilles in the spring of 1208. However, after this ended with no results, the Legate was killed in an ambush on the morning of January 14th by a blow of a lance or sword, after crossing the Rhône just a few kilometers from Saint-Gilles. Although the exact course of events and the perpetrator could never be determined, Raimund was immediately denounced by Arnaud Amaury to the Pope as having commissioned the murder. Even though modern research does not assume that the Count was involved, his opponents cited murder as the main charge against him along with the protection of the Cathars. For Innocent III, who not only won a first martyr in the fight against heresy, but also a welcome pretext for declaring the crusade, there was no doubt about it.

Crusade against the Albigensians

→ Main article : Albigensian Crusade

submission

The portal of the Saint-Gilles abbey church.

In several letters dated March 10, 1208, which were addressed to the legates, to the clergy and nobility of Languedoc, to the clergy and nobility of Northern France and finally to King Philip II, Innocent III. publicly called for a crusade to fight the Cathars and their protectors. On March 28, he had appointed Arnaud Amaury spiritual leader of the crusade, which was finally sanctioned in the bull Ut contra crudelissimos published on October 9, 1208 . The Pope had wanted the French king to be the military leader of the crusaders, but in the spring of 1209 at a parliament in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne he rejected this venture because he had "two lions on his flank" ( Johann Ohneland , Emperor Otto IV. ) Is indispensable in the north of his empire. In general, the king had reacted angrily to the arrogance of the Pope to dispose of fiefs and vassals of France and to determine their expropriation, which ultimately belongs to him alone as the overlord of the kingdom. And an expropriation of Raimund is forbidden for the simple reason that he was not a legally convicted heretic. But if the king had forbidden his barons to participate in a crusade in 1208, a year later he no longer raised any objections.

While the crusade was finally taking shape, Raimund consulted with his nephew Raimund Roger Trencavel to form a common front against the impending war. Due to a poor source of sources, it cannot be determined who made this proposal and who ultimately decided against it, because ultimately a joint approach by uncle and nephew did not come about. Raimund then tried to turn the crusade away from him. After a failed conversation with Arnaud Amaury in Aubenas , he sent an embassy to Rome in the winter of 1208, which there credibly conveyed to the Pope his desire to submit to the will of the Church. When the crusader army gathered in Lyons , Raimund met the new papal legates in Valence in the spring of 1209 , who promised him absolution and the withdrawal of all charges against him. For this he had to swear obedience to the church and leave her seven permanent locations in the Rhône Valley, Oppède , Mornas , Beaumes-de-Venise , Roquemaure , Fourques , Montferrand-la-Fare and Largentière as pledge. Furthermore, he had to dismiss his mercenaries, leave the heretics of his country to the crusaders and treat all persons classified as heretics according to the judgment of the church as such. The city leaders of Avignon , Nîmes and Saint-Gilles had to vouch for him and, in the event of an oath breach, terminate his allegiance in favor of the Church, as well as handing over the county of Melgueil to the Pope. In order to publicly seal his return to the bosom of the Church, Raimund had to undergo a public and humiliating ceremony of penance and reconciliation in the Abbey of Saint-Gilles on June 18, 1209 , in which he was scourged by the legate Milon for his misdeeds. The place of submission was not chosen by chance, on the one hand the abbey was regarded as the spiritual cradle of the Raimundiner family, after which its representatives were often also called "Counts of St. Gilles", and on the other hand the "martyr" Pierre de was here only shortly before Castelnau was buried, in front of whose sarcophagus Raimund VI. now had to humiliate in repentance. A few days later, on June 22nd, Raimund finally took the cross to fight the Albigensians, whether of his own accord or at the request of the legate, is unclear, but with this step he had himself and his domains under the protection of the saint Chair. On July 27, 1209 Pope Innocent III had given him. Congratulations on submission.

Meanwhile, Raimund's submission had been part of the Pope's plan to prevent a united front against the crusade in order to first fight the weaker opponent, Raimund Roger Trencavel, who had been refused the act of submission, and thus to isolate the Count of Toulouse. What the ecclesiastical side actually thought of the taking of the cross is illustrated by the judgment of Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay , who called him a “false and godless crusader”. The Legate Milon also continued to distrust Raimund and continued to hold him responsible for the murder of Castelnau, which he did not hold back from the Pope. Meanwhile, Raimund witnessed the massacre of the residents of Béziers on July 22, 1209 and, just a few weeks later, the fall of Carcassonne , which cost his nephew his freedom first and then his life. During the fighting he had behaved passively, but neither he nor Peter II of Aragón, who was present before Carcassonne, could do anything to save Trencavel. On August 15, the crusaders appointed the northern French lord of the castle Simon de Montfort as their leader, who was named after that of Innocent III. issued prey principle was also used in possession and title of the Trencavel. This set the first precedent for the northern French conquest in Languedoc, which was to determine Montfort's desires for the county of Toulouse in particular.

In the meantime Raimund had returned to Toulouse, where Arnaud Amaury had asked him and the city leaders to hand over all heretics to the crusaders; Bishop Fulko had previously made a list of names. With reference to his absolution and the authority of the local bishops' court, he and the consuls rejected the requested extradition, for which the crusade legate occupied the city with the interdict. At the synod in Avignon, which was taking place at the same time, the Milon legate saw this refusal to be a violation of the oath of obedience given in Saint-Gilles, and on September 6, 1209 pronounced a further excommunication against Raimund and renewed the charges against him. Raimund then went on a trip to the courts of King Philip II and Emperor Otto IV, the two overlords of his domains, to solicit support from them, which was unsuccessful. He then traveled directly to Rome, where Innocent III gave him. communicated his benevolence and promised him an orderly examination of the allegations by his legates, valid under canon law. At the same time, in the spring of 1210, he was urged to continue the fight against heresy according to the instructions of the late Legate Milon. After a conversation with Simon de Montfort and Raimund Roger von Foix in Pamiers , mediated by the King of Aragon, but failed, Raimund returned to Toulouse, whose citizenship had meanwhile split into a party dispute for and against the crusade. On the one hand, Bishop Fulko headed the “white brotherhood” ( Confrérie blanche ), which supported the crusade, while the consuls had formed the “black brotherhood” ( Confrérie noire ) to fight the crusaders. The climate of the subliminal civil war was temporarily cooled by Bishop Fulko when he pronounced absolution over the city on his own responsibility after he had been able to swear an oath of allegiance to the church from the consuls.

The Raimund VI case. on the other hand, remained in suspense because the papal legates cunningly delayed the judicial investigation ordered for him by the Pope throughout 1210 and thus, according to modern opinion, made the count the victim of a denial of justice . Instead, they reaffirmed his excommunication in order to be able to expand the crusade to his territories, which for Simon de Montfort had long since become a feudal war to conquer his own territory. After a meeting with Montfort in Ambialet in the winter of 1210 and a further warning letter from the Pope, Raimund took part in a general conference of all the powers represented in the Languedoc in Narbonne in January 1211 , at which he was promised absolution by the legates, provided that he again confessed the oaths of Saint-Gilles and the crusade. In fact, however, the legate Arnaud Amaury had used this conference for a reconciliation between Peter II of Aragón and Simon de Montfort, which took place on January 27th in Montpellier, where the conference was adjourned, with a marriage alliance and a promise to fight the crusaders the Moors was deepened. Above all, Raimund was robbed of his last notable ally, whose sister he married to his son, but whom he could not win to support the Crusaders, especially since Toulouse was not a vassal of Aragon. Arnaud Amaury then completed his trap by adding further conditions unacceptable to Raimund, such as the dismissal of all mercenaries within a day, the return of ecclesiastical property, the destruction of all permanent places, the relocation of the urban nobility to the country, the extradition of all heretics, supply of the crusade with food and weapons as well as the observance of penal regulations, which particularly meant the count's clothing. After Raimund had rejected these demands, as expected, the legate was able to renew the ban on him on February 6, 1211.

Even before the Pope had approved the ban in April 1211, Raimund took part in the siege of Lavaur , the first town under his domain , in March . After the city was surrendered on May 3, it became apparent that he had secretly supported the defenders, as several of his confidants were arrested among them, including his Seneschal Ramon de Recaut. A large number of captured Cathars were burned here by the Crusaders. At this point Raimund had already left for Toulouse after a last attempt at mediation by his cousins, Peter von Auxerre and Robert von Courtenay , who were in the army , had failed.

resistance

Entry of Raimunds VI. in Toulouse on September 13, 1217. From the manuscript of the Canso de la Crosada from the first quarter of the 13th century. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Ms. 25 425, fol. 148.

It was Raimund's final break with the crusade and a triumph for the legate Arnaud Amaury, since if Raimund were to take active action against the crusade, even if only as a defense, he would be wrong in the eyes of the pope. In the summer of 1211 he actually decided to fight the crusaders armed. In one stroke, he captured the Castelnaudary they held , a strategically important stopover from Carcassonne to Toulouse, and evacuated its population. He then occupied the castle of Montferrand with a strong garrison, which he entrusted to his brother Baldwin , who, however, soon after betrayed his brother and switched to Montfort and the crusade. Nevertheless, Raimund's uprising had triggered a general mobilization of the knighthood of the Languedoc, which now gathered around his banner for unified resistance. At Bruniquel he met again for a conversation with Montfort, who had meanwhile devastated the country up to the Tarn, and offered him his submission to the church, provided the inheritance rights of his descendants were respected. When Montfort rejected this offer, it became apparent that submitting Raimund was not in the interests of the crusade leader, but rather taking possession of his land, as he had already succeeded in the case of the Trencavel.

On June 15, 1211, the crusaders reached Toulouse for the first time and began to siege the city. Raimund, however, could rely on the strong walls and citizenship of his capital, whose communal freedoms he guaranteed, and on the clout of Counts Raimund Roger von Foix and Bernard IV von Comminges, who had joined him. The party struggle in the city had ended in view of the events of Lavaur, whereupon Bishop Fulko and the cathedral provost had to leave them barefoot, not without first pronouncing the ban on them. On June 16, Raimund and Foix made a sortie to prevent the crusaders from crossing the Montaudran bridge , but were repulsed by them, and his son Bertrand was captured, for whose ransom a large ransom had to be raised. Even if the crusaders devastated the area around Toulouse, they could not muster anything against the fortifications of the city with its fifteen towers and were forced to break off the siege after two weeks. After this success, the city leaders had addressed an alliance offer to the King of Aragón ("If your neighbour's house is on fire, it is your business too ..."), but he was busy with the war against the Moors ( Almohads ).

Montfort responded by taking a train to the country of Foix and then marching back to Toulouse in the east, immediately to the north and occupying Castelnaudary again. In the late summer of 1211 he devastated the area around Cahors and destroyed the count's castle Caylus . At the beginning of October, Raimund and his allies, whom Vice Count Gaston VI. von Béarn and several communal militias of the Toulousain had joined in a counter-offensive to retake Castelnaudary, which was now more strongly occupied by the Crusaders. Nevertheless, the allies succeeded in capturing the city after several weeks of trench warfare, in which, however, Montfort proved to be a tactically superior general, as he was able to save his army through an orderly retreat. Thereupon Raimund used a propagandistic ruse, which he knew better than warfare, by proclaiming the victory over Montfort and his capture, which actually triggered a general uprising against the crusader crews, after which most of the villages along the Tarn again were released. In the spring of 1212 Montfort was able to resume his star-shaped operations from Fanjeaux and take several castles in Lauragais , Quercy , Albigeois , Périgord and Comminges . His goal was to isolate Toulouse from its surroundings so that the weakened city could finally be captured in a second siege. Raimund and his allies had always avoided him in order to avoid open battle. In March the legate Arnaud Amaury was appointed Archbishop of Narbonne, who also appropriated the title of "Duke of Narbonne", which was traditionally led by the Counts of Toulouse. This was only the first step in the expropriation of Raimunds intended by the crusade leaders, which Montfort continued on December 1, 1212 when he enacted legal statutes in Pamiers for the entire "Albigensian region", which were based on the legal customs of northern France. Although he renounced the title of Count of Toulouse, he had given to understand that from now on he considered himself the rightful lord of the whole of Languedoc.

Defeat at Muret

In order to be able to counteract the military superiority of Montfort, Raimund had already traveled to Aragón in September 1212 to finally get King Peter II to intervene. The time for this was chosen more favorably this time, since the king had defeated the Moors on the "Plain of Tolosa" ( Las Navas de Tolosa ) in a great battle on July 16 and could now turn to the affairs north of the Pyrenees. During the meeting, the two of them worked out a proposal for a comprehensive peace plan for the crusade-torn Languedoc, which they submitted to the Pope for approval. This proposal also included the feudal subordination of Raimund to the King of Aragón, who was to become the new liege lord of Toulouse. Raimund had also agreed to abdicate in favor of his son, for whom the Aragonese king was to take over the government until he came of age. The already existing dynastic bond between Toulouse and Barcelona was to be expanded into a real state bond, which brought Aragón very close to realizing his old dream of the establishment of a "Pyrenees Empire " ( Imperi pirinenc ), as it is called by some Catalan historians, that should make up the geographic area of ​​today's southern France. For Raimund, this step meant not only the final settlement of the dispute between his house and Aragón, but also the dissolution of his feudal ties with France, from whose king and cousin he had at best received lip service instead of solid protection. But Peter II of Aragón had confessed to his cause, demanded a due process for him and also made himself guardian of the young Raymond VII, whose inheritance rights were not to be questioned. But Simon de Montfort, who was recognized as Vice Count of Carcassonne-Béziers as early as 1211, had usurped sovereign rights in lands that had not been granted to him, for which he had to be put in his place.

The diplomatic advance was made by Pope Innocent III. Approved because this showed him a way out of the messy situation in Languedoc into which the crusade had maneuvered him. In several letters to Arnaud Amaury and Simon de Montfort from January 1213, he ordered the suspension of the crusade and warned the latter to adhere to the valid feudal rights and to leave unlawfully appropriated land. In the same month all the conflicting parties between Toulouse and Lavaur met, probably in Verfeil , where the peace plan was to be negotiated. But the leaders of the crusade and the high clergy of Languedoc rejected him completely on January 18, even before the papal cops had arrived to suspend the crusade, which they gave the Pope in writing and urged him to resume the crusade Won not to lose. They also denied any credibility to Raimund's statements of repentance, since he was allied with the banished Emperor Otto IV and Johann Ohneland , and demanded that it be combated until it was destroyed, or following the words of Arnaud Amaury, after the Moorish Tolosa must now also be the heretical one fall. Without waiting for any reaction from the Pope, Raimund VI, his son Raimund VII and the city consuls, as well as the Counts of Foix, Comminges and Béarn, swore their allegiance to King Peter II of Aragon on January 27, 1213 in Toulouse as feudal lord and protector of their domains. The "Pyrenees Empire" had thus taken shape. The king called Simon de Montfort a rebellious vassal and ordered him to abide by the applicable feudal rights. Montfort reacted to this with a formal termination of his vassal status, since the cause of the crusade had greater weight and had to be continued in any case, which was tantamount to a declaration of war. On May 21, the Pope gave in to the urging of his legates and withdrew his approval of the Aragonese peace plan and the suspension of the crusade.

Without waiting for the Pope's letter, Montfort had resumed the fighting and occupied the lower Comminges around Muret . In return, Raimund stormed Le Pujol (today Sainte-Foy-d'Aigrefeuille) on July 20, 1213 , where all the crusaders present were killed. At the end of August, Peter II of Aragón crossed the Pyrenees at the head of his Catalan army, which Raymond and the other Occitan princes joined on September 8 before Muret, where the decisive battle against the Crusade was to be fought. In the council of war, Raimund appeared as an advocate of a defensive tactic in which the camp was to be fenced in with palisades and the oncoming crusaders were to be decimated by a hail of arrows. Only when they had lost their vigor, weakened by losses, should a final cavalry attack finish them off. The Catalans, however, interpreted this proposal as cowardice, who considered it unworthy of the chivalric ethos to hide behind palisades in front of an outnumbered opponent. As a result, they committed a fatal error in the Battle of Muret on September 12th when they stormed the orderly and tactically disciplined ranks of the Crusaders and allowed themselves to be worn out by them in haphazard duels. After word of the death of the first fighting king of Aragón got around and Montfort carried out an attack on the Allied reserves, Raimund decided to retreat from the battlefield to Toulouse.

expropriation

The catastrophic outcome of the battle not only immediately collapsed the “Pyrenees Empire”, the new king of Aragón was still a child, and Raimund had also lost his only protector worth mentioning. Montfort renounced an immediate move against Toulouse, whose city leaders were already negotiating their submission with him, and limited himself to continuing his policy of isolation. Raimund himself was not ready to give up and returned to the field of diplomacy. After spending a month at the court of his former brother-in-law Johann Ohneland in England , he returned to Toulousain, where the Count of Foix rejoined him in February 1214 in Montauban . Here he also hanged his captured brother Baldwin for his betrayal of 1211. However, he could not oppose the conquest of Montfort, which was largely completed by the end of 1214 after the capture of Casseneuil and Sévérac . Raimund had traveled to Rome during this time to meet again with Innocent III. to stand up for his cause. By appearing as a repentant penitent and ceding his rights and land to the Pope in a notarized act, absolution was actually granted to him. Above all, he had been able to postpone his affairs to the fourth Lateran Council convened for November 1215 and thus disavow the Crusade Council of Montpellier (January 1215) convened by the legate for France Robert de Courçon , who was in secret agreement with Montfort, where the clergy present had already spoken out in favor of its expropriation in favor of Montfort.

During this time, some changes had taken place in Toulouse itself, when a new Catholic order was founded there in April 1215 on the initiative of the monk Dominikus de Guzmán , who had been an eyewitness to the crusade for years, and with the assistance of Bishop Fulko 1217 also received the recognition of the curia. The Dominican Order had committed itself to combating heresy through sermons and would later become a decisive factor in Languedoc politics during the period of persecution by the Inquisition . When Raimund returned from Rome, he also had to take quarters in a citizen's house, since his count's palace, the Château Narbonnais, had been occupied by Bishop Fulko, who wanted to symbolically demonstrate the victory of the crusade over the count. In the same month, the French Crown Prince Louis VIII came into contact as a “pilgrim traveler” in Languedoc and with Montfort, apparently in order to sound out the situation on site for his father. Both were finally able to move into Toulouse unhindered, which Raimund and his son had to leave again. They had traveled to Rome, where from November 14, 1215 the Albigensian question and its fate were decided.

In fact, the Pope and, surprisingly, Arnaud Amaury, who was meanwhile in dispute with Montfort over sovereignty over Narbonne, were more inclined to Raimund's cause, referring to his absolution, which did not allow his expropriation. Also, Raimund VII should not be held responsible for the earlier misconduct of his father and be disinherited. A decision against them corresponds to a denial of rights. Nevertheless, the supporters of Montfort, led by Bishop Fulko, succeeded in secret negotiations to exert decisive pressure on the Pope, which is why he condemned Raimund as a supporter of the heresy on November 30, again pronounced the excommunication, deprived him of the count's crown and expropriated him; his rights and possessions were to pass to Simon de Montfort. The county of Melgueil was confiscated and given to the Bishop of Maguelone . The young Raimund VII was only granted the Agenais as his mother's inheritance, and a future restitution of the margraviate Provence was promised. Raymond VI. was further sentenced to exile for an unknown period and only awarded an annual pension of 400 marks, which should be raised from his former lands.

Recapture

After a pilgrimage via Viterbo and Venice , where he visited the relics of St. Mark , Raimund traveled with his son from Genoa by sea to Marseille , where they re-entered their country in the spring of 1216, despite being sentenced to exile. On March 8th, Montfort received the homage of the city leaders of Toulouse and for the first time allowed himself to be dubbed “Count of Toulouse”. He then traveled to northern France to pay homage to King Philip II in Melun in April as "Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Vice-Count of Béziers and Carcassonne", which now sanctioned his occupation under secular law. Raimund immediately used his absence to open the battle for the reconquest of his country. The nobility and the citizens of Provence immediately gathered around him and rose up to revolt against the Crusaders. Raimund himself transferred the battle in Provence to his son, who succeeded in liberating Beaucaire , and traveled on to Aragón himself. While Montfort was busy with the siege of Beaucaire until August 1216, there was a revolt of the citizens against his rule in Toulouse, which Bishop Fulko was able to calm down, but to which the Crusaders reacted by sacking the city.

Count Raimund VI. announces the death of Simons de Montfort to the citizens of Toulouse in 1218. Statue in Toulouse town hall (Jules Jacques Labatut, 19th century).

While Montfort was still able to hold Toulousain for the time being, the young Raimund VII had succeeded in liberating the margraviate Provence by the beginning of 1217, through which Raimund VI. from March to May of this year and granted privileges to several cities in the Rhône Valley. He had then returned to Aragón to complete his preparations for a train to Toulouse. Taking advantage of the absence of Montfort, who had set out for Provence, Raimund crossed the Pyrenees at the beginning of September with an army consisting of exiled knights, so-called Faydits . At Saint-Lizier he was joined by his old allies of Foix and Comminges with their sons. On September 12, he marched on the left bank of the Garonne and reached the suburb of Saint-Cyprien, only to cross the river at dawn the following day and march into the city through the opposite gate of Saint-Sernin, unnoticed by the French garrison at Château Narbonnais . The presently armed population carried out a massacre of the surprised French occupation forces, some of which were able to escape to the Château Narbonnais. After Raimund had re-established the consulate that had been dissolved by Montfort, he and the citizens set about preparing for the counter-attack of their enemy. Most of the nobility of Toulousain, who had previously only had to submit to Montfort under duress, joined them. The day and night rebuilding work on the city wall, which Montfort had dragged, was only interrupted on September 22nd by his brother Guy de Montfort , who wanted to fight his way to Château Narbonnais, but failed in the defense of the Tolosans.

In October 1217 Simon de Montfort had returned from Provence, where he had been informed about the events in Toulouse by an auxiliary letter from his wife. He immediately succeeded in taking the suburb of Saint-Michel and liberating the adjoining Château Narbonnais, which he made his home again. A first attempt to advance into the city via the suburb of Saint-Cyprien failed, whereupon Montfort prepared for a siege that lasted ten months. The decisive battles did not begin until May 1218 after the crusaders had received reinforcements. On June 7, however, Raimund VII was able to move into the city to the cheers of the population and strengthen the defenders with a contingent of Provencal knights. On June 24th, Montfort began the assault on the city walls, which lasted all day until the morning of the following day. When the defenders failed, when his brother was shot by an arrow from his horse near the wall within range of the catapults, he wanted to rush to his aid. A bullet from one of the catapults operated by Tolosan women hit him in the head and killed him. The young Amaury de Montfort intended to continue the siege, but his father's discouraged followers finally persuaded him on July 25 to break off the siege and retreat to Carcassonne.

Last years

On the death of the crusade leader, revolts against the crusaders had broken out all over Languedoc. Raimund had left it to his son to free the castles and cities of his domains by the end of 1218 and to accept the submission of his old vassals. Even the city of Albi, with the consent of its bishop, a staunch crusader, had again submitted to his highness. In the spring of 1219 the crusaders suffered a heavy defeat at Baziège . The situation became even more threatening when at the beginning of June Crown Prince Ludwig VIII. At the urging of Pope Honorius III. appeared with a crusade army before Marmande and his men committed a massacre of the population after their task. On June 17th he reached Toulouse with the intention of besieging them. Raimund was urged by his advisors to use the prince's presence for a diplomatic offer. Amaury de Montfort had received his father's rights as Count of Toulouse from the Holy See, but the French king had not received confirmation under feudal law so far. By now offering himself as a vassal to the French crown, which he had been until 1213, Raimund could normalize his relationship with Philip II and at the same time win a new patron against the crusade. This would also mean that all of Montfort's legal claims would have become invalid. Referring to the injustice that the prince was responsible for in Marmande, Raimund refused to take the first step towards him and decided to defend the city. On August 1, Prince Ludwig broke off the siege after the minimum fighting time of 40 days had passed and started his journey home to northern France.

Then Raimund and his son tackled the remaining crusaders. In the winter of 1219 they succeeded in capturing the brothers Foucaud and Jean de Berzy in Lauragais, who had proven to be particularly cruel robber barons in previous years; they were beheaded and their heads impaled on lances in Toulouse. Subsequently, Lavaur, Puylaurens and Castelnaudary were liberated one after the other. Amaury de Montfort responded with a siege of the latter city, with his younger brother Guy being killed in April 1220 . Pope Honorius III, who has been in office since 1216. made another attempt in the second half of 1220 to save his predecessor's crusade by once again unsuccessfully calling on the French king to take the cross and threatening the Count of Albigensian with sanctions.

death

In February 1221 Amaury de Montfort gave up the siege of Castelnaudary and withdrew to Carcassonne. This was the last major military operation of Innocent III. 1208 proclaimed crusade, which was to lead to the surrender of the last crusaders in Carcassonne by 1224, after a fifteen-year war. Raymond VI. himself was no longer a witness of this triumph, nor of the subsequent crusade of King Louis VIII in 1226, which once again seriously threatened the existence of the House of Toulouse and finally heralded the final act in its history. He died on August 2, 1222 at the age of 65 in a friend's house in Toulouse, on his deathbed surrounded by Catholics and Cathars. His widow Eleanor of Aragón then withdrew to the Charterhouse of Valbonne .

In his second will, written on May 30, 1218, Raimund VI. expressed the desire to be buried as a knight of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem , as his last commitment to the Catholic faith, which his enemies had always denied him. Instead of receiving the consolamentum on his deathbed, as is customary with convinced Cathars , he had actually been given the coat of a hospitaller knight. But because he was still under the church ban, he was not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground. In 1247, Raymond VII asked Pope Innocent IV for a posthumous absolution from his father, which would have allowed his remains to be buried properly. But the request was rejected, so that the count's bones were still laid out in a corridor of the hospitaller house of Toulouse, today's Hôtel des Chevaliers de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem in the rue de le Dalbade, as Guillaume de Puylaurens in the second Wrote his chronicle in the middle of the 13th century. Here they had been on public display for over 400 years until the local historian Jean Jacob Percin was the last to examine the Count's skull on September 18, 1692, before it disappeared like the other remains. Allegedly, the skull had a recess in the shape of a fleur-de-lys , commonly a sign of divine grace .

judgment

Count Raimund VI is one of the protagonists of the Albigensian Crusade, indeed as its actual main antagonist. in almost all publications on this topic part of critical considerations, which are characterized by the lack of a common denominator. Some appreciate his attitude towards the Cathars as an example of religious tolerance, while his critics see it as a mere negligence and indifference. Just as his low level of martial skills is interpreted as an expression of a peace-loving nature or, conversely, as weakness. Above all, his behavior in 1209 when he was “taken from the cross” is judged extremely negatively to this day, especially since it is unclear whether it was one of the conditions for his absolution. For his critics, it was an act of hypocrisy and cowardice. Hypocritical because he broke the Saint-Gilles oath again that same year, and cowardly because he did not have the courage to fight the crusade and instead surrendered to it. He is also assumed to be able to profit from the demise of his neighbor and nephew Raimund Roger Trencavel, although this remains a minority opinion. As far as his alleged involvement in the murder of Pierre de Castelnau, which provided the pretext for the crusade, is largely agreed today that this is unlikely. The real course of events remains in the dark forever, the name of the assassin alone is unknown, but since 1207 at the latest, Raimund's intentions were Innocent III. known for a crusade which he would certainly have offered no excuse so willingly.

In a religious sense, Raymond VI. He was more inclined to the Catholic faith throughout his life, which of course did not prevent him in power-political disputes from blackmailing or robbing church institutions, in which he did not differ from many of his contemporaries. For a particularly pious way of life, such as that of Ludwig IX a generation later . the saint practiced or had nothing to do with fanatical zeal for faith, which the spiritual leaders of the crusade in particular had pursued. Not only did he interact publicly with Cathars and Jews, he also involved them in his governance as an adviser and civil servant, which further nourished his enemies' reservations about him. There is no doubt that his attitude towards heresy had, if not directly encouraged, indirectly favored its widespread use throughout Languedoc, which in the eyes of Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay made him a devout Cathar, the "servant of the devil". which was only confirmed by the breach of the oath of 1211. In his chronicle, the Cistercian monk and convinced crusader made no secret of his blind hatred of the count. The authors of the Canso de la Crosada and Guillaume de Puylaurens judge the count more soberly to the point of sympathy, as the leader of the resistance against the northern French crusaders. During the time of his submission from 1209 to 1211, he was a passive member of the crusade itself, but at no time supported it with weapons, food or warriors.

Michel Roquebert certified Raimund VI. a high political intelligence, which enabled him to cunning, cunning and quite courageous actions. In the endeavors of his early reign to resolve the conflicts of his ancestors in a diplomatic way, as well as his lack of talent as a general, the Count rather pointed to a peace-loving character, who had accepted it in order to prevent the worst, from his contemporaries and the Posterity to be misjudged.

reception

Raymond VI. of Toulouse is the subject of Moses , Confucius and Socrates in a painting ensemble in the Supreme Court room of the Minnesota State Capitol . The ceiling painting created by John La Farge in 1903, entitled The Adjustment of Conflicting Interests: Count Raymond of Toulouse swears at the Altar to observe the Liberties of the City , shows the count before the bishop as defender of urban freedoms and communal property. This painting illustrates the importance of balanced interests between citizens, church and state for a political actor.

Raymond VI. had undertaken on November 12, 1196 in Notre-Dame de la Daurade to the consuls of Toulouse to recognize the economic and political autonomy of the city, according to the oaths that his father and grandfather had already sworn. He had never broken that oath.

Familiar

ancestors

Raymond IV of Toulouse (1041–1105)

Elvira of Castile

Raymond II of Uzès (? –1138)

?

Philip I of France (1052–1108)

Bertha of Holland (around 1055-1093)

Humbert II of Savoy (ca.1060–1103)

Gisela of Burgundy

Alfons Jordan of Toulouse (1103–1148)

Faydive from Uzès

Louis VI. of France (1081–1137)

Adelheid (around 1092-1154)

Raymond V of Toulouse (1134–1194)

Konstanze (around 1128–1176)

Raymond VI. of Toulouse (1156–1222)

Marriages and offspring

Raimund was married five times. His first wife, married shortly after 1172, was Errete Pelet, who died in 1176. His second wife was Beatrix von Béziers from the Trencavel family , whom he repudiated in 1193 to marry Bourgogne von Lusignan as his third wife. He also dismissed this in 1196 in order to be able to marry Johanna from the House of Plantagenet and widowed Queen of Sicily, who separated from him in 1199 and died in the same year after the birth of a third child who lived only a few days. He was then married to a Byzantine princess who was the so-called "Lady of Cyprus", the daughter of the "Emperor" Isaac Komnenos . His last wife was Infanta Eleonore, who was married in 1204 and was the daughter of King Alfonso II of Aragón , who survived him and died in 1226.

From his second marriage to Beatrix von Béziers, Raimund had a daughter:

• Constanze (* around 1180; † 1260)
  • 1. ⚭ 1195 with King Sancho VII of Navarre (divorced 1200)
  • 2. ⚭ 1205 with Pierre Bermond d'Anduze , Lord of Anduze , Sommières and Sauve († 1215, Rome)

His third marriage to Johanna Plantagenet had three children:

• Raimund VII. (* July 1197 in Beaucaire, † September 27, 1249 in Millau)
• Johanna († 1255), ⚭ with Bernard von La Tour ( La Tour d'Auvergne )
• NN (* / † September 1199 in Fontevraud)

In addition, Raimund VI. three more illegitimate children:

• Bernard; Ancestor of the Vice Counts of Bruniquel
• Guillemette; ⚭ with Hugues d'Alfaro , Count Seneschal in the Agenais
• Raimonde; Nun of the Order of Fontevraud in the Espinasse monastery branch in the Diocese of Toulouse

literature

• Malcolm Barber: The Cathars. Heretic of the Middle Ages. Artemis & Winkler Verlag, Düsseldorf and Zurich 2003. (English first edition: The Cathars. Dualist heretics in Languedoc in the High Middle Ages. Pearson Education Limited, Harlow 2000).
• R. Benjamin: A Forty Years War: Toulouse and the Plantagenets, 1156-1196. In: Historical Research , Vol. 61 (1988), pp. 270-285.
• Bertran de La Farge: Raimon VI le comte excommunié. Nouvelles Editions Loubatières, 1998.
• Laurent Macé: Les Comtes de Toulouse et leur entourage, XIIe-XIIIe siècles: Rivalités, alliances et jeux de pouvoir. Toulouse 2000.
• Laurent Macé: Catalogs raimondins (1112-1229). Actes des comtes de Toulouse, ducs de Narbonne et marquis de Provence. Toulouse, 2008.
• Rebecca Rist: The Papacy and Crusading in Europe, 1198-1245. New York, 2009.
• Michel Roquebert: The History of the Cathars, Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Languedoc. German translation by Ursula Blank-Sangmeister, Philipp Reclam jun. GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart 2012. (French first edition: Histoire des Cathares. Hérésie, Croisade, Inquisition du XIe au XIVe siècle. Éditions Perrin, Paris 1999).
• Andrea Sommerlecher: Processus negotii Raimundi comitis Tolosani - comments on insertions in the 12th year of the registry of Pope Innocent III. In: Mitteilungen des Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung , Vol. 120 (2012), pp. 139–145.
• Jörg Oberste : The crusade against the Albigensians. Heresy and Power Politics in the Middle Ages. Darmstadt 2003.

swell

• Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay = Petri, Vallium Sarnaii Monachi, Historia Albigensium et sacri belli in eos suscepti. In: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France , Vol. 19 (1880), pp. 1–113.
• Guillaume de Puylaurens = Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii Historia Albigensium. In: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France , Vol. 19 (1880), pp. 193-225.
• Guillaume de Puylaurens = Historiae Albigensium auctore Guillelmo de Podio Laurentii. In: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France , Vol. 20 (1840), pp. 764-776.
• Chanson de la Croisade (Canso de la Crosada) = La chanson de la croisade contre les Albigeois , ed. by Paul Mayer, Vol. 1 ( Guillaume de Tudela ), 1875; Vol. 2 (Anonymous), 1879.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Puylaurens, RHGF 19, p. 202.
2. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 92-93.
3. ↑ Catalog des actes de Philippe Auguste , ed. by Léopold Delisle (1856), no.433, p. 103.
4. ^ William of Newburgh : Historia rerum Anglicarum Vol. II , ed. by Hans Claude Hamilton (1856), Lib. V, Cap. XXX, p. 200. Raimund's negotiator with Richard the Lionheart was Abbot Guilhabert of Castres, who in all probability was identical with the later famous Cathar bishop of the same name . Histoire générale de Languedoc . Vol. 5, ed. by C. Devic and J. Vaissete (Toulouse, 1842), pp. 42-44.
5. ↑ Joaquín Miret y Sans: Itinerario del rey Pedro I de Cataluña, II de Aragón. In: Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona , Vol. 3 (1905/06), p. 153.
6. ↑ Roquebert, p. 94.
7. ↑ Vaux-de-Cernay, RHGF 19, pp. 8-9.
8. ↑ Cœlestini III romani pontificis epistolæ et privilegia , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne . In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 206, Col. 1155-1156.
9. ^ Letter of November 4, 1198 in: The Register Innocenz 'III. 1st year of pontificate, 1198/99 , ed. by Othmar Hageneder and Andrea Haidacher. In: Publications of the Department for Historical Studies of the Austrian Cultural Institute in Rome. Graz / Cologne 1964, No. 397, pp. 596–597.
10. ↑ Roquebert, p. 103.
11. ↑ Roquebert, p. 104.
12. ↑ Joaquín Miret y Sans: Itinerario del rey Pedro I de Cataluña, II de Aragón. In: Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona , Vol. 3 (1905/06), pp. 274-275. Fernand Benoit: Recueil des actes des comtes de Provence appartenant à la maison de Barcelone. Alphonse II and Raimond Bérenger V (1196-1245). Vol. 2 (1925), No. 32, pp. 40-41.
13. ↑ Roquebert, p. 98. Melgorien are medieval deniers from the Melgueil mint.
14. ↑ Oberste, p. 46. Roquebert, L'épopée cathare , Vol. 1, pp. 172-175.
15. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 361-362. Two further letters from the Pope of January 16 and February 7, 1205 (Col. 526-527) to the French king also remained unanswered. Roquebert, p. 107.
16. ↑ Roquebert, p. 106.
17. ↑ Roquebert, p. 112.
18. ↑ Barber, pp. 122-123; Roquebert, p. 116. Letter Si parietem cordis of May 29, 1207: Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 1166.
19. ^ Letter of November 17, 1207: Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 1246-1247.
20. ↑ Vaux-de-Cernay, RHGF 19, p. 14; Puylaurens, RHGF 19, p. 201.
21. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 1354-1358; 1358-1359; 1359-1360 and 1361-1362.
22. ↑ Layettes du Trésor des Chartes , Vol. 1, ed. by Alexandre Teulet (1863), no. 843, pp. 317-319. Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 1469-1470.
23. ↑ Vaux-de-Cernay, RHGF 19, p. 15.
24. ^ Letter to the Pope of April 1208: Catalog des actes de Philippe Auguste , ed. by Léopold Delisle (1856), no. 1085, pp. 251-252.
25. ↑ Roquebert, p. 119.
26. ↑ Roquebert, p. 118.
27. ↑ Processus negotii Raimundi comitis Tolosani , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 89-93.
28. ↑ Processus negotii Raimundi comitis Tolosani , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 94.
29. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 124-126.
30. ↑ Processus negotii Raimundi comitis Tolosani , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 95.
31. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 100-101.
32. ^ Roquebert, p. 126.
33. ↑ Vaux-de-Cernay, RHGF 19, pp. 18-19. Barber, p. 128.
34. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 151-153.
35. ↑ Roquebert, p. 148.
36. ^ Letter from Legate Milon to the Pope of September 10, 1209. In: Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio vol. 22, ed. by Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1778), col. 767-774 . Barber, p. 135.
37. ^ Letter of January 25, 1210. In: Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 173.
38. ↑ Roquebert, p. 151.
39. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 159-161.
40. ↑ The confirmation of the excommunication was probably decided in August 1210 at a council in Saint-Gilles. The excommunication was also extended to the Count of Foix and Vice-Count of Béarn. Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 833-835.
41. ↑ On the papal warning letter of January 1211 see: Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 356.
42. ↑ Roquebert, p. 163. According to Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay ( RHGF 19, p. 43), Raimund VI. who let the negotiations in Montpellier fail when he suddenly left the city on the morning of January 27, 1211 after he had been made generous offers. However, he ignored Arnaud Amaury's far-reaching demands in his chronicle.
43. ↑ For the papal confirmation of the ban, see the letter of April 7, 1211 to the Archbishop of Arles in: Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 410-411.
44. ↑ According to Puylaurens there were 300 ( RHGF 19, p. 204), the chanson (vol. 1, laisse 68, line 1556, p. 71) after 400. Roquebert, p. 168.
45. ↑ Roquebert, p. 170.
46. ↑ Roquebert, p. 173. Histoire générale de Languedoc , Vol. 5, ed. by C. Devic and J. Vaissete (Toulouse, 1842), pp. 584-586.
47. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 175-177.
48. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 179-180.
49. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 187-188.
50. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 191-198.
51. ↑ Innocent III. wanted a peace between Simon de Montfort and Peter II of Aragón, in which both would combine their military forces for the fight against the Almohads in Spain. Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 215, Col. 739-741. In a letter to Arnaud Amaury dated January 15, 1213, Innocent III. admitted his realization that the crusade he initiated had become a war of conquest. Regesta Pontificum Romanorum , Vol. 1, ed. by August Potthast (1874), No. 4648, p. 402.
52. ^ Letter of January 21, 1213 to the Pope in: Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio vol. 22, ed. by Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1778), col. 868-871.
53. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 200-202. Arnaud Amaury's letter to the General Chapter of the Cistercians with his report (De Francorum expeditione ac victoria adversus Sarracenos in Hispania reportata) on the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in Selecta ex varis chronicis ad Philippi Augusti regnum pertinentibus. In: RHGF 19, p. 253.
54. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 845-849.
55. ↑ Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 849-852.
56. ↑ Layettes du Trésor des Chartes , Vol. 1, ed. by Alexandre Teulet (1863), No. 1099, pp. 410-411 = Regesta Pontificum Romanorum , Vol. 1, ed. by August Potthast (1874), no.4950, p. 431.
57. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 241-243. For the resolutions of the IV Lateran Council, see Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collection vol. 22, ed. by Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1778), col. 953-1086 . The judgment regarding the expropriation of Raymond VI. was issued in a circular dated December 14, 1215. See Mansi 22, Sp. 1069-1070.
58. ↑ Catalog des actes de Philippe Auguste , ed. by Léopold Delisle (1856), no.1659, p. 371.
59. ↑ Roquebert, p. 263.
60. ^ Cartulaire general de l'ordre des hospitaliers de Saint Jean de Jérusalem, 1110-1310. Vol. 2, ed. by Joseph Delaville Le Roux (1897), no. 1617, p. 246. He wrote his first will on September 20, 1209 in the Abbey of Saint-Denis after his conversation with Philip II August. In it he had named his brother Baldwin and his sons Raimund VII and Bertrand as his main heirs and ordered large donations to the orders of the Hospitallers and Templars. Histoire générale de Languedoc avec des notes et les pièces justificatives. Vol. 8, ed. by Claude Devic and Joseph Vaissète (1879), no. 146, col. 573–577.
61. ↑ Layettes du Trésor des Chartes , Vol. 3, ed. by Alexandre Teulet (1875), no. 3617, pp. 16-17. On the failed rehabilitation of Raimunds VI. ( Inquisitio de Raymundo Comite Tolosano ) in 1247 see: Monumenta conventus Tolosani ordinis fratrum praedicatorum primi ex vetustissimis manuscriptis originalibus transcripta et sanctorum ecclesie patrum placitis illustrata , ed. by Jean Jacob Percin. In: Opusculum de haeresi Albigensium , Vol. 2 (Toulouse, 1693), pp. 76-82.
62. ↑ Puylaurens, RHGF 19, pp. 214-215.
63. ↑ Monumenta conventus Tolosani ordinis fratrum praedicatorum primi ex vetustissimis manuscriptis originalibus transcripta et sanctorum ecclesie patrum placitis illustrata , ed. by Jean Jacob Percin. In: Opusculum de haeresi Albigensium , Vol. 2 (Toulouse, 1693), p. 82.
64. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 125-126.
65. ^ Oberste, p. 59. Fredric L. Cheyette: Joseph R. Strayer, The Albigensian Crusades. In: Speculum , Vol. 48 (1973), pp. 411-415.
66. ↑ Roquebert, p. 115; Oberste, p. 51.
67. ↑ Roquebert, pp. 93-94.
68. ^ Neil B. Thompson: Minnesota's State Capitol: The Art and Politics of a Public Building. In: Minnesota Historic Sites Pamphlet Series , Volume 9 (1974), p. 90.
69. ↑ Archives municipales de Toulouse AA1 / 12th  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
70. ↑ L'Estoire de Eracles empereur Liv. 28, cap. V. In: Recueil des Historiens des Croisades (1859), Historiens Occidentaux II, p. 256. Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay ( RHGF 19, p. 9) had the marriage with the "Lady of Cyprus" between the one with Beatrix located by Béziers and Johanna Plantagenet, but this cannot be possible for chronological reasons.
71. ↑ Pierre Bermond d'Anduze, in a letter addressed to the Pope on December 20, 1212, raised a claim to the inheritance of the House of Toulouse as the husband of the eldest daughter of Raymond VI, in which he called his marriage to Johanna Plantagenet illegitimate and thus Raimund VII. Designated as not entitled to inheritance. See Innocentii III Registrorum sive Epistolarum , ed. by Jacques Paul Migne. In: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Latina. Vol. 216, Col. 754-755. In 1215 he was in Rome at the fourth Lateran Council, where his claim in favor of Simons de Montfort was rejected. See Puylaurens, RHGF 19, p. 211. On the claims of the House of Anduze to the Raimundin inheritance, see Michel Roquebert: L'épopée cathare , Vol. 2, (1977), pp. 75-79.

predecessor	Office	successor
Raimund V. (II.)	Count of Toulouse 1194–1222	Raymond VII. (IV.)
Raimund V. (II.)	Margrave of Provence 1194–1222	Raymond VII. (IV.)