Béziers and the Cathar Tragedy

Objective:

• Discover the streets of old Béziers up to the cloister of the Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse Cathedral in the 13th century through the eyes of an Irish monk.
• Take a journey back in the history of the Albigensian Crusade. 
• Explore Béziers in a small group during a theatrical tour, to the delight of both locals and passing tourists.

Program

In the 12th century, many dissensions arose within Christianity. The popes, who sought to assert their universal power, combated these dissensions through the preaching of religious figures like Saint Bernard, as well as with the authority of bishops. Secular justice supported by the Church would ignite the first bonfires. One of these groups, sometimes called Cathars or Albigensians, developed especially in Occitania. Faced with the inaction of local lords, Pope Innocent III called for a crusade. It would be the only crusade on Christian soil, leading to Béziers, Carcassonne, Toulouse, and more. Many lords from Western Europe would participate, and the Languedoc (larger than present-day Occitania) would lose its independence.  

Get to Know Your Guide/Character:

Colm de Drogheda is an Irish monk. Long before he entered the clergy, at the age of 14, he followed his Anglo-Norman master, the future Earl of Ulster, Hugh de Lacy, to the so-called Albigensian Crusade. He participated in numerous episodes of the crusade, such as the massacre of Béziers, the capture of Lavaur, or the siege of Beaucaire. He fought for thirteen years in the south of France alongside Montfort, the leader of the crusade, and rose from squire to knight. After his lord's death, he returned to Ireland and became a Cistercian monk at Mellifont in the east of Ireland. Colm is on a "visit" to his Cistercian brothers at the Valmagne Abbey. He will introduce you to the capture of Béziers and tell you about the crusade. He will discuss with you these different believers: the Cathars, considered heretics by the Church but often regarded as Good Men and Good Women by those who knew them.