The Albigensian Crusades

by Joseph R. Strayer

Interprets thirteenth-century crusades in terms of the development of Europe, especially France

Genres: History, Medieval History, France, Medieval, Nonfiction, European History

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Joseph Reese Strayer taught at Princeton University for many decades, starting in the 1930s. He was chair of the history department (1941–1961) and president of the American Historical Association in 1971. Strayer has been credited with training a large percentage of the American medievalists profession; many of his students are still teaching and active. Notable students include Teofilo Ruiz, William Chester Jordan, and Richard W. Kaeuper. Norman F. Cantor often highlighted his status as a student of Strayer's, but several of Strayer's other pupils - who wish to remain anonymous for personal and professional reasons - have expressed their doubt that Strayer ever acknowledged Cantor as his student or that Cantor had any formal affiliation with him at all.

When not teaching medieval history at Princeton, Strayer was involved with the CIA, as a member of the CIA's Office of National Estimates. The extent of his involvement, at a time when the C.I.A was running covert operations to destabilize governments around the world (Iran, Brazil, Congo, Dominican Republic, Guyana and Chile), has never been fully assessed or verified.

Norman Cantor recognized three books as most important to Strayer's legacy: Feudalism (1965), which summarized three decades of his research and thinking on the topic; On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State (1970), in which he shows the relevance of medieval historical institutions to modern governmental institutions; and The Reign of Philip the Fair (1980), representing over 30 years of archival research and the most comprehensive work on the topic in any language - other than Jean Favier's Philippe le Bel (1978). Strayer was editor of the Dictionary of the Middle Ages, the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedia of the Middle Ages in the English language.

Reviews

[Nicholas Najjar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Strayer, one of the most influential American medievalists, did a really nice job with this book.

While the subject matter is heavy and dark, Strayer crafts the text in such a way that makes it easy and enjoyable to read. It is the perfect blend of historical analysis, anecdotes, statistics, and reflection. He never gets bogged down in one place and does such an excellent job of getting the key points across to the reader.

As for the events of the book itself, what more can be said than it was a tragic period of French history. The vibrant Occitan region with its unique culture and people suffering immensely during a crusade and a subsequent inquisition. Blame to be shared by both sides in this conflict. The final result? The French monarchy absorbing a once noble and independent people into the King’s fold. Over time the Occitan people would lose their language, their poetic voice, and their identity. And for what?

Catharism was the dualistic heresy that provided the excuse for certain French lords and Roman Pontiffs to start and continue the crusade. From its inception there were ulterior motives at play and those driving reasons came to the forefront as the crusade wore on. Unsurprisingly, Catholics and Cathars were indiscriminately murdered by the crusaders. Strayer states that in the end more Catholics were killed than Cathars. The great irony is that ordinary Occitan Catholics co-existed peacefully with their Cathar neighbors and vice-versa. It was only those in power who sought to create trouble and that is exactly what they did. In the end, Catharism faded away into irrelevancy with a whimper, some 200 years after St. Bernard attempted to end the heresy in a peaceful manner.

I knew next to nothing about the Albigensian Crusade before this book and it was the perfect introduction to the subject. Well-researched, well-crafted, and compelling.

Strayer, classically educated at both Princeton University and Harvard University, was an excellent scholar and this book is a testament to that fact.

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little known era of history explored in great detail. Apparently the author searched through a ton of tax records, inquisition sentences, and the Vatican library to find all of this stuff.

It literally took me about 10 years after I started this to complete it. Great book to go to sleep to. Unique enough to keep peaking your interest, yet dry enough with the multitude of details to help you doze off.

But, now I know much more about 900 - 1200 AD Southern France (which wasn't France at the time), and have a better idea about where a number of the protestant sects of 1400 on got their start. My recommendation? If you have an interest in the period, go for it. The "dark ages" lasted a while and that was some time ago. So, if it takes a few years to get through the topic, who are you to complain? At least, you're not being flayed for reading the wrong thing . . .

[Joel Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly interesting and scholarly work on the causes and socio, political,and religious interactions that took place in the 13th Century in Southern France known as Occitania. Written in 1971 by Joseph Strayer, this edition now has an appended Epilogue written from a more modern standpoint in 1992 by Carol Lansing which explores the definition of Heresy from a social constructivist viewpoint. The inclusion, in the Appendix, of two source documents - a Cathar Ritual, and a Letter concerning a inquiry into heresy in Toulouse of 11178 - also provide a more direct account of the situation. While reading this work I found it easy to sympathize with the locals that - more often and not - seem to be caught up socio-political struggles involving the elites whether of the religious or imperial (noble) caste.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading and weeding from my father's collection. So well written that I finished most of it last weekend. Yes, Dad flagged some potential Templar connections, but the history of Occitania (as Strayer calls it) is fascinating on its own. I also learned that dowries were the result of inheritance switching to patrilineages as a way of ensuring a daughter's status. I always assumed dowries were the reverse of a bride price to make a less desirable woman more marriageable. Instead, much like the Indian custom where a bride wears her jewelry that can never be taken, a woman retained a permanent legal claim to her dowry, which would be repaid to her if her husband died. Personally, I feel like this attempt at retaining equality is reassuring even if the system did become perverted over the centuries.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of a forgotten chapter of the Crusades. The first crusade directed against fellow Christians rather than the infidels. Not fought in the Holy Land but in the center of Western Europe. A Crusade directed against a group called the Cathars (pure ones) though they never called themselves by this name. A Christian sect that wanted to reform Christianity back to its roots. They were disgusted by the riches of the church, the corruption of the Vatican and had a dualistic view of God and creation. The most amazing fact is how many of the captured members rather died at the stake than recanting their beliefs, most notably at Montsegur where hundreds of perfecti willingly ran into the great pyres than accepting orthodox Christianity back into their lives.

[Jim Neel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting survey of the crusade preached by Innocent III and subsequent popes against the Cathar heresy in Occitania (Southern France). Tells the story of the military campaigns of Simon deMontfort on behalf of the Capetians as well as the Inquisition upon the remnants of the Cathar heresy in the late 13th century.

[sean]

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strayer's The Albigensian Crusades is a political history of Occitania — now southern France — during the first half of the thirteenth century. It describes the Cathar heresy and its spread; the response of the Church and the instigation of the crusade; the massacre of Béziers and the fall of Carcassonne in 1209; the brutal decade-long attempt of Simon de Montfort to make Occitania into a personal fiefdom; the recovery by the Counts of Toulouse; the final success of the French crown; and the creation of the Inquisition and the elimination of Catharism.

Strayer brings out the broader institutional and political themes, such as the creation of Languedoc and its integration into France and the role the Albigensian crusades played in the development of the papacy. There are no notes or references, but there is a short bibliographic note. This 1992 edition includes an "epilogue", a sixty page essay by Lansing which looks at Catharism (and heresy more generally) in greater depth. She also points out where newer ideas have replaced some of Strayer's, and updates the bibliographic information.

[Roy Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the 13th century political and religious struggles in the Occitan region. Well enough written that that I read most of it in an evening. Much of the book is basically a blow by blow account of the battles that took place, and the motives behind them.

[MJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crusades against non-Muslims

[Thom Dunn]

Serviceable.

[Megan Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you need info on the Albigensian Crusade, this is your book..