The Albigensian Crusades (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) [Paperback]

THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADES by Joseph R. Strayer is really two books inside one jacket. The first book, by Strayer consists of a 174-page overview of the two crusades, one led by Simon de Montfort and the second under the auspices of the French Royals in Paris. The second "book" is an Epilogue by Carol Lansing, that examines heresy versus orthodoxy.

Strayer's book is about 30 years old, and while his writing seems mostly accurate, he is inclined to make generalizations some contemporary historians might not. For example, he says a necessary condition for the growth of "heresy" is a set of fluid economic and social circumstances that lead to uncertainty about personal well-being as well as exposure to people with different ways of thinking. In other words, material conditions go a long way toward explaining a diversity of faiths.

Strayer says the feudalism of the north (France) was virtually nonexistent in Languedoc (Strayer calls it Occitania) and primogeniture was not the hereditary rule. At the death of the father, properties were split up amongst the sons, and the wealth and power of successive generations diluted. Often, the loss of noble wealth and power was augmented. One means was to become a member of the Roman Catholic clergy and the other was commerce. The redistribution of wealth and power led to a new social order where the cities became dominant.

Languedoc, lay at the end of a main trade route that ran through Italy and into the East, and by 1200, the area was more like Italy with it's independent cities based on commercial wealth, than the feudal north with it's huge rural estates owned by landed nobility. New ideas and new people settled in Occitania, bringing diverse religious practices. In addition to the Cathars, the area was home to Jews, Mohammadens, and Waldensians. Roman Catholic clergy soon found their limited authority challenged, and one thing led to another until the Pope launched two crusades to eliminate "heretical faiths" that infested Occitania. Most of Strayers's account is about the subsequent Albigensian crusades (Albi was one of the "heretical" cities).

While Strayer does not address the issue of heresy, Carol Lansing's Epilogue (59 pages) is an essay on heresy. She says the orthodox Catholics were unclear about their own orthodoxy, so determining someone else was herertical was quite a task. She concludes that for the most part, heretics were condemned by their actions, not their beliefs.

She says the Waldensians were orthodox and should not be confused with the Cathers who really had a completely different religion. Waldo, the leader of the Waldensians would have been thought another St. Francis of Assisi had he been born during Innocent's reign as Pope. He had the misfortune to be born 100 years to soon and thus perceived as a threat. Although they were persecuted, Waldensians still exist today, and were probably the first real Protestants.

The Cathers believed in a dualist God and Lansing describes several versions of their theology in her Epilogue. Her account makes their tenets seem very confused. She says, "people wove together their beliefs, drawing on the teachings and practices of the Roman clergy, the Cather perfects, their own families, and their communities, as well as their own speculation and experince."

I found both of these "essays" raised and addressed interesting points and recommend the book for anyone with a serious interest in this topic.

Strayer mastered the art of distilling complex topics into readable extended essays. His book, On The Medieval Origins of the Modern State, is generally regarded as a minor classic and should be read by everyone with a serious interest in European history. The Albigensian Crusades is organized well, insightful, and written well. In this brief book, Strayer provides the appropriate theological, social, and political background, delivers a concise narrative of the Albigensian Crusades, describes the primary actors very well, and summarizes the remarkably significant consequences of what appears to be an obscure episode in Medieval history. The Albigensian Crusades were motivated primarily by the desire of the Papacy to extinguish heresy in what we now call the South of France. Drawing on the Crusading tradition, and greed, of the northern French nobility, the papacy set in train a process that destroyed the political independence of the indigenous nobility and did eliminate eventually the Cather heretics of the region. The unintended consequences were remarkable. The Albigensian Crusade became the conquest of the south by the Kings of France, whose real authority had been limited to the north. The result was the foundation for the modern boundaries of France and made the French monarchs the most powerful kings in Europe. The Albigensian Crusade and its aftermath largely destroyed the distinctive culture of the south. More urbanized than the north, tolerant of both Christian heretics and Jews, possessing distinctive legal codes and literary traditions, the south more resembled the nascent city-states of Italy than the feudal north. Strayer summarizes these differences nicely by giving the region a distinctive name, Occitania, and makes the astute comment that the region was a country without a state. To combat the heretics, the Papacy came to rely on a vigorous and ruthless Inquisition, with terrible future consequences. Papal reliance on Crusades to accomplish European political ends became a common feature of Papal policy over the next century, creating chaos in Italy and Germany, severely undermining the prestige of the Holy See, and contributing to the disorder and uncertainty that would generate the Reformation.
I read an earlier edition of this book without the afterword by Carol Lansing and can't comment on it.

An amazing book detailing the situation in 13th Century Languedoc / Southern France and the major players involved. It paints a great picture of the French monarchy in relation to southern France. This sets the table for most feared instrument in the history of the Roman Church - The Inquisition. A must for any one interested in Church history and the Crusades.