History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 128, the Crusade, the Crusade against the Cathars, the flight of St Martin's

Bird.

Hello again.

Last week we saw Simon de Monfor score a hard-won victory when he captured the

Rebel stronghold of Tam after a lengthy siege. The siege ended at the end of November in the year

1210. As Simon and his band of Crusaders descended from the mountains and made their way back to

Carasson, village after village surrendered before them. The fall of Tam came both as a shocking blow to the Cathars and their supporters

and as a major victory for Simon. The fortunes of war now favored Simon and he was

keen to build on the momentum that his victory at Tam had brought him. He remained in Carcasson only long enough to see his wife Alice safely ensconced in the citadel and to see his prisoner, crusty old Raymond of Tam, safely imprisoned in its

dungeons. He then left carcass on and headed north. Now by this time it was December. The weather

however was unseasonably mild. In fact some days at the commencement of winter were so warm that they were

downright summary.

Simon took full advantage of this to press forward, receiving surrender after surrender from his now

subdued subjects. His two most satisfying victories during this period came when he marched into the region around

the city of Albie.

Two strongholds to the south of Albie, Kastra and Lombard had rebelled against him during the previous year.

Showing just how much the fall of Tam had altered the will of the rebels, Kastra submitted to Simon with only a murmur of protest,

and the men of Lombre fled at Simon's approach, abandoning their castle and leaving it full of supplies.

Simon garrisoned it with his own men and moved on.

In hardly any time at all, Simon had recovered all rebel territory in the region of

Albie, south of the River Tan. Really, his defeat of the stronghold at Tam was a game-changer for Simon.

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