History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 129, the Crusade, the Crusade against the Cathars, the surrender of Cabaret and the Siege of Luevais.

Hello again.

Last week we saw Count Raimond the 6th of Toulouse part ways with the church once again.

Presented with an astonishingly harsh list of demands by the papal legates and

spooked by a terrible omen involving a particular species of bird flying to the left, Count Raymond did not even bother

responding to the demands. As a result he was once again excommunicated from the church, and his entire domain was placed under interdict.

Now you may recall that last time this happened, Count Raimond travelled to Rome, met with Pope

innocent, and managed to get the decision reversed.

Unfortunately for a M Raymond, this time around, Pope Innocent will confirm Raymond's excommunication

without further consultation. Why did Pope Innocent do this?

Well, because at this point in his papacy, Pope Innocent was a very busy man.

In fact, to say he was busy is an understatement.

Emperor Otto, who had been at one time an ally of the Church of Rome, had invaded Papal Territory in Italy. King John

was causing problems in England and things weren't looking much better in

Portugal. On top of this two other major

crusades were underway and they weren't exactly going swimmingly either. In the Holy Land Pope Pope Innocent was wrestling with Beaumont of Antioch who had installed a Greek

Orthodox Patriarch in his principality in defiance of Pope Innocent's wishes.

And Pope Innocent's diplomatic overtures to the Armenians had backfired spectacularly, turning even more of the residents of Antioch against Rome.

Our Adil's forces were invading the county of Tripoli, and really things weren't looking so good. In Spain

the scene of the second major crusade a new North African invasion was about to

take place threatening the recent conquests of the

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