History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 156, the Crusade against the Cathars, the Ecumenical Council.

Hello again.

Last week we saw Prince Louis, heir to the French Crown, join the Crusade.

Accepting suggestions from Simon de Monfor and not from the senior clerics with whom he met,

Prince Louis used his army to oversee the destruction of the defensive walls

around the formerly rebellious cities of Toulouse and Narbon.

This suited Simon's purposes beautifully, as it ensured that the cities would be unable

to defy him in the future and cemented his position as ruler of the two towns.

However, two of the most senior churchmen in southern France were not impressed.

Arnold Armory, the Archbishop of Narbonne, was incensed that his views were ignored

regarding what he believed to be his city.

For the first time, the paths of Simon de Monfor and Arnold Armory diverged, and Arnold Armory found himself sidelined completely as the heir to the French throne was persuaded

to follow the advice of the soldier of the church, Simon de Monfort, instead of the the the papal legate found himself doing what all previous legates in Long dock had done before

him, bending to the will of Simon de Monfort.

Now remember that Pope innocenceocence's aim since the Battle of Muray had been to preserve the status quo in southern France pending the meeting of the Ecumenical Council.

So when Pope Innocent heard about the destruction of the defences of two of the most important cities in the region, he was not happy. In fact, to say that he was not happy is an

understatement. He wrote Simon a letter. Now remember we had a lengthy extract from Simon's last

letter from Pope Innocent in last week's episode? Well this letter is a little

different.

Pope Innocent drops or the flowery flattering language and adopts a more direct tone.

This is the part of the letter which deals with the fact that Simon de Monfor had

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