Western schoolchildren have been taught that the crusades were about, “God, Gold and Glory." How much of that is true? Was it the concept of Christendom united against the infidel or heretic that caused men to take up the cause of the cross, to seek a spiritual albeit violent path to salvation? Or was it the lure of plunder and the opportunity to gain material wealth and land, combined perhaps with the opportunity for faster advancement on the battlefield where reputations were made and favors earned. (1)
Whatever the cause, it is certain that of all the crusades, the most inhumane of these holocausts was the one initiated in the year 1209 by Pope Innocent III against the country and people of the Languedoc region of what is now southern France. Called the Albigensian crusade, in its forty years of aggression not only did it murder a percentage of the population that if translated into today’s population density figures would equate to the staggering figure of twelve million people, but it also destroyed the only civilized and truly Christian culture of the European Dark Ages. (2)
The land known as Occitania comprised the southern and more hospitable part of France, and the language spoken there and in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia was Occitane (very similar to present-day Catalan), the first and major derivative language of Vulgar Latin, containing elements of Celtic, Greek, and Arabic. The cultured and cosmopolitan nature of this society and its people was reflected in every aspect of daily life; their tastes in their furnishings -- in the courts of Languedoc, the jewelry boxes of the women who could afford them were engraved in Arabic (3) -- and in their love of literature; for the gifted troubadours of Occitania developed poetry so magnificent that Dante used its form and structure for his Divine Comedy.
People lived in an atmosphere of religious tolerance and were free to express their opinions on matters spiritual and religious. Class antagonism was minimal, and the lines between landlords and tenants was far more one of equality than the serfdom found in the north. Fierce independence and self-reliance was key for the lords in their castles. Anyone whose heart, word, and deed could be trusted, and who could find himself a sword, could become a knight and freely enter the castles of the nobles to participate in the cultural life of that society, as did many of the troubadours. In the pulsing and vibrant cities, the burghers had their autonomy, freedom, and independent government through councils of their own choosing. Trade and commerce in the ports had flourished for centuries.
The only blight on the landscape of this extraordinary culture was the Roman church. As a general rule its clergy were rampantly corrupt, ignorant, depraved, and greedy. In contrast to the priests, in the rich, civilized and tolerant Languedoc the holy men and women of the region known as Bons Chretiens (Good Christians) worked hard in the fields, at the loom, healing, and teaching their version of the word of God to any who would listen. Those who decided to consecrate themselves to this way of life -- the Parfait or Parfaite in the case of women—did not eat meat or fowl (rien qui ne marche ni vole), fight, steal, or lie; and nothing was asked in return for their services. They criticized the power of the Church and the corruption of its priests for they believed that the kingdom of God was within everyone’s reach, that priests and churches were unnecessary, and that the cross of crucifixion was an instrument of suffering and should not be worshipped. They also refused to take any oaths, believed in reincarnation, the equality of women, and free instruction and the teaching of the bible in their native language Occitan, which could be readily understood by the common people. Small wonder that through their example these Bons Chretiens were held in such high regard by the local population, and the number of their adherents grew.
The first crusade had originated because of a plea by the Emperor Alexius Comnenus to the pope asking for help against the Seljuk Turks who were menacing the Eastern Roman Empire. At the Council of Clermont in November 1095, Pope Urban II exaggerated Alexius’ message to say that Christians were being attacked, churches defiled, and pilgrims harassed. At the Council were thousands of nobles and knights, many of whom were not first-born sons and so had little or no prospects of material gain in their homelands. They spent much of their time squabbling and making war upon each other. The pope realized that this crowd of men could be put to his own profitable use.
In an inflammatory and well-staged speech, Urban incited the crowd “…Let them turn their weapons dripping with the blood of their brothers against the enemy of the Christian Faith. Let them--oppressors of orphans and widows, murderers and violators of churches, robbers of the property of others, vultures drawn by the scent of battle--let them hasten, if they love their souls, under their captain Christ to the rescue of Sion” (4). His battle cry was “Deus lo volt”(God wills it), which became the slogan of the crusaders – so called because of the red cross sewn on to their tunics. As a further incentive, they were promised the same indulgences as pilgrims, including the remission of sins and safeguarding of property at home, which soon blurred the social distinction between peaceful pilgrimage and savage slaughter (5). Also, they were allowed all the plunder and land they could steal.
When the first crusaders finally entered Jerusalem in July 1099 after a protracted siege, they sacked the city and massacred every Muslim, Jew, and Christian inhabitant with bloodthirsty abandon during the space of one afternoon so that, according to Raymond of Aguilers who proudly chronicled the crusade, “ some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows…others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses…at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are ordinarily chanted…men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins…. The city was filled with corpses and blood”(6).
Such indiscriminate slaughter was typical behavior for every crusade. There was never any lasting victory and the only party ever to profit was the Church, which increased its power and influence. It was the crusade that started the misunderstandings and intolerance between Muslim and Christian, which still continues to this day and by exacerbating the pogroms against the Jews, legitimized them in the eyes of the persecutors.