The Occitan War: A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1218

by Laurence W. Marvin

Overview

In 1209 Simon of Montfort led a war against the Cathars of Languedoc after Pope Innocent III preached a crusade condemning them as heretics. The suppression of heresy became a pretext for a vicious war that remains largely unstudied as a military conflict. Laurence Marvin here examines the Albigensian Crusade as military and political history rather than religious history and traces these dimensions of the conflict through to Montfort's death in 1218. He shows how Montfort experienced military success in spite of a hostile populace, impossible military targets, armies that dissolved every forty days, and a pope who often failed to support the crusade morally or financially. He also discusses the supposed brutality of the war, why the inhabitants were for so long unsuccessful at defending themselves against it, and its impact on Occitania. This original account will appeal to scholars of medieval France, the Crusades and medieval military history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521123655
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/19/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Laurence W. Marvin is Associate Professor of history at the Evans School of Humanities, Berry College, Georgia.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The campaign of 1209; 3. Simon of Montfort and the campaign of 1210; 4. The campaigns of 1211; 5. Drawing the noose: the campaign year of 1212; 6. The athlete of Christ triumphs: late 1212 through Muret 1213; 7. From Muret to Casseneuil: September 1213 to December 1214; 8. The two councils and Prince Louis's crusade, January–December; 9. The southern counterattack begins: February 1216 to Fall 1217; 10. The second siege of Toulouse and end of the chief crusader: 1217 to 1218; Aftermath and epilogue.

Editorial Reviews

"Recommended."
Choice

"Marvin's book is a most welcome addition to crusade scholarship."
Rebecca Rist, Journal of Military History

"It is a useful, highly readable and informative study that will no doubt find an important place on the bookshelves of scholars of the Albigensian crusade and provoke further debate about the use of sources in the study of the conflict."
Chris Jones, The Medieval Review

"This highly accessible work is a benchmark for the writing of military and political history on the regional level...The great achievement of this text is to interweave military history into the broader patterns of medieval society in which wars were fought...all future discussions of the Albigensian crusade will have to begin with this study."
David Bachrach, H-France

"...a worthy contribution to scholarship."
Mark Gregory Pegg, Speculum

"...an essential addition to the growing field of scholarship on medieval Occitania and military history during this period."
Natasha Hodgson, Canadian Journal of History

"[Marvin's] description of the battle of Muret in 1213 is exemplary in its precision. His estimation, description, and praise of the martial skill of Simon de Monfort are reliable and learned … Marvin's clarity of purpose and candid perspective make The Occitan War a worthy contribution to scholarship."
The Journal Of Ecclesiastical History

From the Publisher