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

Marvin, Laurence W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521123658 ISBN 13: 9780521123655

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book Description:

Laurence Marvin offers one of the first studies of the Albigensian Crusade as military and political history rather than religious history and traces these dimensions of the conflict from 1209 to 1218. He presents a history of the struggle, the personalities involved and the impact of the crusade on Occitania.

About the Author:

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521123658
• ISBN 13: 9780521123655
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 356