Albigensian Crusade by restoring the Toulousan count (Raymond VII, by this time) to at
least part of his lands and by establishing a Capetian foothold in the south. Catharism
itself, however, survived well into the 14th century, especially in remoter towns and
villages.
The Albigensian Crusade showed the impotence of crusading as a solution for deeply
rooted heresy and pointed the way to the need for a different sort of response—the
Inquisition. The ways in which political and dynastic concerns affected crusader efforts,
usually for the worse, were also amply illustrated; and the crusade’s most lasting
consequence was the effective halting of Catalan claims of overlordship north of the
Pyrénées and the establishment of Capetian power throughout Languedoc, the Midi, and
eventually Provence.
Clifford R.Backman
[See also: AGENAIS; ALBI; BÉZIERS; CATHARS; DOMINICAN ORDER;
HERESY; INQUISITION; LOUIS VIII; MONTFORT; MURET; TRENCAVEL]
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. Montaillou: Catholics and Cathars in a French Village, 1294–1324,
trans. Barbara Bray. London: Scolar, 1978.
Mundy, John H. The Repression of Catharism at Toulouse: The Royal Diploma of 1279. Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1985.
Roquebert, Michel. L’épopée cathare: 1198–1212. 3 vols. Toulouse: Privat, 1970–86.
Strayer, Joseph Rees. The Albigensian Crusade. New York: Dial, 1971.
Wakefield, Walter L. Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100–1250. London:
Allen and Unwin, 1974.
ALBRET
. The lords of Albret (“Lebret,” “La Bret”), vassals of the dukes of Aquitaine, belonged to
one of the most important families in Gascony. Their original seat was Labrit (Landes),
but eventually they considered Casteljaloux (Lotet-Garonne) their chief residence. They
bore an unusual coat of arms, de gueules plain, devoid of heraldic devices, and five of
them were named Bernard-Aiz (a spelling now considered preferable to the more
common Bernard-Ezi, which derived from the Latin genitive).
Amanieu V (d. 1240) was a first cousin of Isabelle d’Angoulême, queen of England.
Amanieu VII (d. 1326), Edward I’s occasional ambassador to the pope, became rector of
the northern papal states for Clement V and served France in the Anglo-French war of
Saint-Sardos (1323–25). His son Bernard-Aiz V (d. 1359), son-in-law of the count of
Armagnac, switched sides several times during the preliminaries of the Hundred Years’
War. He fought for Edward III at Poitiers and was rewarded with a pension of 1,000
pounds.
Bernard-Aiz V’s son Arnaud-Amanieu (d. 1401) paid homage to the Black Prince in
1363 and fought as his vassal in Castile (Nájera, 1367). The inability of the Black Prince
to continue his pension made him receptive to the overtures of Charles V of France. In
1368, Arnaud-Amanieu married Charles V’s sister-in-law Marguerite de Bourbon and
was promised a substantial pension. He later became Grand Chambellan de France.
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