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mechaerik said:

Catharism


Only Moderately Catharwank Althist:

Spoiler :

1203: Diego of Osma, on a mission to the Cathars of the Languedoc, concludes that "only preachers who displayed real sanctity, humility and asceticism could win over convinced Cathar believers".

1204: Several legates are sent to Toulouse to stop the Cathar heresy. Several bishops dislike the broad powers and authority the legates have. These bishops are officially reprimanded, but no real action is taken against them.

1206: Diego of Osma begins trying to reconvert the Cathars to Catholicism. Public debates are held.

1208: Papal legate Pierre de Caselnau meets Raymond VI of Toulouse. A heated debate between the two results in the latter's excommunication for abetting heresy. Shortly after his return to Rome, the legate is murdered. The Pope orders the legates to begin preaching of crusade against the Cathars, and asks for the aid of the King of France. Neither the King nor his son join the crusade, although a handful of lesser nobility from the north leave with the French king's blessing. The southern nobility, and to a lesser extent, the French king, are angered with the Pope's decision to allow Crusaders to confiscate Cathar and suspected Cathar land. Raymond VI's excommunication is lifted after he humbles himself before the Pope.

1209: The papal legate Arnaud-Amaury assumes command of the Crusaders and begins to besiege Béziers. Despite given the freedom to leave unharmed, the Catholics of Béziers opt to stay and fight alongside the Cathars. Simon de Montfort resorts to psychological warfare and brutalizes prisoners and suspected Cathars. This hardens Cathar resolve, and his brutality brings him under the scrutiny of the local bishops. Other lands of the House of Trencavel are besieged. The King of Aragon, liege of the Counts of Trencavel, protests on behalf of his vassal. The King of France, who was already uninterested in the Albigensian crusade and busy with other matters, recalls some of his men, including Simon de Montfort, but refuses to actually stop fighting the Cathars. Several routiers are killed in a small skirmish against the defenders of Béziers. The Crusaders face strong resistance from the local population, and several settlements are destroyed. Other towns were pacified, but would revolt again.

1210: Béziers and several other towns, including Bram and the Cathar stronghold of Minerves, fall to the Crusaders. Many Cathars are burnt at the stake.

1211: Raymond VI is excommunicated again, and several local nobles have become angry at the Crusaders. He attempts to organize resistance against the Crusaders and finds a certain degree of success against the disorganized Crusaders. His force manage to liberate many towns and cities. Emboldened by the reversal, and feeling compelled to aid his vassal, Peter II of Aragon moves to aid Raymond VI.

1212: The Crusaders attempt to retake territory they lost in 1211, but are mostly rebuffed, as they lack both numbers and effective leadership. Muret falls to the Aragonese-Toulouse forces. The Pope, seeing that the Crusaders may be on the verge of defeat, issues another call to arms. The King of France is unwilling to intervene, as his interests are elsewhere. The Pope threatens Philip II with excommunication. The king responds by severing ties with Rome, designating one of his bishops Pope. Many of the more pious nobles are outraged, and several of the more opportunistic rise in revolt. The Crusaders, now almost wholly without support, fold.

1213: Other, less pious, more loyal, but equally opportunistic nobles join the King and recognize the Antipope, eager to expand into the lands of their rivals.

1214: With France in major turmoil, French armies begin to lose major ground against the English. Diego of Osma establishes a small religious community in Toulouse.

1215: The French king is found dead. The throne passes to his son, Louis VIII. Several others claim the throne. France is shattered, and the schism is put down, although it has proved costly to church authority, especially in Toulouse and adjacent areas, where Catharism begins to spread farther, and many people convert.

1216: The Order of Preachers is established in Toulouse. Officially intended to convert the Cathars, its founder, Diego of Osma has become disillusioned with Rome after seeing the harshness of both the Crusaders and the anti-schismatics. Several members are professed Cathars themselves, and the Order tends to convert more people to Catharism than away.

1221: Dominic of Osma dies. The new head of the Order of Preachers is an avowed Cathar, and the order completely abandons the pretense of converting people to Catholicism.

1222: Raymond VI dies and is succeeded by his son Raymond VII.

1225: The Pope, threatened by the rapid spread of Catharism across Aragon and the south of France, calls for the Council of Bourges. The church decides to issue another call for crusade. However, in the wake of the Philipian Schism and the shattering of France, the church's authority is greatly diminished in that region. Nonetheless, several nobles answer the call, including Simon de Montfort.

1226: Simon de Montfort becomes the leader of the forces of the Second Albigensian Crusade. An excellent commander, he leads his men to several victories, emboldening the Crusaders and drawing some more support. He once again resorts to cruel and harsh methods in order to demoralize the Cathars, but again, this only hardens their resolve.

1227: Simon de Montfort is killed after trying to break a siege. Upon his death, his forces break and panic, causing terrible casualties in the crusader's ranks. The casualties sustained are enough to bring their war effort to a halt, and allows the Cathars to retake much of the land lost.

1228: Raymond VII manages to drive the Crusaders out of Toulouse entirely. The Second Albigensian Crusade fails.

After the Second Albigensian Crusade fails, Catharism becomes more militant in response to external threats, and the Counts of Toulouse, who obtain enough prestige and territory to elevate themselves to Dukes after the Crusades, take the title "Defender of the Cathar Faith", and eventually begin to centralize religious authority, forming a Patriarchal structure around the Duke.

The religious authority vested in the Duke of Toulouse comes from the decades of war and conflict the Cathars faced following the establishment of their faith.

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