Later Crusades β Northern β Against Christians β The Albigensian Crusade French: Croisade des albigeois , also known as the Cathar Crusade β , was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate supposed heresy nowdays grouped under the name Catharism in Languedoc , what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect.
It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished. The Albigensian so-called Cathars may have originated from an anti-materialist reform movement advocating a return to the Christian message of perfection, poverty and preaching.
The reforms may have been in some part a reaction against the often perceived scandalous and dissolute lifestyles of some Catholic clergy. The theology attributed to them was basically dualist combined with a rejection of the physical as evil. Several of their practices, especially their belief in the inherent evil of the physical world, conflicted with the doctrines of the Incarnation of Christ and Catholic sacraments.
This led to accusations of Gnosticism and attracted the ire of the Catholic establishment. They became known as the Albigensians because many adherents were from the city of Albi and the surrounding area in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Between and , the Albigensians were condemned by eight local church councils, the last of which, held at Tours , declared that all Albigensians should be put into prison and have their property confiscated. The Third Lateran Council of repeated the condemnation. Innocent III's diplomatic attempts to roll back Catharism were met with little success.
