Count of Toulouse (1194-1222) at the time of the Albigen-sian Crusade (1209-1229).
Raymond ruled over the county of Toulouse itself (coterminous with the diocese of Toulouse), the Rouergue, Quercy, the Agenais, and the marquisate of Provence, as well as being acknowledged as overlord in Valence, Nimes, the Vivarais, Anduze, Rodez, Lomagne, and Gourdon.
Raymond did nothing to counter the spread of the Catharism that had become widespread in his lands, and he tolerated the heretics. As a result he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III, and when one of Raymond’s servants assassinated the legate Peter of Castelnau (15 January 1208), the pope launched the crusade. Raymond initially made peace with the crusaders but later saw his lands invaded. As a war leader he was ineffectual, and most of his lands fell to the crusaders, and his defeat by Simon of Montfort at the disastrous battle of Muret (12 September 1213) caused him to flee to England, and Toulouse itself was occupied by crusaders.
At the Fourth Lateran Council (November 1215) the political settlement made by Innocent III stripped Raymond of his lands, but he was invited back to Toulouse (September 1217) by the citizens and was present during the siege by Simon of Montfort. By the time of his death in 1222 he had passed responsibility for government to his son Raymond VII. He died excommunicate and was never buried.
-Michael D. Costen
Bibliography
Costen, Michael D., The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1997).
Roquebert, Michel, L’Epopee Cathare, vol. 1:1198-1212: L’invasion (Toulouse: Privat, 1970).
World History
