The Cathars in Carcassone
Carcassone is one of the most beautiful and well kept medieval villages in all Europe. It dues its “pointed towers appearance” to Viollet le Duc, a French architect who restored it during the XIXth century following the patterns of the medieval villages of the north of France (in the south?!). Carcassone is a very important step of the Cathar route because it was one of the last focus of Cathar resistance from the crusaders. Ruled by the young count Raymond Roger de Trencavel, the village was assaulted by the crusaders at the beginning of the XIIIth century. Arnaud-Amaury, the pope’s delegate and spiritual director of the Crusade against the Cathars, offered Trencavel the safety of him and his citizens if he surrended. The situation inside the Cité was very bad, they were surrounded so he decided to accept. Obviously that was a trap and the crusaders entered and assaulted the Cité and sent Trencavel to a jail and tortured him until he died. After the death of Trencavel Carcassone was occupied by the terrible Simon de Montfort, who settled there the headquarters of the crusade against the Cathars. You still can see his tomb inside Saint Nazaire Cathedral.