count of Toulouse did the same. The duke of Burgundy consented to prolong the campaign a little, and assisted Simon de Montfort to take possession of Fanjeaux, Castres, and Lombes, as well as at the attack upon the castle of Gabaret, from which the crusaders were repulsed with loss; but three days after this affair he returned to his own country.3

Notwithstanding the departure of so many of the crusaders, there remained to Simon de Montfort soldiers enough to continue the war. Some came from his fiefs, or from those of his wife's family; for about the year 1190 he had allied himself to a powerful house at the gates of Paris, by his marriage to Alice, daughter of Bouchard, of Montmorency. Others attached themselves to a skilful general, who promised them frequent occasions of pillage, and perhaps permanent establishments in a conquered country. Many also were still influenced by that same fanaticism which had at first led them to the crusade. During the remainder of the campaign, Simon de Montfort directed their arms against the count of Foix, who, as well as the viscount of Carcassonne, was called Raymond Roger. This count must have been about fifty-five years of age; he had reigned ever since 1188, and had accompanied Philip Augustus to the third crusade. He possessed the greater part of Albigeois, which was regarded as the

3 Petri Hist. Albigens. cap. xx, xxv, p. 574, et seq.

seat of the new doctrines; and he was himself accused of having secretly adopted them. In the first terror spread by the massacre at Beziers, the count of Foix dared not any longer continue the campaign; he retired into the most inaccessible part of his states, whilst the catholic clergy of his principal cities rallied round Simon de Montfort. This last was received without a combat into Pamiers and Albi. The castle of Mirepoix was also delivered to him, and Montfort bestowed it on Guy de Levis, his marshal, in whose posterity this fief has remained, with the title of count. The count of Foix, still troubled by a storm, which nevertheless began to abate from those countries, demanded to treat. Simon de Montfort, who perceived his real force diminish each day, and who never suffered his fanaticism to blind him as to his policy, accepted his propositions; and during some weeks towards the end of the year 1209 the war appeared suspended on that frontier.4

In the mean time, Simon de Montfort detained in prison the legitimate sovereign of the states, of which he had taken possession. He could perceive, even amongst his companions in arms, that pity towards this prince had already succeeded to fury. His neighbours loved him; his people regretted him; his relation and lord, the king of Aragon, might be disposed to resume his protec

4 Petrus Vallis Cern. Hist. Albigens. cap. xxv, p. 576.

tion. Simon de Montfort gave the necessary orders that Raymond Roger should die of a dysen-tery on the 10th of November, in a tower of the viscountal palace at Carcassonne, where he was carefully guarded. He then took care to display his body to his subjects, and to give him an honourable funeral. Yet, by the public voice he was accused of having poisoned him, and even Innocent III acknowledged that he perished by a violent death.5

5 Et morit, coma dit ès, prisonier, donc fouc bruyt per tota la terra, que lo dit conte de Montfort l'avia fait morir.-Historia de los faicts de Tolosa, p. 20.—Guillelmus de Podio Laurentii, cap. xiv, p. 675.—Innocentii III, Epist. Lib. xv, Ep. 212.--Hist. de Languedoc, liv. xxi, ch. lxxv, p. 183.

E

CHAP. II.

Continuation of the Crusade against the Albigenses, to the Battle of Muret, 1210-1213.

THOSE Who had marched to the First Crusade against the Albigenses, or who had made the campaign of 1209, regarded their object as completely attained, and the war as terminated. Indeed, desolation had been carried into the bosom of the country where the reformation had commenced. Two large cities had been destroyed, and thousands of victims had perished by the sword, whilst thousands of others, driven from their burning houses, were wandering in the woods and mountains, and sinking each day under the pressure of want. Amongst the princes who had wished to maintain in their dominions a certain liberty of conscience, one had perished in prison, and had been replaced by the most pitiless of persecutors. Two others had submitted, and, to make their peace, refused not their tribute to the fires of the inquisition, so that, every day, the church celebrated the sacrifice of numerous human victims.

The ruin of so fair a country, the contrast between its former opulence and its present desola

tion, the remembrance of its fêtes, of its tournaments, of the courts of love assembled in every castle, of the troubadours, the singers, the minstrels, visiting by turns the lords and noble ladies, welcomed at their arrival, loaded with presents, at their departure, and the sight of the fires for executions, of deserted villages, of burning houses, would soon have caused the fury of war to have been succeeded by a deep-felt pity, if any other cause than religious fanaticism had armed the hands of the crusaders.

Those who had committed so many crimes were not, for the greater part, bad men. They came from that part of Burgundy and northern France, where crimes have always been rare, where long contentions, hatred, and vengeance, are passions almost unknown-and where the unhappy are always sure to find compassion and aid. The crusaders themselves were always ready to afford each other proofs of generosity, of support, and......... compassion; but the heretics were, in their eyes, outcasts from the human race. Accustomed to confide their consciences to their priests, to hear the orders of Rome as a voice from heaven, never to submit that which appertained to the faith to the judgment of reason, they congratulated themselves on the horror they felt for the sectaries. The more zealous they were for the glory of God, the more ardently they laboured for the destruction of heretics, the better Christians they thought them