Kill Them All: Cathars and Carnage in the Albigensian Crusade

Marked by massacres and acts of appalling cruelty, the Albigensian Crusade of 1209–29 is infamous for its brutality. Instigated by the Catholic Church against the Cathar heretics of southern France, these deeds are commonly ascribed to the role of religious fanaticism. Led by Simon de Montfort until he was killed in action at the siege of Toulouse, the ritual burnings and death toll of over 200,000 meant that the Albigensian Crusade was one of the inspirations for the term ‘genocide’.Kill T...