Names?
“Names?”
Oh, say Innocent III, in 1209, who sicked the Crusaders (they were out of work) on the inhabitants of Southern France around Languedoc and Beziers, because they were Christians who didn’t submit to the Pope. He called them Albigenses and heretics.
Thing is, they had a much higher civilization than the rest of Medieval Europe. They were clean-living, productive and loyal to their Count (Raymond VI) of Toulouse. They were his best citizens. They were what we call today “fundamentalist”or “evangelical”. They believed in justification by faith and they didn’t believe in transubstantiation. In other words, The Word of God.
The Pope told the Count to either convert these people or get rid of them. Quite understandably, Raymond couldn’t bring himself to do either, so 50,000 to 500,000, depending on your source, Crusaders descended on the towns of Provence, slaughtering men, women and children for the promise of (1) Heaven without purgatory and (2) splitting with The Church the loot they took.
The most beautiful part of thirteenth Century Europe was a smoking ruin.
Want more?
Rodrigo Borgia