“Nobody — not Catholics, their priests or Cathars — was spared.”
Of course that isn’t true. As the Jewish Encyclopedia notes: “On July 22, 1209, Béziers was stormed and the inhabitants massacred. Two hundred Jews lost their lives in this massacre, and a large number were driven into captivity.”
If Jews weer driven into captivity, then they were spared massacre. If Jews, who had no connection whatsoever to the combatants, were spared, then others must have been as well.
As I already noted. The town never stopped functioning. Thus, there was a population that was spared plus new inhabitants.
First, remember: the normal population of Beziers at that time was circa 5,000 so we have to imagine that 15,000 people escaped from the countryside to the Beziers fortress for protection.
And remember: the official report from the Pope's appointed combatant commander, Abbot of Citeaux, Arnaud Amalric says:
So, FRiend, now you have to ask yourself: if a few escaped, then why would the good Abbot lie and exaggerate the numbers murdered to his Pope notso Innocent III?
vladimir998: "As I already noted. The town never stopped functioning.
Thus, there was a population that was spared plus new inhabitants."
Remember, the 20,000 reported to the Pope as exterminated by Abbot Arnaud Amalric were a mere drop in a sea of blood from the estimated one million total killed in that Albigensian Crusade.
Whether those populations recovered quickly, or over many years is irrelevant to the fact that colossal crimes were committed by officials of, and in the name of, the Church of Jesus Christ in Rome.