Headquarters of the Spanish Resistance

I arrived in Toulouse on Monday evening and took the T2 light rail to the Arène subway station and rode the underground to Jean Jaurès. From there, I walked toward the train station and found my flat, which is located in an ancient brewery replete with a wrought iron gate and creaky wood floors and solid double-pane windows to keep out the sound of chirping birds.

The building once housed several Spanish resistance groups during the Franco regime: the Movimiento Libertario Espanol and Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo. Unbeknownst to me, Toulouse was once the capital of the Spanish Republican Exile. The mayor of Toulouse writes that the city is the most Hispanic of France's great cities (Toulouse is the 4th largest city). Franco's victory in 1939 in the Spanish Civil War led to the "Retirada," where hundreds of thousands of Spaniards fled across the Pyrenees to France.

My reason for coming to Toulouse (later, to Albi) is to visit the locations of some of the bloodiest battles in the Albigensian Crusade (a.k.a. the Cathar Crusade), which began around 1209 and lasted 40 years. Historical dates are deceptive, though, because the Catholic Church was still burning suspected Cathars into the 1300s.

The word "Cathar" was a name invented to describe a belief of Byzantine origin that grew in southern France in response to the corruption and profligate lifestyles of the Catholic clergy. Many followers came from Albi, so another name for Cathars was "Albigensians." The Cathars are described as anti-materialist and purist, but many adherents came from wealthy Languedoc families. To me, the crusade was less about religion than about regional political and economic control, because Cathars didn't give money to the Church, and wealthy Languedoc families weren't necessarily loyal to the King of France.

Cathar priests could be male or female and were called "Perfects." They abstained from sex and ate vegetarian meals. Regular followers led normal lives and were called "credentes." When they died, credentes were given a blessing that ensured they would go to heaven rather than be reincarnated.

Raymond V of Toulouse was an initial target, but he joined the Crusade. This spared the city of Toulouse for a bit and sent the Crusaders further south to obliterate the city of Béziers, and later, Carcassonne (which I visited in 2017).

When the northern French Army had finished with Béziers, Arnaud Amalric wrote to Pope Innocent III, "Nearly 20,000 of the citizens were put to the sword, regardless of age and sex. The workings of divine vengeance have been wondrous." Yes, Carnage in the name of God (credit, the U.K. Independent's headline).

Today, Languedoc is a region of France, but back in 1209, people referred to the crusaders as the "French." People in Toulouse and Albi, Béziers and Carcassonne say "oui" for "yes" instead of "oc," and the reason is partly due to the Albigensian Crusade. "Oc" is how one says "yes" in the language of "oc," or "Langue d'Oc" (Languedoc), now commonly referred to as "Occitan."