Who's Who In The Cathar War:   Simon IV de Montfort (1160 - 25th June, 1218)

 Simon de Montfort succeeded his father as Baron de Montfort in 1181. In 1190 he married Alix de Montmorency, the daughter of Bouchard III de Montmorency.

In 1191 Simon's brother, Guy, left on the Third Crusade in the retinue of King Philip II of France. In 1199, while taking part in a tournament at Ecry-sur-Aisne, Simon heard Fulk of Neuilly preaching the Fourth Crusade. Along with Count Thibaud (Theobald) de Champagne, he took the cross as did his brother Guy. The crusade was diverted by a Cardinal to the Christian city of Zara on the Adriatic Sea. The city was sacked and plundered in 1202. Simon did not participate in the sacking, and soon he left the Crusade, continuing to the Holy Land. (His fellow Crusaders went on to sack the city of Constantinople).

At the time of the Cathar Crusade, Simon had already built a reputation.  He was a rare commodity within the Catholic fold.  He was not only a fearsome warrior, but also a good tactician and strategist.  Further, he had distinguished himself in the Fourth Crusade by refusing to attack his fellow Christians in Byzantium.  

In 1209 he found himself among the army assembled under the Abbot of Cîteaux to attack the Cathars of the Languedoc.  After the initial victories at Béziers and Carcassonne the nobles looked for one of their number to take over the leadership.  None of them was prepared to take on what appeared to be an impossible task, especially as it involved a feudal dispossession that many considered not only illegal but also a dangerous precendent.  As Simon had distinguished himself once again in battle he was offered the leadership and effectively ordered to accept it.  Simon had no choice. He accepted and over the following nine years confirmed his reputation for tactical brilliance.

The Church awarded Simon territory conquered from Raymond VI of Toulouse. Simon became known and feared for his cruelty and for his "treachery, harshness, and bad faith." In fairness he was often acting in obedience to Church orders, as in 1210 when he burned 140 Cathars alive in the village of Minerve. He was a man of extreme Catholic orthodoxy, committed to the Dominican order and to the suppression of what he believed to be heresy.

He led the Crusader army at Termes 1210, Lavaur 1211, Toulouse 1211, and Castel 1211. In 1213 his Crusader army defeated Peter II King of Aragon at the Battle of Muret. The southern armies were now crushed, but Simon carried on the campaign as a war of conquest, being appointed lord over all the newly acquired territory with Raymond VI's titles as Count of Toulouse and Duke of Narbonne (1215).

Photograph of Simon's tombstone at Carcassonne,
with the contrast increased

On his surcoat (technically his "coat of arms")
you can see two separate heraldic devices

Ac dins una peireira, que fe us carpenters
Qu'es de Sent Cerni traita la peireira e•l solers
E tiravan la donas e tozas e molhers
E venc tot dreit la peira lai on era mestiers
E feric si lo comte sobre l'elm qu'es d'acers,
Que•ls olhs e las cervelas e•Ls caichals estremiers
E•l front e Las maichelas li partic a cartiers;
E•l coms cazec en terra mortz e sagnens e niers.

There was in the town a mangonel built by our carpenters
And dragged with its platform from St Sernin.
It was operated by noblewomen, by little girls and men's wives,
And now a stone hit just where it was needed
Striking Count Simon on his steel helmet
Shattering his eyes, brains, and back teeth,
And splintering his forehead and jaw.
Bleeding and black, the Count dropped dead on the ground.

E ditz e l'epictafi, cel qui•l sab ben legir,
Qu'el es sans ez Es martirs e que deu resperir
E dins e•l gaug mirable heretar a florir
E portar la corona e e•l regne sezir.
Ez ieu ai auzit dire c'aisi's deu avenir
Si, per homes aucirre ni per sanc espanir
Ni per esperitz perdre ni per mortz cosentir
E per mals cosselhs creire e per focs abrandir
E per baros destruire e per Paratge aunir
E per Las terras toldre e per Orgilh suffrir
E per los mals escenre e pels bes escantir
E per donas aucirre e per efans delire,
Pot hom en aquest segle Jhesu Crist comquerir,
El deu porta corona e e•l cel resplandi

In the nineteenth century the Capitouls of Toulouse commissioned a series of historical murals. One of them (see right) shows a lion representing Simon de Montfort pierced through the body by a pole surmounted by the cross of Toulouse.

The symbolism is drawn from the arms of the Montfort and Toulouse. The banner reads "Montfort is dead. Long live Toulouse (Montfort est mort. Viva Tolosa). It is a striking image and suggests a strong identification with Count Raymond against Simon.

Today, the spot where Simon de Montfort met his end is marked by a plaque set into a wall of pink Toulouse brick (see left). It reads: "Old Montoulieu Gardens - During the siege of Toulouse in the course of the Albigensian Crusade Simon de Montfort was killed here in 1218". The last two lines are a quotation from the Song of the Cathar Wars, laisse 205, cited above: both read "now a stone hit just where it was needed" first in French then in the original Occitan.