ABSTRACT
Plantagenetchroniclers,almosttoaman,reportscathinglyuponthespreadof heresywithinLanguedocandthecountyofToulouse.RogerofHowden,Robertde Torigny,WalterMapandGervaseofCanterburyarejustsomeofthetwelfthcenturywritersworkingwithinthePlantagenetcourtcircletorefertoToulouseand itsheresies.9Theirreportssuggestamixtureoffearandcontempt,spurredon,no doubt,bythepublicityaffordedthehereticsofLanguedocbytheircondemnation intheLateranCouncilof1179,andreflectingamuchwidergroundswellofclerical polemicagainstheresy,bynomeansrestrictedtothePlantagenetlands.JOPlantagenet writers,however,showamorethanusuallysophisticatedknowledgeoftheCathar heresy,sufficient,forexample,toinformRogerofHowdenthattheheretics,whom heterms'Arians',repudiatedthesacramentsofbaptismandtheMass,andthatthey believedintwogods,thedualistprincipalsofgoodandevil. 11PeterofBlois,inthe 1190s,composedanentireTractatusdeFidetocountertheteachingsofpublicani, paterini,humiliates,cruciatiandothermodernhereticsagainstthesacramentsof baptismandtheMass.Itsclosingsectionisdevotedtoarefutationofwhatmay wellbeaCatharchallengetothedoctrineofthedivinityofChrist. 12Adecade earlier,WalterMapisperhapsthefirstWesternwritertorefertoanassociation betweentheCatharsandthesymbolofthecat,derivedfromthelargeblackcat whichMapclaimsdescendedonaropeattheCatharsabbath:anembodimentof Satan,worshippedbytheCatharswithobscenekissesandrituaJ.I3Nomatterthat suchstoriesarepuremyth,conjuredoutofMap'sfantasybywayoftheobscenities attributedtoearlierreligiousdissidents. 14ThefactthatthehereticsofToulouse wereknowntomanyPlantagenetwriters,longbefore1209,andthattheirbeliefs werepublicisedasathreattotheorthodoxyofthePlantagenetlandsinFrance, suggeststhattherhetoricagainstheresyservedasarallyingcrytothosewho alreadyhadavestedinterestinpursuingthePlantagenetwaragainstToulouse.In muchthesameway,andatpreciselythesametimethattheenemiesofthe PlantagenetsinWalesorIrelandwerebeingportrayedassubhumanbarbarians, ripeforconquest,sotheinhabitantsofLanguedocwerebeingdemonisedand dehumanisedbythechroniclersofthePlantagenetcourt. 15
Thisattitude,andtheevermorestridentcallsforoutsideinterventiontowhichit gaverise,wastobeexploitedtotheutmostbythekingsofEnglandandFrance, bothofwhom,forreasonsoftheirownlargelyunrelatedtoheresy,hadlongsought
toimposetheirauthorityuponToulouse.AccordingtoRogerofHowden,aspartof theirwiderdiscussionofcrusadingplansin1178,LouisandHenryagreedupona jointventuretoexterminatetheheretics.Althoughpreventedfromcarryingthis out,theybothlentsupporttoapreachingmissionledbyPetercardinal-priestofS. Crisogono,accompaniedbyseveralbishops,includingtheEnglishmanJohnaux Bellesmains,bishopofPoitiers,andBishopReginaldfitzJocelinofBath.l6Itisto ameeting,atFontevraud,thatprecededthismissionthatwecandateacharterof HenryIIwitnessedbyRaymondofToulouseandtheviscountofTurenne,jointly appointedasthemission'slayprotectors. 17Quiteindependently,Gervaseof CanterburyrecitesalettersentbythecountofToulousetotheCisterciangeneral chapterin1177,acknowledgingtheCistercians'roleinpersuadinghimtoseekthe aidoftheKingofFranceagainsthishereticalsubjects,andofferingtoassistthe KingwithallthepowersathisdisposalshouldLouiscomeinpersontoputthe hereticstothesword.ISNomatterthatthecounthimselfwasnotslowtoexploitthe rhetoricagainstheresy,asaweaponagainsthisown,localrivals,theTrenceval viscountsofAlbiandCarcassonne. 19Already,bythe1170s,thecalltoputdown heresywasbeingusedtojustifyarmedinterventioninToulousebyboththe PlantagenetandtheCapetiankings.Tothisextent,theterritorialambitionsofthe Plantagenets,andthecalltoextirpateheresymarchedhandinhand.
