ABSTRACT
The situation in laisses 193–94, where the Toulousains have just repulsed the French, is harder to call. Simon has no sooner removed his armour than the bishop and the cardinal come to speak with him. This looks very much like a somewhat improvised council, especially because the intervention of one of his barons, Hugh de Lacy, shows this is not a private conversation between Montfort and the churchmen. This chapter distinguishes between, on the one hand, the councils of the siege of Beaucaire and the second siege of Toulouse preceding the final defeat of Montfort, these entirely dealing with defeats, and on the other, the first siege of Toulouse, where the highly compromised situation was saved through the skill of bishop Fulk. Montfort certainly knows how to win and he has shown some remarkable military qualities; very probably, he also knows how to exploit his victories.
