ABSTRACT
The parallels between the two young counts of Toulouse and Comminges not only create a sort of unity between the two outermost parts of the Occitan territories but also run alongside one of the most fundamental aims of the author of the Song of the Albigensian Crusade: to show that the reasons alleged to justify the war, religious reasons in particular, are false pretexts. The Toulouse of the Song of the Albigensian Crusade is supported by two pillars, the marquisate of Provence where the counts of Saint-Gilles can count on the unreserved support of the town of Avignon, which the French will make pay dearly for its unwavering fidelity; and the Gascony of the Pyrenean lords closely linked by blood to the dynasty of the Raymonds. These two regions are also those where the torches of the resistance are successively lit in the persons of the two young counts of Toulouse and Comminges.
