Home > Raymond-Roger de Trencavel
Raymond-Roger de Trencavel ( 1185 - November 10, 1209) was a member of the noble Trencavel family. He was viscount of Béziers and Albi (and thus a vassal of the count of Toulouse), and viscount of Carcassonne and the Razès (and thus a vassal of the count of Barcelona, which was also ruling Aragon at this time). 1 Family
Raymond Roger was the son of Roger II Trencavel (d. 1194), and the nephew of Raymond VI of Toulouse. He was married to Agnes of Montpellier.
2 Beginning of reign
Raymond-Roger lived in the ChâteauA chateau ( French for castle; plural chateaux is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of gentry, usually French, with or without fortifications. The next step down in France is a maison de campagne a "country house" with Comtal in the fortified hill town of Carcassonne. The château was built by his ancestors in the 11th century10th century 11th century 12th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. Events 1000 (cca), Vikings, led by Leif Eirikson, establish small settlements at and aro. Raymond-Roger was not a CatharCarcassone in 1209. Catharism was a Gnostic movement that originated around the middle of the 10th century, branded by the contemporary Roman Catholic Church as heretical. It existed throughout much of Western Europe, but its home was in Languedoc, in sou, although many of his subjects were. He adopted a laissez-faire attitude to Catharism – and to other cultures and religions. He relied strongly on Jews to run Béziers, his second seat of power.
3 Albigensian Crusade
By mid 1209, at the beginning of the Albigensian CrusadeThe Albigensian Crusade ( 1209- 1229) was a 20-year military effort initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to crush the heretical sect of the Cathars in southern France. It is significant for the ruthless and bloody events, even by medieval standards; the, around 10,000 crusaders had gathered in LyonThis article is about the French city. For other usages (as Lyons , see Lyons (disambiguation). Lyon Region Rhone-Alpes Departement Rhone Arrondissement Lyon Cantonschief town of 14 cantons Population (1999)453,187 Population of the metropolitan area aire and began to march south. In June, Raymond of Toulouse, recognizing the potential disaster at hand, promised to act against the Cathars, and his excommunication was lifted. The crusaders headed towards MontpellierMontpellier ( Occitan Montpelhier is a city in the south of France. It is the prefecture (administrative capital) of the Herault departement''. Its population in 1999 was 225,392, while the surrounding metropolitan area (in French: aire urbaine had a popu and the lands of Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, aiming for the Cathar communities around Albi and Carcassonne. Like Raymond of Toulouse, Raymond-Roger de Trencavel sought an accommodation with the crusaders, but Raymond-Roger was refused a meeting and raced back to Carcassonne to prepare his defences. The city of Béziers was sacked in July and its population massacred.
The town of Carcassonne was well fortified, but vulnerable and over-populated with refugees. The crusaders, led by Simon de Montfort, arrived outside the town on August 1, 1209. A vassal of Peter II of Aragon, Raymond-Roger had hoped for protection, but Peter was unwilling to oppose the Pope Innocent III's army and was prepared only to act as a mediator.
The siege did not last long, and by August 7 the crusaders had cut the town's access to water. Raymond-Roger accepted a safe-conduct to negotiate terms of surrender in the Crusader camp. But at the conclusion of negotiations, was taken prisoner while under truce, and imprisoned in his own dungeon, where he died, probably of dysentery.
