Dualist heresy in Aquitaine and the Agenais, c.lOOO - c.1249 by Claire Taylor, BA (Hons), MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, July 1999. Contents . Abstract ............................................................................. . ............................... 1V Acknowledgements ................................................................... " ............................... v Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... vii Genealogies ............................................................................................................. xii The dukes of Aquitaine (simplified genealogy) ...................................................... xii The Gascon ducal family (simplified genealogy stressing secular titles) ................. xiii The counts ofToulouse/Agen and Toulouse (simplified genealogy) ...................... xiv Maps ........................................................................................................................ xv A .. d h L d . hinF . qUltame an t e angue oc WIt ranee m c.1154 ........................................... xv The Agenais, Quercy and Perigord lIth-13th centuries ........................................ xvi The Agenais by c.1249 ......................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 PART I: The duchy and dualism, c.1000 to the mid-twelfth century ......................... 10 Chapter 2: Aquitaine and the Agenais, c.1000-c.1152 ............................................... 11 i. The counts ofPoitou and Aquitainian society, to c.I060 ................................... 11 Ducal authority over the Aquitainian nobility ..................................................... 11 Aquitainian religious institutions and the laity ..................................................... 15 Castellans and the rural poor: Mutation au ajustement? ..................................... 19 The Millennium and popular religiosity .............................................................. 28 The Peace of God: Church and lay authority in alliance ...................................... 32 ii. Gascony under the Basques to c.1 060 ............................................................... 36 The Basque dukes and bishops of Gascony ........................................................ 36 The structure of lay authority ............................................................................. 42 Religious enthusiasm in the Gascon population .................................................. 44 iii. The duchy of Aquitaine c.1060 to c.1152 ......................................................... 45 The assimilation of Gascony into Aquitaine and the power of the dukes within lay society ............................................................................................................... 45 Major religious movements in Aquitaine: Church refonn and the powerful, the Truce of God, the early crusades, and monastic revival ...................................... 50 iv. The Agenais, to c.1152 .................................................................................... 55 The ancient and early-medieval Agenais ............................................................. 55 Gascon rule ....................................................................................................... 58 Toulousain and Poitevin influences in the eleventh and twelfth centuries ............ 60 The religious life of the Agenais ......................................................................... 61 Conclusion: The Agenais and the Languedoc ..................................................... 64 Chapter 3: Heresy in Aquitaine, c.l 000-c.1152 ......................................................... 66 i. The Millennia! Years to c.1 050 .......................................................................... 66 Aquitainian heretics and the historians ................................................................ 66 Dualist heresy in the Balkans ............................................................................. 67 Possible problems with the western evidence ...................................................... 70 Evidence for heresy in Aquitaine ........................................................................ 73 The major sources for heresy in Aquitaine ...................................................... 73 Incidents of heresy in Aquitaine ...... " .............................................................. 76 Dualism elsewhere in France, the Low Countries and Gennany ...................... ' ... 85 1 The view of accusers that the heresy was eastern, transmitted via Italy, and was dualist ................................................................................................................ 89 Communication between eastern and western Europe ........................................ 92 Conclusion: Bogomils in Aquitaine .................................................................... 99 ii. Heresy in Aquitaine c.l050-c.1150 .................................................................. 102 The context of eastern and western European movements ............................... 102 The context of heresy in the east ...................................................................... 103 Dualism in the west before the foundation of the Cathar churches, to the 1140s . ........................................................................................................................ 105 Conclusion: non-dualist heretics and their activity in Aquitaine as a background to Catharism . ....... .. .. .. . . . . .. .. .... .. .. ... . . . .. .. . . . . . . ... .. . . . ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . ... . . .. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 108 P ART II: Aquitaine and the Agenais in the period of Catharis~ the Albigensian Wars and the Inquisition, the mid-twelfth century to c.1249 ............................................ 112 Chapter 4: Aquitaine and its Cathars, 1152-1207. ................................................... 113 i. The duchy of Aquitaine .................................................................................... 113 Catharism and Aquitaine.................................................................................. 113 The duchy of Aquitaine in Europe .................................................................... 117 Angevin power over Aquitaine ..................................................................... 117 The dukes of Aquitaine and their southern neighbours: Toulouse, Aragon and Castile.. . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 121 Aquitainian society 'hors du Catharisme'.......................................................... 124 The Languedoc and Aquitaine as Occitan neighbours .................................... 124 The Aquitainian laity: a more conservative body of opinion ........................... 130 Aquitainian Catholicism: meeting the challenge of dissent and reform ........... 135 ii. The Agenais and its Cathars ............................................................................ 138 The Agenais .................................................................................................... 138 The highest authorities in the Agenais ........................................................... 138 Identity and diversity in the Agenais ............................................................. 139 The urbanised right bank of the Garonne ...................................................... 142 The towns and nobles of the Lot and the Lot-Garonne confluence ................ 143 South of the Garonne ................................................................................... 146 The orthodox religious life and the allies of the bishop.................................. 147 The Cathar diocese of Agen ............................................................................. 149 The origins of the Cathar diocese .................................................................. 149 The Cathars of the Agenais and those of Bas-Quercy .................................... 152 The Agenais: a heresy of castellans ............ . ... ... ... . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ..... . . . . . .. 154 Bas-Quercy - a heresy of towns and abbeys .................................................. 156 iii. Conclusion..................................................................................................... 160 Chapter 5: The Agenais and Aquitaine in the Albigensian Wars, 1207-1229 ............ 163 i. The crusaders and their targets in Aquitaine and in the Cathar diocese of the Agenais, 1209-1215............................................................................................ 163 The Crusade in the Languedoc, 1209-15, and the involvement of Aquitainians. 163 Aquitaine and the Agenais at war..................................................................... 166 The Agenais in 1209, 1211-12 and 1213-4 .................................................... 166 Quercy and Perigord in 1212 and 1214......................................................... 17 2 The crusaders in Gascony in 1212-15 ........................................................... 180 ii. An Anglo-French context for the crusade, to 1214 .......................................... 184 King John's involvement .................................................................................. 184 11 King John and Philip Augustus, 1209-14 .......................................................... 189 John's enemies take the Cross .......................................................................... 191 John and Pope Innocent III .............................................................................. 193 iii. Occitan and English interests at the Fourth Lateran Council of November 1215 ........................................................................................................................... 196 iv. Rebellion and a return to war, 1216-1229 ....................................................... 199 1216-1225: The defeat of the crusade .............................................................. 200 1226-1229: The victory of the Capetians ......................................................... 206 v. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 208 Chapter 6: The Cathar Diocese of the Agenais, 1207-1249 ..................................... 212 i. The Cathar diocese during the crusade ............................................................. 212 The Cathar bishop Vigouroux de la Bacone ..................................................... 212 The changing geography of the Cathar diocese of the Agenais ......................... 219 The Agenais ................................................................................................. 219 Villemur ....................................................................................................... 222 Bas-Quercy .................................................................................................. 224 The start of the revival ..................................................................................... 228 The new heretical population of Montcuq ..................................................... 228 The seigneurial family of Gourdon in Quercy ................................................ 229 Bernard de Lamothe, a frequent visitor to the region .................................... 23 1 Conclusion: The heretical societies of the Agenais and Bas-Quercy by c.1229 .. 232 ii. The Agenais after the Peace of Paris ............................................................... 234 The secular society .......................................................................................... 234 The Inquisitorial period, the 123 Os and 1240s .................................................. 240 The Inquisition in the Agenais and Quercy .................................................... 240 Raymond VII and the fight against heresy in the 1240s ................................. 241 iii. The heretical diocese from 1229 ..................................................................... 243 The new geography of the heresy in the Agenais and Quercy ........................... 243 Heretical families and the spread of the heresy ................................................. 243 The Agenais ................................................................................................. 243 Bas-Quercy .................................................................................................. 246 Gourdon ....................................................................................................... 249 Central Quercy ............................................................................................. 250 iv. Conclusion ................................................................................................. ···· 251 v. Postscript - the Agenais from 1249 to 1279 ..................................................... 254 Chapter 7: Conclusion ............................................................................................ 258 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 263 i. Manuscript sources ................................................................. ·· ... · ....... ····.······· 263 ii. Works of reference ......................................................................................... 264 ... P . .. 265 nmary sources m pnnt ................................................................................. . 111. iv. Secondary works ........................................................................................... 274 iii Abstract This thesis offers an account of dualist heresy in medieval Aquitaine. The first part asserts that the heresy referred to in early eleventh-century sources was dualist and originated in Balkan Bogomilism. It does this by combining two established methodologies. Through the first, reading the souces in their social context, it finds the poor experiencing increased poverty and oppression, and that some amongst the laity and clergy were observing signs prefiguring The End of historical time. Not unexpectedly, some responded through dissent and demanded reform and justice: a new system of values, in other words. Then the thesis adopts a comparative methodology in a 'global' context. It finds that the accounts of dissent do more than identify Apocalypticism or primitive communism. They make reference to dualist cosmology and practice. Dualists in the Balkans were intent on spreading their teaching world-wide, and this period saw increased contacts with the west. The spread ofBogomilism to Aquitaine was thus both likely and possible, and appears to have had some success. The second part of this thesis makes three contributions to the history of Catharism. First it suggests why twelfth-century Aquitaine was almost entirely untouched by the heresy except in the county of Agen. It points to actively Catholic lay authority and a relatively dynamic monasticism in Aquitaine, and finds these largely absent in the heretical Agenais. Second, it examines the Cathar diocese of Agen and the impact upon it of the Albigensian Crusade and the Medieval Inquisition. In this it argues that Agenais lay society was very diverse and divided, but notes close collaboration between its heretics and those of neighbouring Quercy. Third, it argues that a better understanding of aspects of the crusade can be gamed through its examination in the context of relations between the dukes of Aquitaine - who were also kings of England - and the counts of Toulouse, the kings of France and the Papacy. IV Acknowledgements lowe a huge debt of gratitude to the many people who have made researching this thesis possible, manageable and enjoyable. Gratitude for financial support goes to the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, and the Department of History at the University of Nottingham. Thank you also to the librarians and archivists at the Hallward Library Nottingham, the British Library, the Institute of Historical Research, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and the departmental and municipal archives at Agen, Bordeaux and Cahors. Grateful thanks for their support in tough times and their interest in my work go to: my parents Christine and Victor Taylor~ to two real treasures, my sister-in-law and brother, Andrea and Joe 'Joe-fish' Taylor; to my husband's family Enid, Roger, Christine and Paul Craven; and to my friends especially Keith Duncombe, George and Luke Hewitt, Sarah and Kevin Pacey, John Mason, Alan Schofield, Debbs Smithson and Jeff Stevenson, Dave Batchelor, Carole Mallia, Jackie Kilpatrick and especially Izzie Allen and David Green. Thanks also to Jay Rossi for the Yoga, a vital study-aid in stressful times. Above all I am indebted to the wonderful Jane Ellis for her excellent wit and friendship. Sincere gratitude is due to the following for their scholarly interest and advice and practical help, not least for proof-reading: Izzie Allen, Katie Attwood, Ross Balzaretti, Brenda Bolton, Simon Constantine, Mike Craven, Astis Egilsd6ttir, Mike Evans, Elaine Graham-Leigh, Carole Mallia, Robert Marcus, Lawrence Marvin, Alison McHardy, Clare Pilsworth, Jon Porter, Andrew Roach, Richard Stevens, Howard Taylor, and to my examiners Malcolm Barber and Julia Barrow. Special gratitude goes to my supervisors Bernard Hamilton and Michael Jones for their patience, encouragement and everything they have taught me about the Middle Ages and how to study them. I should also especially like to thank Michael for the considerable time he spent in helping me prepare this thesis in the hectic weeks before its submission, and Bernard likewise and also for helping me stay in a sound frame of mind throughout. Mike Craven and David Green 'drew' the genealogies for me when time was getting v short! I should like to thank Mrs Susan Roberts for allowing me to use xeroxes of sources and the bibliographical index of materials on French eleventh- and twelfth-century history compiled by her late brother, Geoffrey Scholefield. Amongst the past and present postgraduates in the Department of History at Nottingham are some of the most excellent people I've ever met. Thank you for your support and friendship Jeannie Alderdice, Paul Bracken, Simon Constantine, David Green, Mike Evans, Paul Evans, Chan-Young Park, Dave Pomfret, Jon Porter and Kevin Sorrentino. This thesis is dedicated to the children of my friends and family - born and yet to be born - especially to Cecile Green and her expected sibling and to Isabel Lee-Craven. May the next Millennium be better than this, in which 'violence was unleashed, but it was the work of the very ones who fully intended to be rewarded for supposedly fighting against it. .. Disorder came from on high, and repression fell on those who were its victims'.· And not only in its first two hundred and fifty years. On that note, the deepest admiration and gratitude go to Mike Craven, for changing the future . • P. Bonnassie.'Banal seigneU!)· and the 'reconditioning' of the free peasantry', trans in 005. Little and Rosenwein. Debating the Middle Ages, at 132. \l Abbreviations Ademar: Ademar ofChabarmes, Chronicon, ed. I. Chavano~ Paris, 1897. AFP: Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum. Agen. .. Chartes: Archives municipafes d'Agen, chartes premiere serie (J 189-1328), eds. A. Magen and G. Tholin, Villeneuve .. sur-Lot , 1876. AHGa: Archives historiques de fa Gascogne. AHGi: Archives historiques de fa Gironde. AHP: Archives historiques de Poitou. AHSA: Archives historiques de fa Saintonge et de f'Aunis. AM: Annales du Midi. Anselm of Alessandria: Anselm of Alessandria, Tractatus de hereticis, in ed. A. Dondaine, La hierarchie Cathare, AFP 20 (1950), 308-24. 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M. de Montegut, Limoges, 1907. CCL: Corpus Christianorum: series Latina, New YorkILondon, 1962. CCM: Cahiers de Civilisation Medievale CESSB: Cartulaire de l'eglise collegiale de Saint-Seurin de Bordeaux, ed. A. Brutails, Bordeaux, 1897. CF: Cahiersde Fanjeaux CFAR: Charles de Fontevrauld concernanat l'Aunis et La Rochelle, ed. P. Marchegay, Paris, 1858. Chanson: William of Tudela et aI., La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise, 3 vols., ed. and French trans. E. Martin-Chabot, Paris, 1960-72. a Chartes. .. Saint-Maixent: Chartes et documents pour servir l'histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Maixent, ed. A. Richard, 2 vols., AHP 16 and 18 (both 1886). Christian Dualist Heresies: Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, c.650- 1405, eds., trans. and annotation B. and 1. Hamilton, ManchesterlNew York, 1998. Chron. .. eglises d'Anjou: Chroniques des eglises d'Anjou, eds. P. Marchegay and E. Mabille, Paris, 1899. Chron ... Saint-Maixent: La Chronique de Saint-Maixent, 751-1140, ed. and trans. J. Verdon, Paris, 1979. CPSPLR: Cartulaire du prieure de Saint-Pierre de La Reole, ed. C. Grellet-Balguerie, AHGi 5 (1864). Concilia: Concilia, introduction and 53 volumes, ed . I. D. Mansi, Graz, 1960-61 (a reprint of ibid , Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, 53 vols., Venice, 1759-98). Cosmas: Cosmas the Priest, Traite contre les Bogomiles, eds. and trans. H. C. Peuch and A. Vaillant, Paris, 1945. Chrons. .. SHR: Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed R. Howlett, 4 vols., RS, 1884-9. CSJA: Cartulaire de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, ed. G. Musset, 2 vols., AHSA 30 (1901) and 33 (1903). CSM: Cartulaires du Chapitre de l'Eglise Metropolitaine Sainte-Marie d'Auch (Cartulaires Noir et Blanc), ed. C. La Cave La Plagne-Barris, AHGi 2:3 and 2:4 (both 1899, cited as i and ii). Vlll Doat: Mss. Lat. Fonds Doat at the BN. 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