Arnaud had long been involved in the Church's efforts to eradicate the Albigensian movement in Languedoc and the surrounding areas of the south of modern day France. In 1204 Pope Innocent III had dispatched Arnaud to investigate Catharism in the region where he used the monastery of Fontfroide as his headquarters.
The Church had been engaged in missionary activity for decades, dating back at least to the time of Bernard of Clairvaux's preaching in the city of Albi in the middle of the twelfth-century from which the Cathars derived their nickname of "Albigensians." Several decades later the Church was showing clear signs of discomfort with the fruits of their preaching efforts and began to favor a more militant approach.
In 1206 the Arnaud Amaury sent his assistant, the Cistercian monk Pierre de Castelnau, to Provence to form a force of knights to take part in expeditions against Cathars in the region. Pierre was murdered in 1208 by those believed to have been associated with the Comte Raymond IV of Toulouse. Raymond had earlier been excommunicated due to his unwillingness to participate in military actions against his subjects as had been requested by Pierre de Castelnau. Pierre's death, and the suspicion of Raymond that followed, became the spark for Pope Innocent III's calling of a full scale crusade against the Cathars in 1209.
Arnaud Amaury served as one of the leaders of the Albigensian Crusade. When the Catholic ruler Roger de Trencavel, who had previously shown great toleration for the Cathars in his lands, heard of the crusade, he sought to submit himself to the Church through consultation with Arnaud Amaury. Arnaud, knowing Roger's lands were to be targeted by the crusaders, refused to accept Roger's new claims of submission to the Church.
There is little to authenticate Arnaud's reportedly infamous command to the crusaders at Beziers in July of 1209 to "Kill them all. God will know his own." No source of the time actually records his saying this. The first time the quote is attributed to Arnaud is decades later by the German Cistercian monk Cesar d' Heisterbach in his Dialogus Miraculorum, or Of the Miracles.(2)
A paraphrased version of the quote attributed to Arnaud has remained popular into the modern era, especially with military units that have a reputation for fierceness such as the U.S. Marines, Army Rangers, or Special Forces. The paraphrased version is as follows. "Kill'em all and let God sort'em out." This phrase is found posted above doorways, printed on T-shirts sold on military bases, and serves as a sort of unofficial motto for these organizations.
Albigensian Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Primary Sources of the Albigensian Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Cathars- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Pierre de Castelnau- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Pope Innocent III- Crusades-Encyclopedia
St. Bernard of Clairvaux- Crusades-Encyclopedia
Cesar d' Heisterbach- Crusades-Encyclopedia
1. R. L. Wolff. "The Albigensian Crusade" In The Later Crusades, 1189-1311 Ed. Hazard, H. W. 1969. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 289 f.n.
2. See, Caesarii Heisterbacensis Monachi ... Dialogus Miraculorum, ed. J. Strange [Cologne, Bonn and Brussels 1851] volume 1 page 302.
(c) Andrew Holt, May 2005- Permission is granted for copying in electronic form and print distribution for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commerical use.