Cathar castles (in French ''Châteaux cathares'') are a group of medieval castles located in the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

region. Some had a Cathar connection in that they offered refuge to dispossessed Cathars in the thirteenth century. Many of these sites were replaced by new castles built by the victorious French Crusaders and the term ''Cathar castle'' is also applied to these fortifications despite their having no connection with Cathars. The fate of many Cathar castles, at least for the early part of the Crusade, is outlined in the contemporary Occitan "''Chanson de la Croisade''", translated into English as the "Song of the Cathar Wars (the crusade)".

True "Cathar castles"

Cathar strong points were generally surrounded by a walled settlement - ranging from a small village to a sizable city - known as a '' castrum''. In relatively flat areas such as the Lauragais Plain, castles and ''castra'' were often located on nearby hills, for example

Laurac Laurac (; oc, Laurac) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department *List of medieval bridges in France The list of medieval bridges in France comprises all bridges built be ...

Fanjeaux Fanjeaux (; oc, Fanjaus) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Fanjeaux is located west of Carcassonne. Between 1206 and 1215, Fanjeaux was the home of Saint Dominic, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church's Dominican Or ...

Mas-Saintes-Puelles Mas-Saintes-Puelles (; oc, Mas Santas Puèlas) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 communes of the Aude department of France. ...

, and

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

. In more rugged areas castles and ''castra'' were typically located on mountain tops as at Lastours-Cabaret,

Montségur Montségur (; Languedocien: ''Montsegur'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. It is famous for its fortification, the Château de Montségur, that was built on the "pog" (mountain) on the ruins of one of the las ...

, Termes, and

Puilaurens Puilaurens (, also non-officially: ''Lapradelle-Puilaurens''; oc, La Pradèla de Puèglhaurenç) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. It includes the hamlets of Lapradelle, Puilaurens and Lavignac. It is known for the medie ...

. When they were taken by the Catholic Crusaders they were generally offered to senior Crusade commanders who would replace the local lord as master of the castle and the surrounding area. The old lords, sometimes Cathar sympathisers, were dispossessed and often became refugees or guerrilla resistance fighters known as "faidits". The new French lords generally built themselves a new state-of-the-art castle, sometimes on the site of the old "Cathar castle", sometimes next to it, as at Puivert. In some places, notably

and

Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwe ...

, substantial parts of the existing castles date from the Cathar period.

Royal citadels

Following the failure of the attempt to recapture

by its Viscount, Raymond II Trencaval, in 1240, the

Cité de Carcassonne The Cité de Carcassonne ( ) is a medieval citadel located in the French city of Carcassonne, in the Aude department, Occitanie region. It is situated on a hill on the right bank of the River Aude, in the southeast part of the city proper. The c ...

was reinforced by the French king, new master of the viscountcy. Carcassonne was heavily garrisoned not only against Cathar sympathizer insurgents, but also the Catalans and Aragonese, as the

Trencavels The Trencavel was an important noble family in Languedoc between the 10th and 13th centuries. The name "Trencavel" began as a nickname and later became the family's surname. The name may derive from the Occitan words for "Nutcracker" (''trenca ...

had been vassals of the King of Aragon, who was the direct descendant of Sunifred and

Bello of Carcassonne Bello (c. 755 – 810) was Count of Carcassonne from 790 until his death. He was the founder of the Bellonid Dynasty of Carcassonne and Razès which reached its apex in Wilfred the Hairy, progenitor of the House of Barcelona. It is not known who ...

. The King of France took as frontier fortresses Cathar castles near the border between the historic Trencavel territories and the

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

, which still belonged to the King of Aragon. Five of these became Royal citadels, garrisoned by a small troop of French royal troops. These five Cathar Castles are known as the ''cinq fils de Carcassonne'', the Five Sons of Carcassonne: *

Château d'Aguilar The Château d'Aguilar (Languedocien: ''Castèl d’Aguilar'') is a 12th-century castle, one of the so-called Cathar castles, located in the ''commune'' of Tuchan in the Aude ''département'' of France. Architecture The design of the castle ...

* Château de Peyrepertuse * Château de Puilaurens * Château de Quéribus *

Château de Termes The Château de Termes (Languedocien: ''Castèl de Tèrme'') is a ruined castle near the village of Termes in the Aude ''département'' of France. It is one of the so-called Cathar castles. History Built on a promontory, defended on three ...

Abandonment of the Five Sons of Carcassonne

In 1659,

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

and the

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

signed the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

, sealing the marriage of the Infanta Marie Therese to the French King. The treaty modified the frontiers, giving

to France as part of the dowry, and moving the international frontier south to the crest of the Pyrenees, the present Franco-Spanish border. The Five Sons of Carcassonne thus lost their importance. Some maintained a garrison for a while, a few until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, but they fell into decay, often becoming shelters for shepherds or bandits.

Other "Cathar castles"

Château d’Arques A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

Château de Durfort The Château de Durfort is a ruined castle in the ''commune'' of Vignevieille in the Aude ''département'' of France. It is 27 km east of Limoux and 3 km north of the Château de Termes. It was erected on a rocky piton which overlooks ...

Châteaux de Lastours The Châteaux de Lastours (in Occitan ''Lastors'') are four so-called Cathar castles in the French ''commune'' of Lastours in the ''département'' of l'Aude. The four castles are on a rocky spur above the village of Lastours, isolated by the ...

* Château de Montségur * Château de Padern * Château de Pieusse * Château de Puivert * Rennes-le-Château * Château de Roquefixade *

Château de Saissac The Château de Saissac is a ruined castle, one of the so-called Cathar castles, in the southernmost tip of the '' commune'' of Saissac in the Aude ''département'' in the north-west of Carcassonne, France. It was once the residence of the power ...

Château d'Usson The Château d'Usson is one of the so-called Cathar castles in what is now southwestern France. It is located in the ''commune'' of Rouze, in the Ariège ''département''. It is sited upstream from Axat, along the Aude river gorge, carved out o ...

External links

Association des Sites du Pays Cathare
historical and tourist information
Castle of Termes
official website, in English.

The story of the Cathars in Languedoc, and a short guide to Cathar heritage
Cathar Country
Cathars, Cathar Beliefs and Cathar Castles.
Cathar Castles
Cathar Castles: History, Location and Photographs.
Map showing Cathar Castles in the Languedoc

References

Notes Bibliography * . * * . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . * * * * * *