Raymond du FaugaRaimond du Falga, Raymond de Falgar, Raimond de Falgar, Raimon de Fauga, Raymond de Fauga, Raimond de Felgar, Raymond de Felgar, Raimundus de Felgar, Raimondo di Falgario, Raymundus de Falgario. was a French Dominican, and bishop of Toulouse from 1232 to 1270. He was a significant figure in the struggle in

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 ...

between the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the Cathars. Contemporary chroniclers give accounts of events in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

of this period. Guillaume de Puylaurens was close to Raymond and acted as his notary. Guillaume Pelhisson was a Dominican eye-witness, present in 1235.

Early life

He was from Miremont, a son of a noted family, born at the château de Miremont around 1200.http://miremont.31.free.fr/rub2b.htm, in French. He was prior of the Dominican house at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, and then the fourth Provincial of the Dominicans of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

Bishop against the Cathars

In 1232 he and Raymond VII of Toulouse captured 19 Cathars including Pagan de la Bessède; they were all burned. In 1233 Bishop Raymond had papal bidding to punish the Lords of

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the u ...

, who were scoffing at Catholic power in the region. Count Raymond became less enthusiastic for the repression, but Bishop Raymond persuaded him to enact anti-heresy legislation in 1234. The Inquisition was established in Languedoc in 1233, with an Inquisitor for Toulouse appointed early in that year; Dominicans were tasked with the work. In August 1235 an incident that has become a representative anecdote of Bishop Raymond took place: the entrapping, related in the chronicle of Pelhisson, of a seriously ill Cathar woman. On the basis of his record, Oldebourg concludes that Raymond was a “fanatic”. Later in 1235 the Dominicans were required to leave Count Raymond's territories, the Bishop with them, and he left Toulouse in the midst of popular unrest. The Dominicans withdrew to

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 ...

. Bishop Raymond went to Rome, to appeal to

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

for help; the Pope wrote putting pressure on Count Raymond, and the Dominicans negotiated a return to Toulouse in 1236.Jean-Mamert Cayla, ''Histoire de la ville de Toulouse depuis sa fondation jusqu'à nos jours'' (1839), p. 406.

Later life

The rest of his long period as bishop was marked by a conflict with his metropolitan, Maurin (Mauris),

archbishop of Narbonne The former Catholic diocese of Narbonne existed from early Christian times until the French Revolution. It was an archdiocese, with its see at Narbonne, from the year 445, and its influence ran over much of south-western France and into Cataloni ...

. This blew up in the 1260s, and resulted in an outside enquiry into Raymond's conduct. Under heavy suspicion in the years 1262–4, Raymond appealed to

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le P ...

and survived in place.

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauga, Raymond De 1270 deaths French Dominicans Bishops of Toulouse 13th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown