Guillaume de Puylaurens (in Occitan, Guilhèm de Puèglaurenç; in Latin, Guillelmus de Podio Laurenti; in English, William of Puylaurens) is a 13th-century Latin chronicler, author of a history of

Catharism Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follow ...

and of the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

. He was born soon after 1200 at

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 ...

, where he perhaps studied at the nascent

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and gained the title of "Master". He worked with

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Foulques around 1228 to 1230. He was curé at

Puylaurens Puylaurens (; oc, Puèglaurenç) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. The poet Suzon de Terson was born here in 1657. See also *Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn de ...

( Tarn) from 1237 to 1240 (whence his name) and during this period was close to Foulques' successor as bishop, Raimond du Fauga. From 1244 onwards he was chaplain to

Raymond VII of Toulouse Raymond VII (July 1197 – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death. Family and marriages Raymond was born at the Château de Beaucaire, the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse ...

and was present at Raymond's death on September 27, 1249. He lived until 1274 at least, occasionally working for the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. His work is entitled simply '' Cronica'' (in English, "Chronicle").

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 13th-century Latin writers 13th-century French historians Inquisitors French male non-fiction writers