The Cathars  were are religious sect that had, by the 12th Century, taken hold in much of the South of France, including the area now known as Areige.  As there were particularly large numbers around the city of Albi, they are sometimes known as Albigensians. The word 'Cathar' means purified.

The Cathars were Dualists, believing in both a good and an evil God (God and the Devil).   Their beliefs seems to lie in a dualistic Middle Eastern doctrine (Manicheism) that could have passed to France during the Crusades.

The Cathars believed that the world, and man, was inheritantly sinful, and could not have been made by God, who was the light (100% good), so must have been made by the Devil (the dark).  Their aim therefore, was to live life as purely as possible, following Gods example, and trying to rid themselves of the sin that they were born with.   

The religion required that followers try to redeem themselves throughout their life by adopting antimaterialistic and pacifist behaviours.  They underwent a religious ceremony, the consolamentum, where they committed to follow a true and pure path.  This meant relinquishing themselves of worldly goods, as well as shunning milk and meat, and sinful behaviour, including marriage and procreation.  The religious men (bonnes hommes,  perfecti or parfaits) would undertake this ceremony and practice their beliefs throughout their lives.  The average Cathar follower would take consolamentum just before their time of death, and thus ridding themselves of sin before passing on to the next life.

The Cathars had powerful support from Raymond 6th of Toulouse, who was excommunicated for his involvement with the sect.  

Reasons for Catholic hatred towards the Cathars:

1. Their religious beliefs (the Dualism) was seen as heretical.   
2. The un-materialistic Cathar lifestyle was juxtaposed against the wealth and opulence of the Catholic Church at that time.  The lack of support that the Cathars gave the Crusades also grated with the Catholic leaders, as they were known to be a powerful way of increasing aristocratic and papal fortunes. 
3. The Cathars excluded themselves from feudal vows of allegiance.  This made them dangerous to the central Catholic powers and difficult to control. The Cathars were also very much in touch with how the average 'commoner' lived and therefore had some influence over those who often felt ostracized by The Catholic Church.
4. The Cathars lived primarily in the environmentally rich and well evolved Southern Regions (langue d'Oc).  The generally Northern Catholic Knights and Counts were jealous of such rich lands. 

The Crusade against the Cathars:   The so called Albigensian Crusade was from 1208 till 1229.  It was launched by Pope Innocent 3rd after a Papal Legate was apparently murdered by a knight under the Count of Toulouse, who was a Cathar supporter.  It was motivated by greed and politics, under the guise of religious cleansing. Northern Knights were promised lands and power if they joined the crusade.

The violence began with the fall of Besiers in 1209.  Under the lead of the Archbishop of Narbonne and his supporters, plus many English mercenaries, up to 20,000 people were massacred for refusing to surrender the Cathars in their midst.  When the army asked the Archbishop how to identify the Cathars from Catholic citizens, reportedly he replied: " Kill them all, God will know his own at the gates of Heaven". 

After the fall of Carcassonne, it was handed over to the professional Norman Crusader, Simon de Montfort (he was previously a Knight of Ile de France). By 1213 after a continuous wave of slaughter and violence, he was virtually in control of the whole of Languedoc.  He was killed in 1218, but his son, of the same name, continued in the Crusades.

Raymond 4th had been fighting his excommunication, and managed to return from exile in 1216 to fight against the Crusade.  Raymond 4th was succeeded by his son in 1222 (also called Raymond!) and sued King Louis 8th for peace in 1229.  He managed to remain as Count of Toulouse but had to agree to heavy penalties as part of the Peace Treaty.

After an unimaginable level of murder and bloodshed, the Crusade against the Cathars fizzled out.  However the famous 'Inquisition', instigated by Pope Gregory 4th in 1223 continued to focus on remaining Cathar strongholds, particularly in the Pyrenean foothills around this area. Although overseen by Dominican Monks who favoured gentler forms of inquisition (e.g. founding a Convent for Cathar women who recounted their beliefs), in fact the violence against the Cathars remained widespread in the field.

The Cathars fight back: In 1242 a group of Cathars, lead by Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix went to Avignonet and hacked to death 11 chief Inquisitors as they slept. As a result, an army of almost 10,000 men began an assault on the Castle of Montsegur.  10 months later the Cathars were forced to surrender, and were given 2 weeks to recount their beliefs, or be burnt.  The 200 or so non Cathars in the citadel of Montsegur were, in this agreement, allowed to go free.  On the night of March 15th 1244, it is said that 4 Cathars escaped Montsegur and recovered the Cathar treasure which had supposedly been hidden in caves.  The day after this, Montsegur surrendered its men and the 225 Cathar civilians who refused to recount their beliefs were burnt on a mass pyre. 

The end of the Cathars?: Following The stronghold of Queribus fell later, in 1255 but symbolically the fall of Montsegur had already signified the end of the Cathar Church. After this time Catharism went underground, generally persisting in Catalan villages where it continued till the Inquisition reached them in the 15th Century.  The last recorded bonnes hommes were 'rooted out' by the Inquisition in 1412, which is the same year that they visited the now famous village of Montaillou.

Cathar Treasure: There are numerous mysteries surrounding the apparent existence and subsequent disappearance of a Cathar Treasure.  Many tales and conspiracies abound the area of Ariege, and the Aude about this.   Some legends identify the treasure as the Holy Grail and the Cathars as the Knights of the Round Table. Those interested in the tales would be well to visit Montsegur, Montaillou the caves at Labouiche and the town of Rennes le Chateau