Scheduled Week Tours.

This is a tour aimed at English-speaking adults with an interest in the Cathars. No prior knowledge is assumed, though in practice most people who attend these tours will have read one or more popular books on the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade.

June 2020: 9 am, Sunday 7 June — 5 pm, Friday 12 June.

September 2020: 9 am, Sunday 20 September — 5 pm, Friday 25 September


June 2021 (Provisional): 9 am, Sunday 13 June — 5 pm, Friday 18 June.

September 2021 (Provisional): 9 am, Sunday 12 September — 5 pm, Friday 17 September


Group Size. Groups sizes are variable but seven is typical.

Topics Covered

     Who Were the Cathars?
     Cathar Beliefs
     Gnosticism and Early Christianity
     Historical Context - The High Middle Ages
     Sources
     Where did Catharism come from?
     Medieval warfare & siege techniques
     The Albigensian Crusade
     What are "Cathar Castles"?
     The Inquisition and the end of Catharism
     Some Interesting Questions
     Consequences, Vestiges and Ramifications

Included is information on related topics such as techniques of medieval warfare, castle architecture, heraldry, feudalism, the role of the Catholic Church, the Count of Toulouse, Occitan culture, medieval politics, and source documents.

Places Visited, Outline Itinerary.

Schedule over 6 days, 5 nights:

We start at 9am on Sunday, so recommend that participants arrive earlier and stay overnight in Toulouse.

Day 1 — Sunday — Toulouse. We visit the ancient city of Toulouse. Here you will discover Toulouse's beautiful centre, learn about Cathar beliefs, the medieval Counts of Toulouse, the historic role of the City of Toulouse, and the feudal system. Lunch will be at a restaurant in the center of Toulouse. We will also trace the history of the Dominicans, who were founded explicitly to combat the Cathars, and who founded and operated the first papal inquisitions.

Day 2 — Monday — Termes and Arques. We head through the Corbiéres to visit the castle at Termes, which was besieged for several months during the Albigensian Crusade and is one of the best attested sieges of the middle ages. Lunch is at a local restaurant. In the afternoon we will visit the castle at Arques, a spectacular donjon of the fourteenth century, built by the family of one of the crusade leaders and discuss the theory and practice of medieval crusading.

Day 3 — Tuesday — Fontfroide. Fontfroide is a beautifully restored Cistercian abbey which played an important role in many of the events associated with the Albigensian Crusade. We will discuss distinctive features of twelfth century Cistercians. Lunch is at the abbey restaurant, after which we visit the abbey gardens and discuss the role of monasticism, including military monasticism, specifically militias, Cistercian justifications for killing, Cistercians & crusading, fighting monks, and the foundation of the Knights Templar.

Day 4 — Wednesday — Free day / Carcassonne. A free day is provided. You can enjoy a day enjoying local markets, food or wine, or catching up with postcards. Transport is provided to Carcassonne, a world Heritage site, and the largest surviving medieval walled city in Europe. You can visit the city walls, the site of several sieges, and also the Basilica, where Saint Dominic preached and Simon de Montfort was originally buried, see where the Inquisition had their headquarters, and do a self-guided tour of the Château Comtal, the Viscounts' castle within the Cité of Carcassonne.

Day 5 — Thursday — Montségur & Puivert. In the morning we drive into the Ariege and climb to the iconic Castle of Montségur where over 200 Cathars were burned alive in 1244 after a ten month siege. We also visit the museum (time permitting) and have lunch in the village of Montsegur. The afternoon is spent at the Château at Puivert, known for its troubadour history, where a famous canso was composed, possibly for Eleanor of Aquitaine. We will also discuss the Occitan language, the origin of Romance and Romantic Love, and the origin of the troubadour tradition.

Day 6 — Friday — Foix. In the morning we visit the castle of Foix, the capital of the medieval Counts of Foix, who were major players in the Cathar Wars, and the most able and accomplished commanders on the side of the Occitan forces.

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On the tour we stay at one hotel (usually in Quillan), the price of which is included in the cost of the tour for the nights of days 1,2,3,4 and 5.

For ease of travel the tour starts and finishes in Toulouse, which has good railway and autoroute links and an international airport (Blagnac).

The tour starts on 9am on day 1 and ends in Toulouse at 5pm on on Day 6, so you might want to stay at an hotel in Toulouse on the nights of day 0 (before the tour) or day 6 (after the tour), or both. For hotels in Toulouse, we recommend the Privilège Hôtel Mermoz, centrally located, where the tour starts, and but there are other hotels nearby notably the Best Western Hotel Innès and the Hôtel Raymond IV. They all have websites in English where you can book online.

Privilège Hôtel Mermoz 50, rue Matabiau, 31000 Toulouse, France Tel: +33 5 61 63 04 04 reservationmermoz@privilegetoulouse.com https://privilegetoulouse.com/

Best Western Hotel Innès by HappyCulture 13Bis Rue Matabiau, 31000 Toulouse, France Tel: +33 5 61 63 10 63 bonjour@hotel-innes.com https://hotel-innes.com/

Hôtel Raymond IV, 16 Rue Raymond IV, 31000 Toulouse, France Tel : +33 5 61 62 89 41 contact@hotelraymond4toulouse.com https://hotelraymond4toulouse.com/eng/

 

Cost.

The current cost (per person) is 2,900 Euros

INCLUDED: tour transport, 5 lunches, 5 hotel nights (days 1 to 5), all entry fees.

EXCLUDED: Travel to and from the Languedoc; breakfasts, lunch on day 4, suppers. Hotel nights for days 0 and 6.

 

Other

The tour starts and ends in Toulouse. You are free to make your own arrangements to get to and from Toulouse. We can recommend suitable hotels.

There are no age or health restrictions, but you should be aware that there is some uphill walking. The most demanding is Montsegur - about 40 minute uphill walk, but we go slowly and take several stops. A few people chose to skip this.

Of the total cost you may pay the total on booking, or if you prefer 40% on booking and 60% 60 days before the start of the tour (ie currently 1,160 + 1,740 = 2,900 Euros)

Prices are revised each year. If you book and pay a deposit this year, the price is fixed at that rate for the following year.

We aim to be as flexible as possible. Just let us know if you have any special requirements and we will try to accommodate them.

 
 



Our Tours

A selection of our tours and other services. Click on one of the boxes for more information

Scheduled One-Week Tours

Join one of our scheduled week-long tours which take place in May/June and September each year, including iconic sites such as Montsegur.

Private Tours for Individuals

Customised Tours for 1 person to 5 people: you get to chose how long the tour is, where you visit, and what topics you want to learn about.

Private Group Tours

Customised Tours for groups of 6 or more: you get to chose how long the tour is, where you visit, what topics you want to learn about, and where you stay.

One-Day Scheduled Tours

Join one of our limited number of scheduled day-tours which take place in May/June and September each year, including iconic Cathar sites such as Montsegur.

Talks, Lectures, Seminars

If you want an entertaining but intellectually rigorous and historically accurate account of Catharism, the Albigensian Crusade and the Medieval Languedoc..

Other Services

We offer a Concierge service to help you plan tours focused on the Languedoc / Occitania (including topics other than the Cathars). We also offer services to established Tour Operators organising visits to Cathar Country.