Against which religious group was the Albigensian Crusade launched? The Albigensian Crusade was launched against the Cathars.
The campaign, also called the Cathar Crusade, began in 1209 in Languedoc, a region of southern France. Pope Innocent III called for the crusade after efforts to suppress Catharism through preaching and negotiation had failed. The movement was especially influential around Albi, which gave rise to the name “Albigensian.”
Cathar theology was strongly dualist. Cathars generally viewed the material world as evil and rejected important Catholic teachings about the Incarnation, sacraments, and priesthood. Their beliefs spread through parts of Languedoc, where some local nobles protected Cathar communities or resisted outside ecclesiastical authority.
The crusade was led initially by figures such as Simon de Montfort and soon became entangled with French royal expansion. Although the main military phase ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1229, the later Inquisition continued targeting remaining Cathars. Cathars are sometimes confused with Bogomils, an earlier Balkan movement that influenced aspects of Cathar thought but was not the main target of this crusade.