St. Gilles - Abbey

In a niche of the crypt is the grave of Pierre de Castelnau, his remains were burnt during the Regilious Wars in 1562, so it is probably empty. - 1202 he was appointed by Pope Innocent III. as a legat for the suppression of the Cathar heresy in Southern France. What he did, he suspended the bishops of Toulouse and Béziers and excommunicated Raymond VI. of Toulouse. Pierre de Castelnau was assassinated on 15.01.1208, allegedly by an agent of Raymond, in the nearby village of Trinquetaille. This assassination triggered the Albigensian Crusade, as now Innocent III declared a crusade, offering the lands of the Cathars to any French nobleman willing to take up arms. This War lasted for 20 years. After that decades many villages and towns were totally destroyed and vast areas in Southern France were depopulated.