Topic: French Pyrenees

Richard Stanley describes the history of Occitania, a distinct nation in the French Pyrenees that was systematically destroyed during the Albigensian Crusade. Pope Innocent III granted French forces dispensation to exterminate the Cathars, whom the Church viewed as dangerous heretics. This campaign resulted in the destruction of the Occitan language and the loss of significant cultural and spiritual data through centuries of religious persecution.