Like most towns, Toulouse was defended by city walls with a seigniorial castle providing a second line of defence. The castle of the Counts of Toulouse was on the west side of the city, and known as the Château Narbonnais. The City was repeatedly besieged, and repeatedly withstood the Catholic Crusaders, though it had to be surrendered under treaties of surrender.

Some key events during the Wars against the Cathars were:

16th to 29th of June 1211. Simon de Montfort besieges the City of Toulouse, without success.

May 1215. Surrender of the City of Toulouse to Simon de Montfort.

Early September to October 1216. Popular Uprising in the City of Toulouse against the occupying forces, when Simon leaves

12th September 1217. Raymond VI of Toulouse re-enters the City of Toulouse over the Bazacle (the ancient ford over the Garonne) to the delight of the population. Simon de Montfort's family are trapped within the Château Narbonnais.

13th September 1217 to 22 July 1218. Second Siege of the City of Toulouse. Stung by the humiliation of losing Toulouse, Simon de Montfort besieges the city again, without success. He dies during the siege, on 25th June 1218, hit on the head by a stone from a trebuchet, to the great rejoicing of the besieged, and the whole of the Midi.

16th of June - 1st of August 1219. Third Siege of the City of Toulouse, this time by Prince Louis, the future French King Louis IX (Saint Louis), again without success.

Click here for more about the defence of Toulouse, 1217-1218

Click here for more about the City of Toulouse

 

Defence of Toulouse 1217 - 1218

After the Battle of Muret (13 September 1213), Simon de Montfort had taken the City of Toulouse. He had forced the inhabitants to demolish their defensive walls so that the city would be indefensible. He installed himself and a garrison in Raymond's palace, the château Narbonnais (which survived the Crusades but was dismantled in 1549). When Simon de Montfort left Toulouse in 1216 the population took the opportunity to assert their independence and welcomed back their Count, Raymond VI. Everyone - men, women and children set about the job of rebuilding their walls, and worked night and day to achieve what seemed an impossible task, to make the place defensible before Simon's return. By the time Simon came back, the city was strong enough to withstand his Crusader army. After almost a year of siege Simon changed tactics and had build an engine called a cat, designed to claw away the city walls. The toulousains saw the danger and focused on destroying the cat. Simon was killed near the porte Montgaillard during a characteristic act of bravery, defending his cat.

The story is told allegorically in a painting in the Salle des Illustres in the Capitole (city hall) in Toulouse. Here is a photograph of the painting:

The scene is one of frantic activity. The people are putting the finishing touches to their defences, using the famous pink Toulouse brick to complete the merlons when there is no more stone.

Left of centre carpenters are working on hoards on towers, such as you can see today at Carcassonne. When completed they would have been covered in hides from freshly killed animals so that it would be difficult to burn them.

Defence of Toulouse (La défense de Toulouse devant Montfort, 1895) by Jean-Paul Laurens also known as La Muraille

In the background are the Pyrenees, a reminder of the allegiances of the Counts of Toulouse and their allies, whose world was more closely linked to Aragon than to France.

 

Women as well as men labour to complete their defences. Lurking in the clouds is a lion, representing Simon de Montfort, whose coat of arms features a lion. He is approaching Toulouse.

In the corner of the painting is the following text:

Au loup ! crie une voix. Tout Toulouse travaille, Charpentiers aux montants, Maçons à la muraille ; Tuiles; terres, briques, Planches et chevrons S'entrecroisent sur le rempart, Nid de frelons… Au loup ! crie encore la voix. Au nom de la Sainte Croix, Lâchez vite le mangonneau… Au loup ! La pierre est bien assez ronde, Elle saura frapper où il faut. Posez tous sur le levier.

To work! cries a voice. All of Toulouse works, carpenters on ladders, builders at the wall: Tiles, earth, bricks, Planks and joists, Cross each other on the ramparts, Nest of activity... To work cries the voice again. In the name of the Holy Cross, Let fly the mangonel quickly... To work! The stone is round enough, It will know where it has to fall. Put it in the sling.

In the sky a herald blows his horn, signalling a call to arms, his halo emphasises that his cause is just. His standard bears the arms of Toulouse removing any doubt as to which side he might belong to. In the centre of the piece is a trebuchet, an engine of war used to throw huge stones. Such engines were used by besiegers to breach city walls, but also by defenders to destroy the attackers' siege engines. This trebuchet would have been used to try to destroy Simon's cat. In the picture another heavenly figure wearing a halo points his sword directly at the trebuchet indicating its significance. This is the trebuchet, operated by ladies, women and little girls that will kill Simon de Montfort, its massive stone smashing his helmet and his skull so that he will be stone dead before his body hits the ground. Perhaps the anonymous woman in white with her back to us will be the one who fires the mortal shot - she seems to be practicing with the firing mechanism.

(The arms of both the House of Toulouse and the City of Toulouse flank the painting of the Defence of Toulouse, emphasising the close partnership between them in repelling the French Crusaders).

 

Another painting, on the ceiling of the same room, continues the allegorical theme, following the death of de Montfort.

The Apotheosis of the Woman who Killed Montfort (L'Apothéose de la femme qui tua Montfort) by Jean-Paul Laurens

 

The most striking image is the lion, representing Simon de Montfort, pierced by a bloody spear, belonging to a lamb, which represents Toulouse.

As in the case of the de Montfort lion, the imagery here is drawn from the coat of arms of Toulouse. The lamb is a variation of the agnus dei - the Lamb of God. Normally the lamb carries a flag with a simple cross on it. In the arms of Toulouse the flag more closely resembles a spear bearing not just any cross, but the The Cross of Toulouse . The standard on top of the lamb's spear reads Montfort is dead. Long live Toulouse (Montfort est Mort (in French). Viva Tolosa (in Occitan)).

All around heavenly figures with crowns and halos give praise for the deliverance of the city.

In the bottom right hand corner a figure points at the trebuchet that killed de Montfort. For the time being at least the war is over. The merlons of the battlements, built in Toulouse brick, are battered but recognisable. The wooden hourds have already been removed - you can see the square holes ("trous de boulon") where the supporting beams fitted.

The title refers to the apotheosis - the transportation up to heaven - of the woman who fired the critical shot. She is shown sitting in a chair, being lifted into the sky, a plain and ordinary figure. In fact the identity of the person who fired the shot is unknown, for it could have been anyone of the population of Toulouse, and in a sense the figure stands for the whole population, not just of Toulouse, but all Occitania.