The Cathars were regarded as local rabble-rousers, and in this era, heresies were considered tantamount to treason against the state and her established Church.

The Cathars were regarded as local rabble-rousers, and in this era, heresies were considered tantamount to treason against the state and her established Church. Having failed at diplomacy and evangelism, Pope Innocent III preached a Crusade, and had the Albigensians definitively exterminated by overwhelming military force. The victorious chief military commander, Simon de Montfort, was rewarded with fame and (increased) fortune, mostly because of this Crusade.