The history of Béziers is long and storied, dating back to a Greek colony founded two and a half thousand years ago. Yet, with few exceptions, little that you see dates from before the violent, cataclysmic events of 1209. You get a hint of this at the Cathédrale St-Nazaire. Its Gothic architecture mostly dates from the 14th century. The church which stood here for hundreds of years prior to that was burned down during the Massacre of Béziers.
Béziers and the surrounding region was, in the 12th and 13th centuries, the epicentre of the Cathar movement. A religious sect, the Cathars challenged the teachings of the Catholic Church. They had their own hierarchy, a liturgy, a strict spiritual doctrine and a following across this region, into northern Italy and even northern Europe. Importantly, they rejected the wealth and corruption of the Catholic Church.
They were a clear threat that could not be tolerated by the Catholic Church. Labelled as heretics, Pope Innocent III called for a crusade to wipe out the Cathar heresy. Buoyed by the success of the First Crusade of 1095 that captured Jerusalem, the Pope launched a military campaign against the Cathars which lasted for decades. The force of mercenaries and knights was known as the Albigensian Crusade, and its first target was Béziers.
On July 22, 1209, as Béziers was preparing to celebrate the Feast of Mary Magdalene, the crusader army arrived outside the town walls. Refusing to hand over the Cathars living amongst the mainly Catholic population, the town was stormed. Since the townsfolk refused to identify the Cathars, the Pope’s emissary Arnaud-Amaury, who commanded the army, is alleged to have said, “Kill them all, God will know his own.”
The crusaders slaughtered everyone. Around 20,000 people were killed and the town was burned to the ground. Béziers was a ruin, but slowly it was repopulated and rebuilt to become a thriving regional centre again. Few hints of this history remain, but in summer a son et lumière show at the Église de la Madeleine – a church where hundreds of people seeking refuge were slaughtered – tells the dramatic history of the Cathars.
The historic centre still feels ancient, and is very well preserved. Separating the old town from the new, is a grand boulevard named after Paul Riquet, a local tax collector and one of Béziers most celebrated citizens. For a tax collector that’s an achievement, but it was Riquet who built the Canal of the Midi. One morning we strolled across the ancient Pont Vieux and along the River Orb to where it meets the canal.
The Canal du Midi is one of the greatest 17th century European engineering feats, and Béziers has two of its most ingenious features: the Orb Aqueduct that carries the canal over the river, and the majestic staircase of eight locks at Fonsérannes. The walk along the canal is lovely, the peace and quiet belying the incredibly hard labour that went into building it over a 14 year period.
The canal linked the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and allowed Béziers to develop its agricultural industries, in particular its wine trade. Béziers was famous for wine as far back as when it was a Roman town, but the canal allowed wine to be shipped further and faster. Today, the area is one of the major wine producers in France, and the largest by sheer volume of wine made.
After the locks at Fonsérannes we walked over the Orb Aqueduct to the former port. Next to the port is the railway station that brought the age of the canal to an end, but today it is still heavily used by leisure boats. From here it’s a stiff uphill climb through the Plateau des Poètes and onto the Avenue Paul Riquet, where we found a nice outdoor table for a long lunch and an opportunity to try some of that local wine.
Yes indeed a sad history and many immigrated to the Americas afterward, they call the Huguenots ! Nice post thanks
A sort of proto-Huguenots I guess, and a terrible history, indeed. Many thanks.
I know my wife was from the area….visit often. The cathars or albigeois (Albi) later took the name of huguenots in the Americas. Cheers
A more tragic story than I thought in a seaside holiday region.