The defining moment in Minerve’s long history arrived along with an army commanded by Simon de Montfort in 1210. Monfort, who had previously participated in the farcical Fourth Crusade to ‘liberate’ Jerusalem, was a man in possession of an abundance of Catholic zeal. He cemented his reputation as a vicious and violent soldier as one of the leaders of the Albigensian Crusade, a military campaign ordered by Pope Innocent III.
It wasn’t until this trip to the Languedoc that I learned of actual religious crusades taking place in Europe. Who says travel isn’t educational? The crusade set out to destroy the Cathar religious movement. The Catholic Church viewed the Cathars as heretical, the Cathars viewed the Catholic Church as corrupt and immoral. Who’s to say who was right, but only the victor gets to write the history.
The Cathar faith was very popular throughout southern France and wiping it out took time. The crusade lasted for twenty years. When it ended, up to half a million people – the vast majority innocent civilians – were dead. Those who were Cathars where often tortured before being burned to death. The Crusade’s first target in 1209 was the town of Béziers. It resulted in the near wholesale slaughter of the civilian population.
Some Cathars who fled Béziers found their way to Minerve, the Crusade followed hot on their heels. Minerve sits on a peninsular of rock almost entirely surrounded by a deep ravine. It was no easy target, but for six long weeks Montfort’s army used four trebuchets to smash the defenses and destroy the town’s well. Without water and with the defenses breached, the town surrendered … and the slaughter began.
Montfort was known to be a brutal and uncompromising zealot, a reputation he lived up to in Minerve. The 140 Cathars that were captured were burned to death in the town square. Today, a memorial commemorates their fate, and there is a Rue des Martyrs. On the cliffs facing the town across the gorge is a replica trebuchet, giving some idea of what took place in 1210.
We arrived in Minerve in the late morning from Olargues and it was already scorching hot. The town car park is cunningly located out of sight on a hill above the town. It’s a 10 minute walk but means the town itself is car free. The walk down the hill provides views over the countryside and down the amusingly named Gorges du Brian. The stunning, if desolate-looking limestone landscape is dotted with vineyards.
The town was pretty busy with day trippers and we were lucky to snag an outdoor table for lunch before we started exploring. On our way into the town we saw the few remnants of the once formidable castle that dominated the area, and strolled over the early 20th century bridge that spans the gorge. The views over Minerve are gorgeous. After lunch we set out to see the town, an hour later we had walked almost every street.
It’s easy to understand why it has been added to the list of most beautiful French villages, Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, but as we strolled around it felt a little lifeless. That’s not to understate just how spectacular its location is, or how attractive the buildings are, but anywhere that seems to only have restaurants and art or book shops, is not catering to locals. In fact, Minerve is home to fewer than 100 actual residents.
The heat was ferocious and Minerve is very exposed to the elements. It was way too hot to walk through the gorge, which is one of the main attractions of this area. Instead, we headed off towards the even smaller village of Aigne, where we would experience the perils of travel in rural France.
