I luoghi dei catari: castelli e insediamenti nell’Occitania medievale

Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Languedoc and Occitania were the beating heart of the Cathar heresy in Europe, supported and encouraged by the protection of certain local noble families. The Cathar movement did not give rise to any specific architectural phenomena; however, with the growing repression of the heresy by the Roman Church, culminating with the Albigensian Crusade invoked by Pope Innocent III in 1208, there was a gradual fortification of those regions in which the heretical movement had significant influence. In response to the rise of the Inquisition, especially in the first half of the 13th century, a substantial change in the territorial organization of Occitania can be observed. In fact, the exponential increase in the centers of power and control of the region, registered in the fortified castle complexes managed by the local lords, was part of a framework of progressive militarisation of the territory, which was becoming the object of important military expeditions and repressive interventions. This article aims to offer a new perspective on the urban and rural transformations that took place in this geographic area, which are mainly reflected in military construction techniques. The aims of the article will be to outline how landscape archaeology can help to understand the transformations in the Occitanian territory between the 12th and 13th centuries and to analyze the structural innovations of the sites examined. The object of investigation will be some of the key examples of Occitan fortification, such as the castra of Montségur, Lastours, Peyrepertuse, Puilaurens, Puivert and Quéribus, and the fortress-city of Carcassonne, examined as a fortified settlement model from the first half of the 13th century