Oliver de
Termes
(Termes, Aude, near 1200 – Acre, Israel, August 12, 1274)
Oliver, one
of the most famous knights of the thirteenth century, was initially the most
active of the opponents to the Albigensian crusade and a protector of the
Cathars. He became after an appreciated knight of king Louis IX of France and of
the Catholic Church in Southern France and the Holy Land where he died at the
head of the crusaders.
Oliver acquired
broad famous among his contemporaries and became familiar of several kings and
popes thanks to his energy, his bravery and his control of the art of the
sieges and the guerrilla of which he made proof in his trade of knight until
his death.
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One broken childhood
Oliver was born around 1200 in a rich seigniorial family converted to catharism, which dominated about sixty villages or hamlets around the castle of Termes (Aude). His youth was dramatically marked by
the beginning of the Albigensian crusade: in 1210 after the castle of Termes was taken by
Simon de Montfort, he lost his father and his possessions, but could observe the
techniques of siege and guerrilla in which he will become the large
specialist. He completed his education in Catalonia where his mother was from
originating. There he met his future suzerains wham he will become familiar
ones : King James I of Aragon, Raimond the young person who accompanies his
father Raimond VI de Toulouse, and Raimond Trencavel Viscount of Carcassonne
in exile. All the four of them of the same generation, were victims of the
crusade and were animated by a spirit of reconquest.
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(Photograph : Gérard Sioen) |
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At the service of the southern princes
Oliver thus puts at the service these three
lords and is distinguished in a great number of military operations: for the
count of Toulouse he defends the village of Labècede-Lauragais besieged by
the army of king of France (1227) for king James I of Aragon he takes part in
the conquest of Majorque on Saracens; for the count of Toulouse he
manages on several occasions the town of Narbonne revolted against its
archbishop and the Inquisition (between 1234 and 1242); with Raimond
Trencavel he raises Corbières against the king and carries out him siege of Carcassonne (1240) etc. In reward he receives
fiefs in Lauragais, Roussillon and in Majorque.
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The
crossbowmen of Majorque |
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At the service of king of France
But after its suzerains made
definitively peace with Louis IX, Oliver puts himself at the service of king
of France since 1245. During the VIIth crusade, Oliver, appointed by the
King, Master of the crossbowmen (i.e. head of artillery), is distinguished by
defending Damiette (Egypt, 1250) and by saving Joinville at Baniyas (Israel,
1253). Recognizing, King Louis returns to Oliver his seigniory of Termenès.
Returned to France in 1255, Oliver puts a term at the pacification of
Languedoc by obtaining the rendering of the castle of Quéribus (1255), then
goes up to the court where he plays a role of adviser near the king for the
businesses concerning Languedoc, Aragon and Castille. Familiar also of King
James I of Aragon, Oliver is undoubtedly one of the makers of the treaty of
Corbeil (1258) passed between the two kings and who fixed for four centuries
the border between Aragon and France.
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Siege
of Damiette 1248
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The
Chapel Saint-Bernard of Fontfroide (Photograph :
G. Langlois)
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At the service of God
Starting
from 1257 Oliver is worked by the safety of its soul and decides to put
itself at the service of God. In a few years he liquidates its seigniory of
which the castle of Aguilar which it had made build, to distribute of the
considerable gifts to the abbey of Fontfroide and other religious
establishments, and to finance a military Holy Land forwarding. He goes back
there in 1264 to the head of a royal contingent, then becomes in 1269
seneschal of the kingdom of Jerusalem, i.e. head of the Holy Armies where it
carries out a fight activates against Moslems. He takes part in the VIIIth crusade
by joining Louis IX in Tunis (1270) then sets out again out of Holy Land with
the head of a new contingent paid by the pope and the king (1274). He dies
there on August 12, 1274. Perhaps Oliver, if he was not buried out of Holy
Land, rests in Fontfroide, against the Chapel Saint-Bernard that had made
build.
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Recumbent
effigy’s knight of XIIIe century, chapel Saint-Bernard of the Fontfroide’s
abbey (This recumbent effigy, placed in the funerary
chapel of Oliver de Termes, is not that of Oliver. It was bought in Spain at
the beginning of the century by the owners of the abbey) |
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Conclusion
When joining it the Catholic Church and the
king of France, Oliver de Termes involved all his entourage, and undoubtedly
largely facilitated some of the broad objectives of king of France and the
Church : the integration of Languedoc in France, the fight against the
cathar heresy, the modernisation of the Church in Languedoc, and the fight
against the Moslems.
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Seal
of Oliver de Termes
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Source :
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Langlois (Gauthier). – Olivier de Termes, le cathare et le croisé (vers 1200-1274), Toulouse : Éditions Privat, 2001, 288 p. (Collection Domaine cathare). File
Sir Oliver de Termes. Find
on this site some extracts of the book "Oliver de Termes, the Cathare
and the Crusader" (abstract, summary, maps of the crusades, genealogy of
the family of Termes, the first chapter etc.), a forum of discussion on the
siege of Termes and Oliver de Termes. You can order the book also there. |
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[Summary]
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Page
made by Gauthier LANGLOIS Extract
from the site Paratge at the address : |
