Raymond-Roger de Trencavel (1185 - November 10, 1209) was a member of the noble Trencavel family. He was viscount of Béziers and Albi (and thus a vassal of the count of Toulouse), and viscount of Carcassonne and the Razès (and thus a vassal of the count of Barcelona, which was also ruling Aragon at this time).

Family

Raymond Roger was the son of Roger II Trencavel (d. 1194), and the nephew of Raymond VI of Toulouse. He was married to Agnes of Montpellier.

Beginning of reign

Raymond-Roger lived in the Château Comtal in the fortified hill town of Carcassonne. The château was built by his ancestors in the 11th century. Raymond-Roger was not a Cathar, although many of his subjects were. He adopted a laissez-faire attitude to Catharism – and to other cultures and religions. He relied strongly on Jews to run Béziers, his second seat of power.

Albigensian Crusade

By mid 1209, at the beginning of the Albigensian Crusade, around 10,000 crusaders had gathered in Lyon and began to march south. In June, Raymond of Toulouse, recognizing the potential disaster at hand, promised to act against the Cathars, and his excommunication was lifted. The crusaders headed towards Montpellier and the lands of Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, aiming for the Cathar communities around Albi and Carcassonne. Like Raymond of Toulouse, Raymond-Roger de Trencavel sought an accommodation with the crusaders, but Raymond-Roger was refused a meeting and raced back to Carcassonne to prepare his defences. The city of Béziers was sacked in July and its population massacred.

The town of Carcassonne was well fortified, but vulnerable and over-populated with refugees. The crusaders, led by Simon de Montfort, arrived outside the town on August 1, 1209. A vassal of Peter II of Aragon, Raymond-Roger had hoped for protection, but Peter was unwilling to oppose the Pope Innocent III's army and was prepared only to act as a mediator.

The siege did not last long, and by August 7 the crusaders had cut the town's access to water. Raymond-Roger accepted a safe-conduct to negotiate terms of surrender in the Crusader camp. But at the conclusion of negotiations, was taken prisoner while under truce, and imprisoned in his own dungeon, where he died, probably of dysentery.

Aftermath

The town of Carcassonne had surrendered on August 15. The inhabitants were not massacred but all were forced to leave the town. Simon de Montfort was granted control of the area encompassing Carcassonne, Albi, and Béziers.

Raymond-Roger's dispossed son, Raymond II (1204-1263), formally ceded his rights to Louis IX of France in 1247, after several failed attempts to recover his patrimony.