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Holy Communion or use the cross as their it’s hard to believe that in the early 19th
symbol. They were led by bishops called century it was almost torn down.
parfaits. By the early 13th century the Ca- Or that a pig once reportedly “saved” it!
thars were viewed as dangerous heretics,
and in 1209 Pope Innocent III decreed It was in the late 8th century during the
that all be killed. The bloody Albigensian five-year siege when Charlemagne was
Crusade, led by Simon de Montfort, turned determined to starve the residents of
this area into a killing ground. In 1247, Carcassonne, driving out the Moors and
the Cite’ came under the rule of the king, Saracens. After nearly the entire garrison
when Louis IX founded the newer city had died of hunger, legend has it that
across the river below. The outer ram- Lady Carcas, the wife of the Saracen King
parts, constructed during his reign, were Balaak, made some dummies, which she
continued under his son, Philip III; Carcas- arranged all along the ramparts to make
sonne became so strongly fortified that it it look as if they were still fortified. She
even stopped Edward, the Black Prince, in then heroically shot arrows at the enemy
1355. below--and had the only pig left devour all
the remaining grain. When it was stuffed,
Today, as visitors wander through the she tossed it over, and when it hit the
peaceful, charming walled city--which is ground its belly ripped open, exposing
still inhabited by some 100 townsfolk, the undigested grain. Upon seeing that,
mostly craftsmen and shopkeepers (selling Charlemagne gave up, thinking that the
local food items, wines, candies, crafts)--
residents were doing quite well and could

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