"The Historia Albigensis, one of the most important sources for the history of the Cathar heresy and the Albigensian Crusade, was written between about 1212 and 1218 (around the time of the events it covers) by Peter, a young monk at the Cistercian Abbey of les Vaux-de-Cernay in the Ile de France, about twenty-five miles south-west of Paris." "It begins with an account of the preaching campaign in the south of France against the Cathar and Waldensian heresies organised by Pope Innocent III during the years 1203-1208, going on to provide a vivid and detailed narrative of the crusade launched in 1208-9 against heretics and those seen as their protectors. It ends shortly after an account of the death in 1218 of Simon de Montfort, until then leader of the crusade. The author's uncle, Guy, abbot at les Vaux-de-Cernay, took part in the preaching mission, and later played an important part in the crusade before becoming bishop of Carcassonne; Peter accompanied his uncle to the south on several occasions, so meeting many of those involved in the crusade. The Historia thus contains a wealth of first-hand detail about the personalities and events of the crusade, and contemporary warfare in general."--BOOK JACKET