The Little Words Mean the Most:

Minor clash in Middle East between Crusaders and Muslims, a skirmish on the sands. Brutal in small doses, but over quickly. The Muslims race off. The Crusaders are arrogant in their victory, righteous in their cause, flaunting the cross, some ostentatiously — maybe madly — praying. Through it all rides a beautifully equipped knight, supremely confident. Simon de Monfort. He tries to rally the other knights to further chase, but they’re too hot and dusty.
From a distance: a man leading a woman on a horse through deserted countryside.
South of France. A knight in shining armor (literally) and gorgeous plumes presents his chastely wrapped sword to a lady. As a token of his chaste love for her. High drama. Solemn, elevated. She accepts the wrapped sword. Part of the rules in the Court of Love. She touches the wrapping suggestively. In the shadows of the cloister, girls giggle and young boys strut about in gangs, seeking attention. The camera pans, discovering other parts of the castle, lots of activity, vignettes of daily life in a crowded ducal palace.
Paris. Simon emerges from a tent in a city field. Muddy. Wearing workaday armor. He’s between jousts. He snaps his fingers hard and a drink appears. He watches the tournament. Two contestants are on the ground, and one is methodically pounding with a hammer on the other, yelling “Yield!” “No!” “Yield!” “No!”

Rome. The Pope, a stern man, argues with his legate. “Another debate, Castelnau? They’re multiplying like fleas. We need something more to the point than debate. Our churches are empty. The Cathar churches are full. Once they go, they don’t come back, you know. They might as well be Muslim. Talk to them, Castelnau. Reason with their souls. They are in terrible danger! And so are we. The church has an enemy at its back now! God expects us to smite his enemies. Satan worhsippers. Misleaders.” “Surely, the king of France....” “The king of France sends his bishops to tell me he can do nothing. He does not have the power, he begs them tell me. He means he will do nothing unless I pay his wages. Troops, he would have me understand, do not come cheap. Ask me the cost of Jerusalem.”
Middle distance: as before, the man leads a woman sitting on a horse. At this distance, it’s obvious the man is a warrior. He’s armed, wearing light armor. The horse and man are moving at a plodding pace, obviously tired. The woman is bent over, exhausted. They’re all probably thirsty. The terrain is dry, covered with scrub, dusty. The trail rises steeply up a cleft between mountains.
The papal legate — Pierre de Castelnau — beseeches the crowd during a court debate against the Cathars.
Castelnau journeys across country, toward the Rhone. The land is green.
Close-up of knight leading a horse with a woman riding. He has the thousand-yard stare. Her eyes are closed. The horse is picking its way up a narrow trail.
Castelnau leaves his lodging.
Close-up of the woman. She wakes up suddenly, her eyes flying open, terrified.
Castelnau approaches the door of a church. Two figures start toward him, draw swords, and cut him down.
The knight leading the horse looks up. They are almost at a castle gate, which is open. It’s a small castle, perched high on rock. An ecclesiastic in a robe comes out and solemnly greets them. The knight sees that the castle is packed with refugees. The priest asks, “What happened?” “They killed everyone.”
Prologue: the emergence of the Cathar church and the decision by the Pope to exterminate this heresy. (voiceover over the following scene)

Camera card: Paris
The king of France enters his chapel and kneels to pray.
A papal legate, Arnold Amaury, forces his way in, trying to talk to the king about a new papal bull that calls for a crusade against the Albigensians. The king throws him out.
On an uncompleted tower of Notre Dame, where the king is walking with his architects, builders, and courtiers, he is again accosted by the papal legate, Arnold Amaury. This time the king deigns to listen to the terms. We hear two of the three terms.
King knights a new batch of squires and announces his crusade against the Albigensians. The papal legate, Arnold Amaury, explains the terms, including the third: absolution from all sins committed on this holy campaign.
King discusses the leaders of the Albigensian crusade and singles out Simon de Montfort, a devout Catholic, as the only capable military mind, and an especially ruthless mind.
Geoffrey and Blanche walk hand in hand, in a simples and herb garden. Obviously, we are back in the sunny south. They are falling in love.
Peter and Marguerite play happily with their infant daughter.
Simon is introduced, appearing as a lesser figure among high nobles. But when they refuse the papal legate’s request to make any speeches, Simon launches the crusade with a brief speech resonant with devotion to the Catholic cause. We see a very mixed, and somewhat disreputable, army, heavy with foragers and despoilers: terrorists, really. We see a soldier commit a serious crime. His friend says, Nothing to worry about; all is forgiven Crusaders.
Peter and Marguerite’s farm. Geoffrey gallops up to announce the news: they are summoned to attend the count, who has submitted to the Pope.
That night, Peter catches up on Geoffrey’s pursuit of Blanche, the young Cathar woman he met during the great debate.
Raymond and his chief advisor can find no way around it: they must comply with Rome’s wishes if they hope to save Raymond’s lands. Raymond is scourged publicly by a legate, the same cardinal we saw in Paris. Raymond denounces the heretics. Peter and Geoffrey arrive in time to see the scourging and hear Raymond’s change of heart. They also hear of the crusade for the first time.
From the count‘s advisor, Peter learns about the terms of the crusade. He also learns that Simon is one of its commanders. Peter knew Simon as a superb — and pitiless — commander in the Holy Lands.
Simon’s army is like a tide of ants that constantly roams out over the countryside, pillaging. Simon insists on a scorched earth terror campaign, to the displeasure of the other great lords, who see wealth going up in flames.
Priests marching with Simon conduct an impromptu inquisition, demonstrating their crude but effective techniques for rooting out heretics.
Word comes of Raymond’s new obedience to the church. This leads to a change in plans.
Peter and Geoffrey leave Toulouse and decide to split up, Peter to bring in his family from the farm, Geoffrey to find Blanche and be near her during a time of danger. The two knights agree to meet at Béziers, because a walled city is the safest refuge.
The next target is chosen. The army veers toward Béziers, where the crusaders will demand the surrender of 222 suspected heretics.
Geoffrey arrives in Béziers, to protect Blanche, and to fight, if necessary.
Very late night at Peter and Marguerite’s fortified farmstead. The household is asleep.
French pillagers scale the walls, kill everyone in the household except Marguerite, who is knocked unconscious.
Peter arrives at the estate and discovers the slaughter, including his murdered daughter. He races off, following the trail.
Peter rescues Marguerite from the pillagers, killing many of them including their leader.

Photo #1: Minerve as it is today. The rest? Scenes from the Albigension Crusade, the only crusade ever launched inside Europe, pitting the northern French against the southern French, to stamp out a "heretical" Christian sect called the Cathars. Catharism refused to believe that God would create a world as cruel as ours, crediting instead the Devil with its authorship. The Cathar priests were notably pious and poor, in contrast to a powerful, wealthy, and intolerant Roman church. The murder of a Papal legate sent to the region to argue against the heresy triggered the crusade. This tiny museum brilliantly tells the story (through a local knight of the mountains, Hurepel) of a savage invasion and its aftermath (which included the creation of the Inquisition, to root out secret followers), using 3" clay figures masterfully crafted.