The strength of the free towns had been shaken shortly before this by the terrible crusade against the Albigenses of Aquitaine. The tenets of the Christian Church in this province had always differed somewhat from those of Rome, and the jealousy of the ecclesiastics had been excited by the freedom of the life and language of this comparatively enlightened region. The Pope having now completely established the principle of the supremacy of the See of Rome, could not endure the idea of any want of conformity to his rule; and he accordingly encouraged the Romanists of the North to make war on these rebellious heretics. The enthusiasm of the Crusaders against the Holy Land had now worn off; but a crusade against the Heretics of Aquitaine had the charm of novelty, combined with the advantages of easiness of access, and the probability of abundance of booty. The crusades against the Albigenses were led by Count Simon de Montfort, who attacked and, after encountering in most cases a gallant and determined defence, destroyed the towns, and massacred the inhabitants. At Béziers alone, which fell after a protracted siege, the Abbot of Citeaux, in reporting to Innocent III., expressed regret that he had only been able to slay 20,000 heretics; but it is believed that no less than 60,000 were destroyed in that indiscriminate massacre. The horrors of war were followed by the tortures of the Inquisition, and in the holy hands of St Dominic and his order all dissent was either exterminated or driven into other lands, there to sow the seeds which should some day spring up as a crop, which no Papal sickle could cut down. Raymond VII., Count of Toulouse, having espoused the cause of his people, suffered with them and was compelled to do penance and to surrender, by a definite treaty with Queen Blanche in 1229, all his possessions in the Kingdom of France to her husband Louis VIII., and all in the Kingdom of Arles to the Pope’s Legate. Only a small portion was allowed him for life, and he was required to do penance by service in the Holy Land. The Pope, however, declined to accept of the Kingdom of Arles on account of its burdensomeness owing to famines. He therefore handed it over to Queen Blanche, who entrusted the administration of it to the Seneschal of the castle of Beaucaire. It was afterwards formed into the Principality of Orange and the Countship of the Venaissin. In 1243 Raymond VII. of Toulouse was finally obliged to yield up everything to King Louis IX. The suzerainty of ancient Aquitaine was thus acquired by the Crown of France, but Provence, east of the Rhone, still retained its independence.