When Innocent, in 1198, at the early age of thirty-seven, ascended the chair of St. Peter, one of his first desires was to impart new life to the hitherto somewhat sluggish action against the Albigenses. The bishops of the threatened dioceses were admonished to take immediate and energetic measures, and a number of Papal legates were successively despatched to stem the current of heresy by preaching, personal persuasion, and, if need be, severe repression. Amongst the priests most devoted to the cause of Rome, and most fanatical in their orthodox zeal, two names stand out prominently—that of Folquet, Bishop of Toulouse, once a gay troubadour, now an ascetic; and that of St. Dominic, branded by history as the originator of the Inquisition. Count Raimon’s attitude in the meantime seems to have been one of diplomatic evasion. When taken to task for his notorious connivance at the heretical movement, he meekly confessed his guilt, and promised the immediate expulsion of the culprits from his dominions. But no result followed; not even after the severest punishment of the Church, the Interdict, had been twice inflicted on him and his subjects. The instrument of the Papal wrath on the second occasion was Pierre de Castelnau, the legate; and his death at the hands of two unknown assassins, with which Count Raimon was charged, is the tragic close of the first scene of the Albigeois drama. This event gave new zest to the extreme measure resolved upon by the Pope shortly before—the preaching of a crusade against the heretics and their protector. The political wisdom of such a measure is at once apparent, and fully accounts for its ultimate success. The fertile valleys and wealthy cities of Provence offered a tempting bait to pious plunderers, who at the same time avoided a wearisome and dangerous journey to the far East without losing any of the spiritual privileges connected with the more onerous task. Moreover, the Papal mandate was chiefly addressed to the ruler and the nobles of the French kingdom, who for a long time had looked with a covetous eye on the broad acres and rich vineyards of their southern neighbours.