Chapter 56 The Trial of Raymond
Quotes to be obtained
Raymond’s
trip had served its purpose. Innocent
was quite taken by young Raymond VII and was more kindly disposed to the elder
than he had been. He promised Raymond a
fair trial in Toulouse, where he would be able to once and for all to prove his
innocence, stop the sniping of papal legates and secure his holding against the
appetite of the northern crusaders, particularly his two principle nemesis, the
Pope’s legate of Langudoc, Arnold Amaury, and the new Duke of Carcassonne, Simon
de Montfort. The Pope sent with Raymond
a letter to Amaury to this effect.
Raymond,
feeling good about his prospects had returned to Toulouse to prepare his
defense. On the day of the trial, which
was to be held before the secular authorities of Toulouse itself, a optimistic
Raymond invited his friends, including Joshua, who as always headed his noble
friends’ invitations. Amaury would act
in the role as prosecutor.
Joshua
watched nervously, as he did not share the count’s confidence on the result,
though with a friendly jury to hear the case, it did seem that Raymond’s
prospects were well secured. He knew his
friend was an able orator and skilled diplomat, speaking before an audience
that should be receptive to his arguments, and Raymond had the backing of the
Pope himself. But, Joshua could not help
but be nervous as Raymond stood to address his jury to begin the trial.
As
he did so, Arnold Amaury cried out, “Wait!”
The
legate stood, surprising Raymond, “If the count will permit, I believe I can
save us all a great deal of time and effort here.” He looked over at the count, who seated
himself once more.
“Thank
you, Count Raymond. I do understand that
you have returned yourself to His Holiness the Pope’s good graces, and that I
am to help you get as fair a trial as is possible, by his order. I assure you all that I shall do so now.”
“However,
there is one important aspect of trial law that needs first be addressed, and
it is a simple one, that we shall get out of the way quite quickly.”
Joshua
saw Raymond sigh in relief at Amaury’s words, as if he were conceding victory
to the count in the earliest moments of the trial. Joshua was shrewd enough to not be so
sure. Amaury continued.
“We
were all witness to Raymond’s voluntary penance not eight months ago. All of us here, watched our Count Raymond
make certain promises to uphold the laws required by the Church. Is that not so? Indeed, we have seen it ourselves. And what is the status of these promises, I
ask you? No? Well, then I shall tell you.
“On
the count of his promise to hunt down all the heretics that crawl these
lands….he has done nothing. In fact he has
impeded the efforts of those of us who are attempting to fulfill the Church’s
orders. You all know this to be
true. On the count of removing both
Cathars and Jews holding public office and forcing them out of his lands…he has
done nothing. There” he pointed right at
Joshua, “is a Jew that owns a vineyard nearby, he sits in council with Raymond,
in fact. I offer this as proof of the
count’s perfidity. On the count of duly
accepting the orders and commands of the Pope’s own legates…this very trial
stands as a violation of this pledge made before you all, as were all of these
pledges, sworn over the holiest relics of Christiandom, on the very steps of
his family’s Church of St. Gilles.
“I
offer you this obvious fact: that Count Raymond VI is therefore guilty of
perjury, and by law he cannot be permitted to speak before us today.”
Raymond’s
face turned from red to pale and back to red once again. Joshua saw on his face, there would be
war. Raymond’s lot was cast. War would again erupt in Languedoc, now more
violently than had been previously waged.
Toulouse would stand up to Simon de Montfort’s knights and troops. Raymond had no longer cared for the blessings
of Rome. It was obvious that Innocent
could not control the bloodlust of his own legates. Joshua was disturbed from these thoughts as
armed soldiers grabbed him roughly from behind and pulled him from his seat.
copyright 2017 Diana Hignutt
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