We are continuing with Talisman by Graham Hancock & Robert Bauval.
‘It was not until the formation of the Holy Office [of the Inquisition] that the world was presented with the spectacle of an organization prepared to kill, starve, and dispossess those who had deviated a hair’s breadth from its own theological preoccupations. No other major religion has ever produced such an organization. There are secular organizations which have acted with equal ferocity and efficiency, but, unlike the Inquisition, they did not last for seven centuries.’ (Arthur Guirdham, The Great Heresy) 1

The crusading army rested three days in the meadows around the reeking corpse of Béziers, then marched off to besiege the great city of Carcassonne – which surrendered two weeks later without putting up a fight. A condition of the surrender was that this time the inhabitants would not be slaughtered; instead all their property was confiscated and they were expelled from Carcassonne, penniless and homeless, never to return.

In August 1209 Simon de Montfort officially took command of the army, and of a new title, Viscount of Béziers and Carcassonne. 2 But by mid-September the vast majority of the forces at his disposal had packed their bags and gone home. This was a routine and predictable desertion since the indulgences and remission of sins that the Pope bestowed on Crusaders required them to put in a minimum of forty days on campaign. The surrender of Carcassonne was accomplished just within the forty days, but after that, in the minds of most of the volunteers, the campaign was over.

With a small band of dedicated knights de Montfort hung on in what was now the heart of very hostile territory over the winter. Then in 1210 – and yearly thereafter – the Pope preached another Crusade and the ranks of the army swelled once more. 3

A macabre highlight of the 1210 campaign was the capture of the fortress of Bram after three days of stiff resistance. Because they had put up a fight, the surviving members of the garrison, numbering over 100, suffered a terrible punishment. On de Montfort’s orders their eyes were put out. Then their noses and upper lips were crudely hacked off. One man was left one eye, not out of charity but so that he could lead the stumbling, blinded, mutilated soldiers to Cabaret, the Crusaders’ next target, as a very particular message for the defenders there. 4
https://exploringrealhistory.blogspot.com/2023/02/part-4-talisman-sword-and-fire-sacred.html