The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Raymond VII, count of Toulouse
1197–1249, count of Toulouse; son of Count Raymond VI. He fought with his father in the Albigensian Crusade (see under Albigenses), assisting Raymond VI in his attempt to regain Toulouse from Simon de Montfort and Simon’s son, Amaury. Continuing the war on his father’s death (1222), he signed (1223) a truce with Amaury in which the latter renounced the countship of Toulouse. In 1226, King Louis VIII of France resumed the Albigensian Crusade. Defeated by the French, Raymond VII agreed in 1229 to a treaty that virtually transferred the major part of S France to the French crown, partly through cession, partly through the proposed marriage of his daughter to Alphonse of Poitiers, a brother of King Louis IX of France. Raymond was permitted to keep much of his lands during his lifetime. He was compelled, however, to allow the establishment of the Inquisition in his lands. In 1242, in alliance with King Henry III of England, he revolted against France. He was forced to sue for peace after Henry’s defeat and agreed to destroy the Albigenses. He executed many heretics.
