SCP-4565
rating: +62+x
crusade.jpg

King Peter V of Aragon opening a portal for his knights

Item #: SCP-4565

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: Historical manuals and reference books regarding the Albigensian Crusade are to be acquired and then stored in Warehouse 14-3.

Existing information, online or in academia, concerning the above-mentioned event, is to be analyzed by Foundation historians and adjusted accordingly.

All historical artifacts or items found in the southern French province of Occitanie are to be assessed for anomalous properties and contained.

Description: SCP-4565 was a 20-year anomalous military campaign that occurred from 1205 to 1225 between Vatican-assisted Crusader Knights and the Cathars of France1. The war was instigated by Pope Innocent III, whose aim was to obtain the "keys of the Kingdom of Heaven2" which were believed to be in the possession of the five main houses of Carcassonne.

The houses of Carcassonne were led by Duke Raymond V who was headquartered in the former province of Languedoc. The war concluded with the deaths of Viscount Raymond VI of Toulouse and King Peter V of Aragon and the destruction of South Languedoc.

It is theorized that SCP-4565-1 was obtained by the Knights Templar3, however, with the group's dissolution in 1312, its current location remains unknown.

This campaign is especially significant due to the conception of various anomalous military organizational techniques that would be recreated by Foundation pre-cursors in later years. The most significant of these would be the concepts of efficient team-based anomaly suppression groups and the utilization of anomalies to combat or suppress other anomalies.

The former would later eventually develop into "Rixantes Luce Sacra" groups4 and the latter would later be used as historical precedence for the acceptance of the "Thaumiel" object class.

The purpose of SCP-4565-1 has yet to be discovered.

Documentation: All primary and secondary source documentation and evidence regarding this SCP was obtained from the Vatican Holy Office for Secrets and Prophecies (Secretorum Camerus Prophetias). The veracity of all information about SCP-4565 has yet to be corroborated by any third party reference.

The sources from which the information is provided are written in Middle English or Latin and have been translated to English. The "sæfernmúða edlæcan5" has been translated from Old French to English.

2255-004-48D171B1.jpg

Viscount Raymond VI (pictured center, sitting on lap) instructing his army

The following information is taken from the original transcript of "The Cathar Crusades: A History of Genocide and Magic" by Severus Iona, 1854.

Chapter 3: Old Bonds Burn and New Relations Sprout from the Ashes

…Raymond V denied the notion that he owned the key to Heaven and accused Archbishop Kosmas of slander against his governorship.

The period in which this letter was sent was the height of Cathar conversion in southern France and simultaneously occurred while the tensions rose between the Church and local leadership. By this point, five provinces had already been mostly converted.

Due to the anti-priesthood tenet of the sect, the area was in direct opposition with the Catholic Church. In 1201, the archbishop of Milan listed Catharism as an "enemy of Catholicism" and this was used as an excuse for the incoming Crusade.

In 1203, plans for the Albigensian Crusade began when various barons of southern France called for independence from King Phillip II. At the same time, Raymond V married Beatrice Alba, the granddaughter of King Peter V of Aragon, to secure a military alliance in time for the oncoming conflict.

Plans were established by the Catholic Church to utilize various occult technology stolen from Constantinople and Jerusalem during the Fourth Crusade which ended five years prior in 1202. In 1204, the Council of Cardinals announced the start of the Crusade and called for volunteers from Northern France.

Due to the rather low amount of initial Crusaders, Pope Innocent III permitted the use of psyche-altering machinations that persuaded more individuals to join the conflict…

Numerous thaumaturgic and magical combat varieties were used during the entirety of the conflict. It is unclear on which exact groups employed anomalous weaponry and to the extent that such means were used in relation to contemporary weaponry.

It is known that utilizing anomalous methods during the conflict became normalized by at least 1217, according to letters from Raymond VI to occult magicians and the "Rexa Mundi Internal Declaration6" that was passed by Bishop Iona.

Chapter 6: Destruction, Creation, Combining it All

…Raymond V was assassinated in the sacking of Bogomil in 1220. In the same year, his 3-year-old son, Raymond VI, a reality manipulator, summoned various "demonic" entities that caused a rebellion through the ranks of the Church's army.

In a final bid, to steal the key of Heaven from Raymond VI, Pope Innocent decided to siege the capital of Languedoc, the city of Toulouse…

Chapter 12: The End and Its Consequences

During the siege of Toulouse in 1228, Viscount Raymond VI obtained the key from its storage place in Lastour. Later, when the siege ended, a massive blast engulfed Toulouse and many other neighboring cities.

The true cause of the blast is unknown, but it is theorized that it was caused by the magician Jeronium Malgerious, the acting Archbishop of Catalonia.

After the full defeat of Raymond VI and Peter V, the French King Phillip II occupied the region. The Catholic Church oversaw the rebuilding effort, especially of the city of Toulouse, in which they assigned the Knights Templar.

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