Occitania was the former name of the region of Languedoc-Roussillon, once the richest area of France in the 11th and 12th centuries, known for its art, literature and science. Now it is one of the poorest areas of France, scattered with ruins which stand as reminders of how it was ripped apart. This region saw the first act of European genocide, known as the Albigension Crusade when more than 100,000 members of the Cathar heresy were massacred in the year 1209 on Pope Innocent III’s orders.

-- Picknett, Lynn and Clive Prince, The Templar Revelation, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998. Page 85.