Église Saint-Jacques de Muret et la bataille de 1213

Muret

On 12 September 1213, Simon de Montfort, shut up in Muret with fewer than a thousand fighting men, faced the greatest army ever gathered against him: the militias of Toulouse, the counts of Toulouse, of Foix and of Comminges, and above all the king of Aragon Peter II, the victor over the Almohads the year before at Las Navas de Tolosa, come to the aid of his vassals and brothers-in-law. Tradition has it that Montfort heard mass and prayed in the church of Saint-Jacques before going out. His cavalry, in three bodies, charges on the plain; the king, who has taken the place of an ordinary knight in the front rank, is recognised and killed; the army breaks up, and the Toulouse militiamen are cut down as they flee towards their boats on the Garonne. In an hour Montfort had won the county of Toulouse, and Aragon had lost for ever its ambitions north of the Pyrenees. The church, enlarged over the centuries, keeps from 1213 the memory rather than the stones; its eight-sided brick bell-tower, raised in 1518, is the brother of those of Toulouse.

Wikipédia — Bataille de Muret ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Muret, rue Saint-Jacques; Muret station (Toulouse-Tarbes line) five minutes away. The church opens during the day. The plain of the battle extends north-west of the town, between the Louge and the Garonne; a stele near the confluence recalls Peter II of Aragon.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound