Siege of Avignon (1226)
Siege of Avignon (1226)
The siege of Avignon was the main action of the Albigensian Crusade in 1226. King Louis VIII of France aimed to force Avignon, a wealthy city on the Rhône, to submit. Avignon belonged to Raymond VII of Toulouse and was part of the Holy Roman Empire, but it governed itself like an Italian city, with consuls and a podestà.
Louis gathered a large crusading army at Bourges in May 1226 and moved toward Lyon, then down the Rhône Valley. His goal was to make Raymond VII give up Avignon and its lands.
Avignon was strongly defended by walls and towers. It had been under a papal interdict for twelve years for disobeying the pope. To avoid violence, Avignon and Louis agreed on terms: Louis could cross the Rhône via a stone bridge, he would gain Beaucaire across the river (which he had mortgages on), the papal legate Cardinal Romanus would enter with Louis, and a small number of Louis’s men could cross with him. Avignon also promised hostages.
When Louis reached the area near Avignon on 7 June, the city built a wooden bridge to block the main crossing. Louis refused to use the wooden bridge and demanded the agreement be honored. A clash occurred as Louis’s men tried to cross; several crusaders were killed or captured.
The city did not fully keep the agreement, and Louis began the siege on 10 June. The walls were strong, so the French could not easily break in. Louis used trenches and siege engines, and the Rhône allowed some supplies to come by boat, but food became scarce for both sides. Heat and disease troubled the camps, and Louis may have fallen sick.
An assault on 8 August led by Count Guy II of Saint-Pol failed and Guy was killed. Some writers blamed treachery by other French nobles.
By late August both sides wanted terms. Louis needed to move on to fight Raymond before winter. Louis died of dysentery in November 1226, likely from illness during the siege.
The surrender terms were favorable to the French. Avignon agreed to pay 6,000 marks, to fund a royal fortress near the abbey of Saint-André, and to cover sending 30 crusaders to Outremer. The city’s walls and weapons were handed over, and no citizens were to be punished. The gates opened on 9 September and Louis entered the city peacefully; Cardinal Romanus granted absolution to the people.
Two Occitan troubadours wrote about the siege, and a Latin epic by Nicholas of Bray described the events.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:54 (CET).