Simon de Montfort wins at Muret

September 12, 1213

In a single brutal cavalry charge south of Toulouse, the crusader Simon de Montfort killed Peter II of Aragon and routed the Occitan and Aragonese host. The Cathar lords lost their most powerful protector and the crown of Aragon lost its footing north of the Pyrenees. The battle ensured that southern France would eventually be absorbed by the Capetian crown rather than Iberian powers.