<< [snip]
Pop quiz: what famous war quote from Vietnam Special Forces originated in the repression of the Catharian heresy?
Answer tomorrow.
>>
I can't resist.
"Kill them all. Let God sort them out."
The soldiers under Arnaud-Amaury, Archbishop and Duke of Narbonne, brought the defeated inhabitants of Bézier (1209), supposedly Cathar heretics, to the bishop, asking him which should be killed. He replied:
Tuez-les tous. Dieu reconnaîtra les siens. However, it is only attributed to him, it's not certain. I wonder if this is a "quote" that goes back to pre-history, updated as it were for every savage war.
An intriguing web site devoted to the Cathars is http://www.cathares.org/sommaire.html
I know, I was struck the same way on reading the quote. So that's were we got it.
-- John K. Taber