killing people and breaking things

[Wilson Gray]

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 8:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Caesarius of Heisterbach's _Dialogus Miraculorum_ of 1233 attributes the
> "God" version to the Arnauld Amaury, Abbott of Citeaux, during the
> Albigensian Crusade of 1209

Oh, yes. Speaking very loosely, that's the war that destroyed the
military and political power of Le Midi and guaranteed that Francien
would be the sole language of state, so that the legendary _Carles_
Martel would be known as _Charles_. Oh, well. He could have been made
into _Charles Marteau_!

Well, those Albigensians were heretics. What's a Pope to do, other
than to "let slip the dogs of war," to coin a phrase?

I saw the quote first as

"Kill them all! Let God sort them out!"

Some novel or other. Or perhaps in True: The Man's Magazine or some
such. Anyway, after reading various versions accompanied by
attributions ranging from Muhammad to the marines, I didn't know what
to believe.

IAC, thank you.
--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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