Victor Madrènes's death shakes Béziers: the city unites around Robert Ménard to honor its martyrs

The city of Béziers commemorated with emotion one of the bloodiest episodes in its history: the "Sack of Béziers," perpetrated on July 22, 1209, during the Albigensian Crusade. This massacre served as an example in the 13th century to facilitate the surrender of the entire Occitan people to Pope Innocent III, allied with the French crown, who was persecuting the Cathars. The people of Béziers never surrendered their brothers, even though they were considered heretics by Rome: they were preparing for their deaths. Locked inside the Church of the Madeleine, they all perished indiscriminately, and the city burned to the ground.

On July 22, 2026, a cantata composed by Gilles Arcens was powerfully performed by the Lyre Biterroise Orchestra and the Choir of the Béziers Méditerranée Conservatory, under the direction of Victor Madrènes. A true musical and historical fresco, brought to life by the narration translated from Occitan by Yves Rouquette and the voices of actors Céline Garcia and Olivier Cabassut.
817 years later, to the day and on the very spot of the massacre (in front of the majestic Madeleine church), the city gathered and remembered in music what was one of the most tragic pages in the history of France.