Guirande de Lavaur was born second half of the twelfth century in Laurac, France. She belonged to the noble Laurac family, a family supporting the Cathar (Albigensian) sect, a religion that the papacy and the king of France considered heretical, but that had a large following in Languedoc, the southern region of France. Her mother and three of her sisters were "perfects", particularly dedicated celibates.
In 1209 Pope Innocent III organized a bloody crusade against the Albigensians in southern France, lasting some twenty years. During the spring of 1211, Giralda acted as castellan and shared custody of the town of Lavaur with her brother Aimery, defending against attacks by crusaders from the north led by Simon de Montfort. Though Giralda did hold an unusually strong position as a domina, none of the sources report that she actually participated in combat. As castellan, however, she would have played a large role in organizing Lavaur's defense. The defenders of Lavaur consisted of 80 knights, a garrison of undetermined size, and 400 inhabitants of the town. The town was besieged for several weeks between March and May 1211.
The crusaders were unable to get close enough to assault the walls because the inhabitants of Lavaur had a tunnel dug into the dry fosse surrounding the town and could dig it out at night as the crusaders filled it in during the day.
After a frustrating siege and skillful defense, Lavaur was successfully stormed by the crusaders. In accordance with both the current conventions of war and the fact that the inhabitants were considered heretics or friends to heretics, the crusaders executed many of the defenders after the siege, including Giralda. The crusaders tossed her down a well and threw stones down upon her until she was crushed to death.
Consequently, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about Giralda's execution other than the unusual manner of her death. The was thought that she should not be burned or cut to pieces. Chroniclers partisan to Simon de Montfort accused Giralda of being pregnant by her brother or even by her son. But for William of Tudela, her death "was a pity and a crime" because she was renowned as a generous and gracious woman. Сircumstances of her death were striking to her contemporaries; the story was told in the Provencal language by William of Tudela and in Latin by Peter of Les Vaux-de-Cernay and William of Puylaurens. William of Tudela writes that Giralda "was taken, shouting, weeping, screaming, and thrown sideways into a pit; she was there buried under stones to the great agitation of the crowd". The sources do not list the specific reason why the crusading army chose that particular method for her execution, other than that perhaps because she was a noblewoman it was thought that she should not be burned or cut to pieces. Chroniclers partisan to Simon de Montfort accused Giralda of being pregnant by her brother or even by her son. But for William of Tudela, her death "was a pity and a crime" because she was renowned as a generous and gracious woman. An eighteenth-century fresco in the cathedral of Lavaur commemorates the execution of Giralda and her brother.
Giralda de Lavaur defended her castles against attacks by the armies of three bishops. She had to give in to the superior military forces of Simon de Montfort, one of England's most famous rebel soldiers.
It is tempting to see Giralda de Laurac as a martyr in the cause of freedom of religion or as an example of how medieval men treated women, who transcended gender roles, especially military ones. It should be noted that 400 others of both genders were burned in the aftermath of the siege, and Giralda's brother Aimery, plus the 80 knights of the garrison, were also executed, killed by the sword after their surrender.
Giralda de Lavaur was known as an educated, gentle and charitable lady.
It is not clear from surviving records, Giralda de Lavaur was either widowed or her husband was absent during the year 1211, for his name is not mentioned with hers.
