Arnaud Amalric was a prominent Cistercian abbot and the Archbishop of Narbonne who played a central role during the Albigensian Crusade. Born in Narbonne around 1160, he served as the abbot of the monastery of Santa María de Poblet, the abbot of Grandselve, and eventually the seventeenth abbot of Cîteaux. As a papal legate and inquisitor, he was tasked with converting the Albigensians, but he became most noted for his leadership of the crusader forces during the conflict in southern France.