Quotations and Literature Forum

Who originally said words to this effect (and what were the original words)? The sentiment was paraphrased during the Viet Nam hostilities, but the original orders were spoken by a Medieval commander upon breaking the seige of a city/fort in the Balkans (I think). I used to know this, but can't recall where I read it (the ravages of Anheuser's Disease at work).

"In 1208 Christian armed forces attacked the town of Beziers, France slaughtering 20,000 men, women and children accused of heresy. When the commanding legate, Arnaud, was asked how to tell the heretics from the believers he answered, 'Kill them all, let God sort them out.'"
— The Dark Side of Christian History, by Helen Ellerbe, page 74. Morningstar Books 1995

_________________
Regards,
Lou
I feel like a fugitive from th' law of averages.
— Bill Mauldin

In Latin, "Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoset" or "Kill them all. God will know His own." This was a misunderstood reference to 2 Tim. 2:19 which in part reads, "The Lord knoweth them that are his" (KJV).

In the Albigensian Crusade, Amalric Arnaud (Abbot of Citeaux, 1209) supposedly said this to Simon de Montfort. The French statement is: "Tuez-les tous; Dieu reconnaitra les siens."

(Above info gleaned from another site)


This is also a favorite saying of elite airborne units (paratroopers).