Peter of Vaux de Cernay (died c.1218) was a Cistercian monk of Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey, in what is now Yvelines, northern France, and a chronicler of the Albigensian Crusade.
[1] His uncle Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay was his abbot, bishop of Carcassonne for some years from 1212, and a preacher brought in earlier to preach against Catharism by Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester.
His writing is generally considered partisan, taking the Catholic side,[1] but also to be more objective in reporting Cathar beliefs and actions than some of the hunters of heresy.
[4] Steven Runciman gives examples in which Peter's discussion of Cathar theology is presumably accurate,[5] or, exaggerated for propaganda effect.
[6] The chronicle was not written after 1218, and it is suggested that Peter's death shortly after that year may be the reason.