It was an important centre of
Catharism from about 1140 to the mid 13th century.
Bernard of Clairvaux preached against heresy at Verfeil in 1145. Sent away without a proper hearing by the seigneurs, he is said to have cursed the town with the words
Viridefolium, desiccet te Deus! ("Verfeil, may God dry you up!")
Izarn Neblat, one of those seigneurs, was said by
Guillaume de Puylaurens to have lived in his old age in poverty at
Toulouse as a result of this curse; the town's recovery was dated by the faithful to the period of the
Albigensian Crusade, when
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester gave it to bishop
Foulques de Toulouse. An important Catholic-Cathar debate was held at Verfeil in 1206. The Catholic side was led by
Diego de Acebo,
bishop of Osma, supported by the future
Saint Dominic; among the Cathars were Pons Jourda and
Arnaud Arrufat. In the following 800 years, the history of this rural village was notable in the French Revolution of 1789 and in the Second World War, in 1940-1945. ==Population==