Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: In Languedoc , the only real `` Cathar castles '' were fortified homesteads ( castrum ) , such as Laurac , Fanjeaux , Mas-Saintes-Puelles .
Simplified: The Cathars built fortified homesteads . Some of them were Laurac , Fanjeaux , Mas-Saintes-Puelles .