Before 118 BC: pre-Roman
times
The history of Toulouse can be traced as far
back as the 8th century BC, according to the oldest
archeological evidence of human settlement. The location was
very advantageous: an easy crossing of the Garonne River, just
as the northward river reaches strong hills and thus bends
westward toward the Atlantic Ocean. It was a
focal point for trade between the Pyrenees, the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Immediately north of these
hills was a large plain suitable for agriculture. People
gathered on the hills overlooking the river, south of the
plain, 9 kilometers south of today's downtown Toulouse.
The name of the city was Tolosa. Researchers
today agree that the name is probably Aquitanian, related to
the old Basque language, but the meaning is unknown.
The name of the city has remained almost
unchanged over centuries despite Celtic, Roman and Germanic
invasions, which is rare for French cities (e.g. Paris was
once called Lutetia).
The first inhabitants seem to have been Aquitanians, of whom
little is known. Later came Iberians from the south, who, like
the Aquitanians, were non-Indo-European people.
In the 3rd century BC there came a Celtic
Gallic tribe called the Volcae Tectosages from Belgium or
southern Germany, the first Indo-European people to appear in
the region. They settled in Tolosa and interbred with the
local people. Their Gaulish language became predominant.
By 200 BC Tolosa is attested to be the capital
of the Volcae Tectosages (coins found), which C. Julius Caesar
later called Tolosates in his famous account of Gallic wars
(De Bello Gallico, 1.10), singular Tolosas.
Archeologists say Tolosa was one of the most
important cities in Gaul, and certainly it was famed in
pre-Roman times for being the wealthiest one. There were many
gold and silver mines nearby, and the offerings to the holy
shrines and temples in Tolosa had accumulated a tremendous
wealth in the city.
118 BC - AD 418: Roman
period
The Romans started their conquest of southern
Gaul (later known as the Provincia) in 125 BC. Moving
westward, they founded in 118 BC the colony of Narbo Martius (Narbonne),
the Mediterranean city nearest to inland Toulouse, and so they
came into contact with the Tolosates, famous for their wealth
and the key position of their capital for trade with the
Atlantic.
Tolosa chose to ally with the daunting Romans,
who established a military fort in the plain north of the
city, a key position near the border of independent Aquitania,
but otherwise left the inhabitants of Tolosa free to rule
themselves in semi-independence.
In 109 BC a Germanic tribe, the Cimbri, descending the Rhone
Valley, invaded the Provincia and defeated the Romans, whose
power was shaken all along the recently conquered
Mediterranean coast. The Tolosates rebelled
against Rome and murdered the Roman garrison. Soon, however,
Rome recovered and defeated the invaders. In 106 BC, General
Q. Servilius Caepio was sent to reconquer and punish Tolosa.
With the help of some Tolosates who remained faithful to
Rome, he captured the city and plundered the immense wealth
of the temples and shrines.
Tolosa was then fully incorporated into the Roman Provincia
(Provincia Romana—the usual name for what was officially
called the province of Transalpine Gaul, with its capital at
Narbo Martius). Tolosa was an important military garrison at
the western border of the Roman realm.
However the city remained a backwater in the
Provincia, people were still living in the old Celtic city in
the hills. No Roman colony was established; few Roman soldiers
settled in the area.
Things changed after the conquest of the rest of Gaul by
Julius Caesar. In a sign that Romanization of the people was
already well under its way, Tolosa did not take part in the
various uprisings against Rome during the Gallic wars. In fact
southern France would prove to be the most romanized part of
France after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Caesar established his camp in the plain of
Tolosa in 52 BC, and from there he conquered the western
regions of Aquitania. With the conquest of Aquitania and the
whole of Gaul, Tolosa was no more a military outpost. It
capitalized on its key position for trade between the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic, now both under Roman control,
and the city developed rapidly.
Consequently, the most important event in the history of
Toulouse was the decision to relocate the city north of the
hills. A typical Roman city of straight streets was founded in
the plain on the eastern bank of the river sometime at the end
of the reign of Augustus and the start of the reign of
Tiberius (around AD 10 –AD 30).
The population was forced to relocate to the
new city, still named Tolosa, while the old settlement was
abandoned. Walls were built around the new city, probably at
the initiative of Emperor Augustus, who wanted to create a
major city at the junction of the newly built Via Aquitania
and the Garonne River.
Due to the Pax Romana, walls were not needed
around cities, and they were only built as an imperial favor
to show the special status of a city. Until the fall of the
Roman Empire, the new Tolosa was to be a civitas of the
province of Gallia Narbonensis (capital Narbo Martius –
Narbonne), the new name of the old Provincia.
With imperial favor and a thriving trade, Tolosa rapidly
transformed into one of the major cities of the Roman Empire.
During the civil war following Nero's death, Tolosa native M.
Antonius Primus led the armies of Vespasian into Italy and
entered Rome in AD 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty.
Emperor Domitian, son of Vespasian and personal friend of M.
Antonius Primus, granted Tolosa the honorific status of
Roman colony. Another sign of imperial favor was displayed
when Domitian gave Tolosa the title of Palladia, in
reference to Pallas Athena, goddess of arts and knowledge,
of whom he was very fond.
Palladia Tolosa was by all means a major Roman city, with
aqueducts, circus and theaters, thermae, a forum, an
extensive sewage system, etc. Protected by its walls and by
its far location from the Rhine border, Palladia Tolosa
escaped unscathed from the invasions of the 3rd century.
With much of Gaul destroyed, Toulouse emerged
as the fourth largest city of the western half of the Roman
Empire, after Rome, Treves and Arles.
Around that time Christianity entered the
city, and the Christian community greatly expanded under the
first bishop of Toulouse Saint Saturnin (locally known as
Saint Sernin), who was martyred in Toulouse around AD 250. In
313 the Edict of Milan established religious freedom in the
empire, ending persecution of Christianity.
In 403 the Saint-Sernin basilica was opened to
serve as a shrine for the relics of Saint Saturnin.
Around AD 400, the Germanic invasions resumed. In 407 Toulouse
was besieged by the Vandals, but under the impulse of its
bishop Saint Exuperius the city resisted behind its strong
walls, and the Vandals lifted the siege and moved into Spain,
and from there into North Africa where they settled.
"The provinces of Aquitaine and of the
Novempopulana (i.e. Gascony), of Lyon and of Narbonne are,
with the exception of a few cities, one universal scene of
desolation. And those which the sword spares without, famine
ravages within.
I cannot speak without tears of Toulouse which
has been kept from failing hitherto by the merits of its
reverend bishop Exuperius." wrote Jerome to a Roman widow in
409 (Letters cxxiii.16 [1]). In 413, three years after they
had sacked Rome, the Visigoths under King Ataulf captured
Toulouse.
Under pressure from Roman forces, they soon
withdrew south of the Pyrenees. After the murder of Ataulf,
his successor Wallia resolved to make peace with Rome.
In exchange for peace, in 418, Emperor
Honorius granted the Visigoths the region of Aquitania as well
as the city of Toulouse (in Gallia Narbonensis at the border
of Aquitania). The Visigoths chose the prestigious and wealthy
Palladia Tolosa as the capital of their kingdom, thus ending
Roman rule in Toulouse.
418-508: Visigoth kingdom
of Toulouse
The Visigoth kings of Toulouse, officially one
of the foederati (federated allies) of the Roman Empire of the
West and limited to Aquitania and Toulouse, soon started to
encroach on neighboring territories.
As allies of Rome, the Visigoths helped defeat
various Germanic invaders in Spain, notably the Suevi, and
took advantage of their position to expand their own territory
south of the Pyrenees. They tried to conquer the Mediterranean
coast of the remaining province of Gallia Narbonensis but were
opposed by their Roman ally.
In 439 the Roman general Litorius defeated the
Visigoths at Narbonne and even succeeded in driving them back
to Toulouse. He besieged the city, but was defeated and taken
prisoner in a battle outside the city.
Avitus, the praetorian prefect of Gaul, who
had great influence with King Theodoric I of the Visigoths,
was then sent to Toulouse and brought about the conclusion of
peace. In 451, under threat of a major invasion of the Huns in
Gaul, Avitus again negotiated a treaty between Rome and the
Visigoths, and they jointly defeated the Huns.
In 455, Avitus, then magister militum (the
senior military officer of the Empire) on a diplomatic mission
to King Theodoric II of the Visigoths, was proclaimed the new
Roman emperor in Toulouse by his Visigoth friends as the news
arrived that the Vandals had sacked Rome and that Emperor
Petronius Maximus had been murdered.
However, his reign in Rome was brief, and he
was defeated by his enemies in 456. This antagonized the
Visigoths and pushed them into constant warfare with the new
Roman leaders. Eventually, a weaker and weaker Rome gave way.
The region of Narbonne was finally conquered by the Visigoths
in 462.
King Euric of the Visigoths (466 - 484) was the most adamant
enemy of Rome, and he was very successful in extending the
Visigoth territory in Gaul and Spain. In 475 he officially
broke the treaty with Rome and proclaimed full independence,
one year before the Western Roman Empire was to disappear.
Toulouse was now the capital of a rapidly
expanding Gothic kingdom. By the end of the 5th century, the
Visigoth kingdom of Toulouse extended from the Loire Valley in
the north to the Strait of Gibraltar in the south, and from
the Rhone River in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
This was the largest extent of land ever to be controlled from
a capital at Toulouse.
Unlike most cities in western Europe, Toulouse remained
prosperous throughout the period of the Migrations (also
known as Great Invasions).
Although the Visigoths professed a
non-Trinitarian brand of Christianity known as Arianism, and
lived segregated from their Gallo-Roman subjects, they were
generally well accepted by their subjects, to whom they
brought protection and continued prosperity.
The city behind its 1st-century walls
continued to encompass the same area, whereas most cities of
western Europe were hastily building new walls enclosing only
a small portion of their former Imperial area. The treasure
which the Visigoths seized in Rome in 410 (including the
treasure of the Temple in Jerusalem) is said to have been
stored in Toulouse at the time.
The Visigoths slowly achieved a blend of the
Roman and Gothic cultures. They are responsible for the
preservation of Roman law through the drafting of the Breviary
of Alaric in 506 which applied on this immense territory both
to the Visigoths and the local Roman populations.
By all accounts, the Visigoth kingdom of
Toulouse was more Romanized and its state structure more
elaborated than the Frankish kingdom north of the Loire
Valley.
However, the pagan Franks under their king Clovis converted to
Catholicism, and thus received the considerable support of the
network of Christian bishops, rapidly becoming the only
effective institution of power that was more than local in
extent, which strongly opposed the Arianism of the Visigoth
aristocrats.
Soon enough, the Franks on their march south
came into contact with the northern borders of the Visigoth
kingdom. War ensued, and eventually the Visigoth king Alaric
II was defeated by the Frankish king Clovis at the Battle of
Vouillé in 507, a battle important in the psyche of modern-day
France (etymologically land of the Franks), where Franks are
perceived as "French" and Visigoths have become "foreigners".
Following their victory, the Franks moved
south, conquered Aquitania, and captured Toulouse in 508. The
Visigoths withdrew to their Hispanic dominions, where they
later resettled their capital in Toledo. Toulouse became part
of Aquitaine— cut from Narbonne and the Mediterranean region
where Visigothic rule remained—a diminished capital city
within the scarcely-integrated Frankish kingdom.
508-768: Merovingian Franks
and the duchy of Aquitaine
Following the Frankish conquest, Toulouse
entered a period of decline and anarchy. Bad weather, plagues,
demographic collapse, decline of schools, education and
culture were common features of the Frankish lands in the dark
period of the 6th and 7th centuries. Following Clovis' death
in 511, Aquitaine was divided between his sons (the
Merovingian dynasty) like the rest of the kingdom.
The period was extremely complex, with each
Merovingian king fighting and murdering each other for the
control of the whole of the Frankish realm, which was
reunited, then divided again, then reunited, etc. Far from the
power base of the Franks, Aquitaine was loosely controlled by
one or the other competing Frankish kings, who delegated dukes
to control the region in their name.
At some point in the end of the 7th century,
the Merovingian monarchy was so weakened that a local
independent dynasty of dukes emerged in Aquitaine. Whether
they were blood relatives of the Merovingians, Frankish envoys
turned dynastic rulers or local non-Frankish rulers is still a
matter of debate. Although not recognized
by the Merovingians, they governed as kings in all but name
in Aquitaine (including the then Basque speaking area of
Gascony south of the Garonne River), and their capital was
in Toulouse.
At the beginning of the 8th century, the Arabs appeared in
the region. Coming from Spain along the Mediterranean coast
they captured Narbonne from the last Visigoths in 719.
Then al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani, the wali
(governor) of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), mustered a strong
army (from North Africa, Syria, and Yemen) and set to conquer
Aquitaine.
Moving west from Narbonne he besieged
Toulouse, capital of the duchy of Aquitaine, but after 3
months of siege, just as the city was about to surrender, Duke
Odo of Aquitaine (a.k.a. Eudes) who had left the city to find
help managed to come back with an army and defeated the Arab
army at the Battle of Toulouse on June 9, 721, just outside of
the city walls.
Noticeably, the Franks had refused to help,
wishing to take advantage of the situation to recover
Aquitaine, and it was the (Romance speaking) Aquitanians and
the (Basque speaking) Gascons alone who had fought against the
Arabs. The Battle of Toulouse was a crushing defeat for the
Arabs.
The Arab army scattered and most of the
soldiers were killed, al-Samh died of his wounds, and the
remainder of the Arab troops under second-in-command Abd al-Rahman
al-Ghafiqi fled back to Narbonne where Duke Odo decided not to
pursue them. This battle is still remembered today among Arab
historians as the major check in Arab expansions toward the
west.
After Toulouse, the Arabs would never again
attempt to conquer Europe north of the Pyrenees, only
launching raids with much less troops than at Toulouse in 721.
Sometime before 730, Odo decided to ally with the Muslim ruler
of Catalonia, Othman ibn Naissa (a.k.a. Munuza). The greatest
threat to Duke Odo was his Frankish neighbor on the north.
Odo married his daughter to Munuza, and Arab
raids in Aquitaine temporarily ended, thus enabling Odo to
focus on the northern threat. However, in 731 Munuza rebelled
against the new wali of al-Andalus, Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi.
Abd al-Rahman soon defeated Munuza, and in order to punish
Duke Odo for his alliance with Munuza he launched a raid in
Aquitaine.
With the memory of the Battle of Toulouse
looming ominously in his mind, he chose to cross the Pyrenees
west of Toulouse, rather than coming from Narbonne, and soon
he reached Bordeaux where he defeated Duke Odo's army. Odo
seems to have disbanded some of his troops after the peace
signed with Munuza, which could account for his failure to
stop Abd al-Rahman.
With Bordeaux captured, the Arabs set north
towards the sacred Frankish abbey of Tours. Odo had no choice
but to ask for Frankish help. Charles Martel, then leader of
the Franks (Merovingian kings were maintained as puppet
kings), finally preoccupied by the Arab threat moving to his
land, mustered an army and met the Arabs near Poitiers.
On 25 October 732, at the most celebrated
Battle of Poitiers, the Arabs were defeated and Abd al-Rahman
died on the field. The scholars of Charlemagne, grandson of
Charles Martel, made much for the renown of the Battle of
Poitiers. In Europe it is still remembered as "the" battle
which saved Europe and Christendom from the Arabs.
However, modern historians recognize that the
Battle of Toulouse in 721 was of much greater significance in
checking the western advance of the Arabs. Troops defeated at
Poitiers, after all, were only a large raiding party, as
opposed to the major invasion army defeated in Toulouse in
721. Poitiers was not the first Arab raid in France, and it
would not be the last.
Following the Battle of Poitiers, Duke Odo was forced to do
homage to Charles Martel and recognize the overlordship of the
Franks. However, the Franks were busy in Burgundy and did not
pursue further south, leaving Odo virtually independent until
his death in 735.
He was succeeded by his son Duke Hunald of
Aquitaine (a.k.a. Hunold, or Hunaud). Hunald refused to
recognize the authority of Charles Martel, and this time
Charles Martel sent his troops south and captured Bordeaux in
736.
Hunald was forced to accept Frankish
overlordship, and Charles Martel withdrew his troops from
Aquitaine in order to attack the Arab territories on the
Mediterranean coast around Narbonne. In 741 Charles Martel
died and was followed by his son Pippin the Short (Pépin le
Bref).
Duke Hunald then rebelled again against
Frankish authority in 742, but he was finally defeated in 745
and he retired to a monastery. He was succeeded by his son
Duke Waifer of Aquitaine (a.k.a. Waifre, or Gaifier).
Pippin, busy at home and also sharing power
with his brother, left Waifer in possession of the entirety of
Aquitaine, without occupying it. However, in 747 Pippin became
the only master of the Frankish realm. In 751 he deposed the
last Merovingian king and was elected King of the Franks with
the support of the Pope, founding the Carolingian dynasty.
In 752 Pippin resumed the conquest of the Arab territories on
the Mediterranean coast where his father had failed. Amidst
fierce local resistance, including one intervention of Duke
Waifer in the area in 752, it was not until 759 that he
finally captured Narbonne and effectively ended Arab rule
north of the Pyrenees.
Aquitaine was now surrounded by the Frankish
kingdom on most sides. In 760, Pippin started the conquest of
Aquitaine. It proved a difficult task. It took the Franks
eight long years to subdue Aquitaine and Toulouse.
Gascony was also submitted. In 768, the last
pockets of resistance fell as Duke Waifer was betrayed and
murdered in mysterious circumstances. Aquitaine was utterly
destroyed after 8 long years of scorched-earth tactics pursued
both by Pippin and Waifer. Nonetheless, the region was soon to
recover under the long reign of Charlemagne.
768-877: Carolingian Franks
and the kingdom of Aquitaine
Toulouse and Aquitaine (as well as Gascony)
were once again part of the kingdom of the Franks. Following
his victory, Pippin the Short died in 768 and was followed by
his sons Charlemagne and Carloman. As a result of this event,
Hunald, son of the late Duke Waifer, raised an insurrection
against Frankish power in Aquitaine. Charlemagne soon
intervened and defeated him.
In 771 Carloman died and Charlemagne was left
as the only ruler of the Frankish realm. In 778 Charlemagne
led his army into Spain against the Arabs. On his way back
there happened the famous event of Roncesvalles (Roncevaux in
French): Charlemagne's rear-guard was attacked in the pass of
the same name by some Basque warriors.
This led Charlemagne to realize that Frankish
power in Gascony and Aquitaine was still feeble, and that the
local populations were not entirely loyal to the Franks.
Consequently, that same year he completely
reorganized the administration of the region: direct Frankish
administration was imposed, and Frankish counts (deputies of
the Frankish king) were created in key cities, such as
Toulouse.
In 781, he set up a "kingdom" of Aquitaine,
comprising the whole of Aquitaine (including Gascony,
formally) plus the Mediterranean coast from Narbonne to Nimes
(area then known as Gothia), and gave the crown of Aquitaine
to his three-year-old son Louis.
Other such kingdoms were created inside the
wider Carolingian empire in places such as Bavaria or
Lombardy. They were meant to ensure the loyalty of local
populations in territories freshly conquered and with strong
local idiosyncrasies. Crowns were given to the sons of
Charlemagne.
The people of Aquitaine were known in the
whole empire for their strong spirit of independence, as well
as their wealth. Indeed, the region was quite prosperous
during that period, past the recovery from the war of
conquest.
The reign of Charlemagne in general saw a
great recovery of western Europe after the dark ages preceding
it, and Toulouse was no exception.
Toulouse was a major Carolingian military
stronghold in front of Muslim Spain. Military campaigns
against the Muslims were launched from Toulouse almost every
year during the reign of Charlemagne, and indeed Catalonia was
conquered and became a southern march of the Frankish empire.
In 814 Charlemagne died, and his only surviving son was Louis,
king of Aquitaine, who became Emperor Louis the Pious (Louis
le Pieux).
The kingdom of Aquitaine was transmitted to
Pippin, the second son of Louis the Pious. Gothia was detached
from the kingdom of Aquitaine and administered directly by the
emperor, thus recreating the limits of the former duchy of
Aquitaine.
Problems soon arose. Louis the Pious had three
sons, and in 817 he arranged an early allocation of the shares
in the future inheritance of the empire: Pippin was confirmed
king in Aquitaine (Pippin I of Aquitaine), Louis the German
was made king in Bavaria, while the eldest son Lothar was made
co-emperor with future authority over his brothers.
In 823 Charles the Bald (Charles le Chauve)
was born from the second wife of Louis the Pious. Soon enough,
she wished to place her son in the line of succession. Louis
the Pious was rather weak, and fight started between the three
sons on one side, and their father and his new wife on the
other side, which eventually would lead to the total collapse
of the Frankish empire.
Louis the Pious was toppled from power, then
reinstalled, then toppled, then reinstalled again. In 838
Pippin I of Aquitaine died, and Louis the Pious and his wife
managed to install Charles the Bald as the new king of
Aquitaine.
At the Assembly of Worms in 839 the empire was
re-divided like this: Charles the Bald was given the western
part of the empire, Lothar the central and eastern part, while
Louis the German was keeping only Bavaria.
Pippin II of Aquitaine, the son of Pippin I,
was not going to accept such a decision. He was hailed king by
the Aquitanians (but not by the Gascons, who by then had
seceded and detached Gascony from Aquitaine), and he resisted
his grandfather.
Louis the German in Bavaria also opposed the
decision of his father. Eventually Louis the Pious died in
840. Lothar the eldest son claimed the whole empire, general
war broke out. First allied with his nephew Pippin II, Louis
the German soon allied with his half-brother Charles the Bald
and they jointly defeated Lothar.
Then in August 843 they signed probably the
most important treaty in European history, the Treaty of
Verdun.
The empire was divided in three, Charles the
Bald was given the western part, Francia Occidentalis (Western
Frankland, soon to be called France), Louis the German was
given the eastern part, Francia Orientalis (Eastern Frankland,
soon to become the German Holy Roman Empire), while Lothar was
given the central part, soon to be conquered and divided by
his two brothers.
Western Europe would never be united again
until the 20th century.
The family feud had left the empire weak and undefended. Some
invaders rightly analyzed the situation and took advantage of
it: the Vikings. Following the Treaty of Verdun, Charles the
Bald moved south to defeat Pippin II and add Aquitaine to his
territory.
First he conquered Gothia over its rebelled
count (who had taken advantage of the Carolingian feud) and
had him executed. Then in 844 he set west and was besieging
Toulouse, the capital of King Pippin II of Aquitaine. However,
he had to withdraw without being able to capture the city.
That same year, the Vikings entered the mouth
of the Garonne River, took Bordeaux, and sailed up as far as
Toulouse, plundering and killing all along the Garonne River
valley. They moved back when they reached Toulouse, without
attacking the city.
It is still a matter of debate among
historians whether they were called by Pippin II in his fight
against Charles the Bald (as Charles' propaganda later
claimed), helped defeat Charles the Bald, and left with due
payment from Pippin II, or whether they just took advantage of
the war to invade unchecked but moved back at the sight of the
strong garrison of Toulouse who had just resisted successfully
Charles the Bald.
Following these events, Charles the Bald in 845 signed a
treaty with King Pippin II of Aquitaine whereby he recognized
him as king of Aquitaine, in exchange of which Pippin II was
relinquishing the northern part of Aquitaine (county of
Poitiers) to Charles the Bald. However, the Aquitanians grew
very unhappy with their king Pippin II, perhaps for his
friendliness towards the Vikings who inflicted terrible damage
on the population, and so in 848 they called Charles the Bald
to topple Pippin II.
In 849 Charles the Bald was south again, and
he was handed over the capital of Aquitaine, Toulouse, by
Frédelon, the count of Toulouse recently appointed by Pippin
II. Charles the Bald then officially confirmed Frédelon as
count of Toulouse. Soon the whole of Aquitaine was submitting
to Charles the Bald, and in 852 Pippin II was made prisoner by
the Gascons and handed over to his uncle Charles the Bald who
put him in a monastery.
In 852 Count Frédelon of Toulouse died, and Charles the Bald
appointed Frédelon's brother Raymond (Raimond) as the new
count. This was a special favor, normally counts were only
administrative agents not chosen in the same family. However,
it would prove to be the start of the dynasty of the counts of
Toulouse, who were all descendants of Count Raymond I of
Toulouse (Raimond I).
In 855, following the example of his
grandfather Charlemagne, Charles the Bald recreated the
kingdom of Aquitaine (without Gothia), and he gave the crown
to his son Charles the Child (Charles l'Enfant). Meanwhile,
Pippin II of Aquitaine had escaped from his monastery in 854,
and he was raising an insurrection in Aquitaine.
It did no prove very popular among Aquitanians
though, and he was unsuccessful. He then resorted to calling
the Vikings for help. In 864, at the head of a Viking army,
Pippin II of Aquitaine besieged Toulouse were the count of
Toulouse resisted fiercely.
The siege failed, and the Vikings left to
plunder other areas of Aquitaine. Pippin II, abandoned by all,
saw the ruins of his ambitions. He was captured and again put
in a monastery by his uncle, where he died soon after.
In 866 Charles the Child died. Charles the Bald then made his
other son, Louis the Stammerer (Louis le Bègue), the new king
of Aquitaine. By then, the central state in the kingdom of
France was rapidly losing authority.
Charles the Bald was rather unsuccessful at
containing the Vikings, local populations had to rely on their
local counts to resist the Vikings, and the counts soon became
the main source of authority, challenging the central
authority of Charles the Bald in Paris.
As they grew in power, they started to be
succeeded in the same family and establish local dynasties.
Wars between the central power and the counts arose, as well
as wars between the competing counts, which further
debilitated the defenses against the Vikings.
Western Europe, France in particular, were
again entering a new dark age, which would prove even more
disastrous than the one of the 6th and 7th centuries. In 877,
Charles the Bald had to give in: he signed the Capitulary of
Quierzy, which allowed counts to be succeeded by their sons
when they died.
This was the founding stone of feudalism in
western Europe. Charles the Bald died four months later. The
new king of France was his son Louis the Stammerer, formally
king of Aquitaine. Louis the Stammerer did not chose any of
his sons to become the new king of Aquitaine, thus in effect
putting an end to the kingdom of Aquitaine, which would never
be revived again.
Louis the Stammerer died shortly after in 879
and was succeeded by his two sons, Louis III and Carloman.
Louis III inherited northwest France, while Carloman inherited
Burgundy and Aquitaine. In practice however, during the years
870-890 the central power was so weakened that the counts in
southern France achieved complete autonomy.
The dynasties they established ruled
independently. The central state in Paris would not be able to
reassert its authority over the south of France for the next
four centuries.
877-10th: county of
Toulouse's first steps
By the end of the 9th century, Toulouse had
become the capital of an independent county, the county of
Toulouse, ruled by the dynasty founded by Frédelon, who in
theory was under the sovereignty of the king of France, but in
practice was totally independent.
The counts of Toulouse had to fight to
maintain their position at first. They were mostly challenged
by the dynasty of the counts of Auvergne, ruling over the
northeastern part of the former Aquitaine, who claimed the
county of Toulouse as their own, and even temporarily ousted
the counts of Toulouse from the city of Toulouse.
However, in the midst of these dark ages, the
counts of Toulouse managed to preserve their own, and unlike
many local dynasties that disappeared, they achieved survival.
Their county was just a small fraction of the
former Aquitaine, the southeastern part of it in fact.
However, at the death of Count William the Pious of Auvergne
(Guillaume le Pieux) in 918 they came into the possession of
Gothia which had been in the family of the counts of Auvergne
for two generations.
Thus they more than doubled their territory,
once again reuniting Toulouse with the Mediterranean coast
from Narbonne to Nimes. The county of Toulouse took its
definite shape, from Toulouse in the west to the Rhone River
in the east, a unity that would survive until the French
Revolution as the province of Languedoc.
Toulouse would never again be part of the
Aquitaine polity, whose capital in later times would become
Poitiers, then Bordeaux. At first though, the memories of
Aquitaine lived strong in Toulouse.
Count William the Pious of Auvergne was the
first to recreate the title of Duke of Aquitaine for himself
in the 890s. Then the count of Poitiers inherited the title in
927. In 932 the king of France Raoul was fighting against the
count of Poitiers, and he transferred the title of Duke of
Aquitaine to his new ally Count Raymond III Pons of Toulouse (Raimond
III).
However, the title did not mean much. The
various counts of the former Aquitaine were all independents,
and did not recognize a superior authority.
Various factions were competing for the throne of France, but
since all central authority had disappeared, the position of
King of France had become an almost empty title.
After Raoul's death, another faction succeeded
in establishing an English bred Carolingian prince to the
throne, Louis IV from Overseas (Louis IV d'Outremer). Raymond
III Pons was from the opposite faction and so when he died in
950 Louis IV awarded the title of Duke of Aquitaine to Count
William III Towhead of Poitiers (Guillaume III Tête d'Étoupe)
who was an ally of Louis IV.
From now on the title of Duke of Aquitaine
would be used in the family of the counts of Poitiers, whose
power base of Poitou was in the northwestern part of the
former Aquitaine. The counts of Toulouse would soon forget any
dreams about Aquitaine.
Eventually, at the death of the Carolingian
king of France Louis V in 987, the Robertian faction succeeded
in having its chief, Hugh Capet (Hugues Capet) elected to the
French throne.
This time, the Carolingian dynasty effectively
ended. Hugh Capet was the founder the Capetian dynasty, which
would rule in France for the next eight centuries. However,
from now on the history of France is irrelevant to Toulouse,
at least until the 13th century.
The counts of Toulouse had extended their rule to the
Mediterranean coast, but they would not long enjoy the large
domain they had succeeded in carving for themselves. The 10th
century was perhaps the worst century for western Europe in
the last two millennium.
Four centuries after the fall of the Western
Roman Empire, civilization had declined, arts and education
were in a very poor state. There had been momentarily a
rebirth of culture and order in the time of Charlemagne, but
soon with the return of invasions (especially the Vikings),
western Europe was falling again.
This conjugated with dramatic civil wars as
explained above, as well as bad weather, plagues, population
loss. Entire areas of western Europe returned to wilderness.
Cities were completely depopulated. Churches were abandoned or
plundered, the Church was experiencing a sharp decline in
morals.
It seemed as if the legacy of the Roman Empire
would completely disappear. Culture from the Antiquity only
survived in a few scattered monasteries. This was in sharp
contrast with the then flourishing emirate of Cordoba in Spain
or the Byzantine Empire.
Another phenomenon of these times was the
complete disappearance of central authority. Power fragmented,
falling first in the hands of counts, then viscounts, then in
the hands of thousands of local feudal lords. By the end of
the 10th century, France was ruled by a thousands of local
rulers who controlled only one town, or one castle and the few
villages around.
Toulouse and its county was exactly reflecting
this situation. Between 900 and 980 the counts of Toulouse
gradually lost control over the county, with the emergence of
local dynastic rulers in every part of the county.
By the end of the 10th century the counts of
Toulouse only had authority over a few estates scattered
around the county. Even the city of Toulouse was ruled by a
viscount independent from the counts of Toulouse!
Invasions had also returned. The famous ruler of the emirate
of Cordoba, Abd al-Rahman III, managed to reunite Muslim
Spain, and carried the emirate of Cordoba to its zenith,
transforming it into the prestigious caliphate of Cordoba in
929. In the 920's he launched a general offensive against the
Christian kingdoms in the north of Spain.
In 920 (and possibly also in 929) one of his
armies crossed the Pyrenees and went as far north as Toulouse,
without capturing the city. In 924, the Magyars (ancestors of
the Hungarians) launched an expedition toward the west and
went as far as Toulouse, but they were defeated by Count
Raymond III Pons of Toulouse.
At the end of the 10th century all the
Carolingian wars and subsequent invasions had left the county
of Toulouse in disarray. Large expenses of lands were left
uncultivated, many farms had been abandoned.
Toulouse was perhaps faring a little better
than northern France in the sense that its proximity with
Muslim Spain meant there was a strong flow of knowledge and
culture coming from the schools and printing houses of
Cordoba.
Toulouse had also retained Roman Law unlike
northern France, and had in general kept more of the Roman
legacy, even in these troubled times. The ground was there for
a recovery of civilization.
Late Middle Ages: 11th
The end of Carolinians marked the beginning of
Feudalism.
At the beginning of the millennium, the drifting attitude of
the
clergy and the confiscation of the Church by the Toulouse
administration initiated a degradation of the worship.
The Saint-Sernin church, the Daurade basilica
and the Saint-Etienne cathedral were not maintained properly.
New religious currents appeared, like the Cluniac reform.
The Izarn bishop, helped by the pope Gregoire VII, tried to
put everything back in order. He gave the Daurade Basilica to
the Cluniac abbots in 1077.
In Saint-Sernin, he met a strong opposition in
the person of Raimond Gayrard, a provost who had just built a
hospital for the poor and was proposing to build a basilica.
Supported by count Guilhem IV, Saint Raymond finally obtained
from the pope Urbain II to dedicate the building in 1096. The
religious quarrels had just awoken the faith of Toulouse. This
rebirth was accompanied by a new demographic progression,
supported by technically more efficient agriculture.
The suburbs of Saint-Michel and Saint Cyprien were built
during this period. The Daurade bridge connected in 1181 the
Saint-Cyprien suburb to the gates of the city. The suburbs of
Saint-Sernin and Saint-Pierre des Cuisines also had a
remarkable expansion.
Late Middle Ages: 12th
The end of the 11th century marked the
departure of count Raymond IV to the crusades. Various
succession wars followed, besieging Toulouse several times.
In 1119, the population of Toulouse proclaimed
Alphonse Jourdain count. Alphonse Jourdain, willing to be
grateful to his people, reduced the taxes immediately.
With the death of the count, an administration of 8 "capitulaires"
was created. Under the direction of the count, they had the
responsibility of regulating the exchanges and making sure the
laws were applied. These were the Capitouls, whose first acts
were dated in 1152.
In 1176, the "chapitre" already had 12 members, each of them
representing a district of Toulouse, or a suburb. The consuls
quickly opposed count Raimond V. The population of Toulouse
was divided on the subject, and after 10 years of fighting, in
1189, the town council finally obtained the submission of the
count.
In 1190 began the construction of the future Capitole, the
common house, the town council headquarters. With 24 members,
probably elected, the Capitouls granted themselves the rights
of police, trade, imposition and started some conflicts with
the closest cities. Toulouse was usually victorious, extending
the domination of the patria tolosana.
Despite the intervention of the King, the administration of
the Capitouls gave a relative independence to the city, for
nearly 600 years, until the French Revolution.
Anecdotally, the players of the Stade Toulousain, the local
Rugby team, today wear the red and black colors of the
Capitouls.
Late Middle Ages: 13th
Catharism is a doctrine coming from Bulgaria,
professing the separation of the material and the spiritual
existences. It conflicts with the orthodox confession. Called
"heretics", the Cathars found a strong audience in the south
of France, and during the 12th century. Simon de Montfort
tried to exterminate them.
Toulouse was reached by the Cathar doctrine too. The "white"
orthodox pursued the "black" heretics in the streets of the
city. The abbot of Foulques took advantage of this because the
heretics were his creditors, and encouraged this inquisition.
Some people joined the white fighters, others chose to assist
the besieged population. The consuls did not wish to encourage
the division of Toulouse, and defied the pontifical authority,
refusing to identify the heretics. Count Raimond VI, openly
Cathar, stigmatized the Toulouse heresy.
In 1211, the first siege of Toulouse by Simon de Montfort was
unsuccesful but two years later, he successfully defeated the
Toulouse army. Under the threat of killing many hostages, he
entered the city in 1216, and appointed himself as a count.
Simon de Montfort was killed by a stone in 1218. Until the
last siege, the "whites" were fought against by the Toulouse
populace. Louis VII finally decided to give up in 1219.
Raimond VI recognized the support he had received from the
population, helping him to preserve his interests, gave up his
last prerogatives to the Capitouls (see 12th).
Late Middle Ages: 13th to 14th
The 13th century went in a political direction
opposite to the path drawn by the past centuries. In 1229, the
Treaty of Paris introduced the University of Toulouse,
intending to teach theology as well as Aristotelian
philosophy. Copied from the Parisian model, the teaching was
supposed to dissolve the heretic movement.
Various monastic orders, like the congregation of the order of
frères prêcheurs, were started. They found home in the
Jacobins. In parallel, a long period of inquisition began
inside the Toulouse walls. The fear of repression obliged the
notabilities to exile, or to convert themselves. The
inquisition lasted nearly 400 years, making Toulouse its
capital.
Count Raimond VII was convicted of heresy and died in 1249
without an heir. The Toulouse county was given to the King of
France, who imposed his laws. The power of the Capitouls (see
12th) was reduced.
Reinforcing its place as an administrative center, the city
grew richer, participating in the trade of Bordeaux wine with
England, as well as cereals and textiles.
Accompanying the inquisition, many threats affected the city.
Plague, fire and flood devastated the districts. The Hundred
Years' War decimated Toulouse. Despite strong immigration, the
population lost 10,000 inhabitants in 70 years. Toulouse only
had 22,000 people in 1405.
Late Middle Ages: 15th to 16th
The 15th century began with the creation of
the Parlement by Charles VII. Promising an exemption of taxes,
the King reinforced his influence and defied the
administration of the Capitouls. Invested with the rights of
jurisdiction, the Parlement gained its political independence
thereafter.
This century is also the stage of many food shortages. The
roads were worn and unreliable, and Toulouse experienced a
terrible fire in 1463. The dwellings located between the
current rue Alsace-Lorraine and the Garonne river were
decimated. The city encountered a new demographic expansion,
resulting in a true housing shortage.
Continuing the textile activity of the city, the trade of
fabric dye woad increased from 1463. This dye was called at
the time pastel and triggered the most prosperous period of
the Toulouse history.
Toulouse used its newfound wealth to build the
magnificent homes and public buildings that are today the core
of the old city. A rich representative of this era was Pierre
D'Assézat.
The prosperity did not last. Woad was to be eclipsed by indigo
from the New World, which produced a darker and more colorfast
blue.
In the middle of the 16th century, the University of Toulouse
comprised nearly 10,000 students. A humanistic tide crossed
its walls and the academics were often agitated. The
inquisition continued to burn people at the stake.
In 1562, the Protestant reformation led to street battles
between Calvinists and Catholics, causing fire to almost 400
houses.
D'Assézat was expelled while 32 years of civil war began.
Renaissance: 17th
With Henri IV acceding to the throne, the
Toulouse disorders came to an end. The Parlement recognized
the King of France and the edict of Nantes was accepted in
1600. The Capitouls lost the last influence they had. A threat
much more serious than La Fronde reached Toulouse in 1629 and
1652, leaving thousands of victims: the plague.
For the first time, the municipality and the local Parlement
took measures together to assist the people affected by the
epidemic. Most of the clergy left the city. The richest people
also fled. Only the doctors were required to stay. Starvation
led the remaining Capitouls (see 12th) to prevent the butchers
and the bakers from leaving.
The La Grave hospital welcomed the people hit by the epidemic,
and placed them in quarantine. The pré des sept deniers
welcomed also many patients under precarious conditions.
Before closing its gates, the city became a
den of beggars attracted by a medical infrastructure which
held more hope than the countryside. The money failed to feed
the population, and some requisitions were ordered. At the
worst moments of the crisis, the rich were responsible for the
poor.
The city was devastated. However, during the periods of no
plague two major projects were completed: the Pont-Neuf in
1632 and the Canal du Midi in 1682. This troubled century
ended with a last starvation, in 1693.
The seventeenth century marked the arrival of a secret
association, Aa (associatio amicorum), bringing together
members of the clergy and academics, and preaching an
exacerbated faith. The influence of this organization became
particularly strong during the eighteenth century.
Renaissance: 18th
Frontage of the CapitoleIt would be difficult
to qualify the years which preceded the French revolution.
Various artistic, religious, or architectural currents
traversed the city during the 18th century.
Louis de Mondran was the instigator of a new town planning,
probably inspired by his stay in the capital. The principal
achievements of this period were the Grand Rond, the Cours
Dillon, and the frontage of the Capitole.
In 1770, the Cardinal of Brienne inaugurated
the first stone of the channel that was named after him. The
channel that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic
Ocean, and the Canal du Midi to the Canal Lateral à la Garonne
were finished six years later. The point of junction is known
under the name of Ponts-Jumeaux.
The city grew more pecuniary, impoverishing the most stripped,
and enriching the nobility and the clergy. The local
architects and the sculptors became very busy, thanks to the
numerous fortunate individuals. The Reynerie was the summer
residence of the husband of the Comtesse du Barry.
Toulouse did not forget its traditional religious enthusiasm,
even if the end of the century marks a certain decline. New
congregations began to appear --most famously the Blue
Penitents-- officiating as the Saint-Jérome church. The local
Parlement, infiltrated by the Aa group (see 17th), regulated
the religious life, and condemned the Protestants.
The Calas affair began in this difficult context. With
Parlement deciding the execution of Jean Calas, they
demonstrated their newly acquired control of the city.
Worried for its autonomy, the Toulouse population supported
the Parlement when threatened by the monarchy. The Capitouls
(see 12th) were now chosen by the Parlement, and only 8
representatives were allowed. A revolution would become
necessary for the town to escape from the Parlement lead.
Revolution: 19th
The French Revolution is a major event in the
Toulouse history. It changed the role of the city, as well as
its political and social structure.
The city was one of many spectators of the Parisian movement.
The on-coming of the protests of July 14, 1789 had minor
repercussions, punctuated by some plundering. Five months
later, when the Ancien Régime was abolished, a new order took
over.
The members of the Parlement and the Capitouls
(see 12th) fought to preserve their privileges, they
demonstrated on September 25, and hardly received any support
from a population which did not recognize its former
protectors.
The regional influence of Toulouse, formerly ensured by its
Parlement, was reduced to a department, Haute-Garonne. The
clergy was required to yield to the "Civil Constitution of the
Clergy" imposed by the constituent assembly. A
new archbishop was named despite the disagreement of Loménie
de Brienne. Part of the population was hostile to these
reforms and their financial impact.
The prerogatives of the Capitouls were abolished on December
14, 1789. Joseph de Rigaud was the first mayor, elected on
February 28, 1790.
In 1793, during the Commune, Toulouse refused to join the
Provence and Aquitaine federalists and go to Paris. The
prospects of the war against Austria and those of the
interior resistance's initiated the Terror, purifying
Toulouse from part of the refractors to the Revolution.
In 1799, the fortified city resisted the attack of the
English and Spanish royalist armies, during the first battle
of Toulouse. The elevation of Napoleon to the head of the
new regime, then empire, restored partially the regional
statute of the city. The emperor even came to Toulouse in
1808, and gave in particular the Daurade cloister to the
tobacco factory.
In 1814, during the second battle of Toulouse, the English
army entered the city abandoned by the imperial army. The
army of Wellington was welcomed there by a great number of
royalists, which prepared Toulouse for the Restoration of
Louis XVIII.
Relocation of key military and aerospace
industries in Toulouse by the French central government have
awakened the city again. In an ironic twist of history, what
was once a big liability for Toulouse has now become its best
asset.
No Industrial Revolution meant a falling
economic status for the city, but it has spared Toulouse the
environmental damages and painful socio-economic restructuring
that are plaguing so many northern European industrial cities.
Benefiting from its status as Europe's capital of aerospace
industry, as well as from the flow of population from the
industrial belt to the sunbelt of Europe, Toulouse
metropolitan area doubled its population between 1960 and 2000
(in the meantime the population of France increased only by
30%). With good prospects for aerospace and
biotech industries, growth is likely to continue in the near
future. Toulouse is thus recovering step by step its former
rank as a major European metropolis, but it faces increasing
challenges: how to accommodate such a rapid growth, how to
upgrade transport and develop housing and infrastructures, in
short how to reinvent the city in the 21st century. Toulouse suffered the explosion of the AZF
chemical plant on September 21, 2001. The plant was totally
destroyed and the explosion damaged many houses, schools,
churches, monuments and shops. More than 35,000 flats were
damaged. The plant is 8 km (5 miles) from the centre of
Toulouse. Twenty nine people died and several thousand were
injured. The root of the explosion was in a building
containing ammonium nitrate.
Credits
: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from
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"Toulouse".
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