The first time these robots appeared on the streets of Toulouse was in 2018 and it was called: The Guardian of the Temple a myth in four acts They are back, this time with the intent of OPENING A PORTAL in the latest production of La Machines saga entitled: The Guardian of the Temple opus II – The Door of the Darkness This event, like just about every other event we have seen recently, is all about programming and conditioning the masses to accept the ‘TRANSHUMAN” agenda and the return of GIANTS.
Toulouse France is a city with a very long and turbulent history, as you will see through this post.
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Three days of satanism financed by metrapolitain city of Toulouse, France The show is entitled: Guardian of the Dark Portal Temple Opus 2. It is called an urban opera because of the grandeur of the spectacle. A first opus in 2018 had attracted 900,000 visitors. There are now 1 million! Thousands gather in this stunning, blinding, bedazzling, haunting, spectacle, filled with fire, smoke special effects. People are mesmorized, intoxicated, bewitched …by the evil seductive allurements, satanic enticements just a few days from Hallowe’en.
spacer This is not the first time that these robot monstrosities were paraded around TOULOUSEL spacer
20,906 viewsDec 1, 2023 Conceived in the form of an epic tale, the urban opera Le Gardien du temple took place over four days from Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th November 2018 in the historic centre of Toulouse, a veritable natural labyrinth whose districts were transformed into theatre stages for the occasion. Incredible animals wandered the streets of the city. Monumental machines, the Minotaur and the Spider reinterpreted the myth of Ariadne. After Le Gardien du Temple in 2018, the streets of Toulouse will once again be the scene of a major street show imagined by the La Machine company in October 2024. More information on our website: https://metropole.toulouse.fr/actuali.. . Follow us on social media: Facebook Instagram TikTok X
Astérion the Minotaur roams the streets of Toulouse. Image Credit: VentureBeat/Chris O’Brien
For the past four days, an estimated 600,000 people have been chasing a gigantic robotic spider and minotaur around France’s southwestern city of Toulouse in a massive street theater spectacle.
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The latest event marks his homecoming ahead of opening a permanent facility next weekend that will serve as a kind of museum for his creations, as well as a workshop and event space called The Hall of the Machine (La Halle de la Machine).
To celebrate his return, the four-day Guardian spectacle took over the city center of France’s fourth largest city and its maze-like roads. The original myth was rewritten to tell the story of Astérion, a minotaur who is reawakened from a long sleep by his half-sister, a giant spider called Ariane.
As Astérion tries to recover his powers, he wanders the “labyrinth” of Toulouse, occasionally helped by Ariane, before finally finding his way back to the temple he was destined to guard. Along the way, the rumbling giants are accompanied by musicians and the robotic troupe operating the machines.
The spider was built for a previous show. But the minotaur, made of wood and metal and weighing 46 tons, cost the city of Toulouse €2.4 million ($2.73 million) and the show another €2 million ($2.28 million). La Halle de la Machine cost another €15 million ($17.08 million).
City and regional officials hope the event, which drew international attention to Toulouse and the new space, will add to the city’s tourist appeal, as well as reinforcing efforts to crystallize its reputation as a center of tech research and innovation.
The French design and production company La Machine (previously here and here) unveiled a new show this month in Toulouse. Called “The Guardian of the Temple,” this fantastic live performance featured a 46-foot tall Minotaur and an enormous spider walking the streets enacting the ancient Greek myth of Ariane. Simply stunning.
Their website reports: “Toulouse marked by gold, fire, blood and water, will see his temple disappear. His guardian buried underground will remain. When the sun rises on the temple finally discovered, fifty equinoxes will be necessary for him to come back to life. Protector of the city, he will be reborn by the waters of the river in favor of the new blue moon. Wandering in search of the temple, lost in the heart of the labyrinth, only Ariane metamorphosed will guide him to his new home.”
From 1 to 4 November will be played in Toulouse The Guardian of the Temple a myth in four acts created by François Delaroziere and the company La Machine and played exclusively in Toulouse. The show will feature a monumental machine, the Minotaur, dedicated to the city of Toulouse that will reinterpret the myth of Ariane. This show, played in the streets of downtown Toulouse, a real labyrinth of nature, is an introduction to the setting up of the cultural and touristic equipment of the Halle de La Machine in the Montaudran district around the historic track of the Aéropostale now called the Giant’s Trail.
A large part of the company’s team is already on site and has started the rehearsals of the show, which promises to be one of the major events of autumn in the Toulouse region. The rehearsals and the show will mobilize more than 200 people from the company, a hundred volunteers and a large part of the agents of Toulouse Métropole.
“Toulouse is talked about in the whole world simply by the presence of these mythological beings,” Delarozière told local newspaper La Dépêche. “The people of Toulouse gave me a gift by allowing me to do this show. “The Minotaur will be visible day and night 365 days a year, except when he goes on a trip. He will become then ambassador of Toulouse, the city which saw it being born.”
spacer In 2015, the robots were not as advanced. The parade of Robots were to represent all the nations of the world. spacer
(9 Jun 1998) T/I: 11:24:19 GS: 10:52:01 (12/06/98) Four parades to celebrate the World Cup which begins on Wednesday (10/06) were taking place in the streets of Paris Tuesday (09/06). Three thousand five hundred dancers, singers, actors and acrobats took part. The parades were led by four giants who symbolised the different cultures and continents of the world. SHOWS: PARIS, FRANCE. 08/06
Ariane descends to street level on November 1, 2018, during the show. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
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Ariane rears up before a crowd at the Place du Capitole square in Toulouse on November 2, 2018. The Minotaur Asterion is visible in the background. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
Asterion, a giant Minotaur, performs in the Place du Capitole square as part of the French street-theater company La Machine’s Le Gardien du Temple on November 2, 2018. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
A member of La Machine operates the head of Asterion in the streets of Toulouse on November 2, 2018. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
A full view of the La Machine performers maneuvering Asterion out of the Place du Capitole square on November 2, 2018. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
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Unprecedented in recent French history, the archbishop of Toulouse, a big city in the southwest of France, has just decided to dedicate his city to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (In concordance with the Vatican’s Synod?)At issue is the installation in the streets of the city of a show with satanic symbolism—all financed by public funds.
Update Added 10/28/24; UPDATE ADDED 10/30/24 WOW, this world is whirling in a downward spiral. Here is the latest news from the VATICAN. spacer UPDATE ADDED 10/30/24 Synodality of Destruction: Dismantling Church Hierarchy (Part 2) The Catholic Esquire 6.12K subscribers 3,892 views Oct 29, 2024 In Part 2, I analyze how the Synod on Synodality’s … Click Here to Read More
The city of Toulouse has just welcomed to its city centre a questionable machine, nicknamed Lilith, depicting a disturbing creature that is half-woman, half-scorpion, with spider legs and ram’s horns.The invention was originally developed for the Hellfest festival, held every year in Brittany. This international gathering of metal bands is always the occasion for a debauchery of satanic referencesand mortifying symbols, even if the organisers insist that it’s simply a question of “culture” and that there’s nothing wrong with these artistic representations of dubious taste.
The Lilith machine, flanked by two others of the same species, is due to parade through the streets of Toulouse from October 25th to 27th, for a major open-air performance with an unambiguous name: “The Gates of Darkness.” This is the second edition of the show, which already attracted nearly 800,000 people in 2018.
The creator of this chimerical character, François Delarozière, is willing to be provocative. According to the Christian newspaper La Croix, Lilith, the ‘guardian of darkness’, is adorned with an earring in the shape of an inverted cross and is there to “symbolise the tensions raised by the show.”
The character of Lilith comes from Mesopotamian mythology,originally depicted as a she-wolf with a scorpion’s tail. She is also to be found in Talmudic tradition, as a female demon who kills newborn babies and seduces men to create other demons. According to the Kabbalah, an esoteric Jewish tradition, Lilith refers to Adam’s first wife, fashioned like him from clay and not from his rib. Hence the infatuation with the character among feminists, who see her as a figure in the struggle against patriarchal omnipotence.
During the parade in Toulouse, Lilith will be accompanied by a cohort of unequivocal symbolism:churches devoured by fire, walking skeletons, a red creature with a calf’s head…
The local Catholic authorities did not take kindly to this conspicuous display of evil symbols before the eyes of the public—including children and families. The Archbishop of Toulouse, Msgr. Guy de Kerimel—usually considered a moderate and not very militant figure—didn’t meet the show’s creator but made an appointment with the mayor of Toulouse to express his concern. He said he wanted to provide a “spiritual response” to this offensive and announced his decision to dedicate “the city and the diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus”at a Mass on October 16th, to mark the jubilee of the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of Christ to Sister Marguerite-Marie Alacoque at Paray Le Monial—apparitions that gave rise to the cult of the Sacred Heart in France at the time of Louis XIV.
In an interview with the Christian web magazine Aleteia, he explains the significance of his approach:
This choice of show seems to me to be completely risky, all the more so at a time when French society is fragmenting and trying to find its way,and in an international context that is more than uncertain. We need a culture that gives us a little hope. Today, French society no longer perceives the future or perceives it only with difficulty. There are many signs of despair, and opening up to the light is necessary, not to say vital.
Delarozière took offence at this decision, which he described as “puritanism.”Just like the creators of Hellfest festival in Brittany, he denied any ‘satanic’ intention in his work.The ‘artist’ defended himself by explaining that he is doing “popular theatre,”and condescendingly expressed the wish that the Church “remain open to artistic creation.”
Father Simon d’Artigue, who is very active on social media, is alarmed by the omnipresence of symbols invoking the devil and darkness in the public space.“During these three days, the seal of Lucifer and the cross of Satan will be projected in the streets,” he points out. Where the clergy are concerned about this unhealthy game with the forces of evil, the artists respond with culture and a taste for entertainment. In the words of the poet Charles Baudelaire, “the devil’s greatest trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist.” So there is a total lack of understanding between the two parties. The proliferation of Satanic references is obviously fuelled by the advanced de-Christianisation of Western societies.According to Msgr. de Kerimel, “Christ has been withdrawn from the cultural world which, in part, no longer wants anything to do with Christianity.”For the masses of people strolling through the streets of Toulouse, all this is just a harmless game whose ins and outs they don’t understand.
Msgr. de Kerimel compares the show “The Gates of Darkness”with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, which so outraged world opinion a few weeks ago. He denounces a general fascination with darkness and morbidity,as demonstrated by the terrible sequence featuring the beheading of Queen Marie-Antoinette on the banks of the Seine.
However, the prelate refuses to suggest that the consecration of the city is a “magical act” to protect us from a spectacle with harmful effects. It’s not a question of replacing one esotericism with another—white magic against black magic.The consecration is there to offer “an alternative vision, a vision of hope in a troubled world.”
While there are some chagrined souls among the flock of the Archdiocese of Toulouse who no doubt deplore the ‘closed-mindedness’ of a clergy insensitive to the ‘artistic sense’ that unfolds through the contortions of the Lilith of the 21st century, the younger generation of churchgoers is delighted with Msgr. de Kerimel’s stance. “When I read the content of the show, I found it rather morbid. On the other hand, dedicating Toulouse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a demonstration of God’s love,” explained young Marie, a 27-year-old devotee.
We can only salute the courage of the prelate, who in a context of maximum stigmatisation of the Church, has not hesitated to hold the line that gives meaning to his ministry:“to announce the ultimate victory of Christ over death and darkness.” spacer
Over the past three days, the streets of Toulouse, France, hosted an urban opera titled The Guardian of the Temple—The Gates of Darkness,in which three massive robotic puppets of mythological creatures—Lilith the scorpion woman, Asterion the Minotaur, and Ariane the spider—performed in several locations around the city. The show, put on by the French street-theater company La Machine, was directed by François Delarozière.
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The spider Ariane wanders through the old city of Toulouse on October 26, 2024. #Pat Batard / Hans Lucas / AFP / Getty
Lilith and Asterion gather together in the streets of Toulouse. # Alain Pitton / Reuters
Lilith stands on the Pont-Neuf bridge in Toulouse on October 27, 2024. # Alain Pitton / Reuters
Lilith interacts with spectators in the streets of Toulouse. # Alain Pitton / Reuters
Spectators watch Lilith interact with Ariane on October 26, 2024. # Lionel Bonaventure / AFP / Getty
Spectators watch as Asterion walks through Toulouse on October 26, 2024. # Lionel Bonaventure / AFP / Getty
Lilith interacts with spectators in the streets of Toulouse on October 26, 2024. # Alain Pitton / Reuters
Operators work on Lilith, the “guardian of darkness,” built for the Hellfest metal festival in Toulouse, southwestern France, on Oct. 15, 2024. “Lilith” is one of the characters in the urban opera of the French company La Machine titled “The Guardian of the Temple Opus II: The Portal of Darkness,” which will be presented on Oct. 25–27, 2024, in Toulouse.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2024 / 15:00 pm
The archbishop of Toulouse has consecrated the southwest French city to the Sacred Heart of Jesusahead of a controversial street performance featuring “satanic” imagery that is set to take place next weekend.
“If we want to conquer with Christ,” Archbishop Guy de Kerimel reflected during his homily for the Oct. 16 consecration Mass, “if we want the heart of Jesus to reign over the city and the [arch]diocese of Toulouse, we must fight the roots of evil and sin in our own heart, seek, with the grace of God, humility, flee indifference, renounce violence, work for justice, be artisans of peace, seek purity of heart, be servants of mercy, accept to suffer contradiction.”
The archbishop’s decision to consecrate the city and archdiocese comes ahead of the operatic city-funded production “La porte des Ténèbres,” translated as “The Gate of Darkness,”which is the second installment of a similar performance that took place in 2018.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus,he emphasized to those gathered for the consecration, “is the most eloquent revelation of the victory of the divine love manifested by Jesus, son of God and son of man, dead for our sins and risen from the dead for our salvation.”
Because of Christ’s passion, the archbishop said, “love is not dead,” and Christians can have “hearts open to testify to hope” amid darkness.
“The consecration of the city and the [arch]diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is therefore for us an invitation to conversion to show, in our wounded world, something of the new world, born of the pierced heart of Jesus,” he stated. “How are Christian communities, with all people of goodwill, witnesses and actors of the victory of love in the world today?”
Produced by François Delarozière, a French artist and director of the street theater company La Machine, this year’s performance sparked controversy when it was revealed that the immersive citywide opera would include “satanic” imagery. A towering mechanical depiction of Lilith, a demonic figure in Judaism, will be on display, along with Satan’s cross, Lucifer’s sigil, and the sign of the beast— which are set to represent the “three prodigious signs” that Lilith will gather during the performance to open the gates of hell.
For the past several months, advertisements for the performance — on social media and plastered to the windows of trams throughout the city— have featured the statue of Lilith along with images of burning churches, a demonic red figure with a calf’s head, and numerous walking skeletons.
The towering mechanical likeness of the demonic half-woman was originally constructed for an international metal music festival called “Hellfest”in Brittany this past summer.
Delarozière in an interview with AFP news denied assertions that the performance contains satanic elements, stating that the story is really “about love, death, life, and the afterlife, with the great myths that have spanned the centuries.”
“We all have the right to say what we want and what we think,” he added, “but we don’t have the right to censor or forbid.” spacer
Mr Delaroziere is deceived and deceiving others. Naturally he does not recognize the satanic aspect of what he is doing because he is of the DEVIL and so he is blind to truth. Those who belong to Satan call good evil an evil good. The very presence of this kind of media “entertainment” is contributing tremendously to the corruption of the people and opens the doors for demonic activity. This is how the world has come to the place we find ourselves. It is a WAR between GOOD and EVIL, GOD and Satan. Which side are you on? If you find yourself fascinated by this kind of entertainment you need to check yourself. This is not the time to be risking your soul.
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Hélène de Lauzun, the Paris correspondent for The European Conservative, tells her readers about Archbishop Guy de Kerimel’s reaction to a publicly funded street show in Toulouse that sports satanic themes. His Grace has consecrated the city to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Archbishop of Toulouse dedicates the city to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, protesting a publicly funded street show with satanic themes.
The show, featuring a machine named Lilith, depicts a half-woman, half-scorpion with satanic imagery, originally made for the Hellfest festival in Brittany.
“The Gates of Darkness” parade in Toulouse, set from October 25th to 27th, previously drew 800,000 spectators in 2018.
Lilith, from Mesopotamian mythology and later feminist interpretations, is controversial for its satanic and dark symbolism.
Local Catholic leaders, including Archbishop Msgr. Guy de Kerimel, oppose the display, urging a spiritual response by dedicating the city to the Sacred Heart during a Mass on October 16th.
De Kerimel critiques the cultural climate, emphasizing hope amidst societal fragmentation while Delarozière, Lilith’s creator, dismisses these concerns as puritanical.
Father Simon d’Artigue highlights the troubling presence of satanic symbols in public areas.
The Archbishop’s consecration is seen as an alternative vision of hope, not magical protection, contrasting a fascination with darkness as embodied by the show.
Younger churchgoers appreciate the Archbishop’s stance, valuing the dedication as a display of divine love amid criticism of narrow-mindedness.
a city in S France, on the Garonne River: scene of severereligiousstrife in the early 13th and mid-16th centuries; university (1229). Pop: 444 392 (2006)
The name Toulouse has its origins in the American language and carries the meaning Stones and Water. This unique combination of words reflects the intertwining of two fundamental elements of nature. The name has a rich history that is deeply rooted in the region of Toulouse in France.
In the early days, Toulouse was a prominent city situated on the banks of the River Garonne, surrounded by rocky landscapes. The juxtaposition of stones and water in the town’s name perfectly captures the essence of its geological and geographical features. Additionally, throughout history, Toulouse has been associated with the production of stones and its connection to the waterways that allowed for their transportation.
In modern-day usage, the name Toulouse is not commonly used as a personal given name but is most frequently encountered as a place name, particularly in reference to the city in France. The name continues to evoke a sense of heritage and reflects the history and cultural significance attached to the region. Toulouse is famous for its rich architectural heritage, charming streets, and vibrant atmosphere. Its name serves as a reminder of the close relationship between the town and its geological attributes, while also underscoring the historical and cultural importance of this unique place.
The name Toulouse has multiple origins and meanings, including the city’s history, its geological features, and its association with stones and water:
History
The city’s original name was Tolosa, which was likely Aquitanian in origin and first recorded in the 2nd century BC. The name remained mostly unchanged through the centuries, even after Celtic, Roman, and Germanic invasions.
Geological features
The name Toulouse may reflect the city’s geological features, as it was originally located on the banks of the River Garonne and surrounded by rocky landscapes.
Association with stones and water
The name Toulouse may also reflect the city’s history of producing stones and transporting them along waterways.
Palladia Tolosa
In the 1st century, the emperor Domitian placed Toulouse under the patronage of the goddess Pallas Athena.Latin poets called the city Palladia Tolosa, which means “Palladian Toulouse”. This term was still used in the Renaissance and is sometimes used today.
Toulouse is a city in the shape of a heart!! A Brokenheart?
Toulouse is a city in southern France, on the banks of the Garonne River. It’s the capital of Haute-Garonne and the region of Occitanie. Toulouse is known for its food, museums, and historical religious buildings.
The French word langue d’oc literally means “language of oc”.It comes from the Occitan word oc, which means “yes”.
oc – Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Wiktionary
https://en.wiktionary.org › wiki › oc
Etymology. From Old Irish oc, from Proto-Celtic *onkos (“near”). Compare Middle Irish ocus.
Toulouse looks like a blossom blooming out of the Sea.
Heritage sites
Occitanie has eight UNESCO heritage sites, including Carcassonne, Canal du Midi, Pont du Gard, Arles, Orange, Avignon, Andorre, and Chemin de Santagio de Compostela (The Camino de Santiago or in English the Way of St. James,The Camino de Santiago or in English the Way of St. James)
Some very significant cities in the Occitanie. To learn move visit the following posts.
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The world today is screaming out for a concordance. For a world where everyone and everything is embraced. Whatever the belief, whatever the desire, whatever the fantasy…its all good. Love is for everyone. We can all get along if we just choose to do so. What a lovely notion, but childish and extremely naïve. For … Click Here to Read More
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Acity in S France, on the Garonne River: scene of severe religious strife in the early 13th and mid-16th centuries; university (1229). Pop: 390 350 (1999) Ancient name Tolosatəˈləʊsə
Place name: The name of a city in France that’s known for its architecture, streets, and atmosphere.Toulouse is the capital of the Haute-Garonne department and the Occitanie region.
Surname: A French and English surname that comes from the city of Toulouse.
Toulouse-Lautrec, was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical … Wikipedia
Cultural center: Toulouse was a cultural center of medieval Europe
Toulouse is known for its food, including cassoulet and foie gras, and its many museums and historical religious buildings. The Occitan cross is a symbol of Toulouse.
WELCOME BACK TO THE CITY OF LIGHT, FOR THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH 33rd Summer Olympic Games kick off in Paris My oh my, oh my. It just gets crazier and crazier. I could do so much more digging, but this post is already long enough. Don’t miss any of it. Stay to the end…you … Click Here to Read More
The word “Palladian” has multiple meanings, including relating to the architectural style of Andrea Palladio and relating to the goddess Athena:
Architectural style: The word “Palladian” refers to a style of architecture based on the work of the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Palladian architecture is characterized by symmetry, classical elements, and grand proportions. Palladianism is the name of the style of architecture.
Relating to the goddess Athena: The word “Palladian” comes from the Latin word Palladi(us), which means “of Pallas”. Pallas was an epithet for Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.
Wise or learned: In literature, “Palladian” can mean wise or learned.
Palladio’s ideas spread through his 1570 publication I quattro libri dell’architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), which contained illustrations and descriptions of his work and the Roman buildings he admired.
Yes, Pallas is one of the most well-known epithets of the Greek goddess Athena:
Meaning
The meaning of Pallas is uncertain, but it may come from the word pallákis, which means “young woman” or “youth”. It may also come from the word pállō, which means “to brandish as a weapon”.
Representation
Athena is often depicted wearing a helmet, shield, and spear, and is represented with a snake peeking out from under her shield. She also wears a goatskin or aegis over her shoulders and bosom.
Myths
There are multiple myths about how Athena came to be known as Pallas:
Killed a giant: Athena skinned a giant in battle and wore his skin to protect herself. She then took on the giant’s name to commemorate her victory.
Athena’s epithet Pallas – her most renowned one – is derived either from πάλλω, meaning “to brandish [as a weapon]”, or, more likely, from παλλακίς and related words, meaning “youth, young woman”. On this topic, Walter Burkert says “she is the Pallas of Athens, Pallas Athenaie, just as Hera of Argos is Here Argeie”.
Athena aka Minerva
Minerva
Roman goddess
Minerva, in Roman religion, the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the arts, and, later, war; she was commonly identified with the Greek Athena. Source
Yes, Minerva is the Roman goddess of weaving, along with other arts, handicrafts, and professions. She is also associated with philosophy, music, medicine, law, and victory.
Minerva is often depicted with an owl, which symbolizes wisdom and knowledge. She is also associated with the nightingale because she is credited with inventing the flute.
In Roman mythology, Minerva is involved in a famous weaving contest with Arachne, a maiden who claims to be a better weaver than the goddess:
The contest
Minerva and Arachne each weave a tapestry, with Minerva’s depicting the gods and her victory over Neptune, and Arachne’s depicting the gods seducing mortals.
The outcome
Minerva declares herself the winner and transforms Arachne into a spider. This story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of mortals thinking they are equal to the gods.
Minerva is often depicted as tall, muscular, and wearing armor and a spear. She is one of the three Roman deities in the Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Juno.
WEAVING SPIDERS COME NOT HERE… famous Bohemian Grove Slogan
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Palladian (not comparable) (Greek mythology, rare) Of or relating to Pallas, an epithet of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and potentially to other female Greek figures such as Pallas the daughter of Triton and granddaughter of Poseidon. (by extension, rare) Of or relating to knowledge, study, or wisdom.
The word “Palladian” has multiple meanings, including relating to the architectural style of Andrea Palladio and relating to the goddess Athena:
Architectural style: The word “Palladian” refers to a style of architecture based on the work of the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Palladian architecture is characterized by symmetry, classical elements, and grand proportions. Palladianism is the name of the style of architecture.
Relating to the goddess Athena: The word “Palladian” comes from the Latin word Palladi(us), which means “of Pallas”. Pallas was an epithet for Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.
Wise or learned: In literature, “Palladian” can mean wise or learned.
Palladio’s ideas spread through his 1570 publication I quattro libri dell’architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), which contained illustrations and descriptions of his work and the Roman buildings he admired.
Get ready to explore the spooky legends surrounding the Haunted Schools of the University of Toulouse in France! In this bone-chilling video, we delve into the eerie paranormal activity that haunts these historic educational buildings. From mysterious sounds echoing through the empty halls to ghostly apparitions of former students, the hauntings of these schools will send shivers down your spine. Join us on a ghostly tour as we uncover the ghostly secrets of the University of Toulouse. Are you brave enough to step foot inside these Haunted Schools? Watch now to uncover the haunting mysteries! **Keywords: haunted school, school, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France. #hauntedschool#school#france
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Knight of Toulouse In the Masonic Scottish Rites, there is a mythical character known as the Knight of Toulouse.
Yes, the Knight of Toulouse is a mythical character in the Masonic Scottish Rites. The character is based on Raymond IV of Toulouse, a nobleman who led an army in the First Crusade:
Life
Raymond became the Count of Toulouse in 1094 and was given Saint-Gilles, which earned him the nickname Raymond of Saint-Gilles.
Crusades
Raymond was the first nobleman to take the cross and lead an army in the First Crusade. He was an important leader in the Crusades armies and participated in the capture of Antioch and Jerusalem.
Toulouse the Mystic City of France
Toulouse the Mystic City of France is a book that includes a guide to mystical sites in Toulouse, such as the Church of the Jacobins, the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, and the Toulouse Labyrinth
For the first four days of November, the streets of Toulouse, France, were transformed into a performance space for the massive robotic puppets Ariane and Asterion. The giant spider and 50-ton Minotaur were featured in the French street-theater company La Machine’s multiday show Le Gardien du Temple. Live music accompanied the giants as La Machine performers guided them through the “labyrinth” formed by the streets of Toulouse. Here, from the Agence France-Presse photographer Eric Cabanis, a few shots of the show and some of the more than 600,000 audience members.
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Asterion, a giant Minotaur, performs in the streets of Toulouse as part of the French street-theater company La Machine’s show Le Gardien du Temple (“The Guardian of the Temple”) on November 2, 2018. #Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
Asterion moves past the crowd in the Place du Capitole square on November 2, 2018. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
On November 1, 2018, during the show Le Gardien du Temple, Ariane, a giant animated spider, moves from the roof of the Hôtel-Dieu in Toulouse, France. # Eric Cabanis / AFP / Getty
LABYRINTH INFO
Here are some of my posts that address the Labyrinth:
Just in time for the new COVID outbreak they are telling us to watch the skies for the T. Corona Borealis Super Nova. It can happen anytime between now and mid September. So much is happening in the news these days it can make your head spin. In all the craziness, GOD is bringing many … Click Here to Read More
Dating from the 18th century, the Château de Merville is a remarkable building to discover if you appreciate sumptuous castles. But its charming asset is above all its Labyrinth.It is also the largest boxwood labyrinth in Europe. Its two courses will delight young and old, perfect for a day out with the family.
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Two routes to stroll through the gardens
Enigma: become a genius too!
The favorite course for young and old is of courseEnigma. It is a labyrinth with puzzles on the theme of great inventions. The name of the course alone sets the tone. Reflectionwill be the leitmotif of your interactive walk. Equipped with the booklet given at the reception, you will move forward and progress according to your personal knowledge, but also thanks to the many supports put in place.
Let’s go!
The course is very fun and varied. There is no downtime. You will have to face water walls, a river or even gates. But do not panic! Everything has been thought of so that you can go out before dark! The various media available to you always contain the answer. It’s up to you to work your brains to find it! Then just type the first letters of the desired word on the digital code and the new passages will open before your amazed and satisfied eyes.
An activity that is both cultural and entertaining
What is the correct path?
When you have discovered the mystery word, you will come to the treasure. This will mark the end of your journey to the land of scientists and revolutionary inventions. As a reward for your efforts during all these stages, you will receive the diploma of the true scientist!
Your efforts will eventually pay off!
Greenery, discovery and serenity in the Dédale
For a quieter walk, don’t hesitate to stroll through the alleys of the maze trail. Here, no puzzles, just transmission and sharing. You will meet the different members of the family, and discover the history of this unique place.
Direction the Daedalus!
Download the Labyrinthe de Merville application and, thanks to the 9 terminals distributed here and there, you will learn about some anecdotes, or even old documents.
Discovering the castle
The history of the Château
It was during the 18th century that the Marquis de Chalvet-Rochemonteix had it built in the village of Merville, on his inherited land. He razed the foundations of the old village to carry out his project for an aristocratic country house. Work began in 1743 and lasted about fifteen years.
The castle and its terrace overlooking the domain
Plans of the old village of Merville
Classic architecture
As soon as you see the Château, you immediately distinguish its typical Toulouse style thanks to the use of pink brick. The shape of the building is quite simple and perfectly symmetrical. It is organized in a U with a Cour d’Honneur inside, and rises on two levels. Currently, the direct descendants of the Marquis reside in the two wings of the building.
The 18th century decorations have been preserved and allow you to travel in time to the time of the Marquis.
There are codes and standards of the time: Frenchceilings,Chinese living room with refined decoration. But also decorative elements from previous centuries, like the Flanders tapestries that adorn several rooms. These tell scenes from the Trojan War and are particularly well preserved.
Chinese living room
The incredible tapestries of Flanders
The adjoining corridor leading to all the rooms on the ground floor
Click here for a very nice richly-illustrated compilation of the history (in French) of a number of monuments, neighborhoods, and important events in the history of Toulouse. The chapters were published by the Toulouse mayor’s office in various 2007-2020 issues of Capitole Infos and à Toulouse. Note: the file may take “a while” to download (nearly 300 pages and 100 MB).Toulouse, France’s aeronautics and space exploration capital, can today afford to look skywards: its history has given it a solid base from which it can move towards the future with confidence. Nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains that lie between it and Spain, the city known as “la Ville Rose” (due to the purplish-pink hues of its many brick buildings) has an immensely rich past, which through the centuries has alternated between periods of prosperity and much gloomier times.
External link last checked: May 2022
THE CITY OF TOULOUSE LOOKS LIKE A MAZE/LABYRINTH!
Part of the historic center of Toulouse, with the St. Sernin basilica
THE FIRST INHABITANTS AND TOLOSA
The city’s history goes back over 2000 years, starting with the Volques Tectosages, a small Celtic tribe that settled in the Garonne valley around 300 B.C. Because of its strategic position, Toulouse – which provided a link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic . Already in 100 B.C., it was of great interest to the Romans, who made it one of their colonies in the 2nd century A.D. The colony subsequently prospered from the wine tradeand by the 3rd century A.D. it had its first city wall, which reached northwards as far as the Porterie (now Place du Capitole), while its southernmost point was Porte Narbonnaise, which is now Place du Salin and the Place du Parlement. Around this time christianity was introduced to the city by Saint Saturnin, who later died at the hands of a frenzied “heathen” mob who tied him to the tail of a bull. Many of the city’s buildings and monuments named in his honor recall his martyrdom: Rue du Taur (from “taureau”, meaning “bull”),Notre-Dame-du-Taur church, Saint-Sernin basilica and Matabiau station (from matar bios, meaning “to kill the bull”).
THE BARBARIAN INVASION
From the 5th century A.D., the city was subjected to barbarian invasions:while the Vandals were stopped by Gallo-Roman defenses, the Visigoths, who came from the area around the Black Sea, made the city their empire’s capital.A century later, the Franks in their turn took possession of the city. By the 9th century A.D. there followed a period of relative calm when Toulouse found itself relegated to the rank of simple county town. However, during the Middle Ages it became capital of the County of Toulouse and governed by Raimond II. Ruled by city nobles, Toulouse quickly expanded, due to a large influx of settlers from rural areas. The city then stretched beyond its walls to the north as far as Place Saint-Sernin, to the south as far as the Saint-Michel area of the city and to the west on the left bank of the Garonne. In the 12th century, the nobility lost the city to the Capitouls or city consuls.
THE CATHARS
In the 12th century A.D., the Cathars,members of a heretical sect, tried to establish themselves in Toulouse where they had many supporters. The king sent in his troops, led by Simon de Monfort (killed by a stone on the site where the Grand-Rond is today), which eventually succeeded in eradicating the heretics.As a result, the first wave of the Inquisition swept through Toulouse, bringing with it a religious fervour that was behind the founding of the Dominican monastic order in the couvent des Jacobins and, from 1229, the setting up of a theological university. Made a royal city in 1271,Toulouse experienced rapid economic growth (thanks to the Garonne river) and blossomed intellectually and artistically. However a dark period in its history was to follow from the 14th century onwards, when the plague, the Hundred Years’ War, famine, floods and fire each ravaged the city in turn.
PASTEL
The year 1420 was a turning point in Toulouse’s history and marked the beginning of a wonderful century whose dominant theme was prosperity. Charles VII introduced a judicial body to the city: the Parliament. Pastel merchants, who had become rich by exporting this plant-derived blue dye throughout Europe, converged around the Grande Rue(today Rue des Filatiers, Rue des Changes and Rue St. Rome), built magnificent town houses (Hôtel d’Assézat, Hôtel de Bernuy) and took control of a wealthy Toulouse society in which architectural design and fine arts flourished. From the middle of the 16th century however, Toulouse experienced its second major crisis: indigo, a much less expensive dye, arrived from America, wiping out the pastel trade. A new civil war, this time between Catholics and Calvinists, caused an enormous fire to break out causing untold damage and up until the 17th century, famine followed on swiftly from the numerous outbreaks of the plague that befell the city. A period of development followed, which saw the coming to fruition of a number of industrial projects, such as the building of the Pont Neuf, Place du Capitole and the Canal du Midi.
The Age of Enlightenment and growth during the 19th century
The Jean Calas affair caused uproar in 1761: accused of murdering his own son who wanted to become a Catholic, Toulouse merchant Jean Calas – in spite of protesting his innocence – was sentenced to death and burned alive in 1762.This prompted widespread condemnation by key figures in French society of Toulouse’s Parliament’s persecution of Protestants.Although somewhat hindered by the Inquisition and religious intolerance, the city was slowly but surely modernized during the 18th century. A period of urban reorganization began, which went on until the end of the 19th century. From 1750 onwards, Toulouse witnessed the building of the Jardin Royal, the Grand-Rond with its six splendid avenues, the Canal de Brienne, Quai Dillon, the Patte-d’Oie area of the city, Place Wilson and Place du Capitole. The opening of Matabiau station in 1856 heralded the age of transportation, while boulevards replaced the city walls and main thoroughfares were created at the end of the 19th century, following the example of the wonderful improvements made by prefect Haussmann in Paris. These large-scale projects were to give the city, which had long outgrown the original and very cramped medieval town, a whole new look. Meantime, the French Revolution of 1789 marked the end of the Capitouls’ reign, and Joseph de Rigaud was voted in as Toulouse’s first mayor.
The 20th century: the age of aeronautics
The beginning of the 20th century was characterized by a huge population increase, caused by the arrival of immigrants fleeing the numerous fascist regimes of the period(immigrants came from the north of France in 1914, from Italy in the 1920s and Spain in 1934). World-wide conflict forced the city, due to its strategic position close to Spain, to change and undergo its own industrial revolution, which resulted in the arrival of chemical industries in 1915, the Latécoère aircraft factory, and the setting up of Aéropostale, the French airmail service.Aérospatiale (the internationally-known aeronautics firm) was created here in 1920. During the Second World War, Toulouse’s resistance network went from strength to strength during the Occupation. A new wave of immigrants arrived just after the war in Algeria and forced the city to spread further west towards the suburbs. Since then, industries – particularly the aviation industry – have continued to flourish, as have electronics and space exploration sectors. As France’s fourth biggest city (metropolitan Toulouse has about 700,000 inhabitants), home to the country’s second biggest university (and the first university outside Paris), and France’s aeronautics capital, Toulouse is a dynamic, forward-looking city whose pinks (for its buildings) and blues (for its pastel) are a constant reminder of its rich and colorful past.
The Garonne (“Garona” in Occitan, or lenga d’òc, or languedoc, a romance language, spoken mainly in southern France)is a river in the southwest of France, with a length of 575 km (357 miles).
Origin of the name
The name “Garonne” comes from the Latin Garumna, which is the transcription of the native name of the river in antiquity. This native name derives from the Aquitanian (language related to old Basque) word kar, meaning “rock”, akin to old Basque karri (modern Basque harri, “stone”),and from a Celtic (or more probably Pre-Indo-European) suffix -onna which means “source, river”, and which can be found in the name of many rivers of western Europe (such as the Seine, Saône, and Dordogne rivers in France).
One of the reasons that Toulouse is at this particular location along the Garonne, is that it is one of the few places where one can wade across the river (esp. during periods of low water levels). Such a place is referred to in Latin as “vadaculum”. The word has been transformed to bazacle in the local vernacular. Around 0 B.C., a shallow dam was constructed across the river at this point.These days, the current dam is normally (but incorrectly) referred to as “the bazacle”.
Geography
The river rises in the Val d’Aran (valley in the Spanish Pyrenees), flowing via Toulouse towards Bordeaux, where it flows into the Gironde river estuary. The latter flows into the Bay of Biscay.
In its flow, the Garonne is joined by three other major rivers: the Ariège, the Tarn, and the Lot. Just after Bordeaux, the Garonne river finally meets the Dordogne river, after which the two rivers become the Gironde Estuary, which after approximately 60 miles joins the Atlantic Ocean. Other tributaries include the Save and the Gers.
The Garonne is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit a tidal bore. Surf boarders, jet-skiers etc. can ride the tidal bore as least as far upstream as the village of Cambes (110 km / 70 miles from the Atlantic).
Major riverside towns: Bordeaux, Agen, Toulouse.
Navigation
The Garonne plays an important role in inland shipping. The river is not only allowing seagoing vessels to reach the ports of Bordeaux; it is also part of the Canal des Deux Mers, as it is the canal that links the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing a shorter and safer way for goods to pass from the agricultural areas of the South of France to the Atlantic.
From the Ocean, ships pass through the Gironde Estuary, to the mouth of the Gironde, the left of the two rivers for those who sail upstream. The Garonne remains navigable for larger vessels up to the Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge) in Bordeaux. River vessels can sail upstream to Castets-en-Dorthe, where the Garonne Lateral Canal (Canal Latéral à la Garonne) joins the river. The lateral canal takes the ships through 53 locks to the town of Toulouse, where the canal meets the Canal du Midi, with which its form the Canal des Deux Mers.
The Garonne Lateral Canal was subject to one of the largest infrastructure works in Europe, when it was adapted to the standardized barge size of 38 by 5 meters, during the 19th century. French minister Freycinet ordered that all canals with importance for long distance transport be suitable for vessels of those standard dimensions. The extension of all the former 30 meter locks to the new standard length was carried out throughout the lateral canal.The other half of the Canal des Deux Mers, the Canal du Midi, partly escaped this operation, because by the time the works had reached the area where the most locks were situated, commercial traffic on the canal had almost disappeared. The works were stopped, leading to the cultural heritage status of the United Nations that has made the Canal du Midi famous. spacer
The Canal du Midi stretches from Toulouse, situated on the westward flowing Garonne River, to the east, where it meets the Aude River in Carcassonne before continuing on to the Mediterranean Sea. The Canal de Garonne, completed 150 years after the Canal du Midi, extended the canal system further down the Garonne River. Together, the two canals are known as the Canal des Deux Mers. Canals were used even when rivers were available because water levels and embankments could be controlled, greatly easing the movement of barges.
The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229). Toulouse is also the home of prestigious higher education schools, notably in the field of aerospace engineering. Together with the university, they have turned Toulouse into the fourth-largest student city in France, with a university population of nearly 140,000 students.[16]
Toulouse counts three UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites: the Canal du Midi (designated in 1996 and shared with other cities), and the Basilica of St. Sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe,[17]designated in 1998 along with the former hospital Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques because of their significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.The city’s unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks has earned Toulouse the nickname La Ville rose (“The Pink city”).[18][19]
County of Toulouse
Charlemagne had created the county of Toulouse in 778to guard the border of Muslim Spain, but the disintegration of the kingdom of Aquitaine and the weakness of royal power in the following centuries led to the de facto independence of the county of Toulouse and many provinces.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, southern France was still steeped in Latin culture. Unlike the north of France, justice followed written Roman law and the nobles were highly educated. This was the time of the troubadours who wrote their poetry in Occitan (called “Provençal” at the time), then one of the most sophisticated languages in Europe. Like the other great lords of the Midi, the counts of Toulouse maintained and favoured these poets, this is how Count Raymond V employed for some time the famous Bernard de Ventadour, expert in singing courtly love.[28]
In 1096, Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, left with his army at the call of the Pope Urban II to join the First Crusade, of which he was one of the main leaders.[25][29]This exodus of its warriors and nobles, reinforced by the creation of the faraway County of Tripoli by Raymond IV at the beginning of the 12th century,weakened the city militarily as well as the ascendancy that its counts had over it. The Duke William IX of Aquitaine challenged the possession of the city on the grounds that it should have been inherited by his wife Philippa (daughter of the previous count of Toulouse, whereas Raymond IV was only his brother). More than 50 years later his granddaughter Eleanor of Aquitaine still claimed the inheritance in vain.[25]
In the 12th century the city left its Roman limits and a new district developed around the church of Saint-Sernin: the Bourg.The church of Saint-Sernin was famous and revered for its many relics,and the chapter of its canons, which had possessions as far away as Spain, was powerful enough to free itself from the control of the bishop of Toulouse. This dissent had important local political repercussions, making the Bourg in practice a separate district from the city.In 1152, the notables of Toulouse took advantage of a weakening of the county power to obtain for their city a great autonomy, they created a municipal body of consuls, called capitouls in Toulouse, to lead the city. The Bourg, which had only a quarter of the inhabitants of Toulouse, obtained as many capitouls as the rest of the city.[25]Economically, Toulouse, which was at the center of a large cereal-growing plain, was distinguished by its numerous mills that took advantage of the force of the Garonne, among which the Bazacle Milling Company was the first recorded European joint-stock company.
The fight against Catharism and its various aspects
At the beginning of the thirteenth century the County of Toulouse was caught up in another crusade that would last twenty years (1209-1229), of which it was the target this time. The reason for this was the development of Catharism in the south of France, which the Pope Innocent III wanted to eradicate by all possible means.[25]
After an initial victory of the crusaders led by Simon de Montfort who defeated the combined forces of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse and King Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret, the following years saw the fate of the county of Toulouse swing alternately in favour of one party or the other.Finally, a late intervention by King Louis VIII of France in 1226 tipped the balance in favour of the crusaders, resulting in the submission of Count Raymond VII to the French Crown and the end of the independence of the County of Toulouse.[25]
But beyond the military crusade, this struggle took on several important aspects for the city of Toulouse:
The Dominican Order was founded in Toulouse by Saint Dominic in 1215. Spanish priest Dominic de Guzmán wanted to convert the Cathars to Catholicism peacefully, by preaching and by living a poor and exemplary life. After years of criss-crossing the Lauraguais countryside between Carcassonne and Toulouse, he changed his method and decided to preach in town. In 1215 he settled in Toulouse and founded a mendicant order which, within a few decades, would cover Europe with hundreds of convents: The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans.[25]
Under the impulse of the bishop of Toulouse, Foulques, an original and austere architectural style was born in Toulouse, designed to break with the display of luxury of the Catholic churchwhich drove the faithful towards the Cathars: the Southern French Gothic.[25]
Another consequence of the Treaty of Paris was the creation of the University of Toulouse, established on the Parisian model, strongly sponsored by the pope and intended as a means to dissolve the heretic movement.[25][30]
Also in 1229, the Council of Toulouse was held, which laid the foundations for the long period of Inquisition that was to eradicate Catharism in the region after the military victory of the Crusade.[25]
Kingdom of France
In 1271, Joan of Toulouse and her husband Alphonse of Poitiers died without heirs.Toulouse, which since the treaty of 1229 had been subordinate to the kingdom of France, no longer had a count and was annexed to the royal domain.[25]The installation of numerous royal officers and the development of trade and crafts, which favoured the social ascension of merchants, renewed the city’s elites. In 1298, King Philip the Fair greatly facilitated the possibility of ennobling the capitouls, whose council, renewed every year, was increasingly made up of rich merchants.[25]
The first half of the 14th century was a prosperous period, despite the dismemberment in 1317 of the very large bishopric of Toulouse(which lost two thirds of its area and a large part of its income, a loss only partially compensated by its elevation to the rank of archbishopric), and the episode of the Shepherds’ Crusade which brought a pogrom against Toulouse’s Jewish population in 1320.[25][31]In 1335, Toulouse had between 35,000 and 40,000 inhabitants.[25]
In 1323, the Consistori del Gay Saber was created in Toulouse to preserve the lyric art of the troubadours byorganizing a poetry contest; and Toulouse became the centre ofOccitanliterary culture for the following centuries.The Consistori is considered to be the oldest literary society in Europe, at the origin of one of the most sophisticated treatise on grammar and rhetoric of the Middle Ages,and in 1694 it was transformed into the Royal Academy of the Floral Games (Académie des Jeux Floraux), still active today, by king Louis XIV.[25]
The 14th century also saw a significant increase in the influence of the University of Toulouse, particularly following the move of the papacy from Rome to Avignon. Many law graduates from the University of Toulouse had brilliant careers in the Avignon curia, several became cardinals and three became popes: John XXII, Innocent VI and Urban V.These powerful prelates financed the establishment of colleges in the university towns of southern France, not only Toulouse but also Montpellier, Cahors and Avignon.[32]
TheBlack Deathin 1348, then theHundred Years’ Warcaused a major crisis that lasted until the following century.[25] Despite strong immigration, the population lost more than 10,000 inhabitants in 70 years. By 1405 Toulouse had only 19,000 people.[33]In these hardships, the city was the key stronghold of the French defence in the south of France during the worst years of the Hundred Years’ War,when the English troops from Aquitaine had taken Montauban and only Toulouse remained as an obstacle to their conquest of southern France. This military threat to the city and especially to the surrounding countryside was not conducive to its development, despite the strengthening of ties with the royalty that it entailed.[25]
In 1369, pope Urban V attributed to the Dominican church of the Jacobins of Toulouse the bones of the Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas, perhaps to honor the city that had been the cradle of the Dominican order at the beginning of the previous century.[25]
The political and economic situation improved by the middle of the 15th century.[34] In 1443 King Charles VII established the second parliament of France after that of Paris. Reinforcing its place as an administrative and judicial center, the city grew richer, participating in the trade of Bordeaux wine with England,as well as cereals and textiles. A major source of income was the production and export of pastel, a blue dye made from woad.[35]
Toulouse suffered several fires, but it was in 1463 that the Great Fire of Toulouse broke out, ravaging the city for fifteen days. After this dramatic event, King Louis XIII exempted the city from taxes for 100 years. The capitouls issued municipal decrees favouring the use of brick in buildings, rather than excessively flammable wood or cob.[25]
In the 16th century, and until 1562, the economy of Toulouse experienced a golden age: its Parliament made it the judicial capital of a large part of southern France, and the city became the first European centre for the trade in woad,the only blue dye then known in Europe which was very much in demand in the textile industry at the time. Its humanist milieu developed thanks to its university and parliament, which trained and attracted intellectual elites.The wealth generated by this culturally and economically dynamic environment is the source of the superbRenaissance mansions in Toulouse. In 1550 the population of the city made it the second or third largest city in France. It was estimated to have 50,000 inhabitants, a figure it would not regain until the 18th century.[25][36]
In 1562, the French Wars of Religion began and Toulouse became an ultra-Catholic strongholdin a predominantly Protestant region, the era of economic prosperity came to an end. The governor of Languedoc, Henri II de Montmorency, who had rebelled, was executed in 1632 in the Capitole in the presence of King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.[25]
In 1666, Pierre-Paul Riquet started the construction of the Canal du Midi which links Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea, and is considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century. Completed in 1681, the canal stimulated the economy of Toulouse by promoting the export of cereals and the import of olive oil, wine and other goods from the Mediterranean regions.[25]
In the 18th century, Toulouse was a provincial capital that prided itself on its royal academies (the only city in France, along with Paris, to have three royal academies), but sometimes seemed far removed from the debates of ideas that agitated theEnlightenment.[25][37] A famous example illustrates this backwardness of Toulouse mentalities of the time: in 1762 its powerful parliament sentenced Jean Calas to death. The philosopher Voltaire then accused the Parlement of Toulouse of religious intolerance (Calas was a Protestant), gave the affair a European repercussion and succeeded in having the judgment of the parliament quashed by the King’s Council, which did much damage to the reputation of the parliament. It was on this occasion that Voltaire published one of his major philosophical works: his famous Treatise on Tolerance.
With the French Revolutionof 1789 and the reform or suppression of all royal institutions, Toulouse lost much of its power and influence: until then the capital of the vast province of Languedoc, with a parliament ruling over an even larger territory, the city then found itself simply at the head of the single small department of Haute-Garonne.[25]
19th century
On 10 April 1814, four days after Napoleon‘s surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition (a fact that the two armies involved were not yet aware of), the Battle of Toulouse pitted the Hispanic-British troops of Field Marshal Wellington against the French troops of Napoleonic Marshal Soult, who, although they managed to resist, were forced to withdraw. Toulouse was thus the scene of the last Franco-British battle on French territory.[38]
Unlike most large French cities, there was no real industrial revolution in 19th century Toulouse.[citation needed]The most important industries were the gunpowder factory, to meet military needs, and the tobacco factory. In 1856 the railway arrived in Toulouse and the city was modernised: the ramparts were replaced by large boulevards, and major avenues such as the rue d’Alsace-Lorraine and the rue de Metz opened up the historic centre.
In 1875, a flood of the Garonne devastated more than 1,000 houses and killed 200 people. It also destroyed all the bridges in Toulouse, except the Pont-Neuf.[39]
20th and 21st centuries
The epic of l’Aéropostale has written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of aviation in Toulouse.World War I brought to Toulouse (geographically sheltered from enemy attacks) chemical industries as well as aviation workshops (Latécoère, Dewoitine), which launched the city’s aeronautical construction tradition and gave birth after the war to the famous Aéropostale, a pioneering airmail company based in Toulouse and whose epics were popularised by the novels of writers such as Joseph Kessel and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (himself an Aéropostale pilot).[40][41]
In the 1920s and 1930s the rise of the Toulouse population was increased by the arrival of Italians and Spaniards fleeing the fascist regimes of their country. Then, in the early 1960s, French repatriates from Algeria swelled the city’s population.[41]
In 1963, Toulouse was chosen to become one of the country’s eight “balancing Metropolis”, regaining a position among the country’s major cities that it had always had, but lost in the 19th century. The French state then encouraged the city’s specialisation in aeronautics and space activities, sectors that had experienced strong growth in recent decades, fueling economic and population growth.[41]
On 21 September 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF fertiliser factory, causing 31 deaths, about 30 seriously wounded and 2,500 light casualties. The blast measured 3.4 on the Richter scale and the explosion was heard 80 km (50 mi) away.[41][42]
In 2016, a territorial reform made Toulouse the regional prefecture of Occitanie,the second largest region in metropolitan France, giving it a role commensurate with its past as a provincial capital among the most important in France.[41]
Romanesque architecture (11th-12th c.)
Remains of a Romanesque brick wall in the Jardin des PlantesThe Romanesque architecture of Toulouse is largely dominated by the presence of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, one of the most important churches of its time in Europe, and fortunate enough to keep its Romanesque character virtually intact.
Basilica of Saint-Sernin
Basilica of Saint-Sernin, part of the Way of Saint JamesUNESCO World Heritage Site,was also in itself a major place of pilgrimage.It is one of the two largest surviving Romanesque churches in Europe.[note 1]With more than two hundred relics (including that ofSaint Saturninwho gave his name to the church), many of which were donated by Charlemagne to the shrine that preceded the present church, Saint-Sernin is the church with the most relics after Saint Peter of Rome.[56]
Conceived from the outset as a gigantic reliquary, the church was mainly built at the end of the 11th century and at the beginning of the 12th century to welcome the crowds of pilgrims, its double-sided aisles and the ambulatory surrounding the apse make it the archetype of the great pilgrimage church, where pilgrims could make the circuit around the church and were able to stop for meditation and prayer at the apsidal chapels of the transept and the radiating chapels of the choir.The church is also particularly noteworthy for the quality of its Romanesque sculptures, including numerous capitals and the historiated tympanum of the Miègeville gate, one of the first of its kind.[57]
Museums and theme parks
Toulouse has many museums, the most important of which are:
Musée Saint-Raymond is the archeological museum of Toulouse, located in a former college of the university it presents the ancient history of Toulouse and a very rich collection of Roman sculptures from the imperial Roman villa of Chiragan.
Musée Paul Dupuy is the museum of Decorative Arts and Graphic Arts, including a very rich collection of clocks and watches.
Musée Georges Labit is dedicated to artifacts from the Far-Eastern and Ancient Egyptian civilizations.
Muséum de Toulouse is one of the most important natural history museums in France,housed in the former convent of the Discalced Carmelites.
Les Abattoirs is the museum of modern and contemporary art of the city, opened in a former municipal slaughterhouse.
Toulouse also has several theme parks, notably highlighting its aeronautical and space heritage:
Cité de l’espaceis a scientific discovery centre focused on spaceflight.
Aeroscopia is an aeronautical theme park located near Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, dedicated to the preservation of aeronautical historical heritage (it hosts for example two Concorde airliners).
Halle de La Machine is a vast hall that houses numerous small or giant animated machines, often inspired by the world of aeronautics, human or technological epics.
Global headquarters of Airbus at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport
Since 2003, Toulouse has been the French city with the fastest growing GDP per capita, a performance driven by growing high-tech industries.[62]
Toulouse economy can rely on three pillars: large industrial companies, research laboratories and a huge pool of students, engineers and scientists. Indeed, Toulouse is home to the second largest research and education centre in France, it has a high quality of education, first class engineering schools, powerful industries supported by world leaders, such as Airbus or Thales Alenia for aeronautics and space. This ecosystem fosters innovation in fields such as artificial intelligence, IOT, robotics, avionics, embedded systems, biotechnology, health etc.[63]
Toulouse can particularly be described as the ‘capital’ of the European aerospace industry: it hosts the Airbus headquarters and assembly-lines of Airbus A320, A330, and A350. The A380 was also produced here (the last completed in 2021), as was the Concorde supersonic aircraft.[64][65] Toulouse also hosts the headquarters of ATR, one of the two headquarters of Liebherr Aerospace and Groupe Latécoère. As for the space industry, with 12,000 jobs, 400 companies and 25% of the European workforce, Toulouse is the main European hub.[66]
Toulouse is the home of Bonhoure Radio Tower, a 61-metre-tall (200 ft) lattice tower used for FM and TV transmission.[71] In 2001 a 100-kilometre (62 mi) optical fiber (symmetric 360 Gbit/s) network named Infrastructure Métropolitaine de Télécommunications was deployed around the city and suburbs.[72]
Culture
The Halle aux grains, a former grain market now used as a concert hall
Toulouse is the seat of the Académie des Jeux Floraux, the equivalent of the French Academy for the Occitan-speaking regions of southern France, making Toulouse the unofficial capital of Occitan culture. The traditional Cross of Toulouse (from Provence, under the name of cross of Provence), emblem of the County of Toulouse and commonly widespread around all of Occitania during the Middle Ages is the symbol of the city and of the newly founded Midi-Pyrénées région, as well as a popular Occitan symbol.
The city’s gastronomic specialties include the Saucisse de Toulouse, a type of sausage, cassoulet Toulousain, a bean and pork stew, and garbure, a cabbage soup with poultry. Also, foie gras, the liver of an overfed duck or goose, is a delicacy commonly made in the Midi-Pyrénées.[77]
Musically, Toulouse is one of the two controversial, disputed birthplaces of Carlos Gardel (1890-1935) (the other being Tacuarembo, Uruguay), probably the most prominent figure in the history of the tango. The city’s most renowned songwriter is Claude Nougaro (1929-2004). The composer and organist Georges Guiraud (1868–1928) and songwriter Jain (b. 1992) were born in Toulouse.
Concerning arts, Toulouse is the birthplace of Impressionist painter Henri Martin (1860-1943) as well as sculptors Alexandre Falguière (1831-1900), Antonin Mercié (1845-1916) and illustrator Edmund Dulac (1882-1953). Moreover, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) and Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) were trained at the Toulouse fine arts school. Post Impressionist painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec‘s (1864-1901) father was Count Alphonse Charles de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa (1838-1913) and was part of an aristocratic family of Counts of Toulouse, Odet de Foix, Vimcomte de Lautrec and the Viscounts of Montfa.
Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse (c. 1041 – 1105), one of the leaders of the First Crusade, was born in Toulouse. Aviation pioneer Clément Ader (1841-1925), acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838-1870) who gave his name to the leotard, and psychiatrist Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772-1840) were also natives. French football legend Just Fontaine (1933-2023), record holder for the most goals in a single FIFA World Cup (thirteen in six games in 1958), lived in Toulouse for the last 60 years of his life.[81]
spacer TOULOUSE has had a history of religious tensions and struggles. Not only Catholics vs Protestants, but Christian vs Pagans, and Christians vs Jews.
Toulouse (Heb. טולושה) is the capital of the department of Haute-Garonne, in southern France.According to a legendary tradition, there were Jews in Toulouse as early as the eighth century,when because of their disloyalty to the ruling Franks, they were ordered to choose a member of the community every year to be publicly slapped in the face on Good Friday. This tradition also mentions a council held in Toulouse in 883 in the presence of the Jews to discuss their complaint against this custom. There is definite evidence of this practice, however, from 1020 onward. During the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the custom was waived on payment of a high fee. The Jews were also compelled to provide the cathedral with 44 pounds of wax and the bishop with incense. The Jewish quarter, whose center was the Rue Juzaygas or Joutx-Aigues, lay around the square of the Carmelites. The Jewish cemetery was at first situated near the Château Narbonnais. When the king took possession of it in 1281, the Jews acquired a field near the Porte de Montoulieu, on the site of the present Grand Rond, for a new cemetery.Communal institutions in this period included a hospital, which was destroyed in the war of the Albigenses. The importance of the Jewish population can be deduced from the number of houses owned by the Jews. Commerce and moneylending are mentioned as the principal occupations of the Jews in Toulouse in this period. In 1209 they were excluded from holding public office, though they remained free to dispose of their real estate and often possessed the rights of ownership over land held by individuals or religious institutions, particularly the Templars.Alphonse of Poitiers imposed a large tax on the Jews of Toulouse, as well as on the other Jews under his authority, its payment being enforced by coercive measures.Toward the end of the 13th century, there was debate between the royal officers and the count over the judicial and fiscal jurisdiction of many Jews. At the time of the expulsionof the Jews from the kingdom of France in 1306, the community of Toulouse was still numerous and economically important, as shown by the number and value of the confiscated properties mentioned in the extant auction documents. They included several “operatoria,” perhaps workshops or commercial premises. The new community formed after the readmission of the Jews in 1315 also appears to have been of considerable size, and even attracted Jews from other localities who had not been among the exiles of 1306.There is mention of Baruch “the Teuton,” for example, who came fromGermany. In 1320, the Jews in Toulouse became victims of the Pastoureaux persecutions, despite efforts by government authorities to protect them; the houses in the Jewish quarter were looted, and their inhabitants were massacred if they refused immediate baptism.TheInquisitiontook precautions that these forced converts should not return to Judaism.As a result, the community practically ceased to exist well before the next expulsion of the Jews of the kingdom in 1322. A new community was organized in Toulouse after the readmission of Jews in 1359. Only about 15 families settled in the city.Although they established themselves in the former Jewish quarter of Joutx-Aigues, their situation and economic activity had radically changed.They no longer owned land, rented the houses which they occupied, and generally limited themselves to moneylending. They were taken by surprise by the publication of the “final” expulsion order of 1394.A short time earlier, butchers’ regulations had laid down the procedure for ritual slaughter with the assumption that the community would remain in Toulouse for a long time. There is no definite information available on medieval Jewish scholars in Toulouse.During the 17th century a group ofMarranos attempted to establish themselves in Toulouse. They were tried by an Inquisition tribunal in 1685 and received severe penalties.From the end of the century, Jewish merchants, mainly from Comtat Venaissin, were authorized to trade in Toulouse four times a year.Beginning in the second half of the 18th century, several of them endeavored to settle permanently in the city.There were about 80 Marranos in 1790.After the Reign of Terror, the municipality allowed them to use a former church (the Church of the Penitents) as a synagogue.They do not appear to have taken possession of it, however, because in 1806, they were still without a synagogue.At about that time, they obtained a concession for exclusive use of the cemetery, which until the Revolution had been used for the burial of both Protestants and Jews.There were then 105 Jews in Toulouse, and their numbers increased very slowly. However, from the beginning of the 20th century, many Jewish students from Poland and the Balkans were attracted by the opportunity to study at the University of Toulouse.[Bernhard Blumenkranz /David Weinberg (2nd ed.)]
Holocaust Period
With the flight of population from the northern zone in June 1940 after the Nazi defeat of France, many Jews settled in Toulouse. As a result, it rapidly became one of the principal centers for Jewish life and resistance in the unoccupied zone.Toulouse was in effect the capital of the southwest of France.Here a considerable number of Jews found refuge and a range of important organizations was set up, including children’s homes and agricultural schools.Toulouse was also an important stopover for Jews seeking to escape to Spain.
The Organization Juive de Combat was created at Toulouse and its leaders would often meet there.In August 1942, when 1,525 foreign-born Jews from the region were “regrouped” for deportation, the archbishop of Toulouse, Msgr. Saliège, issued a vigorous protest, which was read publicly in all the churches of the diocese.
Following the German occupation of all of France (November 1942), the area around Toulouse saw increased Jewish resistance, including acts of sabotage,the formation of fighting groups, the hiding of children and their transportation to safe havens, and stepped-up efforts to ferry Jews across the border to Spain en route to Palestine or England.Many men, women, and children fell victim to the Nazis and their French collaborators, however, and were tortured to death or deported to Auschwitz.
Contemporary Jewry
Many Holocaust survivors chose to remain in the city after the liberation.As a result, the postwar community gained greater importance than it had enjoyed prior to the war.In 1960, there were over 3,000 members of the community. Thanks largely to the arrival of Jews fromNorth Africa, the Toulouse community became one of the most important Jewish centers in France.In 1987, it had a Jewish population of 12,000.The Jews of Toulouse maintain a full range of communal institutions, including three synagogues, kosher butchers and restaurants, and a community center. Toulouse is also the center for the regional consistory. spacer
“Every sensible man, every honorable man must hold the Christian religion in horror.” -Voltaire
“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” -Diderot
“Religion has ever filled the mind of man with darkness and kept him in ignorance of the real duties of true interests. It is only by dispelling these clouds and phantoms of religion, that we shall discover Truth, Reason and Morality. Religion diverts us from the causes of evil, and from the remedies which nature prescribes; far from curing, it only aggravates, multiplies and perpetuates them.” -Baron de Holbach
Little doubt remains among scholars as to the dechristianization of France during the French Revolution. This may not have been the objective of the intellectual founders of the revolutionary movement of 1789 which swept over the land of Joan of Arc, causing havoc to all sectors of French society and the death of thousands of Frenchmen. The hatred of religion by not a few well known philosophes (encyclopedistes) and many of their followers is clearly manifested, among others, in the above mentioned quote of the Baron de Holbach, not to mention the well known statement of Voltaire: “Every sensible man, every honourable man must hold the Christian religion in horror.”
The Revolution’s impact on the spiritual aspects of French culture was the result of a number of separate policies devised by various French governments between 1789 and the Concordat of 1801. They formed the basis of the gradual trend toward dechristianization, later transformed into a less radical laïcité. Most scholars would argue that the goal of the revolutionary government between 1793 and 1794 ranged from the public reclamation of the massive amount of land, power, and money held by the Church in France to the termination of religious practice and the extermination of religion itself.
La ConstitutionCivile du Clergé (The Civil Constitution of the Clergy) was a law passed on July 12, 1790 that resulted in the immediate subordination of the Catholic Church in France to the French government. It proved to be one of the most ill judged, controversial, and disruptive laws of the French Revolution. The attempt to restructure the Church during the time of the National Convention turned into open aggression against Catholicism and religion in general. Religious practice was outlawed and replaced with the cult of the Supreme Being, a deist state religion.
The program of dechristianization waged against the Christian people of France increased in intensity with the enactment of the Law of 17 September 1793, also known as the Law of Suspects. It was used to carry out more actively the following measures: 1) all priests and all persons protecting them are liable to death on the spot, 2 )the destruction of all crosses, bells and other external signs of worship, 3) the destruction of statues, plaques, and iconography from places of worship.1 In 1793, the Christian calendar was replaced with one reckoning from the date of the Revolution and the festivals of Liberty, Reason, and the Supreme Being were officially established. During the two-year Reign of Terror, anti-clericalism became more violent than any other in history.
An especially notable event that took place during France’s process of dechristianization was the Festival of Reason which was held on November 10, 1793 in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.2 On the main nave was placed an improvised mountain on which stood a Greek temple dedicated to Philosophy and decorated with busts of philosophers. At the basis of the mountain was located a torch of Truth. Some loose living girls took occasion to celebrate at the main altar the cult to the Goddess Reason with Phrygian bonnets on their heads.3
The wave of massacres started in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille by an angry and aggressive mob. To the surprise of the disorderly populace, the historic fortress held only seven prisoners. The infamous Marquis de Sades had been transferred to another location earlier in the month. The Marquis de Laurnay, Commander of the Bastille, had to surrender the fortress because of a lack of supplies but was later seized and humiliated by the mob before being beheaded and his head placed on the top of a pike and paraded through the streets of Paris. The historian Rene Sedillot writes in his book Le Coût de la Révolution Française that in Paris 1,300 assassinations took place in four days.4
One of the most horrendous acts of hatred perpetuated against the French Royal family were the ones related to Mme. Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI, and the Princesse de Lamballe, a close friend of Marie Antoinette. In an orgy of violence and hatred by a gleeful crowd keen to show their loathing of the daughter of Marie-Therese, Empress of Austria-Hungary, they did not spare any means to humiliate and violate the most intimate dignity of both women. After their appalling deaths, it is claimed that their heads were placed on pikes and then paraded through the streets of Paris before being waved in front of a window at the Temple, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. The bodies were later dumped at a boundary stone on the Rue Saint Antoine.5
Newly researched documentation on the bloodthirsty Reign of Terror that swept through France in 1793-1794, personified by Robespierre and the Angel of Terror, Saint Just, clearly indicate the high price paid by France for a revolution that brought havoc and thousands of deaths to the French nation. King Louis XVI was guillotined on January 21, 1793 at the Place de la Revolution later renamed La Place de la Concorde.6 A few months later, Queen Marie Antoinette was convicted of treason and suffered the same fate while a joyous crowd cheered “Vive la Nation.”7 Ironically, the two “heroes” of the Revolution, Robespierre and Saint Just suffered the consequences of their own horrendous crimes: the guillotine.
The Church prior to the French Revolution is very often represented as having failed to produce the goodness and holiness that is preached in the gospel and which she claims to be her cherished heritage. That there were and still are serious failures among her members and religious organizations, not excluding bishops and high hierarchical leaders, cannot be denied. However, it is also true that there were many devoted priests and nuns totally dedicated to a life of prayer and works of charity, who gave up their lives for the faith they professed.
Perhaps one of the best examples is the massacre, better called the genocide, of La Vendée. General François Westerman of the revolutionary army claimed with pride that, in his efforts to crush the rebellion of the Vendéens, carried out against the abuses and crimes of the Convention, he ordered, in accordance with the decree of August 2, 1793, the systematic destruction and burning of the entire countryside, including all crops and the mass assassination of all rebels in sight.8
Can we call the massacre at La Vendée a genocide? The term was used in 1944 to describe the horrors of the holocaust and the drama experienced by the Jews under Nazism. If we relate the number of men women and children slaughtered by the revolutionary army under the banner of liberté, égalité, and fraternité with the total population of France’s western provinces, the number is even higher than what the Jews had to suffer under the inhuman policy of Hitler’s National Socialism. In both cases, there was a deliberate will of extermination.9
The French revolution reveals the titanic struggle between good and evil. Among the first targets of the fury of the revolutionaries, following the dictates of many of the so called philosophes, were the contemplative religious communities. The blood of innocent people lost in the years 1792-1794 staggers the imagination. The campaign against the Church was as much diabolical as cruel.
On July 17, 1794 in the final days of Robespierre’s fiendish leadership in revolutionary France, sixteen members of the Carmel of Compiègne: eleven Discalced Carmelite nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs fell under the blade of the guillotine for refusing to take the obligatory oath called the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. They were buried in a common grave where nowadays a single cross marks the remains of over one thousand victims of the guillotine. It is claimed that on their way to their death they sang either Veni Creator Spiritus or Salve Regina. Others believe it was Psalm 117 Laudate Dominus. Pope Leo XIII declared the nuns of Compiègne Venerable, a first step to sanctity. The Carmelite martyrs remind us that their example is not confined to a bygone age of suffering and war in a Europe gone mad by the abuses of the French Enlightenment.
In the course of the 20th century, the Martyrs of Compiègne have been the object of much scholarly work. In 1931, Gertrude von de Fort wrote an account of the life and martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns for her novel Die Letzte am Schaffot.10 Perhaps the better known of these works is Francis Poulenc’s opera LeDialogue des Carmélites.11My deceased wife, Edita, and I had the privilege of seeing it at the Opera in Paris: a great tribute to the Martyrs of Compiegne.
Let me conclude this essay with the sincere hope that the tragic events that occurred in France during the Reign of Terror 1792-1794 will never repeat themselves either in “la Douce France” or any other country in the world. In this relativistic world of ours, where the distinction between good and evil and the belief in an objective moral truth are, to say the least, blurred, anything is possible. Maybe what we need is more Joan’s of Arc who died in defense of her ideals and country. Mark Twain describes her as “far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced.”12\
The 1562 Riots of Toulouse are a series of events (occurring largely in the span of a week) that pitted members of the Reformed Church of France (often called Huguenots) against members of the Roman Catholic Church in violent clashes that ended with the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 citizens of the French city of Toulouse. These events exhibit the tensions that would soon explode into full civil war during the French Wars of Religion.
Background
The history and political structure of Toulouse played a significant part in the tensions that led to the riots in 1562.
Medieval religious past
The city of Toulouse was the capital of Languedoc which had been a stronghold for Catharism throughout the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. In an effort to stamp out what it deemed heresy, the Roman Catholic Church had called for military action against the Cathars. These campaigns are grouped under the term the Albigensian Crusade. The Catholic hierarchy also developed the Dominican Order and the Medieval Inquisition in order to expose and eliminate this belief. Some historians, such as Edgar Sanderson,[1] believe that the inroads that the later Reformed Church of France made in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries can be traced to a general questioning of Roman Catholic authority by the people in this region, an attitude that made Catharism so difficult to exterminate. Sanderson notes “In the contest [between Cathars and Catholics] which ensued, sometimes heretics were burnt alive, at other times Inquisitors were driven out or assassinated.”[1]
Also, as a result of the Catholic Church’s sustained focus on the area, great attention was paid to ensure that the population held views seen as acceptable to Catholic orthodoxy, and great efforts were put forward to teach that orthodoxy. These two cultural factors competing in the region (questioning authority and an intense focus on doctrine) may explain how the larger part of the population (including the Parlement) was staunchly Roman Catholic, but the Reformed Church members were able to make quick inroads there.
Reformation
Rise of Protestantism
By 1530 some within the mendicant orders living in Toulouse and at its university became persuaded by the writings of Martin Luther. By 1532 Catholic authorities began a purge of the university, persecuting and then banishing several students and professors on charges of ascribing to Protestantism.[2] Also in 1532 Toulouse produced one of the first French Protestant martyrs, when the lawyer Jean de Caturce was burnt on a slow fire. This was for making what was termed a “‘Lutheran’ exhortation” while merry-making on the feast of Epiphany (he recommended replacing the prayer “May Christ reign in our hearts!” with “The king drinks!”).[3]
In 1536 copies of John Calvin‘s Institution chrétienne were discovered in the city and the Reformed Church of France began to win converts, this despite Toulouse being the seat of Dominican Inquisition.[2] A strange sign of the success for the Reformed Church was when on September 10, 1538, Toulouse’s Catholic Inquisitor of the Faith, Louis Rochette, was strangled and burned at the stake for embracing Protestantism.[2] By the 1540s the struggle between Catholics and Reformed Church members escalated in Toulouse.[2] The Reformed Church members continued their activities in Toulouse for decades despite legal and popular persecution (that sometime escalated into killing).[1] Though the Reformed Church had appeared later in Toulouse than in other provincial capitals (such as Lyon or Rouen), by 1561 they were holding their conventicles close to the Hôtel de Ville in the expensive homes of some of Toulouse’s leading citizens.[4]
Psalms in French
In the events leading up to the riots and during the riots themselves, there was a strong reaction by Catholics against anyone singing the Psalms in French. In the late 1530s Clément Marot had translated the Psalms into French and set them to popular music. At first Marot had presented these only to the royal Court of King Francis I where they were extremely well received especially by the young Dauphin (who later became King Henry II of France). The Dauphin made his courtiers sing them with him while his musicians accompanied him on viol or lute.[5] John Calvin caused twelve of Marot’s translations to be published adding five additional Psalms translated by himself and set to music.[5]
As the 1540s began Marot had translated around 50 Psalms and published these for the general populace, they became popular among Catholics and Protestants.[5] In the year 1542 a rise in Catholic concerns over the spread of Protestant ideas led to several edicts against people and writings the Church deemed heretical. It was at this time the Sorbonne banned Marot’s Psalms in French and issued a warrant for his arrest (which he escaped by permanently leaving the country).[6]Theodore Beza was among those who worked translating the rest of the Psalms into French, until they were all complete.[5]
The popularity of the Psalms in French is seen by some historians (like Strada and Rowland Prothero) as “among the chief causes of the Reformation in the Low Countries. So in France the metrical version of the Psalter, in the vulgar tongue, set to popular music, was one of the principal instruments in the success of the Reformed Church. The Psalms were identified with the everyday life of the Huguenots. Children were taught to learn them by heart; they were sung at every meal, ‘to chant psalms’ meant, in popular language to turn Protestant. The Psalms became the Huguenot Marseillaise.”[5]
In addition to banning the singing of the Psalms in French, Catholic doctrine held that “Alleluia” was a sign of movement from lament to praise and banned the verbalization of any Psalm containing the word “Alleluia” (Alleluatic Psalms) during funeral rites and during the penitent and solemn season of Lent (which focused on the suffering of Jesus and called for prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial).[7] Protestants did not consider themselves bound by this tradition and demanded to be free to use whatever Psalms they felt appropriate. As Catholics viewed the refraining of using these Alleluatic Psalms as a sign of respect and reverence to Jesus they viewed any Protestant singing them between the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday (the ninth Sunday before Easter) until the night of the Easter Vigil as engaging in an especially blasphemous act.
Consumption of meat
Another easily observable practice that differentiated Protestants from Catholics during this time was the eating of meat on days prohibited by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Catholics saw Protestants displaying, selling, purchasing, or eating meat on days prohibited by their Church as blasphemy.
Distinct from fasting (refusing all food), Catholic doctrine calls for the abstinence from “flesh meat” or soup made from meat during some days of the year (in some eras this was also extended to eggs, milk, butter, cheese, or condiments that included animal fat).[8] Catholics hold that this helps to subdue the flesh, and is imitative of Paul the Apostle who according to 1 Corinthians 9:27 “chastised his body and brought it into subjection”.[8] Catholics also maintain that “by abstaining from flesh, we give up what is, on the whole, the most pleasant as well as the most nourishing food, and so make satisfaction for the temporal punishment due to sin even when its guilt has been forgiven.”[8] Different from fasting (refusing all food), abstinence was practiced at this time on Fridays, Saturdays, and during Lent on Sundays (total fasting on Sundays was always forbidden). Abstaining from meat during Lent was also seen as symbolically significant for in this way “no animal has to suffer death, no blood flows.”[8]
Substituting “flesh meat” with fish was de rigueur during Lent at this time, and the Catholic Church only allowed those with infirmity to eat meat. The only way healthy people could eat meat during these occasions was if they paid for a license from the clergy.[9] Anyone who had not received permission to eat meat at this time was supposed to be subject to legal punishment from state authorities. Punishments were usually public, such as confinement to the stocks or pillory.[9]
Denying that the Catholic Church had any other authority over them, French Protestants did not feel obligated to avoid eating meat, and where they were in control of the local government they allowed its sale during Lent. In response to this development a royal edict forbidding the sale of meat or the public serving of it was issued in 1549 (and would be issued later in 1563). All the rules concerning Catholic abstinence and fast days continued to be ignored by a majority of Protestants and openly defied in areas were Reformed Church members held a majority of the population and dominated the local consulat. This practice infuriated Catholics (later in 1601 officials in Saint-Maixent even had house-to-house sweeps to ensure suspected Protestants were not eating meat on prohibited days).[10]
The Protestant eating of meat during the Lent that preceded the riots was a source of outrage among the Catholics that participated in the violence.[11]
Toulouse’s political system was unique, which as historian Mark Greengrass states, resulted in “a city where royal judges and municipal authorities had no clear sense of their mutual responsibilities … [it had] an old and highly developed political consciousness stretching back to its charters in the thirteenth century. Amongst its privileges was a freedom from royal taxation and an exemption from royal garrison within its walls.”[4]Each year capitouls were elected from each of the cities eight urban districts (called capitoulats).[4]The role of capitoul was not limited to any particular group and candidates could be seigneurs from noble bloodlines or lawyers and merchants (only officers of the Crown were ineligible).[4] Once in office they were allowed some trappings of nobility, such as wearing a red silk gown.[4]Any major decisions for Toulouse (such as justice, economy, and police powers) were debated and decided by a general council of the capitouls (called a consulat), and they were normally free of interference from the Crown’s judges.[4]
An opposing center of authority in the city was the Parlement of Toulouse. The French Parlements had been established first in Paris (in 1307) and later in regional capitals by the French monarchy. (These French parlements acted as provincial appellate courts ruling on questions of law and should not be confused with legislative bodies that create laws called parliaments.)
The Parlement of Toulouse had been established by King Charles VII in 1420. Its Parlement was held in esteem second only to that of Paris.[12]
The parlement had a surprising amount of authority and independence considering the strong centralization of power under the French monarchy. It could issue regulations for the application of both royal edicts and customary practices. It could also refuse to register any law that they held was contrary to either fundamental law or local legal customs. It could even refuse to register a law if it judged the law as untimely. Members of the Parlement were drawn from hereditary nobility with positions being purchased from the king with these positions being made hereditary by paying the Crown an annual tax called the paulette which would render them “Nobles of the Robe“. With this sense of aristocracy they declared themselves exempt from gabelles and city property taxes, billeting of troops, and even tithes.[4] They also declared that no member of Parlement could be tried by any court in the region except the Parlement itself.[4] These privileges angered the capitouls, especially when city finances were low.
Throughout the conflicts between Catholics and members of the Reformed Church in Toulouse the Parlement was staunchly on the Catholic side. It had strong links with the clerical establishment within the city and the province, even making some provincial bishops honorary members.[4] In 1548, as the Reformed Church continued to make converts, King Henry II charged the Parlement with forming a chambre ardente made of a president and twelve councillors in order to prosecute heretics.[2] This action established the Parlement as the province’s supreme defender of the faith. By the end of the 1540s, the Parlement had tried two hundred people suspected of Protestantism and executed at least eighteen by burning at the stake.[2] Despite these persecutions, two members of the Parlement itself embraced Reformed ideas in 1554. They fled into exile in Geneva and were burned in effigy in Toulouse.[2]
General processions
Like other French cities of this era, Toulouse authorities would on occasion call for a general procession. These were mass ceremonial displays that would parade through the town on holy days, civic occasions, and times of collective danger.[2] Groups from every segment of society would be represented in the parades “from the varied officialdom and ecclesiastical orders to artisan guilds and even a delegation of the poor, took to the streets in an elaborate ceremony that in Toulouse could involve the participation of more than five thousand people”.[2] While the parades were meant as an expression of municipal unity, often rival corporations would be placed next to each other and engage in a shoving match over their placement in parade order. This would cause the parade to halt, while officials tried desperately to break up the factions with thousands of other parade participants stuck waiting.[2] During the events that led up to the riots, the use of such parades by Catholic authorities put large numbers of Catholics on the streets that could quickly devolve into an angry mob if they encountered behavior they deemed Protestant heresy.
Rising tensions
Tensions over political prerogatives grew when the Parlement had interfered with the regular method of electing capitouls during an outbreak of plague in 1557, which caused much resentment.[4] By 1561 nearly every aspect of how the city was run (including governance, education, and defense) became a matter of dispute between the two governing authoritative bodies.[4] By March, reeling from war taxes and having to pay the Crown to renew its fiscal privileges, Toulouse faced massive fiscal problems. One of the capitouls advocated the sale of local Church properties to make up the deficit. This suggestion was met with dismay by the judges of Parlement and the holders of benefices residing in the city. While the capitouls discussed the idea in closed session, the judges sent two deputies to the royal court to demand that the seizure and sale of Protestant property be used instead.[4] Some members of the Parlement along with Catholic lawyers, merchants, and “some priests” grouped together as a syndicat to direct the opposition to the alienation of Church property.[4] This newly formed syndicat declared that Protestants were not only a threat to “true religion”, but to justice and order, and to the survival of Toulouse itself.[4]
When the humanist Collège de l’Esquille opened in 1561 with support from city funds, it immediately came under suspicion of spreading Protestantism by the Catholic clergy, members of Parlement, and by members of the pre-existing Dominican theological university (operated by the Catholic Church since 1229). Seeing preaching on Palm Sunday followed by evening prayers in its law school and then people moving about at night to have secret discussions about religion – the outraged Catholic leadership sent some of their notables to act as advisors to the capitouls.[4] The capitouls, annoyed by this interference with their authority, ignored them completely.
Due to conflicts over political authority with Parlement, in 1562 the capitouls made all municipal jobs open to annual election rather than permanent positions. This resulted in bitter contests for the posts with a large number of these jobs going to Reformed Church members (such as clerks, some sergeants, the town crier, the treasurer, the city’s syndic, and the archivist). During the riots they would play a large role in directing the Protestant cause.[4]
Edicts on religion
With the death of the King, and a question of who would be the Regent of the new boy King, political uncertainty rested upon France on top of the ongoing religious conflict. Attempts to address some of the religious tensions were made in a series of royal edicts that would play an important role in leading up to the riots.
Regency issues
With the July 1559 death of King Henry II, quickly followed by the passing of the sixteen-year-old Francis II in December 1560, the ten-year-old Charles IX became king. His mother Catherine de Medici acted as regent. The right of regency had previously belonged to the King of Navarre, but had recently been renounced by Antoine of Navarre in favor of Catherine. This had been done with the condition that the royalty of Navarre be held as second only to Catherine herself.
When Catherine became regent, the Queen of Navarre was Jeanne d’Albret. Queen Jeanne had long expressed a desire for religious reform and in her lands Protestants were given full freedom and their books circulated unhindered.
The staunchly Catholic House of Guise which had controlled the throne when the sickly Francis II was king (side-lining Catherine), was militantly opposed by the French Reformed Church members. This opposition had even led to the Amboise conspiracy which attempted to unseat the Guise with the House of Bourbon, but was brutally put down. As Catherine succeeded in securing the regency without the Guise she sought to end religious tensions in her kingdom. (This was largely out of fear that Catholic Philip II of Spain would use the conflict as an excuse to invade and conquer.)[13] With the death of Francis II, the Protestants’ numbers were increasing as those that had fled to Geneva and Germany after the Amboise conspiracy came flooding back into the country.[13] Once back in France many returned to publishing pamphlets vilifying the Papacy and the Guise family including its head – Francis, Duke of Guise.[13] The amount and virulence of the publications rose to the degree that the throne of King Charles IX sent an official protest to the Senate of Geneva on January 23, 1561.[13]
With deference due to Navarre, in accord with the regency arrangement, Catherine made the Constable of Navarre chief in her counsels. The vacillating position of King Antoine of Navarre between Protestant and Catholic sympathies continued to play a large role in the uncertainty surrounding France’s religion in events leading up to the riots of Toulouse.
Ordinance of Orléans
Catherine De Medici called for a meeting of the Estates at Orléans that would address religious issues began on December 13, 1560. For her chancellor, Catherine chose Michel de l’Hôpital, a former client of the Guises. The Chancellor opened proceeding with a speech decrying persecution for religious opinion, urging toleration, and the retirement of abusive nicknames like Papist and Huguenot.
As the meeting of Estates continued in their deliberations, Navarre‘s Queen Jeanne declared Calvinism her new religion and the official religion of Navarre on Christmas Day of 1560. She commissioned the translation of the Bible into the native language of Basque and Béarnese. Jeanne would soon banish Catholic priests and nuns from Navarre, destroy Catholic churches and outlaw all Catholic rituals in her land.
In accord with the discussions at the meeting of Estates, on January 28, 1561, the royal Ordinance of Orléans was issued ordering every parlement to stop all prosecutions for religion and to release anyone held in prison on account of religious opinions. This ordinance has been seen as a confirmation of the Edict of Romorantin (which had been championed by Michel de l’Hôpital). The new ordinance declared freedom of conscience, but not of open worship, to all peaceful dissidents in hope of their conversion to what it declared as the truth of Roman Catholicism along with the hope that the Catholic hierarchy would accept the reforms asked for by the Protestant Estates General of Orleans.[13]
The ordinance also demanded that any Protestants who had taken possession of church buildings and ecclesiastical property had to restore them immediately. It also forbade Protestants from destroying Catholic religious imagery and crucifixes, outlawed them from meeting within the walls of cities (but thereby allowed them to meet outside the walls), and made it a crime for Protestants to go armed to any meeting unless they were of the privileged classes.[14]
Despite the toleration within the ordinance it was opposed by John Calvin.[13]
In addition to having to face the extension of toleration to Protestants by the Ordinance of Orléans, the Catholic Church‘s position also seemed shaken by the abolishment of the arrangement made between the papacy and the French crown, the Concordat of Bologna (though this outcome was motivated by the Third Estate’s fiscal concerns).[15] Without the Concordat’s rules in effect, Bishops were to be elected by a mixture of laymen and ecclesiastics who would submit three names for the King to choose from. Another reform was the requirement that any holder of a benefice must reside there.
On January 31, after the Estates had dispersed, the council met at Fontainebleau and reviewed petitions presented by Gaspard II de Coligny, “in which Protestants demanded temples.”[16] These requests were referred to a commission of the estates which had remained behind to prepare for the assembly’s scheduled May 1 meeting on finance.[16]
On March 10, the second Reformed Church synod met at Poitiers and drew up a memorandum to present the estates general set to meet on May 1. They asked that a suitable royal council be composed that would enforce the Edict of Orléans, which many strongly Catholic regions still resisted. The also wanted a Protestant representative for each province to reside at court in order to protect the interests of the Reformed churches in their areas. These deputies would act together as a body and present a confession of faith along with a petition. They would also work closely with the seigneurs at court who were sympathetic to their cause. They would act as a knowledgeable pressure group and have the backing of an efficient provincial organization.[16]
As news of the toleration under the edict spread, Paris‘s Protestant population grew exponentially – all relying on divisions in the council or the protection of sympathetic nobles to keep the edict in effect.[13]
1561 Edict of Fontainebleau
In early 1561 Catherine de’ Medici and the boy king stayed at the Palace of Fontainebleau and the confusion of where France was headed regarding religion continued.
On the one hand, claiming economic concerns, the king’s council (ignoring the complaints of Gaspard II de Coligny) dismissed the Scotch guard because they were almost all Protestants including Hamilton, Earl of Arran.[17] On the other hand, Catherine’s Court was so tolerant of Protestants that it was technically in violation of the law. She allowed Protestant preachers to hold prayers and preaching daily within the apartments of any prince who sided with them (even allowing large groups to attend).[17] While some Catholic bishops, like Moulin and Marillac, ignored the situation; others Catholic prelates (such as the papal legate) complained loudly.[17] A Jesuit at the Court named Maimbourg listed what he saw as abuses, “not only did she [Catherine] allow the ministers to preach in the princes’ apartments, where crowds gathered to hear them, while a poor Jacobin [French term for Dominican], who was preaching the Lent sermons in Fontainebleau, was deserted; but she even was present herself with all the Court ladies at the sermons of the Bishop of Valence, who preached openly, in one of the halls in the castle, the new heretical doctrines of Luther and Calvin. So sudden and complete was the change that had come over the scene that it seemed the whole Court had become Calvinist. Though it was Lent, meat was publicly sold and served on tables. No one spoke of going to hear mass, and the young king, who was taken to save appearances, went almost alone. The authority of the pope, the worship of saints and images, indulgences, and the ceremonies of the Church were all lightly spoken of as mere superstitions.”[17]
Both Francis, Duke of Guise and Anne de Montmorency were worried that the Royalty were converting to Protestantism. They were also faced with demands from the provincial states of the Île de France that lavish sums which had been given to them by Henry II (who had died in 1559) be returned to help offset national debt. Drawn together by these mutual concerns they ended their traditional bitter rivalry, and on Easter, April 6, 1561, attended Catholic Mass together. Together they formed an alliance with leading military commander Marshal Saint-André. Protestants would later give this partnership the name Triumvirate (likening their violent actions to those of the triumvirs Mark Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus in Ancient Rome).[18]
On April 19, advised by Michel L’Hospital, the King continued to strive for peace between the faiths by issuing the 1561 Edict of Fontainebleau (not to be confused with similarly named edicts from 1540, and 1685). This edict forbid injuring or denouncing anyone on matters of faith, of damaging or seizing property of those of a different denomination, and of any provocation of others over religion. It outlawed the use of epithets like “Papist” or “Huguenot”.
The new edict forbid officers of the king from entering Protestant homes “under pretext of former edicts forbidding illicit assemblies.”[17] It ordered the release of any Protestant arrested on these grounds were to go free “provided, however, that they lived henceforth as Catholics and without creating any scandal.”[17]
The Parlement of Paris refused to register the edict, holding that its tendency would increase the number of Protestants.[17] This was the same reaction by many other parts of France when examined by governors and tribunes and it was widely condemned from Catholic pulpits.[17] The idea that the Crown would command that Protestants’ personal safety and that of their homes (where they practiced their rites) had to be respected was so new and in such contrast to every royal edict before it, that many rejected it outright.[17]
Most of the Catholic clergy decried the edict, such as a priest at Provins who refused to obey the command against denouncing anyone on matters of faith, saying “And now, gentlemen of Provins, what ought I, what ought the other preachers of France to do? Ought we to obey this edict? What will you say to us? What shall we preach? ‘The Gospel,’ says the Huguenot. To say that the error [of the Protestants]…is damnable heresy, is not this to preach the Gospel? To say that the Huguenots of France are wicked apostates, who have forsaken the true Catholic Church to follow heresy, is not this to preach the Gospel? To warn men against their doctrine, against hearing them of reading their books; to tell men that these doctrines tend and aim only to incite to sedition, robbery, and murder as they have already begun to do in the city of Paris and in numberless other places in the land, is not this to preach the Gospel? But does anyone say to me, ‘Brother, what say you? You are not obeying the king’s edict: you are speaking of Calvin and his companions, and you call them, and those who hold their opinions, heretics and Huguenots; you will be brought to trial; you will be put in prison; you will be hanged as a traitor.’ I reply that it is possible it may be so, for Ahab and Jezebel put to death the prophets of God in their day, and granted liberty to the prophets of Baal. ‘Now, brother, you are going too far; you will get yourself hanged.’ Well, be it so; there will be one Franciscan friar hanged, and they will have to hang many more, for god by His Holy Spirit will inspire the pillars of His Church to uphold to the end the building which can never be destroyed.”[17]
The measures towards toleration emboldened the Protestants who began to actively resist all policies trying to limit their faith. There were riots at Bavais, the Cardinal of Chatillon’s episcopal residence, and severe riots in Paris. In the suburb of St Germain, an assembly of worshipping Protestants was attacked by an angry Catholic mob (mostly students). Several of the attending noblemen were armed and met the attack with swords drawn, the fight ended with many of the Catholics slain. The Catholic mob dispersed but returned the next day – only to meet the same results.[19]
In some places (such as Issigeac on February 24, 1561) Protestants took over Catholic churches by force and in some occasions Catholic churches were broken into and church property destroyed (actions referred to as Iconoclasm).[20] An example of such incidents occurred on May 18, 1561, when “marauding Protestant bands attacked and pillaged the satellite parish churches of St Pardoux, Monsaguel, Montaut, and Monmarvés, breaking and burning altars, images and relics, books and habits.”[20] Historian Mark Greengrass notes that this kind of activity happened in small towns around Toulouse “where there had been innumerable incidents involving image-breaking, ridiculing priests, profaning altars and mocking at Catholic services.”[4] He also notes “Some of the image-smashing in surrounding towns had been engineered by Catholics in order to create Catholic animosities.”[4] All these types of behavior would be repeated when the riots broke out in Toulouse.
Edict of July
The violent unrest of Protestants demanding religious freedom and Catholics demanding the state not permit the nation to allow what they saw as a wicked corruption, created an opportunity for Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine (the brother of Francis, Duke of Guise), to come forward as the head of the Catholic Church in France.[19] Earlier (on April 25, 1557) the Cardinal had secured a brief from Pope Paul IV appointing him and the Cardinals of Bourbon and Châtillon as Grand Inquisitors of France to begin an Inquisition modeled after the Spanish Inquisition to eliminate Protestantism.[17] (This was only derailed by popular outcry from the majority of the French population.[17]) Gaining authority in the religious chaos of 1561, the Cardinal insisted that the laws establishing Catholicism as the official religion be enforced by the secular arm.[19]
On 23 June 1561 to address the continuing unrest a Royal Council and the spiritual and temporal peers met the Parlement of Paris at the Palais de Justice. Hoping that an upcoming session of the Council of Trent or a proposed National Council of French Catholic bishops would resolve the issue for them, they tried to determine what should be done until then. They debated the issue for three weeks.[19]
One faction demanded that all Protestants (deemed heretics) without conditions should be executed by the state. An opposing faction called for all penal proceedings to be suspended until the issue was determined by the Council of Trent.[19] The vote to accept the policy of toleration was defeated eighty votes to seventy-two.[21] In the end, the policy that gained the most support called for a sentence of death for anyone who attended a Protestant conventicle, but that any case of simple heresy be decided only by an ecclesiastical court and those condemned should be pardoned if they agreed to live as a Catholic, and those who refused would receive no punishment greater than banishment – the Edict of July was drawn up on July 11, 1561, following this majority opinion (though it was mitigated in some places by the chancellor).[19] The edict forbade “under penalty of confiscation of person and goods, all conventicles and public assemblies, with or without arms, together with private assemblies in which there should be preaching or the administration of the sacraments in forms other than those received and observed by the Catholic Church.”[17] It prohibited “all enrollings, signatures, or other things tending to sedition.”[3] Any cases mixing heresy with sedition would be tried by presidial judges instead of Catholic clergy.[3] It reiterated all the previous injunctions against disturbing the peace, using religious based insults, slandering or making false charges, and commanded all preachers to abstain from inciting violent passions in their congregations, – declaring death by hanging for breaking any of these laws.[3]
In the end neither faith was pleased by the Edict of July, Protestants held that they had been deceived, Parlement held that the mitigations of the chancellor had weakened the wording they had supported. This resulted in the edict being only provisionally registered.[19] Because of the vigorous opposition of Protestant leaders during the crafting of the edict it largely remained a dead letter,[21] Gaspard II de Coligny was particularly outspoken in his opposition, saying that “to attempt thus to constrain the reformed to accept the Romans religion against their conscience was a great absurdity amounting to an impossibility.”[17] Despite general dislike for the edict, Catholic Duke of Guise stated his support declaring that his “sword would never rest in its scabbard when the execution of this decision was in question.”[3]
Though the Council edict was not viewed as a success, they did decide that there would be conference between Catholic bishops and reformed ministers (who would be granted safe conduct) to meet at Poissy. Originally scheduled for August 18 the Colloquy at Poissy would be postponed until October due to a meeting of the Estates General on the state of French finances.[17]
At the meeting of General Estates on August 26 the third estate continued to deride the cost the upkeep of the Catholic clergy was having on the merchants and bourgeoisie. Their representative Jacques de Bretagne, magistrate of Autun demanded ecclesiastical property face alienation. They held that of the 120 million livres the clergy were taking out of the economy if 48 million were set aside the clergy could live off the 4 million in interest per year that such a move would still provide, leaving 72 million for France to use to clear up its debts and stimulate the economy.[17] The representative of the nobility took similar grounds and even demanded for the Protestants the right to assembly (totally dismissing the Edict of July out of hand).[17] The Catholic clergy went absent from these debates, marking their opposition by meeting by themselves at St. Germain.[17] L’Hospital met them there still seeking liberty for the Protestants, telling the Catholic clergy “As to the Protestant assemblies, they cannot be separated from their religion; for they believe that the Word of God strictly enjoins them to assemble themselves to hear the preaching of the Gospel and to partake of the sacraments, and this they hold as an article of their faith.”[17]
Having set forth their grievances, the Estates deputies left, and the focus fell on the upcoming Colloquy of Poissy.
Effect on Toulouse
When the lettres de cachet announcing the Edict of Orléans (with its toleration of Protestants) arrived in Toulouse, the Parlement registered it tardily and interpreted it harshly only releasing prisoners suspected of heresy if they abjured their faith first.[4] The 1561 Edict of Foutainebleau was received by the Parlement with even greater disdain.[4] In contrast the capitouls arrested three Catholic preachers (including a Jesuit priest and a monk) for traitorous remarks regarding Catherine de Médicis for her feebleness towards members of the Reformed Church.[4]
During 1561’s season of Lent, university students (many of them sons of Toulouse’s magistrates) who had accepted the doctrine of the Reformed Church began to riot against Catholic authority.[4] When met with a response many of them fled during the Easter period to nearby towns along the Garonne river to escape.[4]
By the summer of 1561 the conventicles began to meet at nighttime in the city squares.[4] All the while, religious disturbances continued to flare up throughout the region and cartloads of people arrested on charges of heresy continued to be brought into the city.[4]
With the toleration imposed by the edicts official persecution of the Protestants ceased and their worship services were unaccosted. In early 1562 Toulouse’s Reformed Church members started meeting outside the walls of the city.[4] The number of Reformed Church members in Toulouse had grown to one-seventh of the total population which is estimated at between 35,000 and 60,000.[22] They were “for the most part, burghers, merchants, professors of the university, men of letters, students, and magistrates.”[23] They had even elected a Protestant majority among the eight capitouls.[1][23]
The numbers of the Reformed Church members of Toulouse were great enough to require five pastors to serve them.[22] Seeing the toleration edicts as a license to worship openly, the Reformed Church members built a wooden church outside the town gates with an occupancy between five and six thousand worshippers.[23] Their first wooden “temple” was structured like a large elaborately fashioned covered barn or town market and was built outside the Porte Villeneuve (one of the gates in the city’s defensive wall).[4]
Not only men but women openly expressed their faith, a contemporary account notes “They had laid aside their prayer-books and beads which they had worn at their girdles, their ample robes, and dissolute garments, dance, and worldly songs, as if they had been guided by the Holy Ghost”.[23] Large numbers of students were also attracted to the Reformed Church in Toulouse including the student preacher Able Niort.[4] Other notable Reformed preachers in Toulouse were Bignolles (ambitious but with a difficult personality) and Jean Barrelles who had been trained in Geneva, censured by the Sorbonne, and had served a prison sentence in Toulouse.[4]
With continuing reports of unrest in Southern France, Catherine de Médicis sent a governor to Toulouse to oversee the defense of the city. The Parlement registered his commission on September 24, 1561, but he was openly opposed by the capitouls who did not let him enter the city.[4] He was only able to enter when the election of new capitouls was held.[4]
Things looked hopeful for the Reformed Church throughout France with the October 1561 Colloquy of Poissy.
In Toulouse the newly elected capitouls faced quick criticism from the Parlement who sought to revoke their election. The town militia, which had been reviewed on Christmas Eve to quell any ideas of violence, was also criticized by Parlement, who charged it had been turned into a Protestant military force by the capitouls.[4]
Catholic suspicion over Protestant loyalty to France was heightened when staunchly Catholic Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc arrived in Bordeaux in December 1561 to share the royal lieutenancy of Guyenne with Charles de Coucis, seigneur de Burie. There he discovered that the Reformed Churches in Guyenne had adapted the church structure of synods, colloquies, and consistories to build a Protestant military organization (Gueyenne had been divided into seven colloquies, where each church within it had its own military captain).[20] Monluc was offered a bribe of 40,000 écus to not oppose them.[20] Two chefs-général or “protectors” had been elected for each of the areas of the parlements of Bordeaux and Toulouse. There were fears that this organization was a planned attempt to turn Guyenne into a republic modeled after Geneva.[20]
In January 1562, the Edict of St. Germain was issued officially recognizing the existence of French Protestants and guaranteeing freedom of conscience and private worship. It forbade Protestant worship within towns but permitted Protestant synods and consistories. The Edict of St. Germain arrived in Toulouse in February 1562 and the Parlement was displeased to see it, as like all other parlements it had been removed from enforcing the limited rights of worship given to Protestants. The capitouls in contrast, fully endorsed and enforced the edict. The Parlement only registered the edict with the provision that “in cases of necessity or abuse, it would administer the edict itself.”[4] As the capitouls applied the edict, they found that the Parlement was fully prepared to obstruct them as much as possible.[4]
By March 1562 notable members of Toulouse’s community formed a Reformed Church Consistory (a congregation’s governing body of elected officials that include the Elders and the Deacons). By this time the Reformed Church in Toulouse was already baptizing, marrying, and providing funerals for its members.[4]
Escalations
The majority of the Catholic citizenry of Toulouse were unhappy about the edicts requiring toleration to Protestants and in many instances were only held to compliance with it by the police powers of the city’s militia.[1] On February 7, 1562, a militia of one hundred soldiers was called out to keep armed Catholics and armed members of the Reformed Church separated. The militia guarded an open-air service Reformed Church members held at their barn-like church building (which had been built outside the defensive walls of Toulouse in 1558).[2] This service, with Abel Niort preaching, was the first one open to any and all interested in hearing the ideas of the Reformed Church and brought out 5,000 attendees. The Catholics already upset by the news that Reformed Church members had taken possession of a number of towns very close to Toulouse set up demonstrations to counter the event.[2] As the Reformed members sang Psalms at their service, the Catholic authorities called for public prayers, citywide fasts, and held a general procession parade (putting thousands of Catholics on the street).[2] A Franciscan named Melchior Flavin was so strident in his tone that his effect on the Catholic faithful made the capitouls fearful of a breach in the peace.[4]
As tensions mounted, a man by the Dalbade river was caught singing Psalms during the season of Lent – he was stoned to death by a Catholic mob and then his body was dragged to the palace of Parlement.[2]
When a member of his listening audience thought a Dominican preaching at the Basilica of St. Sernin was speaking heresy, he yelled “You lie, you sneaking monk!”, and then murdered the preacher.[2]
In another instance one of the town guard ordered to protect a Protestant congregation during its services in the faubourgs accidentally shot a Reformed Church member in the head.[4]
National events
While emotions in Toulouse continued to escalate, events throughout France did nothing to ease these emotions but indeed inflamed them all the more.
Court manoeuvring
Under Spanish promises of his own independent kingdom (rather than being a vassal king), Antoine of Navarre secretly sided with the Duke of Guise and his Catholic allies (often referred to as the Triumvirate). Antoine began taking lessons on Catholicism and quarreled with his wife about his desire to take their son to Catholic Mass or to attend the Catholic baptism of the Spanish ambassador.[13]
The Spanish ambassador told Catherine de Medici in the name of his King that she must banish the Protestants Jeanne d’Albret, Coligny, and D’Andelot from the royal court, and must command Antoine’s wife to raise their son within Catholicism. Catherine expelled him from France and took other action against a couple of the Triumvirate’s aristocrat supporters. Her reaction angered Antoine who moved closer to the Triumvirate.[13]
Religious riots were breaking out accompanied by bloodshed in Sens, Abbeville, Tours, Marseilles, Toul in Lorraine, and in Cahors and Agen (where Montluc brutally suppressed them). In most cases the Protestants were on the losing end of these conflicts.[13]
Massacre of Vassy
Though the city was about 500 miles north of Toulouse, the Massacre of Vassy that occurred on March 1, 1562, was seen as a dread event by Protestants throughout France. In Languedoc at (Béziers, Cahors, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary and Grenade) spontaneous Protestant revolts occurred upon hearing of the massacre.[4]
The events that led to the Massacre center on Francis, Duke of Guise. The Duke had travelled to Saverne to meet with the Lutheran Duke of Württemberg on February 15, 1562. There Guise worked to convince the German Lutherans that the French Reformed Church and its recognition of Calvin were working against the interests of other Protestants and was able to secure a promise of neutrality should there be armed conflict between the Catholic French and the Reformed Church of France. Upon returning to France, the Duke left Joinville with a contingent of his troops, having been informed of Protestant worship in the town of Vassy, and began to journey towards Paris to re-join the royal court.[24] Adjusting his route to go through Vassy on March 1, 1562, his troops encountered a Reformed Church service in progress, having heard its bells from afar.[25] The interchange between Guise’s troops and the Reformed members resulted in the Massacre of Vassy. The results were the deaths of 63 Reformed Church members and the wounding of hundreds more, along with their church being burnt to the ground.[13]
On March 16 the Duke, along with all the notable members of his family (except the Cardinal of Lorraine and the duke of Elbœuf) arrived at Paris. There he received a hero’s welcome for his deeds at Vassy. In Paris he met with his supporters the constable, and the marshal St. André. Counter to the Duke’s hopes, the Protestant Louis, Prince of Condé was unmoved and did not flee Paris. In response the Duke brought in nearly ten thousand additional horsemen. This show of numbers caused Condé to withdraw to Meaux, where he was soon met by Coligny and D’Andelot.[13]
At this point Antoine of Navarre finally showed his intentions openly by attending Mass on Palm Sunday, March 22, 1562. This caused Catherine de Medici to fear that the Guises would seize the boy King so she made plans to move him to Blois. Antoine refused to allow this as Blois was seen as a center of Protestant activity. The Spanish ambassador also protested this and declared it as evil counsel from L’Hospital. Due to this reaction Catherine moved the King to Fontainebleau. Catherine did not follow the advice of the constable (who may have become resentful of the Guise ascendency). He had called for her to announce the Crown’s intention to maintain the Edict of St. Germain and condemn the massacre of Vassy. Instead worrying that a Protestant reaction would only end with end of the royal Valois dynasty she began to show favor to Spain.[13] Due to the regional structure of the Reformed Church’s synods the news of the massacre spread quickly among the Protestants across the provinces.[4] In this manner the news reached Toulouse and Reformed Minister Barrelles informed the congregation from the pulpit.[4]
Condé’s troops
On March 29 the Prince of Condé returned to Paris with Coligny and D’Andelot and three thousand horsemen. All the bridges were drawn up as if the city was under attack. Condé announced it was his intention to enter Paris under arms just as the Duke had done. Not allowed entrance he quartered his troops at St. Cloud and held the highroad from Paris to Orleans at Longjumeau. The purpose of Condé’s position was to cut Paris off from Fontainebleau (as Admiral Coligny had moved with forces to Montreuil). In this position, Condé hoped to force the Guises to make a settlement or failing that be able control the Loire and divide France in half (Guyenne, Poitou, and most of Languedoc at his back, where Protestants held increasing political power). Guessing Condé’s plans the Guises managed to seize the King and Catherine and move them to Melun which they controlled. In the hands of the Guise, the boy King issued a command that Condé lay down his arms. Condé ignored this order and moved to secure his troops in Orleans. The Guises attempted to prevent this but were foiled by a rapid advance by D’Andelot.[13]
Burial riot
On Thursday April 4, 1562, while still under the toleration established by the edicts, a group of Reformed Church members of Toulouse were accompanying a merchant who belonged to their faith through the Saint-Michel faubourg as he proceeded towards a Reformed Church cemetery to bury his wife.[2] The dead woman’s parents and her confessor insisted that she had died a Catholic and that therefore she must be buried in a Catholic cemetery, in ground they held to be holy (holding the Protestant site as “unholy ground”).[2] At the same time a general procession parade of thousands of Catholics was being held for the feast day of Saint-Salvador (the Holy Savior) which was the namesake of one of Toulouse’s churches.[4]
Observing the Protestant funeral procession as it passed closer to the seat of Parlement, a number of Catholics refused to let it proceed and then took possession of the body by force.[1] Both sides fell into violent struggle. The tocsin alarm bell was rung out by a priest,[1] with the majority responding being Catholics from the general procession.[4] It was later determined that even priests had disguised themselves so that they could secretly take an active hand in the riot.[4]
A contemporary Reformed Church source recalled “Stones were thrown at the Protestants, and swords were brandished. Many were hurt and several were killed. Amongst the latter were to be found a replacement for a procurator at the Parlement named Vitalis, another called Monsieur de Bazac from Viterbe, Claude Carron, a cloth-finisher, and a student, as well as many others drowned in the sewers.”[11]
A contemporary Catholic source, while accusing the Protestants of grave robbing, wrote “the tocsin was sounded and they were greeted on their arrival [at the cemetery] by the noise and clamor of a Catholic mob, amassing from without in great number, heavily armed with whatever their fury had put in their hands: thick ends of sticks, long hatchets, cudgels, long billhooks, forks, spades, slings and stones. They set to work ransacking four heretic houses and ran amok, overturning everything so sadly and horribly, and shamefully to the town”.[11] The bloody rioting spread from the faubourg of Saint-Michel into the cathedral quarter of Saint-Etienne and continued throughout the following day.[4] As the riot continued homes were broken into and ransacked for pillage.[4]
Toulouse’s Reformed community sought safety by invading and taking over the town hall, the Hôtel de Ville, thus creating a standoff.[4] At first the canons of the cathedral Saint-Etienne stalled any resolution by telling the Parlement that there was nothing serious occurring, but when news of homes being ransacked reached them, a group of parlement judges and capitouls tried to appease the mob by appearing in their red robes of authority.[4] The Catholic mob threw stones and took gun shots at the capitouls while the judges withdrew to the court precincts.[4] According to a contemporary Catholic source, two capitouls named Assézat and Ganelon upon finding the Hôtel de Ville turned into a Protestant fortress returned with 500 armed men.[11] They walked “around with these troops calling on the people at the sound of a trumpet to lay down their weapons on both sides. Returning to the law court these troops found its windows boarded up and, from there, they made a sortie outside the city walls to assail the inhabitants of the suburbs who showed that they lacked nothing in courage, even though they were no match for them in armor. The capitouls were frightened by such opposition and they let these half-crazed butchers…kill some of the more ill-advised and exposed individuals…and in the evening they made their retreat [back into the city].”[11]
A meeting between eight senior judges, four capitouls, the seneschal and the town council were able to determine the terms for a truce.[4]
By the next day, parlement president Jean de Mansencal (whose own son, studying at university, had converted to the Reformed Church)[4] was able to present terms and secure the truce with the Reformed Church members agreeing to disarm and withdraw to the faubourgs.[2] The truce allowed the Reformed Church members to maintain two hundred unarmed guards in line with the Edict of Saint-Germain, the Catholics were allowed a similar number to serve under four professional captains and answer to the capitouls, all other soldiers were forced to withdraw and the ringing of the tocsin upon the Reformed’s withdrawal was forbidden.[4]
By the end of the riot many people lay murdered, the majority being Reformed Church members (artisans, students, and legal clerks).[4][26]
Under the terms of the truce an investigation charged 106 people with incitement, six of which were condemned to death.[4] Ignoring the terms of the truce, the Catholic-dominated Parlement interfered, pardoning all the condemned Catholics, so the only people executed for the riot were four Reformed members hung on April 11 at the four corners of the Place Saint-Georges.[4] The body of the woman over which the riot had begun, had been buried in a Catholic cemetery by priests who helped seize it.[11]
Reformed members saw this pardoning of Catholics who killed Protestants as part of a pattern in the region, a pattern which included the recent shielding of Catholics who had committed the Massacre of Cahors.[1][23] A contemporary Reformed Church commentator charges conspiracy on the commissioners named Dalzon and de Lozelargie sent to investigate the violence by Parlement.[11] He claimed that the commissioners conferred with the rioting Catholics and while returning to tell Parlement that all was calm, incited violence. He wrote “But in reality they had told them as they left: ‘Kill them all; ransack the lot of them. We are your fathers; we will protect you’. This came out afterwards in documentary evidence which, however, was seized and burnt after the entire dissipation of the reformed church [in the city] by those had an interest in covering it all up, even to the extent of executing most of those who had prepared the evidence and those who had been prepared to come forward and give testimony.”[11]
National events
Even as the burial riot went on in Toulouse, outside events continued to encourage hostility between Catholics and members of the Reformed Church. These events would set the stage for larger, deadlier riots in the city.
Paris under the Triumvirate
On April 5 the constable of Paris had the Reformed Church building at the Port of St. Antoine torn down. Its pulpit, forms, and choir where burnt and pieces of the wreckage carried away as souvenirs by a Catholic mob. Troops were placed on the streets to arrest anyone suspected of being a Protestant and a house to house search was made looking for Protestant preachers. At this time the Guises moved the boy king from Melun to an even stronger fortification at Bois de Vincennes east of Paris. Coligny and D’Andelot offered to meet Catherine to discuss the situation if family members of the Triumvirate went as hostages to Orleans to ensure they were not harmed. The Queen Regent was in agreement, but was overruled by the Triumvirate. At this time it was still hoped that the Council of Trent or a national Council might still bring a peaceful resolution.[13]
The Duke of Guise sent out a letter to the provinces, which claimed to have been directed by the boy King.[4] The letter instructed authorities that they were to disregard the edicts of toleration, claimed that the Protestants wanted to make Condé king. It said that Paris’s parlement had declared itself a tutor for the boy King and taken a “resolution to exterminate all those of the Huguenot religion as guilty of divine and human lèse majesté“.[4] A copy of the letter reached Toulouse by way of Montpellier on April 10, 1562.[4]
Condé’s rebellion
On April 12, 1562, at Orleans, Condé formally took command of the Protestant soldiers, naming Admiral Coligny and D’Andelot as his lieutenants. They outlawed idolatry, blasphemy, violence, and robbery within the territories under their control. They declared their motive was solely to liberate the boy King from captivity, to punish the insolence of the disloyal and the enemies of the church. The start of the civil war had begun. The Protestants saw their actions as a righteous rebellion from the Guises whom they viewed as usurping tyrants holding the King a prisoner, the Guises saw their opponents as treasonous heretics. Catherine de Medici tried again to broker peace, but neither side was trusting enough to be the first to lay down their arms. By late April, the Guises supporters Montmorency and Antoine of Navarre began to waver when they learnt how much territory was under Condé and troops were moving to Orleans by the thousands. The Duke remained firm, in part because the question of whether the massacre of Vassy would be attributed to him (neither the Court of the Parlement of Paris nor the peers of France had absolved him from guilt). Further worries resulted due to the Protestants position allowing them to intercept most of the attempted communications to the King of Spain. On April 24, the Guises strengthened their position in Paris when the Cardinal of Lorraine brought in another thousand horsemen.[13] That same date a letter was sent to Toulouse authorities from Paris, claiming the Edict of Saint-Germain and its proscribed toleration could never have been valid for the Languedoc region as it was a border province.[4]
Appeal to Catholic nations
Catherine de Medici continued to fear that Protestant actions would result in the end of the royal dynasty and began to ally with the Triumvirate. Montomrency proposed that she ask the papal nuncio to ask the Pope for money and troops, but Spain was seen as the major Catholic power at this time and so she bid the Triumvirate to ask King Philip II of Spain for assistance. They did so, sending the request with a letter by Antoine of Navarre professing his Catholic faith. On May 8, the boy King Charles IX formally requested military assistance from Spain, Catholic regions of Switzerland, Catholic regions of Germany, Savoy, the Pope, and Catholic princes of Italy.[13]
Insurrection
As outside events added fuel to the flames of sectarian hatred, tensions continued to simmer in Toulouse between the Catholics and Reformed Church members. The capitouls tried to prevent violence by controlling the traffic of weapons into the city, but found it impossible. As historian Mark Greengrass writes, “Monasteries, priests, as well as scholars in the university, maintained caches of small arms and continued to do so, despite the truce. Judges kept garrisons within their private houses and some bourgeois ‘monopolisseurs’, such as the wealthy Pierre Delpuech, already involved in the arms trade, profited from the additional business that the alarm in the city brought them.”[4] In addition the Catholic captains set over the militia by the terms of the truce began to openly defy the capitouls authority over them (as they viewed them as Protestant heretics).[4][27]
Theodore Beza accompanying Condé in Orleans sent out a letter to the Protestants across the provinces asking for money and arms for their troops. Toulouse responded to the letter by sending funds (though just as in other regions, the amount was not as much as the leadership had hoped).[4] In addition Reformed Church members within Toulouse began to secretly house Protestant troops within their private estates as the beginning of a levy to send on to Orleans.[4]
Perhaps the event that escalated tensions the most was caused by the sénéchal and Parlement who decided that the militia must be reinforced to prevent insurrection. To achieve this they moved to convoke a ban-et-arrière ban which would order all the nearby Catholic nobles to appear in full armor with their warriors. Both Catholic moderates and Protestants within the capitouls protested against the move. They cited the city’s charter that forbid armed soldiers from assembling within Toulouse without their permission. The Parlement ignored their protests and on May 10, over two hundred Catholic princes and their retinues entered through the main gate.[4][27]
As tensions escalated the month-long truce could no longer hold. This resulted in far greater violence than the events of the burial riot with much of it again centering on the Hôtel de Ville.
Condé plot
Certain that neither justice for their dead nor safety for themselves would be possible under the current political situation, in April Pierre Hunault, sieur de Lanta (one of the Protestant capitouls) veered off his civic trip to Paris and went to Orléans to contact Louis, Prince of Condé.[4][22] Prince Condé (a convert to the Reformed Church of France and the brother of King Antoine of Navarre) had become the champion of resistance to the domination of the Crown by the staunchly Catholic Guise family. He was seen as a protector of Protestants and had begun to seize and garrison strategic towns along the Loire. Condé told the capitoul to capture Toulouse for the Protestants.[4] The plan was to copy the keys to all the gates of the city’s defensive walls and capture the city using the Protestant soldiers already being secretly housed in Toulouse along with troops levied by Lanta from his properties east of the city in Lauragais.[4] The plan would go into effect on May 17 with one of the goals being the strategic seizure of the Hôtel de Ville.[2]
Whether Lanta was ever able to coordinate with Reformed Church members within Toulouse remains unknown, but he did begin to levy troops throughout the villages around his country estate (including Blagnac, Colomiers, and Seilh).[4] Lanata’s return and his suspicious activities did not go unnoticed by agents of Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc the Catholic military lieutenant in Gascony. Montluc forwarded his suspicions to Mansencal, president of the Parlement of Toulouse, saying that he believed Lanta was set to take the city with 1,200 troops on Pentecost (April 18).[2][4] The Parlement immediately met in emergency session. Thirty-seven parlementaires signed a document charging over twenty of their colleagues with heresy.[2] Some were viewed as unacceptably moderate (Politiques or Nicodemites), some for being humanists, others on suspicion of Protestant sympathies (not for being Protestants themselves but for allowing their wives or family members to attend Protestant services),[1][23] still others were viewed as convinced Calvinists.[2] Fully purged, the Parlement issued decrees to counter the planned insurrection by requesting additional military assistance from Anne de Joyeuse to garrison strategic locations in the city including fortifying the Hôtel de Ville.[2][4] They also discussed how to ban Reformed Church services within the walls of Toulouse.[4]
Becoming aware of Parlement‘s discussions, the consistory and other notable Reformed Church members of Toulouse quickly held their own meeting. The consistory made up of city notables urged caution hoping to prevent armed strife. The captains wanted to consider practical and realistic objectives given their situation. It was the zeal of Minister Barrelles that carried the day, determining that as troops were already secretly in the city and more were waiting outside that the time to act was upon them.[4] It was judged that Parlement’s actions had forced the conspirators hand[2] and an immediate coup was attempted that night – May 12, 1562.[2][23] Led by some of their capitouls, Reformed Church members at nine p.m. let Captain Saux and some of the Protestant militia in from the suburbs outside the walls through the Porte Villeneuve gate.[4] These troops captured the Hôtel de Ville and took three capitouls prisoner.[4] Protestant forces also captured the three universities and threw up barricades made of dirt filled barrels across the streets leading into the quartiers that they had captured.[4] All of this took place before the dawn of May 13 with little opposition and no bloodshed.
Street fighting
In light of this treason, the councilors of Parlement passed a sentence of arrest on the magistrates who were taking part. They unilaterally deposed all the capitouls and ordered their property seized.[1] This action was taken, even though only two capitouls were known Reformed members, two had no known previous association with Protestantism (though it is always possible that they converted on the job), and the others were viewed as firm Catholics (but ones who favored moderation and peace).[4] The Parlement bypassed the normal election procedure and appointed a new slate of capitouls, all of whom were staunchly Catholic and at least two of which were members of Toulouse’s Catholic syndicat.[4][22]
While the Hôtel de Ville was held by Reformed Church members, the Catholic faction was led from the nearby seat of Parlement, the Palais de Justice. They turned the chancery of into an operations room, with the rest of the structure serving as a barracks for the Catholic forces.[4] From here they sent forth military commands, such as ordering all removable shop awnings to be taken down to prevent them from being used as Protestant sniper hides.[4] They also commanded all captains and gentlemen in the nearby areas to come and give military assistance.
With both camps entrenched, Parlement quickly had the gunpowder stored in Bazacle Mills seized and requisitioned the King’s treasury and any silver within the city.[2][4] President Mansencal also established a war fund to which all the judges were required to make a contribution.[4] Out in the streets both sides threw up more barricades which soon led to bitter fighting between denominations.[22]
Appearing on the streets of Toulouse in their red robes the councilors of Parlement commanded the populace to take up arms against the members of the Reformed Church. Five or six of their number were dispatched to proclaim to the Catholic citizenry that they should “Pillage, kill boldly, with the approval of the pope, of the king, and of the court.”[4][23] These also gave out “a white cross as a mark of distinction for their persons and houses” to those that answered their call.[1] The Parlement ordered all Catholic combatants to display these crosses on themselves and their homes and decreed that all other Catholics must place a display of lighted candles in their windows.[2] Any qualms that Catholics may have had over killing their neighbors were met with the declaration that such actions were part of a “holy war” and clergy loyal to the Parlement offered dispensation in advance to those who agreed to kill heretics.[2]
Between 3,000 and 8,000 Catholics answered the call and joined in the street fighting.[4] These included the town guard, a supplementary militia of around 400, private troops garrisoned in wealthy homes, and the Catholic knights and their retinues that had responded to the arrière-ban.[4] They were met by around 2,000 Protestants which included the secret levies of militia and bands of students.[4] The Protestants, while woefully outnumbered, were far better armed, having been successfully sneaking weapons and ammunition into the city since the burial riot. They had also confiscated the arsenal at the Hôtel de Ville which included a great number of pikes, armor, arquebuses and cannon.[4] Urban warfare gripped Toulouse and events quickly descended into chaos.
Protestants made use of buildings with overhangs as platforms for musketeers and stone-throwers, they also used their own homes to connect their forces between streets.[4] Catholics often negated these tactical advantages by burning these homes to the ground.
On the 14th, Parlement ordered a purge of its militia forces. Though records do not explain why, two captains professing to be Catholic were slain and two more wounded in the courtyard outside the Palais de Justice.[4] After this purge, their militia focused solely on apprehending people that Parlement suspected of Protestantism.[4]
On the Catholic side all Protestants were viewed in the same light as those holed up in the Hôtel de Ville – being viewed as not only heretics but open traitors. Those not in the Hôtel de Ville were seized in their homes, thrown from windows, or dragged to the Garonne River and thrown in.[23] Even Protestants being taken to prison by town constables were massacred by mobs of angry Catholics.[23] Still the majority of those arrested did make it to prison and the arrests of Protestants were so numerous that those in jail for merely criminal charges but who were not charged with heresy were released to make more room for captured Reformed Church members.[4] Arriving at jail Protestants were stripped, beaten, and males had their beards torn off.[4] When the prisons were filled to capacity, those arrested on suspicion of Protestantism were stripped naked and thrown into the river – those attempting to swim were shot with arquebuses.[4]
As the great number of Reformed Church members in Toulouse were from the higher classes, the hysteria was so out of control that any well-dressed passenger was viewed as a Protestant, taken from the vehicle and slain.[23]
The Reformed Church members focused on Catholic churches and monasteries. In total they captured ten of these types of Catholic buildings, including large monasteries belonging to the Dominican and Franciscan Observantists orders. Monks captured in these raids were taken to the Hôtel de Ville and held prisoner.[4]
Among the fiercest fighters were university students of either denomination. The students were well prepared for guerrilla tactics and street fighting. They were more deadly than even the nobility’s armored mounted cavalry forces whose horse-mounted tactics did not transfer well to the narrow streets of Toulouse and whose armor became cumbersome.[2] Much of the violence, especially that performed by members of the Reformed Church took on a ritualistic tone. Catholic churches were ransacked, with statues and other images destroyed.[2] A band of drunken Protestants broke into the parish church of Saint-Georges and destroyed any Catholic statues, paintings, or other imagery.[4] Other Protestants at Saint-Orens mocking the doctrine of Transubstantiation took hold of Sacramental bread prepared for the Catholic Eucharist and defiled it.[4] One account records a Protestant woman at the Église du Taur church defecating on either the Catholic baptismal font,[4] while another source speaks of a woman doing the same upon the altar to show her contempt for the Catholic’s sacrifice of the Mass.[2] Catholic items in these churches that they could not manage to destroy (such as the relics/remains of Thomas Aquinas) along with other expensive objects were taken to the Hôtel de Ville.[4] Likewise some of the Catholic actions seem ritualistic as well, with corpses of those deemed heretics denied any sense of a holy burial by being cast in the Garrone River or “mutilated in a systematic fashion.”[2] As the riots continued these ritualistic elements faded in the name of efficiency; historian Greengrass describes the scene: “Once the violence became more organized, the ritualistic elements were submerged beneath the familiar elements of civil war…Bodies were dumped in the river Garonne, sewers in the city were scoured out, quartiers were set alight, not as ritual cleansings and purification of the city but as a natural recourse in the strategy of urban warfare when the prisons were full and the sewers offered some refuge. The greater violence perpetrated by the Catholics was not necessarily an expression of their outrage at the desecration of their religious symbols and their failure to find Protestant ritual objects to attack in return; it was the inevitable result of a sectarian conflict in a confined space in which Catholics outnumbered Protestants and had the assistance of professional soldiers to whom killing came easily.”[4]
As most of the Catholics in the mob were illiterate and viewed books as a means that spread Protestantism, they were quick to support Parlement‘s edict to raid booksellers’ shops (regardless if they sold Protestant works or not), arrest the bookseller, and then remove all their books and set them on fire in the public gathering places.[4][23]
As events escalated some in the mobs took advantage of the situation to settle personal scores.[2] Both sides engaged in pillaging homes of their opponents. With even judges, court officials, medical doctors, and lawyers having their homes ransacked. While most of these homes were owned by people suspected of being in the Reformed Church, in some cases the wealthy had their property pillaged even if they were not believed to be Protestants.[4] One such case was Jean de Bernuy who as an ethnic Jew, had come to Toulouse to escape the Spanish Inquisition and made a fortune selling Isatis tinctoria. His elegant townhome was ransacked by a Catholic mob under the baron de Clermont and both of his daughters were raped without anyone ever charging him of Protestantism.[2][4] His neighbor Mathieu Chauvet was captured and held for ransom.[4] Foreigners and temporary residents were also robbed.[4] Most of the damage to Toulouse was due to this ransacking pillage, with the conservative total estimate being 20,000 écus.[4]
Throughout May 13–14 areas engulfed in street fighting spread to a wider and wider area, moving from around the Place Saint-Georges, to the Place Saint-Sernin, the Porte du Bazâcle, and the streets leading to the cathedral.[4] Greengrass postulates that this closeness to the cathedral and the attacks on the monasteries may be why “the Catholic clergy appeared muted or paralyzed” during these riots, unlike the previous one.[4]
By May 15 the Catholics brought four thick oaken mobile defense structures onto the streets that acted as mobile shields. These structures were mounted on two wheels and were rather large for the streets. By pushing these in front of them the Catholics were able to get close to the enemy with the structure absorbing any weapon’s fire. These were successful though the Protestants were able to capture one of them.[4]
Reformed Church members began to utilize the cannons they had won with their capture of the Hôtel de Ville. One was dragged to the Three Pigeons inn and around barricades to halt a Catholic mobile shield, two smaller cannons were moved to the top of the tower in the Collège de Périgord in hopes that they could destroy the spire of the Saint-Sernin (a famous site of Catholic pilgrimage) and thereby control the whole quarter. A last cannon was taken to the top of the Hôtel de Ville itself to shore up defenses.[4]
Also on May 15, Reformed Church members began using the ancient Roman sewer that ran to the Garonne river to move around or to find shelter. Catholics flushed the system with a large amount of water and capturing twenty five Protestants threw them from a bridge into the Garonne river where they drowned.[4]
In the beginning of the riots the Protestants had focused on Catholic ritual objects to vent their anger upon and followed a policy of trying to avoid committing violence on their opponents. Prisoners were treated with consideration, banished rather than executed, and great attempts to convert them to what they deemed true Christianity were made.[4] But as events continued and the situation grew more desperate for them, Protestant policy shifted towards more killing. The Catholic policy remained the same throughout the riots; they deemed Protestants both heretics and traitors who must be exterminated in the name of “holy war”.[4] This explains their slaughter of unarmed Protestant prisoners held in the conciergerie and Parlement‘s prison, and their willingness to hold other Protestants under water till they drowned or watch them burn to death inside their homes.[4]
It is estimated that at least 200 people viewed as Protestants were slain in this street fighting,[22] though some historians (such as Greengrass) hold that such a figure is far too low.[4]
Burning of Saint-Georges
The Catholics responded to the tactic of Reformed Church members using homes to connect Protestant troops in different streets or as firing platforms by setting those homes on fire.[4]
The members of the Reformed Church throughout the city had around 1,000 troops and “the allegiance of at least one student nation”, but promised reinforcements from Protestant noblemen in the region never arrived.[2] In contrast Catholic aristocrat warriors (such as Anne de Joyeuse, Antoine de Lomagne the sieur de Terride, and Monluc) sent troops into the city.[2] In addition every Catholic church within five or six leagues of the town rang out their tocsins, rallying bands of peasantry into the fray.
These superior numbers did not always equate with easy success and more desperate tactics had to be used. Greengrass writes: “Catholics had particular difficulty in the rue des Couteliers and towards the Daurade church, an artisan quarter where Huguenot support was strong. There, Catholics instituted a campaign of terror, sectarian murder, pillage and imprisonment which remind the historian of some of the events [during the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre] in the Quartier Latin in Paris ten years later.”[4]
Despite the growing opposition, the Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville were, due to force of arms (which included a cannon), able to hold off the growing opposition.
On Friday, May 15, frustrated by the standoff, the Catholic leadership attempted to both dislodge the Reformed Church members, remove cover for any escape route, and end street fighting in that area by setting fire to all Protestant homes in the Saint-Georges quarter (where the Hôtel de Ville was located).[1][2] The Parlement declared anyone attempting to extinguish the flames would be guilty of a capital offense, which resulted in some Catholic homes burning as well.[1] In the end, more than 200 homes were burnt to the ground.[2]
The Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville continued to hold their position from Monday through Saturday.[23] All talk of truce had been rejected by the zealous minister Barrelles whom had turned the town hall into a Reformed temple.[4] Protestant sources describe him as “courageous and zealous, but very thoughtless and not always inspired by the spirit of God”.[4] Even in the midst of the siege he had a vicious argument with a Protestant captain over ransoming captured notables back to the enemy. In the end he had the captain thrown into the Hôtel de Ville prison as well.[4] Still, with the city around him ablaze, even he could not long ignore the reality of their military situation.
Truce
As the riots continued throughout the week some of the city’s notables sought to avoid the conflict or find a way to end it as peacefully as possible. Several of Toulouse’s magistrates were determined to remain neutral while both sides descended into bloodshed. Many left the city or moved to quieter areas within it (occasionally sending out attempts to see if Reformed friends or family members and their homes were safe), other notables stayed within their properties protected by a heavy guard.[4] Those under their own guard were viewed with suspicion by the Catholic faction, and proposals to invoke their aid where rejected by the Catholic syndicat.[4] The viguier (a type of judge) named Jean Portal attempted to remain neutral on his garrisoned property near the Palais de Justice, but his doors where torn down and he was seized by a Catholic mob who suspected him of Protestantism.[4]
On the Catholic side, many of the nobles, who had responded to the ban and arrière-ban, were appalled at the cost the Protestant resistance and their tactics of urban warfare was having on their armored troops. Catholic Captain Ricaud was so devastated at the loss of so many of his troops within just two days of fighting that he withdrew to an Augustinian monastery, refused all food and drink, and wailed about the great loss of gens de bien (good/honest folk).[4] The nobles were also dismayed that the Protestants had no respect for the status of their bloodlines and casualties among the gentry were high.[4] One Catholic noble was even thrown by Protestant townsfolk into the river weighted down by his gilded armor.[4]
Among the Protestants, Captain Sauxenes grew ever more dismayed at the carnage. He began to release some of the Catholic notables that had been taken prisoner (especially the women and children). For these actions he was accused of treason by the zealous Minister Barrelles.[4]
On May 14, private contacts between factions led to an attempt at negotiations over the barricades at Saint-Rome between Captain Saux and Pierre Delpuech but they fell flat.[4] Nothing was achieved until Saturday May 16, after six hours of early morning fighting and parlement judge Antoine de Resseguier using his skills as a mediator. The Reformed’s Captain Saux reached an agreement with the captain of the Catholic troops and Catholic nobleman Raymond de Pavia baron de Fourquevaux of Narbonne. A truce lasting until Sunday night would be called allowing the Protestants to leave Toulouse, never to return. Nothing was laid out about the Protestants’ possessions or their worship.[4] Toulouse’s capitouls joined a number of Catholic notables after Saturday evening Mass at a Carmelite Church to hastily ratify the terms.[4] News of the terms spread and situational details were negotiated over each barricade.[4]
Massacre
Even before the riots there had been a shortage of grain supplies throughout the town, and as the days of rioting stretched on, the Reformed Church members (within the Hôtel de Ville and strongholds in the university colleges) began to run out of food even for the women and children that had joined them there. This presence of refugees is also believed to have hindered their military (estimates put the number of refugees as already over two thousand by Thursday).[4] The Protestants had never been able to control the river and so were cut off from both the mills alongside it and receiving supplies through it. They did capture some stores from the monasteries, but these were also quickly exhausted.[4]
The Reformed Church members’ strategic position in the town had always been weak. The expected outside reinforcements of de Lanta, d’Arpajon and other Protestant nobles from Guyenne and the Albigeois never reached the city, having been blocked by royal troops under orders of Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc the provincial lieutenant.[4] A few reinforcements did arrive from the Lauragais and Pamiers on Friday and entered through the few gates that the Protestants held, but their numbers and training were inferior to the troops of the Catholic nobility that had answered the ban and arrière-ban.[4] The morale of the Reformed Church members quickly sank when they realized that there was little hope of additional reinforcements. Relying heavily on their captured cannons and having failed to capture the eighteen casks of powder and mills at the Porte du Bazâcle, their military supplies of gunpowder were soon as scarce as their food supplies.[4]
The Governor of Narbonne was sent by the Parlement of Toulouse to discuss the peace terms with those inside the Hôtel de Ville.[1] The Reformed Church members agreed to leave the Hôtel and their other strongholds, abandon their arms and possessions inside, and leave Toulouse forever under the promise that they would be unmolested.[1] As Saturday night fell, starting between eight and nine p.m. the Reformed Church members in large numbers began to file through the only Protestant-controlled exit from the walled city, the gate of Villeneuve.[23][26] Some of their number watched from the rooftop of the Hôtel, singing Protestant hymns to their departing fellows.[2]
With only the gate of Villeneuve being seen as a safe passage through the city walls, and with the number of Protestant refugees so large and progressing so slowly (due to carrying possessions and family members), the exodus from Toulouse lasted throughout Saturday night and all the way past eight p.m. Sunday night.[4]
As that Sunday was Pentecost, the Reformed Church members within the Hôtel de Ville held a Lord’s Supper service and with prayers and tears began leaving its safety defiantly singing Psalms in French.[2] They were accompanied by the town trumpeter who had climbed the Hôtel’s tower and played psalms and hymns which were heard throughout the city. It was hoped that as it was Pentecost around the time of vespers, the majority of the Catholic population would be at their Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Catholic leadership had ordered the city watch to supervise the truce from the Church towers, and it was hoped that they could maintain discipline over their co-religionists.
The historian G. de Felice charges that corrupt clergy members had instructed their listeners that the Catholic Church’s teaching of juramentum contra utilitatem ecclesiasticam prœstitum non tenet (“No oath contrary to ecclesiastical utility [the interests of the Church] is binding”), meant that any promise to someone deemed a heretic did not have to be upheld.[23] In any event, the promise of safety was not upheld – those who had abandoned their weapons and left the Hôtel de Ville were soon met by an angry Catholic mob.[23]
As soon as the last detachment of Reformed Church members had left the protection of the walls around the Hôtel and made their way towards the gate of Villeneuve, tocsin bells began to ring out.[26] Large mobs of angry Catholics ran out of their churches, seized their weapons and began to chase down and massacre unarmed Protestant men, women, and children.[1][26] Reformed Church members had to run a gauntlet of Catholics intent on killing and screaming for Protestant blood along with cries of Vive la Croix! (“Long live the Cross”).[4] In addition to the swarming mobs chasing them through the town, the unarmed Reformed Church members were also met outside the walls by Catholics who had forced a violation of the truce by ordering city guards at gunpoint to open another gate so they could intercept the fleeing Protestants.[4]
The peasants from nearby villages up to ten miles away that had responded to calls of help from the Parlement earlier in the week, having no training with firearms, had remained outside the city. As they had been told that it was not only permitted but honorable to kill any Protestant on sight and pillage their goods, a thousand such peasants intercepted and slaughtered many trying to flee to Protestant-friendly towns.[4] Outside the confines of Toulouse (which had allowed the Protestants to use urban terrain and tactics to withstand the overwhelming number of Catholics and negate the advantage of mounted armored knights), even if they had been armed they would have had no chance in the plat pays (flat places) that lay between them and Protestant friendly towns. No town not dominated by Protestants could be seen as safe for them; even those who had disguised themselves as peasants from the fields, or as priests trying to pass through Lavaur (to get to Montauban), were found out and slaughtered.[4]
Inside Toulouse revenge killings continued.[4]Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de Montluc, having been barraged with pleas from Parlement[22] arrived there with his forces the day after the insurrection had ended. In his writings Montluc reports that up to 400 Protestants were slain, by his own armored and mounted troops and by mobs of Catholic peasants, while trying to escape Toulouse.[22]
Many bodies of those slain outside the walls would lay there half-eaten on the roadsides until identified and collected by the capitaine de la santé.[4]
All contemporary sources hold that more were slain outside the walls than in the streets of Toulouse.[4] It is estimated that around 3,000 to 5,000 people had died in the combined rioting and massacre, with the vast majority being Protestants.[1][2][23][26]
Trials
Throughout the day after the massacre, even with the insurrection crushed, a feeling of hysteria continued to grip Toulouse. Property and homes continued to be ransacked, while the town guard continued to pursue those suspected of Protestantism.[4] Even those who had remained uncommitted could come under suspicion depending on what side of the barricades they were found on, or which friends they had visited the night of May 12. The Parlement soon produced lists of suspects and those who had shown a lack of Catholic commitment were shown a lack of mercy by town officials.[4]
Soon after, Parlement began inquires on the events.[26] Those Protestants that constables had managed to bring to prisons alive were summarily judged by the Parlement and found guilty of capital offenses[1] save for a handful of cases.[26] Investigations soon expanded to seek out those who might have secretly supported the coup and those who might be secret heretics.[23] Between two[26] and three hundred[23] were publicly executed for heresy and the town’s provost Captain Saux (a leading Reformed Church member whom had survived the riots) was quartered.[4][23][26] Another four hundred were executed for contumacy.[23] Around two hundred were burnt in effigy.[4] In the end nearly a thousand people were investigated by the Parlement.[4]
Confiscations of property for those the Parlement declared had taken part in the attempted coup were widespread, and accusations have been made that witnesses were bribed or threatened with “ecclesiastical menaces” to increase this property forfeiture.[26] (Felice states: “The clergy had published a motion enjoining, under pain of excommunication and eternal damnation, not only the denunciation of heretics, but even of those, who had given them counsel, help, or favor.”[23])
Such a situation caused abuses, one of the more outrageous included the hanging of a twelve-year-old boy who had arrived from Montauban, the Parlement had declared him a heretic for being unable to recite the Ave Maria, despite his protest that he hadn’t been taught it yet.[23]
Other than the fate of a group Augustinian nuns (who had abandoned their cloister in order to return to the world to get married and were sentenced to whipping plus three years of imprisonment), little is known about the fate of women during these trials as it was assumed that they were merely following the wills of their husbands.[23]
The Parlement had the decree issued on the first day of the insurrection, which had stripped the capitouls of their offices and seized their property, inscribed into a marble slab and placed at Toulouse’s Hôtel de Ville.[1]
According to city records, the Parlement of Toulouse made the city 22,236 livres tournois from sales of property confiscated from those it found guilty of heresy or contumacy from 1562 to 1563.[22]
Aftermath
Historian Joan Davies relates to what lengths the Protestants of Toulouse had to face in order to worship according to their beliefs, writing “Under the terms of the peace of Amboise, March 1563, the Protestants of Toulouse no longer had the right to worship in their own city but were assigned a lieu du culte first at Grenade, then Villemur, both over twenty kilometers away. There is no evidence that they retained the service of a pastor, but a consistory was still active in 1564, hoping to reconstitute the church. By September 1567, those who wished to attend the cêne had to travel to Montauban; in 1572, Toulousain Protestants can be found at Villemur and trying to worship at Castanet, just outside the city, where the seigneur claimed the right to hold services.”[22]
The famous Reformed theologian Pierre Viret had been working in southeast France (Nîmes, Montpellier, and Lyons) beginning in 1561, he had intended to go to Toulouse in March 1563 but upon hearing of the riots, he returned to Protestant-dominated Lyon after touring Languedoc and the Dauphiné. As the Wars of Religion continued, Pierre d’Airebondouze in Geneva was asked to convey a message to Calvin by Viret. He had been contacted by an official from Toulouse claiming he could raise between three and four thousand Protestant soldiers in the surrounding region of Languedoc if rich fugitives from Toulouse would contribute funds. Viret had secured promises of funds from the Toulousain refugees in Lyon, but many had soon after fled to Geneva following a Protestant defeat near their new home.[28]
Following the riots the populace of Toulouse became well trained in the methods of organized confessional militancy. In 1563 the Catholic populace was called by the Parlement to enroll in leagues dedicated to preserving the religious purity of France. These people were led by Catholic warriors from the nobility, ranking members of the Catholic hierarchy, and city officials. Members were to mark their homes and clothing with white crosses. All who joined “of whatever dignity” had to take an oath to preserve the state religion.[2] Anyone league members encountered who refused to take the oath was to “be considered rebels”.[2] This practice was reinvigorated in 1568 reformed with the title “crusade” rather than league.[2] Toulouse’s “crusade” received a papal bull of approval in March 1568.[2] This group was later folded into the Catholic League that formed in 1576 with the express intention of preventing the Protestant Henry of Navarre from becoming King.
Historian Gayle K. Brunelle states that “As a result [of the city’s experience during the 1562 Protestant uprising], not only was Toulouse one of the earliest cities to support the Catholic League, but the Parlement and the city government, cleansed of Protestants, hunted sorcerers and heretics with a relentless, almost obsessive, ferocity until the end of the sixteenth century.”[29] As the capitouls had been purged of those tolerant of Protestants and replaced with members whose Catholicism was beyond question, the only opposition to a tendency towards ultra-Catholicism in the city’s leadership was from a faction of magistrates in Parlement who favored moderation.[2] Even this faction occasionally came under suspicion seen as being Nicodemite.
Later persecutions
As the Wars of Religion engulfed the country, the member of the Reformed Church in Toulouse that had survived the events of 1562 continued to face persecution. Historian Mark Greengrass states, “The opening of each new phase of the civil wars was marked by another wave of repression of rebels and heretics in which the memories of the ‘impious and unhappy civil war’ of 1562 formed a powerful stimulus”.[4]
In 1568 between four and five hundred were slain in the night and their bodies thrown into the Garonne river.[2][22] In addition to the night pogrom, sixteen members high officers (including many from Parlement) were placed under arrest for suspicion of heresy, while sixteen more fled to Montauban and Castres.[2]
In 1572, in reaction to the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in Paris, Toulouse officials ordered all suspected Reformed Church members to be placed in confinement (some held within Catholic convents, others in the municipal prison).[4] On the night of October 3 (over a month after the Paris massacre) two merchants (father and son) named Delpeche arrived from Paris. They claimed they had orders “to kill all” Protestants.[4] As evening progressed the Delpeches gained supporters and these self-appointed executioners took the Reformed Church members from their cells and murdered them.[4] Between 200 and 300 Reformed Church members were slain in this manner.[4] Among those killed were three councilors of the Parlement whose bodies, draped in their official robes, were hung from a tall tree in front of the seat of Parlement.[4] Among those slain was Jean de Coras. Unlike other areas of France which responded with mob violence and indiscriminate killing, Toulouse’s response to the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre was cold, efficient, and systematic.[4] With knowledge of the killings, many surviving Toulousain Protestants (like others throughout France) abandoned their faith through abjuration at this time.[22]
By 1762 Toulouse’s treatment of Protestants was met with some outrage over its execution of Jean Calas by breaking at the wheel.
Annual festival
In celebration of their victory over a Protestant coup, the Parlement of Toulouse created an annual festival (fête) for “The Deliverance” to be held every May 17.[30]Pope Pius IV issued a papal bull approving of the religious ceremony and attaching indulgences and benediction to it.[30] As the Wars of Religion dragged on, interest in the celebration began to wane in the late 1580s; supporters of the Catholic League were successful in reinvigorating the annual procession to celebrate the city’s “liberation”.[31] The fete for the city’s “deliverance” became one of the longest continual ceremonies in all of Old Regime France – being annually celebrated from 1563 to 1791, with the official orders of Toulouse assembling each May 17 for a solemn general procession.[2]
The 200th anniversary
The Fête was the largest of Toulouse’s general processions and the celebration of its 200th anniversary was (as historian Robert A. Schneider states) “one of the great moments in Toulouse’s history, commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of this glorious event. It was a lavish spectacle, attracting…thirty thousand tourists and pilgrims. And its popularity was enhanced by the renewal of a papal bull originally issued in 1564 granting faithful indulgences for attending prayers at either the cathedral or the Basilica Saint-Sernin.”[32]
A fireworks display was offered held on scaffolding set up to look like a temple. Several items on the scaffolding recalled the triumph of the Catholics over the Protestants 200 years before. One inscription stated “Religion graced and defended this place with its illustrious and precious blood. It is here that faith triumphed wondrously. Calvin, seeing this, shuddered. …The relics of the saints are Toulouse’s honor.”[32] Higher up the scaffolding another inscription stated “The Faithful believer will find here his only entrance. …Harmony and peace reign in this place. …Those who are excluded perish without help. …This way, and by no other, one ascends to heaven.”[32] Over the inscription of the word “Religion” a statue personifying it held a chalice in one hand, a cross in the other, and crushed under its feet a prostrate figure of Calvin.[32] After being postponed by rain the fireworks were set off on May 17.
Still outraged over Toulouse’s execution of Jean Calas just months before, the whole celebration was seen with particular disgust by the Enlightenment writer Voltaire, who called it “the procession to thank God for four thousand murders.”[32]
spacer So, now you have seen that Toulouse has a history filled with conflict and riots. And this continues to this day. Below are just a few instances of the rioting in Toulouse in modern times.
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