A city anchored in time, Carcassonne is considered one of the oldest cities in all of Europe. A gift for the eyes where its walls, battlements and towers, streets and arches seem to welcome the traveller. A castle that could well have served as inspiration in fairy tales, where princesses yearned for their prince. Nothing is further from reality, Carcassonne: Its Origins and Legends, born with the intention of knowing its history, its origins, who inhabited its castle or what legend its walls contain.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | Citadel of Carcassonne
To speak of Carcassonne is to speak of the citadel of Carcassonne or of the historic fortified city of Carcassonne, It is a fortified architectural complex, also called I quoted.
The historic city today is preserved in a wonderful state of conservation thanks to its restoration in order to achieve the title of World Heritagea title that he would obtain in 1997 and that managed to rescue this historical and spectacular monument from the clutches of oblivion.
The city preserves all the original elements of the Middle Agesa fortified city situated on a rise on the right bank of the river aude. The modern city of Carcassonne stood right in front on the left bank of the river, making the Cité an incomparable place.
The city is surrounded by a double wall Made of stone three kilometers long, the city preserves the typical layout of medieval cities, narrow and winding streets, frameworks in the facades, guild quarters, to which must be added the incomparable beauty of its castle. The castle belonging to the counts of Carcassonne, in addition to the basilica of Saint Nazairelocated in the same enclosure.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | Source
According to latin legacies that have come down to us and the archaeological remains found, we know that there was a oppiduma kind of wall reinforced with wooden sleepers that was built in the elevated areas for a better defense, dating from approximately the 6th century BC
This construction has been attributed to the Volcae Tectosagesa celtic Tribe, that occupied the territory even before the arrival of the Gauls, this tribe came from central Europe. This site was used by the Volcas due to its location near communication routes, for natural resources and as a watchtower for control over the territory.
It is known that they used the nearby Salsigne mines for the extraction of gold and jewels with which to make offerings to their gods. Pliny the Elder, already cited the site in his writings on Natural History, where it was known as Carcass Volcarum Tectosage.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | The Romans
The first records indicate that the Romans settled in this region in 122 BC, and began by building a fortified camp, a castle of medium importance, in the place where there was a oppidum of the group of the Volsci Tecnosagi.
Over time, it was installed around the fortified camp and was the beginning of its definitive establishment, which over the centuries came to surround the fortification from southwest to northwest. Indeed the colonyJulia Carcaso” is registered in the year 20 a. c.as part of the Roman Empire and, as such, carcassonne (in French, Carcassonne) enjoyed Roman peace for four centuries.
After the inclusion as a province of the Gallia Narbonensis, The city of Carcaso began to grow due to different factors. On the one hand, the Atax River (Aude) was navigable, which facilitated trade, but it was also located near one of the most important Roman roads, the Via Aquitaine. A road that connected Narbo, Tolosa and Burdigala.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | The Visigoths
During the third century AD, germanic peoples they began to move from the north, making different incursions from the Rhine. Among the Germanic peoples stood out the frankswho maintained constant fights with the Romans provoking different invading waves.
It is thought that the citizens of Carcaso, fearful that the Roman legions would not be able to withstand the incursions, began the construction of different fortifications. Pilgrim texts dated in the year 333, speak of the existence of a fortification in the town called Castellum of Carcassonne.
Samples of the remains of these fortifications can be found in some parts of the current wallsince part of these fortifications served as foundations for the construction of the rear wall.
are preserved from this period 52 towers, among them that of Avar Mill or Samson Mill. This fortification kept its inhabitants safe, they also served to preserve communication routes and trade routes. Despite the already inevitable decline of the Roman Empire, Carcassonne managed to resist sieges of the Germanic peoples.
Everything changed around the 5th century, when Carcassonne succumbed to attacks, being included in what was called the Visigoth Kingdom of Tolosawhose capital was Toulouse. Now Carcassonne became a frontier defense fortification of the new Visigoth kingdom.
The fortification works of the city continued, now it was a border fortress, but after the defeat of the Visigothic king Alaric II in the year 507, before the Frankish armies of Clovis I, it made the Visigothic empire shrink in favor of the Frankish kingdoms to the north.
until in the year 713a new enemy threatened the Visigoth kingdom, who inevitably succumbed, the new threat came from the south, it was the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | The Arabs
In 725, Carcassonne was taken by warriors arabs from the Iberian Peninsula, who began to move towards France through the Catalan coast. However, the Saracen occupation left no traces on their monuments, leaving only memories and legends but no buildings.
Precisely from this moment dates the legend of the “Give me Carcas”, whose statue is located before crossing the drawbridge.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends The Arabs | Legend of the Dame Carcas
Legend has it that the name of Carcassonne comes from the name of a Saracen princess who lived at the time of Muslim occupation. Charlemagne in the 8th century, after the occupation and conquest, by the armies Muslims of the Visigoth kingdom of Hispania and the occupation of Carcaso, set out to reconquer the territory from the Muslims.
Carcaso prepared himself for what would be a siege that would last more than 5 years. In front was the Saracen princess named charcasher husband had been killed and it was she who was now in charge of the garrison inside the fortification.
After 5 years of siege, the provisions from the city of Carcassonne were becoming scarce and by the time the sixth year of the siege began, the provisions had disappeared. Without water and without food the citadel should surrender, but Princess Carcas devised a plan of deception.
He ordered an inventory of the existing provisions, this was quickly finished and the result was a sack of wheat and a pig. The princess then ordered to overfeed the pig with the remaining sack of wheat. Once the pig was fattened, ordered to throw it from the highest tower of the fortification.
When Charlemagne and his army saw the duly fattened pig fall, he interpreted that the siege was useless, since the inhabitants they had enough living as to get rid of such a fattened animal. Believing the siege useless, Charlemagne’s troops withdrew, leaving the city free from siege.
Carcas, seeing how the army was withdrawing, ordered the bells of the city to ring, to which one of Charlemagne’s men exclaimed the already famous phrase “Carcas sona!” name with which, according to legend, the walled city began to be called.
But this is just a legend, the reality was that finally Charlemagne triumphed over the Saracens and the Franks dominated carcassonne. When the Carolingian empire moved its southern border to Catalonia, the city lost its strategic importance and in this period no major event saw it as a protagonist.
After Charlemagne’s death, his empire rapidly fell apart and those who had represented the central power gradually fragmented, along with their lands. Thus developed the feudal period, during which the counts and viscounts of carcassonne they succeeded each other in power for three centuries, without the effective tutelage of any king.
The counts, and in particular Roger the Elderas well as the dynasty of the Trencavelruled and lived in the citadel, their most important works were the internal castle and the Romanesque nave of the Basilica from Saint Nazaire.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | Middle Ages
the middle agesDespite what is commonly believed, it was a period of important circulation of people and products. Trade relations with the Middle East intensified and took, from the eleventh century, and with them new ideas began to circulate, as had happened with Christianity from the East to Rome.
Thus began to spread, throughout the French southwest, the catharism. This doctrine was based on oriental dualism whose main characteristics were the presence of a god of goodcreator of the spiritual sphere and of the existence of evilcreator of the visible world, of man, of matter, and of everything that has an earthly existence.
The doctrine of cathars was so severe and of such austerity, that only the initiates who had received the “consolamentum”, their only sacrament, they could fully practice it. The elite of initiates, called the “cigars Y perfect” (justly catharos comes from the Greek, and means “pure”), constituted a kind of clergy of the community. Sympathizers and believers could also practice the same rules, but received the consolamentum just in case their lives are in danger.
For some time the cathars They developed freely in carcassonne, and in many of the nearby fiefdoms. The area experienced a period of cultural flourishing hand in hand with the feudal lords, absolute owners of the entire region.
The foundations for the formation of a new people had been established, religion, language, government and traditions differed from both the French nucleus in Paris, as well as from the Spanish kingdoms, from the peninsular Arab Caliphate and from the Roman Church.
If things had continued as they were developing, today we would probably be talking about a separate country in the south of France. However, neither the king of france neither him dad They would allow such a thing to happen.
You may also like:
We hope that this article has fulfilled its purpose and has provided sufficient information, however since AboutHistory We have selected some links from our page, which we believe may also be of interest to you.
Carcassonne: its origins and legends | Image gallery
A…