Beaumont-de-Lomagne (;

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennais ...

: ''Bèumont de Lomanha'') is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; oc, Tarn e Garona ) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name. The area was originally part of the former provinces of Quercy an ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the Occitanie

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in southern France.

Geography

The river

Gimone The Gimone (; oc-gsc, Gimona) is a river in south-western France, left tributary of the Garonne. Its source is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, near Lannemezan. It flows north through the following ''départements'' and towns: * Hautes-Pyrén ...

runs through the town.

History

Beaumont-de-Lomagne,

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the fi ...

, was founded in 1276 following the act of

coregency A coregency is the situation where a monarchical position (such as prince, princess, king, queen, emperor or empress), normally held by only a single person, is held by two or more. It is to be distinguished from diarchies or duumvirates such ...

between the abbey of Grandselve and King

Philip III of France Philip III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (french: le Hardi), was King of France from 1270 until his death in 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, returne ...

– the King was represented by his

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

for the former County of Toulouse,

Eustache de Beaumarchais Eustache de Beaumarchais (''c''. 1235 – 23 August 1294) was a French baron and military leader who served as seneschal of the County of Poitou (1268–76) and the County of Toulouse (1272–94). He took part in the War of the Navarrería in 127 ...

. In 1278 the town was granted a very liberal charter of laws, by the standards of the period, defining the rights and duties of its inhabitants. In 1280, work commenced on a large church; its flat

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

shows the influence of Cîteaux. The

bell-tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

, was made in the fifteenth century and resembles that of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. Construction finished around 1430 and the

Bishop of Montauban The Roman Catholic Diocese of Montauban (Latin: ''Dioecesis Montis Albani''; French: ''Diocèse de Montauban'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with Tarn-et-Garonne, and is current ...

, driven out of his city by the English, made it his

episcopal seat A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

until 1432. The market hall, in the centre of the town square, was designed for the markets that took place every Saturday. The fourteenth century marked the beginning of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Planta ...

. Taken by the English in 1345, Beaumont was recaptured in 1350 but continued to be plundered by " Great Companies" and experienced civil war due to the opposition of two military chiefs: Count of Foix and

John I, Count of Armagnac John I of Armagnac (French: Jean d’Armagnac; 1311 – 16 May 1373), son of Bernard VI and Cecilia Rodez, was Count of Armagnac from 1319 to 1373. In addition to Armagnac he controlled territory in Quercy, Rouergue and Gévaudan. He was the cou ...

. The century ended with an

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...

of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

which killed 500 inhabitants. By the sixteenth century, Beaumont, a

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

town, was surrounded by three

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

towns:

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, a ...

Mas-Grenier Mas-Grenier (; oc, Le Mas Granièr) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. See also *Communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne department The following is a list of the 195 communes of the Tarn-et- ...

and Mauvezin. In 1577,

Henri III Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of L ...

sold Beaumont to Henri III of Navarre (future

Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

), leader of the Protestants and whose troops came to massacre a hundred Beaumontois. In December 1580, 600 mercenaries of Montauban demobilized and took Beaumont. They remained for two months, and caused much damage to the town. When peace returned, many Beaumontois adopted the policy of religious tolerance as advocated by Henri IV. The eminent mathematician

Pierre de Fermat Pierre de Fermat (; between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he i ...

, famous for

Fermat's Last Theorem In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been k ...

, was born in Beaumont in either 1601 or 1607. There is a statue and museum to him in the town. In the seventeenth century,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

besieged several cities in the south-west including Beaumont; the "Chateau de Roi" was destroyed by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

. In 1639 Louis sold Beaumont to the Prince of Condé. Under

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

, Beaumont was still under the jurisdiction of

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti, one of the nobility involved in the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

, Beaumont was therefore part of the rebellion and this caused considerable losses to the town. There was an occupation in 1651 by Conti troops, rebelling against the king. The incident ended without conflict, but Beaumont, ruined, had to pay a large fine; another plague epidemic also occurred during this event. In 1702, the town had only 2,400 inhabitants but during this period of peace, it undertook various works and became prosperous again. In 1777, the ramparts were destroyed. After sending a delegate to the Estates General, Beaumont created a revolutionary club, but from 1790 the town became part of the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

department and became isolated, to the advantage of

Grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gener ...

, its neighbour and rival. Grenade became the chief town of district. In 1808, new department divisions were brought in by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and Beaumont began to be within the

region. Though the importance of large fairs has decreased, Beaumont remains an important agricultural market due to the cultivation of

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeastern ...

. It retains much of its history through its old buildings: the church, its fortress – whose imposing mass dominates the town – the large market with its distinctive roof, as well as approximately fifteen private mansions, the majority of which date from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

Town government

List of mayors: *March 2001 – 2008: Faustin Llido, UMP party *March 2008 – present : Jean-Luc Deprince

Radical Movement The Radical Movement (french: Mouvement radical, MR), officially the Radical, Social and Liberal Movement (french: link=no, Mouvement radical, social et libéral), was a social-liberal political party in France. The party aimed at being an "alte ...

party

Population

Places and monuments

*Hotel Toureilh (eighteenth century), now the Town Hall *Fifteenth century covered market *Statue of the mathematician Pierre Fermat *Hotel Fermat - Rue Fermat *House of the two crosses (sixteenth century) - Rue de l'église *Gothic church and Toulouse-style octagonal bell-tower; construction began around 1280 * Presbytery (around fifteenth century) - Rue de Presbytere *House of Seigneur d'Argombat (sixteenth century) - Rue de l'église *Hôtel Saline puis du Rouble - Rue Fermat *House of Jean d'Armagnac, (fifteenth century) - rue de la République *Hotel Noble (eighteenth century) - rue de la République *Hotel Vergnes (sixteenth and eighteenth century) - rue Lomagne *Les Cordeliers, Hôpital St Jacques (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, convent from seventeenth century) - rue Despeyrous *Convent of Clarisses (seventeenth century) - rue Toureilh *Hotel Long, late (eighteenth century) - rue Nationale *Hotel François Bordes - street Nationale *House of François Darquier - rue Darquier *First houses of Beaumont - rue Launac and rue Toureilh Beaumont-de-Lomagne - Hôtel Toureil - Actuelle Mairie IA00038967.jpg, Town hall Beaumont-de-Lomagne - Monument à Fermat.jpg, Statue of Pierre Fermat Beaumont-de-Lomagne - La halle.jpg, the covered market Beaumont-de-Lomagne - La halle - L'intérieur.jpg, the covered market Beaumont-de-Lomagne - Hôtel de Fermat- IA00038971.jpg, Hotel Fermat Beaumont-de-Lomagne - Eglise Notre-Dame de l'Assomption.jpg, The Church Beaumont-de-Lomagne Saint-Jean-de-Coquessac Chapelle Saint-Jean IA00039014.jpg, Chapel St.John

Personalities

* The mathematician

, famous for

, was born in the town on 17 August (the exact year is unknown).Klaus Barner (2001): ''How old did Fermat become?''
Internationale Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Ethik der Naturwissenschaften, Technik und Medizin. ISSN 0036-6978. Vol 9, No 4, pp. 209-228.