Roussillon ( , ,
; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical
province of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until ...
that largely corresponded to the
County of Roussillon and
part of the
County of Cerdagne of the former
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of it ...
. It is part of the region of ''
Northern Catalonia'' or ''French Catalonia'' (the former used by Catalan-speakers and the latter used by French-speakers), corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French ''département'' of
Pyrénées-Orientales (with Roussillon,
Conflent
Conflent () is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent.
The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades ( ca, Prada de Conf ...
, and
Fenouillèdes
Fenouillèdes (; oc, Fenolhedés/Fenolheda; ca, Fenolledès/Fenolleda) is a French comarca and a traditional Occitan-speaking area in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (''Sant ...
) in the former region of
Languedoc-Roussillon (today
Occitanie).
History
The name ''Roussillon'' is derived from Ruscino (Rosceliona, Castel Rossello), a small fortified place near modern-day
Perpignan where Gaulish chieftains met to consider
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...
's request for a conference. The region formed part of the Roman province of
Gallia Narbonensis from 121 BC to AD 462, when it was ceded with the rest of
Septimania to the
Visigoth Theodoric II. His successor,
Amalaric, on his defeat by
Childebert I
Childebert I (c. 496 – 13 December 558) was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clo ...
in 531, retired to
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...
, leaving a governor in
Septimania.
In 719, the
Saracens crossed the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
and maintained political hegemony of Septimania until their final defeat in 759 by
Pepin the Short, who went on to occupy Roussillon after
conquering Narbonne. Roussillon was occupied by the
Carolingians in 760. Upon the invasion of Hispania in 778,
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
found the
Marca Hispanica wasted by war and the inhabitants settled in the mountains. He granted some lands in the plains to Visigothic refugees from
Moorish Hispania and founded several monasteries. In 792, the Saracens again invaded France, but they were repulsed by Count
Guillaume of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
– regent of the child
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...
, King of
Aquitaine – whose hegemony extended into
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
.
The different portions of his kingdom in time grew into
allodial fiefs and, in 893,
Sunyer II became the first hereditary count of
Roussillon. But his rule only extended over the eastern part of what became the later province. The western part, the
Cerdanya (French, Cerdagne), was ruled in 900 by
Miró as first count, and one of his grandsons, Bernat, became the first hereditary count of the middle portion, or
Besalú
Besalú () is a town in the '' comarca'' of Garrotxa, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
The town's importance was greater in the early Middle Ages, as capital of the county of Besalú, whose territory was roughly the same size as the current ''coma ...
. The
counts of Roussillon were allied to their cousins the counts of
Empúries
Empúries ( ca, Empúries ) was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. Empúries is also known by its Spanish name, Ampurias ( es, Ampurias ). The city Ἐμπόριον ( el, Ἐμπόριον, Emporion, meaning "tr ...
in a centuries-long conflict with the surrounding great nobles. Count
Girard I
Gerard I (''Girard'' in French and Catalan, ''Gerardo'' in Spanish), called Guinard, was the count of Roussillon from 1102 to his murder in 1113. He was the son and heir of Giselbert II.
He participated in the First Crusade, possibly in the retin ...
participated in the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...
in the following of
Raymond IV of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
, and was one of the first to set foot in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
when it was stormed by the Crusaders in 1099. At the beginning of the 12th century, the prestige of the
Counts of Barcelona
The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...
began to rise to such a height that the Counts of Roussillon had no choice but to swear fealty to them.
In 1111,
Ramon Berenguer III
Ramon Berenguer III ''the Great'' was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1086 (jointly with Berenguer Ramon II and solely from 1097), Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, a ...
, count of Barcelona, inherited the fief of Besalú, to which
Cerdanya was added in 1117. The possession of Roussillon by its last count,
Girard II
Gerard II (''Girard'' in French and ''Gerard'' in Catalan, ''Gerardo'' in Spanish) was the last ''de facto'' independent count of Roussillon from 1164 to his death in 1172. He was the son and heir of Gausfred III.
As his father before him, he aff ...
, was challenged by his illegitimate brothers. To ensure that his brothers would not inherit his territories, in his will Girard II left all his lands to
Alfonso II of Aragon, who took possession in 1172. Under the
Aragonese monarchs, economic and demographic growth of the region continued, and
Collioure
Collioure (; ca, Cotlliure, ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
Geography
The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement ...
( ca, Cotlliure), the port of
Perpignan, became an important locus of
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
trade.
As the French and Spanish crowns grew in power, the region of Roussillon, forming part of the border between them, was frequently a site of military conflict. By the
Treaty of Corbeil (1258),
Louis IX of France formally surrendered sovereignty over Roussillon and his claim to the title of Count of Barcelona to the Crown of Aragon, recognizing a centuries-old reality.
James I of Aragon had wrested the
Balearic Isles from the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinc ...
and joined these islands with Roussillon to create the
Kingdom of Majorca
The Kingdom of Majorca ( ca, Regne de Mallorca, ; es, Reino de Mallorca; la, Regnum Maioricae; french: Royaume de Majorque) was a realm on the east coast of Spain, which included certain Mediterranean islands, and which was founded by James I ...
, with its capital at Perpignan. In 1276, James I granted this kingdom to his son, who became
James II. The subsequent disputes of this monarch with his brother
Peter III were exploited by
Philip III of France in his quarrel with Peter III for the crown of the
Two Sicilies. Philip III espoused James II's cause and led an army into Aragon but, retreating, died at
Perpignan in 1285. Lacking the resources to continue the struggle, James then became reconciled to his brother Peter, and in 1311 the former was succeeded by his son Sanç I, or
Sancho I, who founded the cathedral of Perpignan shortly before his death in 1324. His successor,
James III of Majorca, refused to do homage to
Philip VI of France for the seigneury of
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...
, and applied to
Peter IV of Aragon for aid. Peter not only refused, but declared war and seized
Majorca and Roussillon in 1344.
The province was now reunited to the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of it ...
within the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...
, and it enjoyed peace until 1462. In that year, the disputes between
John II of Aragon and
his son over the
Crown of Navarre spurred
Louis XI of France to support John against his subjects, who had risen in revolt, the
Catalan Civil War (1462-1472). The province, having been pledged as collateral to Louis for 300,000 crowns, was occupied by French troops until 1493, when
Charles VIII evacuated the region as part of a settlement with
Ferdinand the Catholic (son of John II of Aragon).
As part of a wider war (the
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
), France and Spain clashed here between 1496 and 1498. Eventually the Spanish, under personal command of Ferdinand, not only secured Roussillon but managed to push into southern France before the new French monarch,
Louis XII, signed the
Treaty of Granada (1500).
The
Habsburg dynasty took control of both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1516 and the two crowns were for the first time ruled by the same physical person. This was under
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (called Charles I of Spain), grandson of the Catholic Monarchs.
When
Perpignan was
besieged by the forces of
Henry, Dauphin of France in 1542, the inhabitants were loyal to Charles V. Perpignan earned the royal sobriquet of "Fedelissima" ("Most Faithful City").
When the
Catalans rose against the Spanish Crown in 1640 (the
Reapers' War),
Louis XIII of France
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 crow ...
entered the conflict on the side of the former. After a protracted war, the
Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) partitioned the Principality of Catalonia, securing Roussillon and part of the
Cerdanya (Cerdagne) to the French crown, creating the French province of Roussillon.
The next fifty years saw a concerted effort by
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
both to ensure the political allegiance of his new subjects and to alter their cultural identity. He was successful in the former but failed in the latter. Outside the capital of
Perpignan,
Roussillon remained distinctly
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
in outlook and culture until the late nineteenth century, when industrialization began to replace Catalan identity with French.
During the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, the
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
province of Roussillon was abolished and a new department, the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales, was created instead. This department corresponds roughly to the old Roussillon, with the addition of the
comarca of
Fenouillèdes
Fenouillèdes (; oc, Fenolhedés/Fenolheda; ca, Fenolledès/Fenolleda) is a French comarca and a traditional Occitan-speaking area in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (''Sant ...
.
Pyrénées-Orientales is the name by which this department is officially known in France. The old name of Roussillon did contribute to the French ''
région
France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collec ...
'' of
Languedoc-Roussillon.
See also
*
History of Catalonia
Catalonia was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic era. Like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was occupied by the Iberians and several Greek colonies were established on the coast before the Roma ...
*
Northern Catalonia
*
Roussillon wine
Languedoc-Roussillon wine, including the ''vin de pays'' labeled ''Vin de Pays d'Oc'', is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century (espe ...
Notes
References
*
External links
County of Rosselló''from Catalan Encyclopaedia''.
*
History of Roussillon site
{{Authority control
Former provinces of France
History of Catalonia
Linguistic rights
Geographic history of Spain
Gallia Narbonensis