Privas (; oc, Privàs , also ) is a city located in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in the department of

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.prefecture (capital of a department). It was the location of the 1629 Siege of Privas. Today, Privas is known for the purée made from the local

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrel ...

s, and for its sweetened marron glacé.

History

The earliest traces of the commune are attested in the hamlet of Lac where recent archaeological excavations have revealed a Roman villa dating to the beginning of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, as well as a medieval burying-ground. Moulds for counterfeiting coinage found in the 19th century on the slopes of Mont-Toulon had not been interpretable as signifying a local centre of population. Privas possibly comes from the old Gallic word ''briva'' meaning thoroughfare, or more specifically a wooden causeway over a ravine or water. This may refer to a river crossing now spanned by the ''Pont Louis XIII'', just to the south of the town centre. Privas inhabitants are called ''Privadois''. The earliest ''bourg'' of Privas developed around the church of Saint-Thomas (place de la République), a dependency of the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began ...

priory of Rompon. The

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

(''castri'') of Privas on the site of the present ''collège-couvent des Récollets'' is not attested prior to the 13th century, when the town was walled. Laid waste in 1621 and again following the siege of 1629, nothing of it remains. In the twelfth century Privas belonged to the seigneurie of the Poitiers-Valentinois, comtes de Valence, whose liege lords were the

counts of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundin ...

. Aymar de Poitiers, in 1281, and his son in 1309, granted charters to the town, guaranteeing its traditional liberties, and its fiscal, economic and military rights. In the 13th century the town expanded from two originals centres, Bize and Clastre, to develop on the level towards the east, in two new quarters, Claux and Mazel. In the 16th century, the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

took swift and deep roots in Privas, among common people, the high bourgeoisie and the nobles alike. Fierce repression was organized: many Protestant inhabitants were killed, and others fled to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

. Nevertheless, the reform movement spread, and for nearly seventy years no

Catholic mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Chri ...

was said at Privas, where the church itself was demolished in 1570 and the French garrison refused entry. There were no Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacres at Privas. Though the king's mistress

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and famil ...

was made baronne of Chalencon and of Privas, and in 1566 the barony was divided between her two daughters, the elder retaining the honour of Privas, in the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

Privas remained a major centre of

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster B ...

, called the "Rampart of Reform", and the "Geneva of the country", a symbol of resistance to the Catholic monarchy. The seigneurie was sold to Jacques de Chambaud, a head of the Protestants, who became the first Huguenot seigneur of Privas. In the

Huguenot rebellions The Huguenot rebellions, sometimes called the Rohan Wars after the Huguenot leader Henri de Rohan, were a series of rebellions of the 1620s in which French Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots), mainly located in southwestern France, revolted agains ...

of 1621–29, Privas was besieged in 1629 by royal forces, with

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 crow ...

in attendance. Defended by Montbrun with 800 men, the city was taken and destroyed. During the siege of 1629, the town of Privas was well defended by walls and ditches. Privas also has gorges to its south, east and north that provide a natural defence. Given this topography, the Huguenots in the town did not believe that a strong attack from the east was possible. Nevertheless, on 22 May, the Swiss mercenaries of the attacking Royalist Catholic army of

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

managed to haul by hand six huge pieces of artillery, each weighing about four tons, from Tauléac across the Ouvèze river and up the zig-zag path onto the plateau of Le Vanel, to the east of the town walls. From this decisive vantage point they bombarded the town until its surviving defenders were forced to evacuate and take their last stand on Mont Toulon on its west. During the siege, five hundred Royalist attackers and one thousand Protestant defenders were killed. Surviving defenders were executed, imprisoned, or deported to be galley slaves. By fire or cannon, the majority of the buildings in the town were destroyed. Privas was a ghost town for many years after. It is estimated that as a result of the defeat of the Huguenots in the region, one-fifth of the Protestant population of the Ardèche emigrated. After the defeat of the Camisard revolt (1702–1715) a further 50,000 Archèche Protestants left France. Many fled to England or Switzerland. 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 ...

in the 1790s a guillotine was erected in the Place de la République. A number of clerics were executed. With the administrative reordering of the

, Privas, in alternation with Annonay, Aubenas, Bourg-Saint-Andéol and Tournon-sur-Rhône, became an administrative centre of Ardèche. After a brief interval as ''chef-lieu'' of its district, it was attached to the district of Coiron. Before about 1870 only a minority of people in the area spoke (or even referred to themselves as) French. They spoke a Provençal-Occitan patois, similar to

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 ...

. 'Les français' were the incomers or the educated middle-class, who spoke French as their main language. There was also a cultural divide between the people of the Ardèche plateau (known as ''Padgels'') and the valley inhabitants (known as a ''Royols'').

Economy

In the nineteenth century the town hosted a number of water-powered silk mills. Iron-ore mining was also a major activity, in the Ouvèze valley to the west of Privas. But mining had declined to the point of extinction by the First World War and the silk industry was mostly extinct by the Second. The town used to be linked to the main railway system by a branch line railway, and there were tramways to both Aubenas and Le Pouzin. These rail communications no longer exist. Privas's most famous products today are sugared chestnuts. A little wine is also produced in the area. As a town and a préfecture, many people are employed as administrators. But local employment in the préfecture has been declining since the 1990s because of the amalgamation of many services within the Ardèche and Drôme départements. Tourism is a more vibrant sector for employment.

Tourism

Privas has hotel accommodation, gîtes and camping sites. There are many local walks and other recreational activities. It is also a noted area for fossils. Situated with easy access to both the Rhône Valley and the Ardèche Gorges, tourist activity is increasing in the district.

Population

Personalities

*The French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

Pierre Broué was born in Privas. *The French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

Cyril Théréau Cyril Théréau (; born 24 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented Orléans and Angers in France, Charleroi (two stints) and Anderlecht in Belgium, Steaua București in Romania, and Chievo ...

was born in Privas. *The writer Dominique Dunois (1876–1959), winner of the 1928 edition of the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

, died in Privas. *The

Marie Durand Marie Durand (1711–1776), was a French Protestant. She was famously imprisoned in the Tour de Constance (Aigues-Mortes) from 25 August 1730 for attending a Huguenot assembly with her mother, or perhaps because her brother, Pierre Durand, was a w ...

and her brother Pierre were born in Le Bouchet just north of Privas

International relations

Privas is twinned with: *

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a '' comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Histor ...

, Italy * Weilburg, Germany *

Wetherby Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrog ...