Roquelaure (; ''Ròcalaura'' in Gascon) 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 Gers department in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. A type of knee-length

cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...

, which was worn by men in the 18th and 19th Centuries of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

, is named for the commune.

Geography

History

The village is situated on a rocky height near the site of an

Iron-Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

and Gallo Roman

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

on the neighboring hill of La Ciotat (La Sioutat). The ruins of Roman baths were found in the 18th century, which may be part of the same villa that was discovered more recently in 1898 and excavated in the 1960s. The name Roquelaure means "laurel hill" in Gascon. A medieval fortified town was built at the current location sometime in the 12th century under the auspices of a

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

of Roquelaure, and it received its charter (''charte de coutumes'') in 1244. From the 16th century on, the lords of Roquelaure built and maintained a chapel in the Gothic Church of Saint-Loup. The lords of Roquelaure, including

Antoine de Roquelaure Antoine de Roquelaure (''Antòni de Ròcalaura'' in Occitan), lord of Roquelaure, Gaudoux, Sainte-Christie, Mirepoix, Montbert, Baron of Lavardens and Biran (1544 – Lectoure, 1625) was an important sixteenth-century French statesman an ...

(1544-1625), are buried in the church crypt. Antoine de Roquelaure built the nearby château of Rieutort and began refurbishing the castle at Lavardens, a project which was never completed. Francis I had a fort built on the northern slope of the village hill, guarding the road to Peyrusse-Massas, the ruins of which remain. The grounds of the fort have been the Robert Dauzère Stadium since 1969. The former commune of Arcamont was joined to Roquelaure in 1952.Urizzi, 60-61.

Government and politics

Mayors

Population

Viticulture

The lands of the commune of Roquelaure are classified as part of the Côtes de Montestruc and

Côtes de Gascogne Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in Gascony producing principally white wine. It is mainly located in the Departments of France, département of the Gers in the former Midi-Pyrénées region (now part of the Occitanie region), and it ...

vin de pays ''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former ''vin délimité de qualité s ...

'' zones. They are also part of the Haut-Armagnac zone.

Duchy

The ''seigneurie'' of Roquelaure was elevated to a duchy in 1652 in favor of Gaston-Jean-Baptiste de Roquelaure (1617-1683), son of Antoine de Roquelaure. After this line died out, a different marquisate of Roquelaure was created in 1766 for their relatives, the lords of Saint-Aubin, today Roquelaure-Saint-Aubin.

References

External links

Roquelaure
Community of Communes of the Cœur de Gascogne (in French). Image:Roquelaure2.JPG, The town hall at Place De Montal, with Saint-Loup Church in background Image:RoquelaureFort.JPG, Roquelaure fort Image:Chapelle_d_Arcamont1.jpg, Saint-Blaise d'Arcamont Chapel, northern side Image:Chapelle_d_Arcamont2.jpg, Saint-Blaise d'Arcamont Chapel, southern side Image:Chapelle_d_Arcamont3.jpg, The porch and steeple of Saint-Blaise Chapel Image:Tour_d_Arcamont.jpg, The tower of Arcamont {{authority control Communes of Gers