Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.department in south-western
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Geography
The
Séoune
The Séoune (; ) is a long river in the Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne '' départements'', southwestern France. Its source is at Sauzet. It flows generally southwest. It is a right tributary of the Garonne into which it flows between La ...
stream forms part of the commune's eastern border, flows westward through the middle of the commune, then forms part of its western border.
History
Sitting on a steep
Plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
at an altitude of 153 metres, the town of Puymirol is an ancient
Bastide
Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...
from the thirteenth century, founded by
Raymond VII
Raymond VII (July 1197 – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.
Family and marriages
Raymond was born at the Château de Beaucaire, the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse and ...
, Count of
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
, on land ceded by Peter of Reims, Bishop of Agen. The date of 1246 is given as the founding of this supposedly impregnable place.
However, the terms expansion, transformation, and development would seem more accurate since a population center was already located there, near a church dedicated to Saint Seurin. This primitive village must have had ancient origins, since its fairs are mentioned in a document from 1100. Known by various names, Puymirol, called Podium ad Mirandum in late Antiquity (the hill from which one can see), was renamed Grand Castel, or Grande Castellum by Raymond VII of Toulouse, who wanted to make the pech a strategic place, an outpost on the border between Toulouse and Agenais, in order to maintain a degree of control over the lands left to him by the Treaty of Paris in 1229.
Nevertheless, the name Grand Castel did not last long, and the older name of Puymirol resurfaced. A new church, built at the same time as the town was dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, whose origins lay in the pre-existing church of Saint-Seurin as late as the 13th century.
The founding of Puymirol/Grand Castel by Raymond VII, as its name suggests, cannot be dissociated from a castle, a fortress from its very beginnings. Established by the Count of Toulouse, it organized and defined the town's function. The first of a growing number of bastides in the Agenais region, Puymirol presents itself in a unique light: a medieval town with the appearance of a fortress, with originally military functions that would have made it similar to a castle-like town. While Raymond VII chose the name Grand Castel for this new settlement, he intended to give the place a military and imposing dimension. This is what distinguishes Puymirol from the Agen bastides built in the second half of the 13th century, a creation motivated by its own criteria.
In 1286,
Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
, King of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, granted new
Customary law
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...
s to the city's inhabitants. These privileges were considerable because during the alternating English or French occupation, each side had an interest in bidding for favors and concessions to ensure the support and obedience of the inhabitants of such an important place. All the towns of
Agenais
Agenais (), or Agenois (), was an ancient region that became a county (Old French: ''conté'' or ''cunté'') of France, south of Périgord.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Agenais". ''Webster's Dictionary#The Collegiate Dictionary, Webster's N ...
were besieged, taken, and retaken many times from the
Albigensian War
The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...
to
the Fronde
The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in the Kingdom of France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The government of the young King Louis XIV c ...
. However, Puymirol suffered fewer assaults than most of the others, probably because it seemed impregnable. It was unsuccessfully besieged in 1324 by French troops; it was then defended by one of the best captains of the English party, Amanieu du Fossat, Lord of Madaillan.
This town represents the perfect example of a medieval city. The wall, which followed the contours of the plateau, were 790 metres long and 90 to 250 metres wide. Four gates of unequal dimensions were pierced through this wall: the Saint-Seurin Gate to the south, the Citadel Gate to the east, the Rause Gate to the north, and the Comtale Gate to the west. These represent streets providing access to the ramparts today. Puymirol has several streets running along its length, intersected by other perpendicular ones, and the Place des Cornières is almost in the center. Three wells, regularly spaced along the central street, served to supply the population with water.
In 1337, the town and castle of Puymirol were besieged by Étienne II de La Baume, Grand Master of the Crossbowmen commanding the French troops. The capitulation took place on . This siege marked the beginning of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
"on the ground" between the kings of France and England.
Modern Times
During the
Wars of Religion
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent ...
of the 16th century, Puymirol, attacked by the Protestants in November 1569, was victoriously defended by François de Montpezat. However, in 1574, the Protestants succeeded in occupying it, perhaps through treason, and held on until the accession of Henry IV of France.
This prince, while waging war in
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux.
Name
The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...
, had made Puymirol a safe haven, a place he seemed to have held in particularly high regard. Henry IV also added new, more robust fortifications to Puymirol Castle. The Ficart Tower still stands today on the southeast tip of the rampart.
In the 16th century, the church of Saint-Seurin, located outside the walls, and the urban church of Notre-Dame were destroyed by the Protestants, who reused the materials for the fortifications.
The former was never rebuilt. Of the latter, only the beautiful porch and the bell tower were spared.
Under the Ancien Régime, the Puymirol corn exchange was one of the most important in Guyenne. Transactions there reached an all-important figure as the jurisdiction's merchants brought enormous quantities of grain to the colonies.
Boarded either at Lafox or Saint-Romain-le-Noble, these goods were shipped down the Garonne to Bordeaux, where they were transported by sea. The grain market was regularly held on Tuesdays and Fridays of each week, and the town clerk was responsible for recording prices in the fourleau, or book of market prices.
These carefully preserved documents allow us to observe, day by day, over three centuries, the price variations of soft wheat, millet, or cocoa beans.
However, sometimes the following statement is found: …market void due to the Gravier fairs in Agen, or The market was not held because it coincided with the feast of Our Lady in September.
The following mention, which appears in the date 1752 (No market following the Crocotaro festival in the present town) is explained by the procession instituted after the terrible epidemic of the plague which ravaged Puymirol in 1363. Starting from the church of Notre-Dame de Grand-Castel, the holy sacrament was carried through the streets of the town then around the corners and to the citadel of the prisons. This religious ceremony took place for several centuries, every year, on the third Friday of March, in execution of the wishes of Puymirol's ancestors.
See also
*
Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department
The following is a list of the 319 communes of the French department of Lot-et-Garonne.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):