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History of Périgueux

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Diagram of a coat of arms.
Current coat of arms of the city of Périgueux.


The history of Périgueux catalogues, studies and interprets all the events, both ancient and more recent, associated with this French town.

Although Périgueux has been inhabited since prehistoric times, the first city, named Vesunna, dates back to ancient Rome. Under the Roman Empire, Périgueux became a powerful city in Gallia Aquitania . During the barbarian invasions, Vesunna was destroyed around 410. A new fortified center, called Puy-Saint-Front, developed towards the end of the 10th century. Until the 13th century, political power was entirely in the hands of the bishop, who jealously guarded his town's autonomy. It wasn't until 1250 that the bourgeoisie began to counterbalance his authority, a century before the town finally submitted to the kingdom of France.

During the Renaissance, Périgueux continued to develop, becoming a commercial crossroads for the region. But this first golden age was cut short by the Wars of Religion, during which many merchants were pillaged. During the absolute monarchy, Périgueux remained a modest city in France, whose main asset was its position as a commercial crossroads. Under the French Revolution, the city officially became the administrative centre of the Dordogne department.

It wasn't until the reign of Napoleon that the town experienced an urban boom, merging with the commune of Saint-Martin in 1813. The Belle Époque saw the rise of numerous industries - notably metallurgy and railroad workshops. World War II saw Périgueux, located in the Zone Libre, become the center of several Resistance networks.

After the war, Périgueux quickly recovered its urban, economic and political standing.

Prehistory

See also: Chancelade man

It was during the Acheulean and, above all, the Mousterian periods that the first human settlements appeared on the site of present-day Périgueux, at the foot of the plateau almost encircled by the River Isle.[1] Various sites from this period have been uncovered in the Périgueux area, notably at Sept Fonts (right bank),[2] Croix du Duc, Gour de l'Arche, Jambes, Petit-Puy-Rousseau, Toulon, and north of the Tourny alleys.[3] The Isle valley attracted animal and human populations thanks to its diverse resources, including flint-rich limestone massifs and caves that could be used as shelters.[4]

Located above the important Toulon spring, the Jambes site yielded evidence of the Upper Perigordian.[5]

Ancient times

See also: its museum

In 700 B.C., the Isle valley was occupied by the Ligures, who were driven out around 500 B.C. by the Iberians.[6]

Around 200 BC, "the Petrocorii inhabited the region between the Dordogne and Vézère rivers", according to Venceslas Kruta.[7] During this period, they settled on the heights on the left bank of the Isle river, creating a fortified camp on the hills of Écornebœuf[8] and Boissière, in what is now Coulounieix-Chamiers, a fortified camp at La Boissière, also known as "Caesar's camp at Curade".[9][10] Between the two hills lies the sacred fountain of Les Jameaux,[11] probably dedicated to Ouesona, the mother-goddess who, according to Claude Chevillot, protected the beneficial waters. The Petrocorii were settled in Gallia, not Aquitaine, because before the Roman conquest, these two territories were separated by the Garumna river.[12]

Photo of the Vesunna site.
Inside the Vesunna museum, where the remains of the ancient city can be seen.

In 52 BC, Vercingetorix asked the Petrocii to send 5,000 warriors to help him face Julius Caesar's Roman legions.[13]

In 27 BC, when Augustus reorganized the administration of Gallia, Périgueux became part of the province of Aquitaine.[14] The oppidum of La Boissière was abandoned and the Gallo-Roman city municipium Vesunna, future Périgueux, was created between 25 and 16 BC in a loop on the right bank of the Isle.[15] It benefited from Roman public power.[16] At that time, Vesunna was one of twenty-one cities in the province of Aquitaine.[17]

It was in the 1st century AD that the city, as a Roman city, underwent its greatest expansion, mainly in terms of urban planning, where the largest public monuments were built according to Roman plans, such as the forum, the amphitheatre and the thermae.[18] Throughout the 1st century, urban construction continued, not only enlarging existing buildings but also building more and more domus.[18] At the end of the 2nd century, following an invasion attributed to the Alemanni, the Roman city shrank to five and a half hectares,[19] retreating to a small plateau behind ramparts[20] built between 276 and 290.[6] Incorporating the north-western half of the Vesunna amphitheatre,[19] these walls were built using elements of the city's monuments (remnants of the ramparts remain), and this third city took the name Civitas Petrucoriorum ("city of the Petrocorii"),[15] the place that was to become "the City".[21] At the time, this enclosure comprised twenty-four towers, twenty-three curtain walls and four gates, of which only two remain today: the Porte Normande and the Porte de Mars.[19][22]

According to the geographer Strabo, the Petrocorii worked extensively with iron.[23]

At the beginning of the 5th century, the Visigoths ravaged Vesona, particularly its religious buildings, and settled on the site,[6] despite resistance organized in 407 by Pegasus, the occupant of the episcopal see.[24][25] Around 465, the king of the Visigoths, Euric, martyred the bishop and banned Catholic worship by closing down places of worship and suppressing the bishopric.[6] It was not until 506 that Bishop Chronope was able to restore worship and churches.[6]

Middle Ages

Portrait of a crowned king, bearded and mustachioed, wearing a red cape and holding a fleur-de-lis scepter in his right hand.
Portrait of Pepin the Short, painted by Louis-Félix Amiel and commissioned by Louis-Philippe for the Musée de l'Histoire de France (1837).

Early Middle Ages

Frankish domination by the Salians

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Franks came to dominate the region in the late 5th century. As a result, the city became Christian in the 6th century, even though the spread of religion had already reached a large part of urban society.[26]

During the reign of the Merovingians, the territory passed from hand to hand, provoking numerous disputes over the division of inheritance between the descendants of Clovis after his death in 511. Childebert I inherited first, until his death in 558, after which the lands of Charibert I in 561, then those of Guntram in 567, became part of the Vesone territory. With the help of the Church and the people of Vesone, Gontran defended the city against the violent attacks of his brother Chilperic I and Chlothar I's bastard son Gundoald.[26]

In 766, as a result of the conflict with Waiofar, the Duke of Aquitaine, Pepin the Short exercised his terror in Périgord, razing the city walls, including that of the ancient city of Petrocores[27].

Norman attacks and the emergence of Puy-Saint-Front

Between 840 and 865, the Normans made their way up the Isle, repeatedly pillaging and setting fire to the town.[28][29] Towards the end of the 10th century,[30] to the northeast and along the banks of the Isle, around a monastery that Bishop Frotaire (977-991) had built in honor of Saint Front, a new fortified center developed, known at the time as the "bourg du Puy-Saint-Front" (town of Puy-Saint-Front),[31] made up mainly of merchants, craftsmen and "laboureurs" (laborers).[32] To protect themselves from invaders, the two neighboring towns built walls.[19][30]

Central Middle Ages

The struggle between Church and nobility

Around 1040, Périgueux was troubled by unrest over the coinage minted by the Count of Périgord, Hélie II.[33] Shortly afterwards, the bishop Girard of Gourdon considered the coin to be defective and of poor quality, and banned it. Count Aldebert II, son of Hélie II, decided to prove, by force of arms, that it was suitable for him.[33][34] As a result, the town had to wage a long and bloody war against the Count.[34] The few dwellings under the protection of the new religious establishment of Puy-Saint-Front were burnt down around 1099; the convent and town were soon rebuilt.[31]

Pilgrims flocked to the site of Saint Front's relics.[35] In the 11th century, the number of houses increased and the settlement grew ever larger.[31] Over time, however, the town's inhabitants became increasingly divided. Around 1104, the burghers and citizens of the two neighboring communes came to blows; in the midst of this struggle, the burghers murdered Pierre de Périgueux, a descendant of a very old family of the Cité, and threw him into the Isle river.[36] Around 1130, in a quarrel with the convent, some of the burghers of Puy-Saint-Front allied themselves with Count Hélie-Rudel.[37] He was convinced that, having conquered Puy-Saint-Front, it would be easier for him to finally subdue the City, something none of his ancestors had managed to do.[37] At the same time, the counts dominated Puy-Saint-Front.[37]

References

  1. ^ Delattre, Daniel; et al. (May 2009). La Dordogne, les 557 communes (in French). Grandvilliers: Éditions Delattre. p. 140-142. ISBN 978-2-915907-50-6..
  2. ^ Cocula 2011, p. 20.
  3. ^ Penaud 2003, p. 416.
  4. ^ Cocula 2011, p. 19.
  5. ^ Célerier, G. (1967). "Le gisement périgordien supérieur des "Jambes", commune de Périgueux (Dordogne)" (in persee). Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française (in French). 64 (1): 53–68..
  6. ^ a b c d e Penaud 2003, pp. 113–117.
  7. ^ Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont. 2000. p. 776..
  8. ^ Chevillot, Claude (February 10, 2016). "Coulounieix-Chamiers – Écorneboeuf". ADLFI. Archéologie de la France - Informations (in French)..
  9. ^ Penaud 2003, p. 76.
  10. ^ Colin, Anne (2007). "État des recherches récentes sur l'oppidum du camp de César (ou de La Curade), Coulounieix-Chamiers (Dordogne)". Aquitania (in French). 14. Bordeaux: 227–236. ISSN 2015-9749..
  11. ^ Wlgrin de Taillefer, Antiquités de Vésone, cité gauloise, remplacée par la ville actuelle de Périgueux (in French), tome 1, Périgueux, 1821, pp. 121-122 (read online)
  12. ^ Jules César, Commentaires sur la Guerre des Gaules (in French), livre I, 1.
  13. ^ Aubarbier, Jean-Luc; Binet, Michel; Mandon, Guy (1987). Nouveau guide du Périgord-Quercy (in French). Rennes: Ouest-France. p. 22-23. ISBN 2-85882-842-3..
  14. ^ "Noms antiques des villes & peuples de l'Aquitaine". Lexilogos (in French). Retrieved September 22, 2012..
  15. ^ a b Penaud 2003, pp. 573–574.
  16. ^ Moreau 1775, p. 20.
  17. ^ Cocula 2011, p. 29.
  18. ^ a b Lachaise 2000, p. 73.
  19. ^ a b c d Penaud 2003, p. 122-123.
  20. ^ "Petit tour d'horizon de la Ville". le site de la mairie de Périgueux. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2012..
  21. ^ Penaud 2003, pp. 120–121.
  22. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 103.
  23. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 94.
  24. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 108.
  25. ^ Penaud, Guy (December 1999). Dictionnaire biographique du Périgord (in French). Périgueux: Fanlac editions. p. 732. ISBN 2-86577-214-4..
  26. ^ a b Lachaise 2000, p. 112.
  27. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 113.
  28. ^ Penaud 2003, pp. 369–370.
  29. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 119.
  30. ^ a b Penaud 2003, pp. 424–426.
  31. ^ a b c Dessalles 1847, p. 8.
  32. ^ Lachaise 2000, p. 143.
  33. ^ a b Dessalles 1847, p. 6.
  34. ^ a b Dessalles 1847, p. 7.
  35. ^ Aubarbier, Jean-Luc; Binet, Michel; Mandon, Guy (1987). Nouveau guide du Périgord-Quercy (in French). Rennes: Ouest-France. p. 39. ISBN 2-85882-842-3..
  36. ^ Penaud, Guy (December 1999). Dictionnaire biographique du Périgord (in French). Périgueux: Fanlac editions. p. 736. ISBN 2-86577-214-4..
  37. ^ a b c Dessalles 1847, p. 9.
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