Montaillou

Montaillou

The church and surroundings in Montaillou
Montaillou

Coordinates: 42°47′20″N 1°53′56″E / 42.7889°N 1.8989°E / 42.7889; 1.8989Coordinates: 42°47′20″N 1°53′56″E / 42.7889°N 1.8989°E / 42.7889; 1.8989
Country France
Region Occitanie
Department Ariège
Arrondissement Foix
Canton Ax-les-Thermes
Intercommunality Vallées d'Ax
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Jean Clergue
Area1 8.61 km2 (3.32 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 25
 • Density 2.9/km2 (7.5/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Montaillounais
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 09197 / 09110
Elevation 1,181–1,806 m (3,875–5,925 ft)
(avg. 1,325 m or 4,347 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Montaillou (occitan Montalhon) is a commune in the Ariège department in the south of France. Its original, medieval location was abandoned and the current village is a short distance away.[1]

History

The village is best known for being the subject of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's pioneering work of microhistory, Montaillou, village occitan. It analyzes the village in great detail over a thirty-year period from 1294 to 1324. Then a village of some 250 people, the daily routines of the people are in the records of Jacques Fournier, later Pope Benedict XII.

Montaillou was one of the last bastions of Albigensianism, the heresy also known as Catharism. Fournier, then the local bishop, launched an extensive inquisition involving dozens of lengthy interviews with the locals, all of which were faithfully recorded, as well as the arrest of the entire village in 1308. When Fournier became Pope he took the records of the investigation with him and they remain in the Vatican Library.

The medieval village has been abandoned and the modern village is located a short distance downhill. There are visible remains of houses and there are also old tracks and field markings.[1] In medieval times, the old village was guarded by the Château de Montaillou, now a ruin. The village church, dedicated to Notre Dame de Carnesses, remains in use.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
196241—    
196845+9.8%
197537−17.8%
198220−45.9%
199027+35.0%
199914−48.1%
200825+78.6%

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Weis, Rene (2001). The Yellow Cross. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-140-27669-6.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montaillou.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.