Comminges
The Comminges ( okzit - gasgon: Comenge ) is a historic county and province in the south of France . It includes the southern half of present-day departments of Haute-Garonne , according to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens and Muret .
geography
The hilly, in the south even mountainous and in many places wooded landscape of the Comminges lies at altitudes between approx. 300 and almost 3000 m .
The largest towns in the region are Muret , Saint-Gaudens , Bagnères-de-Luchon and Lombez ; smaller towns are Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges , Miramont-de-Comminges and Frontignan-de-Comminges .
The most important rivers are the Garonne and its southern tributaries, Salat and Ger , which have their source at Mont Valier .
history
The region in the Roman Empire
During antiquity, this region was home to the Aquitaine people of the Konvenians . The Romans built there around 27 BC. The colony Lugdunum Convenarum ("Settlement of the god Lugh the Convener"), today's Saint-Bertrand, also called Comminica , where King Herod Antipas took his exile and died. Since 17 AD Comminges belonged to the imperial Roman province of Gallia Aquitania , from the 4th century to the province of Novempopulana .
The region in the kingdom of the Goths and Franks
Since the year 410 the Comminges belonged to the Visigothic Tolosan Empire . After his defeat in the Battle of Vouillé (507), the region belonged to the Franconian Empire . In 585 King Guntram I besieged the usurper Gundowald in Comminges and killed him.
The Duchy of Gascony
At the beginning of the 8th century, the Basques immigrated to the Comminges, which now belonged to their duchy, Gascon .
The region in the Middle Ages
Due to the instability of the Gascognischen duchy, a count dynasty established itself in Comminges at the beginning of the 10th century, which also brought the Couserans into their possession. An Asnarius (Anar / Aznar), who was probably of Basque descent, is considered the progenitor of this count family. Its exact origin is unclear, but it is often assigned to the family of the Counts of Aragon . It is also unclear whether Asnarius himself was already counting; The founding of the Abbey of Auch , attributed to him, is also controversial. In any case, only his sons Roger I and Arnaud I have been handed down as counts, whereby the county was held by the Rogers line while Arnaud and his descendants only had count rights in part of the Comminges, but these were already given up by Roger the old .
After the Counts were under the influence of the Counts of Toulouse in the 11th century , they submitted to the feudal sovereignty of the kings of Aragon from the late 12th century . In the first half of the 13th century Comminges was the scene of the Albigensian Crusade , of which Count Bernard IV was one of the most prominent opponents . On September 12, 1213, one of the greatest battles of this crusade took place in front of the town of Muret, which belongs to Comminges. After the Treaty of Paris (1229) , the counts finally had to recognize the sovereignty of France.
In contrast to the neighboring Counts of Toulouse, Foix or Armagnac, the Counts of Comminges did not succeed in expanding their power to neighboring territories, which is why they had to constantly navigate between the leading powers of the region in order to maintain their position. For example, at the Battle of Launac (1362), the attempt to get rid of the Counts of Foix's grip failed .
After the death of the last heiress of Comminges, the county fell to the crown domain in 1443 for lack of an heir . In 1462 King Louis XI enfeoffed. the "Bastard of Armagnac" Jean de Lescun with Comminges. This was an illegitimate son of the Bishop of Aire-sur-Adour Arnaud-Guillaume de Lescun and the Annette (Anne) d'Armagnac-Termes. Since 1461, Jean was a Marshal of France . After his death (1473) he was succeeded by Odet d'Aydie , who was married to a cousin of Lescuns. Although d'Aydie had an heiress, Comminges was finally united with the crown domain after his death in 1498, but his descendants were to continue the title of Comte de Comminges .
The region in the 18th century
Since 1716 Comminges was subordinate to the Généralité d'Auch and was represented in the General Estates of 1789 with 8 members.
Comminges as the seat of a diocese
From the beginning of the 6th century to 1807 Comminges was also the seat of a diocese which was subordinate to the archdiocese of Auch .
List of the Counts of Comminges
The House of Comminges was the most important family in the French Pyrenees from the 10th century. The Counts of Comminges owned the county of Comminges.
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Famous people of the region
- François de Belleforest (* 1530 Comminges; † January 1, 1583 Paris), French writer, poet and translator of the Renaissance
