Roussillon
Roussillon (
French:
Roussillon,
pronounced ;
Catalan:
Rosselló, pronounced ) is one of the historical
counties of the former
Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern
French département of
Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees). It is also called
French Catalonia or
Northern Catalonia, the latter term used particularly by Catalan-speaking community. This includes the
homonymous Catalonian comarca of
Rosselló.
Also a
French Province before the
Revolution, Roussillon derived its name from a small fortified place near
Perpignan called Ruscino (Rosceliona, Castel Rossello), where the chieftains of Gaul met to consider
Hannibal's request for a conference. The district formed part of the Roman province of
Gallia Narbonensis from
121 BC to AD
462, when it was ceded with the rest of
Septimania to the
Visigoth Theodoric II. His successor, Amalaric, on his defeat by Clovis in
531 retired to Spain, leaving a governor in Septimania.
In
719 the
Saracens crossed the
Pyrenees, and Septimania was held by them until their defeat by
Pippin in
756. On the invasion of Spain by
Charlemagne in 778 he found the
borderlands wasted by the Saracenic wars, and the inhabitants hiding among the mountains. He accordingly made grants of land to
Visigothic refugees from Spain, and founded several monasteries, round which the people gathered for protection. In
792 the Saracens again invaded France, but were repulsed by Louis, King of
Aquitaine, whose rule extended over all Catalonia as far as
Barcelona.
The different portions of his kingdom in time grew into allodial fiefs, and in
893 Sunyer II became the first hereditary
count of Rosselló. But his rule only extended over the eastern part of what became the later province. The western part, the
Cerdanya, was ruled in
900 by Miron as first count, and one of his grandsons, Bernat, became the first hereditary count of the middle portion, or
Besalú. The counts of Roussillon were allied to their cousins the counts of Empúries in a centuries-long conflict with the surrounding counts. Count Girard I participated in the
First Crusade in the following of
Raymond IV of Toulouse and was one of the first to set foot in
Jerusalem when it was stormed by the Crusaders in
1099. At the beginning of the
12th century the power of the counts of Barcelona began to rise to such a height that the counts of Roussillon had no choice but to swear fealty to them.
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Wine pickers outside Maury |
In
1111 Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, inherited the fief of Besalú, to which was added in
1117 that of
Cerdanya; and in
1172 his grandson,
Alfonso II of Aragon, united Rosselló to his other territories on the death of the last count,
Girard II. In fact Girard was in conflict with his illegitimate brothers, sons of a second and illegal wedding of his father Count Gausfred III. In his will he gave his county to his lord King Alfons to ensure his brothers wouldn't inherit his lands. Under the
Aragonese monarchs the progress of the united province still continued, and
Collioure, the port of Perpignan, became a centre of
Mediterranean trade.
But the country was destined to pay the penalty of its position as border emplacement in the long struggle for ascendancy between these two powers. By the
Treaty of Corbeil (1258) Louis IX of France formally surrendered the sovereignty of Rosselló and the ancient
countship of Barcelona to
Crown of Aragon, recognizing a centuries-old reality.
Jaume I of Aragon had wrested the
Balearic Isles from the
Moors and left them with Rosselló to his son
Jaume (
1276), with the title of
King of Majorca. The consequent disputes of this monarch with his brother
Pere III of Aragon were not lost sight of by
Philip III of France in his quarrel with the latter about the crown of the
Two Sicilies. Philip espoused Jaume's cause and led an army into Aragon Crown territories, but, retreating, died at Perpignan in
1285. Jaume then became reconciled to his brother, and in
1311 was succeeded by his son
Sancho, who founded the
cathedral of Perpignan shortly before his death in
1324. His successor,
Jaume III of Majorca, refused to do homage to
Philip VI of France for the seigniory of
Montpellier, and applied to
Pere IV of Aragon for aid. Pere not only refused it, but on various pretexts declared war against him, and seized
Majorca and Rosselló in
1344.
The province was now again united to the crown of Aragon, and enjoyed peace until
1462. In this year the disputes between
Joan II and his son about the
crown of Navarre gave
Louis XI of France a pretext to support Joan against his subjects, who had risen in revolt. The province having been pawned to Louis for 300,000 crowns, it was occupied by the French troops until
1493, when
Charles VIII restored it to
Ferdinand and Isabella.
During the war between France and Spain (
1496-
1498) the people suffered equally from the Spanish garrisons and the French invaders. But dislike of the
Castilians was soon effaced in the pride of sharing in the glory of the Emperor
Charles V, and in
1542, when Perpignan was besieged by the
dauphin, the inhabitants supported their monarch, earning that city the royal sobriquet, "Most Faithful City."
When the Catalans rose against the
Spanish Crown in
1641,
Louis XIII (of France) entered the conflict on the side of the former. After a protracted war, the
Treaty of the Pyrenees (
1659) secured Rosselló and part of the
Cerdanya (Cerdagne) to the
French crown, which they joined to create the French province of Roussillon. The next fifty years saw a concerted effort by
Louis XIV both to ensure the political allegiance of his new subjects, and to alter their cultural identity. He was successful in the former, but failed in the latter. Outside the capital of Perpignan, Roussillon remained distinctly Catalan in outlook and culture until the late
nineteenth century, when
industrialization began to replace Catalan identity with French.
During the
French Revolution, the
Old Regime province of Roussillon was abolished and a new department, the Departement des Pyrénées-Orientales, was created instead. This department corresponds roughly to the old Roussillon, with the addition of the
comarca of
Fenolleda. Pyrénées-Orientales is the name by which this region is officially known in
France. The old name of Roussillon did contribute to the French
région of
Languedoc-Roussillon.
*
Counts of Roussillon*
History of Catalonia*
History of France*
History of Spain*
Northern Catalonia*
County of Rosselló from Catalan Encyclopaedia.
*
El Rosselló (after the Treaty of the Pyrenees) from Catalan Encyclopaedia.
*
The Languedoc and the Roussillon.*
History of Roussillon site
