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RODEZ

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 447 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RODEZ , a See also:

town of See also:southern See also:France, See also:capital of the See also:department of See also:Aveyron, 51 M. N.N.E. of See also:Albi by See also:rail. Pop. (1906) town, 11,076; See also:commune, 15,502. Rodez is situated on the southern border of the Causse of Rodez, on an isolated See also:plateau bordered on the E. and S. by the See also:river Aveyron. The See also:cathedral was built between 1277 and 1535. A See also:great Flamboyant See also:rose-window and a See also:gallery in the same See also:style are the See also:chief features of the See also:principal See also:facade, which is flanked by two square towers and has no portal. Each See also:transept has a See also:fine See also:Gothic See also:doorway. On the See also:north See also:side of the See also:building rises a See also:tower (1510—1526) of imposing height (253 ft.). The three upper stages are richly decorated, and the whole is surmounted by a See also:colossal statue of the Virgin. In the cathedral are a fine See also:rood-See also:loft, some See also:good See also:wood-See also:carving and the tombs of several bishops. Other interesting buildings are the episcopal See also:palace (17th and 19th centuries), flanked by a massive tower, relic of an older palace; the See also:church of St Amans, of Romanesque See also:architecture, restored in the 18th See also:century; and, among other old houses, the hotel d'See also:Armagnac built in the See also:Renaissance See also:period on the site of the old palace of the See also:counts.

The ruins of a See also:

Roman See also:amphitheatre still exist in Rodez, which is supplied with See also:water by a Roman See also:aqueduct. About 6 m. to the north of Rodez is the chasm of Tindoul de la Vayssiere, leading to a subterranean river issuing in the springs of the picturesque See also:village of Salles-la-Source. The town is the seat of a See also:bishop, a See also:prefect and a See also:court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and See also:commerce, a chamber of commerce, a See also:branch of the See also:Bank of France, a lycee training See also:college for both sexes and an ecclesiastical See also:seminary. The See also:industries include See also:wool-See also:spinning and the See also:weaving of woollen goods. Rodez, called Segodunum under the Gauls, and Ruthena under the See also:Romans, was the capital of the Rutheni, a tribe allied to the See also:Arverni, and was afterwards the principal town in the See also:district of See also:Rouergue. In the 4th century it adopted the See also:Christian faith, and St Amans, its first bishop, was elected in 401. During the See also:middle ages contests were rife between the bishops, who held the temporal See also:power in the " cite," and the counts in the " bourg." The Albigenses were defeated near Rodez in 121o. The countship of Rodez, detached from that of Rouergue at the end of the 11th century, belonged first to the viscounts of Carlat, and from the beginning of the 14th century to the counts of Armagnac. From 136o to 1368 the See also:English held the town. After the See also:confiscation of the estates of the Armagnacs in 1475 the countship passed to the See also:dukes of Alen9on and then to the D'Albrets. See also:Henry IV. finally annexed it to the See also:crown of France.

End of Article: RODEZ

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RODGERS, JOHN (1771—1838)

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