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TOULOUSE

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 101 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TOULOUSE , a See also:

city of See also:south-western See also:France, See also:capital of the See also:department of Haute-See also:Garonne, 443 M. S. by W. of See also:Paris by the See also:Orleans railway, and 159 M. S.E. of See also:Bordeaux by the See also:Southern railway. Pop. (1906), See also:town, 125,856; See also:commune, 149,438. Toulouse is situated on the right See also:bank of the Garonne, which here changes a See also:north-easterly for a north-See also:westerly direction, describing a See also:curve See also:round which the city extends in the See also:form of a See also:crescent. On the See also:left bank is the suburb of St Cyprien, which is exposed to the inundations of the See also:river owing to its See also:low situation. The river is spanned by three See also:bridges—that of St See also:Pierre to the north, that of St See also:Michel to the south, and the See also:Pont Neuf in the centre; the last, a See also:fine structure of seven See also:arches was begun in 1543 by See also:Nicolas Bachelier, the sculptor, whose See also:work is to he seen in many of the churches and mansions of the city. See also:East and north of the city runs the See also:Canal du Midi, which here joins the lateral canal of the Garonne. Between the Canal du Midi and the city proper extends a See also:long See also:line of boulevards leading southwards by the Allee St See also:Etienne to the See also:Grand Rond, a See also:promenade whence a See also:series of allees See also:branch out in all directions. South-See also:west the Allee St Michel leads towards the Garonne, and south the Grande Allee towards the See also:Faubourg St Michel. These boulevards take the See also:place of the old city walls.

Between them and the canal See also:

lie the more See also:modern faubourgs of St Pierre, See also:Arnaud-See also:Bernard, Matabiau, &c. The Place du Capitole, to which streets converge from every See also:side, occupies the centre of the city. Two broad straight thorough-fares of modern construction, the See also:Rue de See also:Metz and the Rue d'See also:Alsace-See also:Lorraine, intersect one another to the south of this point, the first See also:running east from the Pont Neuf, the other running north and south. The other streets are for the most See also:part narrow and irregular. The most interesting See also:building in Toulouse is the See also:church of St Sernin or Saturnin, whom See also:legend represents as the first preacher of the See also:gospel in Toulouse, where he was perhaps martyred about the See also:middle of the 3rd See also:century. The See also:choir, the See also:oldest part of the See also:present building, was consecrated by See also:Urban II. in 1096. The church is the largest Romanesque See also:basilica in existence, being 375 ft. from east to west and 210 ft. in extreme breadth. The See also:nave (12th and 13th centuries) has See also:double aisles. Four pillars, supporting the central See also:tower, are surrounded by heavy See also:masonry, which somewhat spoils the See also:general See also:harmony of the interior. In the southern See also:transept is the " portail See also:des comtes," so named because near it lie the tombs of See also:William Taillefer, Pons, and other See also:early See also:counts of Toulouse. The little See also:chapel in which these tombs (ascribed to the 11th century) are found was restored by the capitols of Toulouse in 1648. Another chapel contains a See also:Byzantine See also:Christ of See also:late 11th-century workmanship.

The choir (11th and 12th centuries) ends in an See also:

apse, or rather See also:chevet, surrounded by a range of columns, marking off an See also:aisle, which in its turn opens into five chapels. The stalls are of 16th-century work and grotesquely carved. Against the See also:northern See also:wall is an See also:ancient table d'autel, which an 11th-century inscription declares to have belonged to St Sernin. In the crypts are many See also:relics, which, however, were robbed of their See also:gold and See also:silver shrines during the Revolution. On the south there is a fine See also:outer See also:porch in the See also:Renaissance See also:style; it is surmounted by a See also:representation of the See also:Ascension in Byzantine style. The central tower (13th century) consists of five storeys, of which the two highest are of later date, but harmonize with the three See also:lower ones. A restoration of St Sernin was carried out in the 19th century by See also:Viollet-le-Duc. The See also:cathedral, dedicated to St See also:Stephen, See also:dates from three different epochs. The walls of the nave belong to a,Romanesque cathedral of the 11th century, but its roof dates from the first See also:half of the 13th century. The choir was begun by See also:Bishop See also:Bertrand de 1'Ile (c. 1272), who wished to build another church in place of the old one. This wish was unfulfilled and the See also:original nave, the See also:axis of which is to the south of that of the choir, remains.

The choir was burned in 1690 but restored soon after. It is surrounded by seven-teen chapels, finished by the See also:

cardinal d'Orleans, See also:nephew of See also:Louis XI., about the beginning of the 16th century, and adorned with See also:glass dating from the 15th to the 17th century. The western See also:gate, flanked by a huge square tower, was constructed by See also:Peter du See also:Moulin, See also:archbishop of Toulouse, from 1439 to 1451. It has been greatly battered, and presents but a poor approximation to its ancient beauty. Over this gate, which was once ornamented with the statues of St Sernin, St Exuperius and the twelve apostles, as well as those of the two See also:brother archbishops of Toulouse, See also:Denis (1423–1439) and Peter du Moulin, there is a beautiful 13th-century See also:rose-window, whose centre, however, is not in a perpendicular line with the point of the See also:Gothic See also:arch below. Among other remarkable churches may be noticed Notre-See also:Dame de la Daurade, near the Pont Neuf, built on the site of a 9th-century See also:Benedictine See also:abbey and reconstructed towards the end of the 18th century; and Notre-Dame de la Dalbade; perhaps existing in the 11th, but in its present form dating from the 16th century, with a fine Renaissance portal. The church of the See also:Jacobins, held by Viollet-le-Duc to be " one of the most beautiful See also:brick churches constructed in the middle ages," was built towards the end of the 13th century, and consists of a nave divided into two aisles by a range of columns. The See also:chief exterior feature is a beautiful octagonal See also:belfry. The church belonged to a Dominican monastery, of which part of the See also:cloister, the See also:refectory, the See also:chapter-See also:hall and the chapel also remain and are utilized by the lycee. Of the other See also:secular buildings the most noteworthy are the capitole and the museum. The capitole has a long Ionic See also:facade built from 1950 to 176o. The See also:theatre is situated in the left wing.

Running along almost the whole length of the first See also:

floor is the salle des See also:illustres adorned with modern paintings and sculptures See also:relating to the See also:history of the town. The museum (opened in 1795) occupies, besides a large modern building, the church, cloisters and other buildings of an old Augustinian See also:convent. It contains pictures and a splendid collection of antiquities, notably a series of statues and busts of See also:Roman emperors and others and much Romanesque See also:sculpture. There is an See also:auxiliary museum in the old See also:college of St See also:Raymond. The natural history museum is in the Jardin des Plantes. The See also:law courts stand on the site of the old See also:Chateau Narbonais, once the See also:residence of the counts of Toulouse and later the seat of the See also:parlement of Toulouse. Near by is a statue of the jurist Jacques See also:Cujas, See also:born at Toulouse. TcAilouse is singularly See also:rich in mansions of the 16th and 17th centuries. Among these may be mentioned the Hotel Bernuy, a fine Renaissance building now used by the lycee and the Hotel d'Assezat of the same See also:period, now the See also:property of the Academie des Jeux Floraux (see below), and of the learned See also:societies of the city. In the See also:court of the, latter there is a statue of Clemence Isaure, a See also:lady of Toulouse, traditionally supposed to have enriched the Academie by a See also:bequest in the 15th century. The Maison de Pierre has an elaborate See also:stone facade of 1612. Toulouse is the seat of an archbishopric, of a court of See also:appeal, a court of assizes and of a See also:prefect.

It is also the headquarters of the XVII. See also:

army See also:corps and centre of an educational circumscription (academie). There are tribunals of first instance and of See also:commerce, a See also:board of See also:trade-See also:arbitration, a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Bank of France. The educational institutions include faculties of law, See also:medicine and See also:pharmacy, See also:science andletters, a See also:Catholic See also:institute with faculties of theelhusy and letters, higher and lower ecclesiastical seminaries, lycees and training colleges for both sexes, and See also:schools of veterinary science, fine arts and See also:industrial sciences and See also:music. Toulouse, the See also:principal commercial and industrial centre of See also:Languedoc, has important markets for horses, See also:wine, See also:grain, See also:flowers, See also:leather, oil and See also:farm produce. Its pastry and other delicacies are highly esteemed. Its industrial establishments include the See also:national See also:tobacco factory, See also:flour-See also:mills, saw-mills, See also:engineering work-shops and factories for farming implements, bicycles, vehicles, artificial See also:manures, See also:paper, boots and shoes, and flour pastes. ToLosA, chief town of the See also:Volcae Tectosages, does not seem to have been a place of See also:great importance during the early centuries of the Roman See also:rule in See also:Gaul, though in rob B.C. the pillage of its See also:temple by Q. S. Cepio, afterwards routed by the See also:Cimbri, gave rise to the famous Latin See also:proverb habet aurum Tolosanum, in allusion' to See also:ill-gotten gains. It possessed a See also:circus and an See also:amphitheatre, but its most remarkable remains are to be found on the heights of Old Toulouse (vetus Tolosa) some 6 or 7 M. to the east, where huge accumulations of broken pottery and fragments of an old earthen v'all See also:mark the site of an ancient See also:settlement. The numerous coins that have been discovered on the same spot do not date back farther than the 2nd century B.C., and seem to indicate the position of a Roman manufacturing centre then beginning to occupy the Gallic See also:hill-fortress that, in earlier days, had in times of peril been the stronghold of the native tribes dwelling on the river bank. Tolosa does not seem to have been a Roman See also:colony; but its importance must have increased greatly towards the middle of the 4th century.

It is to be found entered in more than one itinerary dating from about this See also:

time; and See also:Ausonius, in his Ordo nobilium urbium, alludes to it in terms implying that it then had a large See also:population. In 419 it was made the capital of his See also:kingdom by Wallia, See also:king of the Visigoths, under whom or whose successors it became the seat of the great See also:Teutonic kingdom of the West-Goths—a kingdom that within fifty years had extended itself from the See also:Loire to See also:Gibraltar and from the See also:Rhone to the See also:Atlantic. On the defeat of See also:Alaric II. (507) Toulouse See also:fell into the hands of See also:Clovis, who carried away the royal treasures to See also:Angouleme. Under the Merovingian See also:kings it seems to have remained the greatest city of southern Gaul, and is said to have been governed by See also:dukes or counts dependent on one or other of the See also:rival kings descended from the great founder of the Frankish See also:monarchy. It figures prominently in the pages of See also:Gregory of See also:Tours and Sidonius See also:Apollinaris. About 628 Dagobert erected South See also:Aquitaine into a kingdom for his brother See also:Charibert, who See also:chose Toulouse as his capital. For the next eighty years its history is obscure, till we reach the days of See also:Charles Martel, when it was besieged by Serrfa, the See also:leader of the See also:Saracens from See also:Spain (c. 715-720), but delivered by Eudes, " princeps Aquitaniae," in whom later writers discovered the ancestor of all the later counts of Toulouse. Modern See also:criticism, however, has discredited this See also:genealogy; and the real history of Toulouse recommences in 780 or 781, when See also:Charlemagne appointed his little son Louis king of Aquitaine, with Toulouse for his chief city. During the minority of the See also:young king his See also:tutor Chorson ruled at Toulouse with the See also:title of See also:duke or See also:count. Being deposed at the See also:Council of See also:Worms (790), he was succeeded by William Courtnez, the traditional See also:hero of southern France, who in 8o6 retired to his newly founded monastery at Gellone, where he died in 812.

In the unhappy days of the See also:

emperor Louis the Pious and his See also:children Toulouse suffered in See also:common with the See also:rest of western See also:Europe. It was besieged by Charles the Bald in 844, and taken four years later by the See also:Normans, who in 843 had sailed up the Garonne as far as its walls. About 852 Raymond I., count of See also:Quercy, succeeded his brother Fridolo as count of See also:Rouergue and Toulouse; it is from this See also:noble that all the later counts of Toulouse trace their descent. Raymond I.'s grandchildren divided their parents' estates; of these Raymond II. (d. 924) became count of Toulouse, and Ermengaud, count of Rouergue, while the hereditary titles of Gothia, Quercy and See also:Albi were shared between them. Raymond II.'s See also:grandson, William Taillefer (d. c. 1037), married Emma of See also:Provence, and handed down part of that lordship to his younger son Bertrand.' William's See also:elder son Pons left two children, of whom William IV. succeeded his See also:father in Toulouse, Albi, Quercy, &c.; while the younger, Raymond IV. of St Gilles (c. ro66), made him-self See also:master of the vast possessions of the counts of Rouergue, married his See also:cousin the heiress of Provence, and about ro85 began to rule the immense estates of his elder brother, who was still living. From this time the counts of Toulouse were the greatest lords in southern France. Raymond IV., the hero of the first crusade, assumed the formal titles of See also:marquis of Provence, duke of See also:Narbonne and count of Toulouse. While Raymond was away in the See also:Holy See also:Land, Toulouse was seized by William IX., duke of Aquitaine, who claimed the city in right of his wife Philippa, the daughter of William IV., but was unable to hold it long (1098-1100). Raymond's son and successor Bertrand followed his father's example and set out for the Holy Land in 1109, leaving his great estates at his See also:death to his brother See also:Alphonse Jourdain.

The rule of this See also:

prince was disturbed by the ambition of William IX. and his grand-daughter Eleanor, who urged her See also:husband Louis VII. to support her claims to Toulouse by See also:war. On her See also:divorce from Louis and her See also:marriage with See also:Henry II., Eleanor's claims passed on to this monarch, who at last forced Raymond V. to do him See also:homage for Toulouse in 1173. Raymond V., the See also:patron of the troubadours, died in 1194, and was succeeded by his son Raymond VI., under whose rule Languedoc was desolated by the crusaders of See also:Simon de See also:Montfort, who occupied Toulouse in 1215, but lost his See also:life in besieging it in 1218. Raymond VII., the son of Raymond VI. and Princess See also:Joan of See also:England, succeeded his father in 1222, and died in 1249, leaving an only daughter Joan, married to Alfonso the brother of Louis IX. On the death of Alfonso and Joan in 1271 the vast See also:inheritance of the counts of Toulouse lapsed to the See also:Crown.' From the middle years of the 12th century the See also:people of Toulouse seem to have begun to See also:free themselves from the most oppressive feudal dues. An See also:act of Alphonse Jourdain (1141) exempts them from the tax on See also:salt and wine; and in 1152 we have traces of a " commune consilium Tolosae " making See also:police ordinances in its own name " with the See also:advice of See also:Lord Raymond, count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and marquis of Provence." This act is witnessed by six " capitularii," four duly appointed See also:judges (judices constituti), and two See also:advocates. Twenty-three years later there are twelve capitularii or consuls, six for the city and six for its suburbs, all of them elected and sworn to do See also:justice in whatever municipal matters were brought before them. In 1222 their number was increased to twenty-four; but they were forbidden to See also:touch the city property, which was to remain in the See also:charge of certain " communarii " chosen by themselves. Early in the 14th century the consuls took the name of " domini de capitulo," or, a little later, that of " capitulum nobilium." From the 13th century the consuls met in their own See also:house, the " palatium communitatis Tolosae " or hotel-de-ville. In the 16th century a false derivation changed the ancient consuls (domini de capitulo) into the modern " capitouls " (domini capitolii tolosani), a barbarous See also:etymology which in its turn has, in the present century, transformed the old See also:assembly house of Toulouse into the capitole. The ' About 975 there was a See also:partition of the estates which William Taillefer and his cousin Raymond II. of See also:Auvergne held in common, —Albi, Quercy, &c., falling to William, and Gothia, &c., to Raymond. s See also:List of the counts of Toulouse: Raymond III.

. . 924-c. 950 William Taillefer c. 950–c. 1037 Pons . . . 1037-1060 William IV. . 1060-c. 1093 Raymond IV. . 1093-1096 Bertrand . 1096–1109 Alphonse Jourdain . 1109–1148 Raymond V..

. . 1148-1194 Raymond VI. . . 1194-1222 Raymond VII. . . 1222-1249 Alfonso and Joan . 1249--1271 parlement of Toulouse was established as a permanent court in 1443. Louis XI. transferred it to See also:

Montpellier in 1467, but restored it to Toulouse before the See also:close of the next See also:year. This parlement was for Languedoc and southern France what the parlement of Paris was for the north. During the religious See also:wars of the 16th century the Protestants of the town made two unsuccessful attempts to See also:hand it over to the prince de See also:Conde. After St See also:Bartholomew's See also:Day (1572) 300 of the party were massacred. Towards the end of the 16th century, during the wars of the See also:League, the parlement was split up into three different sections, sitting respectively at See also:Carcassonne or See also:Beziers, at See also:Castle Sarrasin, and at Toulouse.

The three were reunited in 1596. Under See also:

Francis I. it began to persecute heretics, and in 1619 rendered itself notorious by burning the philosopher See also:Vanini. In 1762 See also:Jean See also:Calas, an old See also:man falsely accused of murdering his eldest son to prevent him becoming a Roman Catholic, was broken on the See also:wheel. By the exertions of See also:Voltaire his See also:character was afterwards rehabilitated. The university of Toulouse owes its origin to the See also:action of Gregory IX., who in 1229 See also:bound Raymond VII. to maintain four masters to See also:teach See also:theology and eikbt others for See also:canon law, See also:grammar, and the liberal arts. See also:Civil law and medicine. were taught only a few years later. The famous " Floral See also:Games " of Toulouse, in which the poets of Languedoc contended (May 1-3) for the See also:prize of the See also:golden See also:amaranth and other gold or silver flowers, given at the expense of the city, were instituted in 1323-1324. The Academia des Jeux Floraux still awards these prizes for compositions in See also:poetry and See also:prose. In 1814 the duke of See also:Wellington defeated See also:Marshal See also:Soult to the north-east of the town. See L. Ariste and L. See also:Brand, Histoire popujaire de Toulouse depuis See also:les origines jusqu'a ce jour (Toulouse, 1898).

This work contains an exhaustive bibliography.

End of Article: TOULOUSE

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