Editing Lourdes (section)

==History==

===Antiquity===
The current municipal area of Lourdes was inhabited in [[prehistoric]] times. In [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times, from the first century BC, it was an [[oppidum]] hill on the site of the present-day [[fortress]], as shown by the numerous archaeological finds after the demolition of the parish of Saint-Pierre in the early twentieth century: remains of walls, fragments of a citadel, a pagan temple dedicated to the [[gods of water]], and three votive altars.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} In the fifth century, the temple was replaced by an early Christian church, which later burned down, with a [[necropolis]] nearby. A Roman road along with a possible crossing path connecting the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenean]] piedmont with [[Gallia Narbonensis|Narbonne]] suggest that the town could be the ''quell'oppidum novum'' fortress mentioned in the [[Antonine Itinerary]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

From 732 to 778, Lourdes was occupied by Muslims of [[Al-Andalus]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hugh Ross Williamson |title=The Challenge of Bernadette |date=2006 |publisher=Gracewing Publishing |isbn=9780852446492 |edition=reprint |pages=19–20}}</ref> Mirat, the Muslim local leader, came under siege by [[Charlemagne]], King of the Franks, but the Moor refused to surrender.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} According to legend, a passing eagle dropped a huge trout at Mirat's feet. Dismayed by this omen, Mirat was urged to surrender to the [[Queen of Heaven]] by the local bishop. He visited the [[Black Madonna|Black Virgin]] of Puy, and was so astounded by the icon's exceptional beauty that he decided to surrender the fort and convert to [[Christianity]]. He was baptised with the name ''Lorus'', which was given to the town as Lourdes.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

===Middle Ages===
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}
Little is known of Lourdes in the period from the barbarian invasions to the [[Carolingian]] period when the town was part of the County of Bigorre. The fortress was at times the seat of counts and, during the [[Albigensian Crusade]], it was the subject of disputes between various local lords. Ultimately it came under the domination of the Counts of Champagne. In the fourteenth century Lourdes was first occupied by Philip the Fair, then, during the Hundred Years' War, by the English, who controlled it for nearly half a century, from 1360 to 1407, through local feudal lords such as Pierre Arnaud de Béarn and, later, his brother Jean de Béarn. The English were able to take advantage of the excellent strategic situation and the prosperity of an eleventh century market that had been increasingly consolidated thanks to its proximity and good communications with Toulouse and Spain, managing to secure important gains for those who held the town. In the town, which developed in the valley, east of the fort, there were 243 fires at the beginning of the fifteenth century, compared to 150 of the thirteenth century.

After being the residency of the [[Bigorre]] counts, Lourdes was given to England by the Treaty of Brétigny which bought a temporary peace to France during the course of the [[Hundred Years War]], with the French losing the town to the English in 1360. In 1405, [[Charles VI of France|Charles VI]] laid siege to the castle during the course of the war and eventually captured the town from the English after an 18-month siege.

===Modern Age===
[[File:Vue de Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées) - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A MALBOS 2 005.jpg|thumb|[[Waggon]] pulled by two oxen in front of [[Château fort de Lourdes]] in 1843, by [[Eugène de Malbos]]]]
During the late 16th century, France was ravaged by the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] between Roman Catholics and [[Huguenots]]. In 1569, [[Count Gabriel de Montgomery]] attacked the nearby town of [[Tarbes]] when [[Queen Jeanne d'Albret of Navarre]] established Protestantism there. In 1592, the town was taken by forces of the Catholic League, and the Catholic faith was re-established. In 1607, Lourdes was incorporated into the Kingdom of France.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The castle became a jail under [[Louis XV]] but, in 1789, the Estates General ordered the liberation of prisoners. Following the rise of [[Napoleon]] in 1803, he again made the Castle a state jail.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Towards the end of the [[Peninsular War]] between France, Spain, Portugal, and Britain in 1814, British and Allied forces under the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] entered France and took control of the region. They pursued [[Marshall Soult]]'s army, defeating the French near the adjoining town of Tarbes, before the final battle outside [[Toulouse]] on 10 April 1814 brought the war to an end.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Up until 1858, Lourdes was a sleepy country town with a population of around 4,000<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2008 |title=Saint Bernadette's First Vision at Lourdes |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/saint-bernadette%E2%80%99s-first-vision-lourdes |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=History Today}}</ref> hosting an infantry garrison in the castle, a transit point to the waters at [[Barèges]], [[Cauterets]], [[Luz-Saint-Sauveur]] and [[Bagnères-de-Bigorre]], and for mountaineers on their way to Gavarnie.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Then on 11 February 1858, the 14-year-old local girl [[Bernadette Soubirous]] claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her in the remote grotto of Massabielle. The lady later identified herself as the [[Immaculate Conception]] and the faithful believed her to be the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laurentin |first=René |title=Bernadette vous parle |date=April 15, 1999 |publisher=[[Médiaspaul]] |isbn=978-2712202897 |location=Paris |pages=98 |language=fr |trans-title=Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words |url=https://archive.org/details/bernadettespeaks0000laur/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> She appeared 18 times, and by 1859 thousands of pilgrims were visiting Lourdes. A statue of [[Our Lady of Lourdes]] was erected at the site in 1864.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

During World War II, pilgrimage to Lourdes declined dramatically, but Lourdes became a focus for religious [[French Resistance|resistance]]. Refugees from [[Lorraine]] visited in 1941, led by their own exiled bishop Joseph Jean Heintz. Lourdes was the destination for a tour of the statue of Our Lady of [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]] (known as Le Grand Retour) which aimed to secure the spiritual salvation of France. In 1944, a peace pilgrimage to Lourdes took place. Even when war ended, pilgrimages took a while to return to their pre-war levels as the usual trains and pilgrimage ships were in use elsewhere, or destroyed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hurlock |first=Kathryn |date=2022-01-02 |title=Peace, Politics, and Piety: Catholic Pilgrimage in Wartime Europe, 1939–1945 |journal=War & Society |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=36–52 |doi=10.1080/07292473.2022.2021754 |s2cid=246695850 |issn=0729-2473 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Since the apparitions, Lourdes has become one of the world's leading Catholic [[Marian shrine]]s. [[Pope John Paul II]] visited twice, on 15 August 1983, and 14–15 August 2004. In 2007, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] authorized special [[indulgences]] to mark the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope approves Lourdes indulgences |work=BBC News |date=6 December 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7131088.stm |access-date=6 December 2007 |archive-date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115101025/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7131088.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Lourdes1994-1.jpg|thumb|Lourdes 1994]]