Editing Montpellier (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
===Medieval period===
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Tour de la Babote Montpellier.JPG|thumb|left|Tour de la Babote]]In the [[Early Middle Ages]], the nearby episcopal town of Maguelone was the major settlement in the area but raids by [[piracy|pirates]] encouraged settlement a little farther inland. In 737 [[Charles Martel]] destroyed [[Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone#History|Maguelone]].<ref name="EBMontpellier">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Montpellier |volume=18 |page=789 |short=1}}</ref>

Montpellier, first mentioned in a document of 985, was founded under a local [[Feudalism|feudal]] dynasty, the Guilhem, who combined two hamlets and built a castle and walls around the united settlement. The name is from medieval Latin ''mons pisleri'', "Woad Mountain" referring to the [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]] (Latin ''pastellus'', ''pestellus'') used for dyeing locally. There is no real "mountain" in the area, with the ''mons'' referring to a pile of stones.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVRuDwAAQBAJ&q=%22mons+pislerius%22&pg=PT1172|title=The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names|first=John|last=Everett-Heath|date=13 September 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780192562432|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 986 the [[Lords of Montpellier]] begin with [[William I of Montpellier]]. In the 10th century the town consisted of two portions, Montpellier and Montpelliéret.<ref name="EBMontpellier" /> In 1160 the law school was active.<ref name="EBMontpellier" />
[[File:Château d'eau du Peyrou, Montpellier 06.jpg|left|thumb|Peyrou water tower|200x200px]]
The two surviving towers of the city walls, the ''Tour des Pins'' and the ''Tour de la Babotte'', were built later, around the year 1200. Montpellier came to prominence in the 12th century—as a trading centre, with trading links across the Mediterranean world, and a rich Jewish cultural life that flourished within traditions of tolerance of [[Muslims]], Jews and [[Cathar]]s—and later of its Protestants. [[William VIII of Montpellier]] gave freedom for all to teach medicine in Montpellier in 1180. The city's faculties of law and medicine were established in 1220 by Cardinal [[Conrad of Urach]], legate of [[Pope Honorius III]]; the medical faculty has, over the centuries, been one of the major centres for the teaching of medicine in Europe. This era marked the high point of Montpellier's prominence. The city became a possession of the [[Kings of Aragon]] in 1204 by the marriage of [[Peter II of Aragon]] with [[Marie of Montpellier]], who was given the city and its dependencies as part of her [[dowry]].

Montpellier gained a charter in 1204 when Peter and Marie confirmed the city's traditional freedoms and granted the city the right to choose twelve governing consuls annually. Under the Kings of Aragon, Montpellier became a very important city, a major economic centre and the primary centre for the spice trade in the Kingdom of France. It was the second or third most important city of France at that time, with some 40,000 inhabitants before the [[Black Death]]. Montpellier remained a possession of the crown of Aragon until it passed to [[James III of Majorca]], who sold the city to the French king [[Philip VI of France|Philip VI]] in 1349, to raise funds for his ongoing struggle with [[Peter IV of Aragon]].

From the middle of the 14th century until the French Revolution (1789), Montpellier was part of the [[Languedoc|province of Languedoc]].

===Renaissance===
In the 14th century, [[Pope Urban VIII]] gave Montpellier a new monastery dedicated to [[Saint Peter]], noteworthy for the very unusual porch of its chapel, supported by two high, somewhat rocket-like towers. With its importance steadily increasing, the city finally gained a bishop, who moved from [[Maguelone]] in 1536, and the huge monastery chapel became a cathedral. In 1432, [[Jacques Cœur]] established himself in the city and it became an important economic centre, until 1481 when Marseilles overshadowed it in this role.

===After the Reformation===
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
At the time of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in the 16th century, many of the inhabitants of Montpellier became Protestants (or [[Huguenots]] as they were known in France) and the city became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the Catholic French crown. Montpellier was among the most important of the 66 {{lang|fr|villes de sûreté}} ('cities of protection' or 'protected cities') that the [[Edict of Nantes]] granted to the Huguenots. The city's political institutions and the university were all handed over to the Huguenots. 

Increasing tension with Paris led to King [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] [[Siege of Montpellier|besieging the city]] in 1622.  The city surrendered after a two-month siege.  Peace terms called for the dismantling of the city's fortifications and the building of the royal [[Citadel of Montpellier]] to secure the city for the government. The university and consulate were taken over by the Catholic party.  Even before the [[Edict of Alès]] in 1629, Protestant rule was dead and the {{lang|fr|ville de sûreté}} was no more.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

[[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] made Montpellier capital of [[Bas Languedoc]], and the town started to embellish itself, by building the [[Promenade du Peyrou]], the Esplanade and a large number of houses in the historic centre.

===French Revolution===

After the [[French Revolution]], the city became the capital of the much smaller Department of [[Hérault]].

===Modern history===
During the 19th century the city thrived on the wine culture that it was able to produce due to the abundance of sun throughout the year. The wine consumption in France allowed Montpellier's citizens to become very wealthy until in the 1890s the [[phylloxera]] induced fungal disease had spread amongst the vineyards and the people were no longer able to grow the grapes needed for wine.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.world-guides.com/europe/france/languedoc-roussillon/montpellier/montpellier_history.html |title=Montpellier History Facts and Timeline: Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France |website=world-guides.com |access-date=5 October 2018 }}</ref> 

During the [[repression of January and February 1894]], the police conducted raids targeting the [[Anarchism|anarchists]] living there, without much success.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=3 January 1894 |title=Les anarchistes |trans-title=The anarchists |work=La Dépêche |pages=2}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |date=2 January 1894 |title=Deux mille perquisitions |journal=L'Estafette |pages=2}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite news |date=3 January 1894 |title=Une série générale de perquisitions : résultat négatif des recherches |trans-title=A general series of raids: negative results |work=L'Éclair}}</ref>

After this the city grew because it welcomed French repatriates from Algeria and other parts of northern Africa after [[Algerian War|Algeria's independence from France]]. In the 21st century Montpellier is between France's number seventh and eighth largest city. The city had another influx in population more recently, largely due to the student population, who make up about one-fourth of Montpellier's population. The school of medicine kickstarted the city's thriving university culture,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/13/montpellier-spotlight-development-mania-france-fastest-growing-city |title = Montpellier in the spotlight: development mania in France's fastest-growing city |last=Hoad|first=Phil |date=13 March 2017|website=The Guardian|access-date=5 October 2018 }}</ref> though many other universities have been well established there. The coastal city also benefited in the past 40 years from major construction programs such as [[Antigone, Montpellier|Antigone]], Port Marianne and Odysseum districts.