Editing Narbonne (section)

==History==
===Under the Romans===
Narbonne was established in [[Gaul]] by the [[Roman Republic]] in 118 BC, as {{nowrap|'''Colonia Narbo Martius'''}}, colloquially {{nowrap|'''Narbo'''}}, and made into the capital of the newly established province of [[Gallia Transalpina]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Collin Bouffier |first=Sophie |year=2009 |title=Marseille et la Gaule méditerranéenne avant la conquête romaine |journal=Pallas |issue=80: Marseille et la Gaule Méditerranéenne avant la Conquête Romaine |pages=51–52 |jstor=43606588}}</ref> It was located on the [[Via Domitia]], the first [[Roman road]] in Gaul, built at the time of the foundation of the colony, and connecting [[Italy]] to [[Spain]]. Geographically, Narbonne was therefore located at a very important crossroads because it was situated where the Via Domitia connected to the [[Via Aquitania]], which led toward the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] through [[Toulouse|Tolosa]] and [[Bordeaux|Burdigala]]. In addition, it was crossed by the river [[Aude (river)|Aude]]. Surviving members of [[Julius Caesar]]'s [[Legio X Equestris]] were given lands in the area that today is called Narbonne. {{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Politically, Narbonne gained importance as a competitor to [[Massilia]] ([[Marseille]]). [[Julius Caesar]] settled veterans from his [[Legio X Equestris|10th Legion]] there and attempted to develop its port while Marseille was supporting [[Pompey]]. Among the products of Narbonne, its [[rosemary]]-flower [[honey]] was famous among Romans.<ref>Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat (Anthea Bell, tr.) ''The History of Food'', 2nd ed. 2009:23.</ref>

Later, the [[Roman province|province]] of Gallia Transalpina was renamed [[Gallia Narbonensis]] after the city, which became its capital. Seat of a powerful administration, the city enjoyed economic and architectural expansion. At that point, the city is thought to have had 30,000–50,000 inhabitants, and may have had as many as 100,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Planhol |first=Xavier de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C19glZh7zfoC&pg=PA47 |title=An Historical Geography of France |last2=Claval |first2=Paul |date=1994-03-17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-32208-9 |language=en}}</ref>

===Under the Visigoths===
{{main|Septimania#Kingdom of Narbonne|}}

According to [[Hydatius]], in 462 the city was handed over to the Visigoths by a local military leader in exchange for support; as a result Roman rule ended in the city. It was subsequently the capital of the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] province of [[Septimania]], the only territory from Gaul to fend off the [[Franks|Frankish]] thrust after the [[Battle of Vouille]] (507). In 531, Frankish king, [[Childebert I]], invaded Septimania and defeated Visigothic king, [[Amalaric]] near Narbonne and occupied the city. However, after Childebert's continued invasion to Catalonia failed, Amalaric's successor [[Theudis]] was able to reclaim the rich province of Septimania, including Narbonne.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Ulick Ralph |title=A History of Spain from the Earliest Times to the Death of Ferdinand the Catholic |date=1895 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Company |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRJOYDXCTOYC |access-date=27 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Following the loss of Toledo and Barcelona in 711/712, the last two kings of the Visigoths, [[Agila II]] and [[Ardo]] retreated to Narbonne, where they were able to resist Muslim attacks until 716.

===Under the Arabs===
{{main|Septimania#Muslim Septimania}}
[[File:Muslim troops leaving Narbonne to Pepin le Bref in 759.jpg|thumb|left|Umayyad troops leaving Narbonne to [[Pépin le Bref]], in 759. Painting of 1880]]

For 40 years, from 719 to 759, Narbonne was part of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. The Umayyad governor [[Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani|Al-Samh]] captured Narbonne from the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Kingdom of Visigoths]] in 719.

===Under the Carolingians===
[[File:Narbonne. 3 - Fonds Trutat - 51Fi391.jpg|thumb|right|Narbonne in the late 19th century]]

The [[Carolingian]] [[Pepin the Short]] [[Siege of Narbonne (752–59)|conquered Narbonne]] from the [[Arabs]] in 759 after which it became part of the [[Carolingian]] [[Viscount of Narbonne|Viscounty of Narbonne]]. He invited{{Citation needed|reason=Vague and other reason detailed in the Talk page|date=August 2015}} prominent [[Jews]] from the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Caliphate]] of [[Baghdad]] to settle in Narbonne and establish a major Jewish learning center for [[Western Europe]].<ref>Trigano – The Conventionalism of Social Bonds and the Strategies of Jewish Society in the Thirteenth Century; Byrd – The Jesus Gene: A Messianic Bloodline, the Jews and Freemasonry accessdate=2012-02-16</ref> In the 12th century, the court of [[Ermengarde of Narbonne]] (reigned 1134 to 1192) presided over one of the cultural centers where the spirit of [[courtly love]] was developed.

The historian Arthur J. Zuckerman wrote in 1973 the book ''[[A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France]]'', presenting the thesis that from the 8th to 10 centuries AD there was a Jewish vassal princedom based in Narbonne, given to the Jews by the Carolingian king [[Pepin the Short|Pepin]] as a gift of gratitude for their cooperation in the Frankish conquest of Narbonne from [[Al-Andalus]] in the year [[759]]. This is however controversial, the book having been criticized by other historians.

===Under the Capets===
In the 11th and 12th centuries, Narbonne was home to an important [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[exegesis|exegetical]] school, which played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the [[Zarphatic]] (Judæo-French) and [[Shuadit]] (Judæo-Provençal) languages. Jews had settled in Narbonne from about the 5th century, with a community that numbered about 2,000 people in the 12th century. At this time, Narbonne was frequently mentioned in [[Talmud]]ic works in connection with its scholars. One source, [[Abraham ibn Daud]] of Toledo, gives them an importance similar to the exilarchs of Babylon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NARBONNE - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11323-narbonne |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> In the 12th and 13th centuries, the community went through a series of ups and downs before settling into extended decline.

===Narbonne loses its river and port===
[[File:Narbonn.JPG|thumb|right|In the old town]]
[[File:Narbonne cassini old.JPG|thumb|Narbonne {{Circa|1780}}]]

Narbonne itself fell into a slow decline in the 14th century, for a variety of reasons. One was due to a change in the course of the river [[Aude (river)|Aude]], which caused increased silting of the navigational access. The river, known as the Atax in ancient times, had always had two main courses which split close to Salelles; one fork going south through Narbonne and then to the sea close to the Clappe Massif, the other heading east to the etang at Vendres close to the current mouth of the river well to the east of the city. The Romans had improved the navigability of the river by building a dam near Salelles and also by canalising the river as it passed through its marshy delta to the sea (then as now the canal was known as the Robine.) A major flood in 1320 swept the dam away. The Aude river had a long history of overflowing its banks. When it was a bustling port, the distance from the coast was approximately {{convert|5|to|10|km|0|abbr=on}}, but at that time the access to the sea was deep enough only when the river was in full spate which made communication between port and city unreliable.<ref>''Mediterranean Beaches and Bluffs: A Bicycle Your France E-guide'' by Walter Judson Moore, 2015</ref> However, goods could easily be transported by land and in shallow barges from the ports (there were several: a main port and forward ports for larger vessels; indeed the navigability from the sea into the ''étang'' and then into the river had been a perennial problem)

The changes to the long seashore which resulted from the silting up of the series of ''graus'' or openings which were interspersed between the islands which made up the shoreline (St. Martin; St. Lucie) had a more serious impact than the change in course of the river. Other causes of decline were the plague and the raid of [[Edward, the Black Prince]], which caused much devastation. The growth of other ports was also a factor.

===Narbonne Cathedral===
[[File:Cathedrale-inachevee.JPG|right|thumb|Part of the unfinished section of the Cathedral Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur.]]

[[Narbonne Cathedral]], dedicated to [[Saints Justus and Pastor]], provides stark evidence of Narbonne's sudden and dramatic change of fortunes when one sees at the rear of the structure the enormously ambitious building programme frozen in time, for the cathedral—still one of the tallest in France—was never finished. The reasons are many, but the most important is that the completed cathedral would have required demolishing the city wall. The 14th century also brought the plague and a host of reasons for retaining the 5th-century (pre-Visigothic) walls.

Yet the choir, side chapels, sacristy, and courtyard remain intact, and the cathedral, although no longer the seat of a bishop or archbishop, remains the primary place of worship for the Roman Catholic population of the city, and is a major tourist attraction.

===Building of the Canal de la Robine===
[[File:Narbonne-Canal de la Robine.jpg|thumb|The Canal de la Robine in 2003. (Taken from the "Passerelle entre Deux Villes" pedestrian bridge, facing northwest, away from the heart of the city.)]]

From the sixteenth century, eager to maintain a link to important trade, the people of Narbonne began costly work to the vestiges of the river [[Aude (river)|Aude]]'s access to the sea so that it would remain navigable to a limited draft vessel and also serve as a link with the Royal Canal. This major undertaking resulted in the construction of the Canal de la Robine, which was finally linked with the [[Canal du Midi]] (then known as the Royal Canal) via the [[Canal de Jonction]] in 1776.

In the 19th century, the canal system in the south of France had to compete with an expanding rail network, which could ship goods more quickly. The canals kept some importance as they were used to support the flourishing wine trade.

Despite its decline from Roman times, Narbonne held on to its vital but limited importance as a trading route. This has continued in more recent centuries.