Editing Tarascon (section)

== History ==
[[File:Allied-airmen-destroyed-these-bridges-over-the-Rhone-River-at-Tarascon-391769137276.jpg|thumb|Bridges across the Rhone after the Allied bombings of 1944]]
[[File:ChateauTerasconProv.JPG|thumb|Medieval castle]]
[[File:Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon-bjs180813-09.jpg|thumb|Tarascon and [[Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon|St. Martha's Church]] from top of Castle.]]
Shards dating from the Late Bronze Age have been found in a shelter at a place called the Lèque, confirming the existence of human settlement in the Alpilles since prehistoric times.<ref>« Les Alpilles et la Montagnette », ''Carte archéologique de la Gaule'', t. 13/2, 1999, p. 415.</ref>  Settlement spread in the early Iron Age. At Tarascon, the sites sit alongside the Rhone, near the church of Sainte-Marthe.<ref>« Le peuplement des Alpilles durant l'âge du Fer », in Les Alpilles, encyclopédie d'une montagne provençale, P. Arcelin, op. cit., p. 143.</ref>

In the second part of the first Iron Age (7th–6th centuries BC), the population, shifted from a nomadic lifestyle to a sedentary one and began to construct extensive buildings. Trade intensified with the Eastern Mediterranean, with the people of the area likely trading grain for luxury goods.<ref>Y. Marcadal, « Les ''oppida'' des Alpilles », in Les Alpilles, ''op. cit'', p. 146.</ref>

Located along the Rhone, at the crossroads between Avignon, the Camargue and the Luberon, Tarascon is still associated with fairy tales and legends dating back to prehistory. According to tradition, [[Martha]] of Bethany, who came from Judea, landed at Tarascon c. AD 48 where an amphibious [[dragon]] or [[tarasque]] was destroying the river traffic. She tamed the beast only for it to be butchered by the townspeople.<ref>Cf. 'The Dragon and the Holy Cross', in: Ernest Ingersoll,et al. ''The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books 2013.</ref> Many pilgrims visit the Royal College of Sainte-Marthe, built in her honor near the castle of [[René of Anjou|King René]]. This sanctuary, the main monument of the city, contains the relics and the tomb of St. Martha in the crypt which was built on the exact location of her house.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/france/tarascon-france-collegiate-church-saint-martha-abbey-saint-michael-frigolet/|title=Tarascon, France: The Collegiate Church of Saint Martha & The Abbey of Saint Michael of Frigolet ~ The Catholic Travel Guide ™}}</ref>

Rostagnetus of Tharascone, knight, was provost of Nice, Alderman of Tarascon (1322, 1325) and son of former co-lords of the city in the 12th century. In 1366–67, Guillam de Sault ruled Tarascon. He received an annual salary of 90 florins.  The death of Queen Joanna I reopened a succession crisis at the head of the County of Provence, the cities of the Aix Union (1382–1387) supporting Charles de Duras against Louis I of Anjou . Tarascon hesitated before joining the Union of Aix, the community deciding in 1383, without committing itself very firmly. When Louis I died, Tarascon was also one of the first cities to receive Jacques Reillanne, Ambassador of his widow Marie de Blois, regent of Louis II of Anjou, in the summer of 1385. He successfully persuaded them to switch sides and join the Angevin Kings of Anjou. The castle is well preserved. The work of construction began in 1400 under Louis II of Anjou and completed in 1449 by his son, King René, led by Guillaume Crespin, captain of the castle, and his lieutenant, Regnault Serocourt, its close relative . With an impressive defensive system, the building also houses a princely residence.

The town was damaged by Allied bombings from June to August 1944, during [[World War II]]. The bombings, targeting the bridges across the Rhone in an attempt to hamper the German retreat, destroyed parts of the old town. The first bombing took place on 25 June 1944. On 16 August 1944 the tip of the church tower of [[Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon|Église Sainte-Marthe]] was destroyed.