Editing Beaucaire, Gard (section)

==History==

===Ancient time===
Founded in the 7th century BC, Beaucaire was known as a city on the famous [[Via Domitia]], the first [[Roman road]] built in [[Gaul]] linking Italy to Spain (121 BC.). It was at this point that the Via Domitia divides in the direction of [[Arles]], [[Nîmes]], [[Remoulins]], and [[Saint-Gilles, Gard|Saint-Gilles]]. At that time, Beaucaire was called ''Ugernum''. This was where, after the capture of Rome by the [[Vandals]] in 455, the [[Gallo-Roman]] nobility met to elect [[Avitus]] as the new emperor.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=edg5AAAAcAAJ&q=Dictionnaire+universel%2C+historique%2C+critique%2C+et+bibliographique ''Historical Critical Universal Dictionary and Bibliography''], Vol II, Louis Mayeul Chaudon, Mame, 1810, p. 93 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> A Roman mausoleum has been discovered on the ''Île du Comté''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qFWA7TE_F54C&q=Carte+arch%C3%A9ologique+de+la+Gaule ''Archaeological Map of Gaul (30/2 GARD)''], Les Editions de la MSH, 1999, 865 pages, p. 230 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Château de Beaucaire (Gard) vue côté Nord.jpg|thumb|Château de Beaucaire, view from the north]]

The [[Middle Ages]] saw a slowdown in the expansion of the city. Beaucaire did not escape the troubles during this dark period. It underwent invasions of [[Burgundians]], [[Visigoths]], and [[Saracen]]s. It was at that time that the first ramparts were built and the castle was expanded. The city took the name ''Beaucaire'' (which means "beautiful stone", probably in reference to its many buildings, to its quarries, or the fact that it had the first hills on the Rhone coming from the sea).

During the [[Albigensian Crusade]], [[Raymond VII of Toulouse]] [[siege|besieged]] Beaucaire in May 1216 to reclaim his father's property. The efforts of [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] to relieve the town were repulsed. The city fell after a three-month siege.

In the 13th century [[Louis IX]] made several trips to Beaucaire. The city was expanding and its population increasing. Despite the [[Hundred Years War]] and the [[Wars of Religion]] (14th to the 16th century), the splendour and refinement of the architecture grew along with the wealth of the Beaucairois merchants.

In 1579 Beaucaire was held by [[Henri I de Montmorency]], the catholic governor of [[Languedoc]], but tolerant. The captain of the city was Jean de Parabere who was soon to play his own game. Damville then provoked a riot to recover the city but even though Parabere was decapitated, the city remained in the hands of the [[Huguenot]]s, thanks to reinforcements sent by [[François de Coligny]], the son of [[Gaspard II de Coligny]].<ref>Pierre Miquel, ''The Wars of Religion'', Fayard, 1994, 596 pages, ({{ISBN|2-7242-0785-8}}), p. 326 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

===Modern era===
[[File:Foire de Beaucaire XVIIIe.jpg|thumb|Beaucaire Fair, coloured engraving from the 18th century]]

At the end of the [[Hundred Years War]] in 1453, [[Charles VII of France]] declared that Beaucaire would become the site of the ''Fair of la Madeleine'', a commercial fair that would enable the trade of goods from all of the [[Mediterranean Basin]] countries to all of France. By the mid-seventeenth century, the Fair was the largest commercial fair in the Mediterranean region, allegedly exceeding in a week the total volume of trade done in Marseilles in a year. It remained the dominant Mediterranean trade fair until the arrival of the railway in the mid-nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robb|first=Graham|title=The Discovery of France|pages=[https://archive.org/details/discoveryoffranc00robb/page/259 259–61]|isbn=9780393059731|location=New York|publisher=Norton|year=2007|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryoffranc00robb/page/259}}</ref> The advent of the railway and the end of river trade as well as the removal of its tax-free status by [[Napoleon]] gradually destroyed the Fair of the Madeleine and plunged Beaucaire into anonymity. One result of these years of commercial dominance was the construction of a remarkable number of architecturally significant mansions and palaces by rich merchants of many nationalities. The fair still exists in the form of carnivals, bullfights, and various festivities. [[Camargue cattle|Camargue bulls]] are run through the streets. It always starts on 21 July and always ends on a Monday and lasts at least six days.

===French Revolution and Empire===
Beaucaire was capital of the district from 1790 to 1795. During the [[French Revolution]] the commune was temporarily called ''Pont-National''.<ref name="Cassini" />

===Contemporary period===
[[File:Beaucaire le canal.png|thumb|Pen drawing of the canal at Beaucaire]]

At the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century some works of great value are built such as the ''banquette'' - a stone retaining wall along the eastern side of the city which protected it from the flooding of the Rhône, food markets, and the Municipal Casino which is now the Festival Hall. It was also at this time that the [[Canal du Rhône à Sète]] was widened. It connects Beaucaire to the [[Canal du Midi]].

In 1940 Beaucaire had a large population of Belgian refugees, mostly from [[Farciennes]]. They became twin communes in 1969.<ref name="Echo" /> In 2016, they gained international attention for naming a street "[[Rue du Brexit]]" as a tribute to the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38442586|title=National Front mayor creates 'Rue du Brexit' in French town|work=BBC News|date=27 December 2016}}</ref>

===Heraldry===
{{Blazon-arms
|img1=Blason ville fr Beaucaire (Gard).svg
|legend1=Arms of Beaucaire 
|text=

'''Blazon:'''<br/>
''Party per saltire, Or and Gules.''
}}