Editing Toulouse (section)

===County of Toulouse===
{{further|County of Toulouse}}
[[File:Raymond IV of Toulouse.jpg|thumb|[[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse]] was a leader of the [[First Crusade]].]]
[[File:La_chambre_de_Saint_Dominique_(maison_Seilhan)_-_panoramio.jpg|thumb|St Dominic's room at ''Maison Seilhan'' is considered the birthplace of the [[Dominican Order]].]]
[[File:Couvent des Jacobins de Toulouse - Autel de St Thomas d'Aquin.jpg|thumb|Burial of [[Thomas Aquinas|Saint Thomas Aquinas]] in the [[church of the Jacobins]] in Toulouse]]
[[File:Détail_Annales_1413.jpg|thumb|Over nearly 5 centuries the [[capitoul]]s (the municipal consuls) held an exceptional collection of their portraits in the [[Handwritten Annals of the City of Toulouse|municipal annals]].]]
[[File:Salle des illustres 12.JPG|thumb|Painting representing the first session of the poetry contest of the ''[[Consistori del Gay Saber]]'' (later known as the Academy of the Floral Games), the oldest literary society in Europe]]
[[File:Parliaments and Sovereign Councils of the Kingdom of France in 1789 (fr).png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Parlement of Toulouse]] was the second most important and oldest in the kingdom after that of Paris, making Toulouse the judicial capital of a large part of southern France.]]
[[File:Pastel pigment cocagnes et feuilles - Muséum du pastel.jpg|thumb|The woad trade, which was the only source of blue dye at the time in Europe, made the fortune of the merchants of Toulouse during the Renaissance.]]
[[File:1650 - Toulouse, ville capitale du Languedoc, archevesché, parlement et université.jpg|thumb|1650 - Toulouse, capital of [[Languedoc]]]]
[[File:Capitole Toulouse - Salle des Illustres.jpg|thumb|The vast Hall of the Illustrious (''Salle des Illustres'') in the [[Capitole de Toulouse|Capitole]] presents numerous paintings and sculptures illustrating the history of Toulouse.]]

Charlemagne had created the county of Toulouse in 778 to guard the border of Muslim Spain, but the disintegration of the kingdom of Aquitaine and the weakness of royal power in the following centuries led to the ''de facto'' independence of the county of Toulouse and many provinces.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, southern France was still steeped in Latin culture. Unlike the north of France, justice followed written Roman law and the nobles were highly educated. This was the time of the [[troubadours]] who wrote their poetry in [[Occitania|Occitan]] (called "Provençal" at the time), then one of the most sophisticated languages in Europe. Like the other great lords of the [[Southern France|Midi]], the counts of Toulouse maintained and favoured these poets, this is how Count [[Raymond V, Count of Toulouse|Raymond V]] employed for some time the famous [[Bernart de Ventadorn|Bernard de Ventadour]], expert in singing [[courtly love]].<ref name="Guide_Michelin">''Pyrénées Toulouse Gers'', Le Guide Vert Michelin, 2016.</ref>

In 1096, [[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse]], left with his army at the call of the [[Pope Urban II]] to join the [[First Crusade]], of which he was one of the main leaders.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Jotischky|first=Andrew|title=Crusading and the Crusader States|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-582-41851-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTUlDwAAQBAJ}}</ref> This exodus of its warriors and nobles, reinforced by the creation of the faraway [[County of Tripoli]] by Raymond IV at the beginning of the 12th century, weakened the city militarily as well as the ascendancy that its counts had over it. The Duke [[William IX of Aquitaine]] challenged the possession of the city on the grounds that it should have been inherited by his wife [[Philippa, Countess of Toulouse|Philippa]] (daughter of the [[William IV, Count of Toulouse|previous count of Toulouse]], whereas Raymond IV was only his brother). More than 50 years later his granddaughter [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] still claimed the inheritance in vain.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In the 12th century the city left its Roman limits and a new district developed around the [[Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse|church of Saint-Sernin]]: the ''Bourg''. The church of Saint-Sernin was famous and revered for its many relics, and the chapter of its canons, which had possessions as far away as Spain, was powerful enough to free itself from the control of the bishop of Toulouse. This dissent had important local political repercussions, making the ''Bourg'' in practice a separate district from the city. In 1152, the notables of Toulouse took advantage of a weakening of the county power to obtain for their city a great autonomy, they created a municipal body of consuls, called [[capitoul]]s in Toulouse, to lead the city. The ''Bourg'', which had only a quarter of the inhabitants of Toulouse, obtained as many capitouls as the rest of the city.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/> Economically, Toulouse, which was at the center of a large cereal-growing plain, was distinguished by its numerous mills that took advantage of the force of the Garonne, among which the [[Bazacle Milling Company]] was the first recorded European joint-stock company.

==== The fight against Catharism and its various aspects ====
At the beginning of the thirteenth century the County of Toulouse was caught up in [[Albigensian Crusade|another crusade]] that would last twenty years (1209-1229), of which it was the target this time. The reason for this was the development of [[Catharism]] in the south of France, which the [[Pope Innocent III]] wanted to eradicate by all possible means.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

After an initial victory of the crusaders led by [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] who defeated the combined forces of Count [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|Raymond VI of Toulouse]] and King [[Peter II of Aragon]] at the [[Battle of Muret]], the following years saw the fate of the county of Toulouse swing alternately in favour of one party or the other. Finally, a late intervention by King [[Louis VIII of France]] in 1226 tipped the balance in favour of the crusaders, resulting in the submission of Count [[Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse|Raymond VII]] to the French Crown and the end of the independence of the County of Toulouse.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

But beyond the military crusade, this struggle took on several important aspects for the city of Toulouse:
* The [[Dominican Order]] was founded in Toulouse by [[Saint Dominic]] in 1215. Spanish priest Dominic de Guzmán wanted to convert the Cathars to Catholicism peacefully, by preaching and by living a poor and exemplary life. After years of criss-crossing the [[Lauraguais]] countryside between Carcassonne and Toulouse, he changed his method and decided to preach in town. In 1215 he settled in Toulouse and founded a [[mendicant order]] which, within a few decades, would cover Europe with hundreds of convents: The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* Under the impulse of the bishop of Toulouse, [[Folquet de Marselha|Foulques]], an original and austere architectural style was born in Toulouse, designed to break with the display of luxury of the Catholic church which drove the faithful towards the Cathars: the [[Southern French Gothic]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* In the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)|Treaty of Paris of 1229]], Toulouse formally submitted to the crown of France. The county's sole heiress [[Joan, Countess of Toulouse|Joan]] was engaged to [[Alphonse, Count of Poitiers]], a younger brother of [[Louis IX of France]]. The marriage became legal in 1241, but it remained childless and so after Joan's death, the county fell to the [[Crown of France]] by inheritance.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* Another consequence of the Treaty of Paris was the creation of the [[University of Toulouse]], established on the [[University of Paris|Parisian model]], strongly sponsored by the pope and intended as a means to dissolve the heretic movement.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{cite book |last1= Blackburn|first1= William Maxwell|date= 1879|title= History of the Christian Church from Its Origin to the Present Time|language= en|location= |publisher= Cranston and Stowe|page= 309}}</ref>
* Also in 1229, the [[Council of Toulouse]] was held, which laid the foundations for the long period of [[Medieval Inquisition|Inquisition]] that was to eradicate Catharism in the region after the military victory of the Crusade.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>