Beaucaire
Encyclopedia
Beaucaire is a commune
in the Gard
department in Languedoc-Roussillon
in southern France
.
, opposite the town of Tarascon
, which is in Bouches-du-Rhône
department of Provence
.
Neighboring communes:
version of the Occitan language name 'Bèucaire':
There is a village in the département of Aude
called Belcaire
.
Moreover, the most similar language to Occitan is Catalan
, and there are two towns in nearby Catalonia
called 'Bellcaire' (where bell means 'Beautiful' and caire means also Cut stone or rock in Catalan
): Bellcaire d'Empordà
and Bellcaire d'Urgell
.
times, it was along the Via Domitia
, the first Roman road
built in Gaul
.
During the Albigensian Crusade
, Raymond VI of Toulouse
besieged
Beaucaire in May 1216. The efforts of Simon de Montfort
to relieve the town were repulsed. The city fell after a three month siege.
At the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453, Charles VII of France
declared that Beaucaire would become the site of the Foire de 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, exceeding in six days the total volume of trade done in Marseilles in a year. It remained the dominant Mediterranean trade fair until the arrival of the railroad in the mid nineteenth century and because Napoleon removed its tax-free status. 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.
Camargue
bulls are annually run through the streets, Iberian
-style during the modern version of the Foire de la Madeleine, which is now a six day festival starting on 21 July. Events include bull events, parties, amusement rides and discos.
of the Drac. The townsfolk bring the monster
to life the form of a long procession, which snakes through the town led by a swarm of children carrying Chinese-type lanterns.
According to folklore, the Drac monster is invisible to humans and is capable of changing shape at will. He is usually, however, depicted as a large, fearsome, winged sea-serpent.
The story goes that in 1250 he abducted a lavender
seller and took her beneath the waters to raise his son. When she was released at the end of seven years, the young woman was endowed with a strange power: the ability to recognise the Drac with one of her eye
s. One day, she recognised him as he was going about the market
in Beaucaire. Upon being identified, the Drac ripped the woman's eye out.
The Drac was then supposed to have gone on to kill over three thousand knight
s and villagers, being perhaps one of the craftiest of all French dragons. Most of the kills were performed in Beaucaire. Sometimes, however, the dragon would search for other victims elsewhere.
Whole armies were allegedly sent against the Drac, but all failed. The beast is thus assumed either to have died of old age, or to be still living at the bottom of the Rhône.
There are variations on the story. Some say lavender seller got her dragon-sight by accidentally getting 'Dragon cream' in her eye. Others say the Drac gave her a box of human fat to rub into the hatchling's scales so that it would be visible to humans (otherwise she would not be able to care for it). She was supposed to clean the fat off her hands every evening with special water; but, one evening, she forgot to do so, rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands, and acquired her dragon-sight. Some say it was both eyes, or just the one. Still other versions confuse this beast with other monsters of regional folklore, and claim the Drac was slain by some saint or heroine.
The date above conflicts a little with the account we have by an eminent inhabitant of Arles
, Gervais de Tibury, who was passing through Beaucaire in 1214. He said he was astonished by what the villagers told him. They claimed that the deaths of a fair number of people in the waters of the Rhône were due to a dragon who lived in the river, and who had previously emerged, a many years before. The legend was perpetuated by Frédéric Mistral
in his Poèmes du Rhône, where he tells of a hybrid monster, dwelling in the river and coming out from time to time to feed on human flesh: lavender-sellers, ferrymen or others who strayed to close to the water's edge. The invisible Drac would sometimes use a passage from the waters of the Rhône to a well in the marketplace in order to come out and walk among the townsfolk.
The name Drac is the Occitan and Catalan
word for 'dragon', from the Latin (French
for 'dragon' is dragon).
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Gard
Gard
Gard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...
department in Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Beaucaire is located on the Rhône RiverRhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
, opposite the town of Tarascon
Tarascon
Tarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...
, which is in Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
department of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
.
Neighboring communes:
- BellegardeBellegarde, GardBellegarde is a commune in the Gard départment in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
- CompsComps, GardComps is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
- FourquesFourques, GardFourques is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
- Jonquières-Saint-VincentJonquières-Saint-VincentJonquières-Saint-Vincent is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
- ManduelManduelManduel is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-External links:*...
- RedessanRedessanRedessan is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
- TarasconTarasconTarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...
- VallabrèguesVallabrèguesVallabrègues is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.-Geography:Vallabrègues is the only commune of the Gard department located on the left bank of the Rhône River...
Sights
- Mediaeval castle
- Abbey of Saint-RomanAbbey of Saint-RomanThe Abbey of Saint-Roman , is a cave monastery located in Beaucaire, France.-References:*...
Abbaye de Saint-Roman, a cave monasteryCave monasteryA cave monastery is a monastery built in caves, with possible outside facilities. St. Anthony the Great known as the founder of monasticism lived in a cave.- List of cave monasteries :*Albania**St...
Etymology
'Beaucaire' probably is the FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version of the Occitan language name 'Bèucaire':
- Beau < French beau ('Beautiful') < Occitan bèl/bèu ('Beautiful') < Vulgar LatinVulgar LatinVulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
BELLV ('Beautiful') - Caire < Occitan caire ('Cut stone or rock') [in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
pierre de taille]. Caire also means 'corner, angle' and 'neighbourhood'.
There is a village in the département of Aude
Aude
Aude is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother...
called Belcaire
Belcaire
Belcaire is a commune in the Aude department, part of the ancient Languedoc province and the present-day Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
.
Moreover, the most similar language to Occitan is Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, and there are two towns in nearby Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
called 'Bellcaire' (where bell means 'Beautiful' and caire means also Cut stone or rock in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
): Bellcaire d'Empordà
Bellcaire d'Empordà
Bellcaire d'Empordà is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain.-References:...
and Bellcaire d'Urgell
Bellcaire d'Urgell
Bellcaire d'Urgell is a municipality in the comarca of the Noguera in Catalonia, Spain.-References:* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria . Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona:Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 . ISBN 84-87135-02-1 ....
.
History
In RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, it was along the Via Domitia
Via Domitia
The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, so old that it traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles...
, the first Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
built in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
.
During the Albigensian Crusade
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
, Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI was count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.-Early life:...
besieged
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
Beaucaire in May 1216. The efforts of Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...
to relieve the town were repulsed. The city fell after a three month siege.
At the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453, Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
declared that Beaucaire would become the site of the Foire de la Madeleine, a commercial fair that would enable the trade of goods from all of the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
countries to all of France. By the mid seventeenth century, the Fair was the largest commercial fair in the Mediterranean region, exceeding in six days the total volume of trade done in Marseilles in a year. It remained the dominant Mediterranean trade fair until the arrival of the railroad in the mid nineteenth century and because Napoleon removed its tax-free status. 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.
Camargue
The Camargue is the region located south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône River delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western one is the Petit Rhône....
bulls are annually run through the streets, Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
-style during the modern version of the Foire de la Madeleine, which is now a six day festival starting on 21 July. Events include bull events, parties, amusement rides and discos.
Le Drac
From 20–22 June each year, Beaucaire celebrates the mythMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the Drac. The townsfolk bring the monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
to life the form of a long procession, which snakes through the town led by a swarm of children carrying Chinese-type lanterns.
According to folklore, the Drac monster is invisible to humans and is capable of changing shape at will. He is usually, however, depicted as a large, fearsome, winged sea-serpent.
The story goes that in 1250 he abducted a lavender
Lavender
The lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
seller and took her beneath the waters to raise his son. When she was released at the end of seven years, the young woman was endowed with a strange power: the ability to recognise the Drac with one of her eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s. One day, she recognised him as he was going about the market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
in Beaucaire. Upon being identified, the Drac ripped the woman's eye out.
The Drac was then supposed to have gone on to kill over three thousand knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s and villagers, being perhaps one of the craftiest of all French dragons. Most of the kills were performed in Beaucaire. Sometimes, however, the dragon would search for other victims elsewhere.
Whole armies were allegedly sent against the Drac, but all failed. The beast is thus assumed either to have died of old age, or to be still living at the bottom of the Rhône.
There are variations on the story. Some say lavender seller got her dragon-sight by accidentally getting 'Dragon cream' in her eye. Others say the Drac gave her a box of human fat to rub into the hatchling's scales so that it would be visible to humans (otherwise she would not be able to care for it). She was supposed to clean the fat off her hands every evening with special water; but, one evening, she forgot to do so, rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands, and acquired her dragon-sight. Some say it was both eyes, or just the one. Still other versions confuse this beast with other monsters of regional folklore, and claim the Drac was slain by some saint or heroine.
The date above conflicts a little with the account we have by an eminent inhabitant of Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
, Gervais de Tibury, who was passing through Beaucaire in 1214. He said he was astonished by what the villagers told him. They claimed that the deaths of a fair number of people in the waters of the Rhône were due to a dragon who lived in the river, and who had previously emerged, a many years before. The legend was perpetuated by Frédéric Mistral
Frédéric Mistral
Frédéric Mistral was a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1904 and was a founding member of Félibrige and a member of l'Académie de Marseille...
in his Poèmes du Rhône, where he tells of a hybrid monster, dwelling in the river and coming out from time to time to feed on human flesh: lavender-sellers, ferrymen or others who strayed to close to the water's edge. The invisible Drac would sometimes use a passage from the waters of the Rhône to a well in the marketplace in order to come out and walk among the townsfolk.
The name Drac is the Occitan and Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
word for 'dragon', from the Latin (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for 'dragon' is dragon).
Population
Personalities
- Beaucaire was the birthplace of François de Rovérié de CabrièresFrançois de Rovérié de CabrièresFrançois-Marie-Anatole de Rovérié de Cabrières was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Montpellier from 1874 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.-Biography:...
(1830–1921), prelatePrelateA prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
of the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, Bishop of Montpellier.
See also
- Canal du Rhône à SèteCanal du Rhône à SèteThe Canal du Rhône à Sète is a canal in southern France, which connects the Étang de Thau in Sète to the Rhône River in Beaucaire, Gard. At the entrance to the Étang de Thau, the canal connects with the Canal du Midi....
- Costières de Nîmes AOCCostières de Nîmes AOCCostières de Nîmes is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for wines that are produced in an area between the ancient city of Nîmes and the western Rhône delta, in the French department of the Gard...
- Communes of the Gard department
External links
- Town's official website in French
- Local Tourist Office in French, English & Catalan
- Troglodyte abbey in French
- Classical wines and reconstitutions of Roman cellar and wines in French and English
- Description of the area in and around Beaucaire
- Fodor's "Overlooked and Underrated" Beaucaire, France
- New York Times article about "Roman France"