Montaillou
Encyclopedia
Montaillou is a commune
in the Ariège
department in southwestern France
.
The town is best known for being the subject of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
's pioneering work of microhistory
, Montaillou, village occitan. It analyzes the town in great detail over a thirty-year period from 1294 to 1324. Then a village of some 250 people, the daily routines of the people are in the records of Jacques Fournier, later Pope Benedict XII
.
Montaillou was one of the last bastions of the Albigensian belief also known as Catharism, considered heresy by the dominant Roman Catholic powers. The then local bishop, Fournier, launched an extensive inquisition
involving dozens of lengthy interviews with the locals, all of which were faithfully recorded, such as the arrest of the entire village in 1308. When Fournier became Pope he brought the records with him and they remain in the Vatican Library
.
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 Ariège
Ariège
Ariège is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.- History :Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans....
department in southwestern 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...
.
History
The town is best known for being the subject of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie is a French historian whose work is mainly focused upon Languedoc in the ancien regime, particularly the history of the peasantry.-Early life and career:...
's pioneering work of microhistory
Microhistory
Microhistory is the intensive historical investigation of a well defined smaller unit of research...
, Montaillou, village occitan. It analyzes the town in great detail over a thirty-year period from 1294 to 1324. Then a village of some 250 people, the daily routines of the people are in the records of Jacques Fournier, later Pope Benedict XII
Pope Benedict XII
Pope Benedict XII , born Jacques Fournier, the third of the Avignon Popes, was Pope from 1334 to 1342.-Early life:...
.
Montaillou was one of the last bastions of the Albigensian belief also known as Catharism, considered heresy by the dominant Roman Catholic powers. The then local bishop, Fournier, launched an extensive inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
involving dozens of lengthy interviews with the locals, all of which were faithfully recorded, such as the arrest of the entire village in 1308. When Fournier became Pope he brought the records with him and they remain in the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
.
- For details of the castle, see Château de MontaillouChâteau de MontaillouThe Château de Montaillou is a ruined castle in the French village of Montaillou, in the Ariège département. The village of Montaillou, standing on the slope of Mount Allion, was made famous in Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's history, Montaillou, village occitan.At the top of the village is all that...
.