The title picture (left) and the picture
below shows the Saint Salvi cloister. Originally
built in 1080, rebuilt in 1270 by Vidal de
Malvezi it was largely destroyed during the
Revolution and only the south gallery
remains.
ALBI is the main town in the department of Tarn
which is situated in the upper Languedoc region
on the main Toulouse to Rodez road. Much of older
part of Albi is built with red brick hence the
name 'Albi le rouge'.
In the foothills on the French side of the
Pyrenees, the earth has a rich red colour. After
heavy rains this red earth washes into streams,
and flows into the river Tarn from which, in the
past, the red sediment was taken and made into
bricks.
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The Tarn river is navigable to a several
kilometres upstream from the town site. The
Rutens and Celts found the site eminently
suitable for a settlement. Nearby land was
settled by the Romans around 100 BCE and a port
established during Roman occupation.
Albi became a trading town where wines, textiles
and metals were exchanged for other goods
imported into the area. A bridge was constructed
over the river around 1040 (known today as Pont
Vieux) which helped to link the three separate
communities that by then had developed in the
area, and the stage was set for a rapid expansion
of the region as a commercial centre. Over the
next 150 years or so Albi became the seat of
various power struggles between the local
bishops, the Counts of Toulouse and the local
viscounts. During that period followers of the
Cathar religion infiltrated the area and their
belifs were taken up by the local people of all
classes ranging from the nobles to
artisans.
The story of Albi continues, using edited
material taken from the Languedoc-France website
(www.languedoc-france.info) and from other
sources for which due acknowledgement is
given:
"In the 12th-century, Albi was the first town
to offer refuge to the Cathars who later became
known as Albingensians. The extermination of
the Cathar "heretics" forms a dark and sinister
period in French history. The Cathars were a
religious group who appeared in Europe in the
eleventh century, their origins something of a
mystery. Records from the Roman Church mention
them under various names and in various places,
occasionaly throwing light on basic
beliefs.
"The Roman Church debated with itself whether
they were Christian heretics or whether they
were not Christians at all. In the Languedoc,
famous at the time for its high culture,
tolerance and liberalism, Catharism took root
and gained more and more adherents during the
twelfth century. By the early thirteenth
century it was probably the majority religion
in the area, supported by the nobility as well
as the common people. This was too much for the
Roman Church, some of whose own priests had
become Cathars. Worst of all, Cathars of the
Languedoc refused to pay their tithes.
"The Pope, Innocent III, called a formal
crusade, appointing a series of leaders to head
his holy army. There followed over forty years
of war against the indigenous population.
During this period some 500,000 Languedoc men
women and children were massacred; the Counts
of Toulouse and their vassels were dispossessed
and humiliated, and their lands annexed to
France. In Béziers alone, 20,000
followers of Catharism were slaughtered.
Educated and tolerant Languedoc rulers were
replaced by relative barbarians; the Dominican
Order was founded and the Inquisition was
established to wipe out the last vestiges of
resistance; persecutions of Languedoc Jews and
other minorities were initiated; the high
culture of the Troubadours was lost; lay
learning was discouraged; tithes were enforced;
the Languedoc started its economic decline, and
the language of the area, Occitan, started its
descent from one of the foremost languages in
Europe to a regional dialect. This so-called
Albigensian Crusade lasted more than 30 years.
Ultimately, the rich southern lords who were
Cathar sympathizers were defeated and their
lands taken from them. The crusade spawned the
Inquisition, devised to find and denounce the
last, secret Cathar worshippers.
"At the end of the extirpation of the Cathars,
the Church had convincing proof that a
sustained campaign of genocide can work. It
also had the precedent of an internal Crusade
within Christendom, and the machinery of the
first modern police state. This crusade was one
of the greatest disasters ever to befall
Europe. Catharism is often said to have been
completely eradicated by the end of the
fourteenth century. Yet there are more than a
few vestiges even today, apart from the
enduring memory of their martydom and the ruins
of the famous "Cathar castles". There are even
cathars alive today, or at least people
claiming to be modern Cathars."
At the height of its importance in the mid 15th
to 16th-centuries many Renaissance buildings were
constructed. The export industry created from
textile production and through the cultivation of
the woad/pastel plant (Isatis tinctoria), crushed
to produce a vibrant blue coloured dye, brought
great prosperity to the region.
The religious wars (1560-98) led to a downturn
in the area's prosperity The production of indigo
elsewhere also created less demand for woad.
Restoration works were started in the 17th and
18th centuriesand streets were widened and the
ramparts demolished. During the 1789 revolution
Albi was pillaged and buildings were severely
damaged. The cathedral was used for storage of
hay!
In more recent times Albi has regained its
prosperity through tourism, mining, and iron and
steel industries. Local personalities include
Rear Admiral Pascal de Rochegude (1741 to 1834)
captain of the King's Vessels, The explorer
Jean-Francois de Galaup, Count of Laparouse
(1741-1788) and Georges Pompidou (1911-1973)
President of the French Republic.
Albi was also the home of Toulouse-Lautrec, born
there in 1864. The artist depicted the "Belle
Epoque" of cabaret and Paris life. He died in
1901.The Musee Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec houses
famous canvases (donated to the museum by his
mother in 1922) by the artist himself and other
works by Matisse, Utrillo, Dufy and Yves Brayer.
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