Septimania timeline
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Septimania
was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis
that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462. It passed briefly to the Emirate of Córdoba in the eighth century before its reconquest by the Franks
, who by the end of the ninth century termed it Gothia. This article presents a timeline of its history.
, under Al-Samh ibn Malik the governor-general of al-Andalus
swept up the Iberian peninsula.
. It retained these two names while it was ruled by the counts of Toulouse during early part of the Middle Ages
, but the southern part became more familiar as Roussillon
and the west became known as Foix
, and the name "Gothia" (along with the older name "Septimania") faded away during the 10th century, except as a traditional designation as the region fractured into smaller feudal entities, which sometimes retained Carolingian titles, but lost their Carolingian character, as the culture of Septimania evolved into the culture of Languedoc
.
Septimania
Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...
that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462. It passed briefly to the Emirate of Córdoba in the eighth century before its reconquest by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, who by the end of the ninth century termed it Gothia. This article presents a timeline of its history.
Visigoths and Franks
- 507: The FrankFrankish EmpireFrancia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
ish king ClovisClovis IClovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of VouilléBattle of VouilléThe Battle of Vouillé or Vouglé was fought in the northern marches of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, Vienne near Poitiers , in the spring of 507 between the Franks commanded by Clovis and the Visigoths of Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain.Clovis and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire agreed...
. Afterwards, the child-king AmalaricAmalaricAmalaric, or in Spanish and Portuguese, Amalarico, was king of the Visigoths from 526 until his assassination in 531. He was a son of king Alaric II and his first wife Theodegotho, daughter of Theodoric the Great....
was carried for safety into the Iberian PeninsulaIberian PeninsulaThe 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...
. AquitaniaAquitaniaAquitania may refer to:* the territory of the Aquitani, a people living in Roman times in what is now Aquitaine, France* Aquitaine, a region of France roughly between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic ocean and the Garonne, also a former kingdom and duchy...
passed into the hands of the Franks, and Septimania, with other Visigothic territories in Gaul, was ruled by Amalaric's maternal grandfather, Theodoric the GreatTheodoric the GreatTheodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
. - 509: Theodoric the Great created the first kingdom of Septimania, retaining its traditional capital at Narbonne. He appointed as his regent an Ostrogothic nobleman named Theudis.
- 522: The young Amalaric was proclaimed king.
- 526: Theodoric died. Amalaric assumed full royal power in the Iberian PeninsulaIberian PeninsulaThe 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...
and Septimania, relinquishing Provence to his cousin AthalaricAthalaricAthalaric was the King of the Ostrogoths in Italy. He was a son of Eutharic and Amalasuntha. His maternal grandfather was Theodoric the Great. He succeeded his grandfather as king in 526....
. He married Clotilda, daughter of Clovis, but found, as other royal husbands of Merovingian princesses found, that the entanglement brought on him the penalty of a Frankish invasion. - 531: Amalaric lost his life in the Frankish invasion, and ArianArianismArianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
Visigothic Septimania was the last part of Gaul to remain in Visigothic hands. - 534 Prince Theudebert son of Theuderic of Austrasia (Merovingian Frankish not Gothic) invaded Septimania in concert with Prince Gunthar son of King Chlothar. Gunthar stopped at Rodez and did not invade Septimania. Theudebert took and held the country as far as Béziers and Carbiriers from which he took the woman Deuteria as a wife. Theudebert and his half brother Childebert invaded Spain as far as Saragossa 534-538. At some point soon after this, the Visigoths regained the territory they had lost in Theudebert's invasion.
- 586 Merovingian King of Burgundy GuntramGuntramSaint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...
raised a force to invade Septimania as a prelude to conquest of Spain. His forces plundered from Nîmes to CarcassonneCarcassonneCarcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
(where the Frankish Count Terentiolus of Limoges was killed) but were unable to take the walled cities. Visigothic Prince Recared came in response from Spain to Narbonne and as far as Nîmes and invaded nearby Frankish territories as far as Tolosa for plunder and to punish the Franks for the invasion (Gregory of Tours Book VIII 30-31 and 38). Frankish rebel Dukes Desiderius and Austrovald at that time in control of Tolosa raised an army and attacked Carcassonne. Desiderius was defeated and killed and Austrovald retreated with his for Tolosa (Gregory of Tours Book VIII 44). - 587 Septimania came under Catholic Rule in 587 with the conversion of Reccared I, who had become the King of the Visigoths in 586 with his father, Leovigild's death. At that time Arian Bishop Athaloc and Counts Granista and Wildigern revolted against Recared in Septimania but were defeated (Gregory of Tours Book IX 15 and John of Biclar) Most of the Christian population of the province were already Catholic and Arian Christians largely converted with the death of Athaloc soon after Recared's conversion.
- 589 Merovingian King of Burgundy Guntram again tried to invade Septimania sending Austrovald to Carcassonne and Boso and Antestius to other cities. King Recared sent General Claudius who defeated the Franks and preserved the territory of Septimania under Visigothic Rule.
Moorish rule
The MoorsMoors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, under Al-Samh ibn Malik the governor-general of al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
swept up the Iberian peninsula.
- 719: The Moors over-ran Septimania.
- 720: Al-Samh set up his capital at NarbonneNarbonneNarbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
, which the Moors called Arbūna. He offered the still largely ArianArianismArianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
inhabitants generous terms. - Al-Samh quickly pacified the other cities. With Narbonne secure, and equally important, its port, for the Arab mariners were masters now of the Western Mediterranean, he swiftly subdued the largely unresisting cities, still controlled by their Visigoth counts: taking Alet and BéziersBéziersBéziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
, AgdeAgdeAgde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
, LodèveLodèveLodève is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:...
, Maguelonne and NîmesNîmesNîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199302/the.arabs.in.occitania.htm. - 721: By now Al-Samh was reinforced and ready to lay siege to ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, a possession that would open up AquitaineAquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
to him on the same terms as Septimania. But his plans were overthrown in the disastrous Battle of Toulouse (721)Battle of Toulouse (721)The Battle of Toulouse was a victory of an Aquitanian army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city of Toulouse, and led by the governor of Al-Andalus, Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani...
, with immense losses, in which al-Samh was so seriously wounded that he soon died at Narbonne. - 720's: ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
forces soundly based in Narbonne and easily resupplied by sea, struck eastwards. - 725: Arab raid on AutunAutunAutun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...
. - 731: The BerberBerber peopleBerbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
waliWaliWalī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
of Narbonne and the region of CerdanyaCerdanyaCerdanya is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it has been one of the counties of Catalonia....
, Uthman ibn Naissa, called "Munuza" by the Franks, who was recently linked by marriage to duke Eudes of Aquitaine, revolted against CórdobaCórdoba, Spain-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, and was defeated and killed. - 732 October: An Islamic invasion force made up primarily of Berber and Arab cavalry under Abdul Rahman Al GhafiqiAbdul Rahman Al GhafiqiAbdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi , also known as Abd er Rahman, Abdderrahman, Abderame, and Abd el-Rahman, led the Andalusian Muslims into battle against the forces of Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours on October 10, 732 AD. for which he is primarily remembered in the West...
encountered Charles MartelCharles MartelCharles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
and his veteran Frankish army between ToursToursTours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
and PoitiersPoitiersPoitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
and was defeated, and Abd er-Rahman was killed, at what the majority of historians consider the macrohistorical "Battle of ToursBattle of ToursThe Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...
" that stopped the Moorish advance.
Frankish reconquest
- 732: The FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
took the territory round ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. Charles MartelCharles MartelCharles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
directed his attention to Narbonne. - 737: Charles Martel destroyed Arles, Avignon, and Nîmes, but unsuccessfully attacked Narbonne, which was defended by its Goths, and Jews under the command of its governor Yusuf, 'Abd er-Rahman's heir. Having crushed the relief force at the River Berre, he left Narbonne isolated.
- around 747: The government of the Septimania region (and the Upper Mark, from the PyrénéesPyreneesThe Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
to the river EbroEbroThe Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
) was given to Aumar ben AumarAumar ben AumarAumar ben Aumar was Governor of Septimania and Upper Mark, administrative divisions in the Muslim Cordobese emirate. Governed from 747 to C. 755 and lost Nîmes, Agde, Béziers and Melguelh in 752, but Narbonne, the capital, resisted for about seven years....
. - 752: The GothicGothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
counts of NîmesNîmesNîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Melguelh, AgdeAgdeAgde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
and BéziersBéziersBéziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
refused allegiance to the emir at CórdobaCórdoba, Spain-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
and declared their loyalty to the Frankish king. The count of Nîmes, AnsemundAnsemundAnsemund was the Gothic count of Nîmes, ruling from 752 until his death in 754.In 752, the Gothic counts of Nîmes, Melguelh, Agde, and Béziers refused allegiance to the Cordoban emir and declared their loyalty to the Frankish Kingdom. Ansemund seems to have had some authority over the other counts....
, had some authority over the remaining counts. The Gothic counts and the Franks then began to besiege NarbonneNarbonneNarbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where MilóMilo-Places:Canada* Milo, Alberta, a village in Vulcan CountyEthiopia* Milo, EthiopiaGreece* Milos, an island and municipality in Cyclades Prefecture, South AegeanGuinea* Milo River, a tributary of the Niger RiverIsrael...
was probably the count (as successor of the count GilbertGilbert of NarbonneGilbert of Narbonne was a Goth count of Narbonne who governed until about 750. His successor was Miló....
), but Narbonne resisted. - 754: An anti-Frank reaction, led by Ermeniard, killed Ansemund, but the uprising was without success and RadulfRadulf of NarbonneRadulf was a count of Narbonne of unknown origin, but he was count in 754 after the killing of Ansemund, probably by order of the Frankish king....
was designated new count by the Frankish court. - About 755: Abd al-Rahman ben UqbaAbd al-Rahman ben UqbaAbd al-Rahman ben Uqba was the Wali, or governor, of Septimania, an Upper Mark that substituted Aumar ben Aumar in 755. During his governing, Narbonne was lost by conquest to the Franks....
replaced Aumar ben Aumar. - 759: Charles Martel's son, Pippin the YoungerPippin the YoungerPepin , called the Short or the Younger , rarely the Great , was the first King of the Franks of the Carolingian dynasty...
bessiged Narbonne, which capitulated. The county was granted to MilóMilo-Places:Canada* Milo, Alberta, a village in Vulcan CountyEthiopia* Milo, EthiopiaGreece* Milos, an island and municipality in Cyclades Prefecture, South AegeanGuinea* Milo River, a tributary of the Niger RiverIsrael...
, who was the Gothic count in Muslim times. - 760: The Franks took the region of RoussillonRoussillonRoussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
. - 767: After the fight against Waifred of Aquitaine, Albi, RouergueRouergueRouergue is a former province of France, bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and on the west by Quercy...
, GévaudanGévaudanGévaudan is a historical area of France, nowadays situated in Lozère département. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe subordinate to the Arverni.- History :...
, and the city of ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
were conquered. - 777: The wali of BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Sulayman al-ArabiSulayman al-ArabiSulayman ibn Yaqzan al-Arabi was Wali of Barcelona and Girona in the year 777.For the history of al-Arabi, we must rely on the Muslim historian Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad , also known as Ali ‘izz ad-Din ibn al-Athir al-Jazari, who wrote four centuries after the fact.According to...
, and the wali of HuescaHuescaHuesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
, Abu TaurAbu Taur of HuescaAbu Taur was the Wali of Huesca in 777, who joined Sulayman al-Arabi in offer his submission to Charlemagne and collaborated with Frankish forces in the unsuccessful assault on Zaragoza in 778. It has been suggested that he may be identical to Abu Tawr ibn Qasi, son of the eponymous ancestor of...
, offered their submission to Charlemagne and also the submission of HusaynHusayn of ZaragozaHusayn of Zaragoza , Wali of Zaragoza, which is now the Spanish province of Aragón, from 774 to 781.-Events during the rule of Husayn:...
, wali of ZaragozaZaragozaZaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. - 778: CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
invaded the Upper Mark. Husayn refused allegiance and Charlemagne had to retreat. - 778 August 15: In the Pyrenees, the BasquesBasque peopleThe Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
defeated Charlemagne's forces in the RoncesvallesBattle of Roncevaux PassThe Battle of Roncevaux Pass was a battle in 778 in which Roland, prefect of the Breton March and commander of the rear guard of Charlemagne's army, was defeated by the Basques... - Charlemagne found Septimania and the borderlands so devastated and depopulated by warfare, with the inhabitants hiding among the mountains, that he made grants of land that were some of the earliest identifiable fiefs to Visigothic and other refugees. He also founded several monasteries in Septimania, around which the people gathered for protection. Beyond Septimania to the south Charlemagne established the Hispanic MarchesMarchesA march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
in the borderlands of his empire. Septimania passed to Louis, king in Aquitaine, but it was governed by Frankish margraves and then dukes (from 817) of Septimania. - 826: The Frankish noble Bernat of SeptimaniaBernat of SeptimaniaBernard of Septimania , son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was also count of Carcassonne from 837. He was appointed to succeed his fellow Frank Rampon...
(also, Bernat of Gothia) became ruler of Septimania and the Hispanic Marches and ruled them until 832. His career characterized the turbulent 9th century in Septimania. His appointment as Count of Barcelona in 826 occasioned a general uprising of the Catalan lords at this intrusion of Frankish power. For suppressing Berenguer of Toulouse and the Catalans, Louis the PiousLouis the PiousLouis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
rewarded Bernat with a series of counties, which roughly delimit 9th century Septimania: Narbonne, Béziers, Agde, Magalona, Nîmes and Uzés. - 843: Bernard rose against Charles the Bald.
- 844: He was apprehended at Toulouse and beheaded.
Postscript
Septimania became known as Gothia after the reign of CharlemagneCharlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. It retained these two names while it was ruled by the counts of Toulouse during early part of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, but the southern part became more familiar as Roussillon
Roussillon
Roussillon is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
and the west became known as Foix
Foix
Foix is a commune, the capital of the Ariège department in southwestern France. It is the least populous administrative centre of a department in all of France, although it is only very slightly smaller than Privas...
, and the name "Gothia" (along with the older name "Septimania") faded away during the 10th century, except as a traditional designation as the region fractured into smaller feudal entities, which sometimes retained Carolingian titles, but lost their Carolingian character, as the culture of Septimania evolved into the culture of Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
.