Roussillon

Roussillon

*Rosselló* (Catalan)
Roussillon Rosselló (Catalan)
Historical province
	UTC+2 (CEST)

Roussillon (

Upper Cerdagne, Capcir, Vallespir, Conflent, and Fenouillèdes) in the former region of Languedoc-Roussillon (today Occitanie

).

History

The name Roussillon is derived from Ruscino (Rosceliona, Castel Rossello), a small fortified place near modern-day Perpignan where Gaulish chieftains met to consider Hannibal's request for a conference. The region formed part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis from 121 BC to AD 462, when it was ceded with the rest of Septimania to the Visigoth Theodoric II. His successor, Amalaric, on his defeat by Childebert I in 531, retired to Hispania, leaving a governor in Septimania.

In 719, the

Aquitaine – whose hegemony extended into Catalonia

.

The different portions of his kingdom in time grew into

Girard I participated in the First Crusade in the following of Raymond IV of Toulouse, and was one of the first to set foot in Jerusalem when it was stormed by the Crusaders in 1099. At the beginning of the 12th century, the prestige of the Counts of Barcelona

began to rise to such a height that the Counts of Roussillon had no choice but to swear fealty to them.

In 1111,

Mediterranean trade.^{[citation needed}

]

As the French and Aragonese crowns grew in power, the region of Roussillon, forming part of the border between them, was frequently a site of military conflict. By the Treaty of Corbeil (1258), Louis IX of France formally surrendered his claims of sovereignty over Roussillon and to the title of Count of Barcelona to the Crown of Aragon, recognizing a centuries-old reality.^{[citation needed]}

Majorca and Roussillon in 1344.^{[citation needed}

]

The province was now reunited to the

Louis XI of France to support John against his subjects, who had risen in revolt, the Catalan Civil War (1462-1472). The province, having been pledged as collateral to Louis for 300,000 crowns, was occupied by French troops until 1493, when Charles VIII evacuated the region as part of a settlement with Ferdinand the Catholic

(son of John II of Aragon).

As part of a wider war (the Italian Wars), France and Spain clashed here between 1496 and 1498. Eventually the Spanish, under personal command of Ferdinand, not only secured Roussillon but managed to push into southern France before the new French monarch, Louis XII, signed the Treaty of Granada (1500).

The Habsburg dynasty took control of both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1516 and the two crowns were for the first time ruled by the same physical person. This was under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (called Charles I of Spain), grandson of the Catholic Monarchs.

Partition of the Principality of Catalonia (1659)

When Perpignan was besieged by the forces of Henry, Dauphin of France in 1542, the inhabitants were loyal to Charles V. Perpignan earned the royal sobriquet of "Fedelissima" ("Most Faithful City").

When the

Louis XIII of France entered the conflict on the side of the former. After a protracted war, the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) partitioned the Principality of Catalonia, securing Roussillon and part of the Cerdanya

(Cerdagne) to the French crown, creating the French province of Roussillon.

The next fifty years saw a concerted effort by

Louis XIV both to ensure the political allegiance of his new subjects and to alter their cultural identity. He was successful in the former but failed in the latter. Outside the capital of Perpignan, Roussillon remained distinctly Catalan

in outlook and culture until the late nineteenth century, when industrialization began to replace Catalan identity with French.

During the

Ancien Régime province of Roussillon was abolished and a new department, the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales, was created instead. This department corresponds roughly to the old Roussillon, with the addition of the comarca of Fenouillèdes. Pyrénées-Orientales is the name by which this department is officially known in France. The old name of Roussillon did contribute to the French région of Languedoc-Roussillon

.

Notes

^ Catalan: Catalunya Nord

References

^ "Roussillon". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
^ "Roussillon". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 23 June 2019.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Roussillon". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 780.