History

First signs of settlement in this region have been dated to about 3500 BC, but the hill site

of Carsac – a Celtic place name that has been retained at other sites in the south – became

an important trading place in the 6th century BC. The Volcae Tectosages fortified the

oppidum.

Carcassonne became strategically identified when Romans fortified the hilltop around

100 BC and eventually made it the colonia of Julia Carsaco, later Carcasum. The main

part of the lower courses of the northern ramparts dates from Gallo-Roman times. In 462

the Romans officially ceded Septimania to the Visigothic king Theodoric ll who had held

Carcassonne since 453; he built more fortifications at Carcassonne, which was a frontier

post on the northern marches: traces of them still stand. Theodoric is thought to have begun

the predecessor of the basilica that is now dedicated to Saint Nazaire. In 508 the Visigoths

successfully foiled attacks by the Frankish King Clovis. Saracens from Barcelona took

Carcassonne in 725, but King Pepin the Short (Pépin le Bref) drove them away in 759-60;

though he took most of the south of France, he was unable to penetrate the impregnable

fortress of Carcassonne.

County of Carcassonne

A medieval fiefdom, the county of Carcassonne, controlled the city and its environs. It was

often united with the County of Razès.The origins of Carcassonne as a county probably lie in

local representatives of the Visigoths but the first count known by name is Bello of the time

of Charlemagne. Bello founded a dynasty, the Bellonids, which would rule many honores in

Septimania and Catalonia for three centuries.

In 1067, Carcassonne became the property of Raimond Bernard Trencavel, viscount of Albi

and Nîmes, through his marriage with Ermengard, sister of the last count of Carcassonne.

In the following centuries, the Trencavel family allied in succession either with the counts of

Barcelona or of Toulouse. They built the Château Comtal and the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire.

In 1096 Pope Urban ll blessed the foundation stones of the new cathedral, a Catholic bastion

against the Cathars.

Carcassonne became famous in its role in the Albigensian Crusades, when the city was a

stronghold of Occitan Cathars. In August 1209 the crusading army of Simon de Montfort

forced its citizens to surrender. After capturing Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, imprisoning

him and allowing him to die, Montfort made himself the new viscount. He added to the

fortifications. Carcassonne became a border citadel between France and the kingdom

of Aragon (Spain).

In 1240, Trencavel’s son tried to reconquer his old domain but in vain. The city submitted

to the rule of the kingdom of France in 1247, and King Louis lX founded the new part of the

town across the river. He and his successor Philip lll built the outer ramparts. Contemporary

opinion still considered the fortress impregnable. During the Hundred Years War, Edward the

Black Prince failed to take the city in 1355, although his troops destroyed the Lower Town.

In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees transferred the border province of Roussillon to France,

and Carcassonne’s military significance was reduced. Fortifications were abandoned, and the

city became mainly an economic centre that concentrated on the textile industry