History of the city

A LITTLE HISTORY

antiquity

Toulouse makes its appearance in the fourth century BC. Originally inhabited by a Celtic tribe - Volques Tectosages - its privileged climate and geographical location make it the ally of Rome in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (Toulouse is then the 4th city of the Western empire), the center of the Visigoth kingdom in the fifth century; in the 6th century it was placed under the royal authority of Clovis. It was in the ninth century that Toulouse experienced its first hours of glory thanks to the Raymonds, hereditary counts which will give Toulouse one of the most famous institutions: a chapter of administrators, the Capitouls, to the number of 12 representatives elected by the corporations from 1141. 

The Middle Ages:

appearance of Catharism in the eleventh century, Catharism, a medieval heresy that appeared in Europe towards the end of the eleventh century on the Languedoc. Catharism sweeps over Languedoc. This Christian and dissident movement experienced a very strong penetration in the south of France, on the lands of the count of Toulouse. From a dualistic approach, the Cathars separated the material from the spiritual, the evil from the good. They called themselves good Christians.

The consequent implantation of Catharism in Languedoc began to overshadow the royal and papal powers. Pope Innocent III ordered a crusade in 1209 (or Albigensian Crusade), following the assassination of Pierre de Castelnau, his legate. The crusaders, commanded by Simon de Montfort, sacked Beziers, Carcassonne, and, despite the protection of the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VI, the natural lords of the region were defeated at Muret (1213) and Toulouse (1218).

The Cathar heresy will be eliminated at the end of the 13th century. The university was created during this period, whose mission is to train an educated clergy that can compete with that of Paris.

The Golden Century

In the 15th century opens the golden century of Toulouse: the pastel is marketed around the world, the rich merchants have built the famous mansions of pink bricks. With the arrival of indigo, the city sees its decline as a long period of religious unrest begins between Huguenots and Catholics. Suspected of being Protestant, the Capitouls are driven out, the Church dominates the city.

17^th century : the Canal du Midi

The idea of joining the two seas, the Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, to avoid the detour along the coast of Spain (3 000 km to go), the Strait of Gibraltar, the storms and perils of Barbary attacks, is an idea in the air long before the reign of Louis XIV.

In 1662, Pierre Paul Riquet, born in Beziers, seeks to bring water to the highest point of the future Canal, in a point of division so that it flows on both sides, Mediterranean side and side Atlantic. His knowledge of the Black Mountain and its rivers led him to imagine a feeding system based on the diversion of water by the capture of several streams and rivers.

Begun in 1667, the Canal du Midi was completed and inaugurated in 1681. P-P. Riquet, dies on October 1st, 1680 in Toulouse, and will never see the completion of his work.

20th century: the birth of aeronautics.

With the first world war, the city welcomed the first aeronautical companies, which had to be located as far as possible from the borders with Germany: Toulouse had found the industry of its future.

Toulouse, pioneer of the discovery of the sky

Toulouse did not know the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, which avoided the difficulties of a reconversion. The first world war, which requires finding rear bases to manufacture the planes essential to the Allied victory, with the installation of the company Latécoère, then the creation of the company Dewoitine, will set for history the basis of a long-lasting adventure by the state in need of rebalancing the French territory. It's an adventure full of great feats, such as those of Aéropostale and its pioneers, Caravelle in the 1960s, first success on the world market, not to mention Concorde.

From the thirteenth century, Toulouse is the first university outside Paris. An intellectual capital of the highest order, Toulouse inaugurated the second university of France in 1229. In 1323, 7 rich bourgeois founded the Academy of Floral Games, the oldest in Europe.

This technological jewel will mark the history of civil aviation. Nevertheless, if the technology was revolutionary, and perhaps for this reason, the reception of the market will be far from being up to the ambitions. Toulouse will not forget neither the commercial failure, nor the technological breakthroughs, which are the seeds of the success of Airbus Industry.