Assier

Assier (; oc, Assièr) is a commune in the Lot department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Assiérois'' or ''Assiéroises''.

Geography

Location and access

Assier is located some 12 km north-west of Figeac and some 18 km south-east of Gramat. The village is in the centre of the commune at the intersection of two highways: the D11 from Saint-Simon in the north-west which continues to Reyrevignes in the south-east and the D653 from Livernon in the south-west which continues to join the D840 north-east of the commune.Google Maps
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The Brive-la-Gaillarde to Rodez railway passes through the commune from north-west to south-east with Assier station just west of the village.

Relief

The highest parts of the commune are to the north-east (about 400 metres above sea level). The Limargue landscape provides grazing for cattle. A small stream flows with a slight slope parallel to the D653 in a wide valley flooded during heavy rain. After two ponds and an old mill, its water is lost near the centre of the village (altitude 350 metres).

In the south the rocky terrain forms a slightly undulating limestone plateau (320–330 metres above sea level) pierced by a few sinkholes around ten metres deep. This plateau is covered with short grass (dry grasslands) which supports flocks of sheep. There are also forests of contorted downy oaks that are used for firewood.IGN Map 2237 West-Lacapelle-Marival, 1/25000

Geology

Assier is located at the end of an Early Jurassic formation called Limargue at the edge of the Causses limestone.Hydro-geology of Lot department and of the Causses of Quercy - Map at 1/100000 scale with topographic background from IGN – made by J.C. Soulé, J. Astruc, and R. Vernet - Editions BRGM

In the south-east the ''Causse de Gramat'' is composed of Karstified limestone from the Middle and Late Jurassic.

The oldest Early Jurassic terrain is in the ''Ruisseau d'Assier'' to the north-west:
*on the level in a tarn of black marl and layers of impervious schist from the Toarcian period;
*permeable calcareous sandstone from the Pliensbachian period in which there are emergences of ''Routabous'' and ''Tour de Maroc'' to the north at ''Vialans'';
*from a place called ''Le Parc'' (in Le Bourg commune), a thin strip of less than 50 metres of semi-permeable marls, Argillites (of mixed clay and quartz), and limestones from the middle and upper Early Jurassic.

The valley floor consists of alluvium brought down by modern streams.

Hydro-geology

Assier is on the edge of the ''Causse de Gramat''. The waters from the Limargue to the north-east come across impermeable marl from the Early Jurassic the descend below the permeable limestone from the Middle and Late Jurassic. The limit of the Drainage basin is located to the north of Assier, water flows towards the south towards the Célé: this is the system called "Gramat-Sud" which drains 330 square kilometres.

To the north-west, north of Vialans, there are the emergences of ''Routabous'' and ''Tour de Maroc'' of calcareous sandstone from the Pliensbachian period.

The small streams or ''Biales'' sink into the limestone through karstic openings. From north-west to south-east, these are:.Jean Taisne, ''Contribution to a speleological inventory for Lot department'', Comité Départemental de Spéléologie du Lot (CDS46), Labastide-Murat, March 2006, 363 pages, p. 155, plan 60, Gilbert Carayol, ''Assier, A Village community'', Quercy Recherche, March 2003, Les hauts lieux du Quercy collection, 154 pages,

*The ''Ruisseau de l'Homme'' has its source near the Chapel of Saint-Médard (in the Issepts commune). It flows towards the two ''Pertes d'Assier'' sinkholes: the first is at the foot of the east wall of the chateau in the ruins of an old mill that was still functioning at the beginning of the 20th century, 75 metres south of the pond formed by the ''Ruisseau d'Assier'' at the entry to the town. The second sinkhole is 20 metres east of the pond. These waters flow in the stream that passes near the ponds along the D653 road towards Lacapelle-Marival. The re-emergences are at Saint-Sulpice in the Célé valley 13.5 km away. The time of passage of the water is 12 days.
*The ''Perte de l'Abois'': a temporary sinkhole consisting of an entrance three metres high located in a small valley that crosses the D11 between Assier and Reyrevignes.
*The ''Perte du Cayre'' and the ''Grotte du Pech d'Amont'': these cavities are the head of the hydro-geological system that drains water toward the re-emergence of the Diège at Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie, nine kilometres away. The transit time for the water is 40 hours.

Previously, other cavities at a higher altitude would have been of old sinkholes or were connected to the existing water systems: the ''Grotte du Cirque'' and the ''Grotte du Fennet''.

Potholing

In addition to the sinkholes in the Limargue-Causse contact zone, many caves and Pit caves open up on limestone terrain. The best known are:
*The Grotte du Cirque. This hole is adorned with beautiful concretions. This has been a classified site since 29 April 1997 and monitoring arrangements for visits have been defined since 27 January 2009;
*The Grotte du Fennet. This hole was mentioned in 1894 by Édouard-Alfred Martel.''Les Abîmes'', Delagrave, Édouard-Alfred Martel, 1894, relié, Paris, Chapter XVIII - Le Causse de Gramat — Les Grottes et les sources, p. 342-343
Read online
consulted on 3 November 2010, It opens on the side of a sinkhole through a low passage and a corridor 60 metres long leading to a shaft 15 metres deep then a large gallery 45 metres long, 20 m wide and 30 m high. A narrow passage and a shaft lead to a low point of about 45 metres underground.

Toponymy

The name ''Assier'' could be related to the name of a watercourse according to Ernest Nègre. According to others ''Assier'' has a Germanic origin after a person called ''Anshari''. This name decomposes to: ''ans'', a pagan deity, and ''hari'' meaning "army".Gaston Bazalgues, ''On the discovery of place names of Quercy - Toponymy of Lot'', Éditions de la Bouriane et du Quercy, Gourdon, June 2002, 127 pages, p. 105,

History

Prehistory

The territory of Assier has been inhabited from the earliest times. Three dolmens and tumuli are visible on the limestone of the plateau to the east of the village.

The dolmens around Assier were made from thick strata of limestone.Monique Mahenc, ''Megalithic promenade in Quercy - Ancient beliefs and energy of the land'', Éditions Nestor, Labège, 2002, 350 pages, p. 163-168, They are located on the ''Causse de Gramat'' and were emptied of their contents in the past.

*The Dolmen in the ''Bois des Bœufs'' is covered with a slab 3.7 metres long, 2.6 m wide and 0.3 m thick with an approximate mass of about 8 tonnes. This capstone rests on two orthostats with a length of about 3 m and 0.6 m high. It has been a historical monument since 1889;Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
*At an altitude 200 metres higher than the preceding dolmen, the Dolmen of Garivals has a slab 2.3 metres long, 2m wide, and 0.3m thick resting on two orthostats of unequal length: 2.9 and 2.3 metres. This dolmen includes a Dry stone wall;
*The Dolmen of the ''Table de Roux'' has a slab 3.3 metres long, 2.5 m wide, and 0.3 m thick placed on two orthostats 4 metres long.

Four other dolmens and a menhir were also present north-west of the village in the hamlet of Mons at a place called ''Le champ de Belair''. At least two of these dolmens are still visible today. The menhir was removed in the past but was returned flat near its original location by the landowner.

File:Dolmen bois boeufs assier.jpg, The Dolmen in the ''Bois des bœufs''
File:Dolmen garivals assier.jpg, The Dolmen of Garivals
File:Dolmen table roux assier.jpg, The ''Table de Roux''

Middle Ages

The Fortified Town

In the Middle Ages Assier had the appearance of a fortified camp: a village surrounded by a defensive wall. Of the first feudal castle only the ''Tour de Sal'' (Sal Tower) remains. Outside the walls there were extended suburbs called ''barry'': ''barry de Mons'', ''barry des Sal, barry de las botas, barry des leygue'', and ''barry del Torria''. Assier had the Abbot of Figeac as their Lord and it was attached to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem though some hamlets such as Vialan depended on the Hospital of Issendolus.

From the 13th century the Assier community had the right to elect consuls. Every year on the first Sunday of September, all heads of household paid tax to one or more elected consuls.

The Commandery of Assier

Around 1280, the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem founded a commandery. It was a donation by Barasc who owned part of the lordship of Assier. It included: a fortified house, a church dedicated to St. Peter, a hospital on the site of the Chateau of ''Galiot de Genouillace'', a leprosarium at a place called Malaudie on the road to Reyrevignes.Jacques Juillet, ''Commanderies of Haut-Quercy - On the Chemin de Rocamadour'', 1975, 171 pages, p. 44-49

List of Knights and Priests of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem who were tax collectors in Assier:

*1280: Pierre de Canis
*1291: Jean de Cazalis
*1299: Rotan de Montal who bought the domain of Mons
*1322: Helie de Lavalette, commander of Assier
*1336: Helie de Calston or Calvet, commander of Assier
*1342: Jordan de Chaldayrac, commander of Assier
*1344: Brother Pierre Marquès, Rector of Assier
*1398: Brother Hugue Benson, Rector of Assier
*1405: Brother Pierre Robert, Rector of Assier
*1470-1490 Brother Hugo de Goles, Prosecutor of the commander of Le Bastit
*1501: Jean de Valon, commander of Assier, Cras, and Le Bastit who united Assier and Bastit

The

Hundred Years War

From 1355, the entire Quercy region became a theatre of struggle during the Hundred Years War. The Black Prince and his English troops invaded the south-west and Quercy. After the French defeat at the Battle of Poitiers, the Treaty of Brétigny gave England the Guyenne and Gascony. The region was unstable because all the lords did not rally to the King of England.

Armed gangs were active for the English or on their own account. They robbed, ransomed, and massacred the population. One of these bands, under the orders of Bassorat, had their hideout at the ''Tour de Marot'' or the ''Tour de Maroc'' at a place called ''La Garénie''. Bassorat ravaged the country until 1395 when he left for Spain. The English left the region around 1450.

Assier and its surroundings were ruined, it had to repopulate the country by bringing families from Auvergne, Rouergue, and elsewhere by providing favourable conditions. During this calmer period of 1450–1547 the church and the chateau were built. Many workers and tradesmen came and agriculture grew.

The Lords of Assier

From the 12th century the first lords mentioned were called the Rigaud d'Assier. One member of this family was pastor of Toulouse Cathedral and lived at the court of Pope John XXII. Some of his guests at his house in Avignon were involved in the 1317 plot against the Pope He was Bishop of Winchester from 1319 to 1323.

Raymond du Bosc, Lord of La Garénie became co-lord of Assier by marrying a Rigaud: Marguerite of Assier. One of his descendants, Augé du Bosc married Jeanne de Rassiols in 1439, Lady of Vaillac