Villefranche-de-Rouergue (; oc, Vilafranca de Roergue ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants o ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

Villefranche-de-Rouergue station Villefranche-de-Rouergue is a railway station in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Occitanie, France. The station is on the Brive-Toulouse (via Capdenac) line. The station is served by TER (local) services operated by SNCF The Société nationale ...

has rail connections to Toulouse, Figeac and Aurillac.

History

At the end of the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

from the northern "barons" against the southern

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...

on a religious pretext (fighting the

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follow ...

heresy), the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of county of Toulouse, Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the kingdom of the Franks, Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ru ...

was defeated and concluded the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in 1229. With this, the Count gave the

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...

county to his daughter. She married

Alphonse de Poitiers Alphonse or Alfonso (11 November 122021 August 1271) was the count of Poitou from 1225 and count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence. Birth and early life Born at ...

, brother of Saint Louis, King of France. Alphonse founded Villefranche on the place of an old village called La Peyrade in 1252. In 1348 it was so flourishing that

sumptuary law Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...

s were passed. Soon afterwards the town fell into the hands of

Edward the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, su ...

, but was the first place in

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne (, ; oc, Guiana ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transformation o ...

to rise against the English. New privileges were granted to the town by

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

, but these were taken away by

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

. In 1588 the inhabitants repulsed the forces of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

, and afterwards murdered a governor sent by Henry IV. The town was ravaged by plague in 1463, 1558 and 1628, and in 1643 a revolt was cruelly repressed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, while occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Villefranche received a large 13th Waffen SS Handschar (1st Croatian) division. Led by

Ferid Džanić Ferid Džanić (1918 – 17 September 1943) was a Bosniak soldier during World War II. A member of the SS ''Handschar'' Division, he was one of the leaders of an unsuccessful anti-German mutiny in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in which he was kille ...

, Eduard Matutinović, Božo Jelinek and Nikola Vukelić, one battalion staged a rebellion against the Nazis on 17 September 1943, (

Villefranche-de-Rouergue uprising The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS ''Handschar'' (1st Croatian) was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World ...

) but were soon suppressed and mostly

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

on site. The few that escaped inspired the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

that had not been formed until then. After the war, an avenue in Villefranche was named ''Avenue des Croates'' (Avenue of the Croats) in honour of the uprising.

Buildings

One of the principal thoroughfares passes beneath the porch of Notre-Dame, the principal church of Villefranche. Notre-Dame was built from 1260 to 1581, the massive tower which surmounts its porch being of late

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

. The woodwork in the choir dates from the 15th century. A

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monastery overlooking the town from the left bank of the

derives much interest from the completeness and fine preservation of its buildings, which date from the 15th century. They include a chapel, a vestibule, a chapter house, a refectory, an exhibition room and two cloisters, the smaller of which is a masterpiece of the late Gothic style.

Twin towns – sister cities

Villefranche-de-Rouergue is twinned with: *

Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

, Croatia *

Sarzana Sarzana (, ; lij, Sarzann-a) is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former short-lived Catholic bishopric in the Province of La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. It is east of Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parma diver ...

, Italy

History

Buildings

Twin towns – sister cities

Population

See also