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The ''Cagots'' () were a persecuted minority found in the west of France and northern Spain: the
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
se Pyrenees, Basque provinces,
Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
, Aragón,
Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
and Brittany. Evidence of the group exists as far back as 1000 CE.


Name


Etymology

The origins of both the term (and , , , etc.) and the Cagots themselves are uncertain. It has been suggested that they were descendants of the Visigoths defeated by
Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...
at the Battle of Vouillé,: ""
Court de Gebelin A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
'' in his chooses the '' Alans'' and cites the Battle of Orleans (463), battle of 463, in which they were defeated with the Visigoths. ''Pierre de Marca, Marca'' regards them as the remains of the ''Saracens, Sarazans'' defeated by '' Carl Martel'' led by the '' Abdalrahman''. ''
Ramond Ramond is a surname, and may refer to: *Louis Ramond de Carbonnières (1755–1827), French politician, geologist and botanist, who gave his name to the Société Ramond *Pierre Ramond Pierre Ramond (; born 31 January 1943) is distinguished profess ...
'' in his ''Journey to the Pyrenees'' derives them from the Arian-minded peoples who, under the '' Clodoveus'' in the year 507 at '' Vouglé'' (''in Campo'' or ''Campania Vocladensi'') under the leadership of '' Alaric'', beaten, scattered, abused ten miles from ''
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
'', and treated with equal bitterness and contempt by the inhabitants of the '' Loire'' and the '' Sévre'' the mouths of these two rivers were driven. Who is right here must first be decided later, and before this can happen, the matter must be examined more closely."]
and that the name derives from ("dog") and the
Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label=Occitan language, Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteen ...
for
Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...
around the 6th century. Yet in opposition to this etymology is the fact that the word is first found in this form no earlier than the year 1542. Seventeenth century French historian Pierre de Marca, in his , propounds the reverse – that the word signifies "hunters of the Goths", and that the Cagots were descendants of the Saracens and Moors of Al-Andalus (or even Jews) after their defeat by Charles Martel, although this proposal was comprehensively refuted by the
Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
of
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
, Abbot as early as 1754. Antoine Court de Gébelin derives the term cagot from the Latin , meaning "false, bad, deceitful", and meaning "god", due to a belief that Cagots were descended from the Alans and followed
Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
.


Variations

Their name differed by province and the local language: * In
Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
they were called , and ; "" The gafets or gahets of Guyenne make their appearance in history towards the end of the 13th century, at the same time as the cagots. They, too, were considered wretches; they had in the church a door, a place and a stoup reserved, and they were buried separately. The custom of Mas-d'Agenais, written in 1388, forbids anyone "to buy, to sell, cattle or poultry from gafet or gafete, or to rent gafet or gafete for harvesting." The custom of Marmande">Le Mas-d'Agenais">Mas-d'Agenais, written in 1388, forbids anyone "to buy, to sell, cattle or poultry from gafet or gafete, or to rent gafet or gafete for harvesting." The custom of Marmande forbids gafets to go barefoot through the streets and without a "signal" of red cloth applied to the left side of the dress, to buy or to stay in the city on a day other than Monday; she enjoins them, if they meet man or woman, to stand apart as much as possible until the passer-by has moved away."] * In Bordeaux they were called , : "" ["They are known in Brittany under the name of Cacous or Caqueux. They can be found in Aunis, especially on the island of Maillezais, as well as in La Rochelle, where they are called Coliberts. In Guyenne and Gascogne, near Bordeaux, they appear under the name of the Cahets, and can be found in the most uninhabitable swamps, swamps and heaths. In the two Navarres they are called Caffos, Cagotes, Agotes."] or * In
Agenais Agenais (), or Agenois (), was an ancient region that became a county (Old French: ''conté'' or ''cunté'') of France, south of Périgord.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Agenais". '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Sprin ...
, Bordeaux, and Landes de Gascogne they were called * In the Spanish Basque country they were called , , , and * In
Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...
, Languedoc, and Armagnac they were called , and (''marsh people'') * In Brittany they were called , (possibly from the
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...
word meaning leprous), and . They were also sometimes referred to as , , ,: "" ["The question arises 2) ''Do the caquets or caqueux in Brittany and the cagots in Bearn, like the cassos in Navarre, belong to one and the same family?'' We think we can answer the question with ''
Ramond Ramond is a surname, and may refer to: *Louis Ramond de Carbonnières (1755–1827), French politician, geologist and botanist, who gave his name to the Société Ramond *Pierre Ramond Pierre Ramond (; born 31 January 1943) is distinguished profess ...
'' in the affirmative. The close affinity of names, the similarity of their condition, the same contempt in all places, and the same spirit emanating from all the ordinances concerning them, seem to prove this."]
, and , names of the local due to similar low stature and discrimination in society. , or referencing Gehazi the servant of
Elisha Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
who was cursed with leprosy due to his greed. With the recording as an insult regularly used against Cagots. is seen in the writings of Dominique Joseph Garat. Also in the French Basque Country the forms and were also used. * In
Bigorre Bigorre ({{IPA-fr, biɡɔʁ; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of t ...
they were also called or * In Aunis and Poitou they were also called / * Also other recorded names include , , , , , and (most likely from the Old French meaning leper). Previously some of these names had been viewed as being similar yet separate groups from the Cagots, though this changed in some cases in later research.


Geography

The cagots were present in France in
Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
to the
Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...
, but also in the north of Spain (in
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
, south and north
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, and Asturias) where they are referred to commonly by the term Agotes. Cagots were typically required to live in separate quarters, on the outskirts of towns. These hamlets were called then from the 16th century , which were often on the far outskirts of the villages. On the scale of
Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
, for example, the distribution of cagots, often carpenters, was similar to that of other craftsmen, who were numerous mainly in the Piedmont. Far from congregating in only a few places, the cagots were scattered in over 137 villages and towns. Outside the mountains, 35 to 40% of communities had cagots, especially the largest ones, excluding very small villages.


Toponomy

Toponymy and topography indicate that the places where the cagots were found have constant characteristics; these are gaps, generally across rivers or outside
town walls A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
, called “” (and derivatives) or “” (Laplace names are frequent) next to water points, places allocated to live and above all to practice their trades. Toponymy also provides evidence of areas where Cagots had lived in the past. Various Street names are still in use such as: * in the municipalities of Montgaillard and Lourdes * in
Laurède Laurède (; oc, Laureda) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of the 327 communes of the Landes department of France. The co ...
* in ( Roquefort) * in Saint-Girons * in the municipalities of Mézin,
Sos is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...
, Vic-Fezensac,
Aire-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour (; oc, Aira d'Ador or simply ) is a commune in the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Adour in the wine area of southwest France. It is an episcopal see of the Diocese of Aire and D ...
, Eauze, and Gondrin * in
Villeneuve-de-Marsan Villeneuve-de-Marsan (; oc, Vilanava de Marsan) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of the 327 communes of the ...
* in
Vérines Vérines () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprise ...
In
Aubiet Aubiet () is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Localisation Roads and transports National road 124, which goes from Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department ...
, there is a locality called “”. It was in this hamlet, that the cagots () of Aubiet lived, on the left bank of the
Arrats The Arrats is a 162 km long river in southern France, left tributary of the Garonne. Its source is in the northern foothills of the Pyrenees, near Sariac-Magnoac. It flows north through the following ''departments of France, départements'' an ...
, separated from the village by the river. In this last example, the discovery of the name of the place allowed teachers to discover the local history of the cagots and to start educational work. Until the beginning of the 20th century, several districts of cagots still bore the name of ("Carpenter").


Treatment

Cagots were shunned and hated; while restrictions varied by time and place, with many discriminatory actions being codified into law in France in 1460, they were typically required to live in separate quarters. Cagots were excluded from various political and social rights.


Religion and government

Cagots were not allowed to marry non-Cagots leading to forced endogamy, though in some areas in the later centuries (such as
Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
) they were able to marry non-Cagots though the non-Cagot would then be classed as a Cagot. They were not allowed to enter taverns or use public fountains. The marginalization of the Cagots began at baptism where chimes were not rung in celebration as was the case for non-Cagots and that the baptisms were held at nightfall. Within parish registries the term , or its scholarly synonym , was entered. Cagots were buried in cemeteries separate from non-Cagots with reports of riots occurring if bishops tried to have the bodies moved to non-Cagot cemeteries. Commonly Cagots were not given a standard last name in registries and records but were only listed by their first name, followed by the mention "" or "", such as on their baptismal certificate, They were allowed to enter a church only by a special door: "" that they were not allowed to enter the churches other than through separate doors, and in these had their own stoups and chairs for themselves and their families."/ref> and, during the service, a rail separated them from the other worshippers. They were forbidden from joining the priesthood. Either they were altogether forbidden to partake of the sacrament, or the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
was given to them on the end of a wooden spoon, while a holy water stoup was reserved for their exclusive use. They were compelled to wear a distinctive dress to which, in some places, was attached the foot of a goose or duck (whence they were sometimes called ), and latterly to have a red representation of a goose's foot in fabric sewn onto their clothes. Whilst in Navarre a court ruling in 1623 required all Cagots to wear cloaks with a yellow trim to identify them as Cagots.


Work

Cagots were prohibited from selling food or wine, touching food in the market, working with livestock, or entering mills. The Cagots were often restricted to craft trades including those of carpenter, masons, woodcutters, wood carvers,: "" Apart from splitting wood and carving, they are not allowed to do any other craft: these two occupations have become contemptible and dishonorable because of this."/ref> coopers, butcher, and rope-maker. Due to association with crafts working with wood Cagots, as well as making the instruments, they often worked operating instruments of torture that were made of wood in towns and villages, as well as executioners. Such professions may have perpetuated their social ostracisation. Cagot women were often midwives until the 15th century. Due to social exclusion, in France the Cagots were exempt from taxation until the 18th century. By the 19th century these restrictions seem to have been lifted, but the trades continued to be practiced by Cagots, along with other trades such as weaving and blacksmithing. Cagots who were involved in masonry and carpentry were often contracted to construct major public buildings, such as churches, an example being the . Because the main identifying mark of the Cagots was the restriction of their trades to a few small options, their segregation has been compared to the
caste system in India The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in Outline of ancient India, ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern ...
.: ""
St. Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
to deep up the Pyrenees, there is a class of people who come very close to the Indian pariah, and are on the same level of humiliation with them. They have been scattered in these areas, from time immemorial to the present day, under constant disparagement from their more fortunate fellow citizens. With their best-known and most general designation they are called Cagots, and it remains doubtful whether the hypocrites gave them or they gave them their names, although the last one seems more credible to me."]


Accusations and pseudo-medical beliefs

The Cagots were not an ethnic nor a religious group. They spoke the same language as the people in an area and generally kept the same religion as well, with later researchers remarking that there was no evidence to mark the Cagots as distinct from their neighbours. Their only distinguishing feature was their descent from families long identified as Cagots. Few consistent reasons were given as to why they were hated; accusations varied from Cagots being cretins, lepers, heretics, cannibals, sorcerers, werewolves, sexual deviants, to actions they were accused of such as poisoning wells, or for simply being intrinsically evil. also notes how it was also believed that they could cause children to fall ill by touching them or even just looking at them. So pestilential was their touch considered that it was a crime for them to walk the common road barefooted or to drink from the same cup as non-Cagots. It was also a common belief that the Cagots gave off a foul smell. The Cagots did have a culture of their own, but very little of it was written down or preserved; as a result, almost everything that is known about them relates to their persecution. The repression lasted through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Industrial Revolution, with the prejudice fading only in the 19th and 20th centuries. The French early psychiatrist
Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol (3 February 1772 – 12 December 1840) was a French psychiatrist. Early life and education Born and raised in Toulouse, Esquirol completed his education at Montpellier. He came to Paris in 1799 where he worked a ...
wrote in his 1838 works that the Cagots were a subset of " idiot", and separate from "cretins". By the middle of the 19th century, previous pseudo-medical beliefs and beliefs of them being intellectually inferior had waned and German doctors, by 1849, regarded them as “not without the ability to become useful members of society.” Though various French and British doctors were continuing to label the Cagots as a race inherently afflicted with congenital disabilities to the end of the 19th century. Daniel Tuke wrote in 1880 after visiting communities where Cagots lived, noted how local people would not subject "cretins" born to non-Cagots to living with Cagots.


Origin


Biblical legends

Various legends placed the Cagots as originating from biblical events, including being descendants of the carpenters who made the cross that Jesus was crucified on, or being descendants of the bricklayers who built Solomon's Temple after being expelled from ancient Israel by God due to poor craftsmanship. Similarly a more detailed legend places the origins of the Cagots in Spain as being descendants of a Pyrenean master carver named Jacques, who traveled to ancient Israel via Tartessos, to cast Boaz and Jachin for Solomon's Temple. While in Israel he was distracted during the casting of Jachin by a woman, and due to the imperfection this caused in the column his descendants were cursed to suffer leprosy.


Religious origin

Another theory is that the Cagots were descendants of the Cathars, who had been persecuted for heresy in 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 ...
. With some comparisons including the use the term to refer to Cagots, which evokes the name that the Cathars gave to themselves, . A delegation by Cagots to Pope Leo X in 1514 made this claim, though the Cagots predate the Cathar heresy and the Cathar heresy was not present in Gascony and other regions where Cagots were present. Perhaps this was a strategic move: in statutes such stains of heresy expired after four generations and if this was the cause of their marginalisation, it also gave grounds for their emancipation. Others have suggested an origin as Arian Christians. One early mention of the Cagots is from 1288, when they appear to have been called or . Other terms seen in use prior to the
16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th cent ...
include , , and , which in medieval texts became inseparable from the term , and so in
Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
became synonymous with the word leper. Thus, another theory is that the Cagots were early converts to Christianity, and that the hatred of their
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
neighbors continued after they also converted, merely for different reasons.


Medical origin

Another possible explanation of their name or is to be found in the fact that in medieval times all lepers were known as , and that, whether Visigoths or not, these Cagots were affected in the Middle Ages with a particular form of leprosy or a condition resembling it, such as psoriasis. Thus would arise the confusion between Christians and Cretins, and explain the similar restrictions placed on lepers and Cagots.
Ambroise Paré Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590) was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a p ...
wrote in of Cagots in 1561 of being lepers with "beautiful faces" and skin with no signs of leprosy, describing them as "white lepers" (people afflicted with "white leprosy"). Later dermatologists believe that Paré was describing leucoderma. Early edicts apparently refer to lepers and Cagots as different categories of undesirables, With this distinction being explicit by 1593. The
Parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...
of Bordeaux repeated customary prohibitions against them but added when they are lepers, if there still are any, they must carry (rattles). One belief in Navarre were that the were descendants of French immigrant lepers to the region. Later English commentators supported the idea of an origin among a community of lepers due to the similarities in the treatment of Cagots in churches and the measures taken to allow lepers in England and Scotland to attend churches.


Other origins

wrote that the Cagots were likely descendants of Spanish Roma from the Basque country. In Bordeaux, where they were numerous, they were called (synonymous with the Gascon word for thief), also used in Old French to refer to leprosy, close to the Catalan and the Spanish meaning robber or looter, similar to the older, probably
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
-origin Latin term (or bagad), a possible origin of . The alleged physical appearance and ethnicity of the Cagots varied wildly from legends and stories; some local legends (especially those that held to the leper theory) indicated that Cagots had blonde hair and blue eyes, while those favoring the Arab descent story said that Cagots were considerably darker. In
Pío Baroja Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew ...
's work comments that Cagot residents of had both individuals with "Germanic" features as well as individuals with "Romani" features. One common trend was to claim that Cagots had no ears or no earlobes, or that one ear was longer than the other, with other supposed identifiers including webbed hands and/or feet, or the presence of goitres. Graham Robb finds most of the above theories unlikely: A modern hypothesis of interest is that the Cagots are the descendants of a fallen medieval guild of carpenters. This theory would explain the most salient thing Cagots throughout France and Spain have in common: that is, being restricted in their choice of trade. The red webbed-foot symbol Cagots were sometimes forced to wear might have been the guild's original emblem. There was a brief construction boom on the
Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...
pilgrimage route in the 9th and 10th centuries; this could have brought the guild both power and suspicion. The collapse of their business would have left a scattered, yet cohesive group in the areas where Cagots are known. For similar reasons due to their restricted trades, Delacampagne suggests a possible origin as a culturally distinct community of woodsmen who were Christianised relatively late.


Religion

Cagots followed the same religion as the non-Cagots who lived around them. They were forced to use a side entrance to churches, often an intentionally low one to force Cagots to bow and remind them of their subservient status. This practice, done for cultural rather than religious reasons, did not change even between Catholic and Huguenot areas. They had their own holy water fonts set aside for Cagots, and touching the normal font was strictly forbidden. These restrictions were taken seriously; in the 18th century, a wealthy Cagot had his hand cut off and nailed to the church door for daring to touch the font reserved for "clean" citizens. Cagots were expected to slip into churches quietly and congregate in the worst seats. Many Bretons believed that Cagots bled from their navel on
Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...
. An appeal by the Cagots to Pope Leo X in 1514 was successful, and he published a bull instructing that the Cagots be treated "with kindness, in the same way as the other believers." Still, little changed, as most local authorities ignored the bull.


Government

The nominal though usually ineffective allies of the Cagots were the government, the educated, and the wealthy. This included Charles V who officially supported tolerance of and improvements to the lives of Cagots. It has been suggested that the odd patchwork of areas which recognized Cagots has more to do with which local governments tolerated the prejudice, and which allowed Cagots to be a normal part of society. In a study in 1683, doctors examined the Cagots and found them no different from normal citizens. Notably, they did not actually suffer from leprosy or any other disease that could clarify their exclusion from society. The Parliaments of Pau, Toulouse and Bordeaux were apprised of the situation, and money was allocated to improve the lot of the Cagots, but the populace and local authorities resisted. In 1673, the Ursúa lord of the municipality of Baztán advocated the recognition of the local Cagots as natural residents of the Baztán. By the 18th century Cagots made up considerable portions of various settlements, such as in Baigorri where Cagots made up 10% of the population. In 1709, the influential politician planned and constructed the manufacturing town of Nuevo Baztán (after his native Baztan Valley in Navarre) near Madrid. He brought many Cagot settlers to Nuevo Baztán, but after some years, many returned to Navarre, unhappy with their work conditions. In 1723 the instituted a fine of 500 French livres for anyone insulting any individual as "alleged descendants of the Giezy race, and treating them as agots, cagots, gahets or ladres"; ordering that they will be admitted to general and particular assemblies, to municipal offices and honors of the church, they may even be placed in the galleries and other places of the said church where they will be treated and recognized as the other inhabitants of the places, without any distinction; as also that their children will be received in the schools and colleges of the cities, towns and villages, and will be admitted in all the Christian instructions indiscriminately. During the French Revolution substantive steps were taken to end discrimination toward Cagots. Revolutionary authorities claimed that Cagots were no different from other citizens, and '' de jure'' discrimination generally came to an end. Still, local prejudice from the populace persisted, though the practice began to decline. Also during the Revolution, Cagots stormed record offices and burned birth certificates in an attempt to conceal their heritage. These measures did not prove effective, as the local populace still remembered. Rhyming songs kept the names of Cagot families known.


Modern status

Kurt Tucholsky wrote in his book on the ''Pyrenees'' in 1927: "There were many in the Argelès valley, near Luchon and in the Ariège district. Today they are almost extinct, you have to search hard if you want to see them". The Cagots no longer form a separate social class and were largely assimilated into the general population. Very little of Cagot culture still exists, as most descendants of Cagots have preferred not to be known as such. There was a distinct Cagot community in Navarre until the early 20th century, with the small northern village called
Arizkun Arizkun is a village located in the municipality of Baztan, Navarre, Spain. Hamlets Arizkun is composed of the following hamlets: * Aintzinalde * Arizkun (main village) * Bozate * Ordoki * Pertalats See also * Cagot The ''Cagots'' () ...
in Basque (or Arizcun in Spanish) being the last haven of this segregation, where the community was contained within the neighbourhood of Bozate. Family names in Spain still associated with having Cagot ancestors include: Bidegain, Errotaberea, Zaldua, Maistruarena, Amorena, and Santxotena. There are two museums dedicated to the history of the Cagots, one in the neighborhood of Bozate in the town of
Arizkun Arizkun is a village located in the municipality of Baztan, Navarre, Spain. Hamlets Arizkun is composed of the following hamlets: * Aintzinalde * Arizkun (main village) * Bozate * Ordoki * Pertalats See also * Cagot The ''Cagots'' () ...
, Spain, the (Ethnographic Museum of the Agotes), opened by in 2003, and a museum in the
Château des Nestes A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
in
Arreau Arreau (; oc, Àrreu) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. It is situated on the former Route nationale 618, the ''Route of the Pyrénées''. Arreau is at the crossroads of the Louron valley and the Aure val ...
, France.


Cagot symbols used in anti-vaccination protests

In 2021 and 2022 anti-vaccination and anti-vaccine passport protestors in France started wearing the red goose's foot symbol that Cagots were forced to wear, and handed out cards explaining the discrimination against the Cagots.


In media

* In the 1793 French play , by
Sylvain Maréchal Sylvain Maréchal (15 August 1750 – 18 January 1803) was a French essayist, poet, philosopher and political theorist, whose views presaged utopian socialism and communism. His views on a future golden age are occasionally described as ''utopian ...
, the liberated subjects of the kings of Europe provide critiques of and insult their former rulers, where they say the Spanish king has "stupidity, cagotism and despotism ..imprinted on his royal face". * The author Thomas Colley Grattan's 1823 story ''The Cagot's Hut'' details the ''otherness'' he perceived in the Cagots during his travels in the French Pyrenees, detailing many of the mythical features that became folklore about the Cagots appearance. * The German poet
Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
visited the town of
Cauterets Cauterets (; in Occitan ''Cautarés'', in Catalan ''Cautarés'', in Aragonese ''Cautarès'') is a spa town, a ski resort and a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department and the region of Occitanie in south-western France. Geography Cauterets ...
in July 1841 and learned of the Cagots minority and their discrimination by others, subsequently becoming the topic of his poem ''Canto XV'' in ''Atta Troll''. * References to Cagots have appeared in multiple poems by the 19th century French poet
Édouard Pailleron Édouard Jules Henri Pailleron (7 September 183419 April 1899) was a French poet and dramatist best known for his play . Early life Édouard was born in Paris on 7 September 1834. From a Parisian cultured "bourgeoise" family (upper-middle class ...
. * The 2012 Spanish-language film ''Baztan'' by Iñaki Elizalde, deals with a young man fighting against the discrimination he and his family have suffered for centuries due to being Cagots. * The Cagot sculptor Xabier Santxotena, whose work explores the history and identity of the Cagots, opened the in his former family home. * A character called Beñat Le Cagot appears in the novel '' Shibumi'' published in 1979 by Trevanian, a pseudonym of
Rodney William Whitaker Rodney William Whitaker (June 12, 1931 – December 14, 2005) was an American film scholar and writer who wrote several novels under the pen name Trevanian. Whitaker wrote in a wide variety of genres, achieved bestseller status, and publish ...
.


Gallery

File:Porte cagots église Sauveterre de Béarn.JPG, Door of the Cagots of the church of
Sauveterre-de-Béarn Sauveterre-de-Béarn (, literally ''Sauveterre of Béarn''; oc, Sauvatèrra; eu, Salbaterra Bearno) is a medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrenees in south-western France. It is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atl ...
. File:Maison du Cagot à Langogne (48).gif, Protruding badge on the facade indicating the dwelling of a Cagot in Langogne ( Lozère). File:(65) Bagnères de Bigorre - l'adour et le quartier des cagots.jpg, A postcard of the subprefecture of
Bagnères-de-Bigorre Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally ''Bagnères of Bigorre''; oc, label= Gascon, Banhèras de Bigòrra ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Name The town was known ...
, showing the
Adour The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre (Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. i ...
and the neighborhood of the Cagots. File:Cagot saint girons.jpg, Sculpture of a "Cagot" in the
Église Saint-Girons (English: ''Saint-Girons Church''; Béarnese Occitan: ''glèisa de Sent Gironç'') is a Roman Catholic church located in the commune of Monein in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine. The edifice is in the Gothic architectural style. It was clas ...
in
Monein Monein (; oc, Monenh) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Geography Neighbouring Communes *North: Lahourcade and Pardies *West: Lucq-de-Béarn and Cardesse *South: Estialescq and Lasseube *East: Auberti ...
, which was built by the local cagot craftsmen in 1464. File:SAINT-SAVIN (Hautes-Pyrénées) La Maison des CAGOTS.jpg, Cagot houses in the Mailhòc district (wooden mallet), Saint-Savin, 1906. File:Rue du village de Campan (Hautes-Pyrénées) 3.jpg, A sign for in Campan. File:Campan - La halle.JPG, which was built by the local Cagots. File:CastethMontaner.jpg, Montaner castle, built by the Cagots, for Gaston III, Count of Foix.


See also

* ,
untouchable Untouchable or The Untouchable may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status ** A word for the Dalits or Scheduled Caste of India, a group that experiences untouchability * ...
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
in Korea. * , outcast community of Vietnam after Fall of Saigon. * , a discriminated group in Japan. * , a derogatory term used to describe coopers and ropemakers. * , an ethnic group in the Spanish Basque country and the French Basque coast sometimes linked to the Cagots. *
Cleanliness of blood The concept of (), (, ) or (), literally "cleanliness of blood" and meaning "blood purity", was an early system of racialized discrimination used in early modern Spain and Portugal. The label referred to those who were considered "Old Chri ...
, ethnic discrimination in the Spanish Old Regime. * Dalit, (also known as untouchables) in India. * , an ethnic minority in Spain and Portugal. * , an ethnic group in Spain who were also discriminated against and have unknown origins. *
Melungeons Melungeons ( ) are an ethnicity from the Southeastern United States who descend from Demographics of Europe, Europeans, Native Americans in the United States, Native American, and sub-Saharan Africans brought to America as indentured servants and ...
, of America's central
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
. * (danhu) ("boat people") in Guangdong,
Fuzhou Tanka Fuzhou Tanka (Fuzhou dialect: 曲蹄; Foochow Romanized: Kuóh-dà̤ ; Simplified Chinese: 福州疍民 Hók-ciŭ Dáng-mìng; 江妹仔 Gĕ̤ng-muói-giāng; 曲蹄婆 Kuóh-dà̤-bò̤), or Boat People, are from Fujian, China. A branch of the ...
in Fujian, ''si-min'' (small people) and ''mianhu'' in Jiangsu, and (; ) in Zhejiang, '' jiuxing yumin'' () in the Yangtze River region, ("music people") in
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
* Untouchability, the practice of ostracising a group of people regarded as 'untouchables'. * , a discriminated group of cowherders in Northern Spain. * a persecuted ethnic minority in
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
, often referenced in works discussing the persecution of Cagots in Spain.


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links


Cagots Museum in Arreau with illustrations
{{Conformity Basque history Kingdom of France Social history of France Discrimination in France Discrimination in Spain