Alan () is a
commune in the
Haute-Garonne department in southwestern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Geography
The commune is bordered by seven other communes:
Bachas to the north,
Terrebasse to the northeast,
Marignac-Laspeyres to the east,
Le Fréchet to the south,
Aurignac to the southwest,
Montoulieu-Saint-Bernard to the west, and finally by
Benque to the northwest.
History
The village was established in the 11th century as a
sauveté by the
Knights of St John.
In the 13th century (1272), it was transformed into a bastide by Eustache de Beaumarchais. Shortly afterwards Bertrand de Miramont, Bishop of the Comminges, established a residence there, expanded by subsequent bishops to become their winter palace. The Bishops of Comminges ruled Alan without a feudal system, but with the peasants paying their tax to the church. In 1498, the county of Comminges passed to the King of France and taxes were collected by the Estates of Comminges (a type of local parliament).
After the French revolution, the palace and its gardens were declared national property and divided into eleven parts. Gradually these fell into disuse and the building was abandoned in the 19th century, although it has been extensively restored by recent owners.
An earlier text dates the establishment of Alan, Haute-Garonne and its name back to the fifth century AD during the reign of
Constantius III and his campaigns against the Visigoths in northern Hispania.
In 414 AD, the forces of Visigothic King
Athaulf along with their
Alan
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
** List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
* ...
allies marched into southern
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
in search of a place to settle. They gained control of Narbonne, Toulouse and Bordeaux before facing a stalemate at
Bazas. At that point, Count
Paulinus of Pella, who happened to a friend of the Alan leader, and who was inside the besieged town with his family,
managed to persuade the Alan chiefs to change their allegiance from the Visigoths and help successfully break the siege of Bazas. In exchange Paulinus promised the Alans land on which to settle.
The Goths, deprived of their Alan allies broke off the siege and through constant pressure by forces of Constantius, fled from southern Gaul, crossing the Pyrenees and entering Hispania in 415 AD.
Following this victory, emperor
Constantius, as part of his plan to confine the Goths in Hispania, fulfilled the agreement between Paulinus and the Alans, arranging for the division of land between Toulouse and the Mediterranean, enabling the Alans to control coastal roads particularly the
Via Domitia connecting Gaul with Hispania.
In this area, Alan military settlers or their descendants appear to have given their name to the towns including Alan but also
Alénya,
Alaigne and
Lanet.
Population
The inhabitants of the commune are called ''Alanais''.
See also
*
Communes of the Haute-Garonne department
References
{{authority control
Communes of Haute-Garonne