Occitanie was created by the territorial reform of 2014 comprising 13 departments, and which results from the merger of the former Languedoc-Roussillon (1982-2015) and Midi-Pyrénées regions. Temporarily called Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées, the name “Occitanie” has been official since 28 September 2016 and effective since 30 September 2016

Vienne / The Seven Provinces

314-477

The Diocese of the Seven Provinces (Diocesis Septem Provinciarum), originally called the Diocese of Vienne (Latin: Dioecesis Viennensis) after the city of Vienna (modern Vienne), was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, under the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. It encompassed southern and western Gaul (Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis), that is, modern France south and west of the Loire, including Provence. It existed from 314-477 and its capitals were Vienna and Burdiglia (Bordeaux).

The diocese comprised the following provinces: Aquitanica I, Aquitanica II, Novempopulana (Aquitanica III), Narbonensis I, Narbonensis II, Viennensis and Alpes Maritimae

In the Notitia Dignitatum the insignia of the Vicarij Septem Provintiarii are given on  fol 211v (n° 68). They are a standard (theca) and a table of credence with a book of mandates and a codicil (epistola)

Also represented are the allegories of Bienetis, Lugoontis Germania prima, Germania secunda, Belgica prima, Belgica 2a, Alpii maritimata, Alpium Apeninarum, Aquitania Prima, Aquitanum secunda, Novem populanum, Narbonnesia prima, Narbonensis 2a, Lugdonensis secunda, Lugodensis tertia and lugo iiii.

These are the provinces of Galliae and Viennensis together. Maybe we may conclude that at the time the offices of a vicar of Gallia and a vicar of Viennensis  were combined in one person.

The Vicar of the Seven Provinces had a theca and a table with a tablet (Book of Mandates) inscribed with the words F.L. intali comord P.R. (Floreas Inter allectos comites ordinis Primi (That you may flower between de elected authorized agents of the first rank) and an epistola for credentials. The emblem of rank of a vicar seems to have been a griffin.

Magister Militum

Flavius Aetius (391–454), dux et patricius, commonly called simply Aetius or Aëtius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades (433–454). He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian federates settled throughout the Western Roman Empire. Notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied (foederati) army to stop the Huns in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending the devastating Hunnic invasion of Attila in 451, though another devastating invasion of the Huns occurred in the year after that.

He has often been called “the last of the Romans”. Edward Gibbon refers to him as “the man universally celebrated as the terror of Barbarians and he support of the Republic” for his battle at the Catalaunian Plains )

Consular diptych of Aetius (396-454) (left hand panel)

Magister Militum of Gaul, 425-433; consul: 432, 437, 446.

Musée du Berry, Bourges.

The official with a staff of command and a sceptre between two lieutenants (the master of foot and the master of horse). Seated on the vault two eagles, the symbols of rank of a consul.

Magister militum (Latin for “Master of the Soldiers”, plural magistri militum) was a top-level military commander in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the emperor remaining the supreme commander) of the Empire.

In 474 Aetius was succeeded by

Ecdicius Avitus (c. 420 – after 475) was a Gallo-Roman aristocrat, senator, and magister militum praesentalis (Master of the troops) from 474 until 475.

As a magister militum he probably used the same insignia as his predecessor Flavius Aetius

Christogram

Photo David Gonçalves

Sarcophage in Musée Raymond, Toulouse

XP-cypher within a decorated bordure, in base 8-lobed flower supported by two dolphins

Sarcophage fromAuterive (Haute Garonne) 4th or 5th cent. Mus. Raymond Toulouse

Around the christogram four achievements of an eight lobed flower supported by two dolphins. This achievement repeated below and two other dolphind jumping on both sides.

Auterive is ca. 35 km south of Toulouse and therefore the sarcophage could have been of a high ranking warrior (Dux) of Narbonensis Prima, residing in Toulouse and retired in Auterive.

Apparently a dolphin refers to Gallia Narbonensis as a dolphin was later chosen as a heraldic device by the Dauphin of Vienne and the dauphin of Auvergne. A dolphin was also the heraldic device of Forez, formerly all situatedin that province.

In the Roman empire a dolphin was associated with the coast and its harbour. It was borrowed from the greeks and the cartagens.

Sarcophage in Musée Raymond, Toulouse

XP-cypher, encircled

St Sernin Sarcophage (Toulouse)

Paleochristian sarcophagus said to be of the count of Toulouse Guillaume Taillefer †1037

Late 4th century or 5th century AD

Comes from the alcove built to the left of the Porte des Comtes of Saint-Sernin Basilica (Toulouse) where it has been replaced by a molding.

Coffin (in white marble with large crystals).

Front side: Nine figures in toga under cusp arches supported by twisted columns. This is the traditio Legis: the delivery of the New Law by Christ (center) to Peter (on his left) in the presence of Paul (on his right) and other disciples.

Lid (in gray marble with large crystals).

The pediment is divided into three compartments docked with pilasters. Each of them is occupied by five characters. In the center, Christ explains his message to the Apostles. On both sides, disciples agree. At each extreminté, a winged funeral genius, carrying a torch directed downwards, symbolizes death. Dolphins on the short sides mean the journey of souls to the beyond.

Small side on the left:  Dolphin, on the coffin two disciples of Christ (probably Peter and Paul) in front temple with bishops’ palace ensigned with an episcopal christogram..

Small right side: portrait of an unknown personage in profile, in a medallion raised by two characters.

In this sarcophagus were in fact found the remains of several people who lived from the 10th to the 12th century. One or more of them may have been counts of Toulouse. The first to be buried could be Count Raimond, father of Guillaume Taillefer, who died in 978.

Their dimensions do not match, the coffin and the lid originally belonged to different sarcophagi. They probably come from the paleochristian necropolis of Saint-Sernin, like most of the sarcophagi presented in the basement of the Saint-Raymond museum, where part of this ancient cemetery was unearthed. This one had developed, from the 4th century, around the tomb of the martyr Saturnin, buried in this sector of Tolosa in 250 AD.

Kingdom of the Visigoths

412-507

In 412-413 all of south-western France, that is to say Aquitania and former Septem Provinciarum, passed under the domination of the Visigothic kingdom that had existed from 395 in Provence and Italy only. In 418, a treaty gave them federated status (fœdus) in the Roman Empire, which settled them in Aquitaine  [1]

The Visigothic kings of Toulouse, one of the foederati of the Roman Empire in the West and limited to Aquitania and Toulouse, soon began encroaching on neighboring territories. As Roman allies the Visigoths helped defeat Germanic invaders in Spain (notably the Suebi), taking advantage of their position to expand their territory south of the Pyrenees. They tried to conquer the Mediterranean coast of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, but were opposed by Rome. In 439 the Roman general Litorius defeated the Visigoths at Narbonne, driving them back to Toulouse. Although he besieged the city, he was defeated and taken prisoner. Avitus, the praetorian prefect of Gaul with influence on King Theodoric I of the Visigoths, was then sent to Toulouse and concluded a peace. In 451, threatened by an invasion of the Huns in Gaul, he negotiated a treaty between Rome and the Visigoths and they defeated the Huns. In 455 Avitus, magister militum (senior military officer of the Empire) on a diplomatic mission to King Theodoric II of the Visigoths, was proclaimed the new Roman emperor in Toulouse by his Visigothic friends amid news that the Vandals had sacked Rome and Emperor Petronius Maximus (†455) had been murdered. Avitus’ reign in Rome was brief, and he was defeated by his enemies in 456. This antagonized the Visigoths, who warred with the new Roman leaders, and a weaker Rome gave way. The Narbonne region was conquered by the Visigoths in 462.

King Euric (466–484), an enemy of Rome, extended the Visigothic territory in Gaul and Spain. In 475 he dissolved the treaty with Rome, proclaiming independence a year before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Toulouse was now the capital of an expanding Gothic kingdom; by the end of the fifth century, the kingdom of Toulouse extended from the Loire Valley in the north to the Strait of Gibraltar in the south and from the Rhône in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west (the largest territory controlled from Toulouse).

Unlike most cities in western Europe, Toulouse remained prosperous during the Migration Period. Although the Visigoths professed Arianism (a non-Trinitarian form of Christianity) and lived apart from their Gallo-Roman subjects, they were generally well accepted for bringing protection and prosperity. Behind its first-century walls, the city encompassed the same area; most western European cities were hastily enclosing small portions of their imperial area. The treasure which the Visigoths seized in Rome in 410 (including that from the Temple in Jerusalem) was reportedly stored in Toulouse at the time. The Visigoths blended Roman and Gothic cultures, preserving Roman law in the 506 Breviary of Alaric (applying to the Visigoths and the local Roman population). The Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse was reportedly more Romanized and its state structure more elaborate than the Frankish kingdom north of the Loire Valley.

Under Clovis the Franks converted to Catholicism, receiving support from bishops opposing the Visigoths’ Arianism and marching south to the northern borders of the Visigothic kingdom. War followed, and the Visigothic king Alaric II was defeated by Clovis at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. The Franks moved south, conquered Aquitania and captured Toulouse in 508. The Visigoths withdrew to Iberia, moving their capital to Toledo. Toulouse became part of Aquitaine, a smaller city in the Frankish kingdom.

As a christian nation the Visigothic people also used the Christian symbols of the latin cross, the square cross and the christogram. Also, as being of the Arian creed we see the Arian cross which is a rectangular cross of a long pole and a smaller cross-bar. This cross disappeared in Toulouse after the Albigense crusades at the beginning of the 13th century.

Rectangular cross

Foto H.dV. 2009.05

Tombstone on the Cemetery of Civaux (Vienne).

In the village of Civaux in France there are the remains of a vast cemetery containing thousands of  gravestones with rectangular crosses. It is said that the soldiers killed in the battle between the Franks and the Visigoths in 507 are buried there.

Original Visigothic Pillar

that supported the old altar in the church at Rennes-le-Château. (Aude)

It can now be found in the museum there. Rennes-le-Chateau was part of the Visigothic Kingdom until 507, when it was conquered by the Franks.

Square cross

Visigothic square cross Silance Cross

Narbonne, Musée Lapidaire

A man standing and a man sitting, holding up a square cross between two stars and on the cross bar the A and Ѡ pending. Sitting on the pole two pigeons pecking a vase. In the right corner another star, two discs and a square and what seems to be a lizard.

Kings

The latin titles bestowed on the Gothic King show that his rank was considered equal to that of the vice-imperial magistracies (p. 204)

South-central Gaul was the heart of the Visigothic Kingdom from 418 to 507. The pseudo-imperial coinage of this period consists mainly of solidi and tremisses. Siliquae are also known. All denominations are very similar to their Roman archetypes, faithfully copying legends and designs, albeit crudely. The tremissis was worth a third of a solidus, and the siliqua an eighth of a tremissis. The coins do not bear any identifying marks to distinguish them from Roman issues; they are identified by style and archaeological context. The dating is hence approximate.

The most probable mint for these issues is Toulouse, in South Gaul, the royal capital. It is thought that there was also a mint at Narbonne, where in 414 Ataulf married Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius. This hypothesis arises from a solidus, now lost, but published in the 18th century, minted in the name of Priscus Attalus, a puppet emperor supported by Ataulf. This coin bears the mintmark "NB", which may indicate Narbonne. A mint at Narbonne is also referenced in a poem of Sidonius Apollinaris (carmen 23) of 460, but under imperial control - as no issues from such a mint are known this may be poetic license. Narbonne definitely had a mint during the reign of Liuvigild in the late 6th century, but minting likely already started in 507, when the city became the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom.

The Visigothic coinage in Gaul were initially imitations of Western Roman coinage, which ended in around 481. After 509, imitations of Byzantine coinage follow, starting with those of Anastasius I Dicorus.

418–419

Wallia

418–451

Theodoric I

Theodoric I died at the Battle of the Catalan Fields, in 451 while fighting Attila alongside Aetius. According to Hidace, he was thrown to the ground and killed. According to Jordanès, riding on the front of his troops, he fell from his horse and was trampled by his people. According to Grégoire de Tours, he succumbed in the fray. According to other sources, he was killed by a javelin launched by Andage, an Ostrogoth allied with the Huns. According to the royal Visigothic tradition, he was buried on the very site of the battlefield. In Poix, in the Marne, there is a tumulus known as "Tomb of Theodoric" which its legend designates as the tomb of Theodoric. Another hypothesis, linked to the discovery in 1842 of the Pouan treasure, was advanced in 1860 by Peigné-Delacourt. The skeleton, whose rich ornaments dated to the 5th century attest to a royal rank, would be that of Theodoric whose remains would have been quickly buried during the battles by servants in a shallow pit (the treasure was discovered under 60 cm gravel) in order to protect it from profanation, which servants were also killed in this battle. Since Theodoric's body could not be found, a sufficiently mutilated corpse covered with royal clothes was substituted for him so that Thorismond was immediately proclaimed king, thus avoiding competition from his brothers in the succession. In this hypothesis, the place of the battle, at the "Campus mauriacensis" according to Grégoire de Tours, would be between Méry-sur-Seine and Arcis-sur-Aube, 25 km north of Troyes. His son Thorismond was elected king of the Goths in his place.

The Pouan treasury

Ascribed to Theodoric I

More: Trésor de Pouan

466–484

Euric

Took over, both in Spain and in Gaul, Roman ducatus, that is militarized provincial districts together with their governors. This is also why the Toulousan duces who were at the same time commanders and rectores provinciæ, were Romans in Visigothis service. Euric [probably] took over the existing Roman institution as it was.

484-507

Alaric II

See also: Æ Visigothic Spain

Battle of Vouillé (near Poitiers)

Clovis, his son Theuderic I, and his Burgundian allies proceeded to conquer most of Visigothic Gaul, including the Rouergue (507) and Toulouse (508). The attempt to take Carcassonne, a fortified site guarding the Septimanian coast, was defeated by the Ostrogoths (508) and Septimania thereafter remained in Visigothic hands, though the Burgundians managed to hold Narbonne for a time and drive Gesalec into exile. Border warfare between Gallo-Roman magnates, including bishops, had existed with the Visigoths during the last phase of the Empire and it continued under the Franks.

511–526

Theoderic the Great

The Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great reconquered Narbonne from the Burgundians and retained it as the provincial capital. Theudis was appointed regent at Narbonne by Theodoric while Amalaric was still a minor in Iberia. When Theodoric died in 526, Amalaric was elected king in his own right and he immediately made his capital in Narbonne. He ceded Provence, which had at some point passed back into Visigothic control, to the Ostrogothic king Athalaric. The Frankish king of Paris, Childebert I, invaded Septimania in 531 and chased Amalaric to Barcelona in response to pleas from his sister, Chlotilda, that her husband, Amalaric, had been mistreating her. The Franks however, did not try to hold the province and under Amalaric's successor, the centre of gravity of the kingdom crossed the Pyrenees and Theudis made his capital in Barcelona.

See Æ Wikipedia: Septimania

Toulouse

The arms of Languedoc are red with a pointed cross moline, its points set with besants or, voided gules. They are the arms of Toulouse.

Dukes of  Narbonne, Counts of Toulouse and Margraves of Provence

The Counts of Toulouse.

Languedoc is the name of the area between the Tarn, the Garonne and the Rhône where a separate Romanesque language, the so-called Langue d'Oc (Occitan) is spoken. The term came into fashion for the area in the fourteenth century.

The western part of Languedoc consists of the former County of Toulouse around the city of the same name. Together with Burgundy, Normandy, Guienne, Champagne and Flanders, it was one of the great fiefs of Merovingian and Carolingian times. New pairs were created in the twelfth century through the admission of the Duke Archbishop of Reims, the Duke Bishops of Langres and Laon and the Count Bishops of Beauvais, Chalons and Noyons.

From Raimond VI, who was Count of Toulouse from 1194 to 1222, a seal from 1204 is known on which he is depicted with a shield with a voided cross. [1]  In color, the coat of arms is only depicted fifty years after its creation by Mattheus Parisiensis. It is then red, the cross yellow. [2]

In 1215, Toulouse was conquered by Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Simon was stoned to death with his brother in 1218 at the siege of the city. He was succeeded by his son Amaury who was still unable to conquer the city and in 1224 transferred his rights to the county and his other possessions in the Languedoc to King Louis VIII. In 1229 this renouncement became unconditional. Upon his death Simon’s coat of arms was a red double-tailed lion on a silver field. Simon's sons: Amaury, Simon, Guy, and Robert presumably all bore the arms with the lion but the colors in reverse. Simon has a window in Chartres Cathedral on which the coat of arms is red with a white lion. [3] After the death of Raimond VII in 1249, the County came to his daughter Jeanne, who was married to Alfonso of France, a son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. During the minority of the couple, the county was ruled by Blanche. She made use of her father's symbol or coat of arms, a golden castle on a red field, as appears from various sources. [4]

In 1251 Blanche stepped down on behalf of her son and daughter-in-law. They controlled the county jointly until 1271. Alfonso's coat of arms as a Count of Toulouse was derived from that of Raimond VII. According to Walford's roll of arms, it was: Le countee de Tholosa, gules un crois patee percee d'argent un border d'or. [5] After Alfonso's death, Toulouse came to the crown The coat of arms of the Counts of Toulouse is rare nowadays but has not been forgotten. In the first half of the fifteenth century it is depicted in the Armorial of the Golden Fleece. A flag with the words SY BIEN VAINT has been placed here as a crest. In the seventeenth century, the crest was given as a silver ram's head with golden horns between two red vols banneret. [6]  With the formation of the Languedoc governorate, it was revived as the coat of arms of this region. At the division into departments of France in 1789, the coat of arms was abolished. Today it serves as the flag of the nationalist movement of Occitania. Occasioally the arms are also seen with the colors reversed.

In the Middle Ages (ca. 1190), the Margrave of Gotia (the present-day department of Hérault and eastern Aude) was part of the Aragonese possessions (as a fief of the Count of Toulouse). The Triumphal Gate of Maximilian has a coat of arms of “Gotian” that in the 17th century is branded as: Goçiano: escudo partido en banda, cabeça de plata y la punta de Aragón. (Vic.Casc. P. 535). Incidentally, this margrave usually remained in French hands.

House of Rouergue

Fredelon

849-852

son of Fulcoald, Count of Rouergue, invested with Toulouse 849

Raymond I

852-863

Humfrid of Gothia

863-864

Bernard

864-872

Bernard of Auvergne

872-885

Eudes

885-919

Raymond II

919-924

Raymond III Pons

924-960

William III, Taillefer

960-1037

To whom the sarcophage near the St. Sernin of Toulouse is ascribed

Pons

1037-1061

William IV

1061-1094

In 1094 Toulouse was captured by William IX of Aquitania

William IX, le Troubadour

*1071.10.22 -†1126.02.10

Duke of Aquitania, count of Poitou 1086-1126

¥ Phillipie de Toulouse 1094

Count of Toulouse 1st term 1094-1099

Count of Toulouse 2nd term 1113-1121

Æ See:  Aquitaine

Raymond IV de Saint Gillles

1094-1105

Count of Tripoli 1102-1105

A bull of Urban's dated 22 July 1096 names Raymond comes Nimirum Tholosanorum ac Ruthenensium et marchio Provintie Raimundus ("Raymond, count of Nîmes, Toulouse and Rouergue and margrave of Provence").

1104  Seal of Majesty: The duke sitting on his throne with a sword on his lap and a building (Basilique St. Sernin consecrated 1096) in his left hand. In chief a crescent and star.

Caption: s r  cis narbone comitis           rovincie

1104 Equestrian seal. Knight on horseback with helmet, spear and shield. IN sinister chief a crescent and sun. Arms: [Gules] A twelve-pointed latin cross clechy pommety [Or], voided of the field.

Legend.: s raimv(ndi dvc)is narbone comitis (tolose marchionis p)rovincie. D.: 04.1204. The caption is completed. (Douët d'Arcq. No. 742).

rusade, Henry IV was emperor (1056-1104) and his son Conrad (* 1074- † 1101) a Roman king.

The crusaders came from southern France, but also from northern France and southern Italy. They were led by powerful princes.

The large army of Provencals was led by the rich and powerful Raymond IV of Toulouse and accompanied by the papal legate Adhemar of Monteil, bishop of Le Puy (Auvergne). Raymond IV intended to become the captain of the Crusade, a sort of advocatus (defender) under the papal legacy. Departments from the north were led by Robert II Curthose of Normandy (1087-1106 / † 1134), Robert II of Flanders (1093-1111) and Geoffrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine (1087-1100). There was also a small section under Stephen of Blois († 1102)) and under Hughues of Vermandois (* 1057- † 1102), a younger brother of King Philip I of France. Bohemundus de Hauteville († 1111), a son of Robert Guiscard († 1085), came from Apulia. These commanders were, neither by their rank nor by their temperament, inclined to take orders from Raymond and it was clear that it would take a lot of diplomacy from the papal legacy to keep them in line.

The Crusaders arrived in Constantinople intermittently from July 1096 to May 1097. Godfrey of Bouillon went through Hungary, Raymond through Dalmatia and the others through Apulia and Albania.

In the Histoire anonyme de la première croisade, Raymond de St. Gilles is described as “armed on all sides with the sign of the cross”. This also applied to the count of Flanders and Robert, the connêtable (commander in chief) of Bohemundus.

According to the famous scientist Douët d'Arcq, the seal of the Count of Toulouse dates from 1204, but 1104 is more likely for various reasons. First, the depicted rider is armored with a pointed helmet, perhaps with nose piece, which is typical of the 11th and early 12th centuries but was absolutely outdated in 1204.

Secondly, in terms of size and shape, the shield is also typical of the 11th and 12th centuries and smaller shields were used at the beginning of the 13th century.

The rider is further armed with a spear of an 11th century model, known from the Bayeux Tapestry.

Finally, the title on the seal corresponds to the title of the Count of Toulouse before 1125, the year in which the Margraviate of Provence came into the hands of Raymond Berengar I of Barcelona.

Here it can therefore be assumed that the rider on the seal represents Raymond de St. Gilles as formal commander-in-chief and captain of the Provencal troops during the 1st Crusade and during the period that he was Count of Tripoli (1102-1105). The fact that the crusade was led by the papal legate Adhemar of Monteil made the enterprise an initiative of the Church and explains the use of the Latin cross on the shield of Raymond IV. Later descriptions of the coat of arms of the Counts of Toulouse indicate that the shield must have been red and the cross gold. However, in these later versions of the Toulouse coat of arms, the cross is usually a Greek cross, symbolizing secular government.

Corresponding to this is the coat of arms on the shrine of the Sons of Sigismund from St. Maurice and Agaune. This shows a rider with a beautiful shield on his arm with a Latin cross. This may be an image of Conrad III.

Bertrand

1105-1112

In 1113 Toulouse was again captured by William IX of Aquitaine

William IX, le Troubadour

*1071.10.22 -†1126.02.10

Duke of Aquitania, count of Poitou 1086-1126

¥ Phillipie de Toulouse 1094

Count of Toulouse 1st term 1094-1099

Count of Toulouse 2nd term 1113-1121

Æ See:  Aquitaine

Alphonse I Jourdain

1112-1148

Obv: X TOLOSA CIVI PAX. Cross and A J in the middle.

Rev: X ANFOS COMES. Cross between two J.

Obv.:X ANFOS COMES Square Cross

Rev.: ONOR SCI EGIDI Paschal Lamb with square cross on pole.

Raymond V

1148-1194

Obv.: Crescent and eithtpointed star. Caption: X DVX

Rev.: Cross between eight besants. Caption: X

¥

Raymond VI

1194-1222

Ermessende of Pelet (¥ 1172; † 1176)

Beatrice of Béziers (div. 1189)

Joan Plantagenet (¥ 1196; † 1199)

Daughter of Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus (div. 1202)

Eleanor of Aragon (¥ 1204)

Seal and counterseal, 1206  [2]

Obv.: Knight on horseback with helmet, shield and sword. Arms: Square cross of Toulouse

Caption in roman capitals (the T in  gothic) : X S : RAIMVDI : III : COMITIS :

Rev.: Square cross of Toulouse, No legend.

On the treaty of an alliance between the Count of Toulouse, Ildefonse of Provence and Guill. IV of Frcalquier.

(Without mention of the place, April 1206)

In 1208 the papal legate Peter of Castelau was murdered. The count of Toulouse was accused to have ordered the murder or at least to have incited it and therefore he was excommunicated by Innocent XIII.

Raymond VI (1148-1222).

Obv.: D/ V /X/ M. Square cross of Toulouse

Rev.:   Star between two points and crescent. Legend X COMES (upside down)

Seal of  Joan Plantagenet, Countess consort 1196-1199

Seated princess with twelve-pointed cross of Toulouse . X S IOHC DVCISSE NARB  COMITISSE THOL MARCHISIE PROV

Raymond VII

1222-1249

Seal and counterseal, 1222 [5]

Obv. : Knight on horseback with shield of Toulouse

L.: X S. R. COMITIS.

Rev.: Square cross of Toulouse L.: X S. VENAISSINI.

Confirmation in favor of Avignon, of the possessions of Saint-André and the Sorgues bridge. Avignon, July 1222.

The Comtat-Venaissin (Comitatus Venassinus), the territory of the Gallic people known as the Cavares, subsequently belonged to the counts of Provence and then to the counts of Toulouse. Ceded to the pope in 1218 by Raymond VII, count of Toulouse, and again in 1274 by Philip the Bold, it was not united to France until 1791, during the French Revolution.

Equestrian Seal 1228 [6]

Figure: Knight on horseback between sun and crescent in chief

Arms.: Cross of Toulouse on shield and horseclothes .

Legend: X sigillvm raimvndi dei gracia [c]omitis tlolose.

Arms: Gules, a cross of Toulouse Or.

L.: Comitis Tholosie.

Mattheus Parisiensis. Liber Additamentorum. B.L. Ms. Cotton Nero D.I. fol. 171v..

Seal of Raymond VII, count of Toulouse, pending from a promissory note given by him to Saint Louis to respect the treaty of Paris, March 1243 (n. st).

Round two-sided seal  Æ 84 mm.

Cast, Arch. nat. D 745 and 745 bis

Seal of  Raymond VII, count of Toulouse.

Obv.: The count sitting on his throne, a sword on his knees, in his leftl hand the model of a three-towered castle and on teh top a crescent and a 16-pointed sun or star

Caption:  X S/ RAIMVNDI DEI GR(ati)A COMITIS/TOLOSE MARCH(ionis) P(ro) VI(n)CIE

(Seal of Raymond by God’s grace Count of Toulouse and marquess of Provence.)

Rev.: Rider on horsback with shield and horsclothes of the arms of Toulouse

Caption: The same as on the obverse.

The Same.

PL 5.N°4

An 1241.

On the Lifting of the excommunication incurred by the Count of Toulouse, for his misdeeds in the Camargue and on the lands of the Archbishop of Arles. Les Pennes, March 1241

http://jean.gallian.free.fr/comm2/blanchard/toulouse.html

Heraldic seal of Montcuq (Perigord) 1243

Arms: (Latin-) Cross of Toulouse

L.: s del com villal  de moncuc. [7]

Joan of Toulouse and Alfonso of Poitiers

1249-1271

Joan of Toulouse

Seal of Majesty: The duchess standing,  in her right a fleur de lys

Capture: SIGILLVM IOHANE COMITISSE PICTAVENSIS

In the field the castle of Castilli and the fleur de lys of France

Alfonso of Poitiers

Alphonse or Alfonso (11 November 1220– 21 August 1271) was the Count of Poitou from 1225 and Count of Toulouse (as Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence.

Arms: Gules, a  twelve-pointed latin cross clechy pommety Argent, voided of the field within a bordure Or

These arms are documented in 13th centuryl rolls of arms:

Walfords Roll nrs.:

C. 39, Le countee de Tholosa, gules un crois oatee percee d’argent un border d’or

Cl. 41 Le counte de Tolosa, de goule a un croyz d’or paté et persé  a une bordure d’or

Cd. 19. Le conte de Tolose, gules a crosse patté e percee une bordure d’or. [8]

Alfonso werd in 1224 Graaf van Poitou en voerde in die functie gedeeld van Frankrijk en rood, bezaaid met gouden kastelen. Zie hiervoor: Poitou

Union with France 1271

Afterwards Narbonne and Montpellier are represented with a flag by Marino Sanudo in 1325

On the map Marino Sanudo (1325) the flags of Narbonne and Montpellier.

The flag of Montpellier showing the bars of Majorca and the rose of Narbonensis (Prima).

 In the Libro de conosciomento: nr. 5. the arms of Toulouse and Majorca-Aragon are represented.[9]

Mannequin of the arms of Toulouse

Armorial du Toison d’Or et de l’Europe fol. 119.

The arms of Toulouse in Bergshammer Armorial, 1440 ca

Bergshammer: n° 1930 le h de hile: Or, a bar Sable between two chevrons.

n° 2242 le cote delile: Gules a pointed cross set with besants Or voided of the field 

Toulouse City and Armagnac (1483-’89)

From: Traités de blason», XVe s. [BNF Ms Fr 14357]

Thoulouze

From: Compendium Roberti Gaguini super Francorum gestis: ab ipso recognitum & auctum. Paris, 1500. Frontispiece.

cont d toulosa

Livro do Almeiro Mor, 1509.

Tolosa

From: Sebastian Munster: Cosmographia, 1544

Jeton with the crowned  arms of Toulouse,1771 (Louis XV)

with caption COMITIA OCCIT(ANIA)

Jeton with the arms of Toulouse,1776 (Louis XVI)

with caption COMITIA OCCIT(ANIA)

Jeton with the arms of Toulouse, 1783 (Louis XVI)

with caption COM(ITIA) OCCIT(ANIA)

In 1790 France was divided in departements of which there were ten on the territory of Languedoc

4th Republic

Languedoc

5th Republic

Languedoc

Version of Robert Louis with crown

Languedoc-Roussillon

1982-2015

Septimania is a historical region in the south of France. It refers to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when the territory was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. Septimania roughly corresponds with the former administrative region of Languedoc-Roussillon that merged into the new administrative region of Occitanie. Septimania passed briefly to the Emirate of Córdoba, which had been expanding from the south during the eighth century before its subsequent conquest by the Franks, who by the end of the ninth century termed it Gothia or the Gothic March (Marca Gothica).

Septimania became known as Gothia after the reign of Charlemagne. It retained these two names while it was ruled by the counts of Toulouse during the early Middle Ages, but other names became regionally more prominent such as, Roussillon, Conflent, Razès or Foix, and the name Gothia (along with the older name Septimania) faded away during the 10th century, as the region fractured into smaller feudal entities, which sometimes retained Carolingian titles, but lost their Carolingian character, as the culture of Septimania evolved into the culture of Languedoc. This fragmentation in small feudal entities and the resulting fading and the gradual shifting of the name Gothia are the most probable origins of the ancient geographical area known as Gathalania or Cathalania which has reached our days as the present region of Catalonia.

The name was used because the area was populated by a higher concentration of Goths than in surrounding regions. The rulers of this area, when joined with several counties, were titled the Marquesses of Gothia (and, also, the Marquesses of Septimania).

In 1172 Roussillon came to Alfonso II of Aragon and the area remained Aragonese until 1463 when it was occupied by Louis XI. By treaty of Barcelona in 1493, Louis had to cede  Roussillon which became a Spanish province. The county's coat of arms was  per bend dancetty Gules and Argent. [10] These arms originate from Simon of Montfort and his brother who occupied the county of Toulouse from 1215 to 1218. The Montfort family bore, apart from Gules, a lion Argent also a pennon party dancetty Argent and Gules (which amongst othere, can be seen on the Chartres window.)

In 1659, Roussillon was annexed by France by Treaty of the Pyrenees. During this time, the province received a coat of arms of 4´5 pieces of Argent and Azure within a red border. [11] These arms were abolished  during the French Revolution.

The current coat of arms of Roussillon is the coat of arms of the Kings of Majorca, which together with Roussillon formed a kingdom. This kingdom was a secondo-geniture of Aragon, and therefore the kings used the pales of Aragon, sometimes broken with a bendlet Azure.

Coats of arms of Roussillon and Gotia can be found in an 16th century armorial, today in the Herozogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Germany. and on Maximilian’s Triumphal arch of Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer, 1517

Herzogin Anna Amalia Library, 1548

Departments since 1790

Langedoc-Roussilon was created by the Decentralization Acts (Gaston Deferre Laws) of 2 March 1982.

Arms

Flag

Arms: Gules, the fourth quarter Or, five pales Gules, over all a cross of Toulouse Or.

Arms of Languedoc-Roussillon Departments

after Robert Louis

11 Aude

30 Gard

34 Hérault

                       48 Lozère

   66 Pyrénées-Orientales

Arms of the departements of the Empire and the 3rd Republic in: Encyclopedie Bouasse-Lebel. Armoiries des Departements.

Occitanie

2016-present

Occitanie (in Occitan: Occitània in Catalan: Occitània) was created by the territorial reform of 2014 comprising 13 departments, and which results from the merger of the former Languedoc-Roussillon (1982-2015) and Midi-Pyrénées regions. Temporarily called Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées, the name “Occitanie” has been official since 28 September 2016 and effective since September 30, 2016

Arms

Logo

In 2016 Midi-Pyrénées was added to Occitanie

Arms of Midi-Pyrénées Departments

after Robert Louis

09 Ariège (Foix)

12 Aveyron

32 Gers

31 Haute-Garonne

65 Hautes-Pyrénées

46 Lot

                     81 Tarn

82 Tarn-et-Garonne (R. Louis)

82 Tarn-et-Garonne (official)

See also: Bouasse Lebel

Gendarmerie

Arms: Per fess, the chief per pale: 1. Or, a wolve’s head Sable langued Gules (Gévaudan [12]) 2.Paly of eight Gules and Or (Roussillon) and 3 a base Gules, a pointed square cross set with besants Or voided of the field (Languedoc)

Arms: Argent, a lion Gules (Armagnac).