Throughout history, people feared, despise and ostracted those who are different from most. It can be for physical, racial, religious or political reasons, but it is common for some to declare themselves. This is what makes the case of a minority persecuted in southwest France, Les Cagots, so unusual. No one really knows why they were marginalized.
First I met Les Cagots in the fascinating book, although eclectic, by Graham Robb The discovery of France. His story intrigued me, so I discovered more about these people.
This publication is the first of a new series, in which I deepen the mysteries of French history, with an approach in the southwest.
Segregated communities
The first references to the Cagots appear around the year 1000. As the map shows below, its name had numerous variations. I have used the name that seems to occur more commonly in our region.
The cagots lived in small communities, generally separated, scattered through the west and southwest of France, partly in areas south of Garonne and in the Western Pyrées. Rarely you are references to the northeast or toulouse.
Cagots lived on the margins of society. The least salty Cuartieros or small villages out of the walls. Some cities still have a place des cagots or a rue des cagots.
To differentiate them in certain periods in history, Cagots had to wear a red cloth goose foot sewn in the front of their clothes. Interestingly, people with lepros should wear the same brand in their clothes. In fact, in the image below, several of the Cagots carry what seem to be rattle or cliquettesthat people with Lepra also carried to announce their presence. An EEN man uses a black hood, another badge or leprosy. However, none of them seems to present the symptoms of leprosy, except possible to the most appropriate woman in a layer, but it is difficult to know about the image. It is also possible that the title of the image confuses Cagots and people with leprosy, which is what suggests a theory about the Cagots (see below).
Histoire episodique du Vieux Lourdes, public domain, through Wikimedia Commons
They were forbidden to pursue many occupations, including the cultivation of the earth or raise cattle. Instead, Cagots found work like carpenters or masons, since this meant working abroad. Some of them became very renowned for their ability to work with wood or stone.
Often, chagots to use a separate entry into the church from the main one. Some priests have just rejected the entry of the subject.
Once in the church, they touch the host at the end of a cane. Cagots also had to use a separate source. In some places, they had to extract water from a dedicated or elastic well outside the city.
If you were born as Cagot, it remained one. There was no escape from this group.
Why restrictions?
So what made people have cagots with so much contempt? Why did they rejected Cagots and avoided personal contact? At first glance, it seems to have little leg to distinguish them from others, either for physical or others. Their names were not specific to them either.
There are still few physical representations of chagots, separated from occasional stone sizes. These times they represent them as low in stature or grotesque, but there is nothing to say that they are precise representations instead of the manifestation of the existing preliminary preacher. On the contrary, other references mention high people with blue eyes and fair hair, strange in southwest France.
No obvious religious or political conviction separated Cagots from his village companions. They attended the same church services and observed the same beliefs. A theory suggests that its old active religious sect in the southwest that the Albigens crusade, 1209-1229, suppressed. However, the persecution of the Cagots advanced long before that.
Researchers have proposed other theories. Cagots could have been descendants or “damn breeds”, such as Visigoths or Saracenos. They may have originated as itinerant artisans, to whom the local population tried with suspicion in case they have contagious diseases or perpetrated violence. Given the emphasis on isolation and hygiene, this seems plausible, except that most caps seem to have been established in one place.
Another theory speculates that Cagots may have been the descendants of people with leprosy. The image of the procession from above seems to see this, as well as the fact that the communities of Cagot were sometimes located in the first leprosy. This could be a great coincidence, but it could also have contributed to the opinion of the people who Cagots They were ‘unclean’. There is no evidence that Cagots has brought infectious diseases more than anyone.
The fact is that few people at that time would have legs capable of explaining why the cagots were a separate caste. Despite this, his marginalization continued in the 19Th Century. Graham Robb cites the case of a mayor of Cagot who was persecuted of the position in 1830. At the end of the 19th century, the term is more often applied to those of the small stature or with a deformity. Duration 20Th The century, however, references to Cagots fade. These people suffered discrimination for 900 years or more without any obvious reason. Ignorance and prejudices are difficult to eradicate.
A museum is dedicated to Cagots in Arrreau in Haute-Pynées. His name lives in some names or characteristics of the streets, such as Wells. The mystery remains.
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