Roussillon (not to be confused with the eponymous village in Luberon, Provence) is the politically neutral term for Northern or French Catalonia and a sub area of the Pyrénées-Orientales department. This area is a unique cultural melting pot as modern day Spain and France have spent the last millennia battled it out for sovereignty.
The area was first settled in the Iron Age and became a part of the Roman Empire with Narbonne as the capital of Gaul Transalpina. A small town, Ruscino, appeared along the Via Dolmita which connected Spain and France. This settlement lent is name to the area. You can visit the Ruscino Archaeological Center, but extensive imagination is required. With the fall of the Empire, the Visigoths took over much of Gaul and Iberian peninsula. Their kingdom was chipped away at by French incursions under Clovis I and by the Arab invasion from the south. The area around Narbonne and Roussillon were the last to fall to Muslim forces in 721. Pepin reconquered Narbonne in 760, but all the fighting left Roussillon depopulated and under-utilized. Ruscino was virtually abandoned, but Pepin and then Charlemagne authorized a fortification here which is still evident with the Tower at Château-Roussillon. The remainder of the Carolignian period in the area was plagued by Arab and Viking raids.
Perpignan was founded sometime in the 10th century, just upstream from Ruscino, and quickly became the capital of the Counts of Roussillon until 1127 when the last ruler Girard II died without heirs and ceded the territory to his overlords, the Counts of Barcelona. Twenty-five years later, the city received the right to self-governance and Perpignan began to flourish. The Golden Era arrived with the establishment of the Kingdom of Mallorca in 1276 with Perpignan as the mainland capital. A beautiful castle was built overlooking the town. The population flourished with cloth and leather artisans. Mallorca came under the crown of Aragon in 1344 and was again tied to Catalonia. The French ruthlessly sieged the town in the 1400s and finally took control of Roussillon in 1463. But thirty years later, it was returned to Aragon by the French king. The Spanish crowns were united by the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Their son, Charles I, combined these territories into one person and one crown, Spain.
To reinforce this new border, the Aragonese built the mighty Fort de Salses. The castle provides a unique look at the change between medieval building and the need to accommodate the burgeoning technology of ballistics. During the Thirty Years War, France again attacked Roussillon. Salses fell in 1642. Fighting continued until the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed on November 5, 1659. The current border has been roughly in place ever since.
A Lasting Legacy: The Treaty also made a tiny river island, Pheasant Island (Konpantzia in Basque) near San Sebastian, a joint territory. The uninhabited island has switched between the two countries every six months for nearly 400 years with brief interruptions for World War II and the 2020 Pandemic. The Bidasoa river runs around the island and makes the boundary between France and Spain. Interestingly, the border is defined by the thalweg of the river. During French control (August through January), it becomes one of the smallest enclaves in the world at just 1.6 acres. It is also eroding and growing smaller each year. The island is uninhabited and fiercely guarded. The sliver of land did see one momentous occasion, the introduction of Maria Theresa of Spain to Louis XIV of Spain. Their marriage sealed the Treaty of the Pyrnees and this little islands bizarre future.
The treaty has some dubious legality and that frustration exists till today. The current border between Spain and France cuts through the historic Kingdom of Navarre and County of Barcelona. As Catalonia continues to assert its autonomy, cultural history, and language, the frustration of the 17th century border rankles. Compulsory schooling in the late 19th century essentially wiped out Catalan in Roussillon. Today there are only about 125,000 speakers of Catalan in France with about a third of Roussillon inhabitants about to speak Catalan and more than two thirds able to understand the language. The late singer Jordi Barre, a famous Catalan performer, was from the Roussillon resort town, Argelès-sur-Mer and sang only in the Catalan language. The Catalan influence is evident in the food of the area. Paella, caragols (snails in vinaigrette), calçots (a tasty green onion), and anchovies abound. Goat cheese and olives are also produced in the area. Most notably, the arms and flag of the Pyrénées-Orientales take the red and gold stripes from the Catalan flag.
Today, tourism and wine fuel the local economy. Hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains and the Corbières Massif, windsurfing in the extensive lagoons, and soaking up sun on miles of sandy beaches make the area ideal for nature lovers. Argelès-sur-Mer and Saint Cyprien are beach havens for families looking to enjoy a summer holiday. Étang de Leucate and Étang de Canet Saint Nazaire are excellent locales for windsports.
댓글