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Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and bordered the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées towards the north, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean Sea towards the south. It was the southernmost region of mainland France.
/ref> The Edict of Villers-Cotterets made French the official national language in 1539. Roussillon was the name of the medieval County of Roussillon.
They made a pact with the Romans from the 1st century BC. Narbonne was created to pacify the province in 118 BC and became the capital of the Narbonnaise.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the Vandals invaded the province and then the Visigoths settled there. The Narbonne region, like the Iberian Peninsula, remained Visigothic until its conquest by the Moors between 719 () and 725 (fall of Carcassonne and Nîmes). Narbonne then became the capital of one of the five provinces of led by a for nearly forty years.
The region was conquered by Pépin the Short (fall of Narbonne in 759), who made it the marquisate of Gothia, included in the kingdom of AquitaineLauranson-Rosaz, Christian. “Les Guillelmides : une famille de l’aristocratie d’empire carolingienne dans le Midi de la Gaule (VIIIe-Xe siècles)”. Macé, Laurent. Entre histoire et épopée. Les Guillaume d’Orange (IXe-XIIIe siècles): Hommage à Claudie Amado. Toulouse: Presses universitaires du Midi, 2006. (pp. 45-81) Web. http://books.openedition.org/pumi/36238. created in 778. This vast territory encompassed all of the south of the Rhône to the Atlantic Ocean and was bequeathed by Charlemagne to his son Louis the Pious in 781. The administration was entrusted to the counts of Toulouse.
During the feudal era, a great political fragmentation took place: the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya passed into the orbit of the Crown of Aragon, while Bas-Languedoc passed under the domination of the Trencavel and their rivals the counts of Toulouse.
Raymond IV (1042–1115) achieved through marriage the objective of reunification by enlarging his state to the Rouergue, Nîmes, Narbonne, Gévaudan, Agde, Béziers and Uzès.
The fight against Catharism and the Albigensian Crusade led to the extinction of the dynasty of the Counts of Toulouse. The province was united to the Kingdom of France in 1271, with the exception of Montpellier, which remained under the influence of the House of Barcelona and then of Majorca, and which was not attached to the Kingdom of France until 1349. From there was born the royal Languedoc which persisted until the French Revolution.
The Treaty of Corbeil in 1258 ratified the division with the southern territories of the region. The Corbières formed the border between the Kingdom of France and the Principality of Catalonia in the Crown of Aragon.Marc Pala (2025). 9782951580459, Parc naturel régional de la Narbonnaise en Méditerranée. ISBN 9782951580459
In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees led to the annexation of Roussillon and northern Cerdanya to the Kingdom of France.
Pyrénées-Orientales has the largest proportion of elderly people (12.10% over 75). Gard and Hérault are the "youngest" departments, but they are destined to "age" considerably in the coming years. By 2020, the number of people aged over 75 is expected to increase by 12% across the region.
Protestantism is well represented in the region, especially in the Huguenots stronghold of the Cévennes. The Cévennes-Languedoc-Roussillon region of the United Protestant Church includes Gard, Lozère, Hérault, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales as well as the eastern part of Aveyron. It is an important region by its Protestant population (approximately 20,000 homes), but one of the least extensive of the United Protestant Church of France. In addition to this majority church, the region has since the 19th century a variety of Free church, Calvinism, Baptists, Methodism and Pentecostalism churches.
Judaism has been present since the Middle Ages with significant communities fleeing the Almohads, in Narbonne and Béziers. The Jews are thus cited in the will of William V of Montpellier. Islam is also present at the same time.
Catharism appeared in the region in the middle of the 12th century, in Aude.
Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, that forms a Spanish exclave surrounded by French territory (department of Pyrénées-Orientales).
Georges Frêche also wanted to change the name of the region, wishing to erase its duality (Languedoc vs. Roussillon) and strengthen its unity. Thus, he wanted to rename the region Septimanie (Septimania). Septimania was the name created by the Romans at the end of the Roman Empire for the coastal area corresponding quite well to present day Languedoc-Roussillon (including Roussillon, but not including Gévaudan), and used in the early Middle Ages for the area. This name, however, has not been in use since the 9th century, and it sounded quite odd to French people. Strong opposition of the population led to Georges Frêche giving up on his idea. He declared that he still believed in it but could not go ahead without a mandate.
Catalan nationalists in Roussillon would like the Pyrénées-Orientales department to secede from Languedoc-Roussillon and become a region in its own right, under the proposed name of Catalunya Nord (Northern Catalonia), as part of the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries), a new country. This idea has minimal popular support.
On the other hand, there are some who would like to merge the Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées regions, thus reunifying the old province of Languedoc, and creating a large region. It seems probable that Georges Frêche, with his idea of a "Septimanie" region, would not support such plans, although political leaders in Béziers, Narbonne, and especially Nîmes, would probably support such a merger, hostile as they are to Montpellier, which was chosen as the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon instead of their own city, and which they accuse of hegemony.
In recent years there have been attempts at reviving of both languages, including Catalan-medium schooling through the La Bressola schools.
The Romantic music composer Déodat de Séverac was born in the region, and, following his schooling in Paris, returned to the region to compose. He sought to incorporate the music indigenous to the area in his compositions.
Several entrepreneurs such as Robert Skalli and James Herrick drastically changed the face of the region, planting more commercially viable grape varieties and pushing for new AOC classifications. While the AOC system has origins in the 15th century, the Languedoc-Roussillon has some appellations like the Cabardès which have existed by law only since 1999 (Joseph 2005:190).
The region is the largest contributor to the European Union's glut (dominance of supply over demand) of wine known as the wine lake.
The Languedoc-Roussillon region has adopted a Brand to help market its products, in particular, but not limited to, wine. The Sud de France ( Southern France) marque was adopted in 2006The Independent - Sud de France - The Brand - 6 December 2008 (accessed 24 February 2009) to help customers abroad not familiar with the Appellation system to recognise those wines that originated in the L-R area,This French Life - Sud de France to highlight Languedoc Roussillon wines (accessed 24 February 2009) but the marque is also used for other products, including , and pies.The Independent - Sud de France Foods - 6 December 2008 (accessed 24 February 2009)
Montpellier is home to Montpellier HSC, which was founded in 1974 and plays in the Ligue 1, the French top division. It won the French Championship after the 2011/12 season. Home matches are played at the Stade La Mosson, named after the area where it is located, with a capacity of 31,250. It was built in 1998.
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