TOULOUSE
Toulouse was originally Tolosa, a Gallic town, then became a Roman city, and in 418 became the capital of the Visigoth Kingdom. In 843, it became a separate comté and remained under the control of the count of Toulouse, over time, it became fully integrated into France.
Toulouse is now the fourth-largest city in France and is dominated by the aerospace industry and the nation’s second-largest university. With much of the city constructed with red brick, Toulouse has the nickname of “La Ville Rosé.”
Toulouse has had its share of tribulations, including fire, plague, and economic difficulties. Militarily, as a regional capital, Toulouse has been the target of marauding armies. The most notable past military engagements in and around Toulouse are:
The Siege and Battle of 721
In the first half of the 700s, Muslim invaders, the Umayyads, were completing their conquests of the Iberian Peninsula. From 711 to 717 they destroyed the Visigoth Kingdom and crossed over the Pyrenees. In 719 they captured Narbonne and in 720 they threatened Aquitaine. In 721, an Aquitanian Christian army led by Duke Odo finally stopped the advance of the Umayyad army into Aquitaine at the Battle of Toulouse.
The Muslim force was led by the governor of Al-Andalus (the name given to the Iberian Peninsula by the Umayyads), Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani. He had led a strong army into Aquitaine with the likely objective of taking control of the Garonne River valley and Toulouse, so as to secure a land corridor from the Atlantic. The invading army included infantry, cavalry and slingers brought out siege engines and in put Toulouse under siege March 721 .
Duke Odo of Aquitaine, also known as Eudes, was naturally concerned that the most important city in Aquitaine was besieged but he was unable to immediately do anything about it. While he assembled a relief army, the city was left on its own to defend against the siege.
We don’t really know how large the Christian or Muslim armies were. Medieval chronicles are infamous for grossly overstating the number of combatants and casualties in any engagement and are completely unreliable. Suffice to say that, by contemporary standards, both forces were likely very large.
After three months, the defenders of Toulouse were exhausted and almost ready to surrender the city. But on June 9, Odo appeared with a relief force made up of Aquitanian, Gascon, and Frankish troops. This came as a surprise to the Umayyads ,who thought their position around Toulouse was secure and who had not constructed strong defences around their camp.
Odo attacked the Umayyad besiegers with his relief army and sorties were launched against the Muslims from Toulouse. In short order, the Umayyads were dispatched with much loss of life. A wounded Al-Samh managed to get away with some of his forces but died shortly thereafter.
A miracle is associated with this battle. Legend has it that Pope Gregory II had sent Odo “three blessed sponges/baskets of bread” in 720, which the duke kept until just before the engagement. He distributed small portions of these to be eaten by his troops at Toulouse; after the battle, it was reported that no one who had eaten the bread had been killed or wounded.
The Battle of Toulouse was a catastrophe for the Umayyads and effectively ended their northward expansion. While they continued to make incursions into Gaul, they were unable to recreate the successes of their Iberian conquests. Numerous small engagements and large battles would be fought between the Muslims and Christians over the next seventy-five years in what is modern-day France until the Muslims were forced back over the Pyrenees.
Siege of 767
In 767, Toulouse was once again under siege, this time as part of a campaign by the Frankish king Pepin the Short against rival principalities, and in particular Aquitaine. Conflict between the Franks and the independent duchy of Aquitaine had been simmering for years and came to a head in 753 when the duke of Aquitaine, Waifar, granted asylum to Pepin’s troublesome and traitorous brother Grifo. Pepin was also not pleased with Waifar’s habit of seizing church lands. In 760 Pepin invaded and pillaged large parts of Aquitaine and for the next seven years the armies of Pepin and Waifar took turns attacking each other’s properties. This conflict became increasingly brutal and Pepin laid siege to Toulouse in 767. The city did not hold out for long and submitted to Pepin (as did nearby Albi and Gevaudan shortly after). The next year, Pepin defeated Waifar’s forces and had Waifar and his family executed.
SIEGES OF 1217
In the first half of the 1200s, Languedoc was suffering under the ravages of Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France. While ostensibly a campaign to stamp out heresy, by 1215 the crusade was just as much about curbing the influence of the count of Toulouse and bringing Languedoc under French control.
The leader of the crusader force was the brilliant and brutal tactician Simon IV de Montfort (not to be confused with his son Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who would be famous in English History during the reign of Richard the Lionheart), who led a constantly-changing force of crusaders from across Western Europe. (crusaders were committed to only forty days of service.) Opposing him was the count of Toulouse, Raymond VI, and his allies from Aquitaine.
Simon besieged Toulouse several times, first in 1211, when he failed to take the city. In 1216, he tried again and succeeded, and proclaimed himselfcount of Toulouse in place of Raymond IV. Raymond, however, retook the city in September 1217 without a fight.
While Simon had ordered the defences of Toulouse to be destroyed before September 1217, this was not done. On retaking control, Raymond buffeted these defences and when Simon returned in the winter of 1217, he found the city well prepared to withstand a siege. Simon lacked enough men to fully surround or breach the walls of Toulouse so the siege dragged on for several months.
Each side sought to build machines to overwhelm the other. The crusaders worked to construct a “cat,” a leather-covered, steeply-gabled mobile wooden tower used to scale city walls, while the defenders worked on a trebuchet. On 25 June 1218, a sortie party from Toulouse broke out to destroy the cat and, during the fighting, Simon was mortally wounded, possibly by a stone thrown from the trebuchet. With Simon’s death, the leadership of the crusade passed to one of Simon’s sons, Amaury VI de Montfort. A month later the siege was lifted.
The crusade continued for another eleven years until a peace treaty was signed in 1229. In this treaty, Raymond VI’s son, Raymond VII, was recognized as count of Toulouse but was forced put his castles under royal control and to undertake to suppress the Cathars.
Medieval manuscript - death of Simon de Monfort
THE SIEGE OF 1570
In the 1500s, Reformation France was embroiled in the so-called Wars of Religion (nine in total). During the Reformation, the Catholic |Crown increasingly persecuted French protestants (Huguenots) and in 1562 open warfare erupted. There were numerous treaties made and broken after this (hence the nine Wars of Religion) between Catholic and Huguenot forces until 1598 and the issuance of the Edict of Nantes.
During the Third War of Religion, in 1570, a large Huguenot force was making its way north up the Garonne Valley from the south-west France. Enroute, this force, under the command of Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny, decided to try and capture Toulouse. The city was besieged from 22 January to 20 February 1570 but the siege was abandoned when the attackers ran out of supplies.
THE SIEGE OF 1814
In 1807, Napoleon convinced Spain to allow his army passage so he could attack Portugal. The French attacked in December 1807, but, not being satisfied with just taking a bite out of Portugal, they turned on the Spanish Crown and deposed the king in early 1808. In his place, Napoleon arranged to have his brother Joseph chosen as the newkKing of Spain. This displeased many and uprisings were followed by brutal repression in Spain. In August 1808, a British army landed in Portugal under the capable command of General Arthur Wellesley, the duke of Wellington. The British had good success, but newly-appointed (yet geriatric) commanders of the British forces negotiated an embarrassing deal (the Convention of Cintra) which allowed French forces to repatriate intact back to France.
After this, Sir John Moore took over as commander of the British forces on the Iberian Peninsula and in conjunction with Spanish forces moved deep into Spain. Moore was killed in battle in January 1809, and Wellesley again took over as British commander. For the next five years, Wellesley led British forces in the Peninsular War.
On 10 April 1814, the last major battle of the Peninsular War was fought near Toulouse. The battle should never have been fought – Napoleon had abdicated four days earlier so the war was actually over. This change in French leadership was unknown to Wellesley and the general in charge of the defence of Toulouse, Marshal Soult.
Soult had about forty-two thousand men available, whom he posted in strong defensive positions. Wellington led almost fifty thousand soldiers, about a fifth of them Spanish. The British attack plan was to seize the heights overlooking the city to the east and so gain an artillery advantage from which to harass the French. To accomplish this, Wellesley dispatched a force under the command of Marshal William Beresford. At the same time that Beresford made his attack, another British force made up of the 2nd Division and the Portuguese Division under General Rowland Hill attacked the western suburbs of St Cyprian as a diversionary tactic. To the north, the 3rd Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, and the Light Division would make feint attacks. Beresford’s group of two British divisions supported by two Spanish divisions commanded by General Manuel Freires had a tough go of it in the main assault. They had to advance about three kilometres under fire through muddy conditions and up a steep ridge. After a desperate fight, Beresford’s men eventually forced the French from their positions.
Hill’s force took St. Cyprian fairly easily but Picton advanced too far, and his troops were repulsed with heavy losses.
Wellington then ordered guns dragged up to the heights, and the threat posed by these guns convinced Soult to withdraw his army to the south. Soult and Wellesley eventually entered an armistice to end the fighting.
Toulouse Today
Toulouse today is a prosperous city dominated by the aerospace industry and a world-class university. The Canal de Midi crosses the central part of the city, and Toulouse has a lot of charm and pleasant attractions.
The Toulouse tourism site is quite good and has details about the top attractions: Toulouse tourism . We encourage you to browse this site, but here are our top picks for a visit to Toulouse:
For people interested in military history, there are a limited number of sites:
Musée Départemental de la Résistance & de la Déportation is devoted to the history Second World War esistance in Toulouse and the Haute-Garonne musee-resistance Map Rank 5
Ailes Anciennes Toulouse Map is a collection of historic aircraft, including a good number of military airplanes. aatlse Rank 8
Other Attractions
The Halle de La Machine Map is a very cool exhibition of performance machines set in a historic factory site. halledelamachine Rank 9
The Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine Map is a collection of paintings, sculptures and old medical instruments that retrace Toulouse's medical history over seven centuries, according to two themes: history of the Teaching of tedicine and surgery and history of Toulouse hospitals and care. musee-medecine This museum is conveniently near the Pont Neuf, which is worth a visit on its own. Rank 7
Toulouse is home to more than fifty hôtels particuliers – private mansions built for the city's nobles and aristocrats built during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Among the finest is the Hôtel d'Assézat, built for a wood merchant in 1555. Map It is now home to a foundation that owns a fine collection of paintings, sculpture, and period furniture. You can visit the property and walk into the courtyard to admire the buildings and check out some informational placards without having to visit the collection if you prefer. assezat Rank 7
Cité de l'Espace Map All things space are featured at Cité de l’Espace, a theme park and interactive exhibition with a focus on the conquest of space. It contains full-scale models of rockets, plus an IMAX theatre and a planetarium. The city is the headquarters of Aerospace Valley, which contains aviation schools and research facilities. There are plenty of interactive exhibits aimed at kids, but we think most adults will enjoy this attraction too. Try some of the physical exercises to test your potential to be an astronaut. These include rides such as the moon-running simulator and the rotating pod. cite-espace Rank 7
If you like contemporary art, you may want to visit Les Abattoirs. Map As the name suggests, it is situated in a former municipal slaughterhouse that was converted in 2000. les-abattoirs Rank 7
The Jardin Raymond VI Map features great views of the Garonne River and the pink brick walls of the museum of modern art of Les Abattoirs. There is also a botanical garden where the wild plants with medicinal properties are identified. Rank 6
Le Capitole Map has been the seat of municipal power since the twelfth century. The building is a neoclassical masterpiece featuring a majestic façade of brick and stone on the Place du Capitole. Inside, the decor displays the major events in the history of Toulouse, from the Cathar period to the creation of the Jeux Floraux Society, from the counts of Toulouse to the siege of the city. It is famous for its state rooms and salons. Le Capitole is also the opera house of Toulouse. Rank 9
Couvent des Jacobins Map In 1215 in Toulouse, Dominic of Osma founded the Order of Preachers that bears his name: the Dominican Order. This former convent of the Dominican friars is an imposing building that is characteristic of southern architecture in the thirteenth century, famous for its immense ribbed vault nicknamed the “palm tree.” The convent was restored in 2015. jacobins Rank 7
The Rue Saint Rome pedestrian street in the historic centre is one of the busiest streets in the city and a fun place to stroll and dine. Map Rank 8
Marché Victor Hugo Map is one of the most popular markets in the city. More than eighty stallholders share the rooms and offer an unlimited choice of fresh and regional products. There are several good restaurants here as well. marche-victor-hugo Rank 8
