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Rodez ( or ;) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communauté d'agglomération , of the First Constituency of Aveyron as well as of the general Council of Aveyron. Former capital of the Rouergue, the city is seat of the Diocese of Rodez and Vabres. Its inhabitants are called Ruthénois, from the name of the Ruteni, a Gallic tribe which once occupied the territory, the former demonym of "Rodanois" (from Occitan rodanés) having given way to this scholarly form.
[edit] History
Existing from at least the 5th century BC, Rodez was founded by the Celts. After the Roman occupation, the oppidum (fortified place) was renamed Segodunum, while in late Imperial times it was known as Civitas Rutenorum, whence the modern name. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was captured by the Visigoths and then by the Franks, being also ravaged by the Arabs in 725. Later it was occupied by the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and of the Counts of Toulouse. English troops occupied Rodez during the Hundred Years War. However, in medieval times the city's history was marked by strong rivalry between the Counts and the Bishops of Rodez, who exerted their authorities in different sectors of the city, divided by a wall. The counts were able to defy the royal French authority until the submission of count John IV by the future King Louis XI in the 15th century. In the following century bishop François d'Estaing built the Rodez Cathedral. The last count of Rodez, Henry VI of Rodez, who became Henry IV of France, sold his title to the Royal Crown in 1589. The city remained a flourishing merchant centre up to the 18th century, when the nearby town Villefranche-de-Rouergue was made the seat of the experimental Provincial Estates of the Haute-Guyenne. However, with the French Revolution Rodez became the chef-lieu of the newly created department of the Aveyron and has remained so since. [edit] Prehistory[edit] AntiquityRodez is a city of more than two millennia: its existence dates back to the 5th century BC, when a Celtic tribe of Central Europe, the Ruteni, stopped in the south of Auvergne to found one of these characteristic oppida of the Gallic civilization, that of . Many elements of heritage bear witness to the Romanisation of Segodunum. While Christianity spread in the wake of the evangelising activity of , the city witnessed and at times suffered during, the less stable times that following the fall of the Roman Empire. [edit] Middle AgesRodez was successively occupied by the Visigoths, the Franks, the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, as well as by the Moors, who seized Rodez in 725, and damaged the ancient church. Years later, it was the English who captured Rodez, during the Hundred Years' War. The history of the city remained marked for a long time by an intense rivalry between the Counts of Rodez, who dominated the town extra-muros, and the , who dominated intra-muros. A wall separated the two sectors. Each community had a town hall, its consuls, and its own administration; each competing for power. To the town, the famous dynasty of the Counts of Armagnac and Rodez, eventually acquired sovereign privileges: Coining money at the Martelenque Tower, wearing the crown and persisting to recognise the antipope Benedict XIII and his heirs Bernard Garnier and Jean Carrier, for a time. This led inevitably to confrontation with the King of France in 1443. The dauphin, the future Louis XI, came to occupy Rodez and submit Count Jean IV. Later his son would have a seditious idea, trying to betray Louis XI. This caused him to be killed in Lectoure, with his family, during his escape. [edit] Early Modern eraAt the beginning of the 16th century, Rodez was marked by Bishop (from one of the most famous families of Rouergue). He finished the work of construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Rodez. He added the architectural masterpiece that is the bell tower, at , topped by a Virgin, yet today the highest bell tower, without a spire, in France. The works were completed in the fifteen years between 1510 and 1526 and this despite the plague ravaging the city. The rivalry between the two powers somewhat served the development of Rodez. Despite the testimonies that are its many made Gothic masterpieces from the 13th to the 16th century, the city has not really experienced long periods of prosperity. In 1589, Henri IV, Count of Rodez, attached the destiny of the County of Rodez to the Crown. The story of Rodez then copied that of France. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Rodez became a thriving market city. Rodez was divided into 6 parishes:
[edit] Modern eraThe old rival of Rodez was Villefranche-de-Rouergue. The French Revolution took away Villefranche's role of administrative capital, for the benefit of Rodez, which became prefecture and of the new department of Aveyron due to its central position. The religious heritage of the city was only partially degraded. In June 1792, the scientists of the time cared about to know the exact measurement of the metre. Rodez would be a "central" element to accomplish this measure. Indeed, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre was responsible for measuring the distance from Dunkirk to Rodez, while Pierre Méchain was the one measuring between Barcelona and Rodez. They were to meet in Rodez to combine their results and determine the value of the metre. In 1793, at Montjouy in Barcelona, Méchain detected an inconsistency between the recorded lengths and an astronomical survey of the position of the stars. The Franco-Spanish war prevented him from repeating measurements. This difference (which was in fact not due to a handling error but the uncertainty of the instruments used) plunged him into deep trouble and he made every effort to avoid having to report on his work in Paris. In 1799, he resigned himself to attend an international conference which welcomed his scientific work. In 1798, the was created.
The 19th century also experienced a cultural revival. In 1836, the was founded on the initiative of . The main leaders of the department were involved in the cultural life of the province. Modernisation of Rodez occurred very slowly during the 19th century. Little by little, Rodez evolved by affirming and developing its role as capital of the department of Aveyron from the 21st century, creating its own economy and independence, whilst remaining linked to Toulouse. Thus, from this period, many facilities have appeared such as the , the development of the Rodez-Marcillac Airport platform, high-speed connections to Rodez, the Esplanade du Foirail with its multiplex cinemas, the Pierre Soulages Museum and its festival hall. [edit] Personnes mentionnées dans les actes à cause de leur fonction locale(Cette liste doit être établie uniquement à partir de sources que chacun peut facilement vérifier, comme les Archives Départementales en ligne, ou le dépôt dans la base WeRelate d'actes numérisés - par photo ou copie scannée.) [edit] Maires[edit] Adjoints au maire[edit] Curés[edit] Instituteurs, maîtres ou recteurs d'école[edit] Médecins, chirurgiens, officiers de santé[edit] Sages-femmes[edit] Patronymes courants[edit] SurnomsLes surnoms n'ont pas qu'une fonction descriptive ou ironique. Ils permettent d'identifier des individus portant le même prénom et le même patronyme. [edit] External links
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