The Italian looking Village of Menton - ceded in 1860 as Price for the Unification of Italy
I know nobody who does not love the Provence. With its clear skies, sunny but dry weather, wonderful landscapes, beaches, mountains and food, it attracted holiday makers for 150 years. Every generation seems to discover the Provence again.
The Vineyards of Cairanne - Half an Hour north of Avignon
To make it even more attractive, the tourist offices proclaim: “The region got its name in Roman times, when it was known as Provincia Romana”. Given the well-preserved Roman theatre in Orange, the impressive Pont du Gard near Nimes, the still used Arena in Arles and Augustus’ shiny Monument in La Turbie, who would disagree? The story is made up though - it is a marketing pitch. La Provence is the result of a bitter family dispute between Charlemagne’s sons and grandsons more than a thousand years ago.
The Arena was built in 90 AD and is still used today
for Bull Fights - the Animal do not get killed in France
During the Roman Empire, there was no such thing as a Provincia Romana. Southern France, from Toulouse to Geneva to Marseille was united in a province called Gallia Narbonnensis. It turned out to be too big and unwieldy to govern. Repeatedly split and re-arranged, it was eventually divided into four parts. The west became Narbonnensis I, the Rhone Valley the Provincia Viennensis, the Alps with their rebellious Ligurian tribes were divided into three smaller provinces, the central part became the Provincia Narbonnensis II. During the 500 years of Roman rule, these provinces were thoroughly Romanized. Fully integrated into the Mediterranean economy, they exported timber, olives, wine, grain, copper and soldiers. They were amongst the richest provinces in Rome.
The Roman Provinces and Sub-Provinces in France by around 400 AD
It stayed this way even after 443 AD when Rome allowed the Burgundians, a German tribe, to settled in today’s Switzerland and Burgundy. The coastal region remained Roman. After the Empire's collapse 30 years later, the Ligurian coast was conquered by the Ostrogoths, retaken by Byzantium before it became part of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. It was the Franks who severed Liguria’s ties with Italy. They took it by force in 736. By then, the region was depopulated, there was almost no economic activity, all towns had shrunk or were deserted. In 800 AD, the Pope crowned Charlemagne, the powerful Frank ruler, as the new Emperor. From now on, the lands of the future Provence were part of Western Europe.
The Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne who was crowned Emperor in 800 AD in Rome
Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire was short-lived. Rome lasted for 1'000 years. The Carolingian was gone within 80 years. His son, Louis the Pious, less a warrior than his father, decentralized power to regional kingdoms which he gave his sons ton run. When Louis passed away in 840 AD, long simmering rivalries surfaced. Civil war broke out. It lasted for more than a decade. I won’t tell the story of the Empire’s end on these pages. It is already well told on Word History.
Charlemagne's Empire was split in three for his grandsons. Later, the middle part split further into an Italian, Burgundian and German Kingdom. All three merged with the East.
Eventually, in 879 AD, Boso of Provence, a Carolingian relative, declared himself King of Burgundy and Provence. For the first time, the Greek coastal area, the Ligurian mountains and the Romano-Celtic Rhone Valley were unified in one territory. Its borders – by and large - still form the Provence as we know it today.
The County of Provence was part of Lower Burgendy
Boso’s independent kingdom did not survive for long. In 1034, the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II was crowned King of Burgundy in the Cathedral of Geneva. For the next 450 years, the Provence was part of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations.
The Holy Roman Empire in 1356 with the Provence
These 450 years though were formative. Through marriage and heritage, the Provence became from 1112 to 1246 part of the House of Aragon and Barcelona where the Catalan language was officially used. Provencal, a branch of the larger Occitan language family, benefitted from it. Provencal replaced Latin as the official language. The Provence started to develop its own culture and identity. Being part of the multi-language and multi-culture Holy Roman Empire helped. The Holy Roman Emperors did not interfere in the domestic affairs of their many kingdoms. Provence could be both part of Aragon and part of the Holy Roman Empire. As long as it paid its taxes, stayed loyal and made its military contribution, the German Emperors left it alone.
For more than 100 years the Provence was also part of the Kingdom of Aragon
As a result, the Provence became a semi-independent state. With the crusades, the economy started to recover, long-distance trade returned and the Mediterranean ports were busy again. The Provence resumed its role as trading centre which supplied France and Germany via Rhone river with spices and other goods from the east. A wealthy merchant and artisan class developed in many of its towns. Within a few decades, the citizens appointed their own consuls. The towns became self governed. It was the time of the guilds and local autonomy in Europe. The economic recovery was so strong that some Provencal towns even negotiated commercial treaties with Genoa & Pisa.
Avignon's Economic Development started well before the Arrival of the Popes
Almost by accident, the Provence became French in 1481. The last Count of Provence died childless in his castle in Tarrascon. Five years later, the French kings arranged (and paid for) the Provence's exit from the Holy Roman Empire. But like Occitan around Toulouse, the French Kings let the Provence keep its cultural independence. Under Napoleon things changed though. By centralising education and the judicial system, he started the process of eradicating the Provencal culture. Mass media accelerated the process in the 20th century. Today, it is a shadow of its former self even though every French official pretends the contrary. Dual language road signs hardly compensate for the systematic suppression of a language. Speaking Provencal at ENARC will not get you far.
Aiguines in the Var Departement north of Toulon and Frejus
For centuries the Provence has changed little. Its landscape and beauty are still the same. It continues to attracts wealthy and ordinary people, artists or just sun seekers. Its cultural identity though is watered down. Tradition has been replaced by short-term glamour. As long as visitors keep coming, this won’t be a problem. But from 1914 to 1945, when the World Wars and the Depression kept tourists away, the Provence became a hard place to live. The culture with deep roots in tradition, it survived these thirty grim years. Wonder how it would cope today.
The official Flag of the Region of the Provence
Before I close, I wanted to share something I learned from Provence’s coat of arms. The heraldic emblem tells a particular story. The left-hand side is a golden shield with four vertical red stripes, the coat of arms of Barcelona. The top right-hand side represents the Daupiné, a once royal French province north of the Provence. On the lower right-hand is the Eagle of Nice, the Italian county added in 1860. Why would the Provence use the flag of Barcelona? Because it started to find its identity under the rule of the Counts of Barcelona and emancipated from the Holy Roman Empire? In the 12th century, it was a declaration of independence! A story you seldom hear in a country where everything is decided in Paris.
Yellow is the historic Provence, Blue the old Dauphiné
Within the purple Line is today's Provence