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Claude Nougaro, the French poet & singer, paid the most beautiful homage to Toulouse with his song "Ô Toulouse"... If you take the plane and come to Toulouse, you will probably notice the particular pink glare Toulouse has: the glare of the pink brick of the buildings... Even when it's raining in Toulouse, it looks as though the sun is always shining, radiating warmth and light because of those pink bricks, and the warmth with which people welcome you in the shops or in the streets... Toulouse is the 4th city in France, but it still has that "provincial feeling". Life is good in Toulouse... Toulouse was founded in the 4th century B.C. and has known many conflicts, and many ups and downs ever since... The first inhabitants of the place were a Celtic tribe, the Volques. With the Roman conquests, beginning in the 2nd century A.D., Toulouse, with its interesting geographical position (at the crossroads of the main trade routes of the era), and its smooth climate, became a Roman city. The Visigoth settled after the Barbarian invasions during the 5th century, and finally the Francs with Clovis, the first King of the Francs, in the 6th century In the low Middle ages (9th century A.D.), the Raimond's started making Toulouse the independent city that became most coveted by the kings of France, because of its wealth, and its independence. In the 12th century, Toulouse was ruled by an elected assembly: the famous Capitouls. 12 Capitouls were elected by the corporations (trade, artisans,...). The first assembly was elected in 1141. Seeking more and more spiritual refinement, Toulouse was quickly seduced by the Cathar doctrine (starting in the 11th century). And became one of the fiercest foyer of Heresy to destroy. After the battle of Muret (Death on the King of Aragon Pierre 2nd, and defeat of the Cathars, despite a superiority in number, because of a lack of proper military organization), Simon de Monfort lay siege to Toulouse, and died under its walls... (see "the main battles part 1"). Unfortunately, despite the fierce resistance of the Cathars, the doctrine was finally wiped out of the map at the end of the 13th century. The first university was created in Toulouse, to make people (clergy) instructed enough to "compete" with those from the Sorbonne in Paris, and Toulouse became the second University place after Paris (it is still the case today). In
the 15th century, the cultivation of the Pastel (a flower that has
dyeing properties), increased the wealth of Toulouse which then started
becoming the "pink city" as the rich traders started building
those most famous houses in red bricks. But the Religious wars (between
Protestants and Catholics), and the emergence of the Indigo dye, were
the signal of a slow decadence of Toulouse: the Capitouls were
banned because they were suspected of being protestants, and the Catholic
church finally got a strong hold on the city. Until the 20ieth century, despite the many events occurring in the rest of France, Toulouse's peace remained almost undisturbed. With the emergence of aviation during WW1, Toulouse, because of its geographic situation, became the base for Aéropostale-Airmail (Toulouse was far from Germany, and close to the Pyrenees), and that was the starting point for Toulouse's next big adventure... Toulouse is now the European capital for Aeronautics and Space, with the Aéospatiale, the CNES, Airbus Industries, ... Ô Toulouse... The Pink City Introduction...
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