During the minority of the young king his tutor Chorson ruled at Toulouse with the title of duke or count. Being deposed at the Council of Worms (79o), he was succeeded by William Court nez, the traditional hero of southern France, who in 8o6 retired to his newly founded monastery at Gellone, where he died in 812. In the troubles of the century Toulouse suffered in common with the rest of western Europe. It was besieged by Charles the Bald in 844, and taken four years later by the Normans, who in 848 had sailed up the Garonne as far as its walls. About 852 Ray mond I., count of Quercy, succeeded his brother Fridolo as count of Rouergue and Toulouse; it is from this noble that all the later counts of Toulouse trace their descent.
Dating from the 11th century the counts of Toulouse were the greatest lords in southern France. Raymond IV., the crusader, assumed the formal titles of marquis of Provence, duke of Nar bonne and count of Toulouse. While Raymond was away in the Holy Land, Toulouse was seized by William IX., duke of Aqui taine, who claimed the city in right of his wife Philippa, the daughter of William IV., but was unable to hold it long (1098– wo). The rule of Raymond's son and successor Bertrand, also a crusader, was disturbed by the ambition of William IX. and his grand-daughter Eleanor, who prevailed upon her husband Louis VII. to support her claims to Toulouse by war. On her di vorce from Louis and her marriage with Henry II., Eleanor's claims passed on to this monarch, who at last forced Raymond V.
to do him homage for Toulouse. Raymond V., the patron of the troubadours, died in 1194, and was succeeded by his son Raymond VI., under whose rule Languedoc was desolated by the crusaders of Simon de Montfort, who occupied Toulouse in 1215, but lost his life in besieging the city in 1218. Raymond VII., the son of Raymond VI. and Joan of England, succeeded his father in 1222, and died in 1249, leaving an only daughter Joan, married to Alfonso the brother of Louis IX. On the death of Alfonso and Joan in 1271 the vast inheritance of the counts of Toulouse lapsed to the Crown. From the middle of the 12th century the people of Toulouse seem to have begun to free themselves from the most oppressive feudal dues. An act of Alphonse Jourdain (1141) exempts them from the tax on salt and wine; and in 1152 we have traces of a "commune consilium Tolosae" making police ordinances in its own name "with the advice of Lord Raymond, count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and marquis of Provence." The parlement of Toulouse was established in 1443 and was for Languedoc and southern France what the parlement of Paris was for the north. During the religious wars of the i6th century the Protestants of the town made two unsuccessful attempts to hand it over to the prince de Conde. After St. Bartholomew's Day (1572) 300 of the party were massacred. Towards the end of the i6th century, during the wars of the League, the parle ment was split up into three different sections, sitting respectively at Carcassonne or Beziers, at Castle Sarrasin and at Toulouse. The three were reunited in 1596. Under Francis I. it began to persecute heretics, and in 1619 rendered itself notorious by burn ing the philosopher Vanini. The University of Toulouse owes its origin to the action of Gregory IX., who in 1229 bound Raymond VII. to maintain four masters to teach theology and eight others for canon law, grammar and the liberal arts. Civil law and medicine were taught only a few years later. The famous "Floral Games" of Toulouse, in which the poets of Languedoc contended (May 1-3) for the prize of the golden amaranth and other gold or silver flowers, given at the expense of the city, were instituted in 1323-24. The Academie des Jeux Floraux still awards these prizes for compositions in poetry and prose.
See L. Ariste and L. Brand, Histoire populaire de Toulouse depuis
les origin.es jusqu'a ce jour (Toulouse, 1898). (X.) Battle of Toulouse, 1814.—Marshal Soult, retreating east wards after a series of defeats (see PENINSULAR WAR) , took shelter within the defences of Toulouse. The town lies on the right (east) bank of the Garonne, with a suburb, St. Cyprien, in the re-entrant angle on the left bank. In 1814 it was surrounded by fortified walls, St. Cyprien having also an outer line of earth works. On the right bank the defences were: (I) the walls; (2) the Languedoc canal, which covers the north and east sides; (3) the ridge of Calvinet, east of the canal; (4) the river Hers, east of Calvinet and about two miles distant from the town. Wellington's plan was for Beresford's corps to attack the southern end of Calvinet ridge by way of the Caraman and Lavaur roads, while Freire's Spaniards advanced down the Albi road, captured the outlying Pujade hill, and attacked the Great Redoubt at the northern end of the ridge; to keep the defenders fully employed Hill was to demonstrate against St. Cyprien on the left bank, and Picton and Alten's Light Division against the northern de fences of the town. Soult's dispositions were as follows: Maran sin's division held St. Cyprien ; Travot's division occupied the ramparts and the eastern stretch of the canal ; Darricau's division was along its northern stretch from the Albi road to the Garonne. On the Calvinet ridge, Taupin was responsible for the southern end, including the La Sypiere redoubts, Harpisse for Mas des Augustins, Villatte for the Great Redoubt, while Darmagnac covered the Albi road. Each army numbered something under 40,00o; but it must be remembered that the French moral at this time was at a very low ebb. At 9 A.M. on April io, 1814, Hill attacked St. Cyprien and during the course of the morning oc cupied the outer line of defences; the 3rd and Light Divisions closed up to the northern stretch of the canal and Freire gained the Pujade hill with little opposition. Wellington's plan necessitated Beresford's marching southwards three miles up the valley of the Hers, straight across the enemy's front and under direct fire of his guns. The going was so heavy that it was noon before he reached the Caraman road, his men nearly exhausted and his guns stuck in the mud miles behind. In spite of this he formed his corps for the attack, 6th Division on the right, 4th on the left, each in three lines. Meanwhile Freire, impatient for glory, launched a premature attack down the Albi road. After some initial success he was counter-attacked by Darmagnac and driven back with severe losses. Beresford now began his advance and quickly drove Taupin's division from La Sypiere, but reinforce ments from the town enabled the French to form a new line in front of the canal, connecting with Mas des Augustins. Beresford paused to rest his men and wait for his guns, whereupon Picton, contrary to orders, hurled his division against the fortified canal bridges near the Garonne, and was repulsed with heavy loss. Wellington now ordered Beresford and Freire to renew their attacks upon the Calvinet redoubts. Freire was again repulsed, but the 6th Division, after heavy and fluctuating fighting, won possession of Mas des Augustins and the neighbouring works. Upon this Soult withdrew from the remainder of the ridge and when night fell the French were behind the canal, except for two bridgeheads at its southern end. Wellington spent the 11th bringing up ammunition supplies, but during that night Soult, fearful of being shut up in Toulouse, evacuated the town and took the road for Carcasonne. The Allies lost 4,400 men, 1,80o being Spaniards; the French little more than 2,000. Vain losses, f or Napoleon had abdicated a week previously. (H. L. A.-F.)