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Agotes or cagots were a discriminated minority in the Navarrese Pyrenees, Basque provinces, Bearn, Gascony and also Brittany. They have been also known by other names: Cagots, Gahets, Gafets in France; Agotes, Gafos in Spain; and Cacons, Cahets, Caqueux and Caquins in Brittany. The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sociological sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has...
Navarre (Spanish Navarra, Basque Nafarroa) is an autonomous community in Spain. ...
Central Pyrenees. ...
The Basque Country (Euskal Herria in Basque) straddles the western Pyrenees mountains that define the border between France and Spain, extending down to the coast of the Bay of Biscay. ...
B arn is a former province of France, located at the base of the Pyr es. ...
Gascony (French: Gascogne, pronounced ; Gascon: Gasconha, pronounced ) is an area of southwest France that constituted a royal province prior to the French Revolution. ...
Traditional coat of arms This article is about the historical duchy and French province, as well as the cultural area of Brittany. ...
The earliest mention of them is in 1288, when they appear to have been called Christiens or Christianos. Events February 22 - Nicholas IV becomes Pope. ...
During the Middle Ages they were popularly looked upon as cretins, lepers, heretics and even as cannibals. They were shunned and hated; were allotted separate quarters in towns, called cagoteries, and lived in wretched huts in the country distinct from the villages. Excluded from all political and social rights, they were only allowed to enter a church by a special door, and during the service a rail separated them from the other worshippers. Either they were altogether forbidden to partake of the sacrament, or the holy wafer was handed to them on the end of a stick, while a receptacle for holy water was reserved for their exclusive use. They were compelled to wear a distinctive dress, to which, in some places, was attached the foot of a goose or duck (whence they were sometimes called Canards). And so pestilential was their touch considered that it was a crime for them to walk the common road barefooted. The only trades allowed them were those of butcher and carpenter, and their ordinary occupation was wood-cutting. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
For the malady found in the Hebrew Bible, see the article Tzaraath. ...
Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ...
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The origin of Agotes
The origin of Agotes (or Cagots) is uncertain. It has been suggested that they were descendants of the Visigoths, and somebody derives the name from caas (dog) and Goth. But opposed to this etymology is the fact that the word "cagot" is first found in this form no earlier than 1551. French historian Pierre de Marca (16th century), in his Histoire de Beam, holds that the word signifies hunters of the Goths, and that the Cagots are descendants of the Saracens. Others made them descendants of the Albigenses. The Visigoths, originally Tervingi, or Vesi (the noble ones), one of the two main branches of the Goths (of which the Ostrogothi were the other), were one of the loosely-termed Germanic peoples that disturbed the late Roman Empire. ...
Gothic woman, traditional style, with big hair, spikes and piercings. ...
Events Russia, Reforming Synod of the metropolite Macaire, Orthodoxy: introduction of a calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code ( Stoglav ) Major outbreak of the sweating sickness in England. ...
Pierre de Marca (January 24, 1594–June 29, 1662) was a French prelate, bishop and historian born at Gan in Béarn of a family distinguished in the magistracy. ...
The term Saracen comes from Greek sarakenoi. ...
Albigenses were a group named for Albi, a city in southern France. ...
A far more probable explanation of their name Christians is to be found in the fact that in medieval times all lepers were known as pauperes Christi, and that, Goths or not, these Cagots were affected in the Middle Ages with a particular form of leprosy or a condition resembling it. Thus would arise the confusion between Christians and Cretins.
It was not until the French Revolution that any steps were taken to ameliorate their lot, but today they no longer form a class, but have been practically lost sight of in the general peasantry. The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a pivotal period in the history of Europe. ...
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