Mount Canigou (2785m), a Catalan landmark

Roussillon (Catalan Rosselló; Spanish Rosellón) is one of the historical Catalan Countries corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees). It is also called French Catalonia, but only a minority (40%) of its inhabitants now speak Catalan and only 60% understand the language. Image File history File links Picture of Mount Canigó (Rosselló / Roussillon, France) taken from the road to Rivesaltes (PGF) airport in December, 2004. ... Image File history File links Picture of Mount Canigó (Rosselló / Roussillon, France) taken from the road to Rivesaltes (PGF) airport in December, 2004. ... Canigou (Catalan Canigó) is a mountain in southern France. ... Catalan can mean: the Catalan language inhabitant of Catalonia Eugène Charles Catalan the mathematician a Catalan solid Catalan numbers the Catalan Opening, a chess opening the Catalan forge, a type of open hearth furnace that was a precursor to the blast furnace There is also information on Catalan names. ... Catalan (Català, Valencià) is a Romance language understood by as many as 12 million people in portions of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, although the majority of active Catalan speakers are in Spain. ... The term Catalan Countries (Catalan: Països Catalans) refers to the concept of a single nation that would include all territories where the Catalan language is the native language. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties. ... Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees, Catalan: Pirineus Orientals) is a département of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ... Capital Barcelona Official languages Spanish and Catalan In Val dAran, also Aranese. ... Catalan (Català, Valencià) is a Romance language understood by as many as 12 million people in portions of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, although the majority of active Catalan speakers are in Spain. ...

The former province derived its name from a small fortified place near Perpignan called Ruscino (Rosceliona, Castel Rossello), where the chieftains of Gaul met to consider Hannibal's request for a conference. The district formed part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis from 121 BC to AD 462, when it was ceded with the rest of Septimania to the Visigoth Theodoric II. His successor, Amalaric, on his defeat by Clovis in 531 retired to Spain, leaving a governor in Septimania. In 719 the Saracens crossed the Pyrenees, and Septimania was held by them until their defeat by Pippin in 756. On the invasion of Spain by Charlemagne in 778 he found the borderlands wasted by the Saracenic wars, and the inhabitants hiding among the mountains. He accordingly made grants of land to Visigothic refugees from Spain, and founded several monasteries, round which the people gathered for protection. In 792 the Saracens again invaded France, but were repulsed by Louis, King of Aquitaine, whose rule extended over all Catalonia as far as Barcelona. The different portions of his kingdom in time grew into allodial fiefs, and in 893 Sunyer II became the first hereditary count of Rosselló. But his rule only extended over the eastern part of what became the later province. The western part, the Cerdanya, was ruled in 900 by Miron as first count, and one of his grandsons, Bernat, was the first hereditary count of the middle portion, or Besalú. Location within France Perpignan ( Catalan Perpinyà) is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital city) of the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France, and was the capital of the former province of Roussillon (French Catalonia). ... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, ca 1510, Capitoline Museum, Rome Hannibal (from Punic, literally Baal is merciful to me, 247 BC – 182 BC) was a politician, statesman and military commander of ancient Carthage, best known for his achievements... Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, 120 AD Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. ... Septimania was the name of the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigothic kingdom in 462, when Septimania was ceded to Theodoric II, king of the Visigoths. ... Theodoric II succeeded his older brother Thorismund to become king of the Visigoths in 453. ... A Frankish king, like Charlemagne, (center) depicted in the Sacramentary of Charles the Bald (about 870) Charlemagne (c. ... Mark or march (or various plural forms of these words) are derived from the Frankish word marka (boundary) and refer to an area along a border, e. ... The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. ... Alta Cerdanya or French Cerdanya (French Cerdagne) is an alternative name for the portion of historical Cerdanya, south of the top crest of the Pyrenees, that was ceded to the French crown by the Treaty of the Pyrenees (France and for this reason was chosen as the place to build...

In 1111 Ramòn Berenger III, Count of Barcelona, inherited the fief of Besalú, to which was added in 1117 that of Cerdanya; and in 1172 his grandson, Alfonso II of Aragon, united Rosselló to his other territories on the death of the last count, Gerard II. The counts of Rosselló, Cerdanya, and Besalú were not sufficiently powerful to indulge in any wars of ambition. Their energies had been devoted to furthering the welfare of their people. Under the Aragonese monarchs the progress of the united province still continued, and Collioure, the port of Perpignan, became a centre of Mediterranean trade. Alfonso II of Aragon (Alfons I of Provence and Barcelona, 1152-1196), known as the Chaste or the Troubadour was king of Aragon and count of Barcelona from 1162 to 1196. ...

But the country was destined to pay the penalty of its position on the frontiers of France and Spain in the long struggle for ascendancy between these two powers. By the treaty of Corbeil (1258) Louis IX of France formally surrendered the sovereignty of Rosselló and the ancient countship of Barcelona to Aragon, recognizing a centuries-old reality. Jaume I of Aragon had wrested the Balearic Isles from the Moors and left them with Rosselló to his son Jaume (1276), with the title of King of Majorca. The consequent disputes of this monarch with his brother Pere III of Aragon were not lost sight of by Philip III of France in his quarrel with the latter about the crown of the Two Sicilies. Philip espoused Jaume's cause and led an army into Aragon, but, retreating, died at Perpignan in 1285. Jaume then became reconciled to his brother, and in 1311 was succeeded by his son Sancho, who founded the cathedral of Perpignan shortly before his death in 1324. His successor Jaume II refused to do homage to Philip VI of France for the seigniory of Montpellier, and applied to Pere IV of Aragon for aid. Pere not only refused it, but on various pretexts declared war against him, and seized Majorca and Rosselló in 1344. The province was now again united to Aragon, and enjoyed peace until 1462. In this year the disputes between Joan II and his son about the crown of Navarre gave Louis XI of France an pretext to support Joan against his subjects, who had risen in revolt. The province having been pawned to Louis for 300,000 crowns, it was occupied by the French troops until 1493, when Charles VIII restored it to Ferdinand and Isabella. During the war between France and Spain (1496-1498) the people suffered equally from the Spanish garrisons and the French invaders. But dislike of the Castilians was soon effaced in the pride of sharing in the glory of Charles V, and in 1542, when Perpignan was besieged by the dauphin, the inhabitants supported their monarch. Only representation of Saint Louis known to be true to life - Early 14th century statue from the church of Mainneville, Eure, France King Louis IX of France or Saint Louis (April 25, 1214/1215–August 25, 1270) was King of France from 1226 until his death. ... Philip VI of Valois (French: Philippe VI de Valois; 1293–August 22, 1350) was the King of France from 1328 to his death, and Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois 1325–1328. ... Majorca (Mallorca in Catalan and Spanish (sometimes also encountered in English), from Latin insula maior, later Maiorica major island) is one of the Balearic Islands (Catalan: Illes Balears, Spanish: Islas Baleares), which are located in the Mediterranean Sea and are a part of Spain. ... The Catholic monarchs (Spanish: Reyes Católicos) is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. ...

When the Catalans rose against the Castilians in 1641, Louis XIII (of France) entered the conflict on the side of the former. After a protracted war, the treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) secured Roussillon and part of the Cerdanya (Cerdagne) to the French crown, which they joined to create the French province of Roussillon. The next fifty years saw a concerted effort by Louis XIV both to ensure the political allegiance of his new subjects, and to alter their cultural identity. He was successful in the former, but failed in the latter. Outside the capital of Perpignan, Roussillon remained distinctly Catalan in outlook and culture until the late nineteenth century, when industrialization began to replace Catalan identity with French. Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ...

During the French Revolution, the Old Regime province of Roussillon was re-named the Departement des Pyrénées-Orientales, by which name it is still formally known in France. The old name of Roussillon did contribute to the French région of Languedoc-Roussillon. During the French Revolution (1789–1799) democracy and republicanism overthrew the absolute monarchy in France, and the French portion of the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... France is divided into 26 régions, further subdivided into départements. ... Capital Montpellier Area 27,376 km² Regional President Georges Frêche (PS) (since 2004) Population   - 2004 estimate   - 1999 census   - Density (Ranked 10th) 2,458,000 2,295,648 90/km² (2004) Arrondissements 14 Cantons 186 Communes 1,545 Départements Aude Gard Hérault Lozère Pyrénées-Orientales...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), contend supporters, in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...