Verfeil, Haute-Garonne

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Verfeil

Coat of arms
Verfeil
Coordinates: 43°39′30″N 1°39′42″E / 43.6583°N 1.6617°E / 43.6583; 1.6617Coordinates: 43°39′30″N 1°39′42″E / 43.6583°N 1.6617°E / 43.6583; 1.6617
Country France
Region Midi-Pyrénées
Department Haute-Garonne
Arrondissement Toulouse
Canton Verfeil
Intercommunality Coteaux du Girou
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Hervé Dutko
Area
 • Land1 41.23 km2 (15.92 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 • Population2 2,993
 • Population2 Density 73/km2 (190/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 31573 / 31590
Elevation 146–273 m (479–896 ft)
(avg. 225 m or 738 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Verfeil is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.

History

It was an important centre of Catharism from about 1140 to the mid 13th century. Bernard of Clairvaux preached against heresy at Verfeil in 1145. Sent away without a proper hearing by the seigneurs, he is said to have cursed the town with the words Viridefolium, desiccet te Deus! ("Verfeil, may God dry you up!") Izarn Neblat, one of those seigneurs, was said by Guillaume de Puylaurens to have lived in his old age in poverty at Toulouse as a result of this curse; the town's recovery was dated by the faithful to the period of the Albigensian Crusade, when Simon IV de Montfort gave it to bishop Foulques de Toulouse.[1]

An important Catholic-Cathar debate was held at Verfeil in 1206. The Catholic side was led by Diego de Acebo, bishop of Osma, supported by the future Saint Dominic; among the Cathars were Pons Jourda and Arnaud Arrufat.[2]

Population

Historical population of Verfeil, Haute-Garonne
Year11793180018061821183118361841184618511856
Population2040225824902399253824602420233923472367
Year11861186618721876188118861891189619011906
Population2372235023422171207020431908189418271684
Year11911192119261931193619461954196219681975
Population1663141814761395140214771529153615401734
Year1982199019992008
Population2000226525042993

See also

References

  1. ↑ Duvernoy, Jean, editor (1976), Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145-1275: Chronica magistri Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii, Paris: CNRS, pp. 32–35, ISBN 2-910352-06-4 
  2. ↑ ib., pp. 52-55.
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