Verfeil, Haute-Garonne

Verfeil
Commune

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 Occitanie
Department Haute-Garonne
Arrondissement Toulouse
Canton Pechbonnieu
Intercommunality Coteaux du Girou
Government
  Mayor (20082014) Hervé Dutko
Area1 41.23 km2 (15.92 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 2,993
  Density 73/km2 (190/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
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
YearPop.±%
17932,040    
18002,258+10.7%
18062,490+10.3%
18212,399−3.7%
18312,538+5.8%
18362,460−3.1%
18412,420−1.6%
18462,339−3.3%
18512,347+0.3%
18562,367+0.9%
18612,372+0.2%
18662,350−0.9%
18722,342−0.3%
18762,171−7.3%
18812,070−4.7%
18862,043−1.3%
18911,908−6.6%
18961,894−0.7%
19011,827−3.5%
19061,684−7.8%
19111,663−1.2%
19211,418−14.7%
19261,476+4.1%
19311,395−5.5%
19361,402+0.5%
19461,477+5.3%
19541,529+3.5%
19621,536+0.5%
19681,540+0.3%
19751,734+12.6%
19822,000+15.3%
19902,265+13.3%
19992,504+10.6%
20082,993+19.5%

Monuments

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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