Béziers had become a co-seigneurie, five of its bourgs recognizing the sole authority of
the bishop. The commune of Béziers first appeared in 1131. Tensions between the
viscount and burghers reached a peak in 1167, when the citizens murdered Viscount
Raymond Trencavel in the church of the Madeleine. Béziers, under its consuls, enjoyed a
well-developed municipal organization throughout the 13th century; in 1280, the artisanal
classes gained entry into the consulate through the system of échelles, which grouped
them into several ranks or grades and accorded to each a position in the consulate.
Béziers suffered heavily during the Albigensian Crusade. Taken by assault on July 22,
1209, it was pillaged and the church of the Madeleine, within which townsmen had taken
refuge, was burned. Despite dramatic accounts, the extent of this massacre should not be
exaggerated. Bézier’s economic growth and the prosperity of its leading families
continued unaffected, and the 13th century witnessed the period of greatest brilliance for
the city. It emerged as a center of textile production and possessed an important studium
of civil law. Social conflicts, notably the violent popular uprising led by Bernard Porquier
in 1381, agitated Béziers in the 14th century. At the end of the Middle Ages, however,
Béziers recovered an important position, particularly through the favor of Charles VII,
who located there his Parlement from 1425 to 1429.
Little that is medieval remains of the burned church of the Madeleine. The church of
Saint-Aphrodise preserves a Romanesque crypt, nave, and aisles, wedded to a Gothic
choir. More significant are the Romanesque church of Saint-Jacques and the fortified
Gothic church of Saint-Nazaire. Saint-Jacques contains a five-sided apse in southern Ro-
manesque style, with a sculpted decor inspired by classical art, as at Alet. Saint-Nazaire,
recently restored, has two fortified towers on the west façade separated by a machicolated
arcade under an enormous rose window. Only fragments of the crypt (9th-10th c.) and
Romanesque choir and tower antedate the destruction of the town in 1209; the transept
dates from the 13th century and the nave from the 14th. There are stained glass from the
14th century and important murals dated to 1347. The 15th-century octagonal sacristy
and chapter house are unusual.
Alan Friedlander
[See also: ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE; LANGUEDOC; TRENCAVEL]
Gramain, Monique. “‘Castrum,’ structures féodales et peuplement en Biterrois au XIe siècle.” In
Structures féodales et féodalisme dans l’Occident méditerranéen (X-XIII siècles). Rome: École
Française de Rome, 1980, pp. 119–34.
Lablaude, Pierre. “Béziers.” Congrès archéologique (Montpellier) 108(1950):323–42.
Sabatier, Ernest. Histoire de la ville et des évêques de Béziers. Béziers: Carrière, 1854.
Sagnes, Jean. Histoire de Béziers. Toulouse: Privat, 1986.
Vidal, Henri. “La coutume de Béziers (1185–94).” Recueil de mémoires et travaux publié par la
Société du Droit et des Institutions des Anciens Pays de Droit Écrit, fasc. 11(1980): 23–40.
——. Episcopatus et pouvoir épiscopal a Béziers a la veille de la Croisade Albigeoise, 1152–1209.
Montpellier: Université de Montpellier, 1951.
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