MONTPELLIER

:''For other places named Montpellier or Montpelier, see Montpelier.''
'Montpellier' (Occitan ''Montpelhièr'') is a
city in the south of France. It is the capital of the
Languedoc-Roussillon ''région'', as well as
the ''préfecture'' (administrative capital) of the Hérault
''département''. The population of the city
(commune) of Montpellier at the 1999 census
was 225,300 inhabitants, whereas the whole metropolitan area (in
French: ''aire urbaine'') had a population of 459,916 inhabitants
in 1999. As of February 2004 estimates, the population of the city
of Montpellier reached 244,700 inhabitants, meaning a 1.7% population
growth per year between 1999 and 2004. The estimated population of the
metropolitan area is 531,000 inhabitants in 2007.

Contents

Geography

History

Lords of Montpellier

University

Notable sights

Transport

Sport

Culture

Twin cities

Famous inhabitants of Montpellier

Sources and references

External links

Geography

The city is situated on hilly ground 10 km away from --
(6 miles) inland from the Mediterranean coast at the
coordinates 43°37N 3°52E, on the River Lez. The name of the city,
originally ''Monspessulanus'', is said to have stood for ''mont pelé''
(the naked hill, because the vegetation was poor), or ''le mont de la
colline'' (the mount of the hill)

History

:''For the Ecclesiastical history of Montpellier see Bishopric of
Montpellier''

Montpellier is one of the few cities in France without a (Gallo-)Roman
background. In the Early Middle Ages the nearby episcopal town of
Maguelone was the major settlement in the area, but raids by
pirates encouraged settlement a little further inland.
Montpellier, first mentioned in a document of 985, was founded
under a local feudal dynasty, the Guillem counts of
Toulouse, who joined together two hamlets, built a castle and walls
around the settlement. The two surviving towers of the city walling,
the ''Tour des Pins'' and the ''Tour de la Babotte'' are later in date,
however. Montpellier came to prominence in the 10th century as a
trading centre, with trading links across the Mediterranean world and a
rich Jewish cultural life and traditions of tolerance of its
Muslims, Jews and Cathars— and later of its
Protestants. William VII of Montpellier established a faculty
of medicine in 1180, recognised by Pope Nicholas IV; the city's
university was established in 1220 and was one of the chief centers
for the teaching of medicine. This marked the high point of
Montpellier's prominence. The city became a possession of the kings
of Aragon in 1213 by the marriage of Peter II of Aragon with
Marie of Montpellier, who brought the city as her dowry.
Montpellier gained a charter in 1204 when Peter and Marie confirmed
the city's traditional freedoms and granted the city the right to
choose twelve governing consuls annually. Montpellier remained a
possession of the crown of Aragon until it passed to James III of
Majorca, who sold the city to the French king Philip VI in 1349, to raise funds for his ongoing struggle
with Peter IV of Aragon. In the 14th century, Montpellier
gained a church (not yet a cathedral) dedicated to Saint Peter,
noteworthy for its very unusual porch supported by two high, somewhat
rocket-like towers. With its importance steadily increasing, the city
finally gained a bishop, who moved from Maguelone in 1536 and
sat in the neighbouring community of Montpelliéret (eventually
absorbed into Montpellier proper).
In 1432, Jacques Coeur established himself in the city and it
became an important economic centre, until 1481 when Marseille
took over this role.
At the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, many of its
inhabitants became Protestants (or Huguenots as they were known
in France) and it became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the
(mainly Catholic) French crown. In 1622, King Louis XIII besieged the city and took it after eight months,
building the citadel to secure it. Louis XIV
made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, and the town started to
embellish itself, by building the Promenade du Peyrou, the
Esplanade and a large number of houses in the historic centre.
After the French Revolution, the city became the capital of the
much smaller Hérault.
During the 19th century the city developed into an industrial
centre. In the 1960s, its population grew dramatically after French
settlers in Algeria were resettled in the city following
Algeria's independence from France. In the 1980s and 1990s,
the city drew attention with a number of major redevelopment projects,
such as the Corum and especially the Antigone
District.

Lords of Montpellier

''Main article: Lords of Montpellier''



★ William I of Montpellier (d. 1019)

★ William II of Montpellier (d. 1025)

★ William III of Montpellier (d. 1058)

★ William IV of Montpellier (d. 1068)

★ William V of Montpellier (d. 1120)

★ William VI of Montpellier (d. 1149)

★ William VII of Montpellier (d. 1179)

★ William VIII of Montpellier (d. 1202)

★ Marie of Montpellier (d. 1219)

★
★ and King Peter II of Aragon (d. 1213)

★ James I of Aragon (d. 1276)

★ James II of Majorca (d. 1311)

University

The University of Montpellier is one of the oldest in France,
having been granted a charter in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad von
Urach and confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV in a papal bull of
1289. It was suppressed during the French Revolution but was
re-established in 1896.
It is not known exactly at what date the schools of literature were
founded which developed into the Montpellier faculty of arts; it may be
that they were a direct continuation of the Gallo-Roman schools. The
school of law was founded by Placentinus, a doctor from Bologna
university, who came to Montpellier in 1160, taught there during
two different periods, and died there in 1192. The school of
medicine was founded perhaps by a graduate of the Spanish medical
schools; it is certain that, as early as 1137, there were excellent
physicians at Montpellier. The statutes given in 1220 by Cardinal
Conrad, legate of Honorius III, which were completed in 1240 by
Pierre de Conques, placed this school under the direction of the
Bishop of Maguelonne. Pope Nicholas IV issued a Bull in
1289, combining all the schools into a university, which was placed
under the direction of the bishop, but which in fact enjoyed a large
measure of autonomy.

Theology was at first taught in the convents, in which St. Anthony of
Padua, Raymond Lullus, and the Dominican Bernard de la
Treille lectured. Two letters of King John prove that a faculty of
theology existed at Montpellier independently of the convents, in
January, 1350. By a Bull of 17 December, 1421, Martin V granted
canonical institution to this faculty and united it closely with the
faculty of law. In the sixteenth century the faculty of theology
disappeared for a time, when Calvinism, in the reign of Henry II
of France, held complete possession of the city. It resumed its
functions after Louis XIII had reestablished the royal power at
Montpellier in 1622; but the rivalries of Dominicans and
Jesuits interfered seriously with the prosperity of the faculty,
which disappeared at the Revolution. The faculty numbered among its
illustrious pupils of law Petrarch, who spent four years at
Montpellier, and among its lecturers Guillaume de Nogaret,
chancellor to Philip the Fair, Guillaume de Grimoard,
afterwards pope under the name of Urban V, and Pedro de Luna,
antipope as Benedict XIII. But after the fifteenth century this faculty
fell into decay, as did also the faculty of arts, although for a time,
under Henry IV of France, the latter faculty had among its
lecturers Casaubon. The Montpellier school of medicine owed its success
to the ruling of the Guilhems, lords of the town, by which any licensed
physician might lecture there; there was no fixed limit to the number
of teachers, lectures were multiplied, and there was a great wealth of
teaching. Rabelais took his medical degrees at Montpellier. It was
in this school that the biological theory of vitalism, elaborated
by Barthez (1734-1806), had its origin. The French Revolution did
not interrupt the existence of the faculty of medicine. The faculties
of science and of letters were re-established in 1810; that of law in
1880. It was on the occasion of the sixteenth centenary of the
university, celebrated in 1889, that the Government of France announced
its intention -- which has since been realized -- of reorganizing the
provincial universities in France.

Notable sights

★ The main focus point of the city is the Place de la Comédie.

★ The Musée Fabre

★ In the historic centre, a significant number of Hôtels can be found.

★ A fine botanical garden, the first in France, founded in 1593

★ The 14th century cathedral of Saint-Pierre.

★ The Porte du Peyrou, a triumphal arch

★ The Aqueduc Saint-Clément

★ The Antigone District and other housing projects have been
designed by the architect Ricardo Bofill from Catalonia,
Spain

★ A number of ''châteaux'', so-called
follies, built by wealthy merchants surround the city

Transport

Montpellier is served by railway, including TGV trains.
The Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport is located in the area of
Fréjorgues, in the town of Mauguio, southeast of Montpellier.
The TaM (''Transports de l'agglomération de Montpellier'') manages the
city's public transportation, including its tramway
network and several parking facilities.
Line 2 of the Montpellier tram systems was officially opened on
Saturday, December 16 2006 with bands, singers, jugglers,
fireworks and a weekend of free tram travel. The new line of 19.8km
route serves five communes and expects to carry 52,000 passengers a
day. Starting in Jacou on the northeast side of the city, in a copse of
conifers, the line goes SW though the city centre and passes the train
station to St Jean de Védas on the southwest of the town. There are
plenty of parking sites along the line which crosses Line 1 at St Roch
station, Place de l'Europe and again in front of the Corum. Work on
Line 3, which is planned to be in service by 2010, will start in the
spring of 2007. This 22.4 km line will link Juvenac and Perols with a
branch to Lattes and will serve 32 stations.

Sport

The city is home to a variety of professional sports teams:

★ Montpellier HSC of Ligue 2 who play association football
at the Stade de la Mosson

★ Montpellier Hérault RC, of the Top 14 who play rugby
union at the Stade Sabathé

★ Montpellier Vipers of France's Division 1 Ice Hockey Federation,
play at the ''Patinoire de l'Agglomération de Montpellier'' at Odysseum
Montpellier was the finish of Stage 11 and the departure of Stage 12 in
the 2007 Tour de France.
The Australian Wallabies had a camp in the city before playing in 2007
Rugby World Cup

Culture

★ Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier
Languedoc-Roussillon
The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier is a summer festival of
opera and music held in Montpellier. The music festival
concentrates on classical music and jazz with about 100 events,
including opera, concerts, films, and talks. Most of these events
are free and are held in the historic courtyards of the city or the
modern concert halls of Le Corum.
Le Corum cultural and conference centre
contains 3 auditoriums; the Berlioz Opera, which has 2,010 seats, the
Pasteur, which has 745 seats, and the Einstein, which has 318 seats.
There are also reception and exhibition areas and meeting rooms.

Twin cities

Montpellier is twinned with:

★ Lakewood, Ohio, United States, since 1918

★ Louisville, Kentucky, United States, since 1955

★ Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, since 1961

★ Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1963

★ Chengdu, Sichuan, China, since 1981

★ Tiberias, Israel, since 1983

★ Fes, Morocco since 2003

★ Glasgow, Scotland, UK since 2006

Famous inhabitants of Montpellier

Montpellier was the birthplace of:

★ Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (c.1110-1179), rabbi and author
of the ''halakhic'' work ''Ha-Eshkol.''

★ Saint Roch (1295-1327), pilgrim to Rome, venerated as a
saint by the Roman Catholic Church
★ Pierre Magnol (1638-1715),
botanist, founder of the concept of plant families

★ Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (1753-1824), lawyer and
statesman, author of the Code Napoléon

★ Guillaume Mathieu, comte Dumas (1753-1837), military leader

★ Auguste Comte (1798-1857), a founder of the discipline of
sociology

★ Antoine Jerome Balard (1802-1876), chemist

★ Émile Saisset (1814-1863), philosopher

★ Charles Bernard Renouvier (1815-1903), philosopher

★ Édouard Albert Roche (1820-1883), astronomer

★ Alfred Bruyas (1821-1876), art collector

★ Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), painter
★ Frédéric Bazille
(1841-1870), Impressionist painter

★ Léo Malet (1909-1996), crime novelist

★ Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968), organist, pianist,
composer, and pedagogue Students at the University of
Montpellier have included François Rabelais (1493-1553) and
Nostradamus (1503-1566).

Sources and references

★ Lewis, Archibald. "The Guillems of Montpellier: A Sociological
Appraisal", 1971.''

★ ''Catholic Encyclopedia''
Montpellier

External links

★ Official web site

★ A visitor in
Montpellier - ''from The Official Francis Hannaway Website'' (In
English and French)

★ Photos of Montpellier

★ Other class=wikiexternal target=_blank>photos of Montpellier

★ ''Allégories'',
public art in Montpellier

★ Some more photos of
Montpellier (In French)

★ Snows
at Montpellier

★ 152 class=wikiexternal target=_blank>photos from Montpellier and Surroundings

★ Additional photos of
Montpellier