Editing Cagot (section)

== Name ==

=== Etymology ===

The origins of both the term {{lang|fr|Cagots}} (and {{lang|es|Agotes}}, {{lang|oc|Capots}}, {{lang|fr|Caqueux}}, etc.) and the Cagots themselves are uncertain.
It has been suggested that they were descendants of the [[Visigoths]]{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}}<ref name="Viterbo, 1856">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_l9LAAAAcAAJ |title=Elucidário das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antigamente se usaram e que hoje regularmente se ignoram |language=pt |trans-title=Elucidation of the words, terms and phrases that were used in Portugal in the past and that today are regularly ignored |volume=1 |last=Viterbo |first=Joaquim de Santa Rosa de |author-link=:pt:Joaquim de Santa Rosa de Viterbo |publisher=A. J. Fernandes Lopes |date=1856 |location=Lisbon |page=64 |quote=Certas Famílias em os Reinos de Aragão, e Navarra, e Principado de Bearne, descendentes dos Godos, que sem mais culpa, que tyrannizarem os seus Maiores antigamente aquellas Provincias, são tratados com o maior desprezo, e abatimento, assim nas materias civís, como de Religião: e até dizem delles, que nascem com rabo. |trans-quote=Certain Families in the Kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre, and the Principality of Bearne, descendants of the Goths, who without more guilt than their leaders formerly tyrannizing those Provinces, are treated with the greatest contempt and abasement, in civil matters as well as in Religion: and they even say that they are born with tails. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
defeated by [[Clovis I]] at the [[Battle of Vouillé]],{{r|Garat}}<ref name="von Zach - Frage 4">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|pp=522–523|ps=: "{{lang|de|4) Welches wäre nun dasjenige Volk, welches nach seiner Unterjochung nur in diesen Elenden vorhande wäre? In keinem stücke sind die Meinungen der Schriftsteller so-sehr getheilt.
Einige halten sie für die Abkömmlinge der von den Römern und späterhin von den Franken unterjochen ersten Bewohner - der Gallier.
Court de Gebelin in seinem Monde primitif wählt die Alanen und führt die Schlacht vom Jahr 463 an, in welcher diese mit den Visigothen überwunden wurden.
Marca betrachtet sie als Überreste der von Carl Martel unter Anführung des Abdalrahman besiegten Sarazanen.
Ramond in seiner Reise nach den Pyrenäen leitet sie von den Arianisch gesinnten Völkern ab, welcher unter dem Clodoveus im Jahr 507 bey Vouglé (in Campo oder Campania Vocladensi) unter der Anführung Alarichs zehn Meilen von Poitiers geschlagen, zerstreut, misshandelt, und von den Bewohnern der Loire und der Sévre mit gleicher Erbitterung und Verachtung gegen die Mündungen dieser beyden Flüsse getrieben wurden.
Wer hier Recht hat, muss erst in der Folge entschieden, und ehe diess geschehen kann, die Sache noch genauer untersucht werden.}}"
["4) ''What would that people be, which after its subjugation would be present only in these miserable ones?''
In no way are the opinions of the writers so divided.
Some consider them to be the descendants of the first inhabitants conquered by the Romans and later by the Franks - ''the Gauls''.
''[[Antoine Court de Gébelin|Court de Gebelin]]'' in his {{lang|fr|Monde primitif}} chooses the ''[[Alans]]'' and cites the [[Battle of Orleans (463)|battle of 463]], in which they were defeated with the Visigoths.
''[[Pierre de Marca|Marca]]'' regards them as the remains of the ''[[Saracens|Sarazans]]'' defeated by ''[[Charles Martel|Carl Martel]]'' led by the ''[[Abd al-Rahman I|Abdalrahman]]''.
''[[Louis Ramond de Carbonnières|Ramond]]'' in his ''Journey to the Pyrenees'' derives them from the Arian-minded peoples who, under the ''[[Clovis I|Clodoveus]]'' in the year 507 at ''[[Vouillé, Vienne|Vouglé]]'' (''in Campo'' or ''Campania Vocladensi'') under the leadership of ''[[Alaric II|Alaric]]'', beaten, scattered, abused ten miles from ''[[Poitiers]]'', and treated with equal bitterness and contempt by the inhabitants of the ''[[Loire]]'' and the ''[[Sèvre Niortaise|Sévre]]'' the mouths of these two rivers were driven.
Who is right here must first be decided later, and before this can happen, the matter must be examined more closely."]}}</ref>
and that the name {{lang|fr|Cagot}} derives from {{lang|pro|caas}} ("dog") and the [[Old Occitan]] for [[Goths|Goth]] {{lang|pro|gòt}} around the [[6th century]].<ref>{{harvp|Michel|1847|pp=21–22, 284}}; {{harvp|Álvarez|2019}}; {{harvp|Erroll|1899}}; {{harvp|Delacampagne|1983|p=125–127}}; {{harvp|Donkin|Diez|1864|p=107|ps=: "called {{lang|la|canes Gothi}}, ''cagots'' (Pr. {{lang|oc|câ}} a dog, and {{lang|oc|Got}} = Goth)."}}; {{harvp|von Zach|1798|p=520|ps=: "{{lang|de|Die erste und natürlichste Frage entsteht über den Namen.
Woher die sonderbare Benennung Cagot?
Scaliger's Meinung, welcher sie von Caas Goth, Canis Gothus ableitet, scheint ihren Gothischen Ursprung, welcher doch erst bewiesen werden sollte, als ausgemacht voraus zu setzen, auch scheint diese Ableitung zu künstlich und erzwungen zu seyn.}}"
["The first and most natural question arises about the name.
''Where did the strange name Cagot come from?''
[[Joseph Justus Scaliger|Scaliger's]] opinion, deriving it from {{lang|pro|Caas}} ''Goth'', {{lang|la|Canis Gothus}}, seems to take for granted its Gothic origin, which has yet to be proved, and this derivation seems too artificial and forced."]}}</ref>
Yet in opposition to this etymology is the fact that the word {{lang|fr|cagot}} is first found in this form in 1542 in the works of [[François Rabelais]].{{sfnp|Demonet|2021|pp=403–413}}
Seventeenth century French historian [[Pierre de Marca]], in his {{lang|fr|Histoire de Béarn}}, propounds the reverse – that the word signifies "hunters of the Goths", and that the Cagots were descendants of the [[Saracen]]s{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911|p=947}}{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}} and [[Moors]]{{r|Fayanás Escuer, 2018}} of [[Al-Andalus]] (or even [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain|Jews]]){{sfnp|British Medical Journal|1912}}{{sfnp|Heng|2022|p=31–32}} after their defeat by [[Charles Martel]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Claude |last=Larronde |author-link=:es:Jean-Claude Larronde |title=Vic-Bigorre et son patrimoine |language=fr |trans-title=Vic-Bigorre and its heritage |date=1998 |publisher=Société académique des Hautes-Pyrénées |quote=Il s'agit de descendants de Sarrasins qui restèrent en Gascogne après que Charles Martel eut défait Abdel-Rahman. Ils se convertirent et devinrent chrétiens. |trans-quote=They are descendants of Saracens who remained in Gascony after Charles Martel had defeated Abdel-Rahman. They converted and became Christians.}}</ref>{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}}{{r|von Zach - Frage 4}}
although this proposal was comprehensively refuted by the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|Prior]] of [[Livorno]], Abbot {{ill|Filippo Venuti|it|Filippo Venuti (archeologo)}} as early as 1754.{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=37}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Dissertations sur les anciens monumens de la ville de Bordeaux, sur les Gahets, les antiquités, et les ducs d'Aquitaine avec un traité historique sur les monoyes que les anglais ont frappées dans cette province, etc. |language=fr |trans-title=Dissertations on the ancient monuments of the city of Bordeaux, on the Gahets (Cagots), antiquities, and the Dukes of Aquitaine with a historical treatise on the monoyes that the English struck in this province, etc. |first=Filippo |last=Venuti |author-link=:it:Filippo Venuti (archeologo) |date=1754 |location=Bordeaux |url=https://arachne.uni-koeln.de/Tei-Viewer/cgi-bin/teiviewer.php?manifest=BOOK-ZID1360881 |via=[[University of Cologne]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129213401/https://arachne.uni-koeln.de/Tei-Viewer/cgi-bin/teiviewer.php?manifest=BOOK-ZID1360881 |archive-date=29 January 2023}}</ref>
[[Antoine Court de Gébelin]] derives the term cagot from the Latin {{lang|la|caco-deus}}, {{lang|la|caco}} meaning "false, bad, deceitful", and {{lang|la|deus}} meaning "god", due to a belief that Cagots were descended from the [[Alans]] and followed [[Arianism]].{{sfnp|Gébelin|1842|pp=1182–1183}}{{r|von Zach - Frage 4}}

=== Variations ===

[[File:Names for Cagots around France.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Names for Cagots around France]]

Their name differed by province and the [[Languages of France|local language]]:

* In [[Gascony]] they were called {{lang|oc|Cagots}},{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}} {{lang|fr|Cagous}}<ref name="Lascorz, Bizén, 1992">{{cite journal |title=Los agotes de Gestavi (bal de Gistau) |language=es |trans-title=The Agotes of Gestavi (Gistau Valley) |first1=N. Lucía Dueso |last1=Lascorz |author1-link=:es:Nieus Luzía Dueso Lascorz |first2=Bizén |last2=d'o Río Martínez |journal=Argensola: Revista de Ciencias Sociales del Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses |volume=106 |pages=151–172 |date=1992 |publisher=Huesca: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses |url=http://revistas.iea.es/index.php/ARG/article/view/1419 |issn=0518-4088 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524080849/https://revistas.iea.es/index.php/ARG/article/view/1419 |archive-date=24 May 2022}}</ref> and {{lang|oc|Gafets}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376, 382}}<ref name="Louis-Lande, 429">{{harvp|Louis-Lande|1878|p=429|ps=: "{{lang|fr|Les gafets ou gahets de Guyenne font leur apparition dans l'histoire vers la fin du XIIIe siècle, en même temps que les cagots. Eux aussi étaient tenus pour ladres; ils avaient à l'église une porte, une place et un bénitier réservés, et ils étaient enterrés séparément. La coutume du Mas-d'Agenais, rédigée en 1388, défend à quiconque « d'acheter, pour les vendre, bétail ou volaille de gafet ou de gafete, ni de louer gafet ou gafete pour vendanger. » La coutume de Marmande défend aux gafets d'aller pieds nus par les rues et sans un « signal » de drap rouge appliqué sur le côté, gauche de la robe, d'acheter ni de séjourner dans la ville un autre jour que le lundi; elle leur enjoint, s'ils rencontrent homme ou femme, de se mettre à l'écart autant que possible jusqu'à ce que le passant se soit éloigné.}}" ["The gafets or gahets of [[Guyenne]] make their appearance in history towards the end of the 13th century, at the same time as the cagots. They, too, were considered wretches; they had in the church a door, a place and a stoup reserved, and they were buried separately. The custom of [[Le Mas-d'Agenais|Mas-d'Agenais]], written in 1388, forbids anyone "to buy, to sell, cattle or poultry from gafet or gafete, or to rent gafet or gafete for harvesting." The custom of [[Marmande]] forbids gafets to go barefoot through the streets and without a "signal" of red cloth applied to the left side of the dress, to buy or to stay in the city on a day other than Monday; she enjoins them, if they meet man or woman, to stand apart as much as possible until the passer-by has moved away."]}}</ref>
* In [[Bordeaux]] they were called {{lang|oc|Ladres}},{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}} {{lang|oc|Cahets}}<ref name="von Zach - names">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|pp=516–517|ps=: "{{lang|de|Man kennt sie in Bretagne unter der Benennung von Cacous oder Caqueux. Man findet sie in Aunis, vorzüglich auf der Insel Maillezais, so wie auch in La Rochelle, wo sie Coliberts gennent werden. In Guyenne und Gascogne in der Nähe von Bordeaux erscheinen sie unter dem Namen der Cahets, und halten sich in den unbewohnbarsten Morästen, Sümpfen und Heiden auf. In den beyden Navarren heissen sie Caffos, Cagotes, Agotes.}}" ["They are known in Brittany under the name of Cacous or Caqueux. They can be found in Aunis, especially on the island of Maillezais, as well as in La Rochelle, where they are called Coliberts. In Guyenne and Gascogne, near Bordeaux, they appear under the name of the Cahets, and can be found in the most uninhabitable swamps, swamps and heaths. In the two Navarres they are called Caffos, Cagotes, Agotes."]}}</ref> or {{lang|oc|Gahetz}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}}<ref>{{harvp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}}; {{harvp|Hansson|1996}}; {{harvp|Tuke|1880|p=376}}</ref>{{r|Louis-Lande, 429}}
* In the [[Southern Basque Country|Spanish Basque country]] they were called {{lang|es|Agotes}},{{r|von Zach - names}}<ref>{{harvp|Loubès|1995}}; {{harvp|Hansson|1996}}; {{harvp|Antolini|1995}}; {{harvp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}}</ref> {{lang|eu|Agotak}}{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}}{{r|Supplement 2010}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} and {{lang|es|Gafos}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376}}
* In the [[French Basque Country]] the forms {{lang|fr|Agotac}} and {{lang|fr|Agoth}} were also used.<ref name="Lagneau">{{cite book |title=Cagots |language=fr |first=Gustave Simon |last=Lagneau |author-link=:fr:Gustave Lagneau |location=Paris |publisher=[[Masson (publisher)|Victor Masson et Fils]] |date=1870 |url=https://www.omnia.ie/index.php?navigation_function=2&navigation_item=%2F307%2F10357_7066_aggregation&repid=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109134710/https://www.omnia.ie/index.php?navigation_function=2&navigation_item=/307/10357_7066_aggregation&repid=1 |archive-date=9 November 2021}}</ref>{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|pp=376, 379–380}}
* In [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Languedoc]], and [[Armagnac (province)|Armagnac]] they were called {{lang|oc|Capots}},{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}}{{sfnp|Michel|1847|pp=56–58}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} and {{lang|fr|Gens des Marais}} (''marsh people'')
* In [[Brittany]] they were called {{lang|fr|Cacons}}, {{lang|fr|Cacous}} (possibly from the [[Breton language|Breton]] word {{lang|br|Cacodd}} meaning leprous),{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376, 382}}{{r|von Zach - names}} {{lang|fr|Caquots}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=381}} and {{lang|fr|Cahets}}. They were also sometimes referred to as {{lang|br|Kakouz}},{{sfnp|Rogozinski|2024|pp=205–206}} {{lang|fr|Caqueux}},{{r|von Zach - names}} {{lang|fr|Caquets}},<ref name="von Zach - Frage 2">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|pp=521|ps=: "{{lang|de|Es fragt sich 2) gehören die Caquets oder Caqueux in Bretagne und die Cagots in Bearn, so wie Cassos in Navarra zu einem und demselben Geschlechte? Wir glauben die Frage mit Ramond bejahen zu können. Die grosse Verwandtschaft der Namen, die Ähnlichkeit ihres Zustandes, die aller Orten gleiche Verachtung, und derselbe Geist, der aus allen Verordnungen in Betreff ihrer herverleuchtet scheinen diess zu beweisen.}}" ["The question arises 2) ''Do the caquets or caqueux in Brittany and the cagots in Bearn, like the cassos in Navarre, belong to one and the same family?'' We think we can answer the question with ''[[Louis Ramond de Carbonnières|Ramond]]'' in the affirmative. The close affinity of names, the similarity of their condition, the same contempt in all places, and the same spirit emanating from all the ordinances concerning them, seem to prove this."]}}</ref> {{lang|fr|Caquins}}, and {{lang|fr|Caquous}},{{r|von Zach - names}} names of the local [[Caquins of Brittany]] due to similar low stature and discrimination in society.{{r|von Zach - Frage 2}}
* In [[County of Bigorre|Bigorre]] they were also called {{lang|oc|Graouès}} and {{lang|oc|[[Cascarots]]}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=87}}
* In [[Aunis]], [[Poitou]], and [[County of Saintonge|Saintonge]] they were also called {{lang|fr|Colliberts}},{{r|von Zach - names}}{{sfnp|Rogozinski|2024|pp=205–206}} a name taken from the former class of {{lang|fr|colliberts}}.{{efn|The colliberts were not restricted to the western coast of France, and were also found through the Alps and into Italy. In France records also use the names: {{lang|la|colliberti}}, {{lang|pro|culvert}}, {{lang|pro|cuvert}}, {{lang|fr|cuilvert}}, {{lang|fr|culvert}}.}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloch |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Bloch |date=1975 |chapter=The "Colliberti." A Study on the Formation of the Servile Class |title=Slavery and Serfdom in the Middle Ages |translator-last=Beer |translator-first=WilliamR. |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0520017672 |pages=93–150}}</ref>
* {{lang|oc|Gésitains}}, or {{lang|oc|Gésites}} referencing [[Gehazi]] the servant of [[Elisha]] who was cursed with leprosy due to his greed.<ref name="Garcia Piñuela">{{cite magazine |title=Etnia marginada, Los Agotes |language=es |trans-title=Marginalized ethnic group, the Agotes |first=M. |last=Garcia Piñuela |magazine=Mitologia |date=2012 |url=https://es.slideshare.net/sonseharay/agotes-mitologia |pages=12–13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004215415/https://es.slideshare.net/sonseharay/agotes-mitologia |archive-date=4 October 2023}}</ref>{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} With the {{ill|Parlement of Bordeaux|fr|Parlement de Bordeaux}} recording {{lang|fr|descendants de la race de Giezy}} as an insult regularly used against Cagots.{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=2}} {{lang|oc|Giézitains}} is seen in the writings of [[Dominique Joseph Garat]].<ref name="Garat">{{cite book |title=Origines Des Basques De France Et D'espagne |language=fr |trans-title=Origins of the Basques of France and Spain |first=Dominique Joseph |last=Garat |author-link=Dominique Joseph Garat |date=1869}}</ref><ref name="Supplement 2010">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement |date=2010 |volume=1 |title=Cagots |pages=185–186 |editor1-first=Robert L. |editor1-last=Fastiggi |editor2-first=Joseph W. |editor2-last=Koterski |editor2-link=Joseph Koterski |editor3-first=Frank J. |editor3-last=Coppa |editor3-link=Frank J. Coppa |publisher=[[Cengage Gale]] |isbn=978-1414475882}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Gaskell]] records the anglicised ''Gehazites'' in her work ''An Accursed Race''.{{sfnp|Gaskell|1855}}
* Other recorded names include {{lang|es|Caffos}},{{r|von Zach - names}} {{lang|fr|Essaurillés}},{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} {{lang|fr|Gaffots}},{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} {{lang|fr|Trangots}},{{sfnp|Michel|1847|pp=76–77}} {{lang|fr|Caffets}},{{sfnp|Erroll|1899}} {{lang|es|Cailluands}}{{sfnp|Hors|1951|p=308}}{{sfnp|Garate|1958|p=521}} and {{lang|fr|Mézegs}} (most likely from the [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|mézeau}} meaning leper).{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=382}}

Previously some of these names had been viewed as being similar yet separate groups from the Cagots.{{sfnp|Michel|1847|pp=166–170}}{{r|von Zach - Frage 2}}<!-- though this changed in some cases in later research.{{cn|date=May 2024}} -->