Editing Carpentras (section)

==History==
===Classical antiquity===
[[File:Carpentras Stela, in CIS II 141 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Carpentras Stela]], found in the town in 1704, was the first [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions|Northwest Semitic (i.e. Canaanite or Aramaic) inscription]] published anywhere in modern times.<ref name="Gibson1975">{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=J. C. L.|title=Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions: II. Aramaic Inscriptions: Including Inscriptions in the Dialect of Zenjirli|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXkHAQAAIAAJ|date=30 October 1975|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-813186-1|page=120|quote=The Carpentras stele: The famous funerary stele ([[Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum|CIS ii]] 141) was the first Syrian Semitic inscr. to become known in Europe, being discovered in the early 18 cent.; it measures 0.35 m high by 0.33m broad and is housed in a museum at Carpentras in southern France.}}</ref>]]

Carpentras was a commercial site used by [[Greece|Greek]] merchants in ancient times, and known to Romans at first as '''Carpentoracte Meminorum''', mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], then renamed '''Forum Neronis''' ("Forum of Nero"); the city retains a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Arch of Carpentras|triumphal arch]], that has been enclosed by the bishops' palace, rebuilt in 1640, now a law court, and a [[machicolation|machicolated]] [[city gate]], the ''Porte d'Orange''.
[[File:Hotel dieu carpentras by JM Rosier.jpg|left|thumb|''Hôtel-Dieu'' in Carpentras.]]

===Ancient Diocese of Carpentras===
For the history of the [[bishopric]] of Carpentras, see [[Ancient Diocese of Carpentras]].

===Middle Ages===
At the beginning of the [[Avignon Papacy]], [[Pope Clement V]] took up residence, along with the [[Roman Curia]], in Carpentras in 1313. His successor, [[Pope John XXII]], settled definitively at [[Avignon]].

===Municipal library===
[[Joseph-Dominique d'Inguimbert]], Bishop of Carpentras from 1735 to 1754, established a great scholarly library which [[Jean-François Delmas (palaeographer)|Jean-François Delmas]], the chief librarian as of 2009, has called "the oldest of our municipal libraries"; known as the [[Bibliothèque Inguimbertine]] and now holding around 140,000 books, it is known to bibliophiles all over France and is scheduled to move into roomier quarters in the former [[Hôtel-Dieu of Carpentras|Hôtel-Dieu]] in 2013.<ref>Thomas Wieder, "[http://www.lemonde.fr/livres/article/2009/08/13/un-cabinet-de-curiosites-a-carpentras-4-5_1228125_3260.html Un cabinet de curiosités à Carpentras]," ''Le Monde des Livres'', August 13, 2009.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=December 2010}}

===French Revolution and return to France===
Until 1791, Carpentras was part of the Papal States, not of the Kingdom of France.

Like most communities across France, Carpentras played a role in the 1789-1799 [[French Revolution]], particularly during the rule of the [[French Directory]]. After the 'Anti-Royalist' September 4, 1797 [[Coup of 18 Fructidor]], on October 22, 1797, counter-revolutionaries take the city's government and hold it in protest for 24 hours.

===Jewish community===
Into the 20th and 21st centuries, Carpentras has been an important centre of French [[Judaism]] and is home to the oldest [[synagogue]] in France, which opened in 1367 and is still active today{{when|date=April 2022}}. The Jewish cemetery was [[French and European Nationalist Party#AnchorCemetery|desecrated]] by members of the [[French and European Nationalist Party]] in May 1990, causing a public uproar and a demonstration in [[Paris]] that was attended by 200,000 people, including then-president [[François Mitterrand]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.humanite.fr/popup_imprimer.html?id_article=774664 |title=Imprimer :: Le procès de quatre profanateurs néo-nazis après six ans de fausses pistes - l'Humanite |access-date=2009-07-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015201524/http://www.humanite.fr/popup_imprimer.html?id_article=774664 |archive-date=2008-10-15 }}</ref>