Editing Cagot (section)

== Treatment ==

[[File:Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption à Bidarray 08 - Porte des cagots.jpg|thumb|150px|Former door for Cagots in the Church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in [[Bidarray]]]]

Cagots were shunned and hated; while restrictions varied by time and place, with many discriminatory actions being codified into law in France in 1460,{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376}}<ref>{{harvp|von Zach|1798|pp=519–520|ps=: "{{lang|de|dass sie im J. 1460 der Gegenstand einer Beschwerde der [[Landstände|Bearner Landstände]] waren, welche verlangten, dass man ihnen wegen zu besorgender Ansteckung verbiete, mit blossen Füssen zu gehen, unter Bedrohung der Strafe, dass ihnen im Betretungsfalle die Füsse mit einem Eisen sollten durchschlagen werden. Auch drangen die Stände darauf, dass sie auf ihren Kleidern ihr ehemahliges unterscheidendes Merkmahl, den Gänse - oder Aenten - Fuss fernerhin tragen sollten.}}" ["that in 1460 they were the subject of a complaint by the [[Landstände|''Bearnese'' estates]], which demanded that they should be forbidden to walk with bare feet because of contagion, under threat of the punishment that their feet should be struck with an iron in the event of trespass. The standing orders also insisted that they should continue to wear their former distinctive mark, the ''goose'' - or ''duck'' - ''foot'' on their clothes."]}}</ref> they were typically required to live in separate quarters.{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}} Cagots were excluded from various political and social rights.<ref>{{harvp|Loubès|1995}}; {{harvp|Álvarez|2019}}; {{harvp|Kessel|2019}}; {{harvp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}; {{harvp|Guy|1983}}</ref>

=== Religious treatment ===

[[File:Agote ur pila oloreneko katedralean.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Holy water]] font for Cagots in the cathedral of [[Oloron-Sainte-Marie|Oloron]], [[Béarn]] ]]

While Cagots followed the same religion as the non-Cagots who lived around them,{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=379}} they were subject to variety of discriminatory practices in religious rites and buildings, this included being forced to use a side entrance to churches, often an intentionally low one to force Cagots to bow{{r|Supplement 2010}} and remind them of their subservient status.{{sfnp|da Silva|2006}}<ref name="Euskomedia">{{cite web |url=http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/10045/114617 |title=Agote: etnología e historia |language=es |trans-title=Agote: ethnology and history |website=Euskomedia: Auñamendi Entziklopedia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505013703/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/10045/114617 |archive-date=5 May 2011}}</ref> This practice, done for cultural rather than religious reasons, did not change even between [[Catholic]] and [[Huguenot]] areas, as shown by historian Raymond A. Mentzer, who records how even when Cagots converted from Catholicism to Calvinism they were still subject to the same discriminatory practices, including in religious rites and rituals.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mentzer |first=Raymond A. |date=1996 |title=The Persistence of "Superstition and Idolatry" among Rural French Calvinists |journal=Church History |volume=65 |number=2 |doi=10.2307/3170289 |pages=220–233 [230–231] |jstor=3170289}}</ref> Cagots were expected to slip into churches quietly and congregate in the worst seats. They had their own [[holy water]] fonts set aside for Cagots, and touching the normal font was strictly forbidden.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Leclercq |first=H. |author-link=Henri Leclercq |date=1910 |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07433a.htm |encyclopedia=The [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |chapter=Holy Water Fonts |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Holy Water Fonts |location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120050732/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07433a.htm |archive-date=20 November 2023}}</ref>{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}} These restrictions were taken seriously; with one story collected by Elizabeth Gaskell explaining the origin of the skeleton of a hand nailed to the church door in [[Quimperlé]], Brittany, where in the 18th century, a wealthy Cagot had his hand cut off and nailed to the church door for daring to touch the font reserved for "clean" citizens.{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=44}}{{sfnp|Gaskell|1855}}

=== Treatment by governments ===

Cagots were not allowed to marry non-Cagots<ref name="marriage">{{harvp|Loubès|1995}}; {{harvp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}}; {{harvp|Álvarez|2019}}; {{harvp|Kessel|2019}}; {{harvp|Rogozinski|2024|pp=205–206}}</ref> leading to forced [[endogamy]],<ref>{{harvp|Jolly|2000|p=205}}: "{{lang|fr|L'étendue des aires matrimoniales et la distribution des patronymes constituent les principaux indices de la mobilité des cagots. F. Bériac relie l'extension des aires matrimoniales des cagots des différentes localités étudiées (de 20 à plus de 35 km) à l'importance et la densité relative des groupes de cagots, corrélant la recherche de conjoints lointains à l'épuisement des possibilités locales. A. Guerreau et Y. Guy, en utilisant la documentation gersoise exploitée par G. Loubès et les documents publiés par Fay pour le Béarn et la Chalosse (XVe–XVIIe s.) concluent que l'endogamie des cagots semble s'opérer au sein de trois sous-ensembles qui correspondent à ceux que distingue la terminologie à partir du XVIe siècle: agotes, cagots, capots. Au sein de chacun d'eux, les distances moyennes d'intermariage sont relativement importantes: entre 12 et 15 km en Béarn et Chalosse, plus de 30 km dans le Gers, dans une société où plus de la moitié des mariages se faisaient à l'intérieur d'un même village.}}" ["The extent of marital areas and the distribution of surnames are the main indices of cagot mobility. F. Bériac links the extension of the matrimonial areas of the Cagots of the different localities studied (from 20 to more than 35 km) to the importance and the relative density of the groups of cagots, correlating the search for distant spouses with the exhaustion of possibilities local. {{ill|Alain Guerreau|fr}} and Y. Guy, using the [[Gers]] documentation exploited by G. Loubès and the documents published by Fay for Béarn and [[Chalosse]] (15th–17th century) conclude that the endogamy of Cagots seems to operate within three subsets that correspond to those distinguished by terminology from the 16th century: agotes, cagots, capots. Within each of them, the average intermarriage distances are relatively long: between 12 and 15 km in Béarn and Chalosse, more than 30 km in the Gers, in a society where more than half of marriages took place at home, inside the same village."]</ref> though in some areas in the later centuries (such as [[Béarn]]) they were able to marry non-Cagots though the non-Cagot would then be classed as a Cagot.{{sfnp|British Medical Journal|1912}} They were not allowed to enter taverns or use public fountains.{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}} The marginalization of the Cagots began at baptism where chimes were not rung in celebration as was the case for non-Cagots and that the baptisms were held at nightfall.{{sfnp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}{{sfnp|Kessel|2019}} Within parish registries the term {{lang|fr|cagot}}, or its scholarly synonym {{lang|fr|gezitan}}, was entered.{{sfnp|Bériac|1987}} Cagots were buried in cemeteries separate from non-Cagots<ref>{{harvp|Guy|1983}}; {{harvp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}}; {{harvp|Tuke|1880|p=376}}; {{harvp|Heng|2022|p=31–32}}</ref> with reports of riots occurring if bishops tried to have the bodies moved to non-Cagot cemeteries.{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}} Commonly Cagots were not given a standard last name in registries and records but were only listed by their first name, followed by the mention "{{lang|fr|crestians}}" or "{{lang|fr|cagot}}",{{r|Supplement 2010}} such as on their baptismal certificate,{{sfnp|Louis-Lande|1878|p=430}}<ref name="Duffy, 2019">{{cite web |last=Duffy |first=Diane |date=7 August 2019 |title=This Month in Writing: 'An Accursed Race' |url=https://gaskellsociety.co.uk/an-accursed-race/ |access-date=9 October 2021 |website=The Gaskell Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023060422/https://gaskellsociety.co.uk/an-accursed-race/ |archive-date=23 October 2021}}</ref> They were allowed to enter a church only by a special door{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}}<ref name="von Zach - church">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|p=519|ps=: "{{lang|de|dass sie in die Kirchen nicht anders, als durch abgesonderte Thüren hineintreten durften, und in diesen ihre eigenen Weihbecken und Stühle für sich und ihre Familie hatten.}}" ["that they were not allowed to enter the churches other than through separate doors, and in these had their own stoups and chairs for themselves and their families."]}}</ref> and, during the service, a rail separated them from the other worshippers.{{sfnp|Winkle|1997|pp=39–40}}{{r|von Zach - church}} They were forbidden from joining the [[priesthood]].{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}} Either they were altogether forbidden to partake of the sacrament, or the [[Eucharist]] was given to them on the end of a wooden spoon,{{sfnp|del Carmen Aguirre Delclaux|2008}}{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}}{{r|Supplement 2010}} while a [[holy water stoup]] was reserved for their exclusive use.{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=377}} They were compelled to wear a distinctive dress to which, in some places, was attached the foot of a goose{{r|Lascorz, Bizén, 1992}} or duck{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=381}} (whence they were sometimes called {{lang|fr|Canards}}),{{r|Supplement 2010}} and latterly to have a red representation of a goose's foot in fabric sewn onto their clothes.<ref>{{harvp|Ulysse|1891}}; {{harvp|Álvarez|2019}}; {{harvp|del Carmen Aguirre Delclaux|2008}}; {{harvp|Louis-Lande|1878|p=426|ps=: "{{lang|fr|Aussi les tenait-on prudemment à l'écart: ceux des villes étaient relégués dans un faubourg spécial où les personnes saines se lussent bien gardées de mettre les pieds et d'où ils ne pouvaient sortir eux-mêmes sans porter sur leur vêtement et bien en évidence un morceau de drap rouge taillé en patte d'oie ou de canard}}" ["So they were kept prudently apart: those from the cities were relegated to a special suburb where healthy people were careful not to set foot and where they could not get out themselves without wearing on their clothes and well in evidence a piece of red cloth cut in crow's or duck's feet"]}}</ref> Whilst in Navarre a court ruling in 1623 required all Cagots to wear cloaks with a yellow trim to identify them as Cagots.{{sfnp|Kessel|2019}}

In Spanish territories Cagots were subject to the {{lang|es|limpieza de sangre}} statutes (cleanliness of blood).{{sfnp|Hors|1951|p=311}} These statutes established the legal discrimination, restriction of rights, and restriction of privileges of the descendants of Muslims, Jews, [[Gitanos|Romani]], and Cagots.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Llinares |first=Lidia Montesinos |date=2013 |title=IRALIKU'K: La confrontación de los comunales: Etnografía e historia de las relaciones de propiedad en Goizueta |language=es |trans-title=IRALIKU'K: The confrontation of the communal: Ethnography and history of property relations in Goizueta |type=MA |page=81}}</ref>

=== Work ===

[[File:Bozate.JPG|400px|thumb|right|The neighborhood of Bozate in the town of [[Arizkun]] is a former ghetto of Navarrese Agotes, and is home to the {{lang|es|Museo Etnográfico de los Agotes}} (Ethnographic Museum of the Agotes).<ref name="Los agotes en Navarra">{{cite news |url=https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2020/04/22/los-agotes-navarra-pueblo-maldito-amante-artesania-688017-1034.html |title=Los agotes en Navarra, el pueblo maldito amante de la artesanía |language=es |trans-title=The Agotes in Navarra, the cursed town that loves crafts |date=22 April 2020 |access-date=8 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008140250/https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2020/04/22/los-agotes-navarra-pueblo-maldito-amante-artesania-688017-1034.html |archive-date=8 October 2021}}</ref>]]

Cagots were prohibited from selling food or wine,{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} touching food in the market, working with livestock,{{sfnp|Pérez|2010}} or entering mills.{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=6}} The Cagots were often restricted to craft trades including those of carpenter,{{sfnp|Loubès|1995}}{{sfnp|Guy|1983}}<ref name="Jolly, 200b">{{harvp|Jolly|2000|p=200|ps=: "{{lang|fr|Lors des entretiens effectués récemment par P. Antolini dans le village d'Arizcun en Navarre, il ressort que les cagots dans cette région avaient des métiers et peu de terres: charpentier, menuisier, forgeron, carrier, meunier, joueur de flûte et de tambour, chasseur, tisserand. Ils travaillaient aussi sur les terres du seigneur Ursua comme métayers, ou comme ouvriers pour les agriculteurs et leveurs du village. Vers 1915-1920, la maison Ursua vendit aux cagots les terres qu'ils travaillaient: ils sont à présent presque tous propriétaires de leurs maisons et de leurs terres, mais la majorité sont encore artisans.}}" ["During interviews carried out recently by P. Antolini in the village of Arizcun in Navarre, it appears that the cagots in this region had trades and little land: carpenter, joiner, blacksmith, quarryman, miller, flute player and drummer, hunter, weaver. They also worked on the lands of Lord Ursua as sharecroppers, or as laborers for the village farmers and herders. Around 1915-1920, the Ursua house sold the land they worked to the cagots: they are now almost all owners of their houses and their land, but the majority are still artisans."]}}</ref> mason, woodcutter,{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=85}} wood carver,<ref name="von Zach - 518">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|pp=516–517|ps=: "{{lang|de|Ausser dem Holzspalten und Zimmern sey ihnen kein anderes Handwerk erlaubt: diese beyden Beschäftigungen seyen aber eben dadurch verächtlich und ehrlos geworden.}}" ["Apart from splitting wood and carving, they are not allowed to do any other craft: these two occupations have become contemptible and dishonorable because of this."]}}</ref> cooper,{{sfnp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=114–115, 124}} butcher,<ref>{{cite book |last=Arnold-Baker |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Arnold-Baker |date=2001 |title=The Companion to British History |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-203-93013-4 |pages=219}}</ref> and rope-maker.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911|p=947}}{{sfnp|Thomas|2008}} They were also often employed as musicians in Navarre.{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=85}}<ref name="Jolly, 200b"/> Cagots who were involved in masonry and carpentry were often contracted to construct major public buildings, such as churches, an example being the {{ill|Protestant temple of Pau|fr|Temple protestant de Pau}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fay |first1=Henri-Marcel |date=1910 |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57243705.r=cagots+Lourdes.langFR |title=Histoire de la lèpre en France. I. Lépreux et cagots du Sud-Ouest, notes historiques, médicales, philologiques, suivies de documents |language=fr |trans-title=History of leprosy in France. I. lepers and cagots in southwestern, medical and historical, philological, followed by documents |location=Paris |publisher=H. Champion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108071227/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57243705.r=cagots+Lourdes.langFR |archive-date=8 November 2023}}</ref> Due to association with woodworking crafts, Cagots often worked as the operators of instruments of torture and execution, as well as making the instruments themselves.{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=114–115, 124}}{{sfnp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}{{r|Supplement 2010}} Such professions may have perpetuated their social ostracisation.{{sfnp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}

Cagot women were often midwives until the 15th century.{{sfnp|Guerreau|Guy|1988}}{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=114–115, 124}} Due to [[social exclusion]], in France the Cagots were exempt from taxation until the 18th century.{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}}{{r|Supplement 2010}}{{sfnp|Michel|1847|p=185}} By the 19th century these restrictions seem to have been lifted, but the trades continued to be practiced by Cagots, along with other trades such as [[weaving]] and [[blacksmithing]].{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=378–379}}{{r|Jolly, 200b}} Because the main identifying mark of the Cagots was the restriction of their trades to a few small options, their segregation has been compared to the [[caste system in India]],{{sfnp|da Silva|2006}}<ref name="Von Zach Indischen Parias">{{harvp|von Zach|1798|p=515|ps=: "{{lang|de|An der westlichen Küste dieses Landes, von St. Malo an, bis tief die Pyrenäen hinauf, befindet sich eine Classe von Manschen, welche den Indischen Parias sehr nahe kommt, und mit diesen auf gleicher Stufe der Erniedrigung steht. Sie leben in diesen Gegenden zerstreut, seit undenklichen Zeiten bis auf den heutigen Tag unter fortdauernder Herabwürdigung von Seiten ihrer mehr begünstigten Mitbürger. Sie heissen mit ihrer bekanntesten und allgemeinsten Benennung Cagots, und es bleibt zweifelhaft, ob die Heuchler ihnen, oder sie diesen ihren Namen mitgetheilt haben, obgleich das letzte mir glaublicher scheint.}}" ["On the western coast of this country, from [[Saint-Malo|St. Malo]] to deep up the Pyrenees, there is a class of people who come very close to the Indian pariah, and are on the same level of humiliation with them. They have been scattered in these areas, from time immemorial to the present day, under constant disparagement from their more fortunate fellow citizens. With their best-known and most general designation they are called Cagots, and it remains doubtful whether the hypocrites gave them or they gave them their names, although the last one seems more credible to me."]}}</ref> with the Cagots being compared to the [[Dalits]].{{sfnp|da Silva|2006|pp=21–22}}

=== Accusations and pseudo-medical beliefs ===

Few consistent reasons were given as to why Cagots were hated; accusations varied from them being [[cretinism|cretins]],{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376}} [[Leprosy|lepers]],{{sfnp|British Medical Journal|1912}} [[heresy|heretics]],{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=380}} [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]],{{r|Supplement 2010}} [[Witchcraft|sorcerers]],{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}}{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}} [[Werewolf|werewolves]],{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=114–115, 121–124}} [[Paraphilia|sexual deviants]], to actions they were accused of such as poisoning wells,<ref name="Barzilay, 2022">{{cite book |last=Barzilay |first=Tzafrir |date=2022 |title=Poisoned Wells: Accusations, Persecution, and Minorities in Medieval Europe, 1321-1422 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |pages=44–45 |isbn=9780812298222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMdcEAAAQBAJ&dq=cagot&pg=PP1 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{r|Supplement 2010}} or for simply being intrinsically evil. They were viewed as [[Untouchability|untouchables]], with {{ill|Christian Delacampagne|fr}} noting how it was believed that they could cause children to fall ill by touching them or even just looking at them,{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=114–115, 121–124}} being considered so pestilential that it was a crime for them to walk common roads barefooted{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} or to drink from the same cup as non-Cagots. It was also a common belief that the Cagots gave off a foul smell.{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}}{{r|Supplement 2010}} {{ill|Joaquim de Santa Rosa de Viterbo|pt}} recorded that many believed Cagots were born with a tail.{{r|Viterbo, 1856}} Many [[Bretons]] believed that Cagots bled from their [[navel]] on [[Good Friday]].{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=45}}

The French early psychiatrist [[Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol]] wrote in his 1838 works that the Cagots were a subset of "[[Idiot#Disability and early classification and nomenclature|idiot]]", and separate from "cretins".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pigeaud |first=Jackie |author-link=Jackie Pigeaud |date=2000 |title=Le Pongo, l'idiot et le cagot. Quelques remarques sur la définition de l'Autre |language=fr |trans-title=The Pongo, the idiot and the cagot. Some remarks on the definition of the Other |journal={{ill|Études littéraires|fr|Études littéraires (revue)}} |volume=32 |number=1–2 |pages=243–262 |doi=10.7202/501270ar |doi-access=free }}</ref> By the middle of the 19th century,{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}} previous pseudo-medical beliefs and beliefs of them being intellectually inferior{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}} had waned and German doctors, by 1849, regarded them as “not without the ability to become useful members of society.”<ref>{{cite book |title=Rheinische Monatsschrift für Praktische Aerzte |language=de |trans-title=Rheinische monthly publication for practical doctors |volume=3 |date=1849 |pages=288}}</ref> Though various French and British doctors were continuing to label the Cagots as a race inherently afflicted with congenital disabilities to the end of the 19th century.{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376}} [[Daniel Hack Tuke|Daniel Tuke]] wrote in 1880 after visiting communities where Cagots lived, noted how local people would not subject "cretins" born to non-Cagots to living with Cagots.{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=379}}

The Cagots did have a culture of their own, but very little of it was written down or preserved; as a result, almost everything that is known about them relates to their persecution.{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=46}} The repression lasted through the [[Middle Ages]], [[Renaissance]], and [[Industrial Revolution]], with the prejudice fading only in the 19th and 20th centuries.{{r|Carrasco, 1979}}{{sfnp|Pérez|2010}}

=== ''Cagot'' as pejorative ===

Philosopher {{ill|Jacob Rogozinski|fr}} highlights how even from as far back as the work of François Rabelais in the 16th century, the term {{lang|fr|cagot}} was used as a synonym for people viewed as deceitful and hypocritical.{{sfnp|Rogozinski|2024|pp=205–206}} In contemporary language the term {{lang|fr|cagot}} has been further separated from it being the name of a distinct caste of people to being a pejorative term for any person who is "lazy" or "shameful".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Simms |first=Norman |date=1993 |title=The Cagots of Southwestern France: A Study in Structural Discrimination |journal=Mentalities |volume=8 |number=1 |doi= |pages=44–}}</ref> Similar transformations have occurred with the Spanish equivalent name {{lang|es|agote}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua Española - Agote |trans-title=Treasure trove of historical dictionaries of the Spanish language - Agote |language=es |url=https://www.rae.es/tdhle/agote |website=[[Real Academia Española]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508123701/https://www.rae.es/tdhle/agote |archive-date=8 May 2024}}</ref>