Editing Cagot (section)

== Origin ==

[[File:Chateau de montségur.jpg|thumb|[[Château de Montségur]] near the [[Pyrenees]], which was [[Siege of Montségur|besieged]] as part of the [[Albigensian Crusade]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Sumption |author-link=Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption |title=The Albigensian Crusade |url=https://archive.org/details/albigensiancrusa00jona|url-access=registration |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |year=1978 |page=[https://archive.org/details/albigensiancrusa00jona/page/237 237] |isbn=0-571-20002-8}}</ref>]]

The origin of the Cagots is not known for certain, though through history many legends and hypotheses have been recorded providing potential origins and reasons for their ostracisation.<ref name="Scheutz, 2018">{{cite magazine |last=Scheutz |first=Staffan |date=December 2018 |title=Beyond thought - the Cagots of France |url=https://www.picciolettabarca.com/posts/beyond-thought-the-cagots-of-france |magazine=La Piccioletta Barca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123161818/https://www.picciolettabarca.com/posts/beyond-thought-the-cagots-of-france |archive-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> The Cagots were not a distinct ethnic or religious group, but a racialised caste. They spoke the same language as the people in an area and generally kept the same religion as well, with later researchers remarking that there was no evidence to mark the Cagots as distinct from their neighbours.{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=377}} Their only distinguishing feature was their descent from families long identified as Cagots.{{sfnp|Michel|1847|p=5}}

=== Biblical legends ===

Various legends placed the Cagots as originating from biblical events, including being descendants of the carpenters who made the cross that [[Jesus]] was crucified on,<ref name="Carrasco, 1979">{{cite news |last=Carrasco |first=Bel |date=27 April 1979 |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1979/04/28/cultura/294098406_850215.html |title=Los agotes, minoría, étnica española: Mesa redonda de la Asociación Madrileña de Antropología |language=es |trans-title=The agotes, Spanish ethnic minority: Round table of the Madrid Anthropology Association |access-date=8 October 2021 |work=[[El País]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008134858/https://elpais.com/diario/1979/04/28/cultura/294098406_850215.html |archive-date=8 October 2021}}</ref> or being descendants of the bricklayers who built [[Solomon's Temple]] after being expelled from [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|ancient Israel]] by [[Yahweh|God]] due to poor craftsmanship.{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}} Similarly a more detailed legend places the origins of the Cagots in Spain as being descendants of a Pyrenean master carver named Jacques, who traveled to ancient Israel via [[Tartessos]], to cast [[Boaz and Jachin]] for Solomon's Temple. While in Israel he was distracted during the casting of Jachin by a woman, and due to the imperfection this caused in the column his descendants were cursed to suffer leprosy.{{r|Lascorz, Bizén, 1992}}

=== Religious origin ===

Another theory is that the Cagots were descendants of the [[Cathar]]s,{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}}{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}} who had been persecuted for [[heresy]] in the [[Albigensian Crusade]].{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911|p=947}} With some comparisons including the use of the term {{lang|fr|crestians}}<ref name="Roberts, 1993">{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Susanne F. |date=October 1993 |title=Des Lépreux aux Cagots: Recherches sur les Sociétés Marginales en Aquitaine Médiévale. by Françoise Bériac |journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]] |volume=68 |number=4 |pages=1063–1065 |issn=0038-7134 |doi=10.2307/2865504 |jstor=2865504}}</ref> to refer to Cagots, which evokes the name that the Cathars gave to themselves, {{lang|fr|bons crestians}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lafont |first1=R. |last2=Duvernoy |first2=J. |author2-link=Jean Duvernoy |last3=Roquebert |first3=M. |author3-link=Michel Roquebert |last4=Labal |first4=P. |year=1982 |title=Les Cathares en Occitanie |language=fr |trans-title=The Cathars in Occitania |editor=Fayard |pages=7}}</ref> A delegation by Cagots to [[Pope Leo X]] in 1514 made this claim,{{r|Supplement 2010}} though the Cagots predate the Cathar heresy{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=45}} and the Cathar heresy was not present in Gascony and other regions where Cagots were present.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hudry-Menos |first=Grégoire |author-link=:fr:Grégoire Hudry-Menos |year=1868 |url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Revue_des_Deux_Mondes_-_1868_-_tome_74.djvu/595 |title=L'Israël des Alpes ou les Vaudois du Piémont. — II. — La Croisade albigeoise et la dispersion |language=fr |trans-title=The Israel of the Alps or the Vaudois of Piedmont. - II. - The Albigensian Crusade and the dispersion |volume=74 |access-date=13 October 2016 |page=588 |magazine=[[Revue des Deux Mondes]]}}</ref> The historian Daniel Hawkins suggests that perhaps this was a strategic move, as in the {{lang|es|[[limpieza de sangre]]}} statutes such discrimination and persecution for those convicted of heresy expired after four generations and if this was the cause of their marginalisation, it also gave grounds for their emancipation.{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=36}} Others have suggested an origin as Arian Christians.{{sfnp|Gébelin|1842|pp=1182–1183}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=85}}

One of the earliest recorded mentions of Cagotes is in the charters of Navarre, developed around 1070.{{sfnp|Hors|1951|p=316}} Another early mention of the Cagots is from 1288, when they appear to have been called {{lang|fr|Chretiens}} or {{lang|la|Christianos}}.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911|p=947}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=377}} Other terms seen in use prior to the [[16th century]] include {{lang|la|Crestias}}, {{lang|la|Chrestia}}, {{lang|fr|Crestiaa}}{{sfnp|Erroll|1899}} and {{lang|la|Christianus}},{{r|Supplement 2010}} which in medieval texts became inseparable from the term {{lang|la|leprosus}}, and so in [[Béarn]] became synonymous with the word [[leper]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/cagot |title=Cagot: Etymologie de Cagot |website=[[Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales]] |language=fr |trans-title=Cagot: Etymology of Cagot |access-date=13 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617071330/https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/cagot |archive-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> Thus, another theory is that the Cagots were early converts to [[Christianity]], and that the hatred of their [[pagan]] neighbors continued after they also converted, merely for different reasons.{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=45}}

=== Medical origin ===

Another possible explanation of their name {{lang|fr|Chretiens}} or {{lang|la|Christianos}} is to be found in the fact that in medieval times all lepers were known as {{lang|la|pauperes Christi}}, and that, whether Visigoths or not, these Cagots were affected in the Middle Ages with a particular form of leprosy or a condition resembling it, such as [[psoriasis]]. Thus would arise the confusion between Christians and Cretins,{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911|p=947}} and explain the similar restrictions placed on lepers and Cagots.{{sfnp|Hansson|1996}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=381}} [[Guy de Chauliac]] wrote in the 14th century,<ref>{{harvp|Louis-Lande|1878|p=448|ps=: "{{lang|fr|La leucé attaque moins profondément l'organisme, et c'est elle que les médecins du moyen âge attribuent particulièrement aux caquots, capots et cagots, qu'ils appellent de son nom ladres blancs. Les caractères principaux en sont, suivant Guy de Chauliac, vieil auteur du XIVe siècle: « une certaine couleur vilaine qui saute aux yeux, la morphée ou teinte blafarde de la peau, etc. »}}" ["Leuce attacks the body less deeply, and it is this that doctors of the Middle Ages particularly attribute to Caquots, Capots and Cagots, which they call by their name white ladres. The main characters are, according to Guy de Chauliac, an old author of the fourteenth century: "a certain ugly color that jumps out at the eyes, the morphea or pale tint of the skin, etc"."]}}</ref> and [[Ambroise Paré]] wrote in 1561 of the Cagots being lepers{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=85}} with "beautiful faces" and skin with no signs of leprosy, describing them as "white lepers" (people afflicted with "white leprosy").{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=381}}{{r|Roberts, 1993}}{{r|Barzilay, 2022}} Later dermatologists believe that Paré was describing [[leucoderma]].{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=382}} Early edicts apparently refer to lepers and Cagots as different categories of undesirables,{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=45}} With this distinction being explicit by 1593. The Parlement of Bordeaux and the [[Estates of Navarre|Estates of Lower Navarre]] repeated customary prohibitions against them, with Bordeaux adding that when they were also lepers, if there still are any, they must carry {{lang|fr|clicquettes}} (rattles).{{sfnp|Hawkins|2014|p=12}}{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=84}} One belief in Navarre were that the {{lang|es|Agotes}} were descendants of French immigrant lepers to the region.{{r|Carrasco, 1979}} Later English commentators supported the idea of an origin among a community of lepers due to the similarities in the treatment of Cagots in churches and the measures taken to allow lepers in England and Scotland to attend churches.{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=384}}

In the 1940s to 1950s blood type analysis was performed on the Cagots of {{ill|Bozate|es}} in Navarre. The blood type distribution showed more similarity with those observed in France among the French than those observed among the Basque. Pilar Hors uses this as support for the theory that the Cagots in Spain are descendants of French migrants, most likely from leper colonies.{{sfnp|Hors|1951|pp=335–336}}

=== Other origins ===

[[File:Stjacquescompostelle1.png|thumb|right|275px|The [[Way of St. James]]; the anti-Cagot prejudice existed in northern Spain, Western France, and Southern France, roughly coinciding with the main routes]]

{{ill|Victor de Rochas|fr}} wrote that the Cagots were likely descendants of [[Erromintxela language|Spanish Roma from the Basque country]].<ref>{{cite book |last=de Rochas |first=Victor |author-link=:fr:Victor de Rochas |date=1876 |title=Les Parias de France et d'Espagne (cagots et bohémiens) |language=fr |trans-title=The Parias of France and Spain (cagots and bohemians) |location=Paris}}</ref>

In Bordeaux, where they were numerous, they were called {{lang|oc|ladres}}. This name has the same form as the [[Old French]] word {{lang|fro|[[wikt:ladre#Old French|ladre]]}}, meaning leper (ultimately derived from Latin {{lang|la|[[wikt:Lazarus#Latin|Lazarus]]}}). It also has the same form as the [[Gascon language|Gascon]] word for thief (ultimately derived from Latin {{lang|la|[[wikt:latro#Latin|latrō]]}}, and cognate to the Catalan {{lang|ca|lladres}} and the Spanish {{lang|es|ladrón}} meaning robber or looter), which is similar in meaning to the older, probably [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]-origin Latin term {{lang|la|[[bagaudae]]}}{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}} (or bagad), a possible origin of {{lang|es|agote}}.

The alleged physical appearance and ethnicity of the Cagots varied wildly between legends and stories; some local legends (especially those that held to the leper theory) indicated that Cagots had blonde hair and blue eyes,{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=377}} while those favouring the Arab descent story said that Cagots were considerably darker.{{sfnp|da Silva|2006}} In [[Pío Baroja]]'s work {{lang|es|Las horas solitarias}}, he comments that Cagot residents of {{ill|Bozate|es}} had both individuals with "Germanic" features as well as individuals with "Romani" features,<ref>{{cite book |last=Baroja |first=Pío |author-link=Pío Baroja |date=1982 |title=Las horas solitarias |language=es |trans-title=The lonely hours |publisher=Caro Raggio Editor S.L. |isbn=9788470350665 |quote=Cara ancha y juanetuda, esqueleto fuerte, pómulos salientes, distancia bicigomática fuerte, grandes ojos azules o verdes claros, algo oblicuos. Cráneo braquicéfalo, tez blanca, pálida y pelo castaño o rubio; no se parece en nada al vasco clásico. Es un tipo centro europeo o del norte. Hay viejos en Bozate que parecen retratos de Durero, de aire germánico. También hay otros de cara más alargada y morena que recuerdan al gitano. |trans-quote=Wide, bunion face, strong skeleton, prominent cheekbones, strong bizygomatic distance, large blue or light green eyes, somewhat oblique. Brachycephalic skull, white, pale complexion and brown or blonde hair; It doesn't look anything like classic Basque. It is a central European or northern type. There are old men in Bozate who look like portraits of [[Albrecht Dürer|Dürer]], with a Germanic air. There are also others with a longer and darker face that are reminiscent of the gypsy.}}</ref> this is also supported by others who investigated the Cagots in the Basque Country,<ref>{{harvp|Huici|1984|p=19}}: "{{lang|es|Webster rechaza la idea de que los agotes fueran un pueblo distinto del vasco, por razones lingüísticas. Según el sabio Inglés un pueblo, extranjero, que vive aislado de la sociedad que le rodea y con barreras severísimas, no ha podido olvidar totalmente su lengua ancestral. Los agotes, sin embargo, hablan el vascuence exactamente Igual que los vascos que les rodean.}}" ["[[Wentworth Webster|Webster]] rejects the idea that the agotes were a people distinct from the Basque, for linguistic reasons. According to the wise Englishman, a people, foreigners, who live isolated from the society that surrounds them and with very severe barriers, have not been able to completely forget their ancestral language. The agotes, however, speak Basque exactly like the Basques around them."]</ref> such as {{ill|Philippe Veyrin|fr}} who stated the "ethnic type" and names of Cagots were the same as the Basque within Navarre.{{sfnp|Veyrin|2011|p=85}} Though people who set out to research the Cagots found them to be a diverse class of people in physical appearance, as diverse as the non-Cagot communities around them.<ref>{{harvp|Roussel|1893|p=149|ps=: "{{lang|fr|M. Roussel persiste à voir des descendants blonds des Goths dans les Cagots des Pyrénées. Mais ils sont en réalité très diversifiés plus souvent bruns que blonds, brachy et dolichocéphales, semblables au fond de la population où ils vivent; ls parlent la langue ou le patois du pays.}}" ["M. Roussel persists in seeing blond descendants of the Goths in the Cagots of the Pyrenees. But they are in reality very diverse, more often brown than blond, brachy and dolichocephalic, similar to the background of the population where they live; They speak the language or patois of the country."]}}</ref> One common trend was to claim that Cagots had no ears{{r|Supplement 2010}} or no [[earlobe]]s,{{sfnp|Álvarez|2019}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=379}} or that one ear was longer than the other,{{sfnp|da Silva|2006}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Fabre |first=Michel |date=1987 |title=Le Mystère des Cagots, race maudite des Pyrénées |language=fr |trans-title=The Mystery of the Cagots, cursed race of the Pyrenees |publisher=MCT |isbn=2905521619}}</ref> with other supposed identifiers including webbed hands and/or feet, or the presence of [[goitre]]s.{{sfnp|Cabarrouy|1995}}{{sfnp|Michel|1847|pp=50–51}}{{sfnp|Tuke|1880|p=376}}

[[Graham Robb]] finds most of the above theories unlikely:

{{blockquote|Nearly all the old and modern theories are unsatisfactory ... the real "mystery of the cagots" was the fact that they had no distinguishing features at all. They spoke whatever dialect was spoken in the region and their family names were not peculiar to the cagots ... The only real difference was that, after eight centuries of persecution, they tended to be more skillful and resourceful than the surrounding populations, and more likely to emigrate to America. They were feared because they were persecuted and might therefore seek revenge.{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=45}}}}

A modern hypothesis of interest is that the Cagots are the descendants of a fallen medieval [[guild]] of carpenters.{{sfnp|Thomas|2008}} This hypothesis would explain the most salient thing Cagots throughout France and Spain have in common: that is, being restricted in their choice of trade. The red webbed-foot symbol Cagots were sometimes forced to wear might have been the guild's original emblem, according to the hypothesis. There was a brief construction boom on the [[Way of St. James]] pilgrimage route in the 9th and 10th centuries; this could have brought the guild both power and suspicion. The collapse of their business would have left a scattered, yet cohesive group in the areas where Cagots are known.{{sfnp|Robb|2007|p=46}}

Robb's guild hypothesis, alongside much of the work in his ''[[The Discovery of France]]'', has been heavily criticised for "[failing] to understand most of the secondary works in his own bibliography" and being a "recycling of nineteenth-century myths".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bell |first=David A. |author-link=David Bell (historian) |date=13 February 2008 |title=Bicycle History |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/61993/bicycle-history |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |access-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020235639/https://newrepublic.com/article/61993/bicycle-history |archive-date=20 October 2020}}</ref>

For similar reasons due to their restricted trades, Delacampagne suggests a possible origin as a culturally distinct community of woodsmen who were [[Christianization#Europe and Asia of the High and Late Middle Ages (800 to 1500)|Christianised relatively late]].{{sfnp|Delacampagne|1983|p=137–138}}