Editing Occitan language (section)

==History==
{{further|Old Occitan|Occitan literature}}

One of the oldest written fragments of the language found dates back to 960, shown here in italics mixed with non-italicized Latin:
<blockquote>{{lang|la|italic=no|De ista hora in antea non {{lang|pro|cat=no|decebrà}} Ermengaus filius Eldiarda Froterio episcopo filio Girberga {{lang|pro|cat=no|ne}} Raimundo filio Bernardo vicecomite de castello de Cornone&nbsp;... {{lang|pro|cat=no|no·l li tolrà ni no·l li devedarà ni no l'en decebrà}}&nbsp;... nec societatem non {{lang|pro|cat=no|aurà}}, si per castellum recuperare {{lang|pro|cat=no|non o fa}}, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo {{lang|pro|cat=no|lo tornarà}}, per ipsas horas quæ Froterius et Raimundus {{lang|pro|cat=no|l'en comonrà}}.}}<ref>{{cite book | last=Raynouard | first=François Juste Marie | author-link=François Juste Marie Raynouard | year=1817 | title=Choix des poésies originales des troubadours (Volume 2) | publisher=F. Didot | place=Paris | page=40 | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784124w/f217.image | language=fr | access-date=22 February 2013 | archive-date=11 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911183059/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784124w/f217.image | url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

[[Charlemagne|Carolingian]] [[litany|litanies]] ({{Circa|780}}), though the leader sang in [[Latin]], were [[Response (liturgy)|answered]] to in Old Occitan by the people ({{lang|pro|Ora pro nos}}; {{lang|pro|Tu lo juva}}).<ref>{{cite book | last=Raynouard | first=François Juste Marie | year=1816 | title=Choix des poésies originales des troubadours (Volume 1) | publisher=F. Didot | place=Paris | page=vij | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784042g/f16.image | language=fr | access-date=22 February 2013 | archive-date=13 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213060659/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784042g/f16.image | url-status=live }}</ref>

Other famous pieces include the ''[[Boecis]]'', a 258-line-long poem written entirely in the Limousin dialect of Occitan between the year 1000 and 1030 and inspired by [[Boethius]]'s ''[[The Consolation of Philosophy]]''; the [[Waldensians|Waldensian]] {{lang|pro|[[La nobla leyczon]]}} (dated 1100),<ref>{{cite book | last=Raynouard | first=François Juste Marie | year=1817 | title=Choix des poésies originales des troubadours (Volume 2) | publisher=F. Didot | place=Paris | page=cxxxvij | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784124w/f150.image | language=fr | access-date=22 February 2013 | archive-date=28 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728025132/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5784124w/f150.image | url-status=live }}: {{lang|oc|"Ben ha mil e cent (1100) ancs complí entierament / Que fo scripta l'ora car sen al derier temps."}}</ref> {{lang|pro|{{Lang|oc|[[Cançó de Santa Fe]]}}}} ({{Circa|1054}}–1076), the ''[[Romance of Flamenca]]'' (13th century), the ''[[Song of the Albigensian Crusade]]'' (1213–1219?), {{lang|pro|[[Daurel e Betó]]}} (12th or 13th century), {{lang|pro|[[Las, qu'i non-sun sparvir, astur]]}} (11th century) and {{lang|pro|[[Tomida femina]]}} (9th or 10th century).

Occitan was the vehicle for the influential [[poetry]] of the medieval [[troubadours]] ({{lang|pro|trobadors}}) and {{lang|pro|[[trobairitz]]}}: At that time, the language was understood and celebrated throughout most of educated Europe.<ref>Charles Knight, ''Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'', Vol. XXV, 1843, p. 308: "At one time the language and poetry of the troubadours were in fashion in most of the courts of Europe."</ref> It was the maternal language of the English queen [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] and kings [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] (who wrote troubadour poetry) and [[John, King of England|John]].

With the gradual imposition of French royal power over its territory, Occitan declined in status from the 14th century on. The [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts]] (1539) decreed that the {{lang|fr|langue d'oïl}} (French – though at the time referring to the [[Francien language]] and not the larger collection of dialects grouped under the name {{lang|fr|italic=no|[[langues d'oïl]]}}) should be used for all French administration. Occitan's greatest decline occurred during the [[French Revolution]], in which diversity of language was considered a threat.

In 1903, the four Gospels ({{lang|oc|italic= no|"Lis Evangèli"}}, i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were translated into Provençal as spoken in Cannes and Grasse. The translation was given the official Roman Catholic Imprimatur by vicar general A. Estellon.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The literary renaissance of the late 19th century (in which the 1904 [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] winner, [[Frédéric Mistral]], among others, was involved) was attenuated by [[World War I]], when (in addition to the disruption caused by any major war) many Occitan speakers spent extended periods of time alongside French-speaking comrades.

===Origins===
[[File:Linguistic map Southwestern Europe-en.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=|Linguistic evolution in southwest Europe from AD 1000 to 2000]]
Because the geographical territory in which Occitan is spoken is surrounded by regions in which other [[Romance languages]] are used, external influences may have influenced its origin and development. Many factors favored its development as its own language.
* Mountains and seas: The range of Occitan is naturally bounded by the [[Mediterranean]], [[Atlantic]], [[Massif Central]], [[Alps]], and [[Pyrenees]], respectively.
* Buffer zones: [[arid]] land, [[marsh]]es, and areas otherwise impractical for farming and resistant of colonization provide further separation (territory between [[Loire]] and [[Garonne]], the [[Aragon]] desert plateau).
* Constant populations: Some Occitan-speaking peoples are descended from people living in the region since prehistoric times.{{sfn|Bec|1963}}
* Deeper [[Roman people|Roman]] influence: The Romans had established an earlier presence in Southern France in 121 BC beginning with [[Gallia Narbonensis]], where the seeds of the Occitan language were first sowed. According to Müller, "France's linguistic separation began with Roman influence"{{sfn|Bec|1963|pp=20–21}}
* A separate [[lexicon]]: Although Occitan is midway between the [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] and [[Iberian Romance languages]], it has "around 550 words inherited from Latin that no longer exist in the langues d'oïl or in [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]]"{{sfn|Bec|1963|pp=20–21}}
* Lack of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence: "The [[Frankish language|Frankish]] lexicon and its phonetic influence often end above the {{lang|oc|oc}}/{{lang|fr|oïl}} line"{{sfn|Bec|1963|pp=20–21}}

===Occitan in the Iberian Peninsula===
Catalan in Spain's northern and central Mediterranean coastal regions and the [[Balearic Islands]] is closely related to Occitan, sharing many linguistic features and a common origin (see [[Occitano-Romance languages]]). The language was one of the first to gain prestige as a medium for literature among Romance languages in the Middle Ages. Indeed, in the 12th and 13th centuries, Catalan troubadours such as [[Guerau III de Cabrera|Guerau de Cabrera]], Guilhem de Bergadan, Guilhem de Cabestany, [[Huguet de Mataplana]], Raimon Vidal de Besalú, [[Cerverí de Girona]], Formit de Perpinhan, and [[Jofre de Foixà]] wrote in Occitan.

At the end of the 11th century, the ''[[Franks]]'', as they were called at the time, started to penetrate the [[Iberian Peninsula]] through the [[Way of St. James|Ways of St. James]] via [[Somport]] and [[Roncesvalles]], settling in various locations in the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]] and [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]] enticed by the privileges granted them by the [[List of Navarrese monarchs|Navarrese kings]]. They settled in large groups, forming ethnic [[borough]]s where Occitan was used for everyday life, in [[Pamplona]], [[Sangüesa]], and [[Estella-Lizarra]], among others.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cierbide Martinena | first1 = Ricardo | title = Convivencia histórica de lenguas y culturas en Navarra | journal = Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filología | issue = 20 | page = 247 | publisher = València (etc) : Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana; Abadia de Montserrat | year = 1996 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | issn = 0214-8188 | language = es | access-date = 20 April 2010 | archive-date = 8 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120108030828/http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | url-status = live }}</ref> These boroughs in Navarre may have been close-knit communities that tended not to assimilate with the predominantly [[Basque language|Basque]]-speaking general population. Their language became the status language chosen by the Navarrese kings, nobility, and upper classes for official and trade purposes in the period stretching from the early 13th century to the late 14th century.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cierbide Martinena | first1 = Ricardo | title = Notas gráfico-fonéticas sobre la documentación medieval navarra | journal = Príncipe de Viana | volume = 59 | issue = 214 | page = 524 | year = 1998 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=16134 | issn = 0032-8472 | language = es | access-date = 9 April 2011 | archive-date = 28 September 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120928150531/http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=16134 | url-status = live }}</ref> 

Written administrative records were in a ''[[koiné language|koiné]]'' based on the Languedocien dialect from Toulouse with fairly archaic linguistic features, evidence survives of a written account in Occitan from Pamplona centered on the [[Death by burning|burning]] of borough San Nicolas from 1258, while the ''History of the War of Navarre'' by Guilhem Anelier (1276), albeit written in Pamplona, shows a linguistic variant from [[History of Toulouse#13th to 14th century|Toulouse]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cierbide Martinena | first1 = Ricardo | title = Convivencia histórica de lenguas y culturas en Navarra | journal = Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filología | issue = 20 | pages = 247–249 | publisher = València (etc) : Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana; Abadia de Montserrat | year = 1996 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | issn = 0214-8188 | language = es | access-date = 20 April 2010 | archive-date = 8 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120108030828/http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Things turned out slightly otherwise in Aragon, where the sociolinguistic situation was different, with a clearer Basque-Romance bilingual situation (cf. Basques from the {{lang|ca|italic=no|Val d'Aran}} cited {{Circa|1000}}), but a receding Basque language (Basque banned in the marketplace of Huesca, 1349).<ref>{{cite book | author = Jurio, Jimeno | year = 1997 | title = ''Navarra: Historia del Euskera'' | publisher = Txalaparta | location= Tafalla | isbn = 978-84-8136-062-2 | pages = 59–60}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/118353 | title = Licenciado Andrés de Poza y Yarza | publisher = EuskoMedia Fundazioa | access-date = 17 February 2010 | archive-date = 3 July 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100703115650/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/118353 | url-status = live }} Poza quotes the Basques inhabiting lands as far east as the River Gallego in the 16th century.</ref> While the language was chosen as a medium of prestige in records and official statements along with Latin in the early 13th century, Occitan faced competition from the rising local Romance vernacular, the [[Navarro-Aragonese]], both orally and in writing, especially after Aragon's territorial conquests south to [[Zaragoza]], [[Huesca]] and [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]] between 1118 and 1134. It resulted that a second Occitan immigration of this period was assimilated by the similar [[Navarro-Aragonese|Navarro-Aragonese language]], which at the same time was fostered and chosen by the kings of [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]]. In the 14th century, Occitan across the whole southern Pyrenean area fell into decay and became largely absorbed into [[Navarro-Aragonese]] first and [[Castilian Spanish|Castilian]] later in the 15th century, after their exclusive boroughs broke up (1423, [[Pamplona#Three boroughs and one city|Pamplona]]'s boroughs unified).<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cierbide Martinena | first1 = Ricardo | title = Convivencia histórica de lenguas y culturas en Navarra | journal = Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filología | issue = 20 | page = 249 | publisher = València (etc) : Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana; Abadia de Montserrat | year = 1996 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | issn = 0214-8188 | language = es | access-date = 20 April 2010 | archive-date = 8 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120108030828/http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Gascon-speaking communities were called to move in for trading purposes by Navarrese kings in the early 12th century to the coastal fringe extending from [[San Sebastián|San Sebastian]] to the river [[Bidasoa]], where they settled down. The language variant they used was different from the ones in Navarre, i.e. a [[Béarnese dialect]] of Gascon.<ref name="dialnet.unirioja.es">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cierbide Martinena | first1 = Ricardo | title = Convivencia histórica de lenguas y culturas en Navarra | journal = Caplletra: Revista Internacional de Filología | issue = 20 | page = 248 | publisher = València (etc) : Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana; Abadia de Montserrat | year = 1996 | url = http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | issn = 0214-8188 | language = es | access-date = 20 April 2010 | archive-date = 8 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120108030828/http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2274080 | url-status = live }}</ref> Gascon remained in use in this area far longer than in Navarre and Aragon, until the 19th century, thanks mainly to the fact that Donostia and [[Pasaia]] maintained close ties with [[Bayonne]].