Editing Cagot (section)

=== 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}}