A RAPID glance at the political history of the country will further show the extraordinary condition of fluctuation and uncertainty which existed during the dismal period which followed the overthrow of the Roman rule, as well as the gradual growth of the new state of things under which the great revival of the twelfth century occurred. We shall also observe how the early renewal of civilisation in the South, aided as it was by the preservation of some relics of old Roman culture, ultimately yielded to the more vigorous life and growth of the new political system of the North.

We have seen that Aquitaine was occupied by the Visigoths in the fourth century, while Provence was still held by the Burgundians and Gallo-Romans.

In 425 Aetius made a final stand for the Roman cause, but was defeated by Theodoric, King of the Visigoths, and the last vestige of the Empire was swept away. These two powers of the South afterwards united their forces against Attila, their common foe, and drove back the Huns in 451. In 480 Arles was captured by Euric for the Visigoths, who thus became masters of Provence. In the sixth century the Franks extended their arms southwards, and under Clovis, and Gundibald, King of the Burgundians, defeated the Visigoths at BouglÉ in 507.

In 511 Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths in North Italy, defeated the army of Clovis while engaged in the siege of Arles, and thus preserved the Mediterranean coast to Italy. But Provence was resigned in 536 by his successor Witiges to Theodoric, King of the Franks, who had overthrown the Burgundian Kingdom.

At the death of Clothair I. in 561, Provence was divided between his sons, Sigebert, King of Austrasia obtaining Marseilles, and Gontran of Burgundy, Arles. Under subsequent kings Provence was again reunited and again divided.

In 719 the Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and took possession of Languedoc. They subsequently united with Maurontis, the Byzantine governor of Marseilles, for the purpose of driving out the Franks, but were defeated by Charles Martel, who thus united Aquitaine and Provence to the Frank kingdom.

These Southern provinces, which, as already mentioned, were governed by municipal and ecclesiastical organisations, were too weak either to resist the inroads of the Saracens, or to defend themselves against the more vigorous discipline of the North.

At the division of the Carlovingian empire, after the death of Charlemagne in 843, Provence fell to Lothaire, along with Burgundy. In 863 it was seized by Charles the Bald, and in 879 his brother-in-law Boson, governor of Vienne, was elected King by the synod of Montale, and Provence was thus converted into a separate monarchy.

In 932 Hugo obtained the Italian kingdom, and ceded Provence to Rudolph II., who united the two Burgundies under the name of the Kingdom of Arles. This kingdom existed as a name till 1032; but Provence had in the meantime been governed by Princes whose power continually increased, till, from being appointed Governors, they became hereditary holders of the fief. Of these Princes there were several in the tenth century, who reigned under the titles of Boson I. and II., William I. (who drove out the Moorish pirates from the Fraxinet in 968) (as will be referred to in the sequel), Rothbold, William II., &c.

In 1112 Raymond BÉranger, Count of Barcelona, of the house of Aragon, married the heiress of Provence, and obtained possession of the country. But Raymond of St Gilles, Count of Toulouse, one of the great leaders of the first crusade in 1096, claimed a part; and in 1130 possession of Provence was disputed between his son and Raymond des Baux, of whose family we shall hear more by-and-bye. In 1181 Raymond BÉranger, who had been invested in Provence by his brother Alphonso I. of Aragon, died, and the fief reverted to Alphonso I. and II. till 1196.

In 1209 an attempt was made by Raymond BÉranger, fourth Count of Provence, to destroy the independence of the cities. These had all along preserved their municipal freedom and Roman form of self-government. The governing body was elected by the citizens, the chief magistrate being originally nominated by the Byzantine Emperor, but latterly the office became vested in certain families, or was held by the bishop. In the twelfth century reforms were attempted in this as in everything else, and the citizens followed in their reforms the example of the Italian Republics, and chose a chief magistrate for life with the title of PodestÀ. To this officer was entrusted the command of the troops, and his chief duty was to maintain order in the town amongst the different factions which were incessantly at war with one another. The power of the PodestÀs was thus considerable, and the Count found much difficulty in subduing them. The Albigenses of Avignon capitulated in 1226; and Nice, Grasse, Toulon, and Marseilles were also subsequently overcome.

The strength of the free towns had been shaken shortly before this by the terrible crusade against the Albigenses of Aquitaine. The tenets of the Christian Church in this province had always differed somewhat from those of Rome, and the jealousy of the ecclesiastics had been excited by the freedom of the life and language of this comparatively enlightened region. The Pope having now completely established the principle of the supremacy of the See of Rome, could not endure the idea of any want of conformity to his rule; and he accordingly encouraged the Romanists of the North to make war on these rebellious heretics. The enthusiasm of the Crusaders against the Holy Land had now worn off; but a crusade against the Heretics of Aquitaine had the charm of novelty, combined with the advantages of easiness of access, and the probability of abundance of booty. The crusades against the Albigenses were led by Count Simon de Montfort, who attacked and, after encountering in most cases a gallant and determined defence, destroyed the towns, and massacred the inhabitants. At BÉziers alone, which fell after a protracted siege, the Abbot of Citeaux, in reporting to Innocent III., expressed regret that he had only been able to slay 20,000 heretics; but it is believed that no less than 60,000 were destroyed in that indiscriminate massacre.

The horrors of war were followed by the tortures of the Inquisition, and in the holy hands of St Dominic and his order all dissent was either exterminated or driven into other lands, there to sow the seeds which should some day spring up as a crop, which no Papal sickle could cut down.

Raymond VII., Count of Toulouse, having espoused the cause of his people, suffered with them and was compelled to do penance and to surrender, by a definite treaty with Queen Blanche in 1229, all his possessions in the Kingdom of France to her husband Louis VIII., and all in the Kingdom of Arles to the Pope’s Legate. Only a small portion was allowed him for life, and he was required to do penance by service in the Holy Land. The Pope, however, declined to accept of the Kingdom of Arles on account of its burdensomeness owing to famines. He therefore handed it over to Queen Blanche, who entrusted the administration of it to the Seneschal of the castle of Beaucaire. It was afterwards formed into the Principality of Orange and the Countship of the Venaissin.

In 1243 Raymond VII. of Toulouse was finally obliged to yield up everything to King Louis IX. The suzerainty of ancient Aquitaine was thus acquired by the Crown of France, but Provence, east of the Rhone, still retained its independence.

In 1245 the latter passed into the family of Anjou by the marriage of Charles of Anjou, brother of St Louis, with Beatrice, heiress of Provence. The towns thought this a favourable opportunity for making an effort to recover their freedom, and accordingly Arles, Avignon, and Marseilles joined in a league against Charles. Arles and Avignon submitted on his return from the East in 1251; but Marseilles, which had resisted Raymond BÉranger, resolved to maintain its Republican freedom. Four years later, however, it was compelled to submit, when its fortifications were razed. In 1262 the town again rebelled, but was blockaded and reduced by famine. The ancient liberties of Marseilles were preserved, but Charles substituted in this and the other towns an officer of his own instead of the electoral PodestÀ. He afterwards acquired Ventimiglia and the Maritime Alps. Charles next carried his arms into Italy, and in 1266 he drove out Manfred, and took possession of the two Sicilies. He died in 1285, and left Anjou, Provence and Naples to Charles II., whose son Robert (in 1309) left a troubled heritage to his grand-daughter Joan of Naples. In 1343 Joan’s husband, Andrew of Naples, having been murdered, and Joan being suspected of complicity in the deed, her husband’s brother, Louis of Hungary, attacked and took Naples in 1347. Joan fled to Provence, and being desirous to raise money in order to recover Naples, and also wishing to be acquitted of all connection with the crime of her husband’s murder, she sold Avignon, where the Popes were then resident, to Clement VI., and obtained his acquittal.

Provence had long enjoyed a popular government with representatives in the three houses of the Clergy, Nobles, and Commons, who had control over the national purse. Queen Joan attempted to cut down these powers, and appointed an Italian as Grand Seneschal. But the nation revolted against this interference with its ancient constitution, and Louis of Anjou pressing his claim on the province, supported by an army, Joan, in order to escape from her difficulties, had to adopt him as her heir. He succeeded to the Countship in 1382, but he and his son Louis II. (1384), and grandson Louis III. (1417) were all unsuccessful in their claims on Naples. Louis III. was succeeded in 1434 by his brother RenÉ, the well known poet and painter King, who had also claims on the throne of Aragon. He died in 1480, leaving one daughter, Margaret, married to Henry VI. of England.

RenÉ bequeathed Provence to his nephew, Charles III. of Maine, who soon after died, making Louis XI. of France his heir.

In 1486 Charles VIII. declared the country united to France.

Provence thus became at length part of the kingdom of France. But the Emperor of Germany still continued his claim of suzerainty upon it, in which he was supported by the Constable, Charles of Bourbon. In pursuance of that claim, Charles V. of Spain invaded Provence in 1536, but without success. The country continued to be frequently attacked in the subsequent wars between France and Spain, but has remained part of France since the days of Louis XI.

The boundary of the province on the east remained from that time till our own day, the river Var. It was a frontier badly fortified, and ever open to attack; and we shall see what efforts were made by Francis I. to render it secure against the attempts of his enemy of Spain. In 1861 the boundary between France and Italy was extended eastwards, as far as a ravine spanned by the “Pont St Louis,” a short way beyond Mentone, thus including Nice and Mentone, formerly part of Savoy, within the French territory.

In treating of the architecture of this part of the country, we shall find that it bears in its architecture unmistakable signs of its former Italian allegiance.