How the Protestants of Revel stole a market from their Catholic neighbours

Most Saturday mornings, I go to the market in Revel, a royal bastide founded in 1342. This is one of the busiest weekly events in the Lauragais, and it is the main reason the town has spent over a decade in the Michelin guide to ‘Les 100 Plus Beaux Détours de France’. But few visitors, be they tourists or locals, know that this popular market was stolen from the neighbouring town of Sorèze 440 years ago during the Wars of Religion. Before that, Revel held its market on a Thursday in accordance with its founding charter.

During the first 15 years of religious strife, Revel was controlled by the Catholics, except for a fleeting moment in 1567. Then, in December 1576 the town fell to the Protestants who were already masters of Sorèze.

Four years later on 3 March 1580, Catholic troops scaled the walls of Sorèze and recaptured the town. With a promise of safe conduct, eighty Protestants surrendered, but were then beaten to death with mallets by their captors.

Over the next few months, the Protestants of Revel and Puylaurens tried to think of a way to recapture Sorèze. In July 1580 they set up a blockade. It was harvest time, and they wanted to ensure that their supporters gathered the crops and the Catholics went hungry. But a side-effect of the blockade was that it discouraged and sometimes prevented the local peasants from taking their goods to the Saturday market in Sorèze. The consuls of Revel then came up with the bright idea of establishing their own Saturday market. When the new vendors and customers discovered the square of Revel with its magnificent market hall and elegant arcades, they never looked back. 

Over the next couple of centuries, the consuls of Sorèze tried in vain to reclaim their lost business, but even sending a letter of complaint to the king failed to produce the desired result.

When I am sitting enjoying a beer under the arcades tomorrow morning, I shall spare a thought for the unfortunate people of Sorèze and their lost market.

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