Cordes and the Intersections of Identity

The thirteenth-century town of Cordes in southwest France offers a vivid example of the importance of the intersection between individual and community initiative to the meaning of urban form. Cordes was founded by Raymond VII Count of Toulouse in 1222 to generate revenue and as a gesture of defiance against the French monarchy. The sophisticated defensive system reflected the count's solidarity with his Plantagenet relations, and his unusually liberal charter quickly attracted new inhabitants and encouraged commercial activity. The fortifications also worked to protect populations threatened with persecution during the inquisition that followed the Albigensian Crusade, and Cordes grew quickly under the direction of its town consulate to become one of the most prosperous towns in the region. Its inhabitants built some of the largest civil buildings of Languedoc that may still be seen along the main street. The facades offer a unique example of sculptural programs of secular topics that include political commentary and reflect the legacy of a vital secular artistic culture. They were intended to interact not only with viewers in the street below, but also with the inhabitants of the buildings. Their rhetorical power relied simultaneously on the desire of individuals to immortalize the trials of war and other contemporary topics and on their reception by the community as part of the "theater of the street" that took place in this busy market town. By providing a series of nested contexts within which to study the specific example of Cordes, the author aims to further inquiry into the importance of secular culture and urban development in medieval Languedoc.