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Post by Salzmank on Dec 12, 2018 18:14:53 GMT
Based on what I have been told there is that they were some kind of gypsies that over time, through marriages for example, “melted” into the general population. They were somewhat like the Tutsi(s) in Rwanda.
At first they were a nomad (shepherds) ethnic group, moving through different countries in the region. Over time (see decades or centuries) they settled, and also through marriage, they somewhat became a social class more than a ethnic group. So 10 or 20 generations down the line, there might not be distinctive signs anymore but your origins still put you in that “caste”.
Now, if you think about the time period and the locations in which they lived, they didn’t have it easy because for The Church (capitals are on purpose) if you didn’t fit the image it wanted to have, you were seen as the dregs of society. I’m not saying it was right but back then, it’s how it was and that’s how the Catholic Church worked for centuries, even here in Québec until we had the Quiet Revolution in the 1960. I’ll dig the french web later to find more.
Interesting! Thanks for letting me know; from the way they’re described on Wikipedia, it didn’t sound like they were gypsies. If they were, I guess the discrimination is not as inexplicable as it seems. Apparently Leo X wrote a bull calling for moderation in 1514, so it looks like (at least the top) the Chuch was somewhat sympathetic to the Cagots–which makes me think they weren’t heretics. |
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Post by mecano04 on Dec 12, 2018 23:09:26 GMT
Based on what I have been told there is that they were some kind of gypsies that over time, through marriages for example, “melted” into the general population. They were somewhat like the Tutsi(s) in Rwanda.
At first they were a nomad (shepherds) ethnic group, moving through different countries in the region. Over time (see decades or centuries) they settled, and also through marriage, they somewhat became a social class more than a ethnic group. So 10 or 20 generations down the line, there might not be distinctive signs anymore but your origins still put you in that “caste”.
Now, if you think about the time period and the locations in which they lived, they didn’t have it easy because for The Church (capitals are on purpose) if you didn’t fit the image it wanted to have, you were seen as the dregs of society. I’m not saying it was right but back then, it’s how it was and that’s how the Catholic Church worked for centuries, even here in Québec until we had the Quiet Revolution in the 1960. I’ll dig the french web later to find more.
Interesting! Thanks for letting me know; from the way they’re described on Wikipedia, it didn’t sound like they were gypsies. If they were, I guess the discrimination is not as inexplicable as it seems. Apparently Leo X wrote a bull calling for moderation in 1514, so it looks like (at least the top) the Chuch was somewhat sympathetic to the Cagots–which makes me think they weren’t heretics.
According to some credible links found in the wiki, the thing at the very base of the discrimination was the fear that they had leprosy. While it may have been true in the beginning, they were then forced to live at the limits of cities and villages and couldn't really walk or go somewhere and mix with the general population.
Here is an article about a woman who owns the fact her ancestors were Cagots:
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Dec 13, 2018 6:43:31 GMT
Diane Linkletter & Carol Wayne = Edward Durston
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