Verfeil, Haute-Garonne

Verfeil (French pronunciation: [vɛʁfɛj]; Occitan: Vrudfuèlh) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.

Verfeil
Commune
An aerial view of Verfeil
Coat of arms
Location of Verfeil
Verfeil Show map of France Verfeil Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 43°39′30″N 1°39′42″E
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Haute-Garonne
Arrondissement	Toulouse
Canton	Pechbonnieu
Intercommunality	Coteaux du Girou
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Patrick Plicque[1]
Area 1	41.23 km2 (15.92 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	3,797
• Density	92/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	31573 /31590
Elevation	146–273 m (479–896 ft) (avg. 225 m or 738 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

It was an important centre of Catharism from about 1140 to the mid 13th century. Bernard of Clairvaux preached against heresy at Verfeil in 1145. Sent away without a proper hearing by the seigneurs, he is said to have cursed the town with the words Viridefolium, desiccet te Deus! ("Verfeil, may God dry you up!") Izarn Neblat, one of those seigneurs, was said by Guillaume de Puylaurens to have lived in his old age in poverty at Toulouse as a result of this curse; the town's recovery was dated by the faithful to the period of the Albigensian Crusade, when Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester gave it to bishop Foulques de Toulouse.^[3]

An important Catholic-Cathar debate was held at Verfeil in 1206. The Catholic side was led by Diego de Acebo, bishop of Osma, supported by the future Saint Dominic; among the Cathars were Pons Jourda and Arnaud Arrufat.^[4]

In the following 800 years, the history of this rural village was notable in the French Revolution of 1789 and in the Second World War, in 1940-1945.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,040 —     1800 2,258 +1.46% 1806 2,490 +1.64% 1821 2,399 −0.25% 1831 2,538 +0.56% 1836 2,460 −0.62% 1841 2,420 −0.33% 1846 2,339 −0.68% 1851 2,347 +0.07% 1856 2,367 +0.17% 1861 2,372 +0.04% 1866 2,350 −0.19% 1872 2,342 −0.06% 1876 2,171 −1.88% 1881 2,070 −0.95% 1886 2,043 −0.26% 1891 1,908 −1.36% 1896 1,894 −0.15% 1901 1,827 −0.72%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 1,684 −1.62% 1911 1,663 −0.25% 1921 1,418 −1.58% 1926 1,476 +0.80% 1931 1,395 −1.12% 1936 1,402 +0.10% 1946 1,477 +0.52% 1954 1,529 +0.43% 1962 1,536 +0.06% 1968 1,540 +0.04% 1975 1,734 +1.71% 1982 2,000 +2.06% 1990 2,265 +1.57% 1999 2,504 +1.12% 2007 2,969 +2.15% 2012 3,312 +2.21% 2017 3,595 +1.65% 2019 3,658 +0.87%
Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE (1968-2017)[6]

Monuments

• 
  The town hall
• 
  The castle
• 
  The Vaureze's Gate
• 
  The church "Saint Blaise"
• 
  The church "Saint-Sernin-of-Rais"
• 
  War Memorial

See also

• Communes of the Haute-Garonne department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
2. "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. Duvernoy, Jean, ed. (1976), Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145-1275: Chronica magistri Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii [The Chronicle of Master William of the Podium of Lawrence], Paris: CNRS, pp. 32–35, ISBN 2-910352-06-4
4. Duvernoy 1976, pp. 52–55.
5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Verfeil, EHESS (in French).
6. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE