Verfeil, Haute-Garonne

Commune in Occitania, France

(2020–2026) Patrick Plicque^[1]Area41.23 km² (15.92 sq mi)Population3,797 • Density92/km² (240/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation146–273 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.

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

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]

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