Battle of Toulouse (458)

The Capitole de Toulouse (Occitan: Capitòli de Tolosa; lit. 'Capitol of Toulouse'), commonly known as the Capitole, is the heart of the municipal administration of the French city of Toulouse and its city hall.

Toulouse ( too-LOOZ, French: [tuluz] (listen); Occitan: Tolosa [tuˈluzɔ]) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, 230 km (143 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean and 680 km (420 mi) from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris, Marseille and Lyon, with 498,003 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries (2020 census); its metropolitan area has a population of 1,470,899 inhabitants (2020 census). Toulouse is the central city of one of the 22 metropolitan councils of France. Between the 2014 and 2020 censuses, its metropolitan area was the third fastest growing among metropolitan areas larger than 500,000 inhabitants in France.Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the SPOT satellite system, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. It hosts the CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST) which is the largest national space centre in Europe, but also, on the military side, the newly created NATO space centre of excellence and the French Space Command and Space Academy. Thales Alenia Space, ATR, SAFRAN, Liebherr-Aerospace and Airbus Defence and Space also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The air route between Toulouse–Blagnac and the Parisian airports is the busiest in France, transporting 3.2 million passengers in 2019. According to the rankings of L'Express and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city.Founded by the Romans, the city was the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom in the 5th century and the capital of the province of Languedoc in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution), making it the unofficial capital of the cultural region of Occitania (Southern France). It is now the capital of the region of Occitania, the second largest region in Metropolitan France. The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229). Toulouse is also the home of prestigious higher education schools, notably in the field of aerospace engineering. Together with the university, they have turned Toulouse into the fourth-largest student city in France, with a university population of nearly 140,000 students.Toulouse counts three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Canal du Midi (designated in 1996 and shared with other cities), and the Basilica of St. Sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 along with the former hospital Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques because of their significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. The city's unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks has earned Toulouse the nickname La Ville rose ("The Pink city").

The Battle of Toulouse was fought between the Visigoths and the Western Roman Empire in 439. Having previously defeated the Visigoths at Narbonne, the Roman general Litorius led his largely Hunnic army against Toulouse, the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom. During the siege, the Visigothic king Theodoric I attacked the Roman camp and inflicted heavy casualties. Litorius was captured and executed. Since the Visigoths also suffered heavy losses, Theodoric made peace with the Roman governor Avitus.

The Battle of Toulouse in 844 was part of the campaign by Charles the Bald in Aquitaine to force the submission of Pepin II of Aquitaine, the rebellious son of Pepin, the half-brother of Charles. The historical context of this battle is the three-year Carolingian civil war, culminating in the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye in 841. Here Charles and Louis the German defeated their brother Lothair I, who retreated to the south with his army. A key player in this intrigue was Bernard of Septimania, Count of Barcelona, who remained outside the battle awaiting its result, upon which he sent his son William of Septimania to offer homage to Charles and to promise him that his father would obtain the submission of Charles’ nephew Pepin II, who was claiming to rule Aquitaine. It seems that Bernard had no intention of keeping this last promise. During Charles’ campaign in Aquitaine of 842, he decided to punish Bernard, dispossessing him of the county of Toulouse in favor of Acfred, Count of Toulouse. Bernard refused to accept the decision and revolted, openly allying himself to Pepin II and expelling Acfred from Toulouse in 843. Charles responded by sending Guerin, Duke of Provence, to direct the 842 campaign in Aquitaine against Bernard. Renewed Viking invasions and Breton raids compelled an end to the internal civil struggles afflicting the empire and, in August 843, the Treaty of Verdun was signed between Charles, Louis, and Lothair. Septimania and Gothia were left in the hands of Charles. The county of Uzès, where Bernard still possessed estates, was assigned to Lothair. Furthermore, the county of Autun, which had long been lost to Bernard, and to which his son had renewed a claim, was given to Guerin. In 844, Charles returned to Aquitaine with the objective of forcing Pepin II to submit and conquering Toulouse. Bernard was captured by the royal forces during the assault on Toulouse. In May 844, Bernard was presented to Charles, who ordered his execution. Ekkehard, Count of Hesbaye, and two of his sons were killed in the battle. The Frankish troops were beaten by the Aquitanians near the river Agout and were forced to retreat without significant accomplishments. However, Pepin’s ally Nominoë, Duke of Brittany, refused to submit, and eventually defeated Charles in the Battle of Ballon on 22 November 845.

The University of Toulouse (French: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the French Revolution in 1793, it was re-founded in 1896 as part of the reorganization of higher education. It finally disappeared in 1969, giving birth to the three current Toulouse universities: the University Toulouse-I-Capitole, the University Toulouse-II-Jean-Jaurès and the University Toulouse-III-Paul-Sabatier. The current consortium of Universities and other institutions of higher education and research in the Toulouse area is also known as Université fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées. The three Universities, along with other Toulouse schools, are participating in the reconstruction of a University of Toulouse – a joint structure of 107,000 students including 4,500 doctoral students, approximately 17,000 staff, 145 research laboratories. The mission called "UT2022" was entrusted to Patrick Lévy, former president of the University of Grenoble-Alpes, accompanied by the president of the Université fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Philippe Raimbault. This development, strongly desired by the elected officials of the Occitanie region and Toulouse Métropole, aims to give greater visibility to Toulouse higher education in international rankings.

Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (French: Université fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, UFTMP) is the association of universities and higher education institutions (ComUE) for institutions of higher education and research in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées. The university system was created as a ComUE according to the 2013 Law on Higher Education and Research (France), effective July 1, 2015. It replaced the pôle de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur (PRES) which had been organized in 2007 to coordinate higher education and research in the region.

The Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse is an opera house within the main administration buildings, the Capitole, of the city of Toulouse in south-west France. It houses an opera company, ballet company and symphony orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse. The first performance space, a salle du jeu de spectacle, was created in the building in 1736 by Guillaume Cammas. Following a period of neglect, the current space was created during the rebuild of 1818. The theatre suffered fire damage in 1917 but was restored in 1923. The front of house areas were modernised in 1996. The current capacity is 1156 seats. Michel Plasson was responsible for the artistic direction of the company from 1973. He was followed by Jacques Doucet in 1981, by Nicolas Joel in 1991, and by Frédéric Chambert in 2009, after Joel's move to the Opéra national de Paris. Chambert's first season was marked by the use of alternate spaces while the theatre was renovated, and the theatre was re-opened for the beginning of the 2010–11 season. The opera company is a member of the Réunion des Opéras de France.

The siege of Toulouse occurred from 22 September 1217 to 25 July 1218 during the Albigensian Crusade. It was third of a series of sieges of the city during the height of Crusader efforts to put down Catharism (and the local Languedocian nobility). It ended in the repulsion of the Crusaders and the death of their leader, Simon IV de Montfort.

Notre-Dame du Taur is a Roman Catholic church located in Toulouse, France. According to legend, the edifice was built on the exact spot where the body of Saint Saturnin (Sernin), patron saint of Toulouse, became detached from the bull that dragged the martyr to his death. The church stands in the rue du Taur between the Capitole and the Basilica of St. Sernin. It has been classified as a historic monument since 1840.

The Hôtel Dumay, a historic building in Toulouse, France, is a Renaissance hôtel particulier (palace) of the 16th century. It has been listed as an official historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture since June 21, 1950. The Dumay hotel retains the name of the man who built it at the end of the 16th century, Antoine Dumay, a renowned physician, notably a doctor of Marguerite de Valois, Henri IV's first wife. It now houses the Museum of Old Toulouse.

The church of the Sanctuaire Saint-Jérôme (former chapel of the Pénitents bleus), rue du Lieutenant-Colonel-Pélissier (former rue des Pénitents bleus), is a church built by the Compagnie royale des Pénitents bleus de Toulouse. It was built in the 17th century by architect Pierre Levesville under Louis XIII, the first French king to join the brotherhood. The Pénitents bleus called on Toulouse's finest artists to decorate their chapel, which didn't suffer too much during the French Revolution.

The École Supérieure d'Audiovisuel (ESAV - Graduate School of Audiovisual) is an educational institute in Toulouse that teaches aspects of filmmaking. It was created in 1978 under the leadership of the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail and Guy Chapouillié. It issues Level 3 license, Master 1 and Master 2 certificates. The Master 2 leads eventually to a PhD course.The school has a library created in 1989 that holds more than 10,000 documents, mainly books and movies in the audiovisual field. It preserves and promotes the works of students of the school.