Capitoul
The capitouls, sometimes anglicized as capitols,[1] were the chief magistrates of the commune of Toulouse, France, during the late Middle Ages and early Modern period.
[6] The General or Common Council[9] (counseil général) was formed of a large body of notables, including representatives of the Catholic archdiocese, the major local chapters, and university, several lawyers, townsmen, and the present and former capitouls.
[16] The town annals described their dignity as arising from "halting their own business, suspending their commerce, abandoning all particular affectations and putting aside their cherished projects in order to augment the Republic, following the precepts of Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon and other philosophers.
[9][n 3] Initially, the council consisted of six men from the city (cité) of Toulouse proper, bound by its old Roman walls, and six from the borough (bourg) of tradesmen which had developed around St-Sernin.
[1] Those in the borough were named for the church of St-Pierre-des-Cuisines and for their adjacent gates into the old town: Arnaud Bernard, Las Crosses, Matabovis, Pousonville, and Villeneuve.
[1] The commune received many privileges from its counts during the 12th century: its capitouls formed the city's principal court,[26] established market rules and tax exemptions, and maintained the town's drainage.
[27] Most of these powers were lost following the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in the 13th century,[13] particularly after the ascension of the Capetian Alphonse of Poitiers as count of Toulouse[28] and his succession by King Philip, who imposed seneschals over his new territories.
[16] They participated in the city's general processions, mass parades through the town organized for the high holy days, various civic occasions, and at times of collective danger.
[16] These records, also known as the Twelve Books (Douze Livres), began their first entry—that for the year 1296—with a Latin poem translated in Turning as:[39][n 5] Toulouse was free, with full rights, and will be without end;If she is just and pious, she will be forever populous.Toulouse is proud of its twelve consulsWho govern her, fair, pious, and powerful.As the office was ennobling after 1459,[13] it was attractive to many of the city's middle and lower upper class.
[13] The trappings of nobility enjoyed by the capitouls included a red and black silk ermine gown[7][n 6] and exemption from prosecution for both the office holder and his son.
In the early 16th century, the Capitoulate curtailed prostitution, oversaw poor relief, organized the local militia into a permanent force, established a health board to fight plague outbreaks,[14] and directed rebuilding from the devastation of the Hundred Years' War and a massive fire in 1463.
[7] A shortfall owing to war taxes and the town's firma burgi led to rival proposals to sell Catholic or Protestant church properties.
[44] In the mid-17th century, Cardinal Mazarin and King Louis XIV briefly restored much of the Capitoulate's autonomy, even giving it the right to take some cases to the Parliament of Bordeaux rather than its local rivals, as part of an attempt to secure its alliance during the Fronde uprising.
[17] As Intendant of Languedoc, Nicolas de Lamoignon placed his own men as capitouls and oversaw an overhaul of Toulouse's municipal government in the 1680s and '90s.
[15] He noted that prior to his actions each capitoul routinely apportioned the town's alms "to his shoemaker, to his baker, and to other artisans, while the true poor receive nothing";[47] that they shirked responsibilities such as policing that offered little personal honor; and that they underpaid Toulouse's contribution to the taille and forced the city into indebtedness by exempting themselves and friends from local taxation.
[15] Subsequent intendants were similarly forced to accept nominees of the archbishop, the parliamentary presidents, and other important nobles of the realm, even when such candidates did not so much as visit the city, let alone perform the responsibilities of their office.
[48] The capitouls were present at the laying of the foundation stone of the Garonne lock of the Canal du Midi near Toulouse in November, 1667.
In the 1770s, a series of anonymous broadsides thoroughly condemned the conduct of the Capitoulate and was successful in securing an arrêt from the royal council in June 1778.
