The singular form is hakham, a Sephardic and Hachmei Provençal term for a rabbi.
In matters of halakha, as well as in their traditions and customs, the Provençal hekhamim occupy an intermediate position between the Sephardic Judaism of the neighboring Spanish scholars and the Old French (similar to the Nusach Ashkenaz) tradition represented by the Tosafists.
It also included cities which at that time formed part of the Catalonia's political and cultural domain, such as Perpignan.
In some ways, the Jewish traditions of Catalonia were closer to those of Provence than to those of the Kingdom of Castile and al-Andalus.
After the French Revolution, when France annexed Comtat Venaissin, the Provençal rite was replaced by the Portuguese Sephardic liturgy, which is used by the Jews of Carpentras today.