Le Tuchinat en Toulousain et dans le Rouergue (1381-1393) : d’une émeute urbaine à une guérilla rurale ?

Abstract

The « Tuchinat » in the Toulouse region and in Rouergue (1381-1393) : an urban riot or a rural guerilla action ? The revolt which took place in Languedoc and Auvergne at the end of the 14th century, and which is generally known under the name of the Tuchins Revolt, is clearly one of the most serious revolts that the kingdom of France experienced during the medieval period. An uprising of this scope and this duration is necessarily complex in its motivations and many-sided in its expressions. The analysis of the “ Tuchinat” in the Toulouse and Rouergue regions underlines the ambiguity of a movement with which part of the urban elites identified and which benefitted from the tacit support of Gaston Febus, count of Foix, whose primary preoccupation was the struggle against the companies of routiers. The study also charts its evolution that led individuals from the lower strata of Toulouse to become mercenaries hired by different communities in Rouergue in order to insure their security from English companies. This mission, which explains the long duration of the movement, rejoined the preoccupations of Auvergne’s Tuchins and allows us to understand why such seemingly diverse movements were regrouped under the same term by royal authorities.