lagrasse

Installed in the valley of Orbieu, the locality is placed in the southernmost zone of the massif of Alaric. Its Lagrasse toponym comes from the occitan term "grassa" (fertile). The origins of the abbey of Lagrasse are former to the end of VIIIth century: its charter of "foundation", written into 779, enables us to suppose that there had already been a monastery on this site. Its first abbot founder, Nimphridius, friend of saint Benoit d' Aniane, is also named in this document. In addition, the legend of Philoména, manuscript of XIllth century, reports the legendary foundation of the abbey by the Charlemagne emperor and the miraculous dedication of the abbey church by Christ himself. The monastery of Lagrasse enriched by multiple donations, knows prosperity quickly. The first important gifts are recorded in an act of year 951. The abbey undergoes an extraordinary rise during IXth and Xth centuries, and its goods extending as far as Spain. At the beginning of the Xllth century, a hundred churches and ten monasteries, departing from Low Languedoc to Saragossa were held by Lagrasse. The political power of the abbey appears primarily during the crusade against the Albigensians: Benoit d' Alignan, abbot of Lagrasse from 1224 to 1230, often played the part of intermediary between occupants and occupied. It is he who obtained the submissiveness of Carcassonne to the King (1226).
The abbey knew its apogee at the end of the Xlllth century, under the impulse of Auger de Gogenx, abbot from 1279 to 1309. This reformer wrote an important statute in 1296. The disturbed periods of the XIVth century slow down the radiation of Lagrasse. In 1348, an epidemic of pestilence crotchet decimated largely its population. These times of disorders also caused the creation of a new reform of the monastery by the abbot Guy the first Of Breuil, in 1363. A new rise of the artistic activity of Lagrasse is started towards the end of XVth century, under the abbey church of Pierre d' Abzac de la Douze, before starting a phase of conflict with the designation of abbots. The use of the order is established definitively with the abbot Philippe de Lévis, in 1502.
At the XVIIth century, the abbey knew a spiritual revival with the introduction, in 1662, of the reform of Saint-Maur, however accepted with difficulty by certain ecclesiastics.
Lagrasse testifies to an ultimate era of economic prosperity at the XVIIIth century, thanks to its last but one abbot, Armand Bazin de Bezons. During the Revolution, the community, which did not count any more that 14 monks, was dispersed. The abbey was divided in two portions and was sold to bids as a national good, in 1796. This division remains still nowadays. In addition, under the old Regime, the abbot incarnated the only lord in all justice of Lagrasse. However, the inhabitants represented by "Consuls", managed the businesses of the community. These consuls, reported since 1269, oscillated in a number from two to four.
From the Middle Ages until the XVIIIth century, the agricultural resources and the breeding constituted the main part of the incomes of Lagrasse. However, the village was also turned towards the craft industry and the trade. The commune, which was characterized then by its clothier activity, accomodated the largest Low-Corbières market. Today, this chief place of canton relies primarily on the product of vine and the tourist reception. It reopened its stalls that shelter many creators and craftsmen of art.