History Time…Again... Cagots

The Cagots (pronounced [ka.ɡo]) were a persecuted minority found in the west of France and northern Spain: the Navarrese Pyrenees, Basque provinces, Béarn, Aragón, Gascony and Brittany. Their name differed by province and the local language: Agotes, Agotak, and Gafos in Basque country; Cagots, Gézitains, Gahets, and Gafets in Gascony; Capots in Anjou and Languedoc; and Cacons, Cahets, Caqueux, and Caquins in Brittany. Evidence of the group exists back as far as AD 1000. Cagots were shunned and hated; while restrictions varied by time and place, they were typically required to live in separate quarters in towns, called cagoteries, which were often on the far outskirts of the villages. Ah…Scruffy…Camino remember? The anti-Cagot prejudice existed in northern Spain, Western France, and Southern France, roughly coinciding with the main routes of the Caminos leading through France into Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. There was a brief construction boom on the Way of St. James pilgrimage route in the 9th and 10th centuries; this could have brought the guild both power and suspicion. The collapse of their business would have left a scattered yet cohesive group in the areas where Cagots are known. For more info start here: The Discovery of France, Graham Robb Picador 2007 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagot