Agotes: who were these forgotten inhabitants of the Pyrenees?

This ethnic group was discriminated against for centuries, to the point of being believed to transmit diseases.

This article is dedicated to a forgotten people: the Agotes.. That their name tells you nothing is not surprising. Their history is somewhat mysterious and to some extent obscure, but if this is so, it is because there was a deliberate attempt to do away with them.

And the fact is that talking about the agotes is still considered something bad or undesirable in some areas of the Pyrenees. In other places simply nobody remembers them anymore.

The mysterious history of the agotes

It is known that the Agotes inhabited the western part of the Pyrenees, between what is now France and Spain. The first records about them date back to the XIIIth centuryand already in these the Agotes are referred to as an inferior race. They were known as "the untouchables".

However, the history of this group is very blurred, and its opacity is due to different factors, but their disappearance as a people has prevented them from even having any kind of oral history.

In addition to their disappearance as a collective, they wanted to forget their history. In fact, in the end it was they themselves who tried to make this happen. At the time of the French Revolution, many agotes or their descendants went so far as to ransack local archives to erase their history. went so far as to ransack local archives in order to erase any trace of information about their ancestors.. It is believed that many emigrated and others were eventually assimilated into the general population.

Living in apartheid since the 13th century.

In medieval times, agotes were not allowed to mix with other people, having to live separately from other people. They were kept apart throughout the centuries, and when an exhauste entered a city they had to report their presence. In the same way as the lepers, they had to go around ringing a bell.

Traditionally, agotes have been related to some kind of plague. A so-called "white plague" is documented, which supposedly had a hereditary character and would only affect them. In addition, the bad odors attributed to them caused them to be prohibited from forbidden to engage in certain types of work (agriculture, livestock or any other type of (agriculture, cattle raising or any other work that could mean contagion).

Not being allowed to enter most trades or professions, they were pushed into jobs such as construction or music. But it seems that one of the professions they were forced to take on with special zeal was that of lumberjacks, and eventually became good carpenters..

They made wine barrels, coffins for the dead and even Pyrenean churches from which they were partially excluded. They could enter the churches, but they had their own doors to access them separately from the rest. separately from the rest.

Prohibitions and persecution

It is undeniable that there were prohibitions on the agotes that were very strange. For example, while the peasants went barefoot, they were forced to cover their feet because they were believed to have deformed them.because it was believed that they were deformed. They were also not allowed to touch certain parts of public constructions such as bridges.

Knowing such oddities, it is not surprising that agotes were not allowed to eat with non-agotes. They were even forbidden to marry other members of society. This led to marked inbreeding for centuries. for centuries.

Some said that the agotes were psychotic and even cannibals, and sometimes fanaticism was brutally applied on them. There are records of specific terrible acts against them in the early 18th century. For example, one had his feet pierced with sharp pieces of iron for daring to cultivate some fields, and many others were burned at the stake. many others were burned at the stake..

Basically, if there was a crime in a village, the agotes were usually blamed, as were the women who were considered witches.

Who were they and where did they come from?

As we have seen, there have been many absurd ideas surrounding the agotes, but most of the information comes from "scientific examinations" carried out by French doctors from the 18th century onwards..

Thus, what we know is that there was a group of people who lived apart from the rest, because apparently they had to be repudiated for some reason as serious as unknown. People discriminated against them for some specific reason that no one remembered anymore. In addition, it is said that they were despicable, because supposedly defects and diseases were expressed in their bodies.

But who were the agotes in reality, where did they come from? Below we will see the 4 most serious hypotheses that we have so far.

Hypothesis nº1: lepers

There are several historians who have dedicated themselves to try to solve the mystery of the agotes. One of the existing theories is that they were simply contagious lepers or descendants of them. This would explain why agotes were not allowed to touch certain things. But this contrasts with various sources that describe them describe them as healthy and even robust individuals..

Hypothesis nº2: slaves

Another hypothesis is that the Agotes were slaves of the Gothsa Germanic people who arrived in what is now France during the Middle Ages. Etymologists deduce that the agotes, known as "cagots" in France, could owe their name to "cani Gothi". This means "dogs of the Goths". Although it is also thought possible that their name derives from "poop".

Hypothesis #3: carpenters

In 2008, the British writer Graham Robb formulated a new theory through the publication of his book The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography. Robb thinks that the Agotes were originally a guild of carpenters who worked very well with wood. This new hypothesis goes in the direction that commercial rivalry generated a fanaticism against them..

Hypothesis nº4: Saracens, Cathars or some other isolated human group.

There is also the belief that the Agotes are descendants of some ethnic group that became isolated from the rest of the world. at some point in history. It is believed that they could be a group of Saracens, Arabs who remained in that region after the 8th century Muslim invasions of what is now Portugal, Spain and southern France.

The Fideles are also associated with Catharism.whose geographical center was located in Occitania. This Christian doctrine criticized Catholicism for abandoning evangelical ideals and displaying gold in its churches. Thus, in the 13th century, Pope Innocent III declared what became known as the Albigensian crusade to eliminate "heretics", allowing what was the incorporation of Occitania into France.

Bibliographical references:

• Aguirre Delclaux, M.C. (2005). The agotes. The end of a curse. Madrid: Sílex Ediciones.
• Bell, G. (2008). The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• Fabre, M. (1987). Le Mystère des Cagots, race maudite des Pyrénées. Pau: MCT.
• García-Egocheaga, J. (2003). Minorías malditas: la historia desconocida de otros pueblos de España. Madrid: Susaeta Ediciones.