Comtat Venaissin
Enclave of the Papal States within France / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Comtat Venaissin (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃ta vənɛsɛ̃]; Occitan: lo Comtat Venaicin; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the Comtat for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274–1791) in what is now the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France.
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Comtat Venaissin | |||||||||||
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1274–1791 | |||||||||||
Motto: Per lo Papa, per la nacion ("For the Pope, for the nation") | |||||||||||
Status | Papal enclave | ||||||||||
Capital | Venasque (1274-1320) Carpentras (1320–1791) | ||||||||||
Common languages | Provençal French Latin | ||||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
• Death of Alphonse, Count of Poitiers | 21 August 1271 | ||||||||||
• Acquired by papacy | 1274 | ||||||||||
1320 | |||||||||||
1348 | |||||||||||
• French occupation | 1663, 1668, 1768–74 | ||||||||||
14 September 1791 | |||||||||||
1797 | |||||||||||
Currency | Roman scudo | ||||||||||
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Today part of | France |
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The entire region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area around the city of Avignon (itself always a separate comtat) roughly between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventoux, and a small exclave located to the north around the town of Valréas bought by Pope John XXII. The Comtat also bordered (and mostly surrounded) the Principality of Orange. The region is still known informally as the Comtat Venaissin, although this no longer has any political meaning.