A short documentary with Professor Paul Claval, who explains the history of Martel, a small town in south-central France.
🏆OTHER PLAYLISTS ON THIS CHANNEL:
🔓Informational and historical sources:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin_de_fer_touristique_du_Haut_Quercy
https://www.vallee-dordogne.com/offres/office-de-tourisme-vallee-de-la-dordogne-bureau-daccueil-de-martel-martel-fr-569566
https://www.martel.fr/activites-loisirs-martel-vallee-dordogne
https://www.facebook.com/p/Il-%C3%A9tait-une-fois-la-lavandhier-100071424042123/
Chapters
00:00 – 00:52 Introduction
00:52 – 08:04 The Middle Ages
08:04 – 15:33 The Industrial Era
15:33 – 20:40 Martel in 2025
20:40 – 23:00 Conclusion
Music tracks:
Pufino – Breton
Spiral of Time – Guillermo Guareschi
Lukrembo – Boba Tea
Project Ex – Area 16
Conquest – Adventure
Kashia – Deep Sadness
Lukrembo – Wine
Moavii – All In
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Background Music for Videos (Free)
🍎This video is for educational and informational purposes. All rights reserved.
Content published with the consent of those filmed, under public domain, fair use and creative commons 3.0 licenses. © GACS 2025
#france #history #tourism
How did this medieval town remain frozen in time for so many centuries? What makes walking through the streets here feel magical? Why does it spark our curiosity, capture our attention, and inspire those who visit? In this episode, we’ll explore the history of Martel, France, located in the former French province of Quercy, and today in the Lot department, 100 miles east of Bordeaux and 100 miles southwest of Lyon. We’ll break down its past into three essential chapters: the Middle Ages, the Industrial Era, and 2025. For today’s trivia question: What does the name “Martel” signify in English? And if you know that answer, where else does it appear in French history? The medieval city center dates from the 9th and 10th centuries. Looking at current maps of the town center clearly show that it has hardly changed since the Middle Ages. Arising from the long-distance trading routes that crossed here, both from north to south, and east to west, the town became a tight-knit commercial and urban zone starting as early as the 9th century, unchanged in its layout for nearly 1 000 years. In the town square, the late 18th century marketplace is the center of attention, and for good reason. Initially it was a small trading post, along the route that brought salt needed for animal husbandry from the Atlantic coast to the farming communities in the Limousin and Cantal This lasted from around 1050 until the start of the 100 Years War. From this there remains a first town enclosure which isolates a core 300 meters by 250 meters, so quite small only 4 or 5 hectares altogether but still that of a small town, and this core is still visible from the old enclosure which was destroyed and replaced by the ring boulevard around the year 1750. So that’s the first step. Unlike many other towns in France, Martel grew in importance based on one thing: commerce. It found itself placed along routes of religious pilgrimage, primarily to sites such as Rocamadour just ten miles south. With no major military or strategic importance in its early days, historians have only a few documents from the centuries after it was founded. Clearly, however, its fortunes were built around one major commodity, essential to agriculture and food storage, imported from Bordeaux and La Rochelle: salt. In the days before refrigeration, preserving fish, poultry and pork was essential. They were luxury items, highly prized and valuable. To preserve them, salt became a necessity, available only through importation from the coastal regions. With the first traces of an urban zone dating from 1219, the town received its charter and became part of the Viscounts of Turenne, a French noble dynasty and principality that would endure until the French Revolution. Early historic records revealed that local customs were adopted to regulate the marketplace and fortify the town with the construction of ramparts. Its emblem reveals the significance of its name: This was the start of Martel’s first golden age: the town grew and prospered, churches were established, fortunes were made. But this would not last: a series of conflicts between France and England resulted in all out war, the start of the Hundred Years War in 1337. Owing likely to food-borne illness or poor sanitation, Henry the Young, crowned as future King of England, died here in 1183. Having turned against his father, King Henry II, and younger brother, Richard the Lion Heart, during what might be called adolescent rebellion at the age of 18, he joined a larger campaign to overthrow the English crown. When this ultimately failed, he attempted reconciliation with his father, gaining popularity with his participation in chivalry and tournaments. Remaining attached to France and the Limousin region, notably through his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine, and once again quarrelling with the English crown, he joined a campaign to pillage monasteries and religous holdings in Rocamadour. Having contracted dysentery, he was brought to Martel, where he was given last rites and died. The betrayal of his father eventually got the best of him. He was said to have died with remorse and repentance towards his family. It would be an ominous sign of things to come for Martel. He is entombed at the cathedral of Rouen. The treaties of Paris and Amiens, in 1259 and 1279 respectively, had left Martel in an undefined territory. It was left to defend itself. Primarily controlled by the French, it was held by the English from 1360 to 1374. This period ended more or less with the Hundred Years War which affected the town not having been conquered by the English but it was reportedly handed over by the Treaty of Brétigny at one point for fifteen years when it was under English control. As with all wars and conflicts, the fighting had a major impact on the towns fortunes. Commerce and trade suffered in the centuries after, owing also to the wars of Religion in the 16th century, when the town was again raided by the protestants. Nonetheless, until 1738, Martel retained its privileges as a protectorate of the Viscount of Turenne, allowing reduced taxes, often avoiding the devastating impact of la Gabelle, a royal tax on salt, around which its early economy was based. It soon found itself again in an age of prosperity, owing less to trade, than to regulation of trade. The second phase started around the end of the 14th, beginning of the 15th centuries and lasts until the end of the 18th century. Commerce plays less of a role but Martel became the judicial center for a portion of the Viscounts of Turenne the urban area had the particularity of being within the French realm but not belong to the kingdom. Becoming the center of the judiciary in the principality of Turenne, administration, regulation and justice became its primary functions. The population again grew prosperous. This came to an abrupt end when the Viscount of Turenne, finding himself in debt, sold the town to the French monarchy in 1738. The privileges that had allowed it to prosper quickly disappeared. The ramparts, having become obsolete, were pillaged for their stone and removed. Its houses and urban architecture, however, remained intact. The French revolution overthrew centuries of tradition, and the towns deeply entrenched class system soon became a liability. In England, steam engines, railways and factories soon began to become the wave of the future. Industrialization overtook European economies, but Martel remained firmly entrenched in the past. No major urbanization and no major population shifts occurred. No factories were built. This rural French town, seemingly “lost in transition” to a modern Republic, remained essentially as it had been for centuries. With the development of railways across France, Martel missed its first opportunity to be located on the north-south line from Paris. Martel missed the Industrial Revolution. The first factory, if we can call it that, built in Martel came about when France began shedding its industry having been built in the 1990s. Up to then there had been some attempts at textiles some small craftsman and such, but no industry Martel missed the arrival of the railway by refusing to be a stop along the first rail line from Paris to Toulouse which runs from Brive-la-Gaillarde south in the direction of Albi. Over 25 years later, in 1889, the line between Bordeaux and Aurillac was finally opened. It was competition for freight traffic along the Dordogne river valley, with salt, livestock and agricultural products being the main sources of revenue. Martel once again had the opportunity to find its place in a larger economy. The rail line that serves Martel went from Bordeaux to Aurillac which has never been a line that serves large towns and followed the Dordogne river valley. It never had much traffic. But it was used until 1978 or 79, when it was closed. Grain prices plummeted in 1873, and grapes were hit with an insect parasite: grape phylloxera heavily impacting wine and cognac production. But both truffles and lavender were grown around Martel, starting in 1870, with nearby railways being completed, the market in Martel opened up to Europe. Martel was the largest truffle market in France for around 40 years from 1890 to 1930. There were up to 20 tons sold at each market opening. It was a peculiar market because it didn’t happen at the marketplace. The growers arrived from nearby villages for example the community of Cuzance which was the largest producer and they’d go to the cafés in Martel, at the time there were around 30 of them and they’d sit down with their baskets of truffles. The truffle courtiers, or those that worked for the truffle houses, would arrive on the morning train and walked around to all the cafés Between 9 AM and 4 PM nothing happened. They would get information. Then the trading would start. Within an hour, everything was sold. That way, everything could be shipped on the 6PM train. So it was called “The Truffle Train,” but the railway wasn’t built for that. It entered service in the 1890s which happened to be the time when truffle production exploded, for which there are a few reasons. Truffles were easy to find. People knew about them. So they were naturally exported to Paris and a dozen tons here and there, to the south to rich families and restaurants and the railway changed all of that. At the same time grape phylloxera came about so vineyards had been abandoned and the oak trees that grew there were natural refuges for truffles. Consequently, production went way up. Between 1880 and 1890 which then entered a 40-year cycle and created a lot of prosperity in the community for example “Truffle Houses,” built by families that could pay off entire farms and buildings in a couple of years, so a lot of revenue. Martel didn’t benefit much from it. Once the profits were taken from market for those that sold a lot would go to the notaries, there were three at the time I think, and would buy stocks. Russian railroads, and such. Stocks which completely lost their value. So it certainly helped build Russian railways but didn’t help out the economy in this region very much. The First World War quickly brought everything to halt. Many of the men involved in agriculture and production were sent to the front. Most of them did not return. With them, the secrets of truffle production were forever lost. Lavender production started up between the two World Wars. It peaked in the 1930s and ended after World War 2. I can remember there being a lavender distillery under the old ring of city walls from the 14th century and once lavender had stopped being distilled there the place still smelled like lavender for 20 years afterwards. Here it was very artisanal, people had a few acres. They could never really make it affordable “en masse,” but some are trying again today but it’s sort of like truffles. Lavender production was later automated and exported to Eastern Europe. Martel could no longer compete. The markets collapsed. The railway was scrapped for steel, rebuilt only thanks to American rails which were imported in 1919 and remain in place to this day. But even this attempt to revive the railway did not survive the 20th century. It was only a local association inviting tens of thousands of visitors every year, to discover this amazing medieval place. In today’s world, Martel holds its place as an important stop for visitors to the region. With larger nearby sites like Padirac or Pont Valentré, it features an original heritage railway, known as “Le chemin de fer touristique du Haut Quercy” A longer documentary about the railway is available in another video on this channel. Today we’ll stop in to talk to association president Bertrand Lacarriere: Bertrand Lacarriere, president of the Haut Quercy Heritage Railway an association created in 1992 which year after year has been open to the public since 1997. Last year we had 120 000 passengers during the season. So we’re becoming a heritage railway that’s gaining a bit of attention. This year we joined the very exclusive club of railroads that have three steam locomotives in service. Our line runs over 4 miles along the cliffs with a view of the Dordogne river valley and we run up to six trains per day. We alternate trains, two at a time with one returning and another leaving full of passengers at the same time and so on throughout the day. Our daily record last year was just short of 2 500 passengers and it goes well with a hard-working staff that sticks together, enjoys their work and this is the opportunity to thank them. We have a good team. There are seven permanent employees here. We take on 12 or 13 more during the season. The line was closed in the 80s. Between Sarlat-la-Canéda and Souillac the line was quickly torn up. Some people started thinking “this is really too bad” “maybe we can do something” So somebody, I forget his name, published an article in a rail magazine “La Vie du Rail” saying we should organize something which brought people together for a meeting here and it all started from that. The town center is an enjoyable place to stroll around and pedestrian friendly. I also found the tourism office, local library and history association to be particularly helpful, having spent an entire afternoon just getting to know them and talk about the town. Locally, lavender production has returned, albeit on a much smaller scale than historically. One local producer and shopkeeper at Lavand’hier, took a few minutes to present her business. The shop name is a nice play on words you’ll have to figure out if you go there: I’m Ms. Fromenteze from “Il était une fois Lavand’hier” in Martel So essentially in 1922 in Martel lavender was being grown just over a hundred years ago and up until 1984. In 2014 a number of locals starting growing it again With my husband we started a lavender crop, such as was done before by doing a small growing operation of about an acre which we harvest by hand as you can see here notably since back in the day it was all done by hand, nothing was done mechanically. We also chose to do all the manual labor with our farm mare and also with the help of our son, who has been here since last year So we do all the work in the lavender fields and the mare does the digging at the base of the plants. Flowering is generally May and June and harvesting in July, all done by hand no machines. Our star products here are essential oils and we also do soap, as well as lavender beer both white and blond. I also developed some food products which was part of our decision for the business including pastries, meringues baked items, cookies, this year we even did a lavender lemonade which is our star product this year. We tried to use as much lavender as possible in these products to show people that lavender isn’t just for cosmetics but can be for food too. And of course, lavender ice cream and sorbet which is always nice and cool in the summer season. The answer to today’s trivia question: “Martel” in French means “hammer” in localized dialect, called “un marteau” in modern French. Three of them can be seen on the town’s emblem. However the word has other meanings: for example, translated loosely as “don’t fret over it” In the 8th century, Charles Martel was the Prince of the Franks who gained victory over the Umayyad invasion of Aquitaine, stopping the Muslims from conquering the Frankish kingdom. His “hammering” of the Arab armies changed the course of European history. However, the town of Martel is not named after him. If you learned something new today, make sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Check out my other playlists about the history of back roads places in France, the Knights Templar, the Roman Empire, The French Resistance and a lot more. Until next time, merci et au revoir! Subtitles / video / translations: Alexander Schugt GACS © 2025
1 Comment
Merci , je pense que vais aller dans le coin l année prochaine !