v43_1196 - MEROVINGIAN COINAGE - TOULOUSE (TOLOSA) - Aquitania Triens à la tête stylisée

MEROVINGIAN COINAGE - TOULOUSE (TOLOSA) - Aquitania

(6th - 7th century)

Toulouse (Tolosa in Latin) was the capital of the Volques Tectosages. The protohistoric city is an important administrative and military center of the Narbonnaise province. Under Augustus, towards the end of the 1st century BC. J. -VS. , a new town was established on the site of the current historic center of Toulouse. In 250, Toulouse is marked by the torture of Saturnin de Toulouse which will become Saint-Sernin. The 3rd century and the 4th century are prosperous and the city grows. The first Saint-Sernin basilica was built in 403 with the rise of Christianity in the region. In 413, the Visigoths invaded the city and chose Toulouse as the capital of their kingdom.. Having a different culture and religion, the Gallo-Romans and the Visigoths rubbed shoulders in Toulouse without mixing until 508 when Clovis took the city, after defeating the Visigoths at the battle of Vouillé (in 507). The Franks did not stay in Toulouse, however, and the city, now cut off from the Mediterranean, lost its influence.. It serves mainly as a stronghold facing Septimania to the east and Spain to the south, held by the Visigoths. It nevertheless resumed its independence to form in 629 the ephemeral Kingdom of Toulouse then became in the 7th and 8th centuries the capital of a grand duchy whose borders go from the Pyrenees to the Loire, and from Rodez to the Ocean.. In 721, the city was besieged by the Arab army, which was finally defeated in the Battle of Toulouse on June 9, 721, signaling the end of its progression towards the north.. Source: Wikipedia. org.