Narbonne

You know that? Cried the royal lady, starting.

I know your Majesty is pledged to take Count Louis de Narbonne.

And of course, you blame me? No, it is a trial like others.

When the king shall have tried all, he may finish by the one with whom he should have commenced.

With old material, other people make a new stock.

With the new, England often makes the old.

Do you see in this why Baroness de Stael proposes de Narbonne to us? [chuckles] This time, Madame, two likings are combined, that for the aristocracy and the aristocrat.

Do you imagine that she loves Louis de Narbonne on account of his descent? Louis de Narbonne was supposed to be an incestuous son of King Louis XV.

Though defeated by Charles Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne, in the great battle of Poitiers, the Moors remained encamped on the soil of that which we now call France.

Narbonne was in their possession at the time of the birth of Charlemagne and remained so during the years of his boyhood till won back for Christendom by his father in 759.

In the east of Europe, the Avars still hung menacingly over the Italian and Illyrian lands.

A people allied to the Huns, they occupied the mid-Danubian region which had been the seat of the barbarian empire of Attila.

In 737 they crossed the Rhone, and forming a league with a certain Morontus, who was perhaps Duke of Provence, they obtained possession of the strongly fortified city of Avignon.

Charles, whose normal occupation was warfare with the Frisians and Saxons, was recalled from the Rhinelands in order to do battle with the Islamite in the valley of the Rhone.

Avignon was recaptured, and Charles marched on to Narbonne, the citadel of the Saracen power in Gaul.

But though he defeated the Moslems in a great battle by the seacoast, he failed to take Narbonne.

And then I suppose the other kind of main headline would be, you mentioned there, Nice got off the mark, really pretty comfortable win, 43-6 over Béziers.

They've marked their return to Prolodur, as have Narbonne, who scored in the very last play of the game, Niel Suid, 80th minute try against Nevers, converted by, I forgive as ever the pronunciation, Tom Chauvet.

Yeah,

which did really

So like, yeah, it looks rammed in parts of the stands and it sounded loud, but it also looks like they could be playing in a park.

Yeah, there are also some sort of disused football goals behind the posts at one end.

Yeah, I'd quite like, I mean, everything we've heard, I think the Idris Abim, right, but Narbonne is supposed to be absolutely stunning as a place.

yeah um and the ground it certainly looks like it's got got a bit of like rustic charm to it but yeah a little bit cobbled together but looking municipal sports

Okay.

Is it A, Narbonne, B, Stade Montois, C, Montpellier, or D, Marseille?

[sighs] Ooh, this one's tough.

Very tough.

It's the one I probably could have had two places higher, actually, because I think you'll get the next two right if you get through this.

Hmm.

So Jonah Lomu played for which French club? Narbonne, Stade Montois, Montpellier, Marseille.

[sighs] Ooh, dear.

Veluti in Speculum, Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.

Count Raymond rules in Languedoc, o'er the Champagne fair and wide, with town and stronghold many a one, washed by the wave of the Blue Garonne, and from far Auvergne to Roussillon, and away to Narbonne, and the mouths of the Rhone, and his Léonois silks and his Narbonne honey, bring in his lordship a great deal of money.

A thousand lances, stout and true, attend Count Raymond's call, and knights and nobles of high degree from guienne provence and burgundy before count raymond bent the knee and veiled to him one and all and isabel of aragon he weds the pride of spain you might not find so rich a prize a dame so healthy wealthy and wise so pious withal with such beautiful eyes so exactly the venus de medicis size in all that wide domain then his cellar is stored, as well as his board, with the choicest of all La Belle France can afford, Chambertin, Chateau Margot, La Rose, and La Fitte, with much champagne of the comet year, neat as imported, fine, sparkling, and not over-sweet, while his chaplain, good man, when called in to say grace, would groan, and put on an elongated face, that such turtle, such turbot, john dory in place not without blushing pronouncing a benison worthy old soul on such very fat venison sighing to think such victuals and drink are precisely the traps by which satan makes men his own and grieving o'er scores of huge barbecued boars which he thinks should not darken a christian man's doors though twas all very well pagan poets should rate him as animal propter conrivia natum he was right i must say for at this time of day when we're not so precise whether cleric or lay with respect to our food as in time so passe we still find our bores whether grave ones or gay after dinner at least very much in the way we spell the word now with an e not an a and as honest pere jacques was inclined to spare diet he gave his advice to all grades of society.

Think less of pudding, and think more of piety.

Promise that the inhabitants shall be at liberty to depart unmolested with their property and city will be delivered up to you tomorrow morning without a blow otherwise we are prepared to fight until another man be left.

The articles of capitulation were then drawn out and when the Moor had affixed his seal Theodemir took the pen and wrote his signature Behold in me, said he, the governor of the city At the dawn of the day the gates were thrown open and the Muslims looked to see a great force issuing forth But beheld merely Theodemir and his page In battered armor Followed by a multitude of old men Women and children Where are the soldiers Asked the Moor That I saw lining the walls last evening Soldiers have I none Answered Theodemir As to my garrison Behold it before you With these women Did I mend my walls And this page Is my herald Guard and retinue So struck was Moos General with the boldness and ingenuity Of the trick Which had been played upon him That he made Theodemir Governor of the province of Murcia Which was ever afterwards Known in Arabic as Theodemir's land Even in these early days The Moors knew and practiced The principle of true chivalry They had already won Their title To the knightliness Which many centuries later Compelled to the victorious Spaniard To address them as Knights of Granada Gentlemen Albeit Moors Caballeros Granadinos Aunque Moros y Hostalgo Meanwhile Tariq Had pressed On to Toledo The capital of the Goths He was seeking For Gothic nobles At Cordova He had looked To meet them But they had fled At Toledo Which the Jews Delivered into his hands The nobles Were not to be found They had Fled further And taken Refuge In the mountains Of the Asturias Traitors Like the family Of Witiza And Count Julian Alone remained And these were Rewarded with The posts Of government The rest Of the nobility Had disappeared The country Was abandoned To the Moors Spain had become In fact A province Of vast empire Of the Arab caliphs Who held Their court At Damascus And swayed An empire That stretched From the Mountains Of India To the pillars Of Hercules What Remained To be done Towards The pacification Of Spain Was effected By Musa Who When He heard Of Tariq's Continued Career Of success Sailed In all Haste Across The strait Followed By his Arabs To take His full Share Of the Glory He crossed In the Summer Of 712 With Eighteen Thousand Men And After Reducing Carmona Seville And Merida Joined Tariq At Toledo The meeting Between The conqueror And his Superior Officer Was Not Friendly Tariq Went Forth To receive The governor Of the West With All Honor But Musa Struck Him With a Whip Overwhelmed Him With Reprimand For Exceeding His Instructions And Declaring That It was Impossible To entrust The safety Of the Muslims To such Rash and Impetuous Leading Threw him Into prison When This act Of jealous Jirani Came to the ears Of Caliph Walid He summoned Musa To Damascus And restored Tariq To his command In Spain Before Returning To Syria Musa Had stood Upon the Pyrenees And seen A vision Of European Conquest His recall Interrupted His Further Advance But others Soon pushed Forward An Arab Governor As Early As Seven Nineteen Occupied The southern Part Of Gaul Called Settimania With the Cities Of Carcassonne And Narbonne And from These centers He began To make Raids Upon the Burgundy And Aquitania Ood Duke of Aquitania Administered A total Defeat To the Saracens Under the Walls Of Toulouse In seven Twenty-one But this Only diverted Their course More to the west They sacked Beaune Exacted tribute From Sens Seized Avignon In seven Thirty And Made Numerous raids Upon the Neighboring Districts The new Governor Of Narbonne Abdel Rahman Resolved upon The conquest Of all Gaul He had Already checked The operations Of Ood Who presumed After his Victory at Toulouse To carry The war Into the Saracen's Country And now He attacked The Tarraconais And boldly Invaded Aquitaine Defeated Ood On the bank Of the Garonne Captured Bordeaux By assault And in Seven thirty two Marched on In triumph Toward the Tours Where he Had Heard of The treasures Of the Abbey Of Saint Martin Between Poitiers And Tours He was Met by Charles The son of Pepin The alistair Then virtual King of France For the feeble Merovingian sovereign Rotel had No voice To oppose The will of His powerful Mayor of the Palace The Saracens went joyfully to the fight.

They expect the second field of Gadelete and look to see fair France their prey from Calais to Marseilles.

An issue momentous for Europe was to be decided, and the conflict that ensued has rightly been numbered among the fifteen decisive battles of the world.

The danger to Western Europe was averted.

So crushing was the disaster that the Moors of Spain never again during all the centuries that they ruled in the south attempted to invade France.

They retained indeed their hold of Narbonne and the districts bordering the northern slope of the Pyrenees for some time longer until seven ninety-seven, and even ventured upon foreign raids into Provence, but here their ambition ceased.

The Battle of Tours had once for all vindicated the independence of France and set a bound to Muslim conquest.

And then I guess one of the other headlines would be both the new boys found it fairly hard going.

Nice lost 36-5 away at Biarritz and Narbonne took 50 away to Dax.

So a little bit of a kind of crash down to

earth.

So that should be looking, yeah, that should be pretty tasty.

The early kickoff on Friday, Montauban-Grenoble.

which based on what we've seen in the first round here could be an absolute cracker as well yeah that's a great game and then we've also got both the newly promoted sides Narbonne and Nice hosting Nevers and Bézier and they will be eyeing those up to get off the mark

absolutely yeah