Intendance de Languedoc
Item
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Country
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FR
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Name of institution (English)
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Hérault departmental archives
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Language of name of institution
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fra
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Contact information: postal address
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Mas d’Alco, 1977 Avenue des moulins, 34087 Montpellier, cedex 4
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Contact information: phone number
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0033 0467673000
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Reference number
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C 1-5811; C 14282-14300; C 14464-14466; C 14468
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (English)
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Languedoc Intendancy
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Title (official language of the state)
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Intendance de Languedoc
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Language of title
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fra
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Creator / accumulator
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Languedoc Intendancy
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Date note
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16th century/18th century
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Language(s)
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fra
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Extent
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700 linear metres
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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The Intendance de Languedoc fonds comprises documentation produced by this institution. The broad power of the intendants is reflected in the numerous types of documents on various matters, such as local and military administration, financial management, correspondence, orders, and others.
Some of the documents relate to the history of the Sephardim in France. It is the case of records contained in C 43, "Police et affaires générales de la province (dont traque de la bête du Gévaudan): correspondance, notes historiques et mémoires", [Police and general affairs of the province (including tracking down the Beast of Gévaudan): correspondence, historical notes and memoirs)] regarding the situation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Paris in the late 18th century. It includes an order authorising the establishment of a Jewish cemetery for Portuguese Jews in Paris on March 7, 1780, and a letter from the syndic of the Spanish and Portuguese nation in Paris to the intendant on June 24, 1783 (nos. 940-945).
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Archival history
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In 1719-1720, the archives moved to the attic of the Hôtel de Ganges, where they were stored without adequate conditions. In 1822, the archives were transferred to a neighbouring house. However, they returned to the same premises of the Hôtel de Ganges in 1852. Finally, in 1858, the needs of public institutions and the considerable increase in document production, followed by the incorporation of old archives of extinct institutions, resulted in the increasing need for a proper structure to organise and store documentation. By then, the archives of the Intendance were transferred to 3 rue Fournarié. From then on, their history followed that of the various premises allocated to the departmental archives.
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Archives départementales de l'Hérault
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The administration of Languedoc was entrusted to intendants. It is still difficult to be sure about their origin, the function they performed, and how they evolved in time. However, It is known that the position of intendant was temporary at first and that, at one time, there were even two intendants for the province.
The title of Intendant was only definitively established by Louis XIII (1601-43), thanks to Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642), who aimed to strengthen the power of royal delegates in the provinces of the kingdom.
The Intendant had broad powers, mostly in three different areas. The first was in justice, as the intendant could take up cases, have them investigated, and judge them or refer them to other judges. He mostly acted on cases of smuggling, forgery, rebellions, and public disturbances. The second area was in policing, which included the supervision of communities and towns, jurisdiction over the construction or repair of places of worship and communication routes, organisation of local militias, and administration of mines, agriculture, trade, industry, hospitals, and public health. The third area was finances, which implied the financial administration of the region in conjunction with the Estates General.
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Archives départementales de l'Hérault
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System of arrangement
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The fonds is either organised by institutions, by themes of documents, or by themes or areas of governance.
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Author of the description
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Kevin Soares, 2023
