Conference on the 400th anniversary of the siege of Le Mas d’Azil in 1625, on 27 September 2025 from 9am to 6pm at the Espace Multimédia in Le Mas d’Azil (09), 4 rue du Temple.
From 9 September to 20 October 1625, a royal army of 13,000 men, equipped with cannons, sent by Cardinal de Richelieu on behalf of King Louis XIII, was defeated by popular resistance from a small town in the county of Foix, Le Mas d’Azil, which at the time was predominantly Protestant.
Less well known than the siege of Montségur against the Cathars in 1244, the siege of Mas d’Azil in 1625 was nonetheless a major episode in the resistance of the Pays de Foix to the central power of the French monarchy.
The issues that fascinated people at that time are still very much alive today: resistance to oppression, freedom of conscience, civil disobedience.
Historical presentations by Jack Thomas (Jean-Jaurès University, Toulouse), Philippe Chareyre (University of Pau), Claudine Pailhès (Ariège Departmental Archives), Marianne Carbonnier-Burkard (Musée du Désert).
Round table on political philosophy with Pierre-François Moreau (Ecole Normale Supérieure), Olivier Abel (Protestant Institute of Theology).
Programme of events to commemorate the siege of Mas d’Azil, June to September 2025 (French version)
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