Lot-et-Garonne is home to more bastides than any other area of France, some 40 in all.
These ultra-modern medieval new towns killed three birds with one stone. Usually built on fertile land or at some important cross-roads, the towns were deliberately organised not around the castle or the church as before, but around the market-place and town hall.
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Symetrical timbers in a chequer board town
( :J.M.-CDT47) |
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One of the most important rights guaranteed in the bastide charters was the right to a fair or market. There were other privileges too.
The inhabitants could marry their children to whom they pleased and buy their own houses. There was no military service...and the fishing was free! In return for these rights, the townsfolk had to undertake a series of commitments, which included the upkeep of the town and its defence in time of war.
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