As early as the 11th century, or perhaps even earlier, a veritable road police force secured the passage at La Garde-Guérin. The inhabitants maintained a powerful garrison there and were responsible for guiding and protecting travelers and their goods on the Régordane Way (the current GR®700), which they regularly maintained. In exchange for these services, they collected tolls. Each of them possessed his own dwelling or fortified house, dominated by the imposing silhouette of the square tower, still visible today.
Organized into a solid economic and military community, they lived under a co-lordship regime. As historian Georges Duby points out regarding the southern regions: "power relations are based, in the Roman manner, on the contract, the Convenentia in Latin, on pacts concluded between free men in compliance with the law." It is therefore highly probable that such a co-lordship system, the subtleties of which still partly escape us today, was established at La Garde-Guérin.
Every traveler has a right to the road
Under the impetus of the lords of Tournel, the organization of this community was perhaps unique in France. It was founded in the spirit of the Schools of Chivalry, which flourished from the 12th century onwards. The royalty mentions the existence of about ten such schools on its territory, and the one at La Garde-Guérin was expressly modeled on this. The lords of Tournel wanted to abolish local feudalism and substitute it with "parier" knights (from the Latin par, meaning "equal"): men who were strictly equal in rights and duties. They thus shared the lordship of the castle and the castlery, securing significant revenues in exchange for clearly defined duties. Each parier held a "parérie", an inalienable share of the fortress and its territory.
In an era when writing remained rare, the first mention of the inhabitants of La Garde-Guérin appears in a curious manuscript entitled the Book of Saint-Privat. Written in Latin, it was penned by Bishop Aldebert III of Tournel, nicknamed the Venerable. Elected between 1150 and 1158, this bishop died in 1187, taken prisoner by one of his brothers (an illegitimate son) and locked in the castle of Chapieu, a fortress he had himself built to defend Mende. This text was translated and annotated by Abbot Roux, the parish priest of Vialas.
"There is in the diocese of Mende, near the public road called Régordane, a castle called La Garde, which was always not a castle but a cave. Brigands indeed lived there and undertook frequent expeditions day and night; they robbed travelers of their belongings, injured them, left them half-dead and, very often, killed them. Every day, rapine, theft, homicides, and other crimes were committed there." Although neighboring bishops, and particularly the Bishop of Mende whose responsibility it was, had attacked this sinister lair, they could not completely eradicate these deep-rooted customs. True to the adage that "every traveler has a right to the road everywhere," Bishop Aldebert struck the final blow against this scourge.
The castle was threatened by both ecclesiastical censure and force of arms. Struck with terror, the inhabitants came on the appointed day for "satisfaction": they flocked to Mende to throw themselves at the bishop's feet. Knights and sons of knights, as well as serfs of all ages, submitted. Before the assembled people, they renounced their plunder and their extortions. All then swore on the Holy Gospels to no longer demand anything from travelers using this road, to do them no violence, and to cause them no harm. Having accepted penance for their past sins, they were finally able to withdraw.
Aldebert III devoted the majority of his episcopate to fighting local lords in order to consolidate the temporal power of the bishops of Mende, which was then faltering. Surrounded by the fortresses of the Count of Barcelona to the southwest, the lord of Canilhac and the lord of Cabrières to the west, and the lord of Dolan to the south, the episcopal power was constantly threatened. The bishop eventually claimed the coveted suzerainty over the region's silver mines. He forced the lords of Plagniol to return a village to him, compelled Garin de Châteauneuf to return usurped land to the hospital of Mende, and brought Ricard de Peyre back onto the right path.
The protection of the King of France
Exhausted by these incessant struggles, Aldebert went to the court of the French king Louis VII in 1166. For the first time, he paid him homage for his bishopric in exchange for royal protection. This historic agreement has remained famous under the name of the "Golden Bull". Naturally, all the feudal lords of the region rebelled against this pact: by elevating the king to the rank of supreme lord of Gévaudan, they saw themselves subjected to a guardianship much heavier than that of the local bishops. This opposition sparked unrest that lasted until around 1170.
In light of this tumultuous context, should Aldebert's account be taken literally? Was the bishop not primarily seeking to justify his authority? Were the brigands of La Garde truly as formidable as the text claims?
As is often the case in such situations, nuance is required. While they were certainly neither saints nor common bandits, these "knights" remained powerful warlords occupying a premier stronghold ideally located on the Régordane Way. Following his victory, Aldebert III confiscated several paréries and imposed a new status on these lords, the details of which escape us due to a lack of documents. It must be remembered that at this time, authority was primarily exercised through the spoken word and ritual. It was only later, in 1238, in the Additions to the Statutes of Bishop Étienne written in Latin by Raymond Atger, the bishop's official, that this clarification is found: "As Étienne, Bishop of Mende and principal lord of the castle of La Garde, came to these places for his affairs, the knights and pariers presented themselves before him. Due to frequent disputes arising between them regarding the customs of the place, they asked him to put into writing the rules he deemed should be observed in the future in contentious cases."
Historically, the pariers' income came primarily from their toll, guiding, and rear-guiding rights collected on the Régordane Way, as well as the cartalage (grain measuring) right on the common domain. The toll, demanded from passersby, their animals, and their goods, was initially intended for the maintenance of the road. The guiding and rear-guiding fees remunerated the protection offered to merchants and their convoys. As for the cartalage, it was paid by tenant farmers for the use of official measures. Each parier held a parérie (a share of the castle and its lands): profits were shared proportionally to the number of shares held and according to the time actually spent monitoring the road. With the increase in the number of members within the community, these revenues became insufficient to cover the heavy maintenance and policing costs. Quarrels broke out, inheritances became more complex, some families left the premises in favor of newcomers, and the co-lordship was threatened with fragmentation. Faced with this risk, the bishops had to promulgate strict regulations to halt the dismemberment of the fief and clarify everyone's rights.
Parier from the age of 16
Enacted in 1260, the statutes of Bishop Odilon de Mercœur formalized what was undoubtedly one of the most original road institutions of the Middle Ages. To prevent excessive fragmentation, the number of paréries was strictly limited. Each share became indivisible and had to revert to a single heir. In principle, the parier had to be physically capable of bearing arms and ensuring the policing of the road. If a father was no longer able to serve, he stepped down in favor of one of his sons, preferably the eldest. The latter – and only he among his brothers – then ceased to be a squire (damoiseau) to receive the dubbing and become a knight. A young nobleman could thus become a parier knight at the age of 16 (the age of majority for this duty), instead of the usual 20 for squires. From then on, he assumed the fullness of his duties and received all his income. A daughter could only inherit a parérie if her husband was fit to replace her in arms. The alienation of a parérie was done by deed of sale, conditioned on the investiture of the bishop who reserved the right to "withhold" the share. The parier knights – numbering 31 in 1258 – elected four of their peers to agree with the bishop on their behalf to maintain peace and amend the statutes. These four delegates represented the four founding families of the stronghold: the Gaucelmes, the Erailhs, the Bertrands, and the Gaules (or Gals). For the barons as well as the bishops, the challenge was to control this cumbersome military force in peacetime, thus initiating centuries of confrontations, sometimes hushed, sometimes violent.
The bishop also decided on the annual election of two consuls. Guarantors of loyalty and legality, they defended the rights of the castlery, collected rents and revenues, and exercised jurisdiction. These "Noble Consuls" had to swear allegiance into the hands of the bishop or his delegate. When the famous Guillaume Durand acceded to the bishopric of Mende, his many vassals paid him homage. Jourdan de La Garde, acting as consul, renewed this solemn act on behalf of the community of noble pariers.
A precise ceremonial
On December 2, 1292, at the request of the episcopal bailiff Guillaume de Montesquieu, the pariers handed the castle over to him. Custom indeed required that the fortress be returned upon the election of a new bishop, in times of war, or whenever necessity required it. The prelate's delegate, after receiving the keys, closed and reopened the gates to take possession. He then had the banner of Saint-Privat hoisted to the top of the tower, while a herald proclaimed several times: "Saint-Privat for Monseigneur the Bishop of Mende! Saint-Privat for Monseigneur the Bishop of Mende! Saint-Privat! God wills it! Deus o vol!". The ritual accomplished, the bishop's representative returned the keys to the consuls and withdrew.
In the statutes written in Latin by Raymond Barrot (vicar general of Guillaume Durand) on February 7, 1299, the expression consules castri de Garda Gary (the consuls of the castle of La Garde Gary) appears. This is the oldest known mention of La Garde Gary, a name that would become Garin, and then Guérin. In the early 14th century, during the census of the fiefs of Gévaudan by royal commissioners, the pariers hastened to formally declare the properties they held from the Church of Mende.
In 1307, the signing of a paréage treaty between King Philip the Fair and the Bishop of Mende brought royal authority into Gévaudan. By this act, the count-bishop forcefully reaffirmed his suzerainty over La Garde-Guérin. The statutes of 1310 introduced profound modifications. A court of justice common to the king and the bishop was created, and the fear inspired by its judgments finally brought order to the region. From then on, the community of pariers ceased to be an indispensable organ for public tranquility. It gradually lost the military and policing character of its origins, no longer exercised its security service, and was deprived of the toll rights attached to it.
It is therefore understandable that the 1310 statutes eliminated all the old provisions framing this road service. Stripped of its founding privileges, the community ceased to be what it had been. The bishops of Mende secured an increasing preponderance there: by monopolizing a large number of paréries, they gradually managed to evict the barons of Tournel (who had been the only direct suzerains of the first pariers) to establish their absolute domination over the community. Association G.A.R.D.E, La Garde-Guérin, 48800 Villefort
Let me tell you the story of the Parier Knights of La Garde-Guérin, in Lozère.
As early as the 11th century, a veritable road police force was organized within this Occitan village. Its inhabitants had the heavy responsibility of guiding and protecting travelers and their goods on the GR®700 Régordane Way, a major ancient communication route. In exchange for these services, they collected tolls. Each inhabitant owned his own fortified house, and the imposing silhouette of the square tower still bears witness to this era today.
But what makes these Knights so fascinating is their exceptional organization. Under the impetus of the Lords of Tournel, they forged an economic and military community directly inspired by the Schools of Chivalry flourishing in the 12th century. Breaking with traditional feudalism, the Parier Knights were strictly equal in rights and duties. They equally shared the lordship, its revenues, and its burdens. Each held an inalienable share of the castle and its territory.
Their history emerges in the Book of Saint-Privat, a Latin manuscript written by Bishop Aldebert III of Tournel. The text initially depicts La Garde-Guérin as a sinister den of brigands robbing travelers, committing thefts and homicides. It is precisely to eradicate these bad customs that the Lords of Tournel founded this community of Parier Knights.
Thus, these Knights left their mark on history by securing the Régordane route. The majestic keep, a stone witness to their commitment from its 27 meters high, still stands proudly.
If you stroll through this picturesque region of Lozère, do not hesitate to imagine these valiant Parier Knights watching over travelers, guiding their steps, and defending the safety of all.