Toulouse - Hôtel de Bernuy

Toulouse, then known as Tolose, was an important Gallic city. It became part of the Roman Empire under the name of Tolosa. It was the capital of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. From the 4th century onward, Toulouse was the seat of the Archdiocese of Toulouse.

In 413, Toulouse became part of the Visigothic Kingdom. In 507, following the Visigoths' defeat by the Franks, the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse came to an end. In 721, the city was unsuccessfully besieged by Arabs for several months. Upto 843, Toulouse was the seat of the Kingdom of Aquitaine, after which the independent County of Toulouse was established, a center of Languedoc culture.

In 1208 Pope Innocent III called for a crusade against the Albigensians, during which the city was plundered. In 1228, after a grueling and destructive war of almost 20 years, Raymond VII of Toulouse gave up resistance and signed the Treaty of Paris.

During the Renaissance, Toulouse was one of the wealthiest cities in France. Woad a plant that at the time provided the only stable blue dye, thrived well in the near Lauragais region. The city's dominant market position gradually ended after 1550, when the Portuguese began importing the more affordable indigo from their colonies.

-
The Hôtel de Bernuy is a 16th-century Renaissance palace built for the woad merchant Jean de Bernuy. This townhouse is considered an example of the introduction of the Renaissance to Toulouse and a symbol of the city's wealth.

Today, the Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat, named after the creator of the "last theorem," is located here as in 1566, three former city councilors acquired the Hôtel de Bernuy. They ceded it to the city of Toulouse to establish a Jesuit college there. The Jesuits moved into the Hôtel de Bernuy and opened the collegein 1567. The Jesuits carried out expansion workand in 1605, the councilors had the college's main portal built, decor ted with their coats of arms, the royal coat of arms, and the monogram of Jesus.

The Jesuit college at that time had up to 1200 students. It had a boarding school and offered free tuition. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1762, transformed the institution into a Royal College. The college was affiliated with the university.