Mirande

At the end of the 11th century, the South-West was sparsely populated. Apart from the towns (Toulouse, Auch, Albi, etc.), the sauvetés and the castelnaux, where some of the population lived, rural settlements were very scattered. In the countryside, farmers suffered from the insecurity created by semi-nomadic peoples, uncontrolled groups living in thick forests.

Against this backdrop, the bastides contributed to the change. Contemporary creations of the Gothic cathedrals, they were part of an unprecedented urban planning movement that affected south-western France between 1222 and 1373.

The bastide town of Mirande, a seigneurial foundation, was established on the initiative of the Abbé de Berdoues and Count Bernard IV of Astarac, under the guarantee of Eustache de Beaumarchès, the King's seneschal.
A parage contract was signed as early as 1282, setting out the division, in equal shares, of the rights and benefits conferred by the foundation. Completed around 1288, the town had the regular layout of a fortified town, with its grid layout, central square with arcades and streets laid out in a chalk line, which can still be seen today. It was protected by a solid city wall with four gates. A magnificent château comtal stood outside the walls.