Verfeil, Haute-Garonne
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name = Verfeil
|commune status = Commune
|image = Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) aerial east exposure.jpg
|caption = An aerial view of Verfeil
|image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Verfeil (Haute-Garonne).svg
|arrondissement = Toulouse
|canton = Pechbonnieu
|INSEE = 31573
|postal code = 31590
|term = 2020–2026
|intercommunality = Coteaux du Girou
|coordinates = {{coord|43.6583|1.6617|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m = 225
|elevation min m = 146
|elevation max m = 273
|area km2 = 41.23
|population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}
Verfeil ({{IPA|fr|vɛʁfɛj}}; {{langx|oc|Vrudfuèlh}}) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.
History
It was an important centre of Catharism from about 1140 to the mid 13th century. Bernard of Clairvaux preached against heresy at Verfeil in 1145. Sent away without a proper hearing by the seigneurs, he is said to have cursed the town with the words Viridefolium, desiccet te Deus! ("Verfeil, may God dry you up!") Izarn Neblat, one of those seigneurs, was said by Guillaume de Puylaurens to have lived in his old age in poverty at Toulouse as a result of this curse; the town's recovery was dated by the faithful to the period of the Albigensian Crusade, when Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester gave it to bishop Foulques de Toulouse.{{Citation |editor-last=Duvernoy |editor-first=Jean |editor-link=Jean Duvernoy |title=Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronique 1145-1275: Chronica magistri Guillelmi de Podio Laurentii |trans-title=The Chronicle of Master William of the Podium of Lawrence |publisher=CNRS |location=Paris |year=1976 |isbn=2-910352-06-4 |pages=32–35}}
An important Catholic-Cathar debate was held at Verfeil in 1206. The Catholic side was led by Diego de Acebo, bishop of Osma, supported by the future Saint Dominic; among the Cathars were Pons Jourda and Arnaud Arrufat.{{sfn|Duvernoy|1976|pages=52-55}}
In the following 800 years, the history of this rural village was notable in the French Revolution of 1789 and in the Second World War, in 1940-1945.
Population
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages = pagr
|source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|39575|Verfeil}} and INSEE (1968-2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-31573#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
|1793 |2040
|1800 |2258
|1806 |2490
|1821 |2399
|1831 |2538
|1836 |2460
|1841 |2420
|1846 |2339
|1851 |2347
|1856 |2367
|1861 |2372
|1866 |2350
|1872 |2342
|1876 |2171
|1881 |2070
|1886 |2043
|1891 |1908
|1896 |1894
|1901 |1827
|1906 |1684
|1911 |1663
|1921 |1418
|1926 |1476
|1931 |1395
|1936 |1402
|1946 |1477
|1954 |1529
|1962 |1536
|1968 |1540
|1975 |1734
|1982 |2000
|1990 |2265
|1999 |2504
|2007 |2969
|2012 |3312
|2017 |3595
|2019|3658
}}
Monuments
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - La mairie.jpg|The town hall
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - Le château.jpg|The castle
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - La porte Vaureze.jpg|The Vaureze's Gate
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - L’église Saint-Blaise.jpg|The church "Saint Blaise"
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - église Saint-Sernin-des-Rais- vue aérienne.jpg|The church "Saint-Sernin-of-Rais"
Verfeil (Haute-Garonne) - Monument aux morts.jpg|War Memorial
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Verfeil (Haute-Garonne)}}
{{Haute-Garonne communes}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Communes of Haute-Garonne
{{Toulouse-geo-stub}}