Comtat-Venaissin

Comtat-Venaissin

 

a former province in France, now part of the Vaucluse Department.

In the Middle Ages, the Duchy of Comtat-Venaissin was part of the Frankish state, later becoming part of the Kingdom of Aries. In the 12th century it passed to the counts of Toulouse. In 1271, Comtat-Venaissin was annexed by the French king, but in 1274, Philip III was compelled to cede it to Pope Gregory X. While under papal rule, Comtat-Venaissin was administered by a regent residing in Carpentras. The population was oppressed by heavy taxes. The attempts of French kings to annex Comtat-Venaissin in 1663, 1688, and 1768 were unsuccessful, and the area (along with Avignon) became part of France only in 1791, during the Great French Revolution, by a decree of the Legislative Assembly. The annexation was recognized by the papacy in 1797 by the Treaty of Tolentino and confirmed by the Peace of Lunéville in 1801.