From the thirteenth to the end of the nineteenth century, there are facts
enough to prove the universal abhorrence in which this unfortunate race
was held; whether called Cagots, or Gahets in Pyrenean districts,
Caqueaux in Brittany, or Yaqueros Asturias. The great French revolution
brought some good out of its fermentation of the people: the more
intelligent among them tried to overcome the prejudice against the
Cagots.
In seventeen hundred and eighteen, there was a famous cause tried at
Biarritz relating to Cagot rights and privileges. There was a wealthy
miller, Etienne Arnauld by name, of the race of Gotz, Quagotz, Bisigotz,
Astragotz, or Gahetz, as his people are described in the legal document.
He married an heiress, a Gotte (or Cagot) of Biarritz; and the
newly-married well-to-do couple saw no reason why they should stand near
the door in the church, nor why he should not hold some civil office in
the commune, of which he was the principal inhabitant. Accordingly, he
petitioned the law that he and his wife might be allowed to sit in the
gallery of the church, and that he might be relieved from his civil
disabilities. This wealthy white miller, Etienne Arnauld, pursued his
rights with some vigour against the Baillie of Labourd, the dignitary of
the neighbourhood.
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