Arnaud Henri Count de la Garrigues

From Wikipedia, 2/6/2016 Origin of the word: Garrigue First cited in the French language in 1546, the singular word garrigue is borrowed from the Provençal dialect of Occitan garriga, equivalent to old French jarrie. Etymologist Oscar Bloch states that it is most likely related to the Gascon carroc, meaning rock and to the Germanic Swiss Karren, a kind of sedimentary rock. These related words could stem from a supposed carra, or rock, which could be a remnant of a pre-Latin language, to judge from its geographic distribution even before Celtic times, and possibly akin to Basque *karr-, harri, 'rock'.[11] It is thought that Gallic and Latin incorporated these words and then transmitted them in various forms to the Romance languages.[12]

About the region Roussillon: From Wikipedia, 2/6/2016 James I of Aragon had wrested the Balearic Isles from the Moors and joined these islands with Roussillon to create the Kingdom of Majorca, with its capital at Perpignan. In 1276, James I granted this kingdom to his son, who became James II. The subsequent disputes of this monarch with his brother Peter III were exploited by Philip III of France in his quarrel with Peter III for the crown of the Two Sicilies. Philip III espoused James II's cause and led an army into Aragon but, retreating, died at Perpignan in 1285. Lacking the resources to continue the struggle, James then became reconciled to his brother Peter, and in 1311 the former was succeeded by his son Sanç I, or Sancho I, who founded the cathedral of Perpignan shortly before his death in 1324. His successor, James III of Majorca, refused to do homage to Philip VI of France for the seigneury of Montpellier, and applied to Peter IV of Aragon for aid. Peter not only refused, but declared war and seized Majorca and Roussillon in 1344.[citation needed]

The province was now reunited to the Crown of Aragon, and it enjoyed peace until 1462. In that year, the disputes between John II of Aragon and his son over the Crown of Navarre spurred Louis XI of France to support John against his subjects, who had risen in revolt. The province, having been pledged as collateral to Louis for 300,000 crowns, was occupied by French troops until 1493, when Charles VIII evacuated the region as part of a settlement with the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon, Isabel I and Ferdinand II.

During a subsequent war between France and Spain (1496–1498), the people suffered equally from the Spanish garrisons and the French invaders. But dislike of the Castilians was soon effaced in the pride of sharing in the glory of the Emperor Charles I of Spain, and in 1542, when Perpignan was besieged by the forces of Henry, Dauphin of France, the inhabitants supported their monarch, earning that city the royal sobriquet, "Most Faithful City."

When the Catalans rose against the Spanish Crown in 1641, Louis XIII of France entered the conflict on the side of the former. After a protracted war, the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) secured Roussillon and part of the Cerdanya (Cerdagne) to the French crown, creating the French province of Roussillon. The next fifty years saw a concerted effort by Louis XIV both to ensure the political allegiance of his new subjects and to alter their cultural identity. He was successful in the former but failed in the latter. Outside the capital of Perpignan, Roussillon remained distinctly Catalan in outlook and culture until the late nineteenth century, when industrialization began to replace Catalan identity with French.

During the French Revolution, the Ancien Régime province of Roussillon was abolished and a new department, the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales, was created instead. This department corresponds roughly to the old Roussillon, with the addition of the comarca of Fenouillèdes. Pyrénées-Orientales is the name by which this department is officially known in France. The old name of Roussillon did contribute to the French région of Languedoc-Roussillon.