Saint-Germier, Gers

Saint-Germier is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France.

Population

See also

References

Saint-Germier

Saint-Germier is the name of several communes in France:

Germerius

Saint Germerius (French: Saint Germier) (ca. 480- ca. 560 AD) was bishop of Toulouse from 510 to 560 AD. There is some question as to whether he actually existed. He is the patron saint of the abbey of Lézat.

He was a native of Angoulême, or possibly of Jerusalem.

After coming to Gaul from Jerusalem, he was ordained a deacon. He then received an instruction from an angel telling him to go to Paris where he would be made a bishop at the age of thirty. He did so, and was made the bishop of Toulouse there.

According to one version of his story, on his way to Toulouse, he was summoned by the king Clovis I to the royal palace. There, Germerius gave the Eucharist to the king and his sons and heard their confessions. Later, Clovis asked for the bishop's prayers and offered in exchange whatever Germerius asked. Germerius told him that he wanted an estate in the Toulouse area, specifically, as much area as the shadow of his cloak could cover in Ducorum.

Clovis agreed to give Germerius an area of six miles around Ducorum, and issued a written charter of liberty to substantiate as much. Clovis then requested the bishop to remain a further twenty days, and he agreed to do so.

Gers

The Gers (French: le Gers, pronounced: [ʒɛʁs] or [ʒɛʁ]; Gascon: Gers) is a department in the Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France named after the Gers River.

Inhabitants are called les Gersois.

History

In the Middle Ages, the Lordship of L'Isle-Jourdain was nearby.

The Gers is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.

In 1808 it lost Lavit on its north-eastern side to the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.

Culture

The culture is largely agricultural, with great emphasis on the local gastronomical specialties such as:

Also, some prominent cultivated crops are corn, colza, sunflowers and grain.

The Gascon language is a dialect of Occitan, but it is not widely spoken. The department is characterised by sleepy bastide villages and rolling hills with the Pyrenees visible to the south.

Gers (disambiguation)

Gers may refer to:

See also

Gers (Schwalm)

Gers (Schwalm) is a river of Hesse, Germany.

See also

Coordinates: 50°57′N 9°13′E / 50.950°N 9.217°E / 50.950; 9.217