MEAUX
(See plan inserted between pp. [74]-[75])
ORIGIN AND MAIN HISTORICAL EVENTS
Meaux was the centre of a little Gallic nation: the Meldi—the inhabitants of Meaux are called Meldois—and afterwards the capital of Brie. It was joined to the royal domain in 1284.
Religious life was always very active in Meaux: six assemblies of prelates were held there from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, and two in the sixteenth century.
It was the Treaty of Meaux, in 1229, which put an end to the crusade against the Albigeois. At the time of the Reformation the religious wars in that region became extremely violent. In the seventeenth century the diocese became famous on account of its bishop, Bossuet, who was called the Eagle of Meaux.
The town was taken and set on fire several times in the course of its troubled history.
In 1358, the peasants in revolt, who were called the Jacques, were cut to pieces below the walls by the French and English nobles.