Bram, Aude

Bram
Coat of arms
Bram
Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region Bram
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Aude
Arrondissement	Carcassonne
Canton	Fanjeaux
Intercommunality	Piège et Lauragais
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	André Viola
Area1	17.72 km2 (6.84 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	3,190
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	11049 / 11150
Elevation	119–165 m (390–541 ft) (avg. 134 m or 440 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Bram is a commune in the Aude department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Bram is part of the old province of Lauragais, and is 790 km from Paris.

History

The CD33 road to the village follows the Roman road, the Romans settling in the area because of a climate which balanced the warmth of the Mediterranean with the freshness of the Atlantic. In 60BCE, they began construction of Bram and called it Eburomagus. Roman remains suggest the town was less round than the current town. Eburomagus disappeared.

The modern town was born in the 12th century, built around its fortress church.The only way into the village was by a gate to the east.

Bram was a centre of Cathar belief, a heresy from Christianity. Their difference from Rome brought the intervention of Simon de Montfort who, following a Spanish monk who became St Dominic, besieged the town in 1210. He succeeded in three days and took revenge on resistants by cutting off the top lip of all his prisoners and gouging out the eyes of all but one. For the last he gouged out only one eye so that he could lead the others out of the town to the château of Lastours .

By the 17th century Bram had outgrown its walls and expanded in concentric circles.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	2,417	—
1968	2,733	+13.1%
1975	2,643	−3.3%
1982	2,650	+0.3%
1990	2,899	+9.4%
1999	2,969	+2.4%
2008	3,190	+7.4%

Personalities

• Albert Sarraut, two time Prime Minister of France
• Jean Cau, writer and Prix Goncourt winner
• The Spanghero family, famous rugby players

See also

• Communes of the Aude department
• List of medieval bridges in France

References

• INSEE