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Translation to be reviewed. This page is a translation of the French original, which remains the reference. Read the French version

Clairac

Clairac

Claude Martin’s town, in Lot-et-Garonne: his father’s family had come from there for generations. [A] Its motto: “Ville sans roy, soldats sans peur” (Town without king, soldiers without fear). [B]

  • History

    “Ville sans roy, soldats sans peur”: a town besieged by Louis XIII in 1621.

  • Protestantism

    The Protestant temple demolished in 1685 or 1686, the emigrant families and their descendants.

  • Museum

    The Maison de Japhet, from the painter Maurousel’s “museum” to Claude Martin’s.

  • From Clairac to the world

    The map of departures from Clairac, and one page per country of refuge: Germany, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Switzerland, America.

  • A walk through Clairac

    Six stops on foot, from the town’s motto to the Maison de Japhet, easy to read on a phone.

  • The Refuge in figures

    The exodus of Protestants after 1685: estimates for France, compared with the emigrants from Clairac.

Clairac

Did you know?

  • A legendary name

    According to a medieval legend, Charlemagne founded the abbey after a victory during which the day was lengthened: the “clear light” (clara luce) is said to have given Clairac its name. It is a legend. [W1]

  • Presidents who are canons

    In 1604, Henri IV granted the abbey’s revenues to the chapter of St John Lateran in Rome: hence the title of honorary canon of the Lateran still held by French heads of state. [W1]

  • Tobacco, as early as 1637

    A man from Clairac is said to have brought tobacco back from America around 1630, wrote the Chevalier de Vivens in 1756. More certain: Claude Martin found a lease “to plant toubac” dated 8 December 1637 in the notaries’ deeds. [W3] [W6]

  • The “brontometer”

    In 1750, François de Labat, Chevalier de Vivens, from Clairac, suggested this name for the device of his friend Jacques de Romas that measures the electricity of thunderstorms. [W4]

  • Prunes, according to tradition

    The abbey’s monks are said to have been the first to grow the Ente plum, the one used for prunes. The Société des amis de Clairac counts this story among the town’s fine legends. [W10] [W9] [W6]

  • Japheth, son of Noah?

    A plaque claimed that Japheth, son of Noah, had lived and died in the house that bears his name. The name in fact came from the painter Henri Maurousel, its owner in the 20th century. [W7]

A small town of 2,606 inhabitants in 2023, on the river Lot. [W1]

To be completed

Clairac in pictures

Research in progress — contribute. The project does not yet have any photograph of Clairac. Do you have a view of the town, of the Maison de Japhet or of a gathering of descendants, and the right to share it?

Send a photograph

Photograph of Clairac to be supplied

Further reading

The Société des amis de Clairac promotes the history and heritage of the town; its newsletter of May 2018 is one of the sources of these pages. [B]

See also the gatherings of descendants in Clairac (1978, 2017) and the sources and bibliography page.

To find out more, online: the presentation of the study day “Clairac et la Réforme” (2018) [W11], the Musée protestant’s article on the Huguenot Refuge [W12] and the bibliography compiled by the Société des amis de Clairac. [W15]

Sources

  • [A] Exhibition panel “Claude Martin” (PDF, original document in French)
  • [B] Société des amis de Clairac, Newsletter no. 1, May 2018 (PDF, original document in French)
  • [W1] French Wikipedia, « Clairac (Lot-et-Garonne) », accessed 5 October 2026: fr.wikipedia.org
  • [W3] French Wikipedia, « Tabac en France », accessed 5 October 2026: fr.wikipedia.org
  • [W4] Wikipedia (in English), « Jacques de Romas », accessed 5 October 2026: en.wikipedia.org
  • [W6] Clair Morizet, « De Clairac au Clérac, pour une histoire du tabac à Clairac », La Mémoire du fleuve, no. 61, 2017, posted online by the Société des amis de Clairac (PDF), accessed 5 October 2026: amisdeclairac.com
  • [W7] Société des amis de Clairac, « Vagabondage artistique » : « Maison de Japhet » (painting by Fernand Castex), accessed 5 October 2026: amisdeclairac.com
  • [W9] PAJ Mag, « Cet été, racontez-nous la France #2 : le village de Clairac », 10 July 2020 (accessed 5 October 2026 by Claude Cowork; not reachable from the site’s server): www.paj-mag.fr
  • [W10] Val de Garonne Tourisme, « Balade à Clairac » (accessed 5 October 2026 by Claude Cowork; not reachable from the site’s server): www.valdegaronne-tourisme.com
  • [W11] Calenda (OpenEdition), « Clairac et la Réforme », study day of 2 June 2018, accessed 5 October 2026: calenda.org
  • [W12] Musée protestant (in English), « The Huguenot Refuge », accessed 5 October 2026: museeprotestant.org
  • [W15] Société des amis de Clairac, “Bibliographie” (bibliography), accessed 5 October 2026: amisdeclairac.com