Villefranche

Villefranche-de-Rouergue is a bastide on the Aveyron, laid out around a market square and its arcades. As an administrative and commercial centre, it drew the people of the surrounding countryside to its streets. In 1643 resentment over taxation helped provoke the revolt of the Croquants. Rebels entered Villefranche in June, but the rising was suppressed; its leaders were captured and punished, while a royal pardon followed in 1644.