The Village of Bédoin, the Vaucluse, Provence
An Historical Location in the Heart of the Rhone Valley, France
Oct 12, 2009
Whilst arrival in Bédoin may not be the jaw dropping experience of the hilltop villages in Provence, mainly because it is nestled in the Rhone Valley without the panoramic views of its neighbour the pretty village of Séguret, it is a very pleasant place to stop for lunch or afternoon refreshments.
Bédoin is a genial host and the point of departure for the many who wish to attempt the ascent of the 'géant of Provence,' Mount Ventoux and it featured in this years Tour de France (2009).
Located just 4km from Ventoux and 15km north east of Carpentras, Bédoin is crammed with history. The square, shaded by huge plane trees, is at the heart of this village, hosting the weekly Monday morning market and the other social events that take place throughout the year. At the side of the square is the Commemorative memorial which tells the story of Bédoins bloody past.
At the time of the French Revolution (1788-1800) Bédoin was a village with 2,700 inhabitants and up to 1794 it met with little trouble. However, in May 1794 the status quo changed very quickly, when during the nights of 1st and 2nd May the tree of liberty was uprooted and the decrees of the convention, that by law had to be attached to the front of the house of the commune, were pulled off and left in the mud.
The Village of Bédoin, in Provence and the French Revolution
Then, on 5th May, before daybreak, Bédoin was occupied by the 4th Battallion of the Archedecle, who gathered the village inhabitants into the parish church and held them prisoner. Despite the terrible pressures put upon the population no one admitted to having pulled up the tree of liberty. So, Maignet, who represented the French people of the department, saw an opportunity to make an example of the 'Comtat,' and decreed that, 'all the village is guilty!'
As was the consequence at that time, the revolutionary tribunal went to Bédoin with the guillotine, where on 23rd May two priests were guillotined and on the 28th May, sixty-eight people were condemned to death and immediately guillotined or shot. Finally, on 3rd and 4th June, the village was burned and wiped from the map; it's land and surviving inhabitants divided up between the neighbouring communities.
After the fall of Robespierre and the leaders of the Montagnards, in the summer of 1794, a petition was read before the convention in favour of the inhabitants of 'Bédoin the crushed.' With the result that on 4th May 1795 the village was re-inhabited and the memorial, which still stands today, was erected on the site of the guillotine to commemorate the executions and in memory of the destruction of Bédoin.
Just 200 metres from the memorial on the Route de Flassan is Le Chapelle de Beccaras. It is built on the site where the victims of the 28th May 1794 were buried. It was finished in 1866, thanks to donations made by the descendants of those who were massacred.
Bédoin is a Popular Cycling, Hiking and Skiing Centre
Today, the village of Bédoin remains greatly influenced by the culture de la vigne, the culture of the vine. It is a traditional working village and as such is open all year round. A popular campsite is situated nearby and as well as being a centre for cycling, Bédoin is popular with hikers, who enjoy the 6,300 hectares of forest that surround the village and cloak the slopes of Mount Ventoux, and skiers during the winter months.
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