Département: Hérault
Montpellier, university city, diocesan city and capital of the region of Languedoc-Roussillon and of the département of Hérault, is situated some distance west of the Camargue on the River Lez, some 10km/6mi from the coast of the Golfe du Lion. With its three universities, national
élite schools (Grandes Ecoles), agricultural college (the "Agropolis" agrarian research center), libraries, conservatoire, etc. it is an economic and cultural center for the region.
The town came into being after the second destruction of the nearby settlement of Maguelone by Charles Martel (737). In the 13th C. it belonged to the Kings of Aragon, then until 1349 to the Kings of Mallorca as vassals of the French. As early as 1289 Montpellier had a university, where Francesco Petrarch studied from 1316 to 1319 and François Rabelais from 1530 to 1532 and from 1537 to 1538. At the end of the 16th C. the city was a headquarters of the Huguenots. In 1622 it was conquered by Louis XIII.
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