Maguelone
| Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone | ||
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 Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone
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Location within Occitanie region
Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone
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| Coordinates: 43°31′59″N 3°51′42″E / 43.5331°N 3.8617°ECoordinates: 43°31′59″N 3°51′42″E / 43.5331°N 3.8617°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Occitanie | |
| Department | Hérault | |
| Arrondissement | Montpellier | |
| Canton | Pignan | |
| Intercommunality | Montpellier | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Noël Segura | |
| Area1 | 35.12 km2 (13.56 sq mi) | |
| Population (2010)2 | 9,141 | |
| • Density | 260/km2 (670/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 34337 /34750 | |
| Elevation | 0–130 m (0–427 ft) (avg. 8 m or 26 ft) |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone (Occitan: Vilanòva de Magalona) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.
The name Maguelone is a variation of Latin "margarita" (pearl), from Persian "margaritis" - in modern French the "marguerite" (daisy) took its name from the precious stone. The ending is probably a misattribution: "-ita" is a common Romance feminine diminutive suffix, equivalent in meaning to the Occitan "-ona".
Maguelone (or Maguelon) was one of the "seven cities" that may have been the origin of the name for the region called Septimania. Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, which passed under the control of the Visigothic kingdom in 462, when Septimania was ceded to Theodoric II, king of the Visigoths. The seven cities were today's Elne, Agde, Narbonne, Lodève, Béziers, Nîmes and Maguelone.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Vouille (507), Maguelone managed to remain out of Frankish sway, and was part of the Visigothic kingdom. At first the stronghold of a Visigothic noble, on high ground protected by coastal lagoons, Maguelone became the seat of a bishop. When the early history of Maguelone was compiled in 1583 by Abbé Gariel (Histoire des évêques de Maguelonne) he provided the see with an apostolic origin, as is de rigueur for any long-established bishopric of Late Antiquity throughout the three Gauls. The first historical bishop of Maguelonne assisted at the Council of Narbonne in 589; doubtless the Christian community was far older.
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