The gardian
The gardian (Provençal for ’keeper’) looks after a manade of bulls or horses belonging to a manadier. In the 19th century he was a modest farm worker living in a reed hut. On foot he used a short stick, the calos; on horseback, a pike ending in a trident, the ficheiroun.
The Brotherhood of Gardians
Founded in 1512 under Louis XII, it has Saint George as patron. Every 1 May it holds the Gardians’ Festival in Arles (formerly on 23 April, St George’s Day).
Folco de Baroncelli
Born in 1869 and died in 1943, this manadier and writer, a disciple of Frédéric Mistral and a leading member of the Félibrige, is regarded as the ’inventor’ of the modern Camargue. He drew inspiration notably from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
The Nacioun gardiano
In 1904 Baroncelli founded the Coumitat Vierginen; in 1909 it was replaced by the Nacioun gardiano, whose aim is to ’maintain and glorify the costume, customs and traditions of the Arles country, the Camargue and the bull-loving lands’. Its seat is in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Test yourself
When was the Brotherhood of Gardians founded?
- 1512 (answer)
- 1789
- 1909
Who is the gardians’ patron saint?
- Saint George (answer)
- Saint Giles
- Saint Louis
Who founded the Nacioun gardiano?
- Frédéric Mistral
- Folco de Baroncelli (answer)
- Ernest Solvay
What is the mounted gardian’s trident called?
- Calos
- Ficheiroun (answer)
- Sagne