France is probably the most genetically diverse country in Europe, yet ironically also the one about which the least is known by geneticists. Almost every country in Europe has had its fair share of Y-DNA tests to determine the frequency of haplogroups. But France remains the most mysterious, largely because of the reluctance of French people towards DNA tests.
So far French people tested came more from the cities, where a surprisingly high percentage of Near Eastern/Greco-Roman haplogroup has been found (E1b1b, J2 and G). It is likely that the remote countryside, where people are the most wary of DNA tests, will be much more higher in Gaulish R1b.
Graham Robb did a great job in his book The Discovery of France to explain the tribal nature of France through the ages. Not only was it usual for country people to marry exclusively with their "tribe" (very restricted local community), but some of these tribes had very particular attributes.
Colliberts
The Colliberts are a large tribe from the marshland of lower Vendée (Atlantic coast) who used to live in boats and stilt houses. They claimed to descend from an ancient tribe, the Agesinates Cambolectri, but were forced to move to the swamps when the Romans stole their land. Whether this is true or not, it appears that they have lived as a secluded community from the rest of France at least since medieval times.
Cagots
A large group of people from South-West France and North-East Spain, known as the Cagots (or Agotes), was persecuted and isolated at least since the 13th century. Cagots couldn't marry with other people and were not even allowed in most jobs, including the army (they were not trusted with weapons) or even just working the land. Most of them worked with wood or textile, in jobs like carpenters, lumberjacks, masons, rope makers, basket makers, coopers or weavers, but also coffin makers and gravediggers.
The discrimination, prejudices and even racism towards the Cagots made of them an outcast group not unlike the Untouchables in India or the Burakumin in Japan. They were forbidden to come close to other people, to walk barefoot in public, or touch some things with their bare hands.
Nobody knows exactly why they were discriminated against, but it has been suggested that they descend from lepers and that the fear and ostracism lasted until the early or mid 20th century.
What is interesting is that they were typically described as being tall and having blue eyes, fair hair. It has been suggested that they could be the descendants of the Visigoths, who settled in that region in the 5th century. But others accounts describe them as short, dark and olive-skinned and thought to descend from the Saracens.
DNA tests could easily prove or disprove these claims, as Goths or Saracens would have haplogroups not normally found in that part of France. In fact, Gascony and the Basque country are unusually homogeneous when it comes to Y-DNA (over 95% R1b), so it would be quite easy to confirm by testing a few descendants of Cagot families.
The contradictory descriptions could also mean that they descend from an admixture of Visigoths and Saracens, maybe after both groups were ostracised from the mainstream population. This is all the more likely that the locals were so homogeneous, so that any distant foreigner like a blond Goth or an olive-skinned Saracen would stand out like a black sheep in the herd.
Welche
The Welche are a community of Romance-language speakers from western Alsace, where Germanic languages are traditionally spoken. Like for the Welsh of Britain, the word means "foreigners" or "people who don't speak German".
Isolated in the Vosges mountains, this community has refrained from intermarrying with neighbouring German speakers until well into the 20th century (some until now).
It would be interesting to compare this "island" of Gallo-Roman genes to those of German-speaking Alsatians, justly because Alsatians have been found to belong mostly to Celtic (R1b-S28) and Greco-Roman (J2) haplogroups, rather than Germanic haplogroups. What can we expect the Welche to be if the German speakers are already quite typical Gallo-Romans in their Y-DNA ? Are they a different kind of R1b ? Do they completely lack Germanic haplogroups (I1, I2b, R1b-S21, R1a) ?
So far French people tested came more from the cities, where a surprisingly high percentage of Near Eastern/Greco-Roman haplogroup has been found (E1b1b, J2 and G). It is likely that the remote countryside, where people are the most wary of DNA tests, will be much more higher in Gaulish R1b.
Graham Robb did a great job in his book The Discovery of France to explain the tribal nature of France through the ages. Not only was it usual for country people to marry exclusively with their "tribe" (very restricted local community), but some of these tribes had very particular attributes.
Colliberts
The Colliberts are a large tribe from the marshland of lower Vendée (Atlantic coast) who used to live in boats and stilt houses. They claimed to descend from an ancient tribe, the Agesinates Cambolectri, but were forced to move to the swamps when the Romans stole their land. Whether this is true or not, it appears that they have lived as a secluded community from the rest of France at least since medieval times.
Cagots
A large group of people from South-West France and North-East Spain, known as the Cagots (or Agotes), was persecuted and isolated at least since the 13th century. Cagots couldn't marry with other people and were not even allowed in most jobs, including the army (they were not trusted with weapons) or even just working the land. Most of them worked with wood or textile, in jobs like carpenters, lumberjacks, masons, rope makers, basket makers, coopers or weavers, but also coffin makers and gravediggers.
The discrimination, prejudices and even racism towards the Cagots made of them an outcast group not unlike the Untouchables in India or the Burakumin in Japan. They were forbidden to come close to other people, to walk barefoot in public, or touch some things with their bare hands.
Nobody knows exactly why they were discriminated against, but it has been suggested that they descend from lepers and that the fear and ostracism lasted until the early or mid 20th century.
What is interesting is that they were typically described as being tall and having blue eyes, fair hair. It has been suggested that they could be the descendants of the Visigoths, who settled in that region in the 5th century. But others accounts describe them as short, dark and olive-skinned and thought to descend from the Saracens.
DNA tests could easily prove or disprove these claims, as Goths or Saracens would have haplogroups not normally found in that part of France. In fact, Gascony and the Basque country are unusually homogeneous when it comes to Y-DNA (over 95% R1b), so it would be quite easy to confirm by testing a few descendants of Cagot families.
The contradictory descriptions could also mean that they descend from an admixture of Visigoths and Saracens, maybe after both groups were ostracised from the mainstream population. This is all the more likely that the locals were so homogeneous, so that any distant foreigner like a blond Goth or an olive-skinned Saracen would stand out like a black sheep in the herd.
Welche
The Welche are a community of Romance-language speakers from western Alsace, where Germanic languages are traditionally spoken. Like for the Welsh of Britain, the word means "foreigners" or "people who don't speak German".
Isolated in the Vosges mountains, this community has refrained from intermarrying with neighbouring German speakers until well into the 20th century (some until now).
It would be interesting to compare this "island" of Gallo-Roman genes to those of German-speaking Alsatians, justly because Alsatians have been found to belong mostly to Celtic (R1b-S28) and Greco-Roman (J2) haplogroups, rather than Germanic haplogroups. What can we expect the Welche to be if the German speakers are already quite typical Gallo-Romans in their Y-DNA ? Are they a different kind of R1b ? Do they completely lack Germanic haplogroups (I1, I2b, R1b-S21, R1a) ?
Last edited:
