[gothic-l] Spanish Goths

[Denis Glenard]

Hi all,

I'm interested in finding out more in the "agotes" (spanish name) or "cagots" (french name) who lived in the basque country up until the 19th century.
Some scholars pretend they are the Wisigoths running away from the Moor invasion of Spain. Those who found refuge in the rest of the Northern mountain range were assimilated into the population, but it seems that the basque somehow ostracized them. They were originally forbidden from living in the villages, could only settle in the woods and could only work in wood related jobs. They were christian (aryans) but had a separate (small) door and benches in church. They were forbidden to marry with catholics and carried basque-sounding specific surnames (on the french side "Chrestiaa" is one).

This "apartheid" lasted into the 19th century when they were finally allowed to integrate the rest of the community.

Now, my question is, these people having stayed separate from the rest of the population for quite a long time, wouldn't specific "germanic" genetic markers be present in their descendants' genes ? Has this ever been studied ?

And last, what's their name in english ?

Best regards,

Denis GLENARD


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