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The history of glove-makers and perfumers
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Montpellier, an ideal location
With the richness of its garrigue, the Roman via Domitia and the road to Compostela, its port of Lattes on the sea routes to Barcelona, Montpellier has everything it takes to become a crossroads of knowledge and know-how. Many travelers, merchants, doctors and scholars passed through Montpellier on their way to the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, bringing with them the knowledge of the Arabo-Andalusian and Byzantine worlds.
Birth of the first perfumes
Montpellier physician Arnaud de Villeneuve, one of the most brilliant and inventive minds of the 13th century, used the alcoholic distillation practiced in the Arab world to create rosemary eaude- vie and alcoholate. He thus invented the very first modern perfume.
The time of the grocers-apothecaries-parfumers
Under the supervision of the School of Medicine, they developed therapeutic elixirs, and prospered thanks in particular to the renowned "Montpellier theriac", one of the most substantial of its time (with up to 83 ingredients). Its widely recognized curative virtues earned it the nickname of "fine theriac". The excellence of Montpellier's remedies earned the city its reputation, and led to the extension of this seal of quality to all products made here. are manufactured.
The Queen of Hungary's Water
The Queen of Hungary laments her ugliness and her poor health. A hermit gives her a bottle of the mysterious eau de Montpellier, a beauty elixir, an effective remedy, a drink and a perfume. She sprinkled it on herself, drank from it and, as if by magic, regained her youth and health. A dazzling success! Versailles adopted it. Louis XIV, Madame de Sévigné, and later Marie- Antoinette, were all "à la mode de Montpellier".
Montpellier, capital of parfum
True dynasties of apothecary-parfumers were born and prospered in Montpellier: Matte, Fargeon,
Catelan, Périer, Deloche... Sébastien Matte sold his eau de la reine de Hongrie all over France and
was appointed pharmacist by Louis XIV, who ennobled him and allowed him to extend his name to
Matte La Faveur.
The Fargeons became perfumers to Mademoiselle d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV, and later to
Queen Marie-Antoinette...
Six people from Montpellier were awarded the first master glove-maker and perfumer patents by the
Sun King.
The city is home to nearly a hundred perfumers, and is becoming a benchmark for parfume.
The great upheaval
From the 18th century onwards, competition appeared in the world of perfumery. Napoleon swore
by eau de Cologne, and all of Europe with him. The climate of the Côte d'Azur, more favorable to
flower cultivation, gave Grasse the edge...
The advent of modern chemistry shifts Montpellier's focus to pharmaceuticals. The Matte family
recycles in chocolate...
Today, the "Perfumes, Fragrances and Cosmetics" professional degree offered by the University of
Montpellier still bears witness to this glorious past.
2023...
2023…
The renew of Montpellier fragances !
