Thanks for directing me to the Wikipedia article on Septimania, which
gives a broader sweep of history for this region.

However, the article does not mention the Jewish rulers of the area at
all, as it existed in the Carolingian times, and  before Carolingian
times.  I have read extensively on this when I was trying to understand
the Franks, the Merovingians dynasty, and the Carolingian take-over of
the Merovingian dynasty.   We all were reading about the Merovingians
during the flash popularity of the Da Vinci Code, which was not a true
tale but did incorporate some elements of truth.  That the Merovingians
and the Carolingians who usurped their power and their women royal
descendents were part Jewish formed a basis for the idea that they were
descended somehow not only from Israel's King David but even from Jesus
and the Magdalen.  That they had a Jewish mystique is without doubt,
and that it became harbored in Septimania when it was driven out of
France is also apparently true.

The Wiki article somehow obscures this idea.

But yes, Septimania was a BIG area in the middle ages, not the tiny
place that Andorra is now.

I think this got started because it was mentioned that Sarkozy is a
"co-prince of Andorra".  Wiki makes clear what that means, not that he
is a hereditary prince there, but that the President of France, whoever
he is, along with an archbishop, are co-regents of the tiny country of
Andorra.   In a similar way, the even tinier principality of Monaco
exists on the sufferance of France.

Thanks, Paolo.

Mariel