In 1279, a flood caused by the bursting of the Puivert Lake dam destroyed the city of Mirepoix in the Ariège department. By order of the local lords, the inhabitants rebuilt the town on the left bank of the river. In 1317, Pope John XXII erected Mirepox into a bishopric, but the Hundred Years War halted the city's economic expansion. Mirepoix later surrounded itself with ramparts pierced with fortified gates and wide ditches as protection against pillagers.