The County of Bigorre was a small

feudatory A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of the

Duchy of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the m ...

in the ninth through 15th centuries. Its capital was

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

. The county was constituted out of the dowry of Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband

Donatus Lupus I The name Donatus can refer to the following people: People * One of several saints named Donatus * Aelius Donatus, a Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric * Donatus Magnus, a 4th-century bishop of Carthage and leader of the Donatist sect of C ...

, the son of Lupus III of Gascony. The original Bigorre was considerable in size, but successive generations, following on Gascon traditions, gave out portions as

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

s to younger sons. The county lost

Lavedan The Lavedan (; in Gascon eth/lo Lavedan, /et/lu laβedã/), or occasionally vallées des Gaves, denotes a mountainous natural region of France, located at the heart of the Pyrénées, and forms a group of valleys upstream of Lourdes. The Lavedan ...

, Aster, Aure, and

Montaner Montaner (; oc, Montanèr) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...

in the first two generations. The original dynasty died out in Bigorre in the 11th century, the county passing to the

House of Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwe ...

and then that of

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

. In the 12th century, it went to the house of

Marsan Marsan (; oc, Marçan, link=no, ) is a commune in the Gers department, southwestern France. Geography Population There exists a Swedish vanilla sauce product called , the name inspired by a visit by the owner to Marsan, Gers in the 1920s. ...

and then of

Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan/ Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the department of Haute-Garonne. This natural region is norma ...

and in the thirteenth to that of Montfort. It was briefly in the hands of the

Armagnacs The Armagnac faction was prominent in French politics and warfare during the Hundred Years' War. It was allied with the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans against John the Fearless after Charles' father Louis of Orléans was killed on a ...

and passed between English and French suzerainty during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

before finally being recovered by the French. In the 15th century, it fell to the House of Foix again and thence to the crown in an exchange of properties.

List of counts of Bigorre

{, class="wikitable" , - bgcolor=#cccccc ! Ruler!!Dates!!Gascon line!!Notes , -bgcolor=#fff ,

, , 840-?, , Bigorre line, , , -bgcolor=#fff , Lupus I , , ?-910, , Bigorre line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Donatus Lupus II , , 910-930, , Bigorre line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Raymond I Donatus , , 930-?, , Bigorre line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Arnold , , ?-980, , Bigorre line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff ,

García Lupus García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pam ...

, , 980-1030, , Bigorre line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Gersenda , , 1030-1038, , Bigorre line , rowspan="2", Daughter of the predecessor, married Bernard Roger of Foix. , -bgcolor=#fff , Bernard I Roger , , 1030-1034, ,

Foix Foix (; oc, Fois ; ca, Foix ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the Préfecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwe ...

line , -bgcolor=#fff , Bernard II , , 1038-1077, ,

line, , Son of the predecessors. , -bgcolor=#fff , Raymond II , , 1077-1080, ,

line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Beatrice I , , 1080-1095, ,

line , rowspan="2", Sister of the predecessor, married Centule of Béarn. , -bgcolor=#fff , Centule I the Young , , 1080-1090, ,

line , -bgcolor=#fff , Bernard III , , 1095-1113, ,

line, , Son of the predecessors. , -bgcolor=#fff , Centule II , , 1113-1130, ,

line, , Son of the predecessor. , -bgcolor=#fff , Beatrice II , rowspan="2", 1130-1156, ,

line , rowspan="2", Daughter of the predecessor, married Peter of Marsan. , -bgcolor=#fff ,

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

, ,

line , -bgcolor=#fff , Centule III , , 1156-1178, ,

line, , Son of the predecessors. , -bgcolor=#fff , Stephanie-Beatrice III , , 1178-1194, ,

line , rowspan="2", Daughter of the predecessor, married Bernard of Comminges. They were separated in 1192 , -bgcolor=#fff ,

Bernard IV of Comminges Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, , 1180-1192, ,

line , -bgcolor=#fff ,

Petronilla Petronilla is a Late Latin feminine given name. The name is a diminutive form of Petronia, itself the feminine form of Petronius, a Roman family name. Saint Petronilla is an early Roman saint, later interpreted as the daughter of Saint Peter. Sh ...

, , 1194-1251, ,

line , , Daughter of the predecessors, in her long countship she married various nobles: * 1196-1214

Gaston VI, Viscount of Béarn Gaston VI (1173–1214), called the Good, was the Viscount of Béarn, Gabardan, and Brulhois from 1173. He was also Count of Bigorre and Viscount of Marsan through his marriage in 1196 to Petronilla, Countess of Bigorre, Petronilla, the daughter of ...

* 1215-1216 Nuño Sánchez of Aragon * 1216-1220 Guy de Montfort * 1221-1224

Aimeric of Racon Aimeric or Aymeric or Aimery (from ''Haimirich'' or '' Amalric'') is a male given name: * Aimeric de Belenoi (fl. 1215–1242), troubadour * Prince Aymeric of Belgium (born 2005) * Aymeric Jaubert de Barrault (died 1613), mayor of Bordeaux. * A ...

* 1224-1247 Boso of Matha (Mastas) , -bgcolor=#fff , -

House of Montfort

*1251 – 1256 Alice with her second husband **1251-1256 Raoul of Courtenay

House of Chabanais

*1256 – 1283 Esquivat *1283 – 1302 Laura After this point the succession became disputed and whether the county owes allegiance to England or France was also fought over. In 1360, the

Treaty of Brétigny The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty, drafted on 8 May 1360 and ratified on 24 October 1360, between Kings Edward III of England and John II of France. In retrospect, it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' ...

made it decisively French. In 1407, it belonged to

Bernard VII of Armagnac Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (1360 – 12 June 1418) was Count of Armagnac and Constable of France. He was the son of John II, Count of Armagnac, and Jeanne de Périgord. He succeeded in Armagnac at the death of his brother, John III, in 1 ...

, who sold it that year to

John I, Count of Foix John I, Count of Foix also known as Jean de Foix-Grailly (1382 – 4 May 1436) was Count of Foix from 1428 until his death in 1436. He succeeded his mother Isabella, Countess of Foix. His father was Archambaud de Grailly. Life Early life As ...

. From then on it is a subsidiary title of the

counts of Foix The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their court ...

Bigorre Bigorre ({{IPA-fr, biɡɔʁ; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of t ...