Gaston VI, Viscount of Béarn
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Gaston VI (1173–1214), called the Good, was the
Viscount of Béarn A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
, Gabardan, and Brulhois from 1173. He was also
Count of Bigorre The County of Bigorre was a small feudatory of the Duchy of Gascony in the ninth through 15th centuries. Its capital was Tarbes. The county was constituted out of the dowry of Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband Donatus Lupus I ...
and Viscount of Marsan through his marriage in 1196 to
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 ...
, the daughter of Countess Stephanie-Beatrice of Bigorre. Gaston was the son of ruling Viscountess
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
and William I of Béarn. He was the elder of twins, his younger brother being the later viscount William Raymond. After their birth, in light of the conflict in Béarn over the succession, Mary fled with them to the monastery of Santa Cruz de Volvestre. A Bearnese delegation reached the monastery in 1173 seeking one of the boys to be their viscount. Mary gave them Gaston, who was taken back to Béarn to rule. During his minority, a council of regents from
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
governed on his behalf. The council was led by Pelegrino de Castellarzuelo, lord of
Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers Cinc ...
. The period of the regency, however, is poorly documented. In 1184 he was given prisoners by his liege
Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...
but later complained because he could not collect the ransom money and he had to pay the prisoners expenses. In 1187, when fourteen years old, Gaston was declared of age and paid homage to
Alfonso II of Aragon Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995)«Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida» p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII (252) pp. 619–632."Alfonso II el Casto, hi ...
at
Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...
. Like most of the baronage of southern France, Gaston did not participate in the
Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
, because of the grand conflict between the crown of Aragon on the one hand and the
county of Toulouse The County of Toulouse ( oc, Comtat de Tolosa) was a territory in southern France consisting of the city of Toulouse and its environs, ruled by the Count of Toulouse from the late 9th century until the late 13th century. The territory is the ...
on the other. Gaston was firmly in the Aragonese camp. In 1194, a territorial dispute with the viscounty of Dax was resolved with the exchange of Mixe and
Ostabarret Ostabarret ( eu, Oztibarre, es, Ostabares) is a central region of the traditional province of Basse-Navarre in the far south of France. It corresponds to the valley of the upper reaches of the river Bidouze. It is hilly, open country, characterize ...
,
Ostabat Ostabat-Asme (; ), Hostavalem in the Middle Ages, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in south-western France. It was the meeting point of 4 European ways to Santiago de Compostela, 3 of them joining together there, namely Pa ...
, in return for the city of
Orthez Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sma ...
from Dax. In 1196, peace was also made with
Soule Soule (Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...
. In that same year, he married Petronilla of Bigorre and thus made peace with all his neighbours. In 1208,
Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
ordered the
Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...
against the
Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Fol ...
in southern France. Innocent ordered Gaston not to intervene against the crusaders, but Gaston took part in the relief of Toulouse from the besieging army of
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester {{Infobox noble , name = Simon de Montfort , title = 5th Earl of Leicester , image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif , caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...
in 1211. He also took part in the disastrous attack on
Castelnaudary Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital ...
. However, neither of these acts were religiously based, as neither Béarn nor Bigorre had many Cathars, but grounded rather in his loyalty to
Peter II of Aragon Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213. Background Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. In 1205 he acknowled ...
, who was forced to come to the protection of his other vassals attacked by the crusaders. Gaston was attacked by the crusade nevertheless. Gaston lost Brulhois and was excommunicated by the Council of Vabres and his territories declared forfeit by the pope. On 15 January 1213, Gaston did homage to Peter II of Aragon along with Bernard IV of Comminges, (circa 1150 – Count 1175 – 22 February 1225),
Raimond-Roger of Foix Raimond Roger (french: Raymond-Roger; Occitan: ''Ramon Roger'') (died 27 March 1223) was the sixth count of Foix from the House of Foix. He was the son and successor of Roger Bernard I and his wife Cécilia Trencavel. When Raimond-Roger and Arn ...
, and
Raymond VI of Toulouse Raymond VI ( oc, Ramon; October 27, 1156 – August 2, 1222) was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil (as Raymond IV) from 1173 to 1190. Early life Raymond was born at Saint-Gilles, Gard, ...
. Peter II thus intended to create a vast transpyrenean empire; however it was all undone at the
Battle of Muret The Battle of Muret (Occitan: Batalha de Murèth), fought on 12 September 1213 near Muret, 25 km south of Toulouse, was the last major battle of the Albigensian Crusade and one of the most notable pitched battles of the Middle Ages. Althoug ...
on 12 September. There Peter died in a losing cause because he had overconfidently neglected to summon his vassals with enough time for them all to arrive. Gaston was one of those who did not participate. Soon after the battle, however, Innocent III publicly pardoned the lords of Béarn and Comminges. The only penance imposed upon Gaston was to give to the bishop two of the districts of the city of
Oloron Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...
. In return, he also received back Brulhois. His loyalty to the king of Aragon, however, remained clearly expressed in the ''
Llibre dels fets The (; from Catalan: "''Book of Deeds''"; Old Catalan: ) is the autobiographical chronicle of the reign of James I of Aragon (1213–1276). It is written in Old Catalan in the first person and is the first chronologically of the four works cla ...
'' (chapt. 37). There he appears along with his brother at the side of the young king
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
at the siege of
Tamarite de Litera Tamarite de Litera, ca, Tamarit de Llitera, is the first major town of the ''comarca'' of La Litera in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2014 census, Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) the municipality has a population ...
. Gaston died without issue in 1214 and was succeeded by his brother William Raymond. His widow retained Bigorre.


Notes


References

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Further reading

*Tucoo-Chala, Pierre. ''Quand l'Islam était aux portes des Pyrénées''. J&D Editions: Biarritz, 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaston 06 of Bearn 1173 births 1214 deaths People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church Viscounts of Béarn Viscounts of Gabardan Viscounts of Brulhois Viscounts of Marsan Counts of Bigorre