Viscounty Of Béarn
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The Viscounty, later Principality of Béarn ( or ), was a
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
lordship in the far south of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, part of the
Duchy of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Franki ...
from the late ninth century. In 1347, the viscount declared Béarn an independent principality without feudal obligations. It later entered a
personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
with the
Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre ( ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), between present-day Spain and France. The me ...
in 1479 and with France in 1589. In 1620, the prince (who was also the king of France) formally incorporated
Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; 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 Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...
as a province of France.


First dynasty

The citation of a certain "Gaston onof Centule, viscount of Béarn" (''Gasto Centuli vicecomes Bearnensis'') is the first attestation of a specific regional organization in the late 860s/early 870s. The viscounty was named after Lescar, former Benearnum, last cited in 673. Its first parliamentary body, the ''Cour Major'', was formed in 1080. A mint was established at
Morlaàs Morlaàs (; Gascon Morlans) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is the seat of a canton. After the Roman city of Benearnum (today's Lescar) was razed by the Vikings in 841, Morlaàs became the ...
under Viscount Centule V, who was also Count of Bigorre (1058–88). Centule sold the ''magisterium sectionis cognorum'' (right to mint coins) to a private moneyer. The mint continued operating under his successors, always minting coins bearing Centule's name. It was at the time the most productive mint in Gascony.


Under Aquitaine

Gascony was united to the
Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine (, ; , ) was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central, and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire. The full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries ...
in 1053. Béarn, as a part of Gascony, became subject to the dukes of Aquitaine and, in 1152, passed to the
kings of England This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the heptarchy, seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the ...
, heirs of Duchess
Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...
. While nominally part of the Duchy of Aquitaine, the Viscounts of Béarn frequently joined Aragonese military campaigns between the 10th and 12th centuries. In 1170, the viscounty passed to the Catalan
House of Montcada The House of Montcada (in Catalan language, Catalan; Moncada in Spanish language, Spanish and Italian language, Italian) is an aristocratic and Nobility, noble Catalan people, Catalan House with important ramifications in Sicily. Queen Elisenda ...
who paid homage to the kings of Aragon.John Jr. Bell Henneman, et al., ''Medieval France: An Encyclopedia'' (Taylor & Francis, 1995), pp. 102–103. Under Aragonese influence, the legal charters in Béarn were further developed into the '' Fors de Bearn''. Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn, did homage to King
Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...
as Duke of Aquitaine at
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
in 1242. In 1290, Béarn passed to the
House of Foix Foix ( , ; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège (department), Ariège as it is the seat of the Prefectures in France, prefecture of that Departments of ...
with the inheritance of Margaret, Viscountess of Béarn of the lands from her father Gaston VII.


Sovereign principality

The independence of Béarn from France and
Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
came about as a result of the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
(1337–1453) between France and England. In 1347, on the heels of English victory at the
battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France ...
(1346), the Viscount Gaston III Fébus paid homage to the king of France for his county of Foix, but stated that Béarn was to be held "from God and from no man in this world".Richard Vernier, "Lord of the Pyrenees: Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix (1331–1391)", "Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2008", pp. 13. After the English victory at Poitiers in 1356, Gaston refused to attend the Estates General of France as Count of Foix. For the next decade, he successfully resisted the efforts of the
Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, succeeded to the throne instead. Edward n ...
to enforce his suzerainty as Prince of Aquitaine over Béarn. In 1364, Gaston dropped the lowly vicecomital title in favour of "Lord of Béarn" (''Dominus Bearni'').John Hine Mundy, eview of Pierre Tucoo-Chala (1959), ''Gaston Fébus et la vicomté de Béarn, 1343–1391'' (Bordeaux: Birère) '' Speculum'', 36:2 (1961), pp. 354–56. Its chief seat and stronghold lay at Pau, a site fortified by the 11th century, and proclaimed as official capital of the independent principality in 1464. The official language of the sovereign principality was the local vernacular Bearnès dialect of
Old Occitan Old Occitan (, ), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the 8th to the 14th centuries. Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan. Middle Occitan is some ...
. It was the spoken language of law courts and of business and it was the written language of customary law. Although vernacular languages were increasingly preferred to
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
in western Europe in the late Middle Ages, the status of Occitan in Béarn was unusual because its use was required by law: "lawyers will draft their petitions and pleas in the vernacular language of the present country, both in speech and in writing".Paul Cohen, "Linguistic Politics on the Periphery: Louis XIII, Béarn, and the Making of French as an Official Language in Early Modern France", ''When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence'' (Ohio State University Press, 2003), pp. 165–200.


Sovereign under the Foix-Albret

In 1479, the Lord of Béarn, Francis Phoebus, inherited the
Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre ( ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), between present-day Spain and France. The me ...
, across the Pyrenees to the southwest. The two sovereign entities would from then on remain in
personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
. In 1512, the Kingdom of Navarre was almost entirely occupied by Spain; only
Lower Navarre Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...
, north of the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
, escaped Spanish permanent occupation. In 1517, Henry I (II of Navarre) inherited it, as well as Béarn, from his mother. The Bearnese monarchs extended the use of Occitan to Navarre after 1512, despite the fact that it was not the vernacular language there, where
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
was the tongue of the people. The Estates of Navarre convoked in 1522 (or in 1523, according to other sources) kept records in Occitan, as did the Chancery of Navarre created in 1524. When Henry II revised the ''Fueros'' of Navarre in 1530, he had them translated from Castilian into Occitan. In 1564, Henry's daughter, Jeanne III, firmly opposing
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, declared Catholicism outlawed and disbanded monasteries, confiscating church property. When Jeanne's son, Henry II (III of Navarre), became King
Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
in 1589, he kept all his estates distinct from the
French royal domain The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or (in French) ''domaine royal'' (from demesne) of France were the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. While the term eventually came to refer to a territorial unit, the ...
. He re-appointed his sister,
Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, his regent in Navarre and Béarn. It was only in 1607, after Catherine's death (1604), that he acceded to the demands of the ''Parlement'' of Paris, and reunited with the French crown his domains of
Foix 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 prefecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwestern France ...
,
Bigorre Bigorre (; 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 the larger region k ...
and
Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan language, Occitan/Gascon language, Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding approximately to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the departments of Fran ...
, including
Quatre-Vallées Quatre-Vallées (, literally, "Four Valleys") (Gascon language, Gascon: ''Quate-Vaths'') was a small province of France located in the southwest of France. It was made up of four constituent parts: vallée d'Aure, Aure valley (Gascon: ''Aura''), ...
and
Nébouzan Nébouzan (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Nebosan'' ) was a small province of France located in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, in the southwest of France. It was not a contiguous province, but it was made up of several detached territories ...
, conforming to the tradition that the king of France would have no personal domain. However, he refused the ''Parlements demand that he unite Béarn and Lower Navarre with the French crown, since these territories were not French estates, but separate realms. Had these principalities been united with France, the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...
(1598) would have applied to them and Catholic property would have had to have been restored. Nonetheless, Henry, now a Catholic, consented to restore Catholic rights of worship in certain towns. The estates of Béarn continued to conduct business in Occitan and laws were enacted in the same. Prior to the 1601, the Duc de Rohan was the heir to Navarre and Béarn, since the
Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...
of France did not apply there. A. D. Lublinskaya, ''French Absolutism: The Crucial Phase, 1620–1629'' (Cambridge University Press, 1968), pp. 170–73. After Henry IV's death, Calvinists from Béarn attended the Huguenot conference at
Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...
in 1611 in an effort to enlist their support for Béarnese and Navarrese independence. In 1614, the same year he came of age, Henry IV's successor,
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
, was confronted by a Huguenot uprising supported by Béarn. In a meeting of the French Estates General that year, the Third Estate petitioned for the union of all sovereign provinces with France. In 1616, Louis issued an edict uniting the principality with France, but it was ignored.


Incorporation into France

On 3 May 1616, the Treaty of Loudun gave the Huguenots, who had supported the rebellion of the
Prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The f ...
, the right join their churches with those in Béarn. Louis's edict of June 1617 ordering the restoration of property confiscated from Catholics was also ignored. In 1620, Louis marched into Béarn with a large army, convoked the estates and, sitting on his Béarnese throne, issued an edict of union with France, thus removing the principality's sovereignty. Louis preserved the freedom of worship of the Calvinists, the right of the estates to negotiate their taxes and the obligation of the king of France to swear to uphold the customary law of Béarn on his accession. He also united Béarn and Navarre: thenceforth the ''Parlement'' of Navarre and Béarn had authority over both regions and would sit at Pau. Its operating language would be French. This was the first time the French language was imposed on a region incorporated into France. It was not part of an effort to convert the French king's Occitan subjects into French speakers, nor did it directly impact the Bearnese aristocracy, who had adopted French as a status language during the 16th century. It was politically symbolic, since the use of Occitan in an official capacity had been an important marker of Bearnese independence and a source of pride.


See also

*
Viscounts of Béarn The viscounts of Béarn (Basque: ''Bearno'', Gascon: ''Bearn'' or ''Biarn'') were the rulers of the viscounty of Béarn, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque provinc ...
*
Fors de Béarn The Fors de Bearn, or fueros of Béarn, are a series of legal texts (privileges, rulings, judicial sentences, decrees, formularies) compiled over centuries (mostly the eleventh to thirteenth) in the Viscounty of Béarn. Together they formed the ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bearn, Viscounty Of Viscounty of Bearn Former monarchies of Europe States and territories established in 1080