County of Bigorre

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Coat of arms of the county of Bigorre Blason departement fr Hautes-Pyrenees.svg
Coat of arms of the county of Bigorre

The County of Bigorre was a small feudatory of the Duchy of Gascony in the ninth through 15th centuries. [1] Its capital was Tarbes. [2]

Contents

The county was constituted out of the dowry of Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband Donatus Lupus I, the son of Lupus III of Gascony.[ citation needed ] The original Bigorre was considerable in size, but successive generations, following on Gascon traditions, gave out portions as appanages to younger sons. The county lost Lavedan, Aster, Aure, and Montaner in the first two generations.

The original dynasty died out in Bigorre in the 11th century, the county passing to the House of Foix and then that of Béarn. In the 12th century, it went to the house of Marsan and then of Comminges and in the thirteenth to that of Montfort. It was briefly in the hands of the Armagnacs and passed between English and French suzerainty during the Hundred Years' War 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

RulerDatesGascon lineNotes
Donatus Lupus I 840–?Bigorre line
Lupus I ?–910Bigorre lineSon of the predecessor.
Donatus Lupus II 910–930Bigorre lineSon of the predecessor.
Raymond I Donatus 930–?Bigorre lineSon of the predecessor.
Arnold ?–980Bigorre lineSon of the predecessor.
García Lupus 980–1030Bigorre lineSon of the predecessor.
Gersenda 1030–1038Bigorre lineDaughter of the predecessor, married Bernard Roger of Foix.
Bernard I Roger 1030–1034 Foix line
Bernard II 1038–1077 Foix lineSon of the predecessors.
Raymond II 1077–1080 Foix lineSon of the predecessor.
Beatrice I 1080–1095 Foix lineSister of the predecessor, married Centule of Béarn.
Centule I the Young 1080–1090 Béarn line
Bernard III 1095–1113 Béarn lineSon of the predecessors.
Centule II 1113–1130 Béarn lineSon of the predecessor.
Beatrice II 1130–1156 Béarn lineDaughter of the predecessor, married Peter of Marsan.
Peter I Marsan line
Centule III 1156–1178 Marsan lineSon of the predecessors.
Stephanie-Beatrice III 1178–1194 Marsan lineDaughter of the predecessor, married Bernard of Comminges. They were separated in 1192
Bernard IV of Comminges 1180–1192 Comminges line
Petronilla 1194–1251 Comminges lineDaughter of the predecessors, in her long countship she married various nobles:

House of Montfort

House of Chabanais

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 made it decisively French. In 1407, it belonged to Bernard VII of Armagnac, who sold it that year to John I, Count of Foix. From then on it is a subsidiary title of the counts of Foix.

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References

  1. Colomez, Abbé (1886). Histoire de la province et Comte de Bigorre[History of the province and Count of Bigorre] (in French). Tarbes: J-P Larrieu.
  2. Zink, Anne (2000). Pays ou circonscriptions: Les collectivités territoriales de la France du Sud-Ouest sous l'Ancien Régime [Countries or constituencies: The local authorities of South-West France under the Ancien Régime] (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. p. 109. ISBN   978-2-85944-849-3 . Retrieved 16 April 2023.