County of Bigorre

Last updated
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. Its capital was Tarbes.

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.

Related Research Articles

The County of Armagnac, situated between the Adour and Garonne rivers in the lower foothills of the Pyrenées, was a historic county of the Duchy of Gascony, established in 601 in Aquitaine. In 960, the title of 'Count of Armagnac' was established, and thus the County of Armagnac was created. In 1751, following the death of childless Charles de Lorraine, Comte d'Armagnac, the county was absorbed into the Crown lands of France and the King, then Louis XV took the title of 'Count of Armagnac'. In 1791, following the Decree dividing France into departments, the county was disestablished, but remains an important natural region of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Foix</span> Place in France

The County of Foix was a medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern département of Ariège.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bigorre</span>

Bigorre 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 known as Gascony. Today Bigorre comprises the centre and west of the département of Hautes-Pyrénées, with two small exclaves in the neighbouring Pyrénées Atlantiques. Its inhabitants are called Bigourdans.

Quatre-Vallées was a small province of France located in the southwest of France. It was made up of four constituent parts: Aure valley, Barousse valley, Magnoac valley, and Neste or Nestès valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Comminges</span>

This is a list of counts of the County of Comminges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nébouzan</span> French Province

Nébouzan 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, approximately half of them around the town of Saint-Gaudens in the south of the present-day département of Haute-Garonne, and the other half around the town of Lannemezan in the east of the present-day département of Hautes-Pyrénées. The capital of Nébouzan was Saint-Gaudens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaston III, Count of Foix</span> 14th-century French nobleman

Gaston III of Foix-BéarnditFébus, was the eleventh Count of Foix and twenty-fourth Viscount of Béarn from 1343 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viscounts of Béarn</span>

The viscounts of Béarn 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 provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms the current département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Gascony</span> Medieval duchy in present-day France and Spain (602–1453)

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 Frankish march formed to hold sway over the Basques. However, the duchy went through different periods, from its early years with its distinctively Basque element to the merger in personal union with the Duchy of Aquitaine to the later period as a dependency of the Plantagenet kings of England.

The County of Fézensac was an 8th-century creation on the north-eastern fringes of the Duchy of Gascony following Charlemagne's policy of feudalisation and Frankish colonisation. The move was aimed at offsetting and undermining the authority of the duke of Gascony Lupo II after the setback suffered by the Franks at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 and failure to restrain the Basques. That advance clearly displeased the Basques, with these policies sparking a stir on the banks of the Garonne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix</span> Count of Foix, co-prince of Andorra

Roger-Bernard III was the Count of Foix from 1265 to his death. He was the son of Roger IV of Foix and Brunissende of Cardona. He entered into conflicts with both Philip III of France and Peter III of Aragon, who held him in captivity for a time. He was nevertheless a distinguished poet and troubadour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn</span>

Gaston VII de Montcada, called Froissard, was the twentieth Viscount of Béarn from 1229. He was the son and heir of Guillermo II de Montcada of the House of Montcada and of Garsenda, daughter of Alfonso II of Provence and Garsenda of Forcalquier. He was succeeded by Roger-Bernard III of Foix.

The House of Armagnac is a French noble house established in 961 by Bernard I, Count of Armagnac. It achieved its greatest importance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Eschivat IV Chabanais was Count of Bigorre from 1255 to 1283 and Count of Armagnac and de Fézensac of 1255 in 1256. He was the son of Jordan, Lord of Chabanais, and Alix de Montfort, Countess of Bigorre.

Petronilla of Bigorre or Petronilla of Comminges was ruling Countess of Bigorre between 1194 and 1251. She was the only child of Bernard IV, Count of Comminges, and his wife Stephanie-Beatrice IV, Countess of Bigorre. Petronilla succeeded her mother in 1194 as Countess of Bigorre; she was also Viscountess of Marsan and Nébouzan through further successions. She reigned as countess for fifty-seven years, in which time she was married five times.

Alice of Bigorre (1217/1220-1255), also known as Alice or Alix de Monfort was suo jure ruling Countess of Bigorre between 1251 and 1255.

Martha of Marsan was a ruling Viscountess of Marsan. She was suo jure Viscountess of Marsan, which she inherited from her father.

Constance was suo jure Viscountess of Marsan as well as titular Countess of Bigorre, daughter of Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn and his first wife Martha of Marsan. Constance inherited all of her titles from her mother and contended to inherit her father's Viscounty of Béarn. She was married three times during her lifetime, marrying into the royal families of Aragon, Castile and England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occitania (administrative region)</span> Administrative region of France

Occitania is the southernmost administrative region of metropolitan France excluding Corsica, created on 1 January 2016 from the former regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. The Council of State approved Occitania as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016, coming into effect on 30 September 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret of Béarn</span>

Margaret of Béarn – also known as Margaret or Margueriteof Montcada was a noblewoman, who ruled lands near the Pyrenees mountains and in the southwestern part of present-day France. When her father died in 1290, she inherited the lands, assets and title, Viscountess of Béarn. In 1310 following the death of her sister, she inherited the assets and title of Countess of Bigorre.

References