TheViscounty,laterPrincipalityof Béarn(Gascon:BearnorBiarn), was amedievallordship in the far south ofFrance,part of theDuchy of Gasconyfrom the late ninth century. In 1347, the viscount declared Béarn an independent principality without feudal obligations. It later entered apersonal unionwith theKingdom of Navarrein 1479 and with France in 1589. In 1620, the prince (who was also the king of France) formally incorporatedBéarnas aprovince of France.
Viscounty of Béarn | |||||||
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| 9th century–1620 | |||||||
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 Gascony and Bearn ca.1150 | |||||||
| Capital | Lescar(up to ca.841) Morlans(10th–12th centuries) Ortès(12th–15th centuries) Pau | ||||||
| Common languages | Medieval Latin Old OccitanthenBéarnese Basque | ||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism(up to the 16th century) Calvinism(up to 1620) | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
| Viscount or Prince | |||||||
• 9th century | Centule I | ||||||
• 1610–20 | Louis I | ||||||
| Historical era | Middle AgesandRenaissance | ||||||
• Established | 9th century | ||||||
• Independence declared byGaston IIIFèbus | 25 September 1347 | ||||||
•Henry IIbecameKing of France | 27 February 1594 | ||||||
• Incorporated intoFrance | October 1620 | ||||||
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First dynasty
editThe citation of a certain "Gaston [son] of 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 afterLescar,former Benearnum, last cited in 673. Its first parliamentary body, theCour Major,was formed in 1080.
A mint was established atMorlaàsunder ViscountCentule V,who was alsoCount of Bigorre(1058–88). Centule sold themagisterium sectionis cognorum(right to mint coins) to a private moneyer.[1]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.[2]
Under Aquitaine
editGascony was united to theDuchy of Aquitainein 1053. Béarn, as a part of Gascony, became subject to the dukes of Aquitaine and, in 1152, passed to thekings of England,heirs of DuchessEleanor of Aquitaine.
While nominally part of the Duchy of Aquitaine, the Viscounts of Béarn frequently joinedAragonesemilitary campaigns between the 10th and 12th centuries. In 1170, the viscounty passed to the CatalanHouse of Montcadawho paid homage to the kings of Aragon.[3][4]Under Aragonese influence, the legal charters in Béarn were further developed into theFors de Bearn.[5]
Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn,did homage to KingHenry III of Englandas Duke of Aquitaine atBordeauxin 1242.[6][7]In 1290, Béarn passed to theHouse of Foixwith the inheritance ofMargaret, Viscountess of Béarnof the lands from her father Gaston VII.
Sovereign principality
editThe independence of Béarn from France andAquitainecame about as a result of theHundred Years' War(1337–1453) between France and England. In 1347, on the heels of English victory at thebattle of Crécy(1346), the ViscountGaston III Fébuspaid 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".[8]After the Englishvictory at Poitiersin 1356, Gaston refused to attend theEstates General of Franceas Count of Foix.
For the next decade, he successfully resisted the efforts of theBlack Princeto 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).[9]Its chief seat and stronghold lay atPau,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 vernacularBearnès dialectofOld Occitan.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 toLatinin 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".[10]
Sovereign under the Foix-Albret
editIn 1479, the Lord of Béarn,Francis Phoebus,inherited theKingdom of Navarre,across the Pyrenees to the southwest. The two sovereign entities would from then on remain inpersonal union.In 1512, the Kingdom of Navarrewas almost entirely occupiedby Spain; onlyLower Navarre,north of thePyrenees,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, whereBasquewas the tongue of the people. TheEstates of Navarreconvoked in 1522 (or in 1523, according to other sources) kept records in Occitan, as did theChancery of Navarrecreated in 1524. When Henry II revised theFuerosof Navarrein 1530, he had them translated fromCastilianinto Occitan.[10]
In 1564, Henry's daughter,Jeanne III,firmly opposingRome,declared Catholicism outlawed and disbanded monasteries, confiscating church property. When Jeanne's son, Henry II (III of Navarre), became KingHenry IV of Francein 1589, he kept all his estates distinct from theFrench royal domain.He re-appointed his sister,Catherine,his regent in Navarre and Béarn. It was only in 1607, after Catherine's death (1604), that he acceded to the demands of theParlementof Paris,and reunited with the French crown his domains ofFoix,BigorreandComminges,includingQuatre-ValléesandNébouzan,conforming to the tradition that the king of France would have no personal domain.
However, he refused theParlement's 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, theEdict of Nantes(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.[10]Prior to the 1601, theDuc de Rohanwas the heir to Navarre and Béarn, since theSalic lawof France did not apply there.[11]
After Henry IV's death, Calvinists from Béarn attended the Huguenot conference atSaumurin 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,was confronted by aHuguenot uprisingsupported by Béarn. In a meeting of the FrenchEstates Generalthat 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
editOn 3 May 1616, theTreaty of Loudungave the Huguenots, who had supported the rebellion of thePrince of Condé,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.[11]
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 theParlementof Navarre and Béarnhad 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.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Robert Sabatino Lopez, "An Aristocracy of Money in the Early Middle Ages",Speculum,28:1 (1953), pp. 1–43, at 12.
- ^John Porteous,"Crusader Coinage with Greek or Latin Inscriptions",A History of the Crusades, Volume VI: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe,N. P. Zacour and H. W. Hazard, eds. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), pp. 354–87, at 357.
- ^John Jr. Bell Henneman, et al.,Medieval France: An Encyclopedia(Taylor & Francis, 1995), pp. 102–103.
- ^Claire Taylor,Heresy in Medieval France: Dualism in Aquitaine and the Agenais, 1000–1249(Boydell & Brewer, 2005), p. 147.
- ^E. Michael Gerli,Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia(Routledge, 2013), p. 153.
- ^John F. Le Patourel, et al.,Feudal Empires: Norman and Plantagenet(Bloomsbury Academic, 1984), pp. 180, XV.
- ^Andrew Spencer, et al.,Thirteenth Century England XVII: Proceedings of the Cambridge Conference, 2017(Boydell & Brewer, 2021), pp. 83.
- ^Richard Vernier, "Lord of the Pyrenees: Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix (1331–1391)", "Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2008", pp. 13.
- ^John Hine Mundy, [Review of Pierre Tucoo-Chala (1959),Gaston Fébus et la vicomté de Béarn, 1343–1391(Bordeaux: Birère)],Speculum,36:2 (1961), pp. 354–56.
- ^abcdPaul 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.
- ^abA. D. Lublinskaya,French Absolutism: The Crucial Phase, 1620–1629(Cambridge University Press, 1968), pp. 170–73.