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87-399: The name "Guyenne" comes from Aguyenne , a popular transformation of Aquitania . In the 12th century it formed, along with Gascony , the duchy of Aquitaine , which passed under the dominion of the kings of England by the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II . In the 13th century, as a result of the conquests of Philip II , Louis VIII and Louis IX , Guyenne was confined within

174-706: A Basque "Semen"—written forms Semeno, Xemen, Ximen , or Jimeno . It may be that native Basque name based on the word seme (meaning "son", attested in Aquitanian engravings), or it may be "Seguin" (modern Gascon "Siguin"), a name of Germanic origin based on sig , meaning 'victory' (cf modern German Sieg ), and win , meaning 'friend'. It has been suggested that some apparently Basque names are merely corruptions of late Germanic names. For example, Garsinde leading to Garsean, Gendolf or Centulf to Centule, Aginald or Hunnald to Enneko (in Flanders, and Frisian , still

261-521: A clash between Christians and Muslims, this battle became one of the most celebrated events in the legendary Matter of France . Muslims attacked Vasconia as well, taking possession of Pamplona for some time, but they were expelled by a rebellion in 798–801 that helped to create the Basque Muslim realm of the Banu Qasi around Tudela . In 806, Pamplona, still under Cordovan rule, was attacked by

348-514: A consequence, male-preference primogeniture was the practiced succession law for the nobility. The autonomous and troublesome duchy of Aquitaine was conquered by the Franks in 769, after a series of revolts against their suzerainty. In order to avoid a new demonstration of Aquitain particularism, Charlemagne decided to organize the land within his kingdom. After the Carolingian conquest,

435-704: A duchy under it. In 1153, an enlarged Aquitaine pledged loyalty to the Angevin kings of England . As a result, a rivalry emerged between the French monarchs and the Angevins over control of the latter's territorial possessions in France. By the mid-13th century, only an enlarged Guyenne and Gascony remained in Angevin hands. The Hundred Years' War finally saw the kingdom of France gain full control over Aquitaine in

522-613: A gigantic Frankish expedition led by the duke Arnebert and nine other dukes launched an attack against the Basques, forcing them to retreat to the mountains, while Arnebert's column was defeated in Subola , maybe near Tardets . However, the Basques' relish was short-lived since they were brought to heel by Dagobert (Clichy, 636). By 626, it is certain that the duchy extended up to the Pyrenees and that Vasconia had replaced Novempopulania as

609-490: A government ( gouvernement général ) which from the 17th century onwards was united with Gascony. In 1779, Louis XVI convened the provincial assemblies of Guyenne and considered expanding the assembly to other provinces, but abandoned this idea after experiencing the opposition of the privileged classes in Guyenne. The government of Guyenne and Gascony ( Guienne et Gascogne ), with its capital at Bordeaux, lasted until

696-715: A part of the Angevin Empire in the 12th century. The ducal title was reemployed by Edward Longshanks and it formed a base of support for the English during the Hundred Years' War . Margaret Wade Labarge called it England's first foreign colony. England lost Gascony as a result of its defeat in the Hundred Years' War , and the region thence became a permanent part of France. Under the Basque line of dukes that began in 864, Gascony became effectively independent of

783-716: A preferred name for the geographical area between the Pyrenees and the Garonne. In 643, there was another rebellion to the north of the Pyrenees and in 642 and 654 they battled against the Visigoths to the south, in Saragossa . From 589 to 684, the Bishop of Pamplona was absent from the Visigothic Councils of Toledo , which is interpreted by some as a result of this city being under Basque or Frankish control. In

870-568: A region between the Ebro and the southwestern Pyrenees during the Roman period, but by the end of the 6th century the Vascones defined a confederacy of native tribes with similar language and traditions on both sides of the Pyrenees who had not been culturally Romanized. The name 'Vascone' is the etymological origin of 'Gascon' and 'Basque'. Whether the Vascones spread significantly north of the Pyrenees

957-538: A short form of the first two frank names), Aginard to Aznar, Belasgytta or Wallagotha to Velasquita, Belasgutho to Velasco, Arnoald to Arnau, Theuda to Toda, Theudahilda to Dadildis or Dedadils. While some of them may be so, many of them—Andregoto, Amunna, Aznar(i), Velasco, Garcia, Ximen(o), Enneco—have well explained forms according to consistent linguistic rules and etymologies, as described by linguist Koldo Mitxelena . The oldest Basque medieval names reflected totemic (animal) references, and family links. In

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1044-728: A stalemate as the Franks had taken Basque women and children hostage. Northern Basques, organized in the Duchy of Vasconia, collaborated with Franks during campaigns such as the capture of Barcelona in 799 but after the death of Charlemagne in 814, uprisings started anew. The revolt in Pamplona crossed the Pyrenees north and in 816 Louis the Pious deposed the Basque Duke Seguin of Bordeaux for failing to suppress or sympathising with

1131-592: A way of better handling their relations with the Basques. At the same time, the Visigoths created the Duchy of Cantabria as a buffer against the Basques inhabiting west of current Navarre . The boundary area of Vasconia (or Wasconia) was created with the purpose of controlling the Basques in Novempopulania , but it extended at this stage to the lands south and around the axis provided by the river Garonne between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Around this period Duke Francio

1218-624: Is disputed, but the ruling Goths and Franks referred to the area between the Garonne and the Atlantic as Vasconia. Around 580, the Kingdom of the Franks launched major campaigns against the Vascones. In 587, Vascones are cited as raiding the plains of Aquitaine, maybe to the west of Toulouse . Chilperic I sent his duke Bladastes , who was stationed in Toulouse, to deal with the raids, but he

1305-776: Is reflected in the declining use of authentically Basque names by the last dukes. In written documents, their names were usually recorded in Latin, which was the favored written language at the time. Today, their names are also frequently found in their French version, and also sometimes in their Spanish version. One example: the Basque name Otsoa (meaning "wolf") was literally translated Lop in Gascon, Lupus in Latin, Loup in French, and Lobo in Spanish. Thus, Duke Otsoa II of Gascony can be known by any of these names, which confuses people not used to

1392-566: Is reported to have vowed allegiance to the Franks in Cantabria , an area inhabited by the Basques, but c. 612, the Gothic king Sisebut seems to have conquered the territory. By the year 602, the Duchy of Vasconia, under Frankish overlordship, was consolidated in the areas around the Garonne but may have extended up to Cantabria, in the Frankish domain at the time of and before the creation of

1479-657: The Basques , but after his death in 632, they revolted again, in 635 subdued by an army sent by Dagobert (who was at the same time forced to deal with a rebellion in Brittany). The duchy of Aquitaine established itself as a quasi-independent realm within the Frankish empire during the second half of the 7th century, certainly by 700 under Odo the Great . The first duke is on record under the name of Felix, and as having ruled from about 660. As his successor, Lupus held loose ties with

1566-506: The Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He succeeded in obtaining the French crown for his family by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. Henry V died in 1422, and his son Henry VI inherited the French throne at the age of less than a year; his reign saw the gradual loss of English control of France. The Valois kings of France, claiming supremacy over Aquitaine, granted the title of duke to their heirs,

1653-493: The Dauphins , during 1345 and 1415: John II (1345–50), Charles VII (1392?–1401), and Louis (1401–1415). French victory was complete with the Battle of Castillon of 1453. England and France nominally remained at war for another 20 years, but England was in no position to continue its campaign, due to its escalating internal conflicts . The Hundred Years' War was formally concluded with the Treaty of Picquigny of 1475. With

1740-525: The Duchy of Aquitaine to the later period as a dependency of the Plantagenet kings of England . In the Hundred Years' War , Charles V of France conquered most of Gascony by 1380, and under Charles VII of France it was incorporated into the Kingdom of France in its entirety in 1453. The corresponding portion within the Iberian Peninsula became the Kingdom of Navarre . Gascony

1827-483: The English crown by 1153. William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1127), who succeeded to the dukedom in 1087, gained fame as a crusader and a troubadour. His granddaughter, Eleanor of Aquitaine , succeeded to the duchy at the age of 15 as the eldest daughter and heir of William X (d. 1137), as his son did not live past childhood. She married Louis , heir to the French throne, three months after her father's death due to

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1914-514: The Hundred Years' War between England and France. Aquitaine as it came to the English kings stretched from the Loire to the Pyrenees, but its range was limited to the southeast by the extensive lands of the counts of Toulouse. The name Guienne, a corruption of Aquitaine, seems to have come into use about the 10th century, and the subsequent history of Aquitaine is merged in that of Gascony and Guienne . In 1337, King Philip VI of France reclaimed

2001-513: The Loire , and so does the Chronicle of Fredegar , suggesting that it lies south of the Loire. but the nature of this naming is subject to debate. At any rate, Basques on either side of the Garonne are cited in the last independent years of the Duchy up to 768, but this year, its northern boundary was pinpointed on the river Garonne. Several authors have put down this large geographical extent of

2088-499: The Pyrenees mountains. This duchy was held as a fief on the terms of homage to the French kings and, both in 1296 and 1324, it was confiscated by the kings of France on the ground that there had been a failure in the feudal duties . By the 1360 Treaty of Brétigny , King Edward   III of England acquired the full sovereignty of the duchy of Guyenne, together with Aunis , Saintonge , Angoumois , and Poitou . Soon after,

2175-552: The Salian Franks conquered Aquitaine following the Battle of Vouillé , ultimately a recreation of the Roman provinces of Aquitania Prima and Secunda . As a duchy, it broke up after the conquest of the independent Aquitanian duchy of Waiofar , going on to become a sub-kingdom within the Carolingian Empire . It was then absorbed by West Francia after the partition of Verdun in 843 and soon reappeared as

2262-458: The Treaty of Andelot of 587. Under Chlothar II , Aquitaine was again an integral part of Francia, but after Chlothar's death in 629, his heir Dagobert I granted a subkingdom in southern Aquitaine to his younger brother Charibert II . This subkingdom, consisting of Gascony and the southern fringe of Aquitaine proper, is conventionally known as "Aquitaine" and forms the historical basis for the later duchy. Charibert campaigned successfully against

2349-469: The cartulary of Saint-Seurin at Bordeaux in 1009, "the custom is that no count [of Gascony] can legitimately govern in this city of Bordeaux if he has not received the charge of the consulate, eyes lowered, from the most holy saint bishop Seurin and if he does not make an annual tribute." A later notice from between 1160 and 1180, says specifically that the would-be count must lay his sword on Saint Seurin 's altar and then only take it up again after receiving

2436-466: The region of Occitanie . Most of the rest of the post-1271 duchy now forms the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine , though parts fall into the three neighbouring regions of Pays de la Loire , Centre-Val de Loire and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes . The county of Aquitaine as it stood in the High Middle Ages, then, was bordering the Pyrenees to the south ( Navarre , Aragon and Barcelona , formerly

2523-411: The 1450s, with much of its territory directly incorporated into the French royal domain itself. Gallia Aquitania fell under Visigothic rule in the 5th century. It was conquered by the Franks under Clovis I in 507, as a result of the Battle of Vouillé . During the 6th and early 7th century, it was under direct rule of Frankish kings, divided between the realms of Childebert II and Guntram in

2610-471: The 7th-8th centuries to an expansion of the Basques from their assumed original habitations around the Pyrenees. Unlike neighbouring regions, counts did not play a role in Vasconia's power share. Moreover, they were absent, and dukes are mentioned as the main figures of the Basques, immediately followed on the hierarchy by tribal chiefs and families, at least until the rise of the Carolingian dynasty. As for

2697-578: The Carolingian Franks, but his assassination in 768 marked the demise of Aquitaine's relative independence. During these years Aquitaine underwent intensive destruction of urban, economic, military and intellectual centres. Pepin's forces destroyed up to 36 monasteries. As a successor state to the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania and the Visigothic Kingdom (418–721), Aquitania (Aquitaine) and Languedoc ( Toulouse ) inherited

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2784-576: The Carolingian king or (later) emperor based in Francia (Austrasia, Neustria). It included not only Aquitaine proper, but also Gothia , Vasconia (Gascony) and the Carolingian possessions in Spain as well. In 806, Charlemagne planned to divide his empire between his sons. Louis received Provence and Burgundy as additions to his kingdom. When Louis succeeded Charlemagne as emperor in 814, he granted Aquitaine to his son Pepin I , after whose death in 838

2871-409: The Duchy of Vasconia and Aquitaine more or less independently, about the same as before, until his death c. 735. Odo's realm passed to his son Hunald , who, desiring the former independence which had been his father's, attacked Martel's successors, starting a war which lasted for two generations. In 743, the situation was further complicated by the arrival of Asturian forces attacking Vasconia from

2958-411: The English crown. Having suppressed a revolt in his new possession, Henry gave it to his son Richard . When Richard died in 1199, it reverted to Eleanor, and on her death in 1204, it was inherited by her son John and absorbed into the English crown permanently. The duchy henceforward followed the fortunes of the other English possessions in France, such as Normandy and Anjou , ultimately leading to

3045-625: The Frankish Kingdom. The dukes had to face Viking inroads and unrest for over a century, an instability that brought about the destruction of existing monasteries in Gascony and a decayed urban life. The dukes of Gascony faced up against the Norsemen (Vikings), and a king of Navarre is cited as providing assistance against them near Bayonne. The Gascon ducal family became tied to the rising Kingdom of Navarre by matrimonial alliances at

3132-470: The Frankish kings, ruling autonomously ( princeps ). Odo succeeded Lupus in 700 and signed a peace treaty with Charles Martel . He inflicted on the Moors a crushing defeat at the Battle of Toulouse in 721. However, Charles Martel coveted the southern realm, crossed the Loire in 731 and looted much of Aquitaine. Odo engaged the Franks in battle, but lost and came out weakened. Soon after this battle, in 732,

3219-447: The Frankish kings. In 1004, Abbo of Fleury , when visiting the monastery of La Réole , claimed to be more powerful there than the king, since nobody recognised his power. Charters of La Réole are dated by the reign of the duke of Gascony and not that of the king of France. Nonetheless, charters from elsewhere in Gascony continued to be dated by the reigns of the Frankish kings down to the acquisition of Gascony by Aquitaine. According to

3306-501: The Franks, Aquitaine was fully absorbed into the Frankish crown. By a treaty made in 845 between Charles the Bald and Pepin II, the kingdom had been diminished by the loss of Poitou, Saintonge and Angoumois in the northwest of the region, which had been given to Rainulf I, count of Poitiers. The title of Duke of Aquitaine, already revived, was now borne by Rainulf, although it was also claimed by

3393-516: The Franks, and the Pamplonese, led by a certain Velasco , pledged allegiance to Charlemagne again, but his tenure proved short-lived. In about 814, an anti-Frankish faction led by Enecco, allied with the Banu Qasi, seems to have taken over again. A Frankish army was sent to quash the revolt, to little effect. Furthermore, on their way north through Roncevaux an ambush was attempted, but resulted in

3480-535: The French crown but remained sovereign lord of Aquitaine (rather than merely duke). However, when the treaty was broken in 1369, both these English claims and the war resumed. In 1362, Edward III, as Lord of Aquitaine, made his eldest son Edward the Black Prince , Prince of Aquitaine. In 1390, King Richard II , son of Edward the Black Prince, appointed his uncle John of Gaunt as Duke of Aquitaine. That title passed on to John's descendants although they belonged to

3567-654: The Loire, although the actual geographical extent indicated by this name is contested; it further divides the territory into Guasconia (north of the Garonne) and Spanoguasconia (south of the Garonne). Independent dukes Lupus , Odo the Great , Hunald and Waifer succeeded Felix in sequence, with the last three belonging to the same lineage. Their ethnicities and even their names are not certain, however, since historical records are not conclusive. The Umayyad invasion of Iberia in 711 effected drastic shifts in political and cultural trends throughout southwestern Europe. Hitherto

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3654-603: The Moors raided Vasconia and Aquitaine as far north as Poitiers and defeated Odo twice near Bordeaux . Odo saw no option but to invoke the aid of Charles Martel and pledge allegiance to the Frankish prince. Odo was succeeded by his son Hunald, who reverted to former independence, so defying the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel's authority. In 735 and 736 Martel attacked Hunald and his allies,

3741-468: The Pious received the submission of rebel Basque lords in Dax, but things were far from settled. In 824, the second Battle of Roncevaux took place, when counts Eblo and Aznar Galindo (identified as Aznar Sánchez too), Frankish vassals and the latter appointed Duke of Gascony, were captured by the joint Pamplonese and Banu Qasi forces, strengthening the independence of Pamplona . In the early 9th century,

3828-641: The Vascones to leave the Ebro's rich farmland. In this period (585), Galactorius , Count of Bordeaux, is described as fighting the Vascones, who are portrayed as hiding out in the mountains, as well as the Cantabrians. In 602, the Merovingians created a frontier duchy to their southwest during the tripartite wars between Franks, Visigoths, and Basques. A certain Genial was then appointed dux wasconum as

3915-726: The Visigothic Law and Roman Law which had combined to allow women more rights than their contemporaries in other parts of Europe. Particularly with the Liber Judiciorum , which was codified in 642 and 643 and expanded in the Code of Recceswinth in 653, women could inherit land and title and manage it independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, and women could represent themselves and bear witness in court by age 14 and arrange for their own marriages by age 20. As

4002-538: The cause of the Plantagenets. Frankish Wasconia comprised the former Roman province of Novempopulania and, at least in some periods, also the lands south of the Pyrenees centred on Pamplona . It follows that the Duchy of Vasconia comprised Basque areas north and south of the Pyrenees at least until the definite detachment of Pamplona from the Duchy in 824. In 628, the Frankish king Dagobert I made arrangements for his brother Charibert II to rule over

4089-526: The country and captured Bordeaux. Only by Odo submitting to the authority of his Frankish archrival, the mayor Charles Martel , could the Christians of Western Europe achieve the military unity necessary to decisively defeat the Umayyad invaders, which they finally accomplished at the Battle of Tours . Aquitaine and its attendant marches were then nominally united with Francia, but Odo probably kept ruling

4176-469: The counts of Toulouse. The new Duchy of Aquitaine, including the three districts already mentioned, remained in the hands of Ramulf's successors, despite disagreement with their Frankish overlords, until 893 when Count Rainulf II was poisoned by order of King Charles III, or Charles the Simple . Charles then bestowed the duchy upon William the Pious , count of Auvergne, the founder of the abbey of Cluny , who

4263-484: The counts of key Aquitanian towns such as Bourges and Limoges . Eventually Hunald retired to a monastery, leaving both the kingdom and the continuing conflict to Waifer, or Guaifer. Following the full occupation of Septimania in 759, Pepin turned now his attention to Aquitaine, initiating a cyclical military campaign that lasted for eight years, i.e. the War of Aquitaine. Waifer strenuously carried on an unequal struggle with

4350-473: The crown because John of Gaunt's son, Henry IV , managed to successfully usurp the crown from Richard II, therefore 'inheriting' the title Lord of Aquitaine from his father, which was passed down to his descendants as they became Kings. His son, Henry V of England , ruled over Aquitaine as King of England and Lord of Aquitaine from 1413 to 1422. He invaded France and emerged victorious at the Siege of Harfleur and

4437-584: The duchy as appanages for their sons — the power of decision was gradually transferred in the 9th and 10th centuries to Gascony's smaller constituent counties, such as Béarn , Armagnac , Bigorre , Comminges , Nébouzan , Labourd , etc. The Duchy of Vasconia between the Adour and the Garonne, gradually became the Duchy of Gascony, moving away from the history of the Basque Country as Gascon (a Romance language) took hold in 'greater Gascony', stripping

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4524-460: The duchy ceased to exist as such, whose powers were taken over by the counts (dukes) of Toulouse, main seat of the Carolingian government in the Midi, represented by Chorso and, after being deposed, by Charlemagne's trustee William (of Gellone), a close relative of his. In 781, he made his third son Louis , then three years of age, king of Aquitaine. The Carolingian kingdom of Aquitaine subordinated to

4611-429: The duchy. In the years 610 and 612 respectively, the Gothic kings Gundemar and Sisebut launched attacks against the Basques. After a Basque attack in the Ebro valley in the year 621, Swinthila defeated them and founded the fortress of Olite . In 626, the Basques rebelled against the Franks, with the Bishop of Eauze being exiled on the accusation of supporting or sympathising with the Basque rebels, while in 635

4698-676: The duke Odo the Great had been independent, refusing to recognise the authority of either the Merovingian king or his mayor of the palace . In 714, Pamplona was captured by the Umayyads. In 721, Odo defeated the Arabian-African forces at the Battle of Toulouse . However, in 732 he was utterly routed at the Battle of the River Garonne near Bordeaux , after which Muslim troops under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi plundered

4785-405: The dukes are recorded under a bewildering number of variants, which makes identification very difficult. These dukes and counts were leaders of the Basque clans that dominated Gascony and so their native names were Basque. However, as the Gascon language gradually replaced Basque, their names are also recorded in Gascon. Indeed, eventually the dukes of Gascony probably themselves adopted Gascon, which

4872-410: The end of the Ancien Régime in 1792. Under the French Revolution , the departments formed from Guyenne proper were those of Gironde , Lot-et-Garonne , Dordogne , Lot , Aveyron and the chief part of Tarn-et-Garonne . 43°58′37″N 0°10′34″W  /  43.977°N 0.176°W  / 43.977; -0.176 Duchy of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia

4959-458: The end of the 10th century, eventually bringing Gascony suzerain to King Sancho III of Navarre ("the Great") for a short period up to 1035. While the gradual decay of the Carolingian dynasty would have been expected to pave the way for a reassertion of its regional identity, new borders, a more rigid structure derived from feudalization, and internal Basque divergences of culture, interest and language stopped that process. Dukes parcelled out

5046-420: The end of the Hundred Years' War, Aquitaine returned under direct rule of the king of France and remained in the possession of the king. Only occasionally was the title of "Duke of Aquitaine" granted to another member of the dynasty, and then as a purely nominal distinction. Over the course of its existence, the duchy incorporated the Duchy of Gascony and, until 1271, the County of Toulouse , which now falls in

5133-442: The fief of Aquitaine (essentially corresponding to Gascony) from Eleanor's descendant, Edward III of England . Edward in turn claimed the entire Kingdom of France as the only grandson of King Philip IV of France . This triggered the Hundred Years' War , in which both the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed supremacy over Aquitaine. In 1360, both sides signed the Treaty of Brétigny , in which Edward renounced his claim to

5220-414: The given name of their father (for example, Duke Sans I Lop, which means this is Duke Sans I, son of Lop). This custom later generated the Spanish family names, with the adding of suffix - ez meaning "son of". "Juan Sánchez" literally means "John, son of Sancho". For a few dukes of Gascony, the second name is not the given name of their father, but it is a nickname that they gained over time and that replaced

5307-411: The given name of their father, such as the famous duke Sans III Mitarra, where Mitarra is not the name of his father, but a nickname referring to his origin, probably "Menditarra", with a typical Basque -tarra suffix to express origin. There is one duke of Gascony subject to a historiographical discussion, and that is Duke Seguin I (Segiwin, Sihimin,...). It has been contended that it actually hides

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5394-428: The judicial system, neither the Visigoth law nor Roman law seem to have been in use in the Duchy of Vasconia, and a native order may have prevailed at least until the Carolingian takeover in 768-769. As of 778, Charlemagne started appointing counts (Bordeaux, Toulouse, Fezensac) on the bordering lands of Vasconia along the banks of the river Garonne, undermining the grip on power of the dukes of Vasconia. The names of

5481-526: The king. By the year 853, Sans Sancion , the Basque leader, was recognised as duke by Charles the Bald. During that same year, Muza of Tudela, relative of the Basque princes, invaded Vasconia and made Sans prisoner. In 855, Sans died and was succeeded by Arnold , who died fighting against the Norse in 864. Sancho III Mitarra (or Menditarra , cited in 864) appears to be the founder of a lineage of autochthonous independent dukes ruling Gascony up to Sancho VI William (died in 1032), with loose ties, if any, to

5568-421: The lands around the Adour river were segregated from the Duchy under the name of County of Vasconia. Count Aznar's successor, Sans Sancion , fought against Charles the Bald , as Charles didn't recognize him as legitimate. In 844, Vikings invaded Bordeaux and killed Duke Seguin II . His heir William was killed trying to retake Bordeaux in 848, though some sources say he was only captured and later deposed by

5655-414: The limits of the old Roman Gallia Aquitania but did not stretch south of the Garonne, a district which was in the possession of the Gascons. William died in 1030. Odo or Eudes (d. 1039) joined Gascony to Aquitaine. The Ramnulfids had become the dominant power in southwestern France by the end of the 11th century. By marriage rather than conquest, their possessions passed into the " Angevin Empire " under

5742-407: The list below, the dukes and counts of Gascony are listed according to their Gascon names (based on the current spelling of Gascon, not the medieval spelling, which was fluctuating). In 852, Sans II, from the rebel county, eventually reunited Gascony and regained the ducal title. After 1053, the title of duke of Gascony was held by the dukes of Aquitaine . After 1204, the title of Duke of Gascony

5829-400: The local linguistic situation. Furthermore, even within a set language, there exist many different written variants, as for the Basque name Santso (from Latin sanctus , meaning "holy"), which can be found in Basque documents written Antso, Sanzio, Santio, Sanxo, Sancio, and so on. Usually, the dukes and counts of Gascony had two names, the first one being their given name, the second one being

5916-435: The magnates and prelates of Aquitaine formally elected Charles as their king. Later, at Orléans , he was anointed and crowned by Wenilo, archbishop of Sens . In 852, Pepin II was imprisoned by Charles the Bald, who soon afterwards pronounced his own son Charles as the ruler of Aquitaine. On the death of the younger Charles in 866, his brother Louis the Stammerer succeeded to the kingdom, and when, in 877, Louis became king of

6003-431: The name of its former ethnic connotations and lending it a political one. By the 11th-12th centuries, the Basque language is believed to have extended on the north-east up to the upper reaches of the Adour river, far short of its extension 300 years before. After Sancho the Great 's reign, Gascony distanced itself again from Pamplona. By 1053, Gascony was inherited and conquered by the Duchy of Aquitania . It thus became

6090-406: The narrower limits fixed by the 1259 Treaty of Paris and became distinct from Aquitaine. Guyenne then comprised the Bordelais (the old countship of Bordeaux), the Bazadais , part of Périgord , Limousin , Quercy and Rouergue , and the Agenais ceded by Philip III to Edward I in the 1279 Treaty of Amiens . Still united with Gascony, it formed a duchy extending from the Charente River to

6177-408: The nobility of Aquitaine chose his son Pepin II of Aquitaine (d. 865) as their king. The emperor Louis I, however, opposed this arrangement and gave the kingdom to his youngest son Charles, afterwards the emperor Charles the Bald . Confusion and conflict resulted, eventually falling in favor of Charles; although from 845 to 852 Pepin II was in possession of the kingdom, at Eastertide 848 in Limoges ,

6264-479: The quick thinking of Louis's father, Louis VI of France , who did not want to leave a territory such as Aquitaine governed by a child of fifteen. When Louis VI died, and Eleanor's new husband became King Louis VII, the duchy of Aquitaine officially came under the rule of the French Crown, and for fifteen years, Louis VII had territory that rivaled that of the English crown and the counts of Toulouse. The marriage

6351-528: The rebellion. This started a widespread revolt, led by García Jiménez (according to late traditions, a near-kinsman of Íñigo Arista , to be the first monarch of Pamplona) and newly appointed duke Lupus Centullo (c. 820). Meanwhile, in Aragon the pro-Frankish Count Aznar Galindo was overthrown by Enecco's allied Count Gartzia Malo, with Aznar Galindo in turn seeking refuge in Frankish-held territory. Louis

6438-465: The saint's standard. These practices parallel the practice of the French kings of receiving their kingdom from Saint Denis and carrying his banner, the Oriflamme . It is possible, however, that the notices in the cartulary of Saint-Seurin, which both elevate that religious house and at the same time distance the dukes of Gascony from any French vassalage, were forged in the late 12th century to advance

6525-400: The territories between the Loire and the Pyrenees ( limes Spaniae ) 'in the general area of Vasconia', including Saintes , Perigueux , Cahors , Agenais , etc. In the following years, the same king is reported to have subjugated the whole of Vasconia, meaning that it extended beyond the Pyrenees as well. The Ravenna Cosmographer refers to Vasconia as the whole territory stretching out to

6612-433: The victories of Bertrand du Guesclin and Gaston III, Count of Foix , restored the duchy to its 13th-century limits. In 1451, it was conquered and finally united to the French crown by Charles   VII . In 1469, Louis   XI gave it in exchange for the territories of Champagne and Brie to his brother Charles, Duke of Berry , after whose death in 1472 it again became part of the royal domain . Guyenne then formed

6699-464: The west as the Asturians were immersed in continuous dynastic conflicts. The time of Charlemagne's reign was rife with conflicts between Pagan Basques, Christian Franks and Arab Muslims. Most famous is the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, during which Basques ambushed and slaughtered Charlemagne's rearguard after the Franks destroyed the walls of Pamplona. Heavily mythologised from the 11th century on as

6786-649: The west. In 744, Hunald abdicated to his son Waifer , who repeatedly challenged Frankish overlordship. After a campaign against the Umayyads in Septimania , the king Pepin the Short turned his attention to Aquitaine and Waifer, unleashing a devastating war on Aquitaine and Vasconia that was to have dire consequences on its population, towns and society. Waifer and his Basque troops confronted Pepin several times but were defeated thrice in 760, 762, and 766, after which Aquitaine and Vasconia pledged loyalty to Pepin. Waifer

6873-477: The year 660, Felix of Aquitaine , a patrician from Toulouse of Gallo-Roman stock, received the ducal titles of both Vasconia and Aquitaine (located between the Garonne and Loire rivers), effectively ruling independently over Vasconia and at least part of Aquitaine. Under Felix and his successors, Frankish overlordship over these lands became merely nominal, and Vasconia became a prominent regional power. The Ravenna Cosmography cites "Wasconia" as extending up to

6960-408: 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

7047-460: Was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire . Although the full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries and at times comprised much of what is now southwestern ( Gascony ) and central France. The territory originated in 507 as a constituent kingdom of the Frankish kingdom after

7134-581: Was defeated. After taking the throne, Leovigild launched a series of military campaigns around the Iberian Peninsula, taking control from the Vascones (" partes Vasconiae ") in the upper reaches of the Ebro (present-day Álava , possibly up to the north of Castile), and founded a fortress called Victoriacum (dubiously Vitoria-Gasteiz , possibly Iruña-Veleia ). This military push from a stronger centralized authority in Toledo placed more pressure on

7221-506: Was eventually murdered by desperate followers, or possibly by someone bribed by Pepin. Beginning in 778, Charlemagne appointed counts (Bordeaux, Toulouse, Fezensac ) on the bordering lands of Vasconia along the banks of the river Garonne, undermining the influence of the dukes of Vasconia. The Basques, however, found a pivotal ally in the south in the Basque Muslim realm of the Banu Qasi (early 9th century), and enjoyed some safety from

7308-526: Was held by the kings of England . Lord Edward , son of Henry   III and later King Edward   I, was named Duke of Gascony in 1249. On his accession to the throne in 1272, the title was reunited with the kingdom of England and treated as another name for the Duchy of Aquitaine , generally inclusive of Guyenne . Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( Occitan : Ducat d'Aquitània , IPA: [dyˈkad dakiˈtaɲɔ] ; French : Duché d'Aquitaine , IPA: [dyʃe dakitɛn] )

7395-436: Was later annulled on the grounds of consanguinity by a bishop on 21 March 1152, and she kept her lands and title as Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. On 18 May 1152, she married Henry, Duke of Normandy , the son of Empress Matilda , daughter of Henry I of England , and a claimant to the English throne. When he defeated his mother's cousin, King Stephen , in 1153 and became King of England as Henry II, Aquitaine merged with

7482-409: Was succeeded in 918 by his nephew, Count William II , who died in 926. A succession of dukes followed, one of whom, William IV, fought against Hugh Capet , king of France, and another of whom, William V , called the Great, was able to strengthen and extend his authority considerably, although he yielded the proffered Lombard crown rather than fight Conrad II for it. William's duchy almost reached

7569-560: Was the core territory of Roman Gallia Aquitania . By the 2nd century this province was extended to include much of western Roman Gaul as far north as the Loire . Thus, the name of the Aquitani came to be transferred to the territory of central-western France later known as the Duchy of Aquitaine . In 293, Diocletian re-created the original province of Caesar's Aquitania under the name of Novempopulania or Aquitania Tertia . The Vascones were an Iberian people originally inhabiting

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