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80-626: In its broader meaning, the Spanish March sometimes refers to a group of early Iberian and trans-Pyrenean lordships or counts coming under Frankish rule. As time passed, these lordships merged or gained independence from Frankish imperial rule. The area of the Spanish March broadly corresponds to the eastern regions between the Pyrenees and the Ebro . The local population of the march

160-674: A depopulated border region. Such self-sufficient landholders would aid the counts in providing armed men to defend the Frankish frontier . Aprisio grants (the first ones were in Septimania) were given personally by the Carolingian king, so that they reinforced loyalty to central power, to counterbalance the local power exercised by the march's counts. However poor communications and a distant central power allowed these basic feudal , heavily agrarian entities to be self-sufficient. Each

240-650: A high altitude route. In addition, there are numerous marked and unmarked trails throughout the region. Pirena is a dog- mushing competition held in the Pyrenees. Ski resorts in the Pyrenees include: Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages , in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia . It initially included land between

320-698: A marriage alliance ( c.  690 ) between Pippin's son Drogo and Berchar's widow Anstrud of Champagne , Pippin secured his position as mayor of the Neustrian palace. Pippin's descendants, the Carolingians , continued to rule the two realms as mayors. With Pope Stephen II 's blessing, after 751 the Carolingian Pippin the Short formally deposed the Merovingians and took control of

400-505: A maximum altitude of 3,404 metres (11,168 ft) at the peak of Aneto . For the most part, the main crest forms a divide between Spain and France, with the microstate of Andorra sandwiched in between. Historically, the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre extended on both sides of the mountain range. In Greek mythology , Pyrene is a princess who gave her name to the Pyrenees. The Greek historian Herodotus says Pyrene

480-403: A new kind of land grant, the aprisio , which reallocated land previously held by the imperial crown fisc in deserted or abandoned areas. This included special rights and immunities that allowed considerable independence from the imperial control. Historians have interpreted the aprisio both as an early form of feudalism and in economic and military terms as a mechanism to entice settlers to

560-577: A region that could act as a buffer zone against Umayyad expansionism. The peace treaty was sealed with the marriage of the Duke’s daughter to Munuza. However, Munuza was defeated by an Umayyad military expedition in 731 during another Umayyad expansion. The Spanish March was to be the result of the southward expansion of the Frankish realm from its heartland in Neustria and Austrasia starting with Charles Martel in 732 after various decades of fighting between

640-420: A serpent and runs away to the woods, afraid that her father will be angry. Alone, she pours out her story to the trees, attracting the attention of wild beasts who tear her to pieces. After his victory over Geryon, Hercules passes through the kingdom of Bebryx again, finding the girl's lacerated remains. As is often the case in stories of this hero, the sober Hercules responds with heartbroken grief and remorse at

720-592: Is an astronomical observatory located at 2877 metres on top of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre in the French Pyrenees. Construction of the observatory began in 1878 and the 8-metre dome was completed in 1908. The observatory housed a powerful mechanical equatorial reflector which was used in 1909 to formally discredit the Martian canal theory. A 1.06-metre (42 in) telescope was installed in 1963, funded by NASA and

800-510: Is in this part of the chain that granitic masses prevail. Also moving from west to east, there is a change in the composition of the flora, with the change becoming most evident as one passes the centre of the mountain chain from which point the Corbières Massif stretch north-eastwards towards the central plateau of France. Though the difference in latitude is only about 1°, in the west the flora resembles that of central Europe while in

880-472: Is insufficient snowfall to cause their development. Glaciers are confined to the northern slopes of the central Pyrenees, and do not descend, like those of the Alps, far down into the valleys but rather have their greatest lengths along the direction of the mountain chain. They form, in fact, in a narrow zone near the crest of the highest mountains. Here, as in the other great mountain ranges of central Europe, there

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960-407: Is observed at least 50% of the time above 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) between December and April. A still more marked effect of the preponderance of rainfall in the western half of the chain is seen in the vegetation. The lower mountains in the extreme west are wooded, but the extent of forest declines as one moves eastwards. The eastern Pyrenees are peculiarly wild and barren, all the more since it

1040-404: Is simply a corruption of Westria , from West-rike "western realm". In any case, Neustria contrasts with the name Austrasia "eastern realm". The analogy to Austrasia is even more explicit in the variant Neustrasia . Neustria was also employed as a term for northwestern Italy during the period of Lombard domination. It was contrasted with the northeast, which was called Austrasia,

1120-400: Is substantial evidence of a much wider expanse of glaciation during the glacial periods . The best evidence of this is in the valley of Argeles Gazost, between Lourdes and Gavarnie, in the département of Hautes-Pyrénées. The annual snow-line varies in different parts of the Pyrenees from about 2,700 to 2,800 metres (8,900 to 9,200 ft) above sea level. In average the seasonal snow

1200-429: Is the complete list of the summits of the Pyrenees above 3,000 metres: Both sides of the Pyrenees are popular spots for winter sports such as alpine skiing and mountaineering . The Pyrenees are also a good place for athletes to do high-altitude training in the summertime, such as by bicycling and cross-country running. In the summer and the autumn , the Pyrenees are usually featured in two of cycling's grand tours,

1280-551: Is the name of a town in Celtic Europe . According to Silius Italicus , she was the virgin daughter of Bebryx , a king in Mediterranean Gaul by whom the hero Hercules was given hospitality during his quest to steal the cattle of Geryon during his famous Labours . Hercules, characteristically drunk and lustful, violates the sacred code of hospitality and rapes his host's daughter. Pyrene gives birth to

1360-547: Is the only part of the Spanish March that was never incorporated into either France or Spain, a feat mentioned in its national anthem, El Gran Carlemany . Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain . They extend nearly 500 km (310 mi) from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching

1440-603: The Ariège area, the mean elevation is remarkably uniform until a sudden decline occurs in the easternmost portion of the chain known as the Albères . Most foothills of the Pyrenees are on the Spanish side, where there is a large and complex system of ranges stretching from Spanish Navarre , across northern Aragon and into Catalonia, almost reaching the Mediterranean coast with summits reaching 2,600 m (8,500 ft). At

1520-647: The Loire and the Silva Carbonaria , in the north of present-day France , with Paris , Orléans , Tours , Soissons as its main cities. The same term later referred to a smaller region between the Seine and the Loire rivers known as the regnum Neustriae , a constituent subkingdom of the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia . The Carolingian kings also created a March of Neustria which

1600-713: The Pippinid mayor Grimoald the Elder attempted a coup by forcing the Austrasian king Siegebert III to adopt his son Childebert who succeeded as "Childebert the Adopted". Grimoald and his son Childebert were arrested by Neustrian forces and executed in Paris. Clovis II , after this execution, again reunited the Austrasian kingdom with Neustria, although temporarily. During or soon after the reign of Clovis's son Chlothar III ,

1680-616: The Principality of Catalonia centuries later. Other Spanish March counties would later be absorbed into the kingdoms of Aragon or France. Only Andorra , between modern France and Spain, retained its independence. Counties that at various times formed part of the march included Ribagorza (initially including Pallars ), Urgell , Cerdanya , Peralada , Empúries , Besalú , Osona , Barcelona , Girona ("March of Hispania ") and Conflent , Roussillon , Vallespir and Fenouillet ("March of Gothia"). The nominal boundaries attributed to

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1760-740: The Pyrenees National Park ). The independent principality of Andorra is sandwiched in the eastern portion of the mountain range between the Spanish Pyrenees and French Pyrenees . Physiographically , the Pyrenees may be divided into three sections: the Atlantic (or Western), the Central, and the Eastern Pyrenees. Together, they form a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System division. In

1840-731: The Tour de France held annually in July and the Vuelta a España held in September. The stages held in the Pyrenees are often crucial legs of both tours, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the region. Three main long-distance footpaths run the length of the mountain range: the GR 10 across the northern slopes, the GR 11 across the southern slopes, and the HRP which traverses peaks and ridges along

1920-509: The caverns of Ariège, the principal genera of which are Anophthalmus and Adelops . The Pyrenean ibex , an endemic subspecies of the Iberian ibex , became extinct in January 2000; another subspecies, the western Spanish ibex , was introduced into the area, with the population numbering over 400 individuals as of 2020. The native brown bear population was hunted to near-extinction in

2000-501: The 1990s, but its numbers rebounded in 1996 when three bears were brought from Slovenia . The bear population has bred successfully, and there are now believed to be about 15 brown bears in the central region around Fos , with only four native ones still living in the Aspe Valley . Principal nature reserves and national parks: In 1997, part of the Pyrenees (including Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park and Pyrenees National Park)

2080-526: The Atlantic Ocean over the Bay of Biscay . After dropping its moisture over the western and central Pyrenees, the air is left dry over the eastern Pyrenees. The winter average temperature is −2 °C (28 °F). Sections of the mountain range vary in more than one respect. There are some glaciers in the western and snowy central Pyrenees, but there are no glaciers in the eastern Pyrenees because there

2160-556: The Basques to the north of the Pyrenees (790), Frankish overlordship expanded to the upper Ebro (794) and Pamplona (798), when Alfonso II of Asturias also came under Charlemagne's influence. Sobrarbe was not incorporated into the march, as it appears later in history and was probably within the area of influence of the County of Aragon . The death of Charlemagne (814) was followed by a scene of open revolt and Carolingian setbacks around

2240-502: The Carolingian Empire. The local population of the Spanish March was diverse. The majority were Hispano-Romans (Goths) and Basques but there were also Muslims, and Jews from Septimania who repopulated the Frankish conquered easternmost territories of present-day northern Spain and a small portion of southern France. The area changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of the counts appointed to administer

2320-600: The Earth's crust first affected the eastern part and moved progressively to the entire chain, culminating in the Eocene Epoch. The eastern part of the Pyrenees consists largely of granite and gneissose rocks, while in the western part the granite peaks are flanked by layers of limestone . The massive and unworn character of the chain comes from its abundance of granite, which is particularly resistant to erosion , as well as weak glacial development. The upper parts of

2400-516: The Elder connects the story of Hercules and Pyrene to Lusitania , but rejects it as fabulosa , highly fictional. Other classical sources derived the name from the Greek word for fire, Ancient Greek : πῦρ (IPA: /pŷːr/ ). According to Greek historian Diodorus Siculus "in ancient times, we are told, certain herdsmen left a fire and the whole area of the mountains was entirely consumed; and due to this fire, since it raged continuously day after day,

2480-450: The Frankish magnates. This unique relationship for Neustria stressed how it had shrunk in size to definitely exclude the Île de France and Paris by this time, as it was distanced from the central authority of Charles the Bald and closer to that of Erispoe. Louis was the last Frankish monarch to be appointed to Neustria by his father and the practice of creating subkingdoms for sons waned among

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2560-471: The Frankish title marquis (Marquis de Gothie) was chosen. Besides, certain counts aspired to the Frankish title " Prince of Gothia ". A margrave or Marcgravi is a Graf ("duke") of the March. The later Toulousain and Catalan lords, such as Bernard of Septimania , Humfrid , Bernard of Gothia , Borrell II , and Ramon Borrell , inherited these titles. In the early 9th century, Charlemagne began issuing

2640-572: The Franks and Umayyads or "Saracens". The Dukes of Aquitaine (including Vasconia) pledged formal allegiance to the kings of the Franks several times, Odo the Great in 732 and Hunald I in 736 after being defeated, but remained independent. In 737, Charles Martel led an expedition to the lower Rhône and Septimania, possibly seeing that the Umayyad thrust was threatening his grip on Burgundy , which had just been subdued in 736, but he failed to keep

2720-562: The Gothic and the Spanish marches vary in time and not without confusion. Also, Navarre and Aragon have sometimes been depicted as being within the Spanish March, but formally they were not. However, they came under Carolingian overlordship between 794 and 806 as part of the Duchy of Vasconia ( Gascony ). With the exception of the Visigothic province of Septimania and some territories in

2800-732: The Northwest margin of Gondwana , where they formed a lateral continuity of neighbouring areas, such as the Montagne Noire and the Mouthoumet massifs and Southwestern territory of Sardinia . Between 100 and 150 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period, the Bay of Biscay fanned out , pushing present-day Spain against France and applying intense compressional pressure to large layers of sedimentary rock . The intense pressure and uplifting of

2880-577: The Pyrenees contain low-relief surfaces forming a peneplain . This peneplain originated no earlier than in Late Miocene times. Presumably it formed at height as extensive sedimentation raised the local base level considerably. Conspicuous features of Pyrenean scenery are: The highest waterfall is Gavarnie (462 m or 1,515 ft), at the head of the Gave de Pau ; the Cirque de Gavarnie , in

2960-647: The Pyrenees. After being defeated by the Moors in the 816 Battle of Pancorbo , Pamplona, now led by the Basque lord Iñigo Arista broke away from the Spanish March, with the County of Aragon following suit shortly thereafter in 820. The counties to the south, which were used by the Moors to enter and overrun Visigothic Septimania in 719, became, at this point, a natural extension of the March of Gothia ruled by local counts under

3040-836: The Romans), statuary white marbles as well as coloured marbles used to decorate the royal palaces of the Louvre and Versailles in France and the Royal Palace of Madrid in Spain. Mineral springs are abundant and remarkable, and especially noteworthy are the hot springs . The hot springs, among which those of Les Escaldes in Andorra, Panticosa and Lles in Spain, Ax-les-Thermes , Bagnères-de-Luchon and Eaux-Chaudes in France may be mentioned, are sulfurous and mostly situated high, near

3120-463: The Spanish March changed with the fortunes of the empires and the feudal ambitions of those, whether counts or walis , who were appointed to administer the counties. Though owing loyalty to the Carolingian monarch, the counts became largely autonomous. Out of the welter of counties in the march, many would be absorbed by more powerful counties, leading to the predominance of the County of Barcelona, from which, along with its vassal counties, would emerge

3200-469: The Spanish March. The march included various outlying smaller territories, each ruled by a lesser miles with his armed retainers and who theoretically owed allegiance through the count to the emperor. The rulers of the counties were called counts and when they governed several counties they often took the title of duke (Dux Gothiae). When the county formed the border with the Muslim Kingdom,

3280-802: The St. Albans chronicler Thomas Walsingham in his Ypodigma Neustriae). Louis was chased from Le Mans in 858 following the assassination of Erispoe in November 857. The chief contemporary chronicles written from a Neustrian perspective are the History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours , the Book of the History of the Franks , the Annals of St-Bertin , the Annals of St-Vaast , the Annals by Flodoard of Reims , and

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3360-716: The Western Pyrenees, from the Basque mountains near the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean, the average elevation gradually increases from west to east. The Central Pyrenees extend eastward from the Somport pass to the Aran Valley , and they include the highest summits of this range: In the Eastern Pyrenees, with the exception of one break at the eastern extremity of the Pyrénées Ariégeoises in

3440-407: The actions of his darker self, and lays Pyrene to rest tenderly, demanding that the surrounding geography join in mourning and preserve her name: "struck by Herculean voice, the mountaintops shudder at the ridges; he kept crying out with a sorrowful noise 'Pyrene!' and all the rock-cliffs and wild-beast haunts echo back 'Pyrene!' ... The mountains hold on to the wept-over name through the ages." Pliny

3520-401: The area are Spanish, French, Aragonese , Catalan (in Andorra and in Northern and Southern Catalonia ), and Basque . Also spoken, to a lesser degree, is the Occitan language , consisting of the Gascon and Languedocien dialects in France and the Aranese dialect in the Aran Valley . An important feature of rural life in the Pyrenees is ' transhumance ', the moving of livestock from

3600-410: The contact of the granite with the stratified rocks. The lower springs, such as those of Bagnères-de-Bigorre ( Hautes-Pyrénées ), Rennes-les-Bains ( Aude ), and Campagne-sur-Aude (Aude), are mostly selenitic and not hot. The amount of precipitation the range receives, including rain and snow, is much greater in the western than in the eastern Pyrenees because of the moist air that blows in from

3680-424: The counties. As Frankish imperial power waned, the rulers of the March of Hispania became independent fiefs. Most of the region would later become part of Catalonia. Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious took Barcelona from its Moorish ruler in 801, thus securing Frankish power in the borderland between the Franks and the Moors. The Counts of Barcelona then became the principal representatives of Frankish authority in

3760-426: The county of Girona (with Besalú ) to the south of the Pyrenees was taken. Ribagorza and Pallars were linked to Toulouse and were added to this county circa 790. Urgell and Cerdanya were added in 798. The first records of the county of Empúries (with Perelada ) are from 812 but the county was probably under Frankish control before 800. Pepin's son, Charlemagne, fulfilled the Carolingian goal of extending

3840-497: The defensive boundaries of the empire beyond Septimania, creating a strong barrier between the Umayyad Caliphate and Francia, besides tightening control over the Duchy of Vasconia by establishing the Kingdom of Aquitaine , ruled by his son Louis the Pious in 781. After a series of struggles the County of Barcelona (with Ausona ) was taken by Frankish forces in 801. A number of castles were established in Aragon between 798 and 802 (appointment by Count Aureolus ). After subduing

3920-408: The dynasty of Neustria, like that of Austrasia before it, ceded authority to its own mayor of the palace. In 678, Neustria, under Mayor Ebroin , subdued the Austrasians for the last time. Ebroin was murdered in 680. In 687, Pippin of Herstal , mayor of the palace of the King of Austrasia, defeated the Neustrians at Tertry . Neustria's mayor Berchar was assassinated shortly afterwards and following

4000-473: The east it is distinctly Mediterranean in character. The Pyrenees are nearly as rich in endemic species as the Alps, and among the most remarkable instances of that endemism is the occurrence of the monotypic genus Xatardia (family Apiaceae ), which grows only on a high alpine pass between the Val d'Eynes and Catalonia . Other examples include Arenaria montana , Bulbocodium vernum , and Ranunculus glacialis . The genus most abundantly represented in

4080-476: The eastern end on the southern side lies a distinct area known as the Sub-Pyrenees . On the French side the slopes of the main range descend abruptly and there are no foothills except in the Corbières Massif in the northeastern corner of the mountain system. The Pyrenees are older than the Alps : their sediments were first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. During Ediacaran to Ordovician times, Pyrenees were located at

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4160-511: The eastern portion of the Frankish Kingdom . Despite the wars, Neustria and Austrasia re-united briefly on several occasions. The first was under Clotaire I during his reign from 558 to 562. The struggle for power continued with Queen Fredegund of Neustria, the widow of King Chilperic I (reigned 566–584) and the mother of the new king Clotaire II (reigned 584–628), unleashing a bitter war. After his mother's death and burial in Saint Denis Basilica near Paris in 597, Clotaire II continued

4240-573: The effect of thermal shocks. No big cities are in the range itself. The largest urban area close to the Pyrenees is Toulouse ( Haute-Garonne ), France with a population of 1,330,954 in its metropolitan area. On the Spanish side Pamplona ( Navarre ) is the closest city, with a population of 319,208 in its metropolitan area. Inside the Pyrenees the main towns are Andorra la Vella (22,256) and Escaldes-Engordany (14,367) in Andorra, Jaca (12,813) and La Seu d'Urgell (12,252) in Spain, and Lourdes (13,976) and Foix (10,046) in France. The following

4320-438: The empire, he and his descendants ruling as kings. Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy then became united under one authority and, although it would split once again into various eastern and western divisions, the names "Neustria" and "Austrasia" gradually fell out of use. In 748, the brothers Pepin the Short and Carloman gave their younger brother Grifo twelve counties in Neustria centred on that of Le Mans . This polity

4400-443: The farms in the valleys up to the higher grounds of the mountains for the summer. In this way the farming communities could keep larger herds than the lowland farms could support on their own. The principal animals moved were cows and sheep , but historically most members of farming families also moved to the higher pastures along with their animals, so they also took with them pigs , horses and chickens . Transhumance thus took

4480-537: The foot of Canigou in Pyrénées-Orientales long ago. Coal deposits capable of being profitably worked are situated chiefly on the Spanish slopes, but the French side has beds of lignite . The open pit of Trimoun near the commune of Luzenac (Ariège) is one of the greatest sources of talc in Europe. There are many marble quarries in the Pyrenees, most of which were opened by the Romans in ancient times. Quarried intermittently, they provided prestigious marbles such as Grand Antique (used in Rome and Constantinople by

4560-456: The form of a mass biannual migration, moving uphill in May or June and returning to the farms in September or October. During the summer period, the families would live in basic stone cabins in the high mountains. Nowadays, industrialisation and changing agriculture practices have diminished the custom. However, the importance of transhumance continues to be recognised through its celebration in popular festivals. The Pic du Midi Observatory

4640-402: The kings Lothair and Hugh Capet failed to assist him in the defense of the county against Muslim leader al-Mansur , although the change of dynasty may have played a part in that decision; meanwhile other counties maintained links with the Frankish crown for a longer time. The early history of Andorra in the Pyrenees provides a fairly typical example of a lordship of the region, as Andorra

4720-454: The largest telescope in France. Overtaken by the giant telescopes built in recent decades, today the observatory is widely open to amateur astronomy. The Odeillo solar furnace is the world's largest solar furnace. It is situated in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales , in south of France. Built between 1962 and 1968, it is 54 metres (177 ft) and 48 metres (157 ft) wide, and includes 63 heliostats. The site

4800-438: The later Carolingians. In 861, the Carolingian king Charles the Bald created the Marches of Neustria that were ruled by officials appointed by the crown, known as wardens , prefects or margraves . Originally, there were two marches, one against the Bretons and one against the Norsemen , often called the Breton March and Norman March respectively. In 911, Robert I of France became margrave of both Marches and took

4880-400: The major part of Charles West Frankish kingdom carved out of the Empire by the Treaty of Verdun (843). Charles continued the tradition of appointing an elder son to reign in Neustria with his own court at Le Mans when he made Louis the Stammerer king in 856. Louis married the daughter of the King of Brittany , Erispoe , and received the regnum from the Breton monarch with the consent of

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4960-514: The mountains of northern Hispania , the Umayyad conquest of the Visgothic Kingdom of Hispania was largely complete by 718. In 719, the Umayyad forces of al-Samh ibn Malik bypassed the Pyrenees by marching along the Mediterranean coast to conquer Septimania and established a fortified base at the city of Narbonne. Umayyad control of this frontier province was secured by offering the local population generous terms, intermarriage between ruling families , and treaties. Further Umayyad expansion northward

5040-490: The passes at Somport, Envalira, and Puymorens and new routes in the center of the range at Bielsa and Vielha . A notable visual feature of this mountain range is La Brèche de Roland , a gap in the ridge line, which – according to legend – was created by Roland . The metallic ores of the Pyrenees are not in general of much importance now, though there were iron mines at several locations in Andorra , as well as at Vicdessos in Ariège, and

5120-593: The range is that of the saxifrages , several species of which are endemic here. In their fauna the Pyrenees present some striking instances of endemism . The Pyrenean desman is found only in some of the streams of the northern slopes of these mountains; the only other desman , the Russian desman , is confined to the Volga river basin in southern Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The Pyrenean brook salamander ( Calotriton asper ), an endemic amphibian, also lives in streams and lakes located at high altitudes. Among other peculiarities of Pyrenean fauna are blind insects in

5200-412: The region. Both Aquitaine and Septimania were still out of Frankish control after Charles's death, but Pepin the Short was determined to subdue southern Gaul . In 759, after conquering Septimania from the Umayyads, the Carolingian king focused all his might in crushing Aquitanian resistance to central Frankish power. After a ruthless war of eight years, Aquitainian independence came to an end. Toulouse

5280-432: The royal court of Charles was established. Under the Carolingian dynasty , the chief duty of the Neustrian king was to defend the sovereignty of the Franks over the Bretons. In 817, Louis the Pious granted Neustria to his eldest son Lothair I , but following his rebellion in 831, he gave it to Pepin I of Aquitaine , and following the latter's death in 838, to Charles the Bald . Neustria, along with Aquitaine , formed

5360-466: The same term as given to eastern Francia . The predecessor to Neustria was a Roman rump state, the Kingdom of Soissons . In 486 its ruler, Syagrius , lost the Battle of Soissons to the Frankish king Clovis I and the domain was thereafter under the control of the Franks. Constant re-divisions of territories by Clovis's descendants resulted in many rivalries that, for more than two hundred years, kept Neustria in almost constant warfare with Austrasia,

5440-429: The same valley, together with the nearby Cirque de Troumouse and Cirque d'Estaubé , are notable examples of the cirque formation. Low passes are lacking, and the principal roads and the railroads between France and Spain run only in the lowlands at the western and eastern ends of the Pyrenees, near sea level. The main passes of note are: Because of the lack of low passes a number of tunnels have been created, beneath

5520-479: The struggle against Queen Brunhilda , and finally triumphed in 613 when Brunhilda's followers betrayed the old queen into his hands. Clotaire had Brunhilda put to the rack and stretched for three days, then chained between four horses and eventually ripped limb from limb. Clotaire now ruled a united realm, but only for a short time as he made his son Dagobert I king of Austrasia. Dagobert's accession in Neustria resulted in another temporary unification. In Austrasia

5600-568: The surface of the earth was also burned and the mountains, because of what had taken place, were called the Pyrenees." The Spanish Pyrenees are part of the following provinces , from east to west: Girona , Barcelona , Lleida (all in Catalonia ), Huesca (in Aragon ), Navarra (in Navarre ). The French Pyrenees are part of the following départements , from east to west: Pyrénées-Orientales (also known as Northern Catalonia ), Aude , Ariège , Haute-Garonne , Hautes-Pyrénées , and Pyrénées-Atlantiques (the latter two of which include

5680-534: The title demarchus . His family, the later Capetians , ruled the whole of Neustria until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected to the kingship. The subsidiary counts of Neustria had exceeded the margrave in power by that time and the peak of Viking and Breton raiding had passed. After the Capetian Miracle , no further margraves were appointed and "Neustria" was eclipsed as a European political term (present, however, in some Anglo-Norman chronicles and revived as synonymous with English possession of Normandy under Henry V by

5760-635: Was a frontier duchy against the Bretons and Vikings that lasted until the Capetian monarchy in the late 10th century, when the term was eclipsed as a European political or geographical term. The name Neustria is mostly explained as "new western land", although Taylor (1848) suggested the interpretation of "northeastern land". Nordisk familjebok (1913) even suggested "not the eastern land" ( icke östland ). Augustin Thierry (1825) assumed Neustria

5840-437: Was chosen because of the length and the quality of sunshine with direct light (more than 2,500 h/year) and the purity of its atmosphere (high altitude and low average humidity). This furnace serves as a science research site studying materials at very high temperatures. Temperatures above 3,500 °C (6,330 °F) can be obtained in a few seconds; in addition, it provides rapid temperature changes and therefore allows studying

5920-661: Was diverse. It included Basques in its northwestern valleys, the Jews of Occitania , and a large Occitano-Romance-speaking population governed by the Visigothic Code , all of them under the influence of al-Andalus since their lords had vowed allegiance to the Umayyad Córdoban rulers in 719, until King Pepin the Short of Francia conquered Septimania in 759 . The Pyrenean valleys started to switch loyalties after 785 ( Girona , Ribagorza , etc.). The territory of

6000-709: Was halted by al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlanis defeat at the Battle of Toulouse in 721. Wālis were installed in Girona and Barcelona . Umayyad forces based in Septimania then launched raids on their neighbours to the north and east, reaching as far as Autun . Peace was signed in 730 between the victor at Toulouse, the Duke of Aquitaine , and Munuza , a Berber rebel Muslim lord based in Cerdanya (in current-day Catalonia),

6080-509: Was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its spectacular geologic landforms and testimony to the unique " transhumance " agricultural system. The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, folklore and history: see Andorra ; Aragon ; Ariège ; Basque Country ; Béarn ; Catalonia ; Navarre ; Roussillon . For their history, see also Almogavars , Marca Hispanica . The principal languages spoken in

6160-582: Was now under the grip of the new Carolingian king, Charlemagne, and access to al-Andalus was open to him despite sporadic rebellions in Vasconia over the next two decades (Basques subdued in 790 by Charlemagne's new loyal strongman in Toulouse, William of Gellone ). The first county to be established by the Franks from the territory taken from the Muslims was Roussillon (with Vallespir ) circa 760. In 785

6240-556: Was ruled by a small hereditary military elite. For example, the first Count of Barcelona Bera was appointed by the King in 801, however subsequently strong heirs were able to inherit the title such as Sunifred , fl. 844–848. This gradually became custom until countship became hereditary (for Wifred the Hairy in 897). The County of Barcelona became de facto independent under count Borrell II , when he ceased to request royal charters after

6320-471: Was termed the ducatus Cenomannicus , or Duchy of Maine, and this was an alternative name for the regnum of Neustria well into the 9th century. The term "Neustria" took on the meaning of "land between the Seine and Loire " when it was given as a regnum ( kingdom ) by Charlemagne to his second son, Charles the Younger , in 790. At this time, the chief city of the kingdom appears to be Le Mans, where

6400-503: Was used to take detailed photographs of the surface of the Moon in preparation for the Apollo missions. Other studies conducted in 1965 provided a detailed analysis of the composition of the atmospheres on Mars and Venus, this served as a basis for Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists to predict that these planets had no life. Since 1980, the observatory has had a 2-metre telescope, which is

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