Duchy of Gascony

Formation Gascony 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 river. 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 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 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 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 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. Early Frankish period (602–660) 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 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 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 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 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 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 Zaragoza. 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. Personal union with Aquitaine (660–769) In 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 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 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 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 the Duchy of Vasconia and Aquitaine more or less independently, about the same as before, until his death c. 735. though some sources say he was only captured and later deposed by 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. Basque duchy of Gascony (864–1053) 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 the Frankish Kingdom. England lost Gascony as a result of its defeat in the Hundred Years' War, and the region thence became a permanent part of France. Geopolitical evolution {{gallery ==Feudal status==

Under the Basque line of dukes that began in 864, Gascony became effectively independent of 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 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 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 the cause of the Plantagenets. ==Extent during the Early Frankish period==

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 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 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 the 7th-8th centuries to an expansion of the Basques from their assumed original habitations around the Pyrenees. ==Social organisation during the Early Frankish period==

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 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. ==Dukes and counts of Vasconia==

The names of 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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). Frankish and native dukes • Genial (602-626) • Aeghyna (626-638) • Felix (660s) • Lupus I (670-676 or possibly until 710 in Vasconia only) • Odo the Great (or Eudes) (688-735), his reign commenced perhaps as late as 692, 700, 710 or 715, unclear parentage. • Hunald I (735-748), son of previous, abdicated to monastery, may have returned later (see below). • Waifer (or Gaifier) (748-767), son of previous. • Hunald II (767-769), either Hunald I returning or a different Hunald, fled to Lupus II of Gascony and was handed over to Charlemagne. House of Gascony In 852, Sans II, from the rebel county, eventually reunited Gascony and regained the ducal title. House of Poitiers • Eudes (1032–1039) House of Armagnac • Bernat II (1039–1052) House of Poitiers After 1053, the title of duke of Gascony was held by the dukes of Aquitaine. • Guy Geoffrey (William VIII of Aquitaine) (1052–1086) • William IX of Aquitaine (1086–1126) • William X of Aquitaine (1126–1137) • Eleanor of Aquitaine (1137–1204) House of Plantagenet After 1204, the title of Duke of Gascony was held by the kings of England. Lord Edward, son of HenryIII and later King EdwardI, 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. ==See also==