Duchy of Gascony
The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia[2] was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed to hold sway over the Basques. However, the duchy went through different periods, from its early years with its distinctively Basque element to the merger in personal union with the Duchy of Aquitaine to the later period as a dependency of the Plantagenet kings of England.
Duchy of Gascony
Genial
Sancho VI William of Gascony
William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine
Edward the Black Prince
602
1453
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.
Feudal status[edit]
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.[10]
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.[11]
Extent during the Early Frankish period[edit]
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.[12] 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.[13]: 94–96 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.[6]: 96 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[edit]
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.[7]: 7–8 As for the judicial system, neither the Visigoth law nor Roman law seem to have been in use in the Duchy of Vasconia,[7]: 8 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.