Auñamendi Eusko EntziklopediaFund Bernardo Estornés Lasa

The Viscounty of Soule (Zuberoa)

The circumstances of the birth of the Viscounty of Zuberoa are unknown. It is likely that the isolation of this “pays” in the heart of the Pyrenean chain contributed to the establishment of this lordship, which enjoyed de facto autonomy and alodiality (in franc-alleu). According to Jaurgain, Guillaume Fort, viscount, in part of Lavedan (he shared this office with his brother García), was invested with the viscounty of Zuberoa around 1023 by Sancho William, Duke of Gascony. He is the first known viscount (La Vasconie, I, 87-90; II, 457-481).

Connection to the Diocese of Oloron

Raymond William, called “Salamace,” the second viscount of Zuberoa, succeeded his father around 1040. A few years later, around 1058, Centule IV the Elder, Viscount of Béarn, was killed by the Souletins, and the Béarnais prepared to invade Zuberoa. Raymond William then decided to retire to his lands in Lavedan. To do so, he had to pass through the diocese of Oloron. The bishop of that place, his cousin Stephen of Lavedan, took the opportunity to force him to separate Zuberoa from the diocese of Dax, returning it to its original diocese. A few years later, the Souletins made peace with their Béarnais neighbors, and Raymond William was able to return to his viscounty. Around 1078, he signed a treaty with Centule V the Younger, Viscount of Béarn, in which he undertook to defend him against all except the King of Pamplona and the Count of Gascony (Jaurgain, op. cit.), thus recognizing his overlordship.

Conflicts with the Béarnais

William Raymond, called William Fort II, became the third viscount of Zuberoa upon his father’s death around 1085. On September 18, 1086, William Geoffrey, Duke of Gascony, ceded his sovereign rights over Zuberoa to Centule V, and the Viscount of Béarn then demanded that William Fort come to pay him homage at Navarrenx. Upon his refusal, Centule invaded Zuberoa and granted the fuero of Oloron to the inhabitants of Montory. At the death of Centule V in 1090, William Fort formed an alliance with the Viscount of Dax to reconquer the lands seized by the Viscount of Béarn. The struggle was bloody and lasted until 1105, but William Fort recovered his lands. See Béarn.

Relations with Navarre

With Gassion, 4th Viscount of Zuberoa, son of William Fort II, who succeeded him around 1120, ties with Navarre were strengthened. He entered the service of Alfonso the Battler, King of Pamplona and Aragon (1104-1134), to whom he paid homage at Morlaas, along with the Count of Bigorre, in 1122. The latter granted him the lordship of Belorado in 1125, making him a ricohomme (Jaurgain, op. cit.). Ricohommes were the highest-ranking officials of the kingdom, above knights, members of the royal council, and honored to command the cavalry composed of gentlemen.

Alfonso the Battler built a castle in Zuberoa; E. Goyhenetche (1979, 70 and 132) believes it was Mauléon. In this case, it should be interpreted as reinforcing an already existing castle, likely built on the site of an ancient oppidum, itself erected on a protohistoric structure. Gassion was the father of Auger I, 5th Viscount of Zuberoa, who succeeded him and left the viscounty to his daughter Navarra, 6th Viscountess of Zuberoa and wife of Auger de Miramont. It was at this time that Zuberoa came under English sovereignty.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

The Duke of Aquitaine remained the sovereign of the lands the Loire and the Pyrenees. Guy-Geoffroy (1058-1086) was succeeded by William IX the Troubadour (1086-1127) and William X (1127-1137). The latter, who had designated his daughter Eleanor as heir, had ed before his death that the Kings of France marry her. Thus, in 1137, Eleanor married Louis, heir to the Kingdom of France, bringing as dowry Poitou, Aquitaine, and Gascony, and three months later Eleanor became Queen of France. During her Crusade in Palestine, disputes arose the spouses, and in 1152 Louis VII annulled the marriage. That same year, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Count of Maine and Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and two years later he was crowned King of England as Henry II (Dupuy, 1973; Pernoud, 1965). See Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Franco-English Rivalry

Thus, Zuberoa, Aquitaine, and Gascony became vassals of England for three centuries. The domains of the new couple formed a state encompassing half of France. The Kings of France and England, previously rivals, became enemies. Indeed, vassal to the King of France for his continental possessions, Henry Plantagenet was, as King of England, equal to his sovereign in dignity and power. From this ambiguous situation arose an almost permanent state of war until 1453. Thanks to its geographically peripheral position, Zuberoa suffered less from this Franco-English rivalry than other regions, though it could not completely avoid the conflicts or maintain full independence.

Table of Viscounts of Zuberoa and Dukes of Aquitaine

Strengthening Ties with Navarra

In its early years, the English administration respected the local institutions, and the viscounts continued to govern Soule as they had before. Bernard Sancho, 7th Viscount of Soule, succeeded his aunt, Navarra, around 1170 and died in 1178. Raymond William II, his distant uncle, succeeded him as the 8th Viscount of Soule. From him onwards, we see the ties with Navarra strengthen even further, undoubtedly to counterbalance English influence (Goyhenetche, Op. cit., 70 and 132). In 1196, he went to Olite to submit a dispute with Gaston VI, Viscount of Béarn, to the judgment of Sancho the Strong, King of Navarra (Jaurgain, 1898, I, 87-90; II, 457-481). He died in 1200, leaving his son, Raymond William III, 9th Viscount of Soule, as his heir. Raymond William III witnessed the homage paid to Sancho the Strong by Vivien II, Lord of Gramont, in 1203. The following year, Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, invaded Soule and Labourd, claiming the rihts of his wife over Gascony. Indeed, he had married Eleanor, daughter of King Henry II. An alliance the King of Navarra and John Lackland, King of England, forced the King of Castile to abandon his enterprise, and Soule remained under English control.

Navarra and England

Raymond William III was succeeded by his son, Raymond William IV, 10th Viscount of Soule. In 1234, he swore an oath of vassalage to Theobald I, King of Navarra, and rendered homage to him for the castle of Mauléon, promising to fight for him against all his enemies, except the King of England (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). He died in 1244 and was the father of Raymond William V, 11th Viscount of Soule, who would openly oppose the king-duke, Henry III. Until then, the Souletins had no complaints regarding the English guardianship, which was quite liberal and respected local customs and institutions. The English were far away and preoccupied with other matters on the continent. However, the viscounts, accustomed to near-absolute independence—like those of Labourd or their neighbors in Béarn—did not easily accept this division of power. Labourd was the first to yield, and from 1193 onwards, the viscounts were replaced by bailiffs appointed by the king. The viscounts of Béarn gradually regained their sovereignty, which became firmly established under Gaston Fébus (1343–1391) (Tucoo-Chala, 1981). The Viscounts of Soule resisted the two, but eventually they too had to give way.

English Difficulties on the Continent

The continental domain of the Plantagenets had shrunk, like shrinking skin, under the attacks of the Capetians. In 1204, Philip Augustus took Normandy from John Lackland, son of Eleanor and Philip II; the following year, he took Anjou and Touraine. In 1224, it was Louis VIII who subdued Poitou and Saintonge; only Aquitaine remained with Henry III. Finally, in 1242, Henry III tried to recover La Rochelle but was defeated at Taillebourg by Louis IX, future Saint Louis, and retreated to Bordeaux. Did Raymond William V participate in these battles alongside the English? This is unknown, but in 1242 and 1243 he received several summons for military service. He was also invited to pay homage to Henry III in Bordeaux in 1243 and to appear at the court of Saint-Sever to present his grievances and receive justice (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). In fact, his allegiance leaned more towards Navarra, and on 13 July 1244, he renewed before Theobald I the homage his father had rendered ten years earlier, even promising to aid him if the King of England invaded his lands (Moret, Annales..., L. 21).

(The original Latin/Old French text of the oath can remain untranslated or translated if desired.)

First Clashes with the English

The defeat at Taillebourg and the weakness of Henry III encouraged revolts by the Gascon lords, and by 1245 there was widespread anarchy from the Garonne to the Pyrenees. The Viscount of Béarn, Gaston VII, involved Raymond Arnaud of Tartas, Viscount of Dax, Raymond William, Viscount of Soule, the Lords of Gramont, and the Navarrese in a league that devastated Labourd. The disorder was such that Henry III reacted and in 1248 entrusted the task of restoring order to his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, known for his uncompromising character. He established a court of justice at Saint-Sever where he summoned the rebellious Gascon lords. Gramont was captured and imprisoned; the Viscount of Soule abstained from appearing, and Gaston of Béarn obtained a one-year truce (Lober and Laborde, 1927: 5–34). Raymond William had retreated to his castle of Mauléon. The count’s men attacked and took it, and the Viscount of Soule had to submit, sign peace with the English in 1252, and pledge to pay a ransom of 10,000 Morlan sols (Jaurgain, loc. cit.).

The Castle of Mauléon

Simon de Montfort thus ended the uprising of the Gascon lords with great severity, and in 1251, Gascon representatives went to the English court to complain about him. To appease them, Henry III removed the government of Gascony from him in 1252 and granted it to his eldest son, Prince Edward, already invested with the Duchy of Aquitaine in 1249. Edward possessed some well-positioned castles to secure his duchy, but they were insufficient. Hence his policy of strengthening his defensive through purchases, exchanges, or confiscation. The castle of Mauléon occupied a strategic position Navarra, Aragon, and Béarn (Trabut-Cussac, 1972), which undoubtedly explains the ferocity used to seize it, especially since only limited trust could be placed in the Viscount of Soule, who merely sought to escape English sovereignty.

War and the 1256 Treaty

On 23 October 1254, Prince Edward granted Guillaume Arnaud de Tardets, Bailiff of Labourd and a trusted English agent, the administration of Soule until Raymond William paid the owed sum (Trabut-Cussac, 1972). The Viscount of Soule did not accept this guardianship, and new incidents occurred in 1255. Finally, a peace treaty was concluded Raymond William and the Seneschal of Gascony, Étienne Longue-Épée, on 28 September 1256. Each party swore to respect the peace—towards each other and toward Prince Edward. Additionally, as atonement for his offenses, the Viscount of Soule promised to send knights Guillaume Arnaud de Sibas and Bertrand de Uhart, as well as young nobles Sancho Arnaud de Ruthie and García Arnaud de Charritte, on a pilgrimage abroad (Bémont, 1914).

Death of Raymond William

Unfortunately, peace lasted only briefly, as Prince Edward was determined to possess the castle of Mauléon. On 24 August 1257, at Sauveterre de Guyenne, García Arnaud, Lord of Naveilles and Laguinge, swore to

"assist the King of England and his son, Prince Edward, in occupying and guarding the Viscounty of Soule and the Castle of Mauléon, even by waging war with them"

(Bémont, Op. cit.).

This marks one of the saddest events in the history of the Viscounts. García Arnaud de Naveilles and Seneschal Longue-Épée invaded Soule and seized the castle of Béloscar de Aroue. Raymond William perished, fighting to defend his land, in 1257 (Jaurgain, loc. cit.).

New Peace Treaty

The widow of Raymond William V, Viscountess Marquesa, and her children continued the struggle, but the Viscount of Béarn intervened, and a new peace was concluded on 11 October 1257 at Mauléon.

"Étienne Longue-Épée, Seneschal of Gascony for Prince Edward, promises to uphold and enforce on the prince’s behalf the agreements made in his name by Gaston, Viscount of Béarn, with Doña Na Marquesa, Viscountess of Soule, and N. Auger, her son. In turn, Auger promises to behave loyally toward the prince and to go to England to have the peace concluded with the seneschal ratified before mid-Lent. If the agreement is not ratified, Gaston of Béarn will return the Castle of Mauléon to Auger of Soule and that of Béloscar, together with Soule, to the seneschal"

(Bémont, loc. cit.).

It is clear that this agreement already implied the cession of the Castle of Mauléon and the Viscounty of Soule to Prince Edward.

Auger Cedes the Viscounty in 1261

Auger, son of Raymond William, 12th and last Viscount of Soule from the Mauléon family, succeeded his father in 1257 and resumed the war against the English the following year. On 12 December 1258, B. García, Lord of Osserain, handed over his castle to Ispan de Domezain, representative of Prince Edward, for the entire duration of the Mauléon war. He pledged loyalty to the prince and his men (Lober and Laborde, Bémont, loc. cit.). Auger defended his small domain so valiantly that Seneschal Longue-Épée and his troops had to evacuate it (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). But Prince Edward did not abandon his plan to occupy the castle of Mauléon. In 1260, he traveled to Gascony to handle various affairs, and on 28 October 1261, Gaillard del Soler, responsible for keeping King Henry III informed of his son’s activities, wrote to him:

"Know, most excellent lord, that Prince Edward is in very good health and prospering, and that he has perfectly settled his affairs in Gascony, thanks be to God. Gaston of Béarn is with him, and both have proceeded to the castle of Mauléon"

(A.D.P.A., E 355).

On 3 November, Prince Edward appeared in person before Mauléon, where he had summoned his forces. Following this of military strength and papal intervention, which allowed him to save face, Auger yielded to force and ceded his viscounty to Prince Edward on 3 November 1261, in exchange for the villages of Laharie, Saubusse, Saas, and Angoumé, as well as the land of Marensin (Bémont, loc. cit.).

Guyenne
Labourd thus passed under the direct administration of the king-duke. Meanwhile, Henry III had signed with Saint Louis, in December 1259, the Treaty of Paris, by which he renounced all claims over Normandy, Aunis, and Anjou, and recognized his vassalage to the king of France for Gascony. From that moment, the territory assigned to the English came to be called Guyenne. As for Auger de Mauléon, we will find him in the service of the king of Navarre. On August 27, 1274, he attended, as a knight and wealthy man, the assembly of the Estates of that country (Jaurgain, Op. cit., t.II). Edward had succeeded his father Henry III to the throne of England in 1272. During the following two years, he personally conducted an inquiry into his Gascon domain, which revealed to him that it was poorly protected and that his authority was weakening, particularly where it was not very visible (Trabut-Cussac, Op. cit.). He considered it necessary to reinforce the defensive capacities of his fortresses and set to work. This is how he ordered ed repairs and fortifications of the castle of Mauléon.

The Bastides
But fortresses alone were not enough to protect the duchy in the border regions. It was also necessary to have towns whose inhabitants, through their loyalty and activity, would form the basis for the expansion of the king-duke’s power. New towns or bastides were created: Bonnegarde in 1283, Hastingues in 1289, Sorde in 1290 (Trabut-Cussac, 1954). While Labourd was part of English Gascony, Béarn, by contrast, had ended up constituting a sovereign state in the 13th century. In this way, the bastides created by the king-duke appeared as additional surveillance posts on the Anglo-Béarnese border (Tucoo-Chala, 1973). The viscounts of Béarn also created a large number of bastides 1281 and 1357, near the borders: Bellocq, Labastide-Villefranche, Garlin, Nay, Montaut, Lestelle. Their creation pursued the same objective as that of the king of England:

"to ensure the settlement of strategically important points to defend Béarn against ever-possible invasions"
(Tucoo-Chala, Op. cit.).

The Bastide of Mauléon
It is in this context of permanent insecurity on the Anglo-Béarnese border that the creation of two bastides in Labourd must be placed: Villeneuve-les-Tardets in 1299 and Mauléon. The first was created by Auger de Mauléon upon his return to Labourd and his attempt at independence. He hoped to still exploit the rivalries the kings of France and England to maintain himself in his country. The outcome revealed that he lacked the stature to oppose the king-duke. As for the bastide of Mauléon, unfortunately we do not know the date of its construction. It is mentioned in 1387 by a notary of Navarrenx: "Lo marcadiu et bastide de Mauléon" (Raymond, 1863), but its origin undoubtedly falls within the movement of creating new towns, 1281 and 1360. In this regard, an interesting document exists in the Departmental Archives of Haute-Garonne. Dated June 4, 1373, it is an authorization granted to the inhabitants of Mauléon, in the diocese of Oloron, to erect a chapel within the town’s enclosure, which, depending on the Order of Saint John, would be annexed to the parish church. Construction and maintenance costs were to be borne by the inhabitants. The , written in the vernacular, was accompanied by the favorable recommendation of the bishop and the approval of the chapter (Pasquier, 1927).

The Church of the Upper Town
This document thus confirms that the town of Mauléon predates 1373. If its inhabitants wanted a chapel within the town, it was because Saint John of Berraute, which served as the parish church, was quite far from the borough. The reason is that it belonged to the commandery of Saint John of Jerusalem, much older than the bastide of Mauléon, as we have already seen. The new church, located in the heart of the borough which the Mauleonais today call Haute-Ville, would only be an annex of Saint John of Berraute and would therefore depend, like it, on the Order of Malta. Dedicated to Our Lady, it was remodeled over the centuries, probably taking in the 17th century the appearance we know today, that of a Souletine church with a calvary bell tower. It should be noted that, despite the distance, the Mauleonais remained faithful to their original parish church until the late 19th century, when it was replaced by the one now existing in Licharre. At the same time, a chapel also located in Licharre, at the end of the avenue, was demolished.

The Plan of the Bastides
The inhabitants of a bastide administered themselves through municipal jurats and formed a community of neighbors. The viscountal or royal authority was represented by a bailiff (Tucoo-Chala, Loc. cit.). The plan of bastides was generally the same. In Mauléon, as in Tardets and other bastides, there is a large rectangular central square, which is also the main street, bordered by houses whose upper floor in cantilever was (or was) supported by pillars or arcades, forming covered galleries under which the market could be held. Streets led to the four corners of the square, at the center of which stood the market hall (Tucoo-Chala, Loc. cit.). It should be added that neither Tardets nor Mauléon deprived Licharre of its traditional capital status. Mauléon itself was considered an alien entity in the country; one can read in the Cahiers de doléances, on the eve of the French Revolution, that "Mauléon seems as strange to the country as if it were in Turkey...". See Bastide.

Edward I at Mauléon
When a revolt broke out in Wales in 1282, Edward prepared to face his enemies, and the nobility of Gascony came in numbers under his banner. Among the Gascon lords was an Auger de Mauléon (Trabut-Cussac, Loc. cit.). Is this our viscount? It is unlikely, but it is undoubtedly a member of the viscountal family. Edward I visited Oloron in July 1287 to conclude the marriage of his daughter Eleanor to the king of Aragon, Alfonso III, then 22 years old. On this occasion, for months, there were jousts and tournaments, dances, banquets, and splendid festivities in which lords from both courts participated. On his return, the king of England stopped at Mauléon on August 19, once again ing his interest in that castle (Bémont, Op. cit.).

Return of Auger to Labourd
In 1294, ilities France and England resumed. Under the pretext of the death of a Norman sailor during an altercation in the streets of Bayonne and the plundering of La Rochelle by Anglo-Saxon sailors, the French invaded the duchy. On July 12, 1294, Edward summoned all the barons of Guyenne, among them Auger de Mauléon (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). Far from obeying his sovereign's orders, he d himself in favor of Philip IV, King of France and Navarre. Auger took advantage of this war to retract the arrangements that had been forcibly imposed on him in 1261 and to reclaim Labourd, which he entrusted to Raymond Arnaud, Lord of Laas, who was appointed captain-castellan of Mauléon. In 1303, Edward I and Philip IV signed a peace agreement in Paris, and the duchy of Aquitaine was returned to the king-duke.

Departure of the last Viscount of Labourd
Auger, who had founded the bastide of Villeneuve-les-Tardets in 1299, still held the castle of Mauléon and the viscounty of Labourd. Once peace was concluded with France, Edward I was able to focus on restoring order in his duchy. Again, after multiple s from Pope Clement V and Philip IV, Auger was forced to hand over the castle of Mauléon and the viscounty to Louis X, King of Navarre, who, in exchange, granted him the lordship of Rada on July 17, 1307. Subsequently, Louis X transferred Labourd and its castle to the King of England (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). Auger retired to Navarre, where he was appointed in 1307 alférez mayor, that is, royal standard-bearer and de facto highest authority of the Navarrese army. In 1318, the last Viscount of Labourd from the Mauléon family died. From then on, the title would be held by the actual sovereign, the King of England-Duke of Aquitaine, and later by the King of France (Jaurgain, loc. cit.).

Captain-Castellans up to the Hundred Years’ War
We have seen how, in 1307, Auger de Mauléon, the last viscount of Soule, had to submit to King Edward II of England, who had just succeeded his father and demanded that he fulfill the contract of 1261. To avoid directly obeying Edward, Auger relinquished his viscounty to Louis X, King of Navarre, who then transferred it to the King of England. Edward II once again appointed captain-castellans of Mauléon to represent him and govern Soule on his behalf. In 1307, these were García Arnaud de Ezpeleta, followed by Fortaner de Batz; in 1308, Pierre Pelet; from 1309 to 1319, Odon de Miossens; and from 1319 to 1350, Raymond de Miossens (Jaurgain, 1885).

Relations with Navarre
In 1327, Pierre Raymond de Rabastens, governor for the King of Navarre, demanded the contribution that the Souletins had not paid since coming under English rule: namely, 10 cows with a white spot on their foreheads, and four salmon. The General Court of the viscounty then convened to recognize its obligations and tributes to the kings of Navarre, and the Souletins paid this contribution, which corresponded to the rights of pasturage over certain common lands in the Kingdom of Navarre (Jaurgain, op. cit.). Various incidents soon followed the Souletins and the inhabitants of the Cize Valley (Lower Navarre), but in 1328, the Lord of Gramont, governor of the Merindad of Ultrapuertos, restored peace and signed an agreement with Raymond de Miossens (Jaurgain & Ritter, 1968).

Causes of the Hundred Years’ War
Until then, the question of the Duchy of Aquitaine and the homage owed to the King of France had been the main cause of Franco-English rivalry. But with the death of Charles the Fair in 1328, Edward III, grandson of Philip the Fair through his mother, claimed greater rights to the French crown than Philip of Valois. From that moment, the conflict became dynastic and the Hundred Years’ War began (1337–1453). Soule was fortunate to be removed from the battlefield, as it was surrounded by Gascony, Navarre, Béarn, and Aragon, and shared no border with France. As for Béarn, its viscounts sought to keep it neutral as long as possible. Eventually, Gaston II of Foix, Viscount of Béarn, sided with the King of France. To reward him for his services, Philip VI granted him, in November 1339, Mauléon and the viscounty of Soule, provided he could wrest them from the English.

The Beginnings of the War (1337–1360)
In 1337, Philip VI ordered the confiscation of Guyenne, and Edward III responded by challenging “the one who calls himself King of France,” solemnly proclaiming himself King of France in 1340. Initially, the French suffered defeats: Philip VI was defeated at Crécy in 1346, and his son, John the Good, who succeeded him in 1350, was crushed at Poitiers in 1356 by the Black Prince, eldest son of the King of England, and taken prisoner to London. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 granted Edward III a quarter of the kingdom, after which he renounced the French crown and transformed his new continental domain into a principality for the Black Prince.

A Souletin Revolt
Meanwhile, Raymond Guillaume de Caupenne succeeded Raymond de Miossens as castellan of Mauléon in 1350. In 1357, a Souletin revolt arose over a tax, the right of lodging, which they resisted, but the disturbances were quickly suppressed. The main instigator of the revolt, Arnaud Guillaume de Olhaiby, was imprisoned and his property confiscated (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). In 1377, Edward III ordered a general census of houses in Soule and the taxes they owed. This census is known as the Gothic Census (Ciérbide ed., 1994).

Soule and Béarn
In Gascony and France alike, minor lords took advantage of the war, forming bands of routiers (outlaws) that devastated the countryside. Soule could not avoid them and suffered the consequent losses. Moreover, due to the English sovereign’s inability to protect them, many villages turned to the Viscount of Béarn, Gaston III Fébus, asking him to guarantee their security. He agreed to station a garrison in the villages but, in return, demanded payment for the soldiers’ upkeep and a sum representing the cost of protection. The operation was profitable for the Béarnais, not only financially but politically, as it marked the beginning of a transfer of sovereignty from which he hoped to benefit later (Tucoo-Chala, op. cit.). Thus, on July 11, 1375, the Souletins, overwhelmed by constant pillaging, sent a delegation to the Viscount of Béarn to his protection in exchange for money (A.D.P.A., E 302, fol. 82). The agreement was concluded on September 5: Gaston accepted to protect Mauléon in exchange for 4,000 gold francs, and a Béarnais garrison was installed in the castle. Since the Mauléon citizens had not paid the full 4,000 francs stipulated in the contract, their castellan, together with a delegation of townsmen, publicly ed pardon at Orthez. Fébus, who was not compassionate, had them imprisoned and fined (Tucoo-Chala, loc. cit.).

The Protection of Gaston Fébus
Yet more was needed to keep the Souletins in check. On October 2, 1382, Guiraud de La Mothe, Commander of Saint John of Berraute, and Arnaud Sanz, parish priest of Chéraute, went to Orthez and d, on behalf of all the townsmen, that they were servants of the Viscount of Béarn (Menjoulet, op. cit.). On January 3, 1383, several inhabitants of Soule placed themselves under the protection of Gaston Fébus, acknowledging him as a de facto, if not de jure, sovereign. This proved wise, and the protection was not in vain. In 1386–87, a conflict involving the kings of France and England drew the sovereigns of Castile and Portugal into the Iberian Peninsula, each sending reinforcements. Charles III of Navarre authorized passage through Roncesvalles for 2,000 lancers of the Duke of Bourbon. Gaston Fébus learned that the French, having crossed the Roncesvalles pass, intended to ravage Soule, English territory. Having received Louis de Bourbon in Orthez and entertained him lavishly, he secured Louis’ agreement to spare Soule (Tucoo-Chala, loc. cit.).

The Beaumonts
Charles de Beaumont, nobleman and royal standard-bearer of Navarre, illegitimate son of Infante Louis of Navarre, succeeded Raymond Guillaume de Caupenne in governing Soule in 1385, a position he held until his death in 1432 (Jaurgain, 1885). This appointment demonstrates the close ties Navarre and England at the time. Henry VI, King of England, appointed his uncle Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester, as castellan of Mauléon on February 12, 1434, but he never personally held the position and died in 1446. Louis de Beaumont, who succeeded his father in governing Soule, initially held the title of lieutenant and castellan of Mauléon. John de Foix, Count of Candale, was chosen to replace the Duke of Gloucester in 1446, but he never came to Mauléon and died in England in 1485 (Jaurgain, op. cit.). Louis de Beaumont, Constable of Navarre and lieutenant of the Duke of Gloucester, continued governing Soule as he had since the death of his father, Charles de Beaumont. Henry VI granted him enjoyment of the castle of Mauléon by charter dated May 16, 1447 (Jaurgain, loc. cit.). Louis de Beaumont was the last castellan of Mauléon appointed by the King of England. Under his administration, Soule was ravaged by rivalries the Beaumont and Agramont factions; it was also during his tenure that English-Gascon rule was replaced by French control.

The Luxe and the Gramont
In the 14th and 15th centuries, for reasons not well known, two rival factions—the Gramont (or Agramont) and the Luxe (or Luxetan)—engaged in a bloody war, first in Lower Navarre, then in Soule and Upper Navarre. Any pretext sufficed for murders, looting, and arson, and each clan leader brought along relatives and allies. The earliest known document about these factions dates from 1316. Amanieu VIII, lord of Albret, came to preside over the General Court of the Pays de Mixe and decided that:

“the lords of Gramont and of Luxe, if they decide to have comrades-in-arms, shall provide their names to the lord’s ball and will be responsible for any disorders that may occur.”

(Jaurgain, loc. cit.)

The factions in Soule
In 1370, the heiress of Luxe married Arnaud Sancho, lord of Tardets, who was knighted on May 9, 1380, by the King of Navarre, Charles III the Noble (Nogaret, 1931). The lordships of Luxe and Tardets were united from then on, and the war the Agramonts and Luxetans spread to Soule. The sovereigns of Navarre edly tried, in vain, to reconcile the factions whose fights undermined their authority. On April 2, 1384, the King of Navarre, Charles II the Bad, visited Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, where the main belligerents appeared before him: for the Agramonts, Arnaud Raimundo I de Gramont, nobleman of Navarre; for the Luxetans, Arnaud Sancho de Tardets, Baron of Luxe, nobleman of Navarre, and Martín Sancho de Domezain, also a nobleman (Aguergaray, 1973).

The Chapel of Saint Anthony
“The attendees d themselves willing to submit to the judgment that the king would later issue in Pamplona, under penalty of treason and 1,000 silver marks each.”

(Aguergaray, op. cit.)

The king did so in Pamplona on February 23, 1385, and the lords accepted the peace treaty. To ensure the treaty’s lasting effect, the king ordered the foundation of a chapel to be called the Chapel of Peace under the invocation and name of Saint Anthony, where a perpetual chaplaincy would be sung and celebrated by him and by the kings before him, as well as for the dead of the Agramont and Luxetan factions who had fallen in the fights the treaty ended. This is thus the founding act of the Saint Anthony Chapel of Musculdy (Aguergaray, loc. cit.), on the borders of Soule and Lower Navarre. Unfortunately, this peace was broken a few years later, and the war the two factions lasted until the 16th century.

The conflicts in Navarre
By favoring Louis de Beaumont, the Luxe party became the Beaumont party, and the conflict spread to Upper Navarre. At the death of Charles III in 1425, the dynastic question arose and radicalized the struggle, with each side identifying with the cause of the Prince of Viana or John of Aragon. Charles III left Blanche as his heir, married to John of Aragon. She had three children: Blanche, Eleanor, married to Gaston de Foix, Viscount of Béarn, and the Prince of Viana. While awaiting the latter’s majority, John of Aragon took the regency. The conflicts that began in Upper Soule in 1450 lasted many years. The Beaumonts, led by Louis de Beaumont, Count of Lerín, and the Luxe family defended the Prince’s cause, while the Agramonts, led by the Gramonts, supported John of Aragon.

The song of Bereterretx
According to Jaurgain (1899), this song dates from this period. This Souletine lament poignantly recounts the murder of a young man by the banderizos of Count Louis de Beaumont. According to tradition, the victim was from the house of Bereterretx in Larrau, matching the geographical clues of the ballad: the Andoze valley lies Larrau and Licq, Bosmendia (Bostmendiette) is a mountain separating Larrau from Lacarry, and the house of Bustanoby is located in the latter. Finally, the Ezpeldoi(pe) district is in Etchebar, near Athérey. A 15th-century disc-shaped stele still stands at the site where the unfortunate Bereterretx was killed (Colas, op. cit.). On one face of this tombstone, a figure likely represents the victim’s body, arms outstretched. Above are the letters J.H.S. Ma, for Jesus Mary, accompanied by the sun and moon crescent. On the other face, two drawn bows, each with an arrow, probably indicate how Bereterretx was killed (Colas, loc. cit.).

The Great Western Schism: bishops in Mauléon
In this cruel era, marked by the war France and England and, above all, by the civil war in Soule, the Church was also divided by the Great Western Schism for nearly 40 years. In 1378, wanting to move the Papacy from Avignon to Rome, the cardinals elected an Italian pope in Rome, Urban VI; but the French cardinals elected another in Avignon, Clement VII. As each country chose its pope, Christendom split in two. Finally, the Council of Constance restored unity around Martin V in 1417. Like the rest of Béarn, France, and Navarre, Oloron followed the Avignon obedience, while Soule, part of the same diocese, followed England and Rome’s obedience. Consequently, there were two bishops, one residing in Oloron, the other in Mauléon. Haristoy (op. cit.) lists the Roman obedience bishops who resided in Mauléon: Orgier Villesongues, doubtful, 1378; Pierre de Montbrun, administrator, 1404; Pierre Salet, 1412. But this point is not well known; Menjoulet (op. cit.), far less definitive, writes:

“Perhaps even our Roman party bishops established their ordinary residence in Mauléon from Guillaume d’Assat… and Pierre Salet, despite holding the canonical title of Bishop of Oloron, had jurisdiction officially recognized only in this portion of his diocese (Soule).”

End of the Hundred Years’ War
After the Treaty of Brétigny, which confirmed the English victory, Charles V (1364-1380) restored order in France and, with Du Guesclin’s help, recovered most of the lost territories. Under Charles VI (1380-1422), the pendulum swung back with an English victory at Agincourt (1415). Finally, Charles VII, taking refuge in Bourges, was crowned King of France in Reims (1429), thanks to Joan of Arc. He gradually reconquered the kingdom, and from 1438, the war was mainly in Gascony. In 1442, Charles VII captured Saint-Sever and Dax, and in 1450 the war spread across Gascony. Finally, in 1453, after the French victory at Castillon, the English retained only Calais on the continent. Charles VII, the Victorious, ended the Hundred Years’ War.

The siege of Mauléon
In 1443, Charles VII entrusted the position of lieutenant general of Guyenne and Gascony to Gaston IV of Foix, Viscount of Béarn. He had not forgotten that a century earlier, King Philip VI of France had granted the viscounty of Soule to Gaston II of Foix if he could take it from the English. A full century had to pass, but the time had come.

Béarnese Soule
After three centuries of Anglo-Gascon rule, Soule experienced half a century of Béarnese domination before passing definitively under France. Gaston IV of Foix-Béarn had conquered the castle of Mauléon in 1449 on behalf of Charles VII, King of France, recalling that in November 1339 Philip VI had granted Gaston II of Foix the castle and viscounty of Soule on the condition that he take it from the English (A.D.P.A., E 355 and Flourac, 1889). The Viscount of Béarn was determined to zealously guard the conquest that his predecessor had failed to achieve a century earlier and appointed Guimón Dessa as captain-castellan. From the beginning of the French conquest of Guyenne and Gascony, Gaston had allied with them, and in 1442, as a reward for his conduct under the walls of Dax, he was knighted by the king himself. The following year, Charles VII entrusted him with the office of lieutenant general of Guyenne and Gascony, and finally, in 1458, made him a peer of France. Until his death in 1461, the king ed him great friendship, and the Viscount of Béarn remained master of Soule.

Repercussions of the Navarrese Civil War
Meanwhile, the struggles the Beaumonts and Agramonts flared up again in both Upper Navarre and Soule. Upon the death of Queen Blanche of Navarre, John of Aragon refused to leave the crown to his son Charles, the Prince of Viana. In 1450, the war resumed father and son. Louis de Beaumont, who had just lost control of Soule, led the Luxe faction defending the Prince’s cause, while the Agramonts supported John of Aragon (Jaurgain, 1909 and Narbaitz, 1878). The Prince was defeated and imprisoned in 1451. Two years later, he was released, leaving Louis de Beaumont’s children as ages. In 1455, John of Aragon disinherited him and decreed that the crown would pass to his daughter Eleanor, wife of the Count of Foix-Béarn. The two factions clashed even more fiercely, and according to an old manuscript cited by Menjoulet (op. cit.), Soule saw “nothing but ruins, devastation, massacres, and extortion; the country collapsed and had neither justice nor government.” In 1461, the Prince of Viana died; his sister Blanche, also disinherited despite being older than Eleanor, was handed over to the Count of Foix, who imprisoned her in Orthez Castle, where she soon died. Eleanor then inherited Navarre but had to wait until her father’s death in 1479 to be crowned; her reign was brief, as she died fifteen days after her coronation.

Soule and Louis XI
At his accession, Louis XI, who had rebelled against his father, expressed ility toward the counselors and friends of the late king. In this way, he ed ility toward the Count of Foix by ordering him, on December 15, 1461, to hand over Mauléon and Soule to his envoys. Moreover, on the day of his coronation, August 15, 1461, he had sworn “to love and expand his kingdom by reuniting the domains that had been separated, alienated, or segregated.” Gaston reluctantly submitted to the king’s demands, thereby incorporating Soule into the French crown. However, Gaston pointed out that he had spent over 50,000 écus in the conquest of Soule and appealed to the rights granted by Philip VI’s letters of 1339. He was promised that his claim would be examined (Courteault, 1926). Louis XI soon ed better feelings toward Gaston IV and married his sister, Madeleine of France, to Gaston, son and heir of the Count of Foix and Eleanor of Navarre. Then he concluded an alliance with John II of Aragon; the meeting the two sovereigns and the Count of Foix-Béarn took place in Soule on May 3, 1462, at the Osserain bridge, then the busiest crossing Navarre, Béarn, and Soule. Instead of Guimón Dessa, Louis XI appointed Guicharnaud de Lescun, and later Arnaud de Salies, as captain-castellan of Mauléon and governor of Soule. Under the latter’s administration, Mauléon suffered, in 1463, from a plague epidemic that caused numerous deaths, remembered by Pierris de Casalivetery’s grandparents and recorded in his diary (Jaurgain, 1908). So many died, he says, that no one could inhabit the town, where grass grew in the streets and houses.

France and Béarn
In France, from the beginning of his reign, Louis XI faced rebellion from the great feudal lords. In 1465, they formed the so-called League of the Public Good, with little success, but Gaston of Foix-Béarn remained loyal to the king, who appointed him lieutenant general in Guyenne and Gascony. On May 5, 1465, Louis XI granted him 10,000 gold écus and ceded Mauléon and Soule as security for this sum. Gaston promised to return both to the King of France when the sum was paid (A.D.P.A., E 355 and 1 j 158). Four years later, in a new development, to separate his brother Charles from the discontented princes and gain his loyalty, Louis XI offered him the province of Guyenne. On September 18, 1469, he added “as supplement and increase of the patrimony, the castle, land, and lordship of Mauléon, with all their appurtenances and dependencies, without any other reservation or retention” (Jaurgain, 1885). In February 1470, the viscounty of Soule was taken, despite protest from the Count of Foix (Arch. Dep., loc. cit.), and Bernard de Sainte Colomme was appointed governor of Soule. The following year, another sudden change: in February 1471, the Duke of Guyenne, recognizing the secular rights of the Count of Foix over Mauléon and Soule and adhering to the 1465 cession, handed the viscounty over to Gaston (Courteault, 1927). Gaston IV had always dreamed of possessing Navarre. After the deaths of Charles, Prince of Viana, and his sister Blanche, his wife Eleanor inherited. He himself, with his wife, had been appointed lieutenant general of the kingdom by his father-in-law, John II of Aragon. Navarre was separated from Béarn only by Soule, of which he was finally master. His dream was close to realization when he died on July 10, 1472.

Madeleine of France, Regent
Having lost before her father, in 1470, the eldest son of the Count of Foix, Gaston, Prince of Viana, Gaston IV designated his grandson Francis Phoebus, son of the Prince of Viana and Madeleine of France, as universal heir. Upon Gaston IV’s death, the Estates of Béarn chose Madeleine as guardian of their children and regent of the Foix-Béarn domains. She devoted all her energy to ending the disastrous rivalries Beaumont and Luxe that had plagued both Soule and Navarre. On August 26, 1477, Roger de Gramont, surrounded by the lords of the Gramont, Haux, and Olhaby lineages, on one side, and Jean de Luxe, accompanied by the lords of the Luxe, Tardets, Ahaxe houses and his ally, the lord of Domezain, on the other, met in the chapel of Pau Castle in the presence of the regent and swore, on the missal and a fragment of the True Cross, to observe the agreement she had imposed on them (Jaurgain and Ritter, 1968). Negotiations also took place Louis XI and his sister Madeleine regarding the return of Soule to the French crown, a territory that had changed hands edly for more than twenty years. Despite Madeleine’s efforts to defend her children’s rights, she had to yield to her brother, and Soule returned to France (Courteault, 1926). On January 6, 1479, Louis XI entrusted the castellany of Mauléon and the government of Soule to Étienne Makanam, who succeeded Bernard de Sainte-Colomme. In the first year, he paid 16,041 livres to Madeleine of France for the ransom of Mauléon (op. cit.).