Gascony

Gascogne, Gasconha

Although the medieval English often used the terms "Gascony" and "Acquitaine" interchangeably, the territories and dynasties are not the same. Gascony is 'older,' and consisted of the southern part of Acquitaine, between the Dordogne and the Pyrenees. The Romans called the early inhabitants "Acquitanians," and they spoke a dialect of Basque. In the fifth century the region was conquered by the Visigoths, who became the ruling class (as also in neighboring Navarre, which at times was part of Gascony). During the Dark Ages the name "Vasconia," meaning "Basque land," evolved into "Gascony." But the language gradually disappeared and was replaced by the Gascon dialect of Old French. The independent duchy was gone before the use of coats-of-arms was formalized, but the arms shown above were adopted in the later Middle Ages.

During the seventh and eighth centuries several dukes, appointed by the Merovingians and Carolingians, came and went; they were usually driven out by Basque rebellions. Not until 819 did Pepin I of Acquitaine subdue the region. Some of the dukes in this period were also dukes of Acquitaine; some were ancestors of the later counts of Bigorre and Béarn; some were connected to the earliest rulers of Navarre; see those pages for what little we know of these families.

In the late ninth century one Sancho, who is thought to be one of the Iñíguez family of Pamplona, was chosen Duke of Gascony by the nobles, to succeed Duke Arnaud, who died probably in 872. Early chroniclers thought he was the same person as Sancho I of Navarre, but genealogists now say this is incorrect. He could have been related to Arnaud, whose uncle and grandfather were both named Sancho. In any case, this Sancho was the father of Duke García (died c920), known as "el Curvo," which means something like "hunchback." He married Munia or Amuna, and they had six known children: (1) Sancho García, see below; (2) Guillaume García, who had five children, two of whom were the ancestors of the counts of Fezensac and Armagnac, and a daughter (name unknown) who married Raimundo II of Ribagorza; (3) Arnaud (died 960), ancestor of the counts of Astarac; (4) Andregoto, married Raimond, comte de Bordeaux (two sons, but no further descendants are certain); (5) Acibella, married Count Galindo II Aznar of Aragón; and (6) Gersende, probably the wife of Raimond Pons of Toulouse and thus ancestor of all the later Counts of Toulouse.

Sancho García (died c955), duke or count of Gascony, had seven children: (1) García, died young; (2) Duke Sancho (died 961), who had no children; (3) Duke Guillaume, see below; (4) Gombald, who although a bishop, had a son named Hugues; (5) Udalrich; (6) Acibella, married Loup García; and (7) Lucia.

Duke Guillaume Sánchez (died 996) married Urraca, probably a daughter of García III Sánchez of Navarre. They had five children: (1) García, who was still alive in 1011, but for some unknown reason did not succeed to the title; (2) Bernard, Count of Gascony (died 1000); (3) Gersende, married Henri of Burgundy, no children; (4) Sancha, married Guillaume III "the Great" of Poitou (see Acquitaine); and (5) Sancho (died 1032), Duke of Gascony, who is believed to be the father of Alasia, wife of Alduin Taillefer, Count of Angoulême; their son Berengar was Duke of Gascony 1032-1036 but had no children.

The independent Gascony title disappears after 1032, being absorbed by the Acquitainian descendants of Sancha. Her second son Odo of Poitou was Duke of Gascony 1036-1039 and also had no children. Then the title was held 1039-1052 by Bernard II Tumapaler, count of Armagnac, who was the son of Odo's sister Adalais and her husband Girard I Trancaleon of Armagnac. He had to cede his lands to his cousin the Duke of Acquitaine after the Battle of La Castelle in 1052; he retired to a monastery; but had a wife, Ermengarde, and a daughter Gisela who married Centule V of Béarn. After this the dukes of Acquitaine were also dukes of Gascony.

see the FMG page on this family.