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Gascony
Gascony , Fr. Gascogne, region of SW France. It is now coextensive with the departments of Landes, Gers, and Hautes-Pyrénées and parts of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, and Ariège. The sandy and swampy Landes along the Atlantic coast, the majestic Pyrenees forming the border with Spain, and the hilly Armagnac region between the Adour and Garonne rivers are the main geographic areas of Gascony. Fishing, stock raising, wine making, brandy distilling, and the tourist trade are the chief industries. The historical capital is Auch ; other important towns are Bayonne , Biarritz , Luchon (see Bagnères-de-Luchon ), Tarbes , Dax , and Lourdes . Under the Romans the region was known first as Aquitania Propria and later as Novempopulana or Aquitania Tertia and was inhabited by the Vascones, or Basques , who since prehistoric times had lived in the lands N and S of the Pyrenees. Except in the region SW of the Adour, where the Basque language and customs have persisted to the present, Latin soon became the tongue of Novempopulana. Conquered by the Visigoths (5th cent.) and by the Franks (6th cent.), Novempopulana was invaded in turn by the Basque-speaking peoples (the Vascones) from S of the Pyrenees, who in 601 set up the duchy of Vasconia or Gascony. The duchy's borders fluctuated as the Basques fought the Visigoths, the Franks, and the Arabs throughout the Merovingian period. The duchy kept an independent spirit throughout its history, even when Charlemagne forced the duke of Gascony to recognize Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, as his suzerain (9th cent.). Invaded by Norsemen early in the 9th cent., Gascony fell into anarchy and split up into small counties and seigniories. In 1052, with the exception of lower Navarre and Béarn , which continued separate, the remainder of Gascony passed to the duchy of Aquitaine . Gascony shared the fate of Aquitaine, fell under English control in 1154, and was a major battleground in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453); it was completely recovered by France in 1453. Gascony was then not a political unit; most of its territory was held by the counts of Armagnac, the counts of Foix , and the lords of Albret . All these lands passed, through marriage and inheritance, to Henry of Navarre, who became king of France as Henry IV in 1589. The lands were united with the royal domain in 1607. The resulting province of Guienne and Gascony was divided under the jurisdictions of the parlements of Bordeaux and of Toulouse. |
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"Gascony." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gascony." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gascony.html "Gascony." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony. French region lying between the river Garonne and the Pyrenees. In the 11th cent. it was acquired by the dukes of Aquitaine; the 1152 marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II meant that it passed into the hands of the kings of England. As a result of military defeats suffered in John's reign, from the early 13th cent. onwards the duchy of Aquitaine generally consisted of little but Gascony. Except in the 1290s and 1330s the English spent little time and money on Gascony— Edward I was the last reigning king to visit it—but Gascon appreciation of the value of the English market for the Bordeaux wine trade, and their sense that Paris represented a greater threat to their traditional independence and way of life than did Westminster, meant that the duchy long remained loyal to the English crown. However, the total disarray of Henry VI's government following the sudden collapse of English Normandy in 1450 allowed the triumphant Charles VI of France to walk into Gascony virtually unopposed. An expeditionary force under Talbot (Shrewsbury) briefly took advantage of Gascon resentment of French rule, but in 1453 his defeat and death at Castillon marked the end of English Gascony.
John Gillingham |
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JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Gascony.html JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony French region lying between the river Garonne and the Pyrenees. In the 11th cent. it was acquired by the dukes of Aquitaine; the 1152 marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II meant that it passed into the hands of the kings of England. As a result of military defeats suffered in John's reign, from the early 13th cent. onwards the duchy of Aquitaine generally consisted of little but Gascony. The total disarray of Henry VI's government in 1450 allowed the triumphant Charles VI of France to walk into Gascony virtually unopposed.
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JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Gascony.html JOHN CANNON. "Gascony." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony a region and former province of SW France, in the northern foothills of the Pyrenees, which having united with Aquitaine in the 11th century, was held by England between 1154 and 1453.
Gascons were traditionally said to be braggarts and boasters as well as impetuous (D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers is a Gascon). Gasconade is a poetic and literary term for extravagant boasting, and comes ultimately from French gasconner ‘talk like a Gascon, brag’. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gascony." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gascony." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Gascony.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gascony." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony Former province in sw France, bounded to the s by the Pyrenees and to the w by the Bay of Biscay. Part of Roman Gaul, it was later overrun by the Visigoths and the Franks. In the 6th century, it was conquered by the Vascones. It passed to Aquitaine in the 11th century. In 1154, Gascony fell to the English. It was a major battleground in the Hundred Years' War, and was finally restored to France in 1453.
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"Gascony." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gascony." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Gascony.html "Gascony." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony (Gascogne), France Novempopulana, Vasconia A historical duchy named after the Basques who overran it beginning in 561. The Spanish for Basque is Vasco; the Basques were called the Vascones by the Romans. Novempopulana was the earlier Roman name when the province was established.
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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Gascony." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Gascony." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Gascony.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Gascony." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Gascony.html |
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Gascony
Gascony
•Léonie, peony
•Tierney
•Briony, bryony, Hermione
•tourney • ebony • Albany
•chalcedony • Alderney
•Persephone, Stephanie, telephony
•antiphony, epiphany, polyphony, tiffany
•symphony
•cacophony, homophony, theophany, Zoffany
•euphony • agony • garganey
•Antigone
•cosmogony, mahogany, theogony
•balcony • Gascony • Tuscany
•calumny
•felony, Melanie, miscellany
•villainy • colony
•Chamonix, salmony, scammony, Tammany
•harmony
•anemone, Emeny, hegemony, lemony, Yemeni
•alimony, palimony
•agrimony • acrimony
•matrimony, patrimony
•ceremony • parsimony • antimony
•sanctimony • testimony • simony
•Romany • Germany • threepenny
•timpani • sixpenny • tuppenny
•accompany, company
•barony • saffrony • tyranny
•synchrony • irony • saxony • cushiony
•Anthony • betony
•Brittany, dittany, litany
•botany, cottony, monotony
•gluttony, muttony
•Bethany • oniony • raisiny
•attorney, Burney, Czerny, Ernie, ferny, gurney, journey, Verny
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"Gascony." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gascony." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Gascony.html "Gascony." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Gascony.html |
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