Viscounty of Béarn
Viscounty of Béarn | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th century–1620 | |||||||
Gascony and Bearn ca.1150 | |||||||
| Capital | Lescar (up to ca.841) Morlans (10th–12th centuries) Ortès (12th–15th centuries) Pau | ||||||
| Common languages | Medieval Latin Old Occitan then Béarnese Basque | ||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism (up to the 16th century) Calvinism (up to 1620) | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
| Viscount or Prince | |||||||
• 9th century | Centule I | ||||||
• 1610–20 | Louis I | ||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages and Renaissance | ||||||
• Established | 9th century | ||||||
• Independence declared by Gaston III Fèbus | 25 September 1347 | ||||||
| 27 February 1594 | |||||||
• Incorporated into France | October 1620 | ||||||
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The Viscounty, later Principality of Béarn (Gascon: Bearn or Biarn), was a medieval lordship in the far south of France, part of the Duchy of Gascony from the late ninth century. In 1347, the viscount declared Béarn an independent principality without feudal obligations. It later entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Navarre in 1479 and with France in 1589. In 1620, the prince (who was also the king of France) formally incorporated Béarn as a province of France.