Armagnac (region)

The Armagnac ( Occitan and Gascognisch Armanhac ) is an old province in the heart of Gascony . Today it is mainly in the Gers department and in the east of the Landes department . The capital of Armagnac is Auch .

The landscape is known worldwide for the Armagnac brandy .

Location of the historical province of Armagnac

structure

The center of Armagnac is the middle valley of the Baïse , starting from there a west-east axis can be identified at the level of Eauze and Auch. One differentiates:

the Haut-Armagnac or Armagnac blanc , with limy soils and maize cultures ,
the Bas-Armagnac or Armagnac noir , made up of the Douze and Midou valleys , as well as:
- the Eauzan (main town Eauze ) in the north,
- the gabardan in the Petites-Landes (main town Gabarret ) in the west,
the Fézensac (main town Vic-Fezensac ) in the northeast.

Come in addition

the Ténarèze or the Condomois (main town Condom ) in the northwest.

The Armagnac is limited by

the Lomagne or more precisely the Pays de Gaure (capital Fleurance ) in the north,
the Fézensaguet (capital Mauvezin ) in the northeast,
the Gimois (capital Gimont ) in the east,
the Astarac (main town Mirande ) in the south and southeast,
the Rivière-Basse and the Vic-Bilh in the southwest.

Toponyms

Gers



Brittany-d'Armagnac Campagne-d'Armagnac Castex-d'Armagnac Caupenne-d'Armagnac	Lias-d'Armagnac Mauléon-d'Armagnac Monlezun-d'Armagnac Sainte-Christie-d'Armagnac	Saint-Martin-d'Armagnac Salles-d'Armagnac Termes-d'Armagnac

Country



Arthez-d'Armagnac Betbezer-d'Armagnac	Créon-d'Armagnac Labastide-d'Armagnac	Mauvezin-d'Armagnac Saint-Julien-d'Armagnac

history

The Auscii ( Ausker ) of Elimberrum (Auch) and the Elusaten of Elusa (Eauze) are the peoples that belong to this area, which in ancient times were part of the Roman province of Aquitaine . Later it belonged to Gascony , then to the county of Fézensac .

As a county, the Armagnac was spun off from the county of Fézensac by Count Wilhelm Garcia in the 9th century ; Count of Armagnac became Wilhelm's younger son, Bernard le Louche .

In 1140, Count Géraud III. Armagnac and Fézensac again after his wife Alaline died without an heir from their first marriage. The first Count's house of Armagnac went out in 1215 with his grandson Géraud IV. The County of Armagnac passed to the Lomagne family , which was passed on by a daughter of Gérauds III. descended from.

The House of Armagnac played an essential role in the resistance against the "Black Prince" Edward of Woodstock , who wanted to achieve the revocation of the Treaty of Brétigny and the reconquest of Aquitaine . Jean I. and Arnaud-Amanieu d'Albret were the leaders of a movement that brought the complaints of the Gascon lords against the judgments and decisions of the Black Prince before Parliament.

After the Armagnac had been confiscated by Count Jean V and returned to his brother Karl , the county finally passed to their little nephew Karl von Alençon , the husband of Margaret of Angoulême , sister of the later King Francis I Margarete, brought the Armagnac to hers (second) marriage to Henri d'Albret , both are the grandparents of King Henry IV , with whom Armagnac finally passed into the hands of the crown.

Web links

Armagnac (region) - history . In: Encyclopædia Britannica Online (English)