County of Fézensac

The county of Fézensac was established by Charlemagne to face the military challenge posed by the Basques . One of the Carolingian counts was Leuthard von Paris († 809 ), younger son of Count Gerhard from the House of Matfriede .

Permanent uprisings (789, 813, 816, 824) wore down Carolingian rule so much that Fézensac was again in Basque hands as early as 836. In the midst of anarchic conditions, the county under Sancho I. Mitarra then became the nucleus of the kingdom of Gascony from 872 .

A few generations later, after the death of Garcia II , known as "the crooked" (920), the estates were shared between his sons: Sancho III. got most of Gascony, its brothers Astarac and Fézensac.

William Garcia , the Count of Fézensac, divided the rule again: his elder son Othon received the county of Fézensac, his younger, Bernard le Louche , the county of Armagnac .

Counts of Fézensac

• 926-960 Wilhelm Garcia
• 960–985 Othon son
• 985-1020 Bernard Othon son
• 1020-1032 Aymeric I son
• 1032-1064 Wilhelm Astanove I son
• 1064–1103 Aymeric II son
• 1103–1140 Astanove II son

The marriage of Azaline, daughter and heiress Astanoves II., With her relative Count Géraud III. von Armagnac and the childless death of her daughter, Beatrix von Béarn , from her first marriage in 1114 restored the unity of the two counties. Together they were united with the Crown Domain by King Henry IV of France in 1589 .