Lower Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; french: Basse-Navarre ; es, Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...

. It corresponds to the northernmost ''

merindad ''Merindad'' () is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term for a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. The officer in charge of a merindad was called a merino, roughly equivalent to the English ''count'' or ...

'' of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. After the

Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre The Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of Navarre was initiated by Ferdinand II of Aragon and completed by his grandson and successor Charles V in a series of military campaigns lasting from 1512 to 1524. Ferdinand was both the king of Aragon a ...

(1512–24), this ''merindad'' was restored to the rule of the native king, Henry II. Its capitals were

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally "Saint John t theFoot of hePass"; eu, Donibane Garazi; es, San Juan Pie de Puerto) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean foothi ...

and Saint-Palais. In the extreme north there was the little sovereign

Principality of Bidache The Principality of Bidache was from 1570 to 1793 a small feudal state in the south west of modern-day France. The sovereignty of Bidache was proclaimed by Count Antoine de Gramont in 1570. The counts of Gramont had formerly been vassals of the ...

, with an area of and a decreasing population of 44,450 (in 1901), 25,356 (in 1990). Although this denomination is not completely correct from the historical point of view, it is also known as ''

Merindad ''Merindad'' () is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term for a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. The officer in charge of a merindad was called a merino, roughly equivalent to the English ''count'' or ...

de Ultrapuertos'' ("the regions beyond the mountain passes") by the southerners, and ''Deça-ports'' ("this side of the mountain passes") by the Gascon-speakers. Despite its lost administrative cohesion, the memory of its past heyday has left an imprint on its inhabitants, who keep identifying themselves as Lower Navarrese and therefore Navarrese. The ''Nafarroaren Eguna'' or Day of Navarre is a festival held in Baigorri every year to strengthen their bonds and celebrate their Basque identity. The territory is also claimed by Basque nationalists to be one of the seven constituent regions making up the Basque Country.

Geography

Lower Navarre is a collection of valleys in the foothills of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. The Aldudes valley, around the town of

Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry (; eu, Baigorri)BAIGORRI
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

and contests of Force Basque, the games of strength. The Irouléguy wines are produced in the area around the town of

Irouléguy Irouléguy (; eu, Irulegi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre. It is mainly known for the Irouléguy AOC wine which is grown on the vineyard ...

. The river

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by ...

rises in Lower Navarre and flows through the province and on to

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

, where it meets the

Adour The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre (Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. ...

. Beyond Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port itself, the Nive enters the

Ossès Ossès (; eu, Ortzaize)ORTZAIZE

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...

s in the villages of Ossès, Irissarry and Bidarray. A reserve for the pottok, the wild Basque Pyrenean

pony A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...

, in the valley conserves this rare breed. The Baigura massif towers over the western valleys and sets a natural boundary with the rolling valleys of

Labourd Labourd ( eu, Lapurdi; la, Lapurdum; Gascon: ''Labord'') is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial c ...

. North of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the Mixe region around the town of Saint-Palais, a former Navarrese capital. Although close to

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three B ...

, Basque influence and traditions are strong. Lower Navarrese is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

of the Basque language spoken in the region. Just south of Saint-Palais, the three principal routes to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

on the

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

met at the hamlet of Ostabat, bringing much wealth and trade to the area in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times. The Way of St James headed south from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port towards the mountain pass above Roncesvalles. Pilgrims travelled across the Cize region of Lower Navarre on their way to Navarre across the mountains. In these rolling hills, ewes' milk

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

, '' pur brebis'', is commonly made, including Ossau-Iraty cheese. Villages like Estérençuby and Lecumberry are popular for agro-tourism and the Iraty

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

forest on the Spanish border is known for its views and history.

Dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were some ...

s and other

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

monuments dot the landscape, including the Tour d'Urkulu high in the mountains at 1,149m—a 2,000-year-old circular platform of huge stone blocks. Lower Navarre is well delimited by mountain ranges on the west (with Mount Iparla as its highest and most iconic landmark), south (

Roncevaux Roncesvalles ( , ; eu, Orreaga ; an, Ronzesbals ; french: Roncevaux ) is a small village and municipality in Navarre, northern Spain. It is situated on the small river Urrobi at an altitude of some in the Pyrenees, about from the French bo ...

, Mount

Urkulu Urkulu (1,419 m) is a mountain in the Basque Country straddling the border between France and Spain. The summit is located in the western Pyrenees, within walking distance from Roncevaux and close to the so-called French Way of St James, whic ...

and Pyrenees altogether) and the east (bounded by the western mountains of

Soule Soule (Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. It is divided into two cantons of the arron ...

History

The lands of the Lower Navarre were part of the Duchy of Vasconia that turned into

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

by the end of the first millennium. At the time of King

Sancho III of Navarre Sancho Garcés III ( 992-996 – 18 October 1035), also known as Sancho the Great ( es, Sancho el Mayor, eu, Antso Gartzez Nagusia), was the King of Pamplona from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the County of Aragon and by marriage t ...

, called the Great (died in 1035), Duke

Sancho VI William of Gascony Sancho VI William (Basque: ''Antso Gilen'', French: ''Sanche Guillaume'', Gascon: ''Sans Guilhem'', Spanish: ''Sancho Guillén'') (died 4 October 1032) was the Duke of Gascony from 1009 to his death. His reign is most notable for the renewal of Ga ...

pledged allegiance to the Navarrese king, for a short period Gascony becoming vassal to the

, with which it had always had close ties. Moreover, the valleys of Baigorri, Ossès, Arberoa, Cize and Arberoa were attached to the latter, so establishing the first nucleus of the Navarrese grip on the lands north of the Pyrenees. While these valleys were taken over again by Gascony for a period, the Ultrapuertos County (called ''Merindad'' in Navarre) was regained for Navarre in 1234, coming to be governed by the sheriff of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. However, the definite boundaries were not established until the 1244-1245 war between the

ins and Navarrese came to an end. In 1512, the Duke of Alba, under orders from King

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia fro ...

, conquered Navarre, including

. The Navarrese monarchs retreated to their sovereign domain of Béarn. In 1516, King John III of Navarre retook the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but failed to take the citadel; he and Queen Catherine died soon after, and the 10,000-strong army of the Spanish king, the future

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

recovered control of the town. Charles V's troops retained Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and its hinterland, besides devastating the region, but were met with strong resistance led by local lords loyal to King Henry II of Navarre. The latter succeeded in taking over the town and its castle in May 1521, losing it to the Duke of Alba in June; the Spanish evacuated Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 1522, but recovered it in January 1524. While possession of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was hotly contested, Saint-Palais (Donapaleu in Basque) remained out of Spanish reach and would become the main royal center of the surviving Navarrese monarchy in Lower Navarre. Eventually, the legitimate Navarrese king, ''de facto'' deprived of the rest of Navarre by Spanish rule, restored Navarrese official institutions and bodies in Lower Navarre, e.g. the Sovereign Council in 1523, the Chancery in 1524, the Royal Mint a little later in Saint-Palais, etc. In 1525, a new military inroad led by the Spanish viceroy of Navarre subdued the region, and tried to earn the loyalty of the nobles, but they unanimously kept their allegiance to the Navarrese monarchs of the House of Albret, and the lord of Luxa and the lord of Miossens, Esteban d'Albret, reconquered the region in 1527. Although Emperor Charles V, the Spanish monarch, recovered Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port within months, by 1528 he had lost interest in asserting and maintaining his control over the portion of Navarre north of the Pyrenees, difficult to hold and defend. Accordingly, he abandoned his remaining holdings in Lower Navarre, including Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, to its hereditary king Henry II, as part of a treaty with France—the

Treaty of Cambray The Treaty of Cambrai is also known as the Paz de las Damas or Paix des Dames (Ladies' Peace). On August 3, 1529, this agreement ended a war between the French king Francis I and the Spanish Habsburg emperor Charles V. The treaty temporarily ...

in 1530. In 1555, Henry II of Navarre died and was succeeded by his daughter Jeanne, who ruled until her death in 1572. During the 16th century the Albrets ruled over a wider territory (Béarn, etc.) and the effective seat of the Navarrese Royalty shifted to Pau, capital city of

, where Henry III (later Henry IV of France), the son of

Jeanne d'Albret Jeanne d'Albret ( Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margar ...

was born. Henry III generally respected the laws issued by the Navarrese parliament, despite sometimes raising objections to their wordings. Henry succeeded to the French throne in 1589; he and his successors would now be titled "King of France and Navarre." His son Louis II (Louis XIII of France) was definitely reluctant to any binding reading of the Navarrese laws, and forced more loose wordings, devoid of specific meaning in order to feel his hands free. Ultimately this led to a progressive French centralization of all relevant decisions and prerogatives during the 17 and 18th centuries. In 1620 and 1624 respectively the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

and the Justice system were merged with those of Béarn and transferred from Saint-Palais to Pau, despite protests voiced by the Navarrese representatives, who pointed to their different traditions and languages— Basque and Béarnese. The title of King of Navarre continued to be held by the lineage of the Albrets and the Bourbons up to the French Revolution, while the kingdom itself merged with France in 1620. It retained its historic personality as a kingdom and, albeit fragmented, a separate legal status. The two third estate representatives of Lower Navarre did not vote at the

States-General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General (France), Estates ...

and its follow-up, the French National Assembly (1790), arguing that the impending new administrative arrangement was none of their business, since they did not belong in the Kingdom of France.Louis XVI had just declared himself King of the French, instead of the customary King of France and Navarre. All the same, the new French administrative design did not spare Lower Navarre. It came to be integrated in the Basses-Pyrénées department along with the rest of French Basque districts, and

Administration of Lower Navarre,
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" Virelai ancien Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

The administration of the independent Kingdom of Navarre after 1512 was centralized in Saint-Palais and consisted of a handful of institutions organized in a structure generally found in the Kingdom of France.Lafourcade (2003), p. 60
(in French)
/ref> By 1527 these administrations had been partially decentralized to Pau, and consisted of: * the Governor of Navarre and Béarn *

Estates of Navarre Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representati ...

(French: ''États de Navarre''), in Saint-Palais * Chancery of Navarre, in Saint-Palais * Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, in Pau, Nérac and

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a subprefecture of the department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of the main towns along the river Loir. The river divides itself at the ...

* Mint of Navarre and Béarn (French: ''Monnaie de Navarre et Béarn''), formed by the merger ''Mint of Navarre'' in Saint-Palais, with the mints of

in Pau and Morlaàs, in

, by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, in Pau * Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn, the predecessor of the Parliament of Navarre and Béarn, in Pau * Conseil Privé, the King's private council for Navarre and Béarn, in Pau

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Northern Basque Country Lower Navarre Former provinces of France

Geography

History

Administration of Lower Navarre, Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

Notes

References

Administration of Lower Navarre,
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" Virelai ancien Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...