Aubertin () is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon language, Gascon Occitan language, Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; ) is a Departments of France, department located in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the southwest corner of metropolitan ...

department in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

region of south-western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Aubertin is located in

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; 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 Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

some 10 km west of Pau and 8 km north-west of

Gan The word Gan or the initials GAN may refer to: Places * Gan, a component of Hebrew placenames literally meaning "garden" China * Gan River (Jiangxi) * Gan River (Inner Mongolia), * Gan County, in Jiangxi province * Gansu, abbreviated '' ...

. Access to the commune is by the D146 from

Artiguelouve Artiguelouve (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Geography Artiguelouve is located in the urban area of Pau, Pyrénées ...

in the north-east which passes through the north of the commune and goes west to

Lacommande Lacommande (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Géography Lacommande township is located some 11 km of Pau, 12,3 km of Oloron-Sainte-Marie and 8,8 km of Monein, on GR653, on cro ...

. Access to the village is by the D346 which branches south from the D146 in the commune and continues through the village to join the D24 some 6 km west of Gan. The commune has a mix of forest and farmland throughout its territory.Google Maps
/ref> The

Baïse The Baïse (; ) is a long river in south-western France, left tributary of the Garonne. Its source is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, near Lannemezan. It flows north through the following ''département in France, départements'' and towns: * Ha ...

forms the western border of the commune as it flows north to join the

Gave de Pau The Gave de Pau () is a river of south-western France. It takes its name from the city of Pau, through which it flows. The river is long ( including the Gaves réunis), and although its source is considered to be on the Cirque de Gavarnie in t ...

at Abidos. The Juscle rises in the south-east of the commune and flows north to join the Gave de Pau at

Bésingrand Bésingrand (; ) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atl ...

. Each river gathers many small tributaries that rise in the commune.

Places and hamlets

*Arizet *Arrouset *Arrouzes *Baherle *Bahette *Barbe *Barrere *Barrot *Baudorre *Bayle *Bengueres *Benoit *Benterou *Bernat *Bertrand *Beteille *Blazy *Bonneton *Bordechy *Bory *Bouchet *Burret *Cabarrecq *Calotte *Camy *Casedeyan *Cassou *Catihaut *Caussit *Caussitou *Cazenave *Chicot *Chounet *Clamens *Claverie *Constantine *Couy *Crasman *Cuyala *David *Espa *Haget *Heroulet *Heugas *Hourat *Hourcade *Istehnou *Jagou *Joliment *Labarthe *Labasse *Labat *Labegorre *Labesque *Labory *Lacarrieu *Lacoste *Lacrouts *Lagrave *Lahitole *Lamasouere *Lanardonne *Lapet *Laplume *Lardit *Larriscat *Larriu *Laymar *Lebe *Lembeye *Lespees *Lestanguet *Lous *Loustau *Mazou *Mene *Mesple *Mialou *Miramont *Mirassou *Modet *Montagnette *Montis *Mourterat *Mourthe *Navailles *Palassou *Palou *Pargade *Pedane *Penen *Pepicq *Perry *Peyrenere *Poeydevant *Porte *Poumade *Puyade *Reyau *Rontignon *Saliou *Sarthou *Serrot *Setze *Soldat *Talabot *Talet *Tiret *Toulas *Tucou *Turoun *Vignau Géoportail

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

Among the hypotheses on the origin of the name ''Aubertin'', Michel Grosclaude favours that of a Gascon man's name (diminutive of ''Aubert'') or the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Albertinus'' rather than the German ''Adalbehrt''.

Michel Grosclaude Michel Grosclaude (; ; 8 July 1926 – 21 May 2002) was a French linguist, and an author of works on grammar, lexicography and Occitan onomastics. Biography Born on 8 July 1926 in Nancy. He was the son of Pierre Grosclaude, an academic. He stu ...

, ''Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn'', Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: *

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

:''
''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees''
1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. ''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees''
Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 Origins: *Marca:

Pierre de Marca Pierre de Marca (24 January 1594 – 29 June 1662) was a French bishop and historian, born at Gan in Béarn of a family distinguished in the magistracy. His family was known among judicial circles in the 16th century, and maintained the ...

, ''History of Béarn''.

, ''History of Béarn'' *

Fors de Béarn The Fors de Bearn, or fueros of Béarn, are a series of legal texts (privileges, rulings, judicial sentences, decrees, formularies) compiled over centuries (mostly the eleventh to thirteenth) in the Viscounty of Béarn. Together they formed the ...

Manuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Census: Census of Béarn *Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Insinuations: Insinuations of the

Diocese of Oloron The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Oloron was a Latin rite bishopric in Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, Aquitaine region of south-west France, from the 6th to the 19th century. History The diocese of Oleron already existed in the 6th ce ...

Manuscripts from the 17th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

When the name ''Aubertin'' appears in texts from the beginning of the 12th century, it is difficult to associate it with a specific territory. It is known that there was a

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

grove at Aubertin (''Faget d'Aubertii''), in the middle of which Gaston IV of Béarn, called ''le Croisé'' (The Crusader), began building a hospital in the years 1115-1118. This foundation was challenged by the Lord of Bedosse and his descendants who claimed ownership of the soil. The Albertine charter signed in 1128 resolved the dispute and allowed the development of the hospital which was opened shortly after a church, a cloister and a cemetery. Farmland extended from the left bank of the

to the top of the hill to the west on the territory of the present village of

. At the beginning of the 13th century, this place became the

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of Aubertin - the main establishment of the Priory of Sainte-Christine-du-Somport on the northern slopes of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. By contrast, the origin of the Bedosse family and the extension of their domains remains unknown. For centuries

Monein Monein (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. Geography Neighbouring communes *North: Lahourcade and Pardies *West: Lucq-de-Béarn and Cardesse *South: Estial ...

continued to claim ownership of this enclave of the Commandery of Aubertin. Texts from the middle of the 12th century also report a lordship at

which extended from the

to the

on the current communes of Artiguelouve and Aubertin. So, in 1160 Guillaume of Artiguelouve and one called ''Loup Bergunh'' sold the land and woods located on the right bank of the Bayse for grazing their herds to the priory of Sainte-Christine-du-Somport and the Aubertin hospital. Although the territory of the present village of Aubertin has long remained in the orbit of the lordship of Artiguelouve, from the beginning most people seem to have attended the church of the Commandery. The count by Gaston Febus in 1385 reported a parish of ''Aubertii'' distinct from that of ''Artiguelobe''. It comprised a total of 46 fires including 3 which were explicitly at Aubertin the hospital. In 1402, the lord of Artiguelouve made common cause with the commandery of Aubertin in a lawsuit between them and the community of

but in 1538 the commander of Aubertin, Jean de Borau, reported that ''Arnaud Guilhem d'Artiguelouve'' had usurped the rights of the Commandery. Relations between the two communities were close but fluctuated. When ''Arnaud Guilhem d'Artiguelouve'' married ''Anne d'Albret'' on 9 February 1534 he was called Lord of Artiguelouve, Aubertin, and Montardon and appeared to be at the height of his glory. The situation gradually deteriorated over the generations. In 1555 his son, Arnaud, sold half the tithes from Artiguelouve and Aubertin to ''Peyrot de Pedelaborde'' of Lagor. He was soon no longer designated as Lord of Artiguelouve and Aubertin which suggested the final sale of the lordship of Montardon. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Aubertin had some autonomy in the management of their affairs as they were represented by a trustee and 5 aldermen from 1570 during some events of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Around 1583 Arnaud d'Artiguelouve afiefed the woods of Aubertin as surety for a loan. Bernard, who succeeded Arnaud, remained lord of Artiguelouve and Aubertin but debts accumulated. His son John was forced to sell the chateau and lands of Aubertin to ''François de Navailles'' on 30 June 1640. Finally, Jean sold the lordship of Artiguelouve itself to Pierre de Fouron on 11 April 1642. 30 June 1640 was a crucial date in the history of Aubertin. It affirmed the identity of the village and marked the emergence of a new centre of power from an Artiguelouve lordship which disintegrated to a commandery which, after the Reformation, passed to the control of the

Barnabites The Barnabites (), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul and the members of the Ba ...

Lescar Lescar (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, the location prov ...

. Five generations of Navailles-Mirepeix would follow in Aubertin. The last, Louis-François, gave a reckoning of his domain of Aubertin for the

Parliament of Navarre The Parliament of Navarre ( Spanish ''Parlamento de Navarra'', Basque ''Nafarroako Parlamentua'') or also known as ''Cortes de Navarra'' (in Spanish) or ''Nafarroako Gorteak'' (in Basque) is the Navarre autonomous unicameral parliament. Functi ...

on 8 July 1776. This document gives a fairly accurate picture of the lordship of Aubertin before the French Revolution. Some years before, in 1773, he initiated a project to build a church near the chateau with the support of the

Bishop of Oloron The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Oloron was a Latin rite bishopric in Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, Aquitaine region of south-west France, from the 6th to the 19th century. History The diocese of Oleron already existed in the 6th ce ...

. This project was not successful because Louis-François de Navailles emigrated to Spain during the Revolution. The Aubertin people felt duty-bound to continue and financed most of the Church of Saint-Blaise in

, the adjacent cemetery, and the church rectory, although two separate communes were created in 1790. They continued, however, to be only one parish until 1867 when the opening of a church in Aubertin and a new historical turning point: a village centre could finally develop around its bell tower, to which was added a cemetery, manse, town hall, and a school.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Inter-communality

The commune is part of five inter-communal structures: * the

Communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées The communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées is a ''communauté d'agglomération'' in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine ''région'' of France. It provides a framework within which local tasks com ...

; * the SIVOM of the Canton of Lasseube; * the joint association for the Gave de Pau; * the SIVU for the development and management of the rivers in the Baises basin; * the association for the development of the Drainage basin of the Juscle and its tributaries;

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubertinois'' or ''Aubertinoises'' in French.

Economy

*The commune is part of the

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

zone of

Jurançon AOC Jurançon () is a wine region in South West France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, around the ''commune'' of Jurançon. It produces a dry white wine and a more sought after sweet white wine. The grape varieties used are Gros Manseng, Peti ...

and

Béarn AOC Béarn () is an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in South West France. It is located in the area of intersection of three French departments: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers; and two regions: Aquitaine and M ...

. Economic activity is mainly agricultural. Aubertin is also part of the AOC zone of

Ossau-iraty Ossau-Iraty () is a Basque cheese made from sheep's milk. Origin Ossau-Iraty or Esquirrou is produced in south-western France, in the Northern Basque Country and in Béarn. Its name reflects its geographical location, the Ossau Valley in Béarn ...

. *In 1966, the ''Société Nationale des Pétroles d’Aquitaine'' (SNPA - now part of

Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total ...

) discovered gas in Aubertin. Two gas wells are still active.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

*A very old Bridge over the Bayse at Goua-de-Labat *The Château de Navailles

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint-Augustin'' (1859) is registered as a historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A porch was added to the tower in the 20th century. *A Chapel was built just before the French Revolution in another place near the Château de Navailles, but it was destroyed before it was used.

Facilities

*There is a primary school built in 1880 with a canteen and a fronton in the courtyard. *There is a public sports facility with a bowling pitch, tennis courts, and a handball court.

Notable people linked to the commune

*Jean Reyau, Mayor of Aubertin from 1831 to 1842, was a bodyguard for

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

. *Albert Peyroutet, born in Aubertin in 1931 and died in 2009, was an

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

writer and an associate professor of English and Occitan. *René Camy, teacher, mayor, and General Councillor of the Canton of Lasseube (1965-1976), Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

with academic palms.

References

{{authority control Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques