Gaston III of Foix-Béarn - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gaston III/X of Foix-Béarn, also Gaston Fébus or Gaston Phoebus (April 30, 1331–1391) was the 11th count of Foix, and viscount of Béarn

Béarn

Béarn 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 Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the...

(1343–1391). Officially, he was Gaston III of Foix and Gaston X of Béarn.

Early life

He was born in Orthez

Orthez

Orthez is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sainte-Suzanne thus residents of the town are called either Orthéziens or Sainte-Suzannais...

, the son of Gaston II/IX (1308–1343).

Count of Foix

Béarn had passed to the county of Foix in 1290. Count Gaston III Fébus paid homage to the king for his own county, but refused to give homage for Béarn, which he claimed as an independent fief, with its chief seat his stronghold at Pau, a site that had been fortified by the 11th century, which was later made the official capital of Béarn Province in 1464.

He was succeeded as count of Foix by Mathieu of Foix-Castelbon.

A fortune won in battle

The house of Béarn-Foix was engaged in a long running feud with the family of D'Armagnac

House of Armagnac

The House of Armagnac, at the end of the thirteenth century, was not yet powerful enough to play a political role beyond its possessions. The House of Toulouse, which ruled over the large southwest of France, was defeated by the Capetians during the Albigensian Crusade, but local dynasties, like...

. In 1362, a battle was fought between the two sides at Launac

Battle of Launac

The Battle of Launac took place on 5th December, 1362. It was the culmination of a long running feud between the French aristocratic families of D'Armagnac and Foix-Béarn. The chief protagonists were Jean, Comte d'Armagnac and Gaston Fébus of Foix...

. Gaston Fébus was victorious and succeeded in capturing his chief rivals, whom he ransomed for a vast fortune of at least 600,000 florins. This money was stored in the Moncade tower in Orthez

Orthez

, where Fébus also created a gallery of portraits and military trophies to commemorate the event.

Records of Jean Froissart

In the 1380s, Jean Froissart

Jean Froissart

Jean Froissart , often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...

visited the County of Foix

County of Foix

The County of Foix was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern département of Ariège ....

. He recorded the splendor of the court of Orthez under Gaston Fébus in the latter half of the 14th century. Gaston recorded the three "special delights" of his life as "arms, love and hunting"; he wrote an important treatise on the latter entitled Livre de chasse.

Livre de chasse (Book of the Hunt)

Gaston was one of the greatest huntsmen of his day, and hunted literally to his dying day - he died of a stroke as he was washing his hands after returning from a bear hunt. His Livre de chasse was written between 1387 and 1388. It was dedicated to Philip the Bold

Philip the Bold

Philip the Bold , also Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg. By his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, he also became Count Philip II of Flanders, Count Philip IV of Artois and Count-Palatine Philip IV...

, Duke of Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

. Recorded in the book are different stages of hunting and hunting different animals. The book also describes animal behavior, offers advice to poor gentry how they may enjoy hunting without bankrupting themselves, and is even sympathetic to the peasant poacher because he too has the hunting instinct.

It is the classic treatise on Medieval hunting

Medieval hunting

Throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages, men hunted wild animals. While game was at times an important source of food, it was rarely the principal source of nutrition. Hunting was engaged by all classes, but by the High Middle Ages, the necessity of hunting was transformed into a stylized...

, and noted for one manuscript which has exquisite miniatures, illustrating the hunt.

Marriage and children

Gaston Phoebus married Agnes of Navarre (1334–1396), daughter of Joan II of Navarre

Joan II of Navarre

Joan II was Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death. She was the only daughter of Margaret of Burgundy, first wife of King Louis X of France...

and Philip III of Navarre

Philip III of Navarre

Philip III , called the Noble or the Wise, Count of Évreux and King of Navarre , was the second son of Louis of Évreux and Margaret of Artois and therefore a grandson of King Philip III of France...

in 1348. They had a son:

Gaston ( -1382), married Béatrice d'Armagnac 1362-1410

Betrayal of the Count's son

As Jean Froissart

Jean Froissart

recorded, Gaston Phoebus's son Gaston betrayed him. Gaston tried to poison his father using a powder that he got from King Charles II of Navarre

Charles II of Navarre

Charles II , called "Charles the Bad", was King of Navarre 1349-1387 and Count of Évreux 1343-1387....

. Gaston was caught and imprisoned by his father. Later on, Gaston was accidentally stabbed and killed by his father during a quarrel. After Gaston died, Gaston Phoebus had no legitimate heir. In 1393, in Paris at a masquerade given by the Queen of France, Isabeau of Bavaria

Isabeau of Bavaria

Isabeau of Bavaria was Queen consort of France as spouse of King Charles VI of France, a member of the Valois Dynasty...

, one of Gaston Phoebus's four recorded illegitimate sons, Yvain de Foix, was burned to death when his costume caught fire from a torch. The other performers died as well. This masquerade came to be known as the Bal des Ardents
Bal des Ardents
The Bal des Ardents was an incident that occurred on 28 January 1393 when the French king Charles VI of France was almost killed and four members of the French nobility burned to death while at a celebratory dance held by the Queen, for the remarriage of a lady-in-waiting, the dancers were...

.