Béarn

Béarn was a Pyrenean viscounty in south-western Gascony, ruled from Orthez. In 1337 its lord was Gaston II of the House of Foix, which had inherited it in 1290.

His son Gaston III Phoebus declared in 1347 that he held Béarn from God alone, asserting its sovereignty. The Grailly heirs became kings of Navarre and moved the court to Pau in 1464; the future Henry IV of France was born at Pau castle. Béarn joined the French crown in 1620.