Labrit

In the sandy Landes of Gascony, Labrit was the cradle of the lords of Albret. Their early domain included the parishes of Labrit, Vergt and Sens, a modest beginning for a family whose possessions eventually spread far beyond the heath. The earthen castle at Labrit combined a raised motte with a defended outer enclosure. Archaeological work has revealed buildings, ditches and traces of ordinary life within its walls, as well as the lordly residence.

The fortress changed considerably during the later Middle Ages. A large building in the outer enclosure, interpreted as a possible seigneurial hall, was levelled during alterations at the end of the fifteenth century. Other buildings followed, including a rural house erected around the middle of the sixteenth century. Craftsmen and their families lived inside the enclosure alongside the lord's household. By then the Albret family's ambitions had carried them into the politics of Navarre and France: Jeanne d'Albret, queen of Navarre, was the mother of the future Henry IV of France. The old castle was ultimately abandoned during the seventeenth century, leaving its earthworks as a reminder of the family's origins.