Co-prince of Andorra
Equestrian seal of Gaston I, Count of Foix
Gaston I of Foix
or
Gaston VIII of Foix-Bearn
(1287 ? 13 December 1315 in
Maubuisson
) was the 9th
Count of Foix
, the 22nd
Viscount of Bearn
and
Co-Prince of Andorra
.
Biography
[
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]
He was a son of
Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix
and
Margaret of Bearn
, the eldest daughter and heiress of
Gaston VII of Bearn
.
He succeeded his father in 1302 as Count Gaston I of Foix and Viscount Gaston VIII of Bearn, first under the regency of his mother.
He was probably present at the
Battle of the Golden Spurs
in 1302, and fought again for the King of France against the Flemish at the
Battle of Mons-en-Pevele
in 1304. When the cities of his County of Foix rebelled against the Royal tax collectors, because they raised the taxes to finance the expensive war against Flanders, Gaston supported his cities. For this, the County was confiscated for a while by the
Senechal
of
Carcassonne
.
In 1308, he started a war against the
Count of Armagnac
, against the orders of the King, who had forbidden intra-French warfare. Gaston was taken prisoner and locked up in the
Chatelet
. He was only released after paying a ransom of 36,000 livres. He also had armed conflicts with his uncle
James II of Majorca
and even with his own mother, who firmly ruled Foix during his many absences.
In 1310, he inherited the Viscounty of Marsan from his aunt Constance of Moncada. When another uncle,
Ermengol X, Count of Urgell
, died without a male heir, Gaston claimed the
County of Urgell
, but was no match against King
Alfonso IV of Aragon
, who incorporated Urgell into the
Crown of Aragon
.
On his return from yet another war against Flanders, Gaston fell ill and died in the
Maubuisson Abbey
, near
Pontoise
.
His body was transferred to the Boulbonne Abbey, where it was buried alongside his ancestors. Some records state he was buried in the now-demolished church of the
Couvent des Jacobins
in
Paris
.
Marriage and children
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]
Gaston married in 1301
Joan of Artois
(1289-1350),
daughter of
Philip of Artois
and
Blanche of Brittany
. They had:
- Gaston II de Foix, Count of Foix, Viscount of Bearn
(1308 – 26 September 1343).
- Roger Bernard IV de Foix
(1310 – after 24 March 1350),
married Constanza de Luna (1310 – January 1353),
daughter of Artal de Luna, by whom he had three children.
- Robert de Foix, Bishop of Lavaur
- Margaret of Foix
- Blanche de Foix, married in 1328 Jean de Grailly, Viscount of Castillon,
Captal de Buch
, by whom she had two children, including
Jean III de Grailly, Captal de Buch
.
- Joan of Foix (died 1358), married Infante
Peter of Aragon
, Count of Ribagorza y Ampurias, by whom she had three children, including
Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Cyprus
.
References
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]
Sources
[
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]
- Lodge, Eleanor C. (1926).
Gascony under English Rule
. Methuen & Co. Ltd.
- Viader, Roland (2003).
L'Andorre du IXe au XIVe siecle: montagne, feodalite et communautes
. Presses Universitaire du Mirail.
Further reading
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]