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Lower Navarre Nafarroa Beherea | |
|---|---|
Province | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Lower Navarre within thePyrénées-Atlantiques departement. | |
| Country |  France |
| CA |  Basque CountryPays Basque |
| Capital | Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Donibane Garazi) |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,325 km2 (511.59 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 30,290 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Lower Navarre (Basque:Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre;Gascon/Bearnese:Navarra Baisha;French:Basse-Navarre[bɑsnavaʁ];Spanish:Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day Frenchdépartement ofPyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmostregion of theKingdom of Navarre during theMiddle Ages. After theSpanish conquest of Iberian Navarre (1512–24), thismerindad was restored to the rule of the native king,Henry II. Its capitals wereSaint-Jean-Pied-de-Port andSaint-Palais. In the extreme north there was the little sovereignPrincipality of Bidache, with an area of 1,284 km2 (496 sq mi) and a decreasing population of 44,450 (in 1901), 25,356 (in 1990).
Although this denomination is not completely correct from the historical point of view, it is also known asMerindad de Ultrapuertos ("the regions beyond the mountain passes") by the southerners, andDeça-ports ("this side of the mountain passes") by the Gascon-speakers. Despite its lost administrative cohesion, the memory of its past heyday has left an imprint on its inhabitants, who keep identifying themselves as Lower Navarrese and therefore Navarrese. TheNafarroaren Eguna or Day of Navarre is a festival held inBaigorri every year to strengthen their bonds and celebrate theirBasque identity as one of the seven constituent regions of theBasque Country.
Lower Navarre is a collection of valleys in the foothills of thePyrenees. TheAldudes valley, around the town ofSaint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry in the south of Lower Navarre, preserves many old traditions, with houses of pinksandstone and contests ofForce Basque, the basque traditional strength sports. TheIrouléguy wines are produced in the area around the town ofIrouléguy.
The riverNive rises in Lower Navarre and flows through the province and on toBayonne, where it meets theAdour. Beyond Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port itself, the Nive enters theOssès valley, with many beautiful old houses with carvedlintels in the villages of Ossès,Irissarry andBidarray. A reserve for thepottok, the wild Basque Pyreneanpony, in the valley conserves this rare breed. TheBaigura massif towers over the western valleys and sets a natural boundary with the rolling valleys ofLabourd.
North of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the Mixe region around the town ofSaint-Palais, a former Navarrese capital. Although close toBéarn, Basque influence and traditions are strong.Lower Navarrese is adialect of theBasque language spoken in the region. Just south of Saint-Palais, the three principal routes toCompostela on theWay of St James met at the hamlet ofOstabat, bringing much wealth and trade to the area inmedieval times.
The Way of St James headed south from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port towards the mountain pass aboveOrreaga. Pilgrims travelled across theCize region of Lower Navarre on their way to Navarre across the mountains. In these rolling hills,ewes' milkcheese,pur brebis, is commonly made, includingOssau-Iraty cheese. Villages likeEstérençuby andLecumberry are popular for agro-tourism and theIratibeech forest on the frontier borderline is known for its views and history.Dolmens and otherneolithic monuments dot the landscape, including theTour d'Urkulu high in the mountains at 1,149m—a 2,000-year-old circular platform of huge stone blocks. Lower Navarre is well delimited by mountain ranges on the west (with MountIparla as its highest and most iconic landmark), south (Orreaga, MountUrkulu and Pyrenees altogether) and the east (bounded by the western mountains of Zuberoa).
The lands of the Lower Navarre were part of theDuchy of Vasconia that turned intoGascony by the end of the first millennium. At the time of KingSancho III of NavarreThe Great (died in 1035), DukeSancho VI William of Gascony pledged allegiance to the Navarrese king, for a short period Gascony becoming vassal to theKingdom of Navarre, with which it had always had close ties. Moreover, the valleys of Baigorri, Ossès, Cize and Arberoa were attached to the latter, establishing the first nucleus of the Navarrese grip on the lands north of the Pyrenees. While these valleys were taken over again by Gascony for a period, the Ultrapuertos County (calledMerindad in Navarre) was regained for Navarre in 1234, coming to be governed by the sheriff of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. However, the definite boundaries were not established until the 1244-1245 war between theLabourdins and Navarrese came to an end.
In 1512, the Duke of Alba, under orders from King Ferdinand II of Aragon,conquered Navarre, includingSaint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The Navarrese monarchs retreated to theirsovereign domain of Béarn. In 1516, KingJohn III of Navarre retook the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but failed to take the citadel; he andQueen Catherine died soon after, and the 10,000 mercenary army of the spanishEmperor Charles V recovered control of the town. Charles V's troops retained Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and its hinterland, besides devastating the region, but were met with strong resistance led by local lords loyal to KingHenry II of Navarre. The latter succeeded in taking over the town and its castle in May 1521, losing it to the Duke of Alba in June; the spanish evacuated Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 1522, but recovered it in January 1524. While possession of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was hotly contested,Saint-Palais (Donapaleu in Basque) remained out of spanish reach and would become the main royal center of the surviving Navarrese monarchy in Lower Navarre.
Eventually, the legitimate Navarrese king (de facto deprived of the rest of Navarre by Aragon-Castilian usurpation), restored Navarrese official institutions and bodies in Lower Navarre, e.g. the Sovereign Council in 1523, theChancery in 1524, the Royal Mint a little later in Saint-Palais, etc. In 1525, a new military inroad led by the spanish viceroy of Navarre subdued the region, and tried to earn the loyalty of the nobles, but they unanimously kept their allegiance to the Navarrese monarchs of the House ofAlbret, and the lord ofLuxa and the lord ofMiossens, Esteban d'Albret, reconquered the region in 1527. Although Emperor Charles V, the spanish monarch, recovered Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port within months, by 1528 he had lost interest in asserting and maintaining his control over the portion of Navarre north of the Pyrenees, difficult to hold and defend. Accordingly, he abandoned his remaining holdings in Lower Navarre, including Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, to its hereditary king Henry II, as part of a treaty with France—theTreaty of Cambray in 1530. In 1555, Henry II of Navarre died and was succeeded by his daughterJeanne, who ruled until her death in 1572.
During the 16th century the Albrets ruled over a wider territory (Béarn, etc. as French vassals) and the effective seat of the Navarrese Royalty shifted toPau, capital city ofBéarn, whereHenry III (later Henry IV of France), the son ofJeanne d'Albret was born. Henry III generally respected the laws issued by the Navarrese parliament, despite sometimes raising objections to their wordings. Henry succeeded to the French throne in 1589; he and his successors would now be titled "King of France and Navarre." His son Louis II (Louis XIII of France) was definitely reluctant to any binding reading of the Navarrese laws, and forced more loose wordings, devoid of specific meaning in order to feel his hands free. Ultimately this led to an encroaching French centralization of all relevant decisions and prerogatives during the 17 and 18th centuries.
In 1620 and 1624 respectively theHouse of Commons and the Justice system were merged with those of Béarn and transferred from Saint-Palais to Pau, despite protests voiced by the Navarrese representatives, who pointed to their different traditions and languages—Basque andBéarnese. The title ofKing of Navarre continued to be held by the lineage of the Albrets and the Bourbons up to the French Revolution, while the kingdom itself merged with France in 1620. It retained its historic personality as a kingdom and, albeit fragmented, a separate legal status. The two third estate representatives of Lower Navarre did not vote at theStates-General of 1789 and its follow-up, the French National Assembly (1790), arguing that the impending new administrative arrangement was none of their business, since they did not belong in the Kingdom of France.[1] All the same, the newFrench administrative design did not spare Lower Navarre. It came to beintegrated in the Basses-Pyrénées department along with the rest ofFrench Basque districts, andBéarn.
The administration of the independent Kingdom of Navarre after 1512 was centralized inSaint-Palais and consisted of a handful of institutions organized in a structure generally found in the Kingdom of France.[2] By 1527 these administrations had been partially decentralized toPau, and consisted of:
Traditional provinces of theBasque Country | ||
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| Southern Basque Country |  | |
| Northern Basque Country | ||
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