Commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Baleix is acommune of thePyrénées-Atlantiques department in theNouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-westernFrance .
Baleix is located in the Montanérès overlooking theLées Valley some 26 km north-east ofPau and 10 km south ofLembeye . Access to the commune is by the D7 road fromSaint-Jammes in the west which passes through the length of the commune and the village and continues east toCasteide-Doat . The D145 comes fromLespourcy in the south-west and passes through the village to continue north toAnoye . Apart from the village there is also the hamlet ofTisné north-east of the village. The commune is mostly farmland with a few scattered small forests.[ 3]
TheLées flows through the east of the commune from the south and continues north to join theAdour nearAire-sur-l'Adour . ThePetit Lées comes from the south and flows north-east through the commune to join the Lées.
Balespouey Baradat Berbouly Capcazaux Capsus (land) Castille[ 4] La Caussade Clos[ 5] Dujardin Guilhas Hourpelat Jeandavid[ 6] Jouanolou La Moulère Noau Pucheu Puyo Sarthou[ 7] Tisné Trémoulets[ 8] Vignau Neighbouring communes and villages [ edit ]
Places adjacent to Baleix
Baleix Village In Baleix Village Baleix Landscape Michel Grosclaude said that etymologically the name comes from theGascon Balèch meaning "plateau".[ 9]
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description Baleix Bales 11th century Raymond 20
Lescar Village Balas 12th century Raymond 20
Marca Balestoos 13th century Raymond 20
Fors de Béarn Baleixs 1385 Raymond 20
Census Balesie 1402 Raymond 20
Census Baleyxs 1538 Raymond 20
Reformation Balechs 1538 Raymond 20
Reformation Balex 1548 Raymond 20
Reformation Baleix 1750 Cassini Abarades Abarades 1863 Raymond 1
Place Abats Abats 1863 Raymond 1
Place Les Artics Les Articqs 1769 Raymond 14
Terrier Place La Bielle La Bielle 1863 Raymond 31
Place La Haille Hailhe 1769 Raymond 74
Terrier Place La Lanusse La Lanusse 1863 Raymond 93
Place Peyreblanque Peyreblanque 1863 Raymond 134
Place Le Pimi Lou Pimy 1769 Raymond 135
Terrier Hamlet Les Plagnius Plagniux 1769 Raymond 136
Terrier Place Le Plagniu 1769 Raymond 136
Terrier Raguette Raguet 1769 Raymond 141
Terrier Place Trémoulets Le Trémoulet 1863 Raymond 168
Place Le Turocq de Naudy Le Turocq de Naudy 1769 Raymond 169
Terrier Place La Turrecolle La Turequolle 1769 Raymond 170
Terrier Place La Vignasse La Vignasse 1863 Raymond 174
Place
Sources:
Origins:
Paul Raymond noted on page 20 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 there were 22fires and it depended on thebailiwick ofPau . Baleix fief was subject to theViscounts of Béarn .
The commune has long been occupied as evidenced by the discovery of a fortified camp surrounded by a moat with visible remains of earthworks.
During the medieval period the commune was a member of the Commandery of theOrder of Malta ofCaubin andMorlaàs .
List of SuccessiveMayors [ 15]
From To Name 1995 2001 Jean Balespouey 2001 2008 Gérard Balespouey 2008 2026 Vincent Roustaa
The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:
the Communauté de communes du Nord-Est Béarn; the SIVOM of the Canton of Montaner; the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques; the inter-communal association for the supply of drinking water Luy-Gabas-Lees; The inhabitants of the commune are known asBaleichois orBaleichoises in French.[ 16]
Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 301 — 1800 290 −0.53% 1806 348 +3.09% 1821 358 +0.19% 1831 428 +1.80% 1836 413 −0.71% 1841 451 +1.78% 1846 450 −0.04% 1851 443 −0.31% 1856 432 −0.50% 1861 388 −2.13% 1866 396 +0.41% 1872 372 −1.04% 1876 368 −0.27% 1881 375 +0.38% 1886 328 −2.64% 1891 320 −0.49% 1896 282 −2.50%
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 280 −0.14% 1906 270 −0.72% 1911 251 −1.45% 1921 202 −2.15% 1926 201 −0.10% 1931 194 −0.71% 1936 176 −1.93% 1946 158 −1.07% 1954 156 −0.16% 1962 152 −0.32% 1968 141 −1.24% 1975 150 +0.89% 1982 126 −2.46% 1990 122 −0.40% 1999 120 −0.18% 2007 123 +0.31% 2012 147 +3.63% 2017 143 −0.55%
Source: EHESS[ 17] and INSEE[ 18]
Culture and heritage [ edit ] The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:
AFarmhouse at Sarthou (18th century)[ 7] AHouse at Jean David (18th century)[ 6] AHouse at Castille (1623)[ 4] TheBourdallé House (18th century)[ 19] TheCoulomé Farmhouse (1789)[ 20] TheBélengou House (18th century)[ 21] TheArnautou House at Clos (19th century)[ 5] Houses and Farms (17th-19th century)[ 22] The Church of Saint-Martin TheParish Church of Saint-Martin (12th century) is registered as an historical monument.[ 23] The Church contains a very large number of items that are registered as historical objects.[ 23] Archaeological Map of Gaul, Archaeological pre-inventory published under the responsibility of Michel Provost, Pyrénées-Atlantiques ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.^ "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.^ Google Maps ^a b Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027133 House at Castiulle (in French) ^a b Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027129 Arnautou House at Clos (in French) ^a b Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027134 House at Jean David (in French) ^a b Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027135 Farmhouse at Sarthou (in French) ^a b Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees ,Paul Raymond , Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011(in French) ^a b Michel Grosclaude ,Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn , Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages,ISBN 2-35068-005-3 (in French) ^ Cassini Map 1750 – Baleix ^ Cartulary of theBishop of Lescar , published in the proofs of theHistory of Béarn byPierre de Marca (in French) ^ Pierre de Marca ,Histoire de Bearn , La Veuve Jean Camusat, 1640, 850 pages(in French) ^a b Manuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques(in French) ^ Manuscript from the 18th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques(in French) ^ List of Mayors of France (in French) ^ Pyrénées-Atlantiques , habitants.fr^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui :Commune data sheet Baleix ,EHESS (in French) .^ Population en historique depuis 1968 , INSEE^ Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027132 Bourdallé House (in French) ^ Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027131 Coulomé Farmhouse (in French) ^ Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027130 Bélengou House (in French) ^ Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027127 Houses and Farms (in French) ^a b Ministry of Culture, MériméeIA00027128 Parish Church of Saint-Martin (in French) Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Baleix .