Editing Gascony (section)

===Angevin Empire===
{{main|Angevin Empire}}
[[Image:Hommage d Édouard Ier à Philippe le Bel.jpg|thumb|upright|Homage of Edward I (kneeling) to Philip IV (seated)]]
[[Image:Blason province fr Gascogne.svg|thumb|Coat of arms of Gascony|alt=|165x165px]]

The 1152 marriage of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] allowed the former to gain control of his new wife's possessions of [[Aquitaine]] and Gascony. This addition to his already plentiful holdings made Henry the [[Henry II of England#Henry's claims by blood and marriage|most powerful vassal in France]].<ref name="Harvey p.47">Harvey, ''The Plantagenets'', p. 47.</ref>

In 1248, [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] was appointed Governor in the unsettled Duchy of Gascony. Bitter complaints were excited by de Montfort's rigour in suppressing the excesses of both the [[Fiefdom|seigneurs]] of the nobility and the contending factions in the [[Communes of France|great communes]]. [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] yielded to the outcry and instituted a formal inquiry into Simon's administration. Simon was formally acquitted of the charges, but in August 1252 he was nevertheless dismissed. Henry then himself went to Gascony, pursuing a policy of conciliation; he arranged the marriage between [[Edward I of England|Edward]], his 14-year-old son, and [[Eleanor of Castile]], daughter of [[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]]. Alfonso renounced all claims to Gascony and assisted the [[Plantagenets]] against rebels such as [[Gaston de Bearn]], who had taken control of the [[Pyrenees]].<ref>Chronicle of Britain, p. 276 {{ISBN|1-872031-35-8}}.</ref>

In December 1259, [[Louis IX of France]] ceded to Henry land north and east of Gascony.<ref>Chronicle of Britain, p. 280 {{ISBN|1-872031-35-8}}.</ref> In return, Henry renounced his claim to many of the territories that had been lost by [[King John of England|King John]].

In May 1286, [[King Edward I]] [[Homage (feudal)|paid homage]] before the new king, [[Philip IV of France]], for the lands in Gascony. However, in May 1294, Philip confiscated the lands, initiating the [[Gascon War]]. Between 1294 and 1298, Edward [[Gascon campaign (1294–1303)|sent three expeditionary forces]] to recover Gascony, but Philip was able to retain most of the territory until the [[Treaty of Paris (1303)|Treaty of Paris in 1303]].<ref>Chronicle of Britain, p. 297 {{ISBN|1-872031-35-8}}.</ref>

In 1324 when [[Edward II of England]], in his capacity as [[Duke of Aquitaine]], failed to pay homage to the French king after [[War of Saint-Sardos|a dispute]], [[Charles IV of France|Charles IV]] declared the duchy forfeit at the end of June 1324, and military action by the French followed. Edward sent his wife [[Isabella of France|Isabella]], who was sister to the French king, to negotiate a settlement. The Queen departed for France on 9 March 1325, and in September was joined by her son, the heir to the throne, Prince [[Edward III of England|Edward]] (later Edward III of England). Isabella's negotiations were successful, and it was agreed that the young Prince Edward would perform homage in the king's place, which he did on 24 September and so the duchy was returned to the English crown.<ref name= wilson34>{{Cite book |editor=Chris Given-Wilson |title=Fourteenth Century England VI: 6 |publisher=Boydell Press |location=London |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-8438-3530-1 |pages=34–36}}</ref>

When France's Charles IV died in 1328 leaving only daughters, his nearest male relative was Edward III of England, the son of Isabella, the sister of the dead king; but the question arose whether she could legally transmit the inheritance of the throne of France to her son even though she herself, as a woman, could not inherit the throne. The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris decided that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded. Thus the nearest heir through male ancestry was Charles IV's first cousin, Philip, Count of Valois, and it was decided that he should be crowned [[Philip VI of France]]. Philip believed that Edward III was in breach of his obligations as vassal, so in May 1337 he met with his Great Council in Paris. It was agreed that Gascony should be taken back into Philip's hands, thus precipitating the [[Hundred Years War]] between England and France.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Previte-Orton |first=C.W. |title=The shorter Cambridge Medieval History 2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-521-20963-2 |page=872}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sumption |first=Jonathan |title=The Hundred Years War I: Trial by Battle |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8122-1655-4 |page=184}}</ref> At the end of the Hundred Years' War, after Gascony had changed hands several times, the English were finally defeated at the [[Battle of Castillon]] on 17 July 1453; Gascony remained French from then on.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Wagner |first=John A |title=Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport CT |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-313-32736-0 |page=79}}</ref>