Editing Lower Navarre

{{more footnotes|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
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|name                   = Lower Navarre <!-- at least one of the first two fields must be filled in -->
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|native_name            =''Nafarroa Beherea''  <!-- if different from the English name -->
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|map_caption            = Location of Lower Navarre within the [[Pyrénées-Atlantiques]] departement.  
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|subdivision_name       = {{flag|France}}
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|seat_type              = Capital
|seat                   = [[Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port]] (Donibane Garazi)
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'''Lower Navarre''' ({{langx|eu|Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre}}; [[Gascon dialect|Gascon/Bearnese]]: ''Navarra Baisha''; {{langx|fr|Basse-Navarre}} {{IPA|fr|bɑs navaʁ|}}; {{langx|es|Baja Navarra}}) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''[[département in France|département]]'' of [[Pyrénées-Atlantiques]]. It corresponds to the northernmost ''[[merindad|region]]'' of the [[Kingdom of Navarre]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. After the [[Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre]] (1512–24), this ''merindad'' was restored to the rule of the native king, [[Henry II of Navarre|Henry II]]. Its capitals were [[Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port]] and [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]]. In the extreme north there was the little sovereign [[Principality of Bidache]], with an area of {{convert |1,284|km2| mi2 |abbr=on}} 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 as ''[[Merindad]] de Ultrapuertos'' ("the regions beyond the mountain passes") by the southerners, and ''Deça-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. The ''Nafarroaren Eguna'' or Day of Navarre is a festival held in [[Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry|Baigorri]] every year to strengthen their bonds and celebrate their [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque]] identity as one of the seven constituent regions of the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]].

==Geography==
Lower Navarre is a collection of valleys in the foothills of the [[Pyrenees]]. The [[Aldudes |Aldudes valley]], around the town of [[Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry]] in the south of Lower Navarre, preserves many old traditions, with houses of pink [[sandstone]] and contests of ''[[Basque rural sports|Force Basque]]'', the basque traditional strength sports. The [[Irouléguy AOC|Irouléguy wines]] are produced in the area around the town of [[Irouléguy]].

[[File:Basse-Navarre countryside.jpg|thumb|Landscape in the vicinity of Irouleguy, in Lower Navarre, June 2009]]

The river [[Nive]] rises in Lower Navarre and flows through the province and on to [[Bayonne]], where it meets the [[Adour]]. Beyond Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port itself, the Nive enters the [[Ossès]] valley, with many beautiful old houses with carved [[lintel]]s in the villages of Ossès, [[Irissarry]] and [[Bidarray]]. A reserve for the [[pottok]], the wild Basque Pyrenean [[pony]], in the valley conserves this rare breed. The [[Mount Baigura|Baigura]] massif towers over the western valleys and sets a natural boundary with the rolling valleys of [[Labourd]].

North of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the Mixe region around the town of [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]], a former Navarrese capital. Although close to [[Béarn]], Basque influence and traditions are strong. [[Lower Navarrese]] is a [[dialect]] of the [[Basque language]] spoken in the region. Just south of Saint-Palais, the three principal routes to [[Santiago de Compostela|Compostela]] on the [[Way of St James]] met at the hamlet of [[Ostabat]], bringing much wealth and trade to the area in [[medieval]] times.

The Way of St James headed south from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port towards the mountain pass above [[Orreaga]]. Pilgrims travelled across the [[Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port|Cize region]] of Lower Navarre on their way to Navarre across the mountains. In these rolling hills, [[sheep|ewes]]' milk [[cheese]], ''[[pur brebis]]'', is commonly made, including [[Ossau-Iraty|Ossau-Iraty cheese]]. Villages like [[Estérençuby]] and [[Lecumberry]] are popular for agro-tourism and the [[Irati Forest|Irati]] [[beech]] forest on the frontier borderline is known for its views and history. [[Dolmen]]s and other [[neolithic]] monuments dot the landscape, including the [[Urkulu|Tour 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 Mount [[:eu:Iparla|Iparla]] as its highest and most iconic landmark), south ([[Orreaga]], Mount [[Urkulu]] and Pyrenees altogether) and the east (bounded by the western mountains of Zuberoa).

==History==
The lands of the Lower Navarre were part of the [[Duchy of Vasconia]] that turned into [[Gascony]] by the end of the first millennium. At the time of King [[Sancho III of Navarre]] ''The Great'' (died in 1035), Duke [[Sancho VI William of Gascony]] pledged allegiance to the Navarrese king, for a short period Gascony becoming vassal to the [[Kingdom 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 (called ''Merindad'' 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 the [[Labourd]]ins and Navarrese came to an end.

In 1512, the Duke of Alba, under orders from King Ferdinand II of Aragon, [[Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre|conquered Navarre]], including [[Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port]]. The Navarrese monarchs retreated to their [[Viscounty of Béarn|sovereign domain of Béarn]]. In 1516, King [[John III of Navarre]] retook the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but failed to take the citadel; he and [[Catherine of Navarre|Queen Catherine]] died soon after, and the 10,000 mercenary army of the spanish [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor 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 King [[Henry 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, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|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, the [[Chancery of Navarre|Chancery]] 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 of [[Albret]], and the lord of [[Luxe-Sumberraute|Luxa]] and the lord of [[Miossens-Lanusse|Miossens]], 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&mdash;the [[Treaty of Cambray]] in 1530. In 1555, Henry II of Navarre died and was succeeded by his daughter [[Jeanne d'Albret|Jeanne]], 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 to [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]], capital city of [[Béarn]], where [[Henry IV of France|Henry III (later Henry IV of France)]], the son of [[Jeanne 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 the [[Parliament of Navarre and Béarn|House 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&mdash;[[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Béarnese dialect|Béarnese]]. The title of [[Kings of Navarre|King 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 the [[States-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.<ref>Louis XVI had just declared himself King of the French, instead of the customary King of France and Navarre.</ref> All the same, the new [[Departments of France|French administrative design]] did not spare Lower Navarre. It came to be [[End of Basque home rule in France|integrated in the Basses-Pyrénées department]] along with the rest of [[French Basque Country|French Basque districts]], and [[Béarn]].

== Administration of Lower Navarre, [[Ancien Régime]] ==
The administration of the independent Kingdom of Navarre after 1512 was centralized in [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]] and consisted of a handful of institutions organized in a structure generally found in the Kingdom of France.<ref name="Lafourcade (2003), p. 608">Lafourcade (2003), p. 608 [http://www.euskomedia.org/PDFAnlt/riev/48/48589619.pdf (in French)]</ref> By 1527 these administrations had been partially decentralized to [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]], and consisted of:

* the [[Governor of Navarre and Béarn]]
* [[Estates of Navarre]] (French: ''États de Navarre''), in [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]]
* [[Chancery of Navarre]], in [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]]
* [[Chambre des Comptes of Navarre]], in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]], [[Nérac]] and [[Vendôme]]
* [[Mint of Navarre and Béarn]] (French: ''Monnaie de Navarre et Béarn''), formed by the merger ''Mint of Navarre'' in [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]], with the [[Mint (facility)|mints]] of [[Béarn]] in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]] and [[Morlaàs]], in [[Béarn]], by the [[Chambre des Comptes of Navarre]], in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]]
* [[Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn]], the predecessor of the [[Parliament of Navarre and Béarn]], in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]]
* [[Conseil Privé]], the King's private council for Navarre and Béarn, in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]]

== Notes ==
{{columns-list|
{{reflist}}
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== References==
* {{cite journal
 | last=Cadier
 | first=Léon
 | date=1888
 | title=Les archives d'Aragon et de Navarre.
 | trans-title=The Archivesof [the Kingdoms of] Aragon and Navarre.
 | url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/bec_0373-6237_1888_num_49_1_447523
 | format=image/text/pdf
 | language =French
 | journal =Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes
 | location =Paris/Genève
 | publisher =Librairie Droz
 | editor1 =
 | editor2 =
 | volume = 49
 | issue =6
 | pages =47–90
 |via=Persee
 | doi=10.3406/bec.1888.447523
 | access-date =22 April 2016
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Esarte Muniain
 |first=Pedro
 |date=2001
 |title=Navarra, 1512-1530: Conquista, ocupación y sometimiento militar, civil y eclesiástico.
 |trans-title=Navarra, 1512-1530: conquest, occupation and military, civil and ecclesiastical enslavement.
 |url=
 |page=
 |language=Spanish|location=Pamplona-Iruña
 |publisher=Pamiela argitaletxea
 |isbn=978-8-4768-1825-1
 |access-date=
}}

* {{cite book
 |last1=Jaurgain
 |first1=Jean de
 |date=1898
 |title=La Vasconie; étude historique et critique sur les origines du royaume de Navarre, du duché de Gascogne, des comtés de Comminges, d'Aragon, de Foix, de Bigorre, d'Alava & de Biscaye, de la vicomté de Béarn et des grands fiefs du duché de Gascogne. Première Partie.
 |trans-title=Vasconia; a historical and critical study of the origins of the Kingdom of Navarre, the Duchy of Gascony, the Counties of Comminges, Aragon, Foix, Bigorre, Alava & Biscay, the Viscounty of Béarn and great fiefs of the Duchy of Gascony. Part One.
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lavasconietude01jauruoft#page/n11/mode/2up
 |pages=
 |language=French
 |location=Pau
 |publisher=Imprimerie Garet
 |isbn=978-2-8461-8184-6
 |access-date=14 April 2016
}}
* {{cite magazine
 | last =Lafourcade
 | first =Prof. Maité
 | title =Les assemblées provinciales du Pays Basque Français sous l'Ancien Régime.
 | trans-title =The provincial assemblies of the French Basque Country in the Ancient Regime.
 | url =http://www.euskomedia.org/PDFAnlt/riev/48/48589619.pdf
 | language =French
 | journal =Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos = Revue Internationale des Études Basques
 | location =Paris
 | publisher =Euskomedia Fundazioa
 | editor1=Eusko Ikaskuntza
 | editor2=Société d'études basques (Saint-Sébastien, Spain)
 | date =2003
 | volume =
 | issue =48
 | pages =589–619
 | issn=0212-7016
 | access-date =19 April 2016
}}

* {{cite web
 | title =Les amis de la vieille Navarre: Bibliographie
 | url =http://www.amisvieillenavarre.fr/la-basse-navarre-en-pays-basque/bibliographie-2/
 | website =Les amis de la vieille Navarre
 | language=French
 | date = 
 | access-date =22 April 2016
}}

* {{cite work
 | last=Monteano
 | first=Peio J.
 | date=n.d.
 | title=La Basse-Navarre durant la conquête espagnole (1512-1529).
 | trans-title=Lower Navarre during the Spanish Conquest (1512-1529).
 | url=http://www.amisvieillenavarre.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/La-Basse-Navarre-durant-la-conquete-espagnole.pdf
 | language =French
 | work=
 | location =
 | publisher =Les amis de la vieille Navarre
 | pages=
 | access-date =22 April 2016
}}

* {{cite work
 | last=Orpustan
 | first=Jean-Baptiste
 | date=n.d.
 | title=La Basse-Navarre dans la guerre de Navarre (1512-1530), récit historique, d'après Navarra, 1512-1530… de Pedro Esarte Muniain (Pamiela, Pamplona-Iruña 2001).
 | trans-title=Lower Navarre in the War of Navarre (1512-1530), historical narrative, according to the book 'Navarra, 1512-1530: ...' by Pedro Esarte Muniain (Pamiela, Pamplona-Iruña 2001).
 | url=http://tipirena.net/Tipirena_-_Site_officiel_de_Jean-Baptiste_ORPUSTAN/VI._Varia_files/La%20Basse.pdf
 | language =French
 | work=
 | location =Osses
 | publisher =Jean-Baptiste Orpustan
 | pages=1–25
 |via=Tipirena.net
 | access-date =22 April 2016
}}

{{Nafarroabeherea}}
{{Euskal Herria provinces}}
{{Historic Provinces of France}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Lower Navarre| ]]
[[Category:Former provinces of France]]