Les Albret : l'ascension d'un lignage gascon, XIe siècle-1360

Since Achille Luchaire’s research on the Albret family’s origin and his thesis on Alain the Great (1877), historians have not paid much attention to the Albrets. This year the 400th anniversary Henry IV of France’ is being commemorated. He was first of all Duke of Albret and King of Navarre through his mother, Jeanne d’Albret. This volume is devoted to the first stages of the exceptional destiny that was the lot of his ancestors, small lords of the Grande Lande, natives of Labrit. How did the Albrets manage to hoist themselves up to the top level of Gascon nobility as early as the middle of the 13th century and then become head of the Principality of Aquitaine in 1362? After revealing the dark period of their origins (11th – 12th century), one discovers the men, full of vigor and most of all concerned with protecting and increasing their patrimony. They succeeded by obtaining inheritances as well as gifts and bounties thanks to the tricky and sometimes risky political game they played between the English duke-king and the King of France. They thus acquired a financial power, which was exceptional at a time when the nobility was facing serious problems. A survey of their holdings, and of those of the younger branches of the family, that points out the location of their estates, explains their prominence on the political scene when the Black Prince presided over the destiny of the great principality of Aquitaine. A new period in the history of the Albrets thus began. By Arnaud Amanieu’s marriage to the queen of France’s sister, they chose the French camp, a choice which was sanctioned in 1389 by the bestowal of the right to quarter their arms with those of France.