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Armagnac

 

Contents

Flag

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

Map of the historical Regions in France

Explanations about the Regions

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge Fahne flag drapeau Armagnac
Flag of Armagnac,
Source, by: Wikipedia (Fr)



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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of Armagnac is a scutcheon-flag, Its design is the image of that coat of arms, which has been used in the 14th/15th century.

Source: Volker Preuß

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Coat of Arms


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac
1140–1215, Armagnac,
Coat of arms of Armagnac – Blason du Armagnac,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac
1215–1304, Lomagne,
Coat of arms of Armagnac – Blason du Armagnac,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac Lomagne Armagnac Fézensac Rodez
1304–1497, Lomagne (Grafen/ Counts/ Comtés de Armagnac, Fézensac, Rodez),
Coat of arms of Armagnac – Blason du Armagnac,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac Lomagne Armagnac-Pardiac
1391–1497, Armagnac-Pardiac (Lomagne; Grafen/ Counts/ Comtés de Pardiac, Castres, La Marche),
Coat of arms of the House of Armagnac-Pardiac – Blason de Maison du Armagnac-Pardiac,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac Alençon
1497–1525, Alençon,
Coat of arms of the House of Alençon – Blason de Maison du Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)


Wappen arms crest blason Armagnac de Bourbon
1525–1607, de Bourbon,
Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon – Blason de Maison du Bourbon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)

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Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms, today known as the coat of arms of Armagnac, goes back to the 14th century. The crest is squared - four times divided - and the first and third field showed a red lion on silver, and the second and fourth field a golden, herelooking lion on red. It came into this form, when the Counts of Armagnac in 1304 acquired the County of Rodez, and their previous emblem, which showed a red lion on a silver, added by the heraldry of Rodez. As in 1391 the County of Pardiac was acquired, was added a blue collar tournament in the head of the shield. In 1497 Armagnac was inherited after the extinction of the House of Lomagne to the House of Alençon. For the line of Valois-Alençon, which began in 1297, when Charles II., son of Charles of Valois, was born, were fixed eight white balls on the red border as the special heraldic feature. The progenitor of the line of Valois, Prince Charles (1270–1325, son of King Philipp III.), Count of Valois, Anjou and Maine, took over the coat of arms from Prince John Tristan (1250–1270, Count of Valois, son of King Ludwig IX.). He surrounded the lily arms of the Capetians with a wide red border. In 1526 the county came to the Capetian House of Bourbon. The respective heraldry showed the blue, with golden lilies topped shield of the Capetians, which was covered with a red oblique-right bar. The coat of arms of the Capetians showed three golden lilies on blue, but originally was the coat of arms sprinkled with lilies. From 1365 (by others sources 1376), the number of lilies was reduced to three. The lily-symbol is very old, already the Germanic tribe of the Franks has used it.

Source: Heraldique Europeenne, Wikipedia (FR), Wikipedia (DE), Volker Preuß

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Map of the historical Regions in France

The historical, French Regions:

in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate

Map: Volker Preuß

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Explanations about the Regions

The provinces (or governorates) that existed until the French Revolution were historically grown entities that had often developed from former fiefdoms of the French crown, historical counties and duchies, often existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regional characteristics (cultural peculiarities and regional languages). Such phenomena were naturally undesirable to the French Revolution, and in the context of its bloody and violent egalitarianism, all regional references were eradicated. Shortly after the Revolution, the provinces were dissolved and France was divided into many small départements, which were to be approximately the same size and have the same status, controlled by prefects of the central administration in Paris. The departments were named after rivers or mountains so as not to use the names of any of the old provinces. However, it was not possible to sever the ties between the inhabitants of France and their respective historically grown regions, so that in 1960 regions were created again. There can hardly be said to be any real autonomy. The regions are only supposed to promote the economic, social, health, cultural and scientific development of the region, keep an eye on housing and living conditions, and provide support in some areas, e.g. urban development policy, urban regeneration, regional planning, preservation of regional identity and promotion of regional languages. When the regions were formed, departments located in a particular historical province were administratively grouped together into a region that often had the same historical name. The resulting entities only roughly corresponded to the boundaries of historical provinces. In strictly centralised France, however, any form of responsible regionalism is avoided. The regions do not even have their own seals with which to mark their own legally binding decisions, because there are no plans to introduce such a thing. Therefore, anything to do with coats of arms or flags is completely irrelevant. The logos of the regions are used generally, sometimes with the colours reversed and placed arbitrarily on flags or banners. There are no rules, as they are not official symbols. The logos and flags of the regions therefore often look like company logos: Unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic. That is why most of these regions have a kind of unofficial heraldic flag, which is intended to recall historical heraldic models. However, these are merely decorative in nature and are not a symbol of sovereign functions. The regions created in 1960 were even called into question in 2014, and a territorial reform was decided – centrally from Paris – which reduced the number of regions by almost half through mergers. The regions and their institutions were not even consulted on this matter.

Wikipedia Link to the regions of France: click or tap here
FOTW Link to the regions of France: click or tap here

Source: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuß

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History

antiquity · colonization by Iberian and Celtic tribes, the largest of them are the Volcae

52 B.C. · Roman conquest, forming the province of Aquitania in the west of Gaul

418 A.D. · the Visigoths be settled as federates, Aquitaine belongs to their sphere of influence

5th century A.D. · conquest of Gaul by the Franks (under King Clovis) to 507 conquest of Aquitaine, expansion of the empire to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees and the Alps

6th century · the Basques (Vascons) expand their influence in the northern Foothills of the Pyrenees and immigrate, they establish their Duchy of Vasconia (" Gascogne ") in southern Aquitaine

581 · Frankish dukes rule over the Duchy of Gascony

660 · Gascony is incorporated into the Duchy of Aquitaine

771 · Charlemagne takes over Aquitaine and transmits it later as a kingdom to his youngest son Louis the Pious, Charlemagne estblishes the County of Fézensac to counter the repeated revolts of the Basques against the rule of the Carolingians, the first mentioned Carolingian count is Leuthard of Paris (House of Matfriede)

819 · King Pepin I. of Aquitaine appoints Aznar Sanche to the Count of Gascony

836 · the County of Fézensac is owned again by the Basques, it belongs to the Basque Gascony and develops into its central part

848 · Count Sanche Mitarrat calls himself a Duke

880 · by the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaties of Verdun and Ribbemont) arises the West Frankish Kingdom (later France), the East Frankish Kingdom (later German Empire), the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy (under Rudolf the Welf) and the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy persists

920 · death of Garcia Sanchez le Tors, the heritage (the duchy of Gascony) is divided among his three sons, the majority of Gascony comes to Sancho III., the Counties of Astarac and Fézensac come to the other brothers – after the death of William Garcia (960), Count of Fézensac, the county is divided among the sons, the elder son Othon receives the county Fézensac, his younger brother Bernard le Louche receives the by the division newly created County of Armagnac

950 · Aquitaine includes now the counties of Gascony, Armagnac, Fézensac, Périgord, Poitou, Angoulême and La Marche

1140 · Count Geraud III. of Armagnac unites his county with the County of Fézensac because he had remained without a male heir

1182 · death of the last count of Armagnac and Fézensac, the first house of the Counts of Armagnac extincts in this way, the legacy goes to the Bernard I. (House of Lomagne) which goes back of Mascarose on Armagnac, a daughter of Geraud III.

1224 · King Louis VIII. of France, son of Philip Augustus, conquers Aquitaine, except Gascony the last possession of the Plantagenets in France, Poitou and Saintonge come directly to the crown, La Marche, Périgord, Angoulême and Auvergne become fiefs

1259 · Treaty of Paris (Abbeville), King Henry III. of England recognizes the loss of Aquitaine, and receives in this way the Saintonge, which is united with Gascony to the Duchy of Guyenne, as fief

1304 · the Counts of Armagnac and Fézensac purchase the County of Rodez

1328 · death of King Charles IV. (the Fair), extinction of the direct Capetian line, according to Salic Law Count Philip of Valois (Son of Prince Charles of Valois, first cousin of King Charles IV.) came on the French throne (as King Philip VI .), the English king Edward III. lays claim to the throne as a maternal nephew of Charles IV., reason for the "Hundred Years War" (Anglo-French War, 1338–1453), out of the House of Valois came all kings of France from 1328 to 1589

1402 · death of Jean II., Count of Armagnac and Fézensac and Count of Pardiac, his cousin Bernard VII. of Armagnac takes possession of the county

1453 · Battle of Castillon, the end of the Hundred Years War, the Kings of England have to cede all their possessions in France, in this way the Guyenne comes finally to France, the country is connected to the royal domain, later establish of the governorate (province) of Aquitaine, to which the Guyenne belongs as a province

1473 · death of Count Jean V. after fights against King Louis XI. of France

1497 · extinction of the second house of Armagnac (House Lomagne), the county comes to Charles IV. of Alençon

1526 · Marguerite d'Angouleme, widow of Charles IV. of Alençon, marries Henri II. d'Albret King of Navarre (House of Bourbon)

1589 · death of Henry III., King of France, Henry III. had no descendants, extinction of the line of Valois, Henry III. determined Henry of Navarre (House of Bourbon) as his successor, which is as Henry IV., the Good, Henri le Bon, the new King of France

1607 · the county is part of the royal domain and comes to the province of Aquitaine

1776 · the already in the 14th century created governorates of the civil administration of the kingdom of France become committed to a number of 39, and correspond in this way to the number of provinces, in previous years could any provinces be summarized in one governorate

1789 · French Revolution, the governorates and provinces become abolished, Aquitaine is divided into departments (approximately: Gironde, Dordogne, Lot, Aveyron, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, Hautes-Pyrenees and Haute-Garonne)

1960 · reintroduction of regions in France, forming the Aquitaine region (capital Bordeaux), but not within the historic boundaries, just by integrating of the departments of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques

2016 · the Aquitaine region merges with the Poitou-Charentes and Limousin regions in the new, larger region of New Aquitaine (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)

Source: Wikipedia (D), Brockhaus Konversationslexikon

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Origin of the Country's Name

The geographical names Armagnac and Fézensac are of Basque-Occitan origin and difficult to explain. Supposedly, however, the name Armagnac should be an old family name, after that the area was named.

Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen, Volker Preuß

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