Gascony

Gascony (French Gascogne), ancient duchy and part of a former province Gascogne in southwestern France, with its capital at Auch. Gascony was bounded on the west by the Bay of Biscay and on the south by the Pyrenees Mountains, and extended north and east to the old provinces of Guyenne and Languedoc. The duchy included the modern departments of Landes, Gers, Basses-Pyrénées, and Hautes-Pyrénées, and part of the departments of Haute-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, and Ariège.

The name Gascony is derived from Vasconia, the Latin name for the region after it was invaded by the Vascones (or Basques), who late in the 6th century crossed the Pyrenees from Spain to the former Roman district of Novempopulana, or Aquitania Tertia, in Gaul. In the 7th century Gascony became tributary to the Merovingian kings but retained much of its independence as a duchy; in 813 the title of duke of Gascony became hereditary. The history of the duchy during the 9th and 10th centuries is obscure. In the 11th century Gascony came under the sovereignty of the dukes of Aquitaine, or Guyenne, but a century later the kings of England gained control, which they held until 1453, when the duchy was annexed by France.