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Gascony ( that constituted a Province Of France prior to the French Revolution . It is currently divided between the Aquitaine '' Région '' ('' Département s'' of Landes , Pyrénées-Atlantiques , south of Gironde , and south of Lot-et-Garonne ) and the Midi-Pyrénées ''région'' (''départements'' of Gers , Hautes-Pyrénées , southwest of Tarn-et-Garonne , and west of Haute-Garonne ). Gascony was historically inhabited by Basque related people. It is home to the Gascon Language . It is also the land of D'Artagnan , who inspired Alexandre Dumas 's character in the Three Musketeers . Gascony is also famed for its ''douceur de vivre'' ("sweetness of life"): its food (Gascony is home to Foie Gras and Armagnac brandy), its medieval towns and villages locally called '' Bastides '' nested amidst green rolling hills, its sunny weather, the beauty of its landscape, with the occasional distant views of the Pyrenees mountain range, all contribute to the popularity of Gascony as a tourist destination. Due to Rural Exodus , Gascony is one of the least populated areas of western Europe, and so it has recently become a haven for stressed urbanites of northern Europe (France, England, Benelux ) in search of quiet and peace of mind, who are increasingly buying second homes in Gascony. HISTORY mountains in the far distance]] Aquitania In . The Aquitanians inhabited a territory limited to the north and east by the Garonne River , to the south by the Pyrenees mountain range, and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean . The Romans called this territory Aquitania, either from the Latin word ''aqua'' (meaning "water"), in reference to the many rivers flowing from the Pyrenees through the area, or from the name of the Aquitanian Ausci tribe (whose name seems related to the Basque root ''eusk-'' meaning "Basque"), in which case Aquitania would mean "land of the Ausci". In the 50s BC , Aquitania was conquered by lieutenants of C. Julius Caesar and became part of the Roman Empire . Later, in 27 BC , during the reign of Emperor Augustus , the province of Gallia Aquitania was created. Gallia Aquitania was far larger than the original Aquitania, as it extended north of the Garonne River, in fact all the way north to the Loire River , thus including the Celtic Gallic people that inhabited the regions between the Garonne and the Loire rivers. These Gallic people (with their Gaulish Language ) were quite different from the Aquitanians. This was a deliberate policy of Rome, which sought to gather people from different ethnic background into a single province, in order the avoid the development of a regional identity. In 297 , as Emperor Diocletian reformed the administrative structures of the Roman Empire, long claims of the now Romanized descendants of the Aquitanians, who had long desired to be separated from the now also Romanized descendants of the Gallic people inhabiting north of the Garonne, were finally heard and Gallia Aquitania was split into three provinces. The territory south of the Garonne River, corresponding to the original Aquitania, was made a province called Novempopulana (i.e. "land of the nine tribes"), while the part of Gallia Aquitania north of the Garonne became the province of Aquitanica I and the province of Aquitanica II . The territory of Novempopulana corresponded quite well to what we call now Gascony. From 297 on, the name "Aquitaine" was never used again for Gascony, despite it having been its original name, and instead became used only for territories north of the Garonne River. Novempopulana Novempopulana suffered like the rest of the Western Roman Empire from the invasions of Germanic tribes, most notably the Vandal s in 407 - 409 . Later in that century Novempopulana was conquered by the Visigoth s and became part of the Visigoth kingdom of Toulouse . The Visigoths were defeated by the Frank s in 507 , and fled into Spain. Novempopulana then became part of the Frankish Kingdom like the rest of southern France. However, Novempopulana was far away from the home base of the Franks in northern France, and was only very loosely controlled by the Franks. Wasconia It is then, around 600 , that taking advantage of the power vacuum thus created, the Basque clans descended from their refuge in the western Pyrenees and established their hegemony over Novempopulana. This is why Novempopulana became known as ''Vasconia'' (i.e. "land of the Vascones", the Latin word "Vasco" later evolving into the word "Basque"). The word ''Vasconia'' evolved into ''Wasconia'', and then into ''Gasconia'' (w- often evolved into g- under the influence of Romance Language s, cf. warrantee and guarantee, William and Guillaume). Although the Basque clans dominated Gascony, the gradual abandonment of the Basque related Aquitanian language in favor of a local Vulgar Latin , which was well under its way, was not reversed. This local vulgar Latin later evolved into Gascon . However, Gascon was heavily influenced by the original Aquitanian language (e.g. Latin f- became h-, cf. Latin ''fortia'', French ''force'', Spanish ''fuerza'', Occitan ''fòrça'', but Gascon ''hòrça''). Viking invasions (840-982) According to Joël Supéry (''Le Secret des Viking'', ''Éditions des Équateurs'', 2005), the Vikings who invaded France were attempting to create a commercial route to the Mediterranean. As the Strait Of Gibraltar was in the hands of the Saracen s settled in Andalusia , the Scandinavian traders decided to reach the Mediterranean through an inland route along the Pyrenees . The route was going from Bayonne to Pamplona and Zaragoza across the Pyrenees and then descending the river Ebro to Tortosa which was the main slave market of the western Mediterranean. Their attacks in Gascony in 842 and 844 destroyed all the political and religious structures in the country. Obviously, they were preparing their settlement. They dominated the coastal areas of Gascony until their crucial defeat in 982. The coast of Gascony was Scandinavian for 140 years. Whale hunting activities and the "discovery" of Newfoundland are related to these local Scandinavians. They founded Bayonne (Björnhamn-Baionam-Baiona) in front of the old Roman city of Lapurdum. Viking leader Asgeir gave his name to Hossegor , now a seaside resort and famous surf spot. Coastal Gascony was the first Viking colony in France, 70 years before Normandy . DUKES AND COUNTS OF GASCONY Before listing the names of the dukes and counts of Gascony (or ''Wasconia'' as it was then known), a long explanation is needed. This is because these names are recorded under a bewildering number of variants, which makes identification very difficult. These dukes and counts were leaders of the Basque clans that dominated Gascony, and so their native names were Basque. However, as the language of their subjects was mostly a vulgar Latin that evolved into Gascon, their names are also recorded in Gascon. Indeed, eventually the dukes of Gascony probably adopted themselves Gascon, which is reflected in the declining use of authentically Basque names by the last dukes. In written documents, their names were usually recorded in Latin, which was the favored written language at the time. Today, their names are also frequently found in their French version, and also sometimes in their Spanish version. One example: the Basque name Otsoa (meaning "wolf") was literally translated Lop in Gascon, Lupus in Latin, Loup in French, and Lobo in Spanish. Thus, Duke Otsoa II of Gascony can be known by any of these names, which confuses people not used to the local linguistic situation. Furthermore, even within a set language, there exist many different variants, such as Basque name Santxo (from Latin ''sanctus'', meaning "holy"), which can be found in Basque documents written Antso, Sanzio, Santio, Sanxo, Sancio, and so on. Usually, the dukes and counts of Gascony had two names, the first one being their given name, the second one being the given name of their father (e.g.: Duke Sancho I Lobo, which means this is Duke Sancho I, son of Lobo). This custom later generated the Spanish family names, with the adding of suffix -ez meaning "son of". E.g.: Juan Sanchez literally means "Juan, son of Sancho". For a few dukes of Gascony, the second name is not the given name of their father, but it is a nickname that they gained over time and that replaced the given name of their father, such as the famous duke Sans III Mitarra, where Mitarra is not the name of his father, but a nickname of Arab origin meaning "the Terror", a nickname given to him by the Moors after his resounding successes against them. In the list below, the dukes and counts of Gascony are listed according to their Gascon names (based on the current spelling of Gascon, not the medieval spelling, which was fluctuating anyway). Basque was not chosen, as Basque names present too many variants, and anyway the later dukes adopted the Gascon language. In parenthesis appear the most frequently found versions of their names in other languages. Although all the different names under which the dukes of Gascony are known are just different versions of the same names in different languages, it should be noted that there is one duke of Gascony known by two names that are completely different names, and not merely two versions of the same name: Duke Semen (a.k.a. Duke Siguin). Semen is a Basque name (sometimes written Semeno, Xemen, Ximen, etc., which gave the Spanish family names Ximenez and Jimenez). Nobody knows for sure if Semen is either the Basque version of the biblical name Simon , or a native Basque name based on the Basque word ''seme'' (meaning "son"). On the other hand, Siguin (modern Gascon Seguin) is a name of Germanic origin (Sig-, i.e. "victory", cf. modern German ''Sieg'', and -win, i.e. "friend", related to modern English win). At the time of writing this article, it was not possible to determine which of these two names is the correct name of duke Semen/Siguin. Both are found. List of dukes and counts Abbreviations: B.=Basque, S.=Spanish, L.=Latin, F.=French
The unity of Gascony had disappeared already in the 10th century, and so those wishing to learn more about the history of Gascony should look at the particular histories of Béarn , Armagnac , Bigorre , Comminges , Nébouzan , and so on. GEOGRAPHY The most important towns are :
ECONOMY Main industries are :
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